Sarah Palin, Speech Writer, Ghost Writer and Mushrooms

Dear mouse,

Sarah Palin’s speech at the convention was met with applause especially when she attacked Obama. Bravo. Bravo for the speech writer. Don’t mind me. I always admire the Speaker erm the speech writer. Not necessarily political speech like Palin’s. It is the same way I admire the ghost writers of celebrities who make even dumb ones appear scholarly.

Well of course, a speech becomes boring when the speaker is not a good one in elocution. So we also have coaches for the candidates. That’s the reason why I love the movie Miss Congeniality.

And now for the main feature…

I was taking the picture of a squirrel which hid behind the tree before I could shoot and so it is these fungi which appeared in the photo.

It reminds me when I was a kid . My playmates and I would look for these “umbrellas” of elves. The one in the picture is a type of common lawn, wild mushrooms that grow at the base of trees which we thought came from thunder and lightning. But of course silly, they appear after the rain because they sprout after the wood, grass, soil are drenched with rain water. This is not edible but there are varieties which are not poisonous like chicken mushroom and maitake. In our language, it is called Kurapding. They’re wild unlike the commercial mushrooms that my former client grew from sawdust in Bulacan.

When we were starting the project, we went to Tagaytay, a highland in Luzon which weather is much like that in San Francisco during fall. There is a specialty restaurant which served mushroom burger grown in their farm at the back of the eatery. Instead of sawdust, they were using different breeding materials. I wonder if it is still around.

Anyway, when I became a vegan, I substituted mushroom for meat. It tastes good. My classmates talked about a species called blue mushroom. According to them, it gives hallucinatory effects. I have not seen one because they could not persuade me to go to the beach resort where these fungi abound.

Currently, many species of mushrooms and fungi are used in folk medicine. Medical researchers are conducting intense study for those who have potential anti-cancer, anti-viral, or immunity-enhancing properties. Maitake, shiitake, chaga, and reishi are prominent among those being researched for their potential. Psilocybin, originally an extract of certain psychedelic mushrooms, is being studied for its ability to help people suffering from mental disease, such as obsessive-compulsive disorder.

What you say?

The Ca t