June 2004 Archives

Kauai- Or How To Have a Great Weekend With Your Baby

If you've never been to Kauai, all I can say is this: Go to Kauai. It will change you. Or at least change your expectations of beauty. Oh, and I guess I should also say this: When you go to Kauai, bring lots of compact flash cards. You'll take hundreds of pictures. And occasionally you'll get one that looks like this...

Boo Story

I wen come home from work tired kine. I wen turn on da tv just fo make noise, an den I wen crash on da couch. Da Oprah show stay on da tv. Eh, I no watch dat kine, but I tired fo get up fo grab da clicka an change da channel.

I wen close my eyes fo go moi moi, but I no can sleep cuz I stay hearing Oprah talking story. Da topic was communicating wit da loved one dat wen die.

On da stage, had four peoples dat each wen lose one family membah. Had one dentist, one high school teacha, one lawyah, an one cop. At first I wen tink, nah, dis not fo real kine. But den I figah why dey going lie about someting lidat fo?

Bus drivers are overpaid sloths who have no remorse

I wish I were making this up.

Bus drivers, if you'll recall, are those elitist creatures operating the city's oh-so-not-reliable public transit system. They're the ones who are quick to halt you from bringing a small, covered refreshment onto their charriot -- this is because they know they will speed unecessarily, causing you to spill it. They're not taking the rap for your clumsy fingers, you fool. They don't want to risk their chances of being awarded Operator of the Quarter and winning a trip to Vegas -- because we all know that's the only reason they treat us nice ocassionally.

Oh, where have all the sidewalks gone?

It's only been a few months since I've officially set up shop here, but I already have a gripe/observation. Where are the sidewalks in Makiki?

Je Ne Regrette Rien

Well, of course he is using me! To do otherwise would be stupid, and the Sleeptalker is definitely not stupid. Yes, as one reader pointed out, he knows your payday is Third Wednesday, so he showed up the Thursday afterwards, knowing you'd be happy to see him after his absence and knowing he'd have the birthday as extra leverage.

Well, of course.

Care Packages

I've learned that there's a fine art to preparing a care package -- especially one that is going overseas through military channels.

There's a great deal preparation that goes into it. Boxing, packaging, ziplocking, bubble wrapping, and taping... lots and lots of tape. My boxes often look as though the entire surface of the box has been laminated. I take pride in doing everything I can to ensure that my package gets to Hubby with its precious cargo in tact.

Mainland Passenger Boarding

I want to go home because I miss my family, and I want them to share in the experience of raising my baby, Beckett. But I'm selfish, and I want to stay in Hawaii where it's beautiful, and easy, and people still let you in when you put on your blinker to change lanes. Every time I think about leaving these islands, I can feel the tears filling up my eyes, and I have to choke back the desire to cry. I feel like my heart is breaking when I imagine myself as a visitor instead of as a part of this place.

Dress Up

Last night at Macy's, in the teen girls department, Naomi and I flipped through a motley assortment of dresses marked down two, three, and sometimes four times. The splashes of color were outrageous - large red flowers with heavy black outlines, pink ribbons for straps, cartoon characters over bright yellow on a tea-length skirt. Under the cheap fluorescent lighting in the grundge-style fitting room, Naomi slipped into each outfit, and with childlike happiness she stepped toward and away from the mirror, turning different ways.

Good Experiences

I don’t like quitting and definitely don’t want to make a habit of it, but I dunno, this one just didn’t sit well. And I sit here extremely guilty, but also relieved that I am out of the situation and that there is someone more equipped to teach this class than I was. I think I was starting to get through to them though. By Friday I just had to give one look and things would settle down. The swearing was down to a minimum too and at least no one was throwing anything at me.

Who Are You?

Is nobody excited about the announcement that legendary English rock band The Who are scheduled to play the Blaisdell Arena on August 3? The Advertiser had a write up on the show.

The original lineup is down to Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey. (Original drummer Keith Moon died in the early 70's and bassist John Entwistle died more recently.) The current touring lineup includes Zak Starkey, son of ex-Beatle Ringo Starr, on drums and Pete's brother, Simon Townshend, on rhythm guitar, among others.

How Now, HawaiiStories?

What has HawaiiStories done for you lately? What do you love, and what needs work? Are things as they should be? Do we need more fresh faces? Do we need a new direction? While our family continues to grow, things are sometimes slow. And with some of the talkstory spirit spreading to sister site HawaiiThreads.com, it can't hurt to ask, "What's next?"

Meet the new boss, same as the old boss!

I had a really interesting Instant Message chat with a friend inside the hallowed walls of the Honolulu Star-Bulletin today.

Seems a long-time Honolulu Advertiser executive suddenly defected to the Honolulu Star-Bulletin to assume the role of president and publisher of "the other guys." And he took another of his highly-placed buddies with him!

The IM chat session (read more) includes the text of the email that Advertiser publisher Mike Fisch sent to his staff on learning of the defections.

The Star-Bulletin site has a very short piece in the Breaking News section. I'm sure tomorrow's paper will have a bit more. Enjoy!