For those of you out there who appreciate National Public Radio (NPR), and its affiliates as much as I do or who grew up on staples such as Sesame Street and Reading Rainbow, you should read up on the budget cuts underway this week. Yes, there's that old e-mail chain letter that has been going around for half of forerver that warns of this... this time it is for real. Read up on how this affects NPR here: NPR: CPB Budget Threatened, taken from www.npr.org. Here's the appropriate page on the PBS website. The funding cuts hurt children's television program most dramatically. These are really great shows... they deserve public funding and our support. If you feel the same, read up on the issue and make calls to your representatives (or e-mail... just get involved so our federal government knows NPR and PBS are too important to jilt financially). Thanks for your attention! Have a great week!

Let me just pause the usual programming and use this space to profess my pure and undying love for...
....mango.

I purchased four of these scumptious fruits this past Monday and must exclaim that they are simply one of the most delicious things I've ever had the pleasure to consume. For me, mangos reside at the highest rung of the yummy tastes scale: a perfect 10, the "I can't even bother to sit down to eat this because it just tastes so GooooooooD!" level, joined by the very best fatty tuna sashimi (ok it tastes better than it sounds for you sushi virgins still out there... the good stuff is melt in your mouth fish butter, I swear), and Macinaw Island Fudge. This level is followed very closely by the level that contains really great burritos (real cheese and avocados required), real German brats (w/mustard and sauerkraut) and Grandma's oatmeal & raisin cookies (for which I so lack self-control that I had to get help with the last batch before I made myself ill! Cookies probably shouldn't be breakfast, lunch AND dinner... just two of the three, right Dad!?). The next level is any dinner cooked by mom. ;) I can't wait to go home this summer!!

Back to the mangos-it took me one poor mango to figure out how to cut them without demolishing them into a sweet, yellow puddle but now I'm eating them the way I imagine the natives of some sunny, palm-tree studded island might: hacking peices off with a knife then alternatively slurping them off the knife or out of the skins, over the sink to catch the juice dripping off my elbows... with no pride (or apartmentmates) to keep me from licking my fingers (although I do stop at licking the cutting board).

I recommend you track a real mango down as soon as possible so you too can share this beautiful experience. Seriously, it is worth it.

yeah, it is rainy season here- so I'm finding my sun elsewhere. so there.

So I've been tied up with kiddie cold #3 for the year, but just wanted to update: Okinawa it is. Basically, when comparing flight schedules and considering time-to-be-spent-in-airports, Okinawa comes out way ahead on being able to maximize the time of a short vacation. We can fly in the morning and return at night, and use the domestic airport instead of Narita. So, we'll be hanging out in the jungle and diving into the sea at the end of the month. I'm psyched.

and honestly haven't anything else to share. hmmm... I must've gotten used to this country when I wasn't paying attention. I'll try to regain my foreigner perspective for future posts. ;) cheers!