About Me
- About Me: These are my semi-private attempts to improve how I write. I am a merrow of everything and a master of none. Welcome to my island. The ocean beckons and the curlew calls. Please stay here as long as you wish.
More About Me
- Nicknames: Merrow Mistral
- Nationality: Filipino American
- Heroes: Mama and Lola
- Interests: Yoga, tai-chi, kayaking, reading cookbooks & non-fiction, blogging, dancing, hiking through national parks, training for a triathlon in the next two years, traveling, keeping in contact with my children, doing good one person at a time
- Expertise: I'm curious about everything and an expert in nothing.
- Occupation: Research and development
Books
- Favorite Books: Lord of the Rings, The Dark is Rising Series, Harry Potter, The Riddle of the Wren, the Bible
- Favorite Authors: JRR Tolkien, JK Rowling, Susan Coooper, Charles De Lint, Andre Norton, Anne McCaffrey, Orson Scott Card, Cynthia Voigt, William Goldman, Ray Bradbury, Robert Heinlein, Andrew Lang, Patricia McKillip, Hans Christian Andersen, Pablo Neruda, Phillip K. Dick On Xanga: Sisyphus75, jerjonji, brendaclews, trnunes, lionne, thenarrator, steveJ, mykiwhatzherface, darriane, onigiriman, soobee72, Daffodilious, efairy, leonidas, neuroticfitchmom, curmudge, savondujour, SuSu, morewherethatcamefrom, madhousewife, LordPineapple, swawg, james and Thyrio
- Favorite Genres: Fantasy, Science Fiction and Non Fiction
- Favorite Characters: Bilbo Frodo & Samwise, Buttercup & Westly, Merriman & Will Stanton, Harry Potter & friends
- Favorite Quotes: "Life isn't Fair!" from The Princess Bride by William Goldman
- Recent Reads: Most recent favorites 2006: How to be a Bad Bird Watcher by Simon Barnes, Feeding a Yen by Calvin Trillin, Eating Korean by Cecilia Hae Jin Lee, Love Signals by David Givens, The Stones are Hatching by Geraldine McCaughrean, Nine Parts of Desire--The Hidden World of Islamic Women by Geraldine Brooks, Not Buying it--A year without shopping by Judith Levine
Movies
- Favorite Movies: Before Sunrise, Before Sunset, Truly Madly Deeply, Good night & Good Luck, Kung Fu Hustle, House of Flying Daggers, Veer-Zaara, the Matrix trilogy, Lord of the Rings trilogy, Star Wars (all of them), Harry Potter series, My Fair Lady, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Blob (1958), Scenes from a Marriage/ Saraband, Eat Drink Man Woman, The Joy Luck Club, A Town Called Alice, On a Clear Day you can see Forever, Manon of the Spring, Schindler's List, The Sterile Cuckoo, Sometimes in April, Munich, Kill Bill I & II, Lost Boys, Salem's Lot, Death be Not Proud, Speed, Top Gun, Brokeback Mountain, Marnie, Giant, Princess Bride, The Color Purple
- Favorite Actors: Liv Ullman, Samuel Jackson, Angela Bassett, Judi Dench, Cate Blanchett, Sam Neill, Joaquin Phoenix, Julie Andrews, Michelle Yeoh
- Favorite Directors: Ang Lee, Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, Ingmar Bergman, Peter Jackson, Andy & Larry Wachowski, Alfred Hitchcock, Clint Eastwood, Ron Howard, M. Night Shyamalan
- Favorite Genre: Chick flicks, Comedies, Dramas, Foreign Films with subtitles, Horror
- Favorite Soundtracks: Goodnight & Goodluck with Dianne Reeves, Princess Bride
- Movie Quotes I say all the time: My name is inigo montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die!
- Movies I can watch over and over: Didn't I already answer this question?
- Actor that would play me in a movie: someone bubbly and passionate
Style
- Where I shop: everywhere and anywhere
- Brands I love: whatever fits me at any given time
- I like to wear: appropriate clothing
- Can't live without: air water food laughter and love
- Prized Possessions: I possess nothing that I can take with me when I die
- Guilty Pleasure: sex
Travel
- Places I love: Hilabaan island off the coast of Samar, the Portuguese sea coast, Oceanside CA, Catalina Island, Yosemite, the Kona side of Big Island, Vancouver,Toronto, Sedona, the Pyramid of the Sun and Moon, Shenandoah National Park
- Places I've been: Okinawa, Philippines, Spain, Portugal, Mexico, Hawaii, Canada, and many of the states in the contiguous US
- Places to see before I die: Antarctica, New Zealand, Tibet, China, Mt Kilimanjaro, Lake Victoria, Tabletop Mountain, Sugarloaf Mountain, Bariloche, interior of the Amazon, Iguazu Falls, Denali
- Dream Vacation: a Foodie adventure such as looking for the best pasty in michigan's upper peninsula by stopping at every place advertising for cornish pasties
Food
- Favorite Cuisine: Filipino, Vietnamese, Thai, Indian/Pakistani, Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Mexican, Turkish, Persian, Portuguese, Italian, Hawaiian, Cuban, French, American, Polish, Brazilian
- Favorite Dishes: Pancit, Lumpia, Cornish Pasties, French Onion Soup, Lobster Corn chowder, Lechon, Freshly caught fried fish, Rice, Beef Chow Fun with Chinese Broccoli, Samosas, Bengan Bharta, Chelo Kabab, Mit Banchan/bulgogi/japchae, Surf & Turf Burrito, Linguine with white clam sauce, calamari, rabo de res (toro), fried plantains, shrimp tempura, sushi, pho soup, kalua pork with cabbage, corned beef with cabbage, dimsum
- Favorite Desserts: apple pie, blueberry crepe ala mode, flan, tropical ice creams like mango/langka/ubi
- Favorite Drinks: Cafe con Leche, Taro Boba, Iced Coffee, Ruby Port & water
- Favorite Junk Foods: Carne Asada nachos with guacamole
- Best meal ever: Christmas Dinner with family 2005
- My Original Recipes: If I vary a recipe by adding something or varying the proportion, does that make it my own? In that case, I have a lot of original recipes but nothing outstanding comes to mind
- Favorite Restaurants: Fogo de Chao, Iberico/ Three Happiness (smaller)/ Double Happiness in Chicago, Colimas in Downtown Oceanside, Soo Won Galbi in Centerville VA, Gold Mountain in SF Chinatown, Pho Hoa Cali, Sam Woo Seafood in Irvine
- Foods I hate: Nothing comes to mind
Video Games
- Games I Play: Mario Brothers 1,2,3
- Consoles: eh? is this like SNES?
- Favorite Characters: Mario, Luigi, the Princess, Toad
- Gaming Alias: n/a
- Servers I Play On: n/a
- Favorite Classic Arcade Games: Mario Brothers
- Most Addictive: ditto
- Proudest Achievements: when I finally conquered the star world
- Favorite Soundtrack: whatever soundtrack mario brothers had
- Clans: okay...i admit, I never got past the Mario brothers games
Music
- Favorite Artists: Altan, Gypsy Kings, Joakin Bello, Bach, the young Bob Dylan, the Beatles, the young Elvis, Lorena McKennitt, Cat Stevens before he changed his name, Dire Straits, Barenaked Ladies, Natalie Merchant, Blues Traveler, Dianne Reeves
- Favorite Albums: American Pie, every Beatle album, and any songs by my favorite artists
- Favorite Genre: Rock, Folk, R&B, Fado, Flamenco, Classical, Nature Sounds
- Favorite Songs: Pachelbel Canon
- Favorite Lyrics: If I was john and you were yoko, I would gladly give up musical genius, Just to have you as my very own, personal venus. by Barenaked Ladies, "Be my Yoko Ono"
- Songs for Roadtrips: anything lively enough to keep me awake
- Songs I hate: RAP with a lot of swear words
- Guilty Pleasure: barbra streisand & roger whittaker
- Songs I repeat the most: Solo le pido a Dios, Girl from the North Country Fair, ashokan farewell
- Band I wish I was in: barenaked ladies
Television
- Favorite Shows: "24" and cold case
- Favorite Channels: Not Fox News
- Favorite Reruns: Kolchak- Night Stalker, Other Limits, Twilight Zone, Star Trek
- Most Addictive Show: "24"
- Favorite Late Night Talk Show: Jon Stewart
- Favorite Episode: Her Pilgrim Soul (Twilight Zone)
- Favorite Theme Song: M*A*S*H*
- Show I Secretly Watch: Starting Over
- Show I wished wasn't cancelled: Star Trek
merrow_mistral
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- Name: Merrow_Mistral
- Country: Portugal
- Metro: Lisbon
- Gender: Female
- Member Since: 6/19/2004
Chatboard (7)
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hey-thanks so much for telling me about the koreancooking Xanga! Very cool. I tried making the kimchi pasta and while I played around with the recipe, I would never have thought to make it without the site. :-) -
I just think it's funny that when I post to a messageboard, my name comes up as "Heywood"... -
As far as I can tell, the chatboards are sort of like a "by invitation only" message board? I didn't even know there was a new feature!
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Hi Merrow, thanks for the invite! I am more than ready to give this a try--things have been a little stale lately! How's your new adventure shaping up? -
i protected everything about family and decided to let them do as they please- at least for now! no predicting what they'll do next tho. i'm just trying to remain balanced! -
this is my first chatboard response...not knowing what's all these new xanga doodads is all about...whatever happened to the comments left on comments or right under profile...was that "album"? now will this comment show up for other readers to see? Once I accept a friend's invitation, do I stil -
i am hoping that is true. i've worked hard at being fair. maybe it was more interesting than reading law briefs all day! :)
Memories (0)