Baby T and her mom went down to Southern California for the long weekend for a family function. I stayed behind since I had previous plans to attend the 3 game Sox vs. A's series in Oakland. What did I do with the rest of my downtime?: Scanning pictures, editing video, and blogging on Vox for the first time in months.

Here are some fruits of my labor and some pigtail pictures. I'm not quite convinced that I'm getting better at doing girlie hair, but I think the pigtails look cleaner than the baby mullet.

Baby T Liwanag 5-20-2008C

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I've been out of commission for a week. (Sinus headache, congestion, sore throat, coughing, body ache, etc.) The likely source: my 5 month old who started daycare this month. She has also been suffering (drippy nose, coughing, high temperature, listlessness, ear infection, etc.) With her drippy nose, she has trouble breathing and has trouble sleeping. I've sat up many hours this week keeping her body upright with her head on my shoulder to help her sleep.

Baby T is illin'

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I heard on the radio this morning that w00t was voted Miriam-Webster's 2007 Word of the Year. I'm sure I've typed it before (maybe in IRC?), but I never thought of myself as l33t enough to seriously use w00t! regularly. Is the word w00t going mainstream? That would be interesting to see. I wonder if l33t-speak would annoy me as much as texting shorthand. Ugh.

Last year's WotY was truthiness. I still haven't used that one in conversation. This year, W00t got more on-line votes than sardoodledom and blamestorm -neither of which have I ever used in conversation. I think I'm more likely to use the word blamestorm in conversation, though. That's more my type of word.

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I have a decent repertoire of entrées and side dishes that I can cook. I think most of them taste pretty good (to me.) I don't really pay too much attention to the food's presentation. My sister reinforced this point to me a few years ago.

We were slicing ingredients to make pancit (Filipino noodles) and she pointed out that I was chopping up one vegetable out too finely and another too coarsely. She wanted the ingredients more proportionate in size, which makes sense if you think about it. I just didn't think about it enough. My main concern was and usually still is that the proper ingredients are added correctly so that flavor is right. I didn't care too much what it looks like.

When I click through some of the food blogs that are out there, I think about posing some of the meals and dishes that I make. This week would have been a good week to show off some savory goodness that exited my kitchen (and entered my tummy.) Some of my dishes over the past 7 days include:

• dungeness crab feast
  
• pan fried steak
• scallops wrapped in bacon
• Chinese broccoli with oyster sauce
• baked chicken with KC Masterpiece BBQ Sauce
• stewed apples*
• roasted pork shoulder
• crab cakes*
• fried shrimp chips
• soy sauce chicken

I suppose I could also add rice cereal* to the list since we introduced our 4 1/2 month old to solids this week. Savory goodness? Yes. Photogenic food? No. Too bad my food isn't pretty.

*a Kanto first

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Baby T Liwanag 12-4-2007

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I never got a chance to go to a Buffy: The Musical sing-along show before Fox legally ordered all movie theaters to cease and desist future events. Last year, a group of us planned to go to a show at the Parkway. Unfortunately, we didn't get to the theater early enough or get advance tickets. The show was sold out with a line around the corner when we got there.

According to my sister in Manhattan, they not only had Rocky Horror-esque screenings but also staged musical productions of "Once More, With Feeling" with live actors. Apparently they're now all quashed by Fox. Sad. Buffy sing -alongs in my future will be limited to long car rides with my family.

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After a week of TV premieres, I have a favorite: Dirty Sexy Money.

The premise is this: After the mysterious death of the family lawyer, the patriarch of a super-rich and famous NY family asks the lawyer's estranged son to take over the job.

The pilot episode kept me engaged with its writing, plot, and characters. With no Gilmore Girls, Studio 60, and Veronica Mars in the Fall TV lineup, I'm hoping that Dirty Sexy Money is a good 60 minute comedic drama to fill the gap.

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Jersey Joe's

Last week, the company that I work for moved its headquarters 12 miles south. Trying to see the glass-half-full angle on a longer commute into the heart of San Mateo Bridge traffic every morning, I'm looking forward to all the different lunch spots that are now within easy driving distance.

I took a carload of co-workers to one of my favorites: Jersey Joe's in San Carlos. Philly Cheesesteaks from Jersey Joe's remind me of the cheesesteaks I had growing up in Massachusetts: Grill-fried tender shredded steak, mushrooms, and onions topped with melted American cheese served on a real French roll. A few of my co-workers never had a Philly Cheesesteak. A few of them never had a good one and I was happy to introduce them to one.

I like to get away from the office at midday, eat lunch alone and read sometimes. I won't share all my lunch spots with my team, but my co-workers would have discovered Jersey Joe's soon enough. They're already looking forward to the next stop on Kanto's Peninsula Lunch Tour.

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Show us the best creative artist or crafter that you know personally.

Hang-Concierge Card

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When did you last write/receive a handwritten, snail-mail letter? Who was it to/from? 
Submitted by Places Unknown.

If thank you cards count, I've written and received several since Baby T was born. There are several more in the queue.

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