What’s sexier than a hot chick in a tight red dress? An ass-kicking hot chick in a tight red dress, that’s what!  Those wonderful people from the land of television is bringing to the small screen yet another installment in a long line of brawling babes with Nikita on the CW network. Vietnamese-American actress

Maria Coronacion “Nanay” Villacorta Talusan Samaniego was born on October 13, 1910 to Alejo and Paula Talusan in the small town of San Ildefonso, Bulacan, Philippines.  She was the youngest of five, preceded by four overprotective brothers.  At the age of 16, she married Gonzalo “Tatay” Samaniego,

Let me get something out: I hate pool parties.   I really don’t like swimming pools or swimming or wading or generally getting myself wet.  If I’m hitting any kind of body of water, it would be to snorkel or scuba.  In fact, in the three-and-a-half years that I lived in Puerto Rico, I could probably [...]

Yesterday was kind of a chill day until Cousins Night took place in the evening.  There was a major downpour and we were worried that not a lot of the cousins would be able to make it to the restaurant for the get-together.  Thankfully, about 30 of us converged on Pier 1 at the Fort. [...]

I finally made it to my old high school yesterday.  Even simply standing in front of it was surreal.  This was where I spent four significant years of my life.  It seemed so small now. I was lucky enough to catch a former teacher, Ms. S. (who’s now the Alumni Director) at the school, and, [...]

I hung out with some former high school classmates (and batch-mates) last night, and had a great time catching up on news and happenings from the past couple of decades.  So much has transpired– marriages, separations (there is no such thing as “divorce” in the homeland), and even some deaths– that

For the longest time, I’ve been talking about getting a tattoo.  I’d always wanted to have a Jolly Roger (skull and crossbones) tattooed on my left ankle, but have always chickened out on it.  Plus, I was always drunk when I spoke about it, and that’s not always a good precursor to actually getting inked

Yesterday, I got to see my 4000-mile trip’s raison d’etre.  ”Nanay,” which is how most of my family members refer to the clan matriarch, was still quite lucid when we saw her, but her short-term memory is failing a bit. We had an enjoyable visit.  Her caretakers were on-hand to make sure that she m

The humidity– and the constant transition from air conditioned environs into the great outdoors and back inside again– finally caught up to me, rendering me feeling less than stellar.  Since yesterday, I’ve been coughing and sneezing, have had the sniffles, and my throat has been needing a constant shot o

So, I’m actually called a balikbayan, which is a natural-born Filipino who has temporarily returned to his/her homeland.  The word is actually a combination of two distinct words:  balik, which means “return,” and bayan, which means “country.”   To be a balikbayan after all this time is surr

Yesterday was all about going with the flow. Woke up mid-morning and put in a five-mile run.  I had a tough time with the extreme humidity (even at 9am!) and heaviness in the air (I think it’s called smog).  At halfway through the run, my garments were soaked from sweat.  Thankfully, it was a little [...]

At 2:37 p.m. yesterday, exactly 40 years ago, the world was rewarded with my birth.  Wow, that’s such a pretentious statement!  But it’s true.  Can you imagine what would have happened had I not been born?  This blog would not exist! Even though it, in all, wasn’t how I pictured a milestone birthday to

This is only my second day back home in the Philippines after being gone for over two decades, and I’ve (re)discovered a bevy of truths: - It’s nearly impossible for non-natives to drive in the Philippines without resulting in cardiac arrest - Lane markers are all but ignored - Traffic signals are mere suggestio

Fifteen minutes ago, my plane took off from Portland en route to Seattle, where three hours later, I would take another flight to Seoul, Korea– a twelve-hour jaunt over the Pacific. The last leg of the journey will take place three hours from then when I take the final plane to Manila. When I land [...]

Oatmeal with peanut butter and sliced bananas. Yum!

As I had hoped, Lee DeWyze has just won Season 9 of American Idol. Congratulations, Lee! You are the very first contestant that I was rooting for to actually take the prize!

It’s been quite a while since I blogged. And nearly two months since I last blogged about the current season of American Idol. Interestingly (and most excitingly), the subject of that blog post– Lee DeWyze– is now in the finale, facing off against fellow Chicago auditioner, Crystal Bowersox. DeWyze has cer

How Do I Know (with guitar tabs) (Elliott Yamin) Verses & Chorus: D – A – Bm – G D – A – Bm – G Refrain: Bm – G – D – A Bm – G – A 3am, wide awake, you’re asleep, it feels like days Yeah, since the last time that I held you I can tell you’d b

This weekend, I helped my parents move out of a house they’ve lived in for the last two decades.  It was crazy, packing up twenty years of their lives into brown boxes and a U-Haul truck.  My younger brother, my sister, and brother-in-law were also there to lend a hand.  The mood was energetic and hectic and [...

I read a magazine article written by Tim Sanders (www.twitter.com/sanderssays) that talks about the time when he was working at Yahoo! and, despite a strong effort, he lost a major advertising account to AOL.  When it happen, he and his team were obviously devastated, with a few choice opinions about the AOL team.  Sand

So, I’m watching American Idol again. I know.  Lame.  But here’s the thing: I love the journey these contestants are taking to further their musical endeavors.  They’re hoping for a career in the music industry and American Idol has proven to open doors and pave the way for many previous contestant

I did the voice over work on this “public service announcement,” which was written and animated by Brian J. Larson of Kerplunk Animation.

So. I recently got an iPhone 3Gs through and because of work and, in a matter of days, I’ve naturally become very addicted to it. It’s like my Blackberry days from nearly a decade ago, when all someone had to do to parody me was to have a PDA on hand. I was very obsessed with [...]

I’m a sap for shyt like this… The realities of the Haiti disaster continue.  Please give what you can to help.

THIS IS WHAT JEFF FOXWORTHY HAS TO SAY ABOUT ‘LIVING IN OREGON’… If someone in a Home Depot store offers you assistance and they don’t work there, you live in Oregon. If you’ve worn shorts, sandals and a parka at the same time, you live in Oregon. If you’ve had a lengthy telephone conver

Whilst shopping for brown sugar at my neighborhood Freddy’s (a.k.a Fred Meyer), this song played on the house music system, and it was suddenly the mid-90’s again:

O.M.F.G. Go, Colts! Follow my Tweets today during the game!