viewed in wonderland: 2011, a year for revolutions?

I got a little inspired after watching this and decided to paint.  :)

Viewed in Wonderland: The beauty of adoption

I saw this video on rockstar diaries and had to share it.  Please take the time to watch it.


adopt rinah from VsTheBrain on Vimeo.

 My father was adopted and so was my uncle.  They were both born in Japan to parents who weren't ready for children.  Adoption is such a beautiful way to grow a family.  There are so many children growing up with out parents.  I think of all the love and support I receive from my family and I can't imagine being with out that.

I'm sending lots of prayers and love to this family.  Support adoption.

Life in Wonderland: 2010 - 2011

The New Year's celebrations are over and I'm finally finding some quiet time to sit and think about everything.  2010 was an eventful year.  While a spent a lot of time frustrated and angry last year, I also spent time learning, growing, and loving.  I learned to appreciate what I have  so much more.  I've made new friends, have spent time with old friends, and am still loving my besties as much as ever.  Allan and I have grown closer and have strengthened our relationship.  I've also spent more time with my mom in 2010.  I wish I spent more time with my brother and his beautiful family though.  I guess that's a goal for 2011.

This year will be a great one.  I'm sure of it.  I have a bunch of things I want to work on this year.  I have a few projects I want to work on that I'll be sharing as they materialize.  They aren't all that serious.  I want to actually learn how to play my bass, the one that is collecting dust.  I want to perfect my wonky latiya and learn a few more local dishes.  And the other projects I'll talk about later in the year.

The first 2 weeks of 2011 have gone by pretty fast.  Here's what I've been up to:

spent a lot of time with Al and his crazy friends

ate really awesome takoyaki - made with love by Al and Joel

went to an amazing poetry slam

had our first beach day of the year

<3 <3  -  <3 <3

allan and I got our hair cut - hello bangs!

Life in Wonderland: Heartbroken

I made the mistake of reading the local paper's online edition today.  I should have known better.  After reading the comments from the first article I clicked on, I found myself sad, frustrated, and disgusted.

War reparations removed: Senate takes out measure for war survivors

BY ERIN THOMPSON • PACIFIC DAILY NEWS • DECEMBER 23, 2010

Just 24 hours after being told she and other survivors of the Japanese occupation of Guam may finally receive war reparations, Rita Santos Cruz had to be informed that the war reparations provision had been rejected by U.S. senators.

To be honest with you, then if that is the case, then no buildup. Forget it," said the 73-year-old war survivor. "You know, the leaders of Guam better wake up, because we, the manamko', are not kidding them."

Language in the National Defense Authorization Act of 2011, passed by the House of Representatives last week, provided $100 million for Guam war reparations. The reparations plan provided $10,000 to $25,000 for victims of the occupation or the living relatives of those killed during the war, who could submit claims until 2016.

Guam Delegate Madeleine Bordallo had expressed optimism that the provision finally would be accepted when the Senate worked on a compromise defense authorization bill. But yesterday, Michigan Sen. Carl Levin announced that the language providing for the claims had been rejected by the Senate, according to Bordallo's office.

"I am extremely disappointed in the decision by Senate leaders to remove Guam War Claims from the compromise defense authorization bill," Bordallo said in a statement. "I will be meeting with House and Senate leaders tomorrow to discuss the way forward for this important legislation."

The Senate is currently considering an amended version of the defense authorization bill passed by the House of Representatives.

According to Bordallo's office, the Senate can pass the defense authorization bill only by unanimous consent. Because Senate leaders knew that several senators continued to object to the war claims language in the defense authorization bill, they made the decision to amend the bill and pass it without war claims.

As of yesterday afternoon, the bill had not been passed by unanimous consent in the Senate.

For advocates of war reparations on Guam, the decision is a blow to a decades-long fight to receive recognition and compensation for the suffering of those who survived the Japanese occupation.

"How many times do we have to go through this? How many more years? What is it going to take?" asked Sen. Frank Blas Jr. yesterday. "Are our people worth it?

The president of the Guam War Survivors Memorial Foundation, Blas has been pushing for the reparations through a traveling exhibit sharing the stories of survivors, as well as through a newly launched website,http://guamwarsurvivorstory.com.

"Obviously I'm disappointed," Blas said. "Greatly disappointed in the decision to remove what was supposed to be a compromise."

He said he was disappointed with the Democratic leadership in Washington, as well as with Bordallo's efforts.

He said even if Guam received funding from the federal government to support the buildup, it wouldn't compensate for the lack of funds for war survivors.

"In lieu of this, Guam is going to be receiving so many billions of dollars in construction money? Tell that to an 85-year-old war survivor who's not going to be around," said Blas.

Cruz, who was just 7 years old when the first bombs fell, said she watched Japanese soldiers brutally beat her pregnant mother during the occupation. Even though she was a little girl, the soldiers forced her to work.

She said that after years of pushing for reparations from the U.S. government, she was so frustrated she would even consider legal action to get reparations for the island's aging survivors.

"I'm getting pissed off already, because they are treating us like toys," she said.

Some of the comments:


chinpoko wrote:


Shouldn't we be getting war reparations from Japan? I mean they are the ones who committed the atrocities, not the U.S. Why does the U.S. have to pay for the crimes of the Japanese?

 I thought this way too, until one day I asked my dad this question.  He explained to me that our right to                     ask Japan for reparations was given away, not by us but by the U.S.  Japan was forgiven by the U.S. and we didn't have a say in it.


fiestaman wrote:

One would think that Guam would say to the USA:


THANK YOU FOR COMING TO OUR AID IN TIME OF NEED AND MAKING US A PART OF YOUR COUNTRY. (Thank you for ditching us and coming back after realizing you want need our land.  Thank you for bombing the crap out of our island without regard to the people who were loyal to your country even when they weren't citizens.  They didn't need homes after the war, since they had the U.S. flag to keep them warm and dry.)

THANK YOU FOR PROVIDING EVERY FAMILY ON GUAM EVERYTHING THEY NEEDED TO MAKE SOMETHING OF THEMSELVES.  (Thank you for taking our land and making us dependent on your "handouts."  Our island once provided every family on Guam everything they needed to make something of themselves and now every family relies on scraps from the U.S.)

THANK YOU FOR PROVIDING FOOD AND OTHER PROVISIONS WHEN THERE ARE NONE OTHERWISE. (see above comment)

THANK YOU FOR LIBERATING GUAM FROM JAPANESE OCCUPATION AND FROM THEIR TORTURE. (Thank you for reoccupying our island on a greater scale than before the Japanese occupation.  Thank you for being a gentler occupier.)

THANK YOU FOR FINANCING THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT OF GUAM SINCE THAT DAY. (really?)

THANK YOU FOR PROTECTING US FROM OTHER COUNTRIES THAT MIGHT WANT TO DO GUAM HARM. (Thank you for using our land to protect other countries.  Thank you for allowing us the opportunity to protect the rights and lives of real American citizens while Chamorro soldiers' families living on Guam are second class citizens made to feel like they owe their lives to the red, white, and blue.)

THANK YOU FOR PAYING MY PARENTS AND GRAND PARENTS SOCIAL SECURITY, RETIREMENT AND OTHER PAYMENTS THAT WOULDN'T COME FROM ANYWHERE ELSE. (hmmmm... don't we pay into that?!)

In other words, there is NO NEED for war reparations, because the USA has done this island RIGHT and CONTINUES TO DO SO. (Ignorance is bliss. If only were all so lucky, we'd all be fanatically patriotic.)


 TOMEGUNZ wrote


 I guess fiestaman is not from here! If that's what he thinks,then one would be "WRONG" ! The U.S. forgave Japan of their war crimes against the people of Guam & beause of that Japan is not liable for what they done to the people here during that time. We do Thank & Appreciate the U.S. for Coming to our aid, but they got what they came for & then some "PROPERTY"! The Chamorro people has lost in every way anyone can ever "LOSE"! I say,let them take back what they think their giving us,& give us back our "ISLAND"!

 albertfujmori2 wrote:


 guam generates its revenue from tourism.lease payments from the military is way to low.the kind of activites the united states conducts in this area,the local government should be collecting a couple billion annually for the privilge.(!!!) no sucessful organization would agree to the terms put forth by the united states.

Your being grossly underserved by the congressional representative and the rest of the local governments heiarchy.


the united states is in decline anyway,the asians will replace them as the dominate force in the world.perhaps its time to forming alliances with nations in the neighborhood like china,russia and the middle east. since albert enjoys the american holiday christmas,a gift for the PDN comment section. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-12059564

We deserve more from respect from the U.S. and from our own people. This Christmas I want Santa to bring us an island wide education campaign on our island's history and political status.  Then maybe next Christmas he can take that campaign to D.C.


To read the article and more of the comments go to:   http://www.guampdn.com/article/20101223/NEWS01/12230335/War-reparations-removed-Senate-takes-out-measure-for-war-survivors

Life in Wonderland: Support small businesses! #2

Life in Wonderland: Support small businesses!

This holiday season I want to try to support small businesses in my community.  Last night I went walking with a couple of friends and we stopped in to a little store.  Trick Stop is a small business in Tumon that sells all kinds of magic tricks and novelty gifts.

I want to make more of these little videos to share on my blog and Facebook to help our small businesses.

Viewed in Wonderland: One of the many reasons why Pagat is so important.

This was filmed at one of We are Guahan's Heritage Hikes.  I couldn't make it to the hike because I had to work.  I'm glad this footage was shared though.

Community in Wonderland: Programmatic Disagreement: pictures and video

Programmatic Agreement Open House from Andrea Nicole on Vimeo.

Viewed in Wonderland: The past is coming soon! Must See and must share!

I was really excited this morning when I logged on to You Tube. This clip is from a film that a friend is directing and producing.  It's a look back at our past and I think it is an amazing and important piece of work.  It uses local talent for the acting, filming, music, and even props and costumes.  I'm really excited to share it with you all.

If you watch it in full screen you'll be able to see the subtitles better.



Did you see the credits?  Both my brother and my boyfriend were in the film, but not in this scene.  And you probably didn't notice the Spaniard's costume much, but I sewed the burlap tunic and the pants.  :D

life in Wonderland

I haven't been super happy lately.  I have a lot that I want to blog about, but I've been distracting myself with lighter thoughts.  These thoughts come mostly in the form of shows on Hulu and random vids on You Tube.  What would I do with out those sites?  I'd probably be more productive.  I guess I just need to find a balance.  I'm not sure if that is actually possible.  I am a text book Gemini after all.

Oh well, with in the next few days I should be posting video and pictures of the Micronesian Islands Fair.

Life in Wonderland: wondering

I read an article, in the PDN, yesterday about the Independence Day celebration for Palau.  The President of Palau was on island for the local Palauan community's celebration.  He mentioned in the article that their sovereignty has allowed them the freedom "to adapt and enforce policies without a higher authority."  That sounds nice.  I wonder if the Palauan community, as well as the other peoples of other sovereign nations who have made Guam home, would support the Chamorro's quest for self determination.

Nations like Palau and the Philippines were once war prizes just like Guam, but now they are their own.  They reclaimed their sovereignty and dignity.  I wonder if they would stand in support of our decolonization if we asked it of them.

Community in Wonderland: rallying to realize our destiny

On October first, over 500 people got together at Adelup.  Rallies on our island are often associated with political parties.  This was different.  This was about coming together to say, the U.S. Department of Defense's record of decision will not determine our destiny.  They refused to hear us out.  They won't give us a voice in our own future?  Well this is our home.  And we are not going anywhere.  We will do everything in our power to make sure that the destiny we envision for our island will be realized. 


Our local media was present, but as usual they turned the story in to something else.  They made it seem like we are all completely anti military and want them all gone.  They took something that was beautiful and put it under dim lights with their biased reporting.  They helped to feed the fire in the nasty hearted people who comment on their articles.  I try not to care what they say anymore.

But the truth is that the rally was a positive event.  It gave people a place to share their dreams for our island.  It gave us a place to let out our frustrations about our DEIS/EIS comments being replied to with generic responses.  It was a place where generations of our people could share stories and laughter and hugs.  It was also about spreading awareness to those who wanted to know more about what is going on and the impacts the build up will have on us.  It was about giving the side of the story that our media often spins until it is unrecognizable.

Here are my highlights of the rally:

• There were so many families in attendance.  Many of them were young families who want to know that their children's future will not be narrated from the pages of the EIS.  I heard a young mother talking to her daughter in Chamorro and another mother making sure her two young sons understand why they were there.
• There were many students at the rally.  They were having conversations about their concerns regarding the build up.  They weren't just whining.  They were making very legitimate points.  I think it is great that they are conscious of what is happening around them, but at the same time I'm worried that we may have to do more to help these young adults cope with this. 
• There was a table where you could sign up with the Chamorro Registry.  This is awesome!!  So many people may want to do this, but don't know where to go and what is required.  
• There was a table where people could create their own signs.  This is a great outlet for our frustrations.
• There were fact sheets and fliers for upcoming events.

Community in Wonderland: Behind the scenes - the art from Realize Our Destiny

I put together this video using the pictures I took at our late night art sessions.

:(  I just realized that I misspelled organized in the credits. Oh well.  I'll fix it in the morning.  It's 3 a.m. here.