Fats, Vitamins and Minerals

The weather started to change a few days ago - it is definitely warmer now and the wind is blowing in a different direction. It doesn’t drizzle in the afternoon anymore too. The thousands of birds that flock to the ridged walls of SM have disappeared. t must be summer.

I feel better now too, after cutting off my hair the other day. It has grown too long and too heavy. I did think of keeping it long and braiding it in all sorts of styles but my hair is very thick so having it long isn’t very practical. Luckily I can cut my own hair so I don’t need to go to a hairdressers every now and then…

Have just started a new crochet project too, some filigree squares that I can later stitch together to make a whole dress. I wonder about that - if I can have enough patience to make a whole dress.

In the meantime, I found this photo of Edward, which cheered me up a great deal. Trevor and I was at the Fort Santiago a few months ago and we saw a pile of artillery shells and a lantaka (canon) on them. Funny really, since the lantaka comes from the Spanish period and the shells are from World War II.

So I put Edward in the lantaka and took this photo.

I’m trying to get back to my readings too: SICP to learn about programming and Lisp; Political Economy of Adult Education (Zed Books) to pick-up on non-formal education where I started way back 2004 (after I stopped teaching at university); and a cheap hardbound book on needlework with instructions on knitting.

I thought maybe I could start  learning how to knit again because there’s this lovely filigree design that I’d like to do and it’s only in knit.

The HTDP book on programming (using DrScheme) is now in my harddrive - and it certainly is much easier to read than SICP. However, I’d like to have it printed and my printer’s busted so that may take a while… It’s interesting to compare the two books though, where one has a practical (problem-solving approach) and the other has a conceptual approach. The “satisfaction curve” in reading SICP is definitely much steeper.

Switching between the political economy book and the SICP is interesting, though. I think there is a link between the two. I was hoping to write about this direction but I kept getting distracted (by cooking and eating for example!)

I went to Bohol with my caregiver and her husband. And there I met Tarsie. I’m in love!

Apart from the fact that my caregiver is having problems continuing any crochet work because of the pain in her hands and arms, I am having problems continuing Prolog because of logic! I mean, what about my dog logic???

I have also been on vacation for two weeks in General Santos City in Mindanao. My second time to be there, actually. And this time I brought Maria with me. Below is my photo with Maria just outside the nice little house where we stayed in at VS Homes in Purok Malakas. I quite like the place …

There are two gray and white cats (one with a long tail and the other with a stub tail) visiting the house daily, just passing through. Outside are several dogs, not as cute as meself, of course, but friendlier, healthier and cleaner than most dogs I’ve met back home in Manila. One light brown dog with a rather scruffy face and a stubby little tail kept siffing and looking under our gate … must be from the CIA.

My caregiver brought her crochet along and has been slowly working through a vintage yoke design which she is improvising into a skirt. She is also practising filet crochet, yet another interesting technique with very interesting instruction languages - there’s the straightforward text instruction, and there are the visual ones: the chart and the table, things that I shall look into more closely later. Below is a photo of myself with my caregiver’s work in progress.

In the meantime, a bit of beauty rest before getting back to work and blogging.

A wonderful time at Durian Garden in Polomolok, South Cotabato the other day. Even Edward had a really great time. Below is a photo taken by Alma of Edward with all his fans.

I took photos of many plant varieties growing there and will post on Korakora gallery when I get back to Quezon City.

In the meantime, the US, Australia (and recently Canada) have issued warnings of terrorist attacks here in Mindanao (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6578531.stm), a warning shrugged off by the Philippine government. It seems that the US (and consequently Australia, Canada, Britain, aka the “international community”) are again keen on building up the latest terror campaign in the Philippines.

Previous terror campaigns implemented by these First World Countries in my country include destructive mining, power generation, militarism and agriculture.

“The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency discovered DBCP (pesticide) could cause cancer and sterility and severely restricted its use in 1977. It was banned in the United States in 1979 and in 1980 in the Philippines.It was still being used in the Philippines well into the 1980s, lawyers say.Dow Chemical Co., Shell Oil Co. and Occidental Chemical Corp. sold the pesticide to Dole Food Co., Del Monte Fresh Produce and Chiquita Brands International Inc., which used it in the Philippines and about a dozen other countries.

In 1993, more than 16,000 banana plantation workers, including thousands of Filipinos, filed a class-action suit in Texas against the manufacturers and fruit companies.” - From Jim Gomez / AP 1997

“The American capitalists intensified their spoliation in Mindanao. In 1957, Firestone Tire and Rubber Company was awarded 1,000 hectares of land in Makilala, North Cotabato for a rubber plantation. In 1963, Dole Philippines, subsidiary of the Castle and Cook Company acquired vast tracts of land in Tupi and Polomolok, Cotabato for its pineapple plantations. In 1966, Weyerhaueser Corporation obtained 72,000 hectares of forest lands in Mindanao for its logging operation…”

“War in Mindanao is basically a war to ensure US continuing rape and plunder of the island’s remaining resource base as well as ensuring that Mindanao play its role to the fullest in maintaining US world hegemony in part of the world. The White House issued a document last September, 2002 which states, ‘it is to reaffirm the essential role of American military strength in order to dissuade future military competition. We must be strong enough to dissuade potential adversaries from pursuing or equaling the power of the United States.” - From “Mindanao” Land Raped and Plundered”

So who are the terrorists again?

What a surprise, Alwin rang yesterday. He had to call to tell me that he has seen germs through a microscope. He remembers when I brought out my microscope (an old one I had as a child, a gift from my dad when he worked in Saudi Arabia) to show him how it works and when I came home from Amsterdam with my partner’s old microscope. Hmmm … I wonder how many people have their own personal microscopes!

Anyway, afterwards Alwin told me about playing chess. He knows how to play it and has been asking if I know too. Then I told him I’d get him some Edward t-shirts. That got him excited and said I should also bring Edward pants.

Today I went out to get Edward t-shirts printed. I got a big one for myself and a small one for Alwin. Below is a photo of the t-shirts (with Edward and Maria). Tomorrow Friday I should visit and give the t-shirts to Alwin.

Maltese crochet is another term for hairpin lace, a type of lace made through crochet but not only with the crochet hook but also with a fork (also known as hairpin or a staple). Turns out that the Priscilla Yoke book has one yoke made through maltese crochet. I am currently making some medallions using the technique but have revised it slightly so that I don’t use as much thread as required in the instructions (it’s the tightwad version!).

Below is a photo of the medallions (with Edward of course), with the fork showing a work in progress and one medallion yet to be stitched together around the corners.

I don’t really know yet what to do with these (whether I’d make a yoke as per the instructions or improvise into a bolero or shrug) or just use the medallions to extend the hairpin lace stole that I made earlier. Anyway, the satisfaction is being able to successfully improvise the original pattern. I’ll write about this later in length through Edward’s CnC. I suspect Edward’s interested in using the medallions for a Prince Edward crocheted bag no. 002.

The finished Prince Edward crocheted bag is now at Edward’s CnC. I guess it didn’t turn out too badly although I had to undo a number of errors. Actually, the two sides of the bag are not exactly alike - one side has one round of stitches missing.
Working out the drawstring, slip balls and tassels wasn’t too easy either, especially with the available colors of the threads. Decorating the tassels with a crocheted cover was a nice idea, though, instead of making discs as in the previous bag.

The next challenge should be more advanced Irish crochet into something wearable. Or maybe I could improvise a yoke pattern into a shrug or bolero. I have lots of yoke patterns from The Priscila Yoke Book (1916), a book printed and trademark in the US but “copyright in Great Britain and the Colonies.” I suppose this means the book is actually an import from Great Britain, republished in the US under a trademark with the US Patent Office. Anyway, the book is downloadable through The Antique Pattern Library.

Writing down the pattern instructions is not easy, especially since I did not meticulously document each step of the crochet as I was working on the bag. I will try to be more organized next time.