Catching Up With The Folks

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I’ve just returned from National Airport, where I saw my mom and brother off, finishing a quick three-day visit to the District. I haven’t seen my family since Christmas, so it was a good opportunity to take a few days off from work and spend time with them, catching up and sharing notes.

Sunday, the day of arrival, was quite active, with much ethnic flavor. We visited the Philippine Festival on Pennsylvania Avenue, ate galantina and halo-halo, then viewed the DC skyline from atop the Old Post Office Tower. That night, dinner — yet more Filipino food — with the family of a decades-past alumnus of my alma mater.

Monday was spent “doing the tourist thing,” as I call it. Amy and I took my younger brother Raymond out to the National Mall to see some sights: the Capitol, Air and Space, and Natural History. The intention was to keep going and view the WWII and Lincoln Memorials, but we were just… too… tired.

Tuesday was set aside for full-on consumerist indulgence, as we joined my aunt for a day-long shopping spree at Potomac Mills. I came away with new shoes, shirts, fitness accessories, and scented candles.

All in all, a fun and fruitful three days. Amy, my beloved significant other, came down from NJ and finally got to meet my mom; that went quite well, with gifts exchanged and positive feedback from all sides. My brother, a track athlete back home, was quite impressed at how conducive the DC area is to runners and running.

I also found out from my brother, much to my surprise, that I’m about to become an uncle. Next month. Um, yeah. That was sudden.

Anyway, by this time, they should be in the air, on their way to Chicago for a few days with my elder brother, Francis. I was really glad for this visit. Things are changing so quickly; I suppose my own progressing age is made evident by my perception of the rate at which everyone is growing up and aging. Before I know it, I’ll be a doddering old coot yelling at the young’uns to turn down that stupid music.

Reagan

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I was in Whole Foods, holding a bag of frozen pizza and Harry Potter DVDs while Amy looked at orchids, when I decided to check CNN via WAP on my mobile. Quite a surprise. Reagan dead at 93.

Washington Post with headline of Reagan's deathI idolized Ronald Reagan in the 1980s. It was nothing to do with politics, of course; I was a little boy in the Philippines, knowing nothing about Republicans or Soviets or Libyans or Walls or Contras or what a “Gipper” was. No, I was seven years old, and I watched Superman II, and saw that scene in the White House, where the president, that tragic, noble character, kneels before Zod. “Wow, the president knows Superman!” I thought to myself, unable to distinguish E.G. Marshall from Ronald Reagan. Ah, from then on, the title “President of the United States,” carried with it the dreamy flavor of prestige and power and Superman.

You have to understand, of course, that this was the time of the Marcos dictatorship. “Elections” were an unknown thing. I, unaware of such concepts as death or democracy, thought Reagan would last forever, the happy crinkled president of that land across the sea, of freeways and bay bridges and Toys ‘R Us and Saturday morning cartoons. It was only later, in 1986, when the ousted Ferdinand Marcos was spirited away by US helicopters and Cory Aquino took the throne, that I realized a few things: Reagan and Marcos were friends, presidents are not always necessarily the good guys, and presidencies are not forever.

George Bush Sr. ascended the throne in 1988, and it just wasn’t quite the same anymore. I still don’t know anything about politics, but I do know that Reagan, for me, symbolized that happy innocent time of Superman-worshipping childhood, and his death will leave something of a gap in me forever.

General Tso’s Broccoli

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Kudos to China Cafe on Connecticut Ave NW (near Dupont Circle) for finally adding broccoli to General Tso’s Chicken, the Friday lunch special. General Tso’s Chicken is really hard to eat all by itself, what with the dough and sauce and all, so the broccoli was a welcome additional viand.

In other news, it turns out that General Tso’s Chicken, Sesame Chicken, and Orange Chicken are all the same thing, with the exception of sesame seeds and orange sauce in the latter two. And what they call “lo mein” around these parts is what I grew up calling “pansit canton.”

And what’s up with Chinese restaurants serving cheeseburgers and sushi?

Bowman

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If you enjoyed Scorched Earth and Worms, but crave a more medieval flavor of competitive projectile motion, you’ll love Bowman. Drag mouse to pull string back and adjust bow angle. Twang.

“What are you shooting, Dave?”

Big Brother is Watching You

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A-ha. So my brother Raymond has a Livejournal. (He’s brother 3/4, I’m 2/4.) I want to freak him out now by suddenly expanding his readership, so go leave some comments.

Right now the whole family is in San Francisco. Except for me; Mom’s frequent flier miles wouldn’t cover Memorial Day weekend and I had to rearrange my furniture anyway. Next week, Mom and Raymond will be coming over to DC to see the sights. Should be fun.

Comments on Identity

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By now, most of you have probably seen the horrific spectacle of a weblog post about a celebrity gathering comments from clueless web users who inexplicably believe they have found said celebrity’s contact form, or at least some online go-between. I’ve received, to a much smaller extent, comments for Kris Aquino and Bro Eddie, causing me to wonder whether people in general even read webpages before submitting feedback. (I imagine that if this entry about Miriam Defensor Santiago were still open, it might also gather a few nuts, seeing how it nears the top of a Google search.)

Most amusing by far was the contact form email I received from an irate AOL subscriber wishing to cancel her service, who found this entry. It makes you wonder: this person knew enough to do a web search, find a contact form link, and submit it. Wouldn’t she have known enough to look at a URL and read an entry to figure out that I am not, in fact, AOL?

Another thing, I believe the web is a bit poorer for the loss of fan mail sent to Chris O’Donnell intended for the actor. Bring back the mail, Chris!

Update: Well, all it needed was a little hunting: Chris O’Donnell’s fan mail! And how could I forget the Sassy Lawyer’s Kris/Ruffa thread? Plus, check out Keith Devens’ Jessica Lynch post. (At least we’ve had nothing so bad as, “Dear Die Hard, you rock!”)

Periodic Annoyance

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The annoying habit of writers ending questions with periods rather than question marks is fairly infectious, and much to my dismay, I have become a victim of it, more than once, especially in instant messaging sessions. Has anyone else fallen prey to this syndrome.