Living It Up to Remember the Dead

Todos los santos, araw ng patay, undas. However you call the day of memorializing the dead, it all leads to the same thing in the Philippines -- a celebration that brings clans together, involves tons of food and transforms cemeteries into party sites, candies and costumes be damned. Ghoulish? No, it's like Christmas in November, just without the gifts.

Positively Filipino Contributing Writer and food expert Elizabeth Ann Quirino remembers the November 1 practices of her childhood and tries to recapture the celebratory feeling with Asian Fried Noodles, our Happy Home Cook recipe this week. We hope you enjoy it, even if, for you, the memory it brings forth may be different.

All Souls' Day won't be complete, however, without the requisite scare so here are some Read Agains both from contributor Alex G. Paman, in keeping with the, uhm, spirit: 

The Vanishing Hitchhiker, The White Lady And Hauntings Across The Seas

Some Things Wicked This Way Come

Another of our Contributing Writers Myles A. Garcia comes up with "Six Profiles -- Five in Valor, One in Villainy," an interesting piece about lesser known heroes and non-heroes in our history.

New York-based artist Lenore RS Lim's layered life is the subject of Serina Aidasani's feature story this week.

And the scourge of lupus, the degenerative and often misdiagnosed disease that disproportionately affects women and communities of color, is discussed by Rene M. Astudillo, formerly of the Lupus Foundation in California. Astudillo puts a Filipino face to lupus as he introduces Christine Von Raesfeld, who opens up about her battle against the pain and stigma of the ailment. 

For our Video of the Week, CNN's report on "the dramatic shift in Asian-American votes," shared by the National Asian American Survey.