Wabi Sabi

The days slow down as Holy Week moves in so I'm in for some reminiscing. Are you old enough to remember or love Moby like I do? Rumpus columnist Rick Moody recently talked to him about his wild collection of drum machines. Makes one of the most interesting interviews, ever. In relation to his somewhat arcane obsession, Moby explained the Japanese concept of wabi sabi in the coolest way. A very cool read in it's entirety, actually. It also stirred up memories that made me blog today.

And what's a Moby post without a Moby song? Porcelain means so much to me, not just because it's an awesome piece of music, but because sometime in the year 2000, right after getting married, my then-new-husband and I spent time in Palawan in a cottage by the sea with the most soul-stirring view of the sunset. That sunset view was enhanced and made doubly-stirring by that song. Here's that view unearthed from a non-digital album...

Palawan 2000 sunset + Moby's Porcelain = Perfect Moment

Way back then we were younger and playing Moby on the Discman.

Oh and, it's not that I was too lazy to embed Porcelain in this post. I couldn't because the record-company-gods won't allow it. Whatever. Moby has many songs to love so let's listen to another one here. That one is to share with the kiddos who go for danceable beats. I think they'll like it.

Random Cuteness

The Rumpus publishes these extraordinary mini interviews of ordinary people--like a cab driver in Syria or someone's brother who happens to have both autism and schizoaffective disorder. It's an idea that is brilliant in its simplicity. As they solicited for more of these interviews under 600 words, they explained "we like to hear from your friend with a Neil Diamond obsession, your neighbor fawning over his pet ferret, your best friend’s mom; the random nooks and crannies of planet earth."

Here's something from our random nook and cranny. Inspired by those mini interviews, I thought... we capture our kids' moments-in-time with pictures, why not capture them in words? So here are my kids randomly interviewed by me at age 5 and 7.

Just a matching Totally Random Video made months ago.

Cheese! from Nikka Santos on Vimeo.

What's good about being a kid?

Chicha: It's soooo nice when kids go inside a pretend house in the playground to fit inside the small door.

Bear: Practice writing and toys.

Did you say practice writing just to impress me?

Bear: No. I really do!

What is your favorite toy?

Bear: LEGO, because I like to build.

Chicha: Piny Pon because I love to change clothes. I like Barbie too because I can change her clothes.

What's the worst part of being a kid?

Bear: All the homework.

Chicha: Smoking is bad for kids.

How old are you?

Chicha: Five

Bear: You know. Seven.

How old am I?

Bear: 35? 30-something. I forgot.

How about Daddy?

Chicha: [Giggling] 85!

Bear: [Catching the giggles] He's 85 and getting flabby here [pointing to tummy and laughing even more].

Picture taken by her brother.

What do you think you'll be at my age?

Chicha: Teacher.

Why do you want to become a teacher?

Chicha: I want to take care of kids and make them learn.

Bear to Chicha: You have to be patient.

And you, [Bear]?

Bear: LEGO designer. Because you get to work the whole day. I love LEGO. It has been named the most popular toy in the world. Twice! The first time I got it, I liked it.

Do you like grownups?

Bear: A little bit. Oh, I mean half and half.

Explain what you mean.

Bear: Some I like, some I don't.

Chicha: I don't like the manong that calls me cute.

Bear: That's a good thing Patris.

Chicha: I don't like it.

Bear: You don't like compliments!? I like directors.

You mean… movie directors?

Bear: Yeah. Because the movies I like may be theirs. Like RPG Metanoia and Despicable Me.

Chicha: I love mommy and daddy. I don't like robbers! I don't want them to get my toys.

More silliness with the camera.

Do you like school?

Chicha: I like school very much because I like teacher Icca, Nissa, Teacher Mark... [names so many other teachers it will eat up too much of our 600 words]

Bear: Yeah, because I get to do fun stuff with my classmates.

What's fun to do in your school?

Bear: Math games and outdoors.

How can they make school better?

Bear: Everything has to be fun while learning. Like Math olympics and stuff and the multiplication race.

So you like math. How about Reader's Workshop? Or Writer's Workshop?

Bear: I love Reader's a little bit, Writer's a lot. It's like I'm practicing my writing and I need to practice. Reader's is okay, but I already know how to read. I like comics! Tintin is the best. I have to poo. Make [Chicha] answer those questions.

Do you like books or comics?

Chicha: I like to draw.

Why?

It's fun to make lots of art.

So you're an artist...

No. I'm a learning artist.

And that ends that Mini Interview. Wondering how they'll react to this one day...