INFINITY.

Our daily conversations involve several moments of hearty, side pain laughter! At times the topic doesn’t matter, we’ll laugh at one of my guffaws or a play on words from Lilinoe; and always something one of the children has either said or done. Lately, we’ve been having impromptu “family talent shows” that will have all of us proudly LOLing.

Early in our discovery Lilinoe gave me the label of “Funniest Person Ever.” Well, maybe I had to coax it out of her, but over the last few years I have lived up to my title. The same with my blogs, I don’t think I’ll ever earn a penny with my humor, but it’s a key ingredient in the harmony of our household, and therefore has heavy value.

The sound of Lilinoe’s hearty laughter, the giggles of Jayden, the loud chuckle of Maiyah or the burst of “ha, ha’s” from Chelsea are infectious, and most importantly soothing.

The ability for us to laugh at our shortcomings, individually and collectively has created an environment of forgiveness; strengthened our family and keep the endorphins flowing through all of our souls.

It’s just another ingredient of life that we cannot live without.

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Back in April of this year, my parents displayed a class act of generosity and purchased a dozen tickets to the Lion King Broadway Musical. The month’s leading up to our scheduled October 13th performance were inundated with numerous inquiries from the children confirming, “Are we going to Lion King?” With every promotional commercial we viewed, the anxiety built more intense. My Mom declared that Maiyah just plain gave up and decided that she wasn’t actually going. And, my sister prepared her 2 year old with a DVD of the animated movie but Taimane opted for “Shrek” instead!

On the day of our performance, my sister and her brood of three (soon to be four) flew in from Maui. In the morning she made her usual stops to the Aloha Stadium Swap Meet and Pearlridge Shopping Center. We did our Saturday morning routine of hula practice in Nu’uanu and eventually all met up at Camilia’s Buffet in McCully. The buffet was so filling that my family and I headed home for an afternoon nap, while the Mauians headed to Kahala Mall to drool at the Apple store and purchase an iPod.

An economical family; we dined on manapua, pork hash, rice cake and passion orange juice in the parking lot of the Neal Blaisdell Center before making our way to the Concert Hall. The night air was absolutely muggy making it even more of a point to get indoors. The crowds were dressed in evening wear, both in the formal and ‘local’ formal sense, which meant Aloha attire permitted. Before heading to our seats we were confronted with a wonderful display of souvenirs of t-shirts, books, stuffed animals, and more. I describe it as being ‘confronted’ because an adult sized t-shirt was $30, and of course we happily purchased a t-shirt for each of the children and souvenir books for each household.

Our seats were perfect to our standards, great proximity to both the stage and restrooms with ample leg room. As the lights dimmed, and the first familiar cry from the character “Rafiki” played by the awesomely talented, Gugwana Dlamini, “Nants ingonyama bagithi Baba!” The entire audience roared as if we’ve all been awaiting the birth of “Simba.” As “Rafiki” continued an “oli” or a chant of declaration that “a lion is here” (Sithi uhm ingonyama) giraffes, zebras, antelope, and even a life sized elephant marched their way down the aisles through the audience.

The march of the animals of the “Pride Lands” were “chicken skin” moments, and one middle aged man sitting behind me even admitted to being overwhelmed by tears. I too was more than misty-eyed.

The entire musical was mesmerizing and had each of our children sitting quietly at the edge of their seats anticipating each scene.

This memory was all made possible by my parents, and I dedicated this blog and the video below as a show of our appreciation for their consistent generosity.

Enjoy our photos and impromptu family talent show the night after!

Find more videos like this on INFINITY PRODUCTIONS

Yesterday my virtual and real worlds collided, on purpose, and in the words of Martha Stewart, “It was a good thing.”

For about a month now I’ve been following Guy Kawasaki on Twitter, reading his posts from his website Truemors. Some of his posts were of interest, especially the odd news stories from ‘round the world. He also twittered about his passion for hockey, despite modestly assessing himself as an average and below player. He also boldly twittered about Truemors being labeled the worst website ever. And, I enjoyed his twitters of his ventures on his daughter’s camping trip.

The last week or so he’s been twittering about being in Hawaii, the island of Maui at first and I assumed he and his family were on vacation. He shared, via twitter, showing pictures of his children to his father, and I knew he was now on Oahu, but without family in tow. And, a few nights ago he posted that he had two more speaking engagements before flying home.

I thought to myself that I had to hear him, not because he was an Apple Fellow or had roots in Silicon Valley, but it was my opportunity to allow my worlds to collide, on purpose. You see, I’ve been reading about Podcamps, TechCrunch and DemoFall for the last few months, and am interested but limited by this thing called the Pacific Ocean, and well a budget. This was my opportunity to bring some reality into my virtual world.

I found myself at Honolulu Community College riding the elevator with another gentleman whom said, “Are you here for the STEM conference?” Umm…no, I’m here to listen to Guy Kawasaki. The gentleman replied, “Yes, the STEM conference.” Great, I wasn’t registered for this conference but I did have a “Get In Free” pass, well sort of. Guy had directed a private message to me the night before that read, “If you can’t get in, call me over and we’ll say you’re my bodyguard.”

Approaching the registration desk with a good attitude, and great smile, the lady graciously added me to the list without me even having to use my pass! I found myself sitting amongst a room of people from my parents’ generation, I felt very comfortable, but I’ll admit I wondered if any of them could identify with the guest speaker from Twitter or only from all of his other accomplishments.

Guy was a little more than awesome. He spoke my language: simple, quick, and honest. The topic was relevant, to me, and by the nodding, abrupt laughter, and roaring applaud; I’d say others felt the same as well. He was equally as kind when I introduced myself, and much taller than I had pictured or was it his shaggy, surfer hairdo?

Here are the things I took away from my experience:

• Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Leadership Conference was sponsored by the University of Hawaii College of Education with a goal of building a framework for action. It was an invite only conference which brought together the Board of Education, Department of Education, Department of Human Services, and other relevant related offices.

• “Make Meaning.” I don’t aim to change the world globally, but I focus locally and should it ripple into something larger then I have overachieved, which is perfectly fine in my book. I choose to participate in life, and as a participant I have a responsibility to leave footprints with dignity.

• “Don’t be afraid to polarize people.” I‘ve said this before that I‘ve accepted that “not everybody loves NEENZ,” and knowing this, creates a secure balance. And so, whether in my professional or personal life, I give all of myself genuinely, but I know that not everyone will accept me in the same manner. Part of the balance includes this percentage of people whom may not accept me, it allows me to spend more time and focus on those that do.

• Guy Kawasaki likes to use the word ‘crap.’ And let’s face it, he’s right. Don’t produce it, don’t sell it, don’t give it away. Unless of course, it’s “beta” crap.

I had wanted to ask Guy a few questions, an interview of sorts which would have made my other blog, “TRUEMORS: Get Local Ties” a bit more interesting, but he was overwhelmed by other attendees one of which was the current Lieutenant Governor Duke Aiona. I shall be patient, besides with the available technology my interview is only a twitter away!

New to the Web2.0 game, I’ve only recently been reading about the important role that social networking plays in building and maintaining not only a corporation, but a personal presence. One of the simplest forms of networking, is maintaining a web log or “blog”. Writing has always been a childhood passion, however I am now realizing that there are differences in blogging. Personal scribes can be deemed as “blogging” however it’s the content of your post that determines it’s distinction.

I’ve been keeping up with all three of my other “blogs” with each being distinguished as either a journal or a storytelling platform. I have found that maintaining these other three blogs have been relatively easy since I’m comfortable with the subject matter, me. It’s this blog that I hesitate to write, simply because my personality dictates that I be precise. But, encouraged by the community at HawaiiStories whom read my very first post, “TO THINE OWNSELF BE TRUE“, I shall, “Write On!”

My personality also dictates that I need to be mentally stimulated quite frequently. It doesn’t have to be complex, but something interesting, something new.

This is what Twitter is for me when people answer the simple question, “What Are You Doing?” Since posting my first twitter on July 25, 2007 I have accumulated 81 followers and am following 183 other members’ twitters. Some people will post exactly as the question asks and mention what they’re having for lunch. As mundane as this may seem to the outside (of the virtual) world, it was actually beneficial for me one day when I needed the name of a local bagel shop and one of those that I followed gave it to me with not only a recommendation of the quality of food, but the praise of the customer service.

There are power twitters: Jim Long, Chris Brogan, and the mother-of-all Robert Scoble whom follows as of today: 6,178 twitter members, and is being followed by 6,143 members! Should I ever reach this level of twittering, it would also mean that I’ve accomplished other personal goals of earning a degree from a certified higher institution, established a niche in the business market, and have more subscribers to my blogs than just my Mother!

Another mental stimulator for me has been the forum boards at HawaiiThreads. The topic threads are busy with everything from the controversial Superferry and go! Airlines to advice for things ranging from gadgets, moving to Hawaii, and prime secret parking spaces at the Waikiki Shell.

In addition to all of this, I religiously subscribe to hundreds of feeds to different blogs of interest. Some provide inspiration and direction while others are too brutally honest, and of course I enjoy the humors of a personal story.

If all of this blogging and interest in the ‘net lead to personal prosperity and no financial gain, then it still has its worth.

One day a few weeks ago, I glanced over and noticed Lilinoe taking a peaceful afternoon nap. The fan was blowing gently, the pillows propped perfectly and her hands gently clasped over her bosom. I was intrigued by the vision, it was familiar but I couldn’t understand why her position at the time warmed my heart. Pleased to see her at rest, a rare moment, I allowed the moment to pass without further thought.

Yesterday we sat on our living room couch and were talking about everything and nothing in particular when I remembered her nap. As I began to describe my vision, I realized the source of the familiarity, the reason why the moment warmed my heart. And, I began sobbing.

Two years ago I drove to the Castle Medical Center in Kaneohe to visit my maternal grand-aunt, Aunty Ulu. As I walked into her assigned hospital room, she was laying in her slightly inclined bed with pillows perfectly propped, and her hands gently clasped over her bosom.

I don’t know if I woke her by my touch or my will, but she opened her eyes to greet me. Clouded by her illness and medication I almost needed to introduce myself. It didn’t take long before she said, “Oh my Nina!” I braved a random conversation with her about the food and she shared how my cousin Jaylene had cooked her some fried aku and brought her some for dinner the other night. I soon realized that I wasn’t there to visit but to say goodbye.

Aunty Ulu was the youngest sister of my maternal grandmother, my Nanny as we affectionately called her, probably because she felt she was too young and glamorous to be called anything else. Aunty Ulu barely stood five feet tall, but her heart reached the sky and beyond. She was more than my Aunty, she was a fan of my life. She taught me how to give a good honi (kiss) and hug, a gesture of which I have become infamously “known” for.

As I shared my memories of Aunty Ulu with Lilinoe my emotions could not be stifled. For a brief moment I realized my vulnerability, but I have learned over the course of these last two years that my vulnerability is safe with Lilinoe. We continued to cry and share in our memories, because Lilinoe too has her own precious individual memories with Aunty Ulu. In fact, the day Aunty Ulu passed away was the first day I rediscovered Lilinoe after almost 10 years of silence.

I was not only afforded the opportunity to say goodbye to Aunty Ulu, but also had written her a letter from my heart years before her passing. But, my soulful cry with Lilinoe on our living room couch is the type of communication I never want to lose.

INFINITY PRODUCTIONS is a fusion of two souls, complimented by two more. But, what does that really mean?

INFINITY PRODUCTIONS is basically serendipity in its truest meaning. A spontaneous occurrence of events resulting in mutual acceptance evolving into a lifetime commitment. Difficult to understand if you haven’t really experienced it, but easier accepted if you’ve daydreamed about it.

So how does this all tie into business? The business aspect of it all is too serendipitous. In the process of discovering each other, our common ground was a passion for creating and how to transform that into a way of life. INFINITY PRODUCTIONS is more our identity, since we are the brand.

What is our product? What are our services? At this point it’s basic print media for budget challenged individuals, organizations and businesses. We’ve realized that it takes more than our passion, more than our scouring through “How To’s” and “For Dummies”, and well the “trial and error” approach should be spent more on innovation rather than unawareness.

Continuing to take on projects within our scope of knowledge, we’ve decided to return to an accredited institution that will not only validate our skills through “official certification” but sort through and minimize the “trial and error” process we would have encountered if we had not made this decision. Furthermore, it will catapult us into the focus of today and tomorrow. At the turn of the New Year, despite many years as an apprentice, NOE will be seeking accreditation from the top Makeup Artistry schools and NEENZ will be diving into the Digital Media program at the nearby Community College.

Our plan is to solidify INFINITY PRODUCTIONS, not only as a business but by improving ourselves as individuals we will also strengthen our friendship and of course our relationship.

We’ve considered the challenges ahead, and were immediately confronted by the financial sacrifices, but remaining aspiring innovators, we know these are the first steps on our paths that we must take.

We have begun building our social media presence and networking and learning from the innovators of today. A huge inspiration for us has been Chris Brogan and locally known guru Ryan Ozawa. There’s modest interaction, but it’s their application of their knowledge that we deem to be wisdom that we’re seeking as well.

Our INFNITY blog hosted by OZAWA’s HawaiiStories is targeted to our audience that can relate to our experiences in our home, Hawaii. Our INFINITY PRO blog hosted by LiveJournal conveys the romance that has become INFINITY PRODUCTIONS and this one here, aptly named INFINITY PRODUCTIONS will focus on our road to enhancing our skills set, re-entering the student life, our approach to Web2.0 and our preparation for Web3.0, all the while balancing a home, our two little souls, and each other.

This past weekend I got a bit of a scare. It wasn’t as serious as what could have developed, but my soul was still jolted. I won’t divulge any details since I know better, but this particular blog is dedicated to my Mom.

I could paint a picture of my Mom to be the equivalent of June Cleaver, but then I’d be using the wrong brushes, June Cleaver she is not.

For starters she’s always been a working Mom, and never just a domestic engineer. She logged over 20 years of her professional life with the same company and lasted through various buyouts and mergers, until finally retiring on her own terms. Over the years she received numerous “Perfect Attendance” awards despite the number of times I ended up in the emergency room for some newly invented accident! She persevered in her position, and took personal pride in her duties. She had a nice area in a majestic building, but more importantly created lasting friendships with the “Aunties.” Those friendships are evidence that she was a team player, a motivator, and dependable associate.

Cooking was never her forte to say the least. I recall my brother’s kindergarten class putting together a book of all the children’s reasons why they love their Mommies as a project celebrating Mother’s Day. I cannot share with you verbatim his quote but it went something like this, “I love my Mommy especially when she cooks hot dogs and pork and beans!” We all chuckled not at his innocence, but as his preciseness. My Mom could cook anything with cabbage, and if she had to do it two weeks in a row, the cabbage was replaced with bean sprouts. I learned to use A LOT of ketchup during those meals. I must note though, that she does cook an onolicious spaghetti!

To say that my Mom sacrificed for her children would minimize her efforts; everything she did, every decision she made, every dollar she earned was to provide for the four of us. There were four biological children, but somehow our house was always full with anyone who needed a place to call home, and if you recall in my earlier blog, there weren‘t very many bedrooms to be assigned. My cousin Jason is like a brother to me since his Mom (my Mom’s sister) worked either the swing or graveyard shift at one of the local hotels. My cousin Amber became another younger sister since her parents too were trying to establish themselves out there in the corporate world. We also had Theo Adams, one-time University of Hawaii football star, living with us until he completed his education and later moved to the mainland to play for the San Francisco 49ers, Seattle Seahawks until ending his football career in the World Football League. When Dole Pineapple began downsizing in the early 80’s, Aunty Tina and Al came to live with us too. My Mom was gracious enough to open our home to everyone, and during the times when we would complain she would sit us down and tell us, “Be grateful, appreciate what you have…and KNOCK IT OFF!”

My Mom attended all of our activities as youths and adults, she’s still a spectator at my basketball games cheering me on as the coach! I remember as a teenager being thrown out while attempting to steal second and my poor attitude had me walking ever so slowly off of the field. Well, by the time I hit the dugout, there was my Mom and she said, “You better…KNOCK IT OFF!”

I have learned so much from my Mom. She has provided me with a blueprint to have a successful career, a successful relationship, a clean home, sincere friends; but most importantly to be a good person.

To paint a picture of my Mom to be the equivalent of June Cleaver would be wrong, she’s more of a mixture of Roseanne Connors, Claire Huxtable, Judge Judy and Oprah Winfrey, ah what am saying, she’s better than that too…different.

Now I’m sure I’ll get emails about my tributes to my Dad, but to blog about him wouldn’t do him justice, he deserves a hardcover book!

Those of you who know me, know that I am ‘clean challenged,’ but did you also know that during my years in Houston, Texas I was also a successful owner of a cleaning business specializing in luxury homes? Ironic isn’t it?

The home I grew up in had a lot of character, 1932 Dole Street to be exact. It was an unassuming home, hidden behind a majestic ‘white wall.’ The ‘white wall’ was part of the driving directions to anyone commuting for a visit. If you’re coming from Hawaii Kai you’d head west on H-1, take the Wilder exit, turn left onto Dole Street, don’t go over the McCully bridge, veer right continuing onto Dole Street our house was on the right-hand side with the ’white wall.’

Our house was a humble 2-bedroom, 1-bath, but it was huge with respect to square footage. According to the City and County of Honolulu Real Property Division it’s 1,166 square feet; but it also lists the home as a three bedroom without any recent improvements, I disagree with that information. The master bedroom was able to accommodate a California king sized bed, horizontal dresser, vertical armoire, 2-night stands, with room enough to put a futon mattress down for an additional three to sleep comfortable. The second bedroom had four twin sized beds, a large desk for a minimum of four to do homework on without bumping elbows, and a walk-in closet. Where were the dressers? In the large full sized bathroom. The bathroom had a built-in dresser and cabinet, a medium sized ‘walk-in’ closet and the distance between the sink lavatory and the toilet was approximately 8’. The size of the bathroom is larger than many of the bedroom sizes available in today‘s properties. The living rooms seemed endless, it could be the total of the 1,166 square feet that the city lists. The kitchen was half the width and ¾ the length of the living room, there were no bumping of okoles and it comfortably fit two refrigerators. In fact, we would practice our break dancing on the kitchen tile as kids! The walls were wood paneled with white paint, and the windows required the pulley of rope and the screen latched to a hook embedded in the window panel.

Our yard was draped in flourishing fruit trees, ferns, hinahina, my 3rd grade marigold project, a frightening cactus tree flanked the front door staircase, a grapevine shaded the patio area, several pots of aloe and a line of tall ladylike ti-leaf trees bordered the side. We always had a snack with four mountain apple trees that would produce enough fruit to give to the Yoshida’s who in turn gave us some mangos, and also to the ever changing neighbors next door who’d give us their fruit from the avocado tree. As tart as the wine grapes were, we’d munch on them green or ripen, just because we could.

Growing up we had a good history of memories and I understand that during my Mom’s youth the likes of Peter Ahia, Roland Cazimero, Kawai Cockett, and many others in the music and hula industries kanikapila’d, made ti leaf skirts, strung lei, or just came over for a good, impromptu get together. There’s a story floating in our family history that my cousin John gave Peter Moon the chicken pox, need to confirm this story with Mr. Moon.

Living in a home that had many visitors, it was always important to keep the house tidy and clean; but alas NEENZ! It’s not so much that I’m a ‘pack rat,’ more like a ‘stacker.’ I’ll stack everything neatly on a chair. I’d do my laundry just before running out of clean clothes. As I got older, and financially able; it didn’t help as I was able to just ‘buy something new’ during those ‘stacking’ marathons.

I remember during a ‘rough’ period in my life my Mom telling me, “If you clean your room, you might feel better.” Of course being the, well no better term than doofus that I was, I took the advice as “parental reverse psychology.”

My Aunty Tina also gave me advice once, “Keep your room clean, you never know when Jesus will return.” And being the well, we’ve already established, doofus that I was, I responded, “Won’t He love me anyways?”

Today is different. Crank up a good Kalapana or C&K album, and break a sweat tackling the ‘stacks’ not only makes a room clean, but a spirit happy which was the real lesson behind my Mom’s advice.

Oh and for those wondering how I found success with a cleaning business, well an excellent staff of well-skilled associates.

It took almost 10 years to reunite, and in an instant serendipity. Of course it couldn’t have been completely by ‘accident’ since we were reunited, but it couldn’t have happened at a better time…sooner would have been disastrous mostly because of my immaturity.

Our clocks are ticking. I have an expiration date, the life I have at this moment is soon to take a turn onto a familiar path. Familiar only because I have already been there, which means my return is by choice. This choice though comes with a sacrifice.