Chookooloonks

the latest chapter of the Chookooloonks family ...

... can be found here.

a little happiness and light, please

Tonight I'm feeling exhausted, and overextended, and close to tears, for no other reason than I'm just really, really tired. Not to worry, though: I know all I need is a good night's sleep, and tomorrow morning I'll wake up right as rain.

But even so ... help me out a little, and cheer a sister up:

What good thing happened to you today? What made you smile?

Inquiring minds...

nice job!

Well, the comments are officially closed on the previous post, with the 334th comment coming in just before midnight. I had been planning to go through each post, disqualifying the ones that did not include both city and country, but since that would considerably reduce the amount of money in the pot (not to mention that the thought of culling through 334 comments is pretty daunting), I'm just going to say it's a donation of US$ 334.00, or, by my calculations, TT$ 2,107.24, and call it a day. I'm sure the Cyril Ross Nursery will be thrilled -- thanks so much for your enthusiasm!

Incidentally, several of you inquired about how you might be able to make your own donation to the nursery. If you're in Trinidad, the nursery's website provides their contact information, so feel free to give them a call. For those of you who are outside of Trinidad, I'm sure you can give them a call as well -- however, because I suspect it will be a bit more difficult than just giving your credit card number over the phone, I'd like to make a suggestion: consider finding an HIV/AIDS organization in your own hometown, and make a similar donation there instead. After all, it's World AIDS Day -- and considering how many countries were represented in the comments, if we all did our part in our own necks of the woods -- well, that would be truly spreading the love, wouldn't it?

So anyway, thanks so much for taking the time to show that you cared by leaving a note in the comments -- your response overwhelmed me, and I mean that in the best way possible. I'll be contacting the nursery this week, and continuing my little blogging break as well. In the meantime, pat yourselves on the back -- you did a good thing.

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world aids day

Still on my break -- but just popping in to show you this photo gallery from BBC News, depicting the HIV/AIDS problem that currently exists here in Trinidad.

Of all fatal diseases, HIV/AIDS breaks my heart the most. When we lived in Houston, I was on the board of AIDS Foundation Houston, an organization which helps people living with HIV/AIDS, and what I learned about the stigma associated with the disease is astonishing. I continue to serve on their Advisory Council, because I so believe in the work they do.

It's gotten out of hand, particularly in Trinidad, and countries all throughout the Caribbean and Africa (not to mention the rest of the world). We must find a cure. We must.

(Thanks for the link, Gallimaufry!)

UPDATE: Actually, I just had a thought -- since it is World AIDS Day, why don't I do this: for each comment left here on this post, I'll give a donation of one US dollar to the Cyril Ross Nursery for children affected by HIV/AIDS, shown in the BBC feature above. You need to leave your name ("Anonymous" will do, if you'd prefer) and your location (city -- or region -- and country), just because I like to see where everyone's from. I'll keep comments open until midnight Sunday night. Remember: name, city & country.

Come on people, make me poor. Ready? GO!

good morning, sunshine

Today's morning view.

Three good things:

1. Attending a going-away party for a coworker of Marcus' last night, where those in attendance each expressed truly meaningful and heartfelt reasons why he or she was going to miss the guest of honour. Really inspiring.

2. Making the perfect cup of coffee this morning.

3. Having this, and especially this, in my Bloglines. These people get it. It's a scientifically-proven fact.

On that note: have a great day, everyone. May it be merry and bright.

do you know what the secret of life is?

The image above was taken from our television set this afternoon, as we watched City Slickers. I love this movie.

My favourite part is when Curly tells Mitch that the secret of life is "one thing" -- the trick is to figure out what that one thing is for you.

Even though I suspect Curly's right, I'm not sure I've figured out what the secret of life is. I mean, I know that Marcus and Alex are the most important people in my life, and they take priority over everything ... but is that the "secret of life"? Or is there something more?

On that note, I'm off to make oatmeal raisin cookies with Alex. In the meantime, tell me: what's your secret of life?

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i suspect i'll look not unlike a mangy dog

Quite unexpectedly, I'm going to Haiti -- HAITI! -- on business next week. I can't really give you details (yet), because I can't quite believe it myself, but suffice to say that I'll be doing something I've never done before, and I'll be doing it on camera.

That sounds sort of dirty, doesn't it? I assure you that even though I'm wildly excited about the opportunity, there's nothing unseemly about what I'll be doing.

Anyway, my employer has required that I take anti-malarial medication as a prerequisite for going on this trip. To be honest, I was a bit apprehensive when I heard this. You see, I've taken anti-malarial medicine before for a trip to Nigeria, and if memory serves, the drug I took, Malarone, had the unfortunate side effect of diarrhea. Still, I remember considering myself lucky: most of my coworkers had taken Lariam, resulting in some becoming really depressed, a few having freakish nightmares, and at least one who repeatedly dreamed of killing his wife. So, you know, an irritable bowel seemed hardly anything to complain about.

It turns out that there are different anti-malarial medications which are prescribed, depending on what part of the world you're visiting, since there are different strains of malaria. (Who knew?) After much to-ing and fro-ing with the health authority, I finally received my prescription today, and as of this evening, I've taken my first dose.

The good news? It's not Lariam. It's not even Malarone. It's something called Avloclor.

The bad news? Well, according to Dr. Google, the following are the possible side effects:

Disturbances of the gut such as diarrhoea, nausea, vomiting or abdominal pain

Headache

Skin rashes

Itching (pruritus)

Low blood pressure (hypotension), this might make you feel dizzy

Visual disturbances

Loss of hair colour

Hair loss (alopecia)

Fits (convulsions)

Disturbance in the normal numbers of blood cells in the blood

Damage to the retina of the eye (long-term use)

Discolouration of skin, nails, or mucous membranes, eg inside of mouth

Hearing distubances, eg ringing in the ears (tinnitus) or hearing loss

Anxiety, confusion, hallucinations or strange or abnormal thoughts

Weakening of muscles

Weakening of the heart muscle (long-term use at high doses)

Changes in the electrical signals in the heart (seen on an ECG)

Liver disorders

NICE. Almost makes you want to risk malaria, doesn't it?

Anyway, all this to say: if, in the coming months, you stumble across a video of me with patchy bald spots, apparently blind and definitely scratching, you'll know why. Be kind.

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my favourite windchimes

These are my favourite windchimes, made of bamboo, and they make this wonderful, deep hollow sound. They're completely beaten up, and will probaby fall apart soon; however, I can't imagine our home without them. We also have another set of metal chimes, also with deep notes (I hate small, tinny chimes). They both hang right outside our bedroom window, and if I ever wake up in the middle of the night, all I need is their sound to comfort me right back to sleep.

What comforts you?

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sunday photo review

Here's how we spent our Sunday:

It's good to be home.

hypothetical

Say, hypothetically, you were looking to buy a home. For your money, you have two choices:

1. Buying out in the suburbs, where you'll be able to by a HUGE home (almost obscenely, embarrassingly huge), get a large garden for your child to play, generally safe area; however, the area lacks character (no large trees, no charming cafes/restaurants, very little in the way of cultural events), and the neighbours will likely have very different ideological outlooks from yours; or

2. Buying closer to an urban area, where your home will likely be modest to small (with absolutely, positively no room to grow -- none), practically no garden for your child to play, and the area, while somewhat safe, will be comparatively less safe than the suburbs; however, the neighbourhood will have more character than you can shake a stick at (large trees, charming cafes/restaurants, lots of culture), and the neighbours will likely share very similar outlooks to life and living to yours.

Where do you buy?