15 February 2010

 

Red Bean Mochi: $7

One of the things I really, really miss about my apartment in Logan Square was that is was a short bike ride up Kimball to the magical Asian food mart, Chicago Foods.  I got turned on to lots of foods that I have no idea what they're called, due to the fact that like 80% of the signage was in a language that wasn't English. They had the cheapest tofu in town, the best heat n' eat udon soup mixes, and a whole freezer case full of dumplings and potstickers, and these magical treats, mochi. They're rice dough wrapped around sweet red bean paste, and although I'd best describe their texture as maybe what biting into a zombie might feel like, they're fantastically delicious. And I can't seem to find anything remotely like them in Mexico.

14 February 2010

Monster Farting Love Facebook "gift": $2

So it was my friend Shoshanna's birthday, and I was writing her a long-distance facebook birthday message, because despite the fact that we've celebrated a decade of birthdays at a grand combined bash over the years, we haven't managed to be in same country for our birthdays in the last 4. When I saw that facebook was offering this beauty as an add-on to my birthday wishes, I thought nothing would better express my loving and frustrated sentiments about us celebrating our birthdays in separate locales yet again. And then facebook wanted me to give them actual money to send a virtual gift. And I told facebook to shove it. 

Happy birthdays to us, Shosh!

13 February 2010

Box of Cinnamon Life: $5

 

Man, oh, man, I am behind in my drawings. Partially due to some action-packed weekends, having my birthday, having smog throat (tm), and being on the verge of starting a new quarter at school. Excuses - BAH. I'm pretty sure a groovy, 70s-style box (just like my ancient self remembers them) of Cinnamon Life could help me power through all my troubles.

11 February 2010

Cadbury Creme Egg: 89 cents each

Today while eating a piece of Dove Revitalize, some sort of dark, miracle vitamin-laden chocolate (god bless the Mexican dollar store and the dark-chocolate treasures hidden within), I received the fortune "Enjoy the small things in life that bring you joy". For me, Cadbury Creme Eggs are those small things, and I believe that the passing of Mardi Gras brings open season on joy. Sadly, I'm on the wrong side of the Rio Grande to get in on the happiness. Geography can't stop the fact, though, that I have the best grandma in the universe, who always buys me a few boxes and socks them away in her freezer until the next time she sees me.

10 February 2010

Banjo: $150

I've always loved the sound of the banjo, probably from listening to my Muppet Movie record too many times as a kid. The Rainbow Connection still makes me tear up more often than not. Anyhoo, I'd love to get me a banjo, take some classes, and go on a world busking banjo tour.

9 February 2010

Pee-Wee Abstinence Ring: $20

It's possible that one might need to be, well, abstinent to think about wearing an abstinence ring, but I think I'm pure enough in heart for Pee-Wee to approve. And the fact that it's pewter with Swarovski Crystals (whatever those may be)? Just icing on the cake, baby.

8 February 2010

Weird Little Rubbery Chicken: $10 pesos

One of the glories of Mexico is that anything you'll possibly need, or could never even conceive of a notion of needing, will find it's way to you with little or no effort on your part. You can sit in your house, and a guy carrying two 12-foot ladders will walk past. "Hey, buddy, need a ladder?" Or sit in your car at a light in Guadalajara, and you'll have the option of getting your windows washed, recharging the balance on your cell phone, buying communion wafer scraps for snacking, a bottle of water to wash them down, and maybe getting your hands on a mini-punching bag and gloves to get your 3 year-old off to a good start. Among other possibilities. 

So it didn't surprise me even a little when, while sitting on the beach, a guy walks us to us with a rack of these totally bizarre little jiggly rubber chickens for sale. Not your typical rubber chicken, but his much smaller and squishier cousin. I'm thinking, "Of course! The only thing lacking from my current beach experience is some tiny poultry!" Except for, of course, my wallet, which was in the car.

7 February 2010

 

Bike Gear Clock: $39

We have a bit of a curse of the clocks right now; out of the 5 clocks we've got at the school, we can only manage to keep two of them keeping something approximating the correct time, vigilant battery recharging and changing be damned. Add to that the still lucky kitty clock at the house, plus 4 or 5 of Luis' watches with kaput batteries, and we've got a downright epidemic. I'm thinking maybe the whole buying-clocks-from-the-dollar-store- (well, the 12 peso store) strategy might need to be rethunk.  This clock would sure be a nice start.

6 February 2010

Soy Milk Creamer: $2.50

I miss normal soy milk. Mexican soy milk is all bizarre and fruit flavored and doesn't quite do it for me. 

Non-Purchase Victories!

It was not my intention at all, but this blog has helped me rack up some victories in wanting stuff, not buying it, and getting it anyway. Miraculous! I just got a big fatty birthday package from my Dad and his wife, brimming with monkey slippers (3 pairs! 2 models! Holy lifetime supply of monkey-laden feet, Batman!), tea, and natural peanut butter. And I've been promised the use of A People's History (RIP Mr. Zinn) the next time I'm in Chicago. So look at all that stuff that I can enjoy yet I didn't have to buy! The power of positive drawing?

Update- More tea! From Everman, the source of my love of Genmaicha. Thanks, Everman! 

5 February 2010

Cool Book: $16.50 (on sale at Amazon even!)

Run around the world taking pictures and writing about ingenious examples of recycled crafts? And then sell it as a slick-looking book? Why have I not done this already? Ah well, I'll just want the book.

4 February 2010

Creepily Named Yet Incredibly Effective Hand Cream: $5

I first found this stuff while I was bartending, and other than skeeving out my managers, it did a damn fine job of keeping my angry and constantly submerged hands relatively soft and happy. I don't know if that testifies to its work with udders, but you all can check that out for yourselves.

3 February 2010

 

Bubble Tea: $4

Given the opportunity, I might just trade my pinky toe for a bubble tea right now.

2 February 2010

 

Bottle of Decent Gin: $26

Once, while attempting to feign classiness in a Vegas club during a bachelorette weekend (for reals) I ordered a Sapphire and tonic, and it set me back eleven dollars.  I've been a little gun-shy around it since then, but it sure would be a nice alternative to the only gin in Z-town, El Oso Negro. 

1 February 2010

 

Spiral Shell Ring: $30

This is a ring that I've seen, contemplated, and ultimately passed up at many a craft fair. Now I'm nostalgic for the days of even thinking about dropping thirty bones on one ring.

31 January 2010

 

Space Heater: $90

I think I did a quick and dirty job on this here drawing because my subconscious just won't let me spend time and care on a space heater in - god help us - Mexico. There's a cyclone in town, which means rain for a few days, which I actually dig, on account of the fact we're not due for any for another six months or so, but also means that there's no sun to warm us up, and leads me to sleep in long underwear with four blankets on the bed. Unacceptable.

30 January 2010

 3-D Movie Viewing Experience: $5

The vast majority of movies here are shown in the theater in English, with Spanish subtitles, with two main exceptions: cartoons and gigantic blockbusters. The idea being that we shouldn't be holding the children or the unwashed masses to read for 2 hours. Which I get. Even then, with the blockbusters, you can usually find a special showing in English, just not on the most gigantic screen in the theater. So everybody wins, right? Here's the quandary: movies that have 3D showings. Can you even work subtitles in 3D? Or would that just freak everybody's shit out too much? I think the folks in the anti-dubbed-movies camp might just be hosed. And I'll remain the last person in the universe who hasn't seen Avatar. I think I'll be okay.

29 January 2010

 

Headphones: $50

Sometimes, while trying to concentrate at an English school while some particularly rambunctious kids classes are being taught, headphones are necessary. And sometimes, when you have tiny ears like I do, you can only work the earbuds for so long before you start to feel phantom earbuds in your tiny ears all day long. So I think a big fatty gangsta pair would be ideal.

28 January 2010

 

Lucky Kitty: $1 - $200

I've always been intrigued by Lucky Kitty. He graces my wall in a no-longer-functioning clock form, and I used to have a wee gold version of him blocking the check engine light my old car. I had a bobble-headed version of him from Hawaii, too, but he jumped off the bookshelf a few months back. I'm not sure how that effects my overall luck, but would really like a new one just to be on the safe side.

27 January 2010

Natural Crunchy Peanut Butter: $4.50

This is another product that falls into the "Not Buying Because It Costs Too Much To Fly It Down To Mexico" category. Mexicans: not so big on the peanut butter. The first time Luis ate a PBJ that I made for him, he was all "Eh. I'd maybe eat that for dessert." Which is to say that the peanut butter selection down by us leaves a bit to be desired. Especially if you're not into Skippy creamy. But I take what I can get here (hey, a girl has got to make spicy peanut sauce with something), and think wistful thoughts about mixing the oil and nut strata together with a big knife.

26 January 2010

Volleyball: $25

I had an old and slightly crusty volleyball that I dutifully took with me to my rec league matches in Chicago, but it didn't manage to make the move with me down here. And for being a smallish rural Mexican town, Zacoalco has a fair amount of pretty good pick-up volleyball. With old and slightly crusty volleyballs. I think a new one would be a big hit.

25 January 2010

Prismacolor Markers: $3.99/ea.

These are some nice markers that I've used for programs I've taught before, but I'm not so excited about the exchange of my first-born child for one of their 144-marker sets.

24 January 2010

Huichol Yarn Painting: $20

This is one of those things that I have a really hard time not buying. I start thinking "Come on, twenty dollars? Can you imagine what that would go for in the states?!", and soon enough, I'm all in my head in my quaint little import store/cafe, trotting around the globe in search of more tastefully crafted artesenias to sell while spinning yarns over cups of steaming hot chocolate, and then the screeching kindergarteners show up again.

23 January 2010

Vans slip-ons: $32

So I'm imagining that in normal peoples' adult lives, one develops some sort of self-censorship that keeps one from really wanting to buy slip-on tennies adorned with multi-colored wee robots clearly designed for the under-12 crowd (as evidenced by the fact that I found them in the "Vans' Girls" section of the website). I, on the other hand, need to rely on the fact that women's shoes simply do not exist in my size at the markets here to keep me from owning and proudly wearing a pair of these.

22 January 2010

Slurpee: $1.79

I remember when I first got to Guadalajara, I was overjoyed to see 7-11s gracing the downtown corners, purely at the prospect of having a Slurpee source in a then-sweltering foreign land. Slurpees have always been a source of instant joy for me, and I still haven't found anything quite as refreshing as drinking a cold slurpee in a hot shower after a few sweaty hours at a volleyball tournament. Imagine my horror, then, when I first whooshed through the swinging doors, heading towards where my instincts told me would be the beverage corner, and found nothing. Not a Big Gulp, not a spoon straw to be found. How, HOW, do you have 7-11s but no Slurpees? Ah, Mexico, how much you have yet to learn.

21 January 2010

Bag of Ricola: $3

My throat has been angry for the last few weeks, and it hasn't been helped by the fact that I have a daily hour-long session of, shall we call them, very enthusiastic kindergarteners, and also the antibiotics I've been taking have been thwarted by periodic indulgence in red wine.

20 January 2010

 

Hot Shoes: $65

Most of the dudes I know have told me that these are hideous, and they're somewhat ominously named "Hobbit", but I still think that these are some rockin bootie-thingies. I would wear them with pride. Take that, men folk.

19 January 2010

A Dozen Hot Donuts Now: $6

Mmmmmm....... Donuts. As many of my friends and family have heard, when I die I'd like to be cremated, and have my ashes scattered in the glazing machine at the local Krispy Kreme.

18 January 2010

Donation to Doctors Without Borders

It's strange to me that one of the more poignant feelings of wanting came to me not while salivating over the thought of a tasty beer, or imagining myself in a cozy new sweater, but while listening to a podcast about relief workers pulling the wounded out of collapsed buildings in Port-au-Prince. I want to go and help, to be of use, but short of that, I want to whip out my checkbook and send one of the dozen worthy causes a big chunk of money to help somebody out. And I just don't have it. So instead I'm spending time with the idea, thinking how to raise some money here at the English school, and sending all the good and hopeful thoughts I can in Haiti's direction. And appreciating the life I've still got.

17 January 2010

Replacement Sock Monkey Slippers: $15

I bought these the first time around last winter at Target, and wore them so much so quickly, that I've worn big holes in the heels, where the sad little foam inside is sticking out, and I feel any tiny pebble I might be unfortunate enough to step on. Need! New! Monkey! Slippers!  But not happening soon.

16 January 2010

Subscription: $19.99/year 

(+ shipping to Mexico: ?)

I like this magazine. A lot. They show you all kinds of fun projects, how to make old stuff into new, cooler stuff, like record albums into fruit bowls, and old sweaters into blankets. I'm still kicking myself for not making the magazine myself first, but what can you do? Besides not buy a subscription.