deniro, my superstar cat

seen on the pages of apartmenttherapy.com is my supercute kitty, deniro. he's the spokespet for a pet decor contest the site is running...if you or anyone has got cool pet digs, enter at the link.

another obsession

good friend and tastemaker gregory sent this link, and i'm now a big fan.

my recent obsession

sad to say, this to see what i've been up to at work. this is what happens when you work in 'tween music.

what's become of me. i think i was cool once. not anymore!!! ha ha ha. have a good laugh.

Goal!!!

Another shot of the recipients of John's "Soccer Balls Around the World" project. Larbanga, Northern Ghana. 

Larabanga Village Kids

John just got a letter in the mail from the teacher we met on our February trip to Ghana. Obusco sent along photos of the kids wearing the t-shirts we sent. One of the kids is holding the soccer ball, in the middle.

He was part of a teaching program that re-integrated kids who had never been in a classroom with English classes so they could start at the official school. Obusco was nice enough to invite us into his classroom. We sat at the desks with the kids in that hot classroom, and we became part of the English lesson. "Nice to meet you, my name is ..." and back and forth. The kids were adorable, and they broke my heart. We wanted to stay longer, but class was getting out and I was getting so hot in that room. But it was good to see what a rural village classroom was like--they didn't have much in the way of school supplies or paper or books. Most of the parents of these kids kept them from going to school and now they were behind. In Obusco's letter, he proudly states that about 50 kids would start at the regular school in August. Calling us the 'mother and father' of the school, he also said that we were the only foreigners to visit the kids at school and that we were the only ones to help sponsor them. That really affected me and made me believe that every little bit helps. Even some school kids in some way-off village in Northern Ghana, in Sub-Saharan Africa. You'd like to believe that somehow it can make a difference in this vast world. And perhaps it did, judging by that letter. We're no Bill and Melinda Gates here, but that care package, which I had thought wouldn't amount to much, with its t-shirts, school supplies, and the soccer balls, did somehow get halfway around the world and it did land, and these kids are somehow benefitting. It somehow takes the edge off the feeling that one gets that the world's problems are immense and the overwhelming 'what can I do' conundrum, every time I read about drought, poverty, civil wars, strife in the news. I'm somehow heartened by the fact that if people need help, one needen't turn a blind eye.

I'm glad we did it and in the future, I'd like to visit the kids again one day. They were truly precious. A big thanks to everyone who participated in John's "Soccer Balls Around the World" t-shirt project: Diana and Sarah (Caro Marketing and Gotcha). Fashionistas unite!

weekender: san fran!

this weekend, we're headed off to that misty, romantic, rolling city on the tip of the bay, san francisco. we'll be traversing the entire span of the city, john and i, as we'll be walking/jogging/running/panting for 'bay to breakers': the yearly amped-up costume party cum walkathon/fun run. i love the city. it's more of a glorified theme park at times, but i do feel that it's a great place to absorb city life in california, as los angeles doesn't have those intimate, intricate, charms of a european city that san francisco definitely has.

Dreams
i had a dream about sophia, john's dog, last night. it was a happy dream. dreammoods.com:

Dog To see a dog in your dream, indicate a skill that you have ignored or forgotten, but needs to be activated. Alternatively, dogs may symbolize intuition, loyalty, generosity, protection, and fidelity. Your own values and intentions will enable you to go forward in the world and succeed. Also consider common notions associated with the word dog, such as loyalty ("man's best friend") and to be "treated like a dog". To see a happily barking dog in your dream, symbolizes pleasures and much social activity.

French Potluck

French Potluck
Originally uploaded by TypeFiend.

we potlucked a la francaise at gregory and emily's house: all sorts of frenchified eats like kathy's salade nicoise, my ralphs'-store-bought rotisserie chicken aux herbes de provence; vichysoisse a la wing; min's cannellini beans with duck sausage, emily's tarte tatin (photo) and lots of happy relaxed people gathering for sunday dinner.

In L.A. Step 1: Visit a West African Restaurant

i found a restaurant on Wilshire boulevard, practically in our backyard, called Ngoma in the mid-wilshire district. first step is to head on over there to eat fufu, a mallet-pounded plantain mush and Ghanain staple.

i'm sure we won't have to pound it ourselves at Ngoma (as depicted in the picture of Ghanaians hard at work bringin home the fufu, at left), but i haven't been, so we'll find out.

i've also started reading this one guy's blog; he's living in ghana working for an NGO, doing humanitarian farm aid work. it's pretty interesting to read his posts, which aren't frequent, but i'd have to say, i'm not really looking forward to killing my own chickens for dinner. it's also harrowing when you consider ghana is one of the poorest countries on earth and for this guy named douglas, who's originally from so. cal like us, he's been confronting some strange customs and beliefs, especially of the mythic kind. the ghanaians he talks to believe in ghosts and spirits, and these supernatural beliefs and superstitions seem to rule their every day lives.

Ghana!!!

john and i will be in ghana come february, so i've created this blog to record our trip. we'll also attempt to update from the road if dsl and internet connections avail themselves in sub-saharan africa.... we'll see. here's our partial preparations checklist, so far: vaccinations for yellow fever, malaria, disco fever.....(for John!), tickets, check, passports, check. All we need to do is read up on west africa. That and learn to eat with our fingers.