Esoteric Bowl

There was this girl that I knew from school. Well, I didn’t really know her, but I knew her name and I knew that her house was close to mine. Even though we shared class together, I didn’t pay much attention to her. She was very much the loner, and there were whispers of Family Services talking to teachers about abuse at home. Some families are better than others at concealing secrets.

One day while walking home, I saw her sitting on the steps of her front porch. She was wearing cutoff jeans and a t-shirt, with one bare foot resting atop the other. I gave her a casual smile and a wave hello, but she just twirled her fingers in her long hair and stared unmoving as I walked by. Her stereo inside the house was blasting some song that I never heard before. The voice in the song was angelic, and there was something about the wave in the tone and meter of the song that gave me a chill. I stopped and asked her who was singing and what song it was. She smiled a smile that I had never seen before, and told me that it was Joni Mitchell singing Tin Angel.

She replayed the song for me, and we sat and listened and shared smiles. I didn’t know of Joni Mitchell, but she did. She had all of Joni Mitchell’s albums, and she excitedly shared her favorite song Blue for me. I think she liked the idea of turning me on to something that she enjoyed and that was all new to me.

A friendship grew from that day. She later introduced me to Bob Dylan, Van Morrison, Joan Baez and others; names that were vaguely familiar to me, but whose music remained undiscovered. She also introduced me to Yeats and Sylvia Plath, and she shared her own poetry while planting the seeds for my own attempts at verse.

She opened a whole world to me that I didn’t know existed. I remember looking at her one day while she was reading a poem aloud, wondering how it was possible that a twelve year old girl the same age as me could know so much. She was like an earth mother with a wise old soul living within her little girl’s body.

Her parents divorced that same year and soon she moved away. We lost touch after that, but five years later I heard from a friend of a friend that she had taken her own life.

Blue (Joni Mitchell)

Blue, songs are like tattoos
You know I’ve been to sea before
Crown and anchor me
Or let me sail away
Hey Blue, there is a song for you
Ink on a pin
Underneath the skin
An empty space to fill in
Well there’s so many sinking now
You’ve got to keep thinking
You can make it through these waves
Acid, booze, and ass
Needles, guns, and grass
Lots of laughs, lots of laughs
Everybody’s saying that hell’s the hippest way to go
Well I don’t think so
But I’m gonna take a look around it though
Blue, I love you

Blue, here is a shell for you
Inside you’ll hear a sigh
A foggy lullaby
There is your song from me.

Tragedy. Catastrophe. Devastation. Heartbreaking. These were just some of the descriptions used on Monday following the havoc of Hurricane Katrina on the Gulf Coast. Almost four days later the most apt description of the situation can be found in a single word; criminal.

It is criminal how citizens of Louisiana and Mississippi have in large measure been left to fend for themselves following what has been described as the worst natural disaster in our nation’s history. It is criminal how state and federal governments have allowed people to go without food, water, medical aid, adequate shelter, and security.

It is criminal that elderly have died from the lack of medical care, babies have died from dehydration, untold numbers have died from starvation, young women have been raped, individuals murdered; all while hopelessly waiting for the help that was promised but never came for one, two, three days and counting.

It is criminal that the National Guard troops that were promised were not in force from day one, leaving law-abiding citizens to fend for themselves for days against gun-toting thugs and gangs. It is criminal that some police officers in New Orleans literally walked off the job.

It is criminal that as we approach the forth anniversary of 9/11, authorities are once again saying that problems with communications have hindered the lifesaving mission.

It is criminal that despite knowing the possible damage a level 4 hurricane could bring, officials from FEMA, Homeland Security, and the White House are saying no one could have imagined the destruction. It is criminal that as the 9/11 Commission determined, the federal government continues to lack an imagination.

It is criminal that the same congress who saw it fit to call an emergency session on a Sunday night to save Terri Schiavo, didn’t deem it necessary to return from their vacations until three days following the storm.

It is criminal that as governments from around the world offer their help and assistance to the White House, none of these offers have yet to be accepted.

It is criminal that the White House leadership is so glaringly lacking with no sense of urgency for the situation. It is criminal that President Bush has yet to visit the Gulf States, and his half-hearted speech to the nation sounded as if he had not yet mentally returned from his five week vacation. It is criminal that Vice President Cheney remains on vacation in Wyoming.

It is criminal that every American citizen must now come to the cold and sobering realization that if they fall victim to disaster the government may not be there to answer their calls for help.

I was clicking through the channels and then paused when I saw Oprah. I don’t watch Oprah very often, but every now and then it’s fun to see what’s going on with Girlfriend.

So anyway the show had already begun, but it doesn’t take long for me to understand that Oprah and Dr. Mehmet Oz are discussing the digestive system and poop. Nine times out ten if I come across a television show where the topic is poop, I’m changing the channel. But when Oprah discusses poop it becomes riveting television, and I’ll tell you why.

You know how Oprah kind of has that self-righteous air about her? Don’t get me wrong, Oprah is cool and she does wonderful things and everyone loves Oprah. But Oprah does have a certain way of letting everyone know who is Oprah and who is not; you know what I mean? But we let Oprah slide on her self-righteousness because that’s part of her appeal, and besides, we know it’s not easy being Oprah. So anyway, it’s because of Oprah’s self-righteousness that I now can’t change the channel, because with a discussion on poop I just know at some point during the show Oprah is going to blurt out that her poop don’t stink.

Each time Dr. Oz mentions poop, Oprah gets a poop-eating grin on her face and loudly declares with her fist in the air, “Were making television history!” Obviously Oprah doesn’t watch much television. Not only can the occasional discussion of poop be found on television, but for a while Comedy Central had an animated talking poop in a Santa hat.

So Dr. Oz is pointing out that signs to whether your digestion is working properly and if you’re eating healthy can be found by relying on your senses in the bathroom. Oprah then shares that she thought that she was the only one that looked at her poop. Dr. Oz adds that the ideal poop should have an S shape, and Oprah quickly interrupts to let everyone know that her poop is always S shaped. As if we would think anything less from Oprah.

Then two women from the audience are invited on stage to discuss their own individual poops. Susan, a busy working mother of three says that she struggles with constipation, sometimes only going once every five days. Oprah remains silent, but the camera focuses on her as she looks towards the audience and gives that Oprah expression that is part astonishment and part I’m glad that I’m not you look. Everyone laughs. Then Maureen, a mother of four says that she suffers from diarrhea, hemorrhoids and constipation, and her poop often comes out like marbles. Oprah makes a puzzled look and repeats “Marbles?” a number of times. Everyone laughs. Then as if Maureen hasn’t been mocked and embarrassed enough, Oprah proceeds to go into song with the melody from Tiny Bubbles, singing “Tiny Marbles”.

Why four Saturday thoughts? Because I don’t have five.

I recently bought three bell peppers. To be honest, I had no plan whatsoever in how I was going to use a green, a red, and a yellow bell pepper when I bought them, but their colors were beautifully irresistible.

Last night I sliced the peppers and stir-fried them with some grilled chicken. Then I added some sweet-n-sour sauce into the mix and poured it on rice. It looked and tasted good.

Speaking of food; is it just me, or does the Food Network’s Chef Giada De Laurentiis look a little like an older version of Natalie Portman?

Rochelle: She’s from North Carolina. She’s a Country Singer/Song writer with a background in Gospel music. She’s a talented rising star. And now here’s the kicker; she’s a relative! Go figure. Please stop by and listen to a sampling of Rochelle’s music and share some kind words of support.

And finally, for some reason my blogroll has been out of commission for about a week now. Fortunately I have the comments to gain access to many of the blog reads. If you haven’t commented in a while, leave something here and be sure to leave your site address so that I can favorite your site.

And just like that; it’s over. After being together for almost four years, we’ve gone our separate ways. I suppose that I always knew that it would come to this, but in the back of my mind I wanted to believe that somehow things would work out between us.

I thought long and hard about whether I wanted to write about the breakup, but surely there are some readers out there that have gone through similar experiences and can understand.

I’m not ashamed to say she was my first. But as good as things were between us in those first few years, there were recurring problems in the last year that we couldn’t overcome. Oh sure, we could have held on longer and made each other miserable, but what’s the purpose in that?

And so it goes; my computer and I have parted ways. And yet, as sad as such breakups are, I consider myself fortunate that a new computer has come into my life. The two of us hooked up rather magically and she has made the breakup all the more bearable. While there will always be a special place in my heart for my first computer, I don’t mind saying that the new computer is smoother and sexier and with many more options. And she laughs at all my jokes.

It was a hot summer weekend day and the family loaded up in the car and drove to the commissary to buy groceries. I’m guessing that I was around four years of age at the time, but I already knew that a trip to the commissary would involve a lot of waiting. My parents went into the store while my brothers and I sat in the car.

On occasion my brothers and I would get out of the car to help women push their carts and unload groceries into their car, and sometimes we were given some loose change for our effort. But mainly we just sat in the car and waited. The commissary was always packed with people, and sometimes the wait would be well over an hour before my parents emerged from the store.

After all the groceries were put in the car and we were on our way home, Mom would always give us a something to nibble on. On this one particular day, I was given a red Tootsie Pop. I liked Tootsie Pops, but the combination of the heat and humidity and the driving and the candy made me feel woozy and sick to my stomach.

At four years of age, I didn’t know about such things as car sickness or understand how the heat could make one feel woozy. Instead, I held the red Tootsie Pop responsible. What followed from there was my own personal Pavlovian conditioning for the color red. Strange that I had no problem with Tootsie Pops, but I always avoided the red ones. From that point on I never cared for color red. For the longest time the color red would evoke the familiar feeling that I experienced that hot summer day.

It wasn’t until years later when I began to appreciate the color red. The deep red of a sports car looked cool. Dramatic shades of red lipstick and nail polish had a way of catching the eye the way other colors couldn’t compare. A woman wearing a red dress always had its own particular sway. Yes, red was good. Still, on occasion the shade of red can take me back to that hot summer day, but the woozy feelings for the color are no longer present.

Tourism is booming in the islands. Hawai’i welcomed a record 3.6 million visitors in the first half of the year, on pace to break 7 million visitors for the first time ever. I know of six individuals from online that have already visited this year or have plans to visit in the coming weeks and months. Melanie will be sipping mai tais and soon have her toes in the sand in just a few days.

Every now and then I’ll receive an email from someone planning to visit the islands. The individuals are always excited about their trip and ask if I can recommed some fun things for them to do during their stay. I never know how to answer that. What one person might consider fun, another person might consider boring. With that said, here are a few suggested rules to follow to enjoy your visit and some noteworthy sites to see.

Rule #1: Get Out of Waikiki I’ve always felt a little sorry for some of the visitors that come to O’ahu. Some people save all their lives so that one day they can make the trip and then once they get here they never leave Waikiki and they sit in McDonald’s eating lunch. Nothing wrong with Waikiki; some of the best fine dining experiences can be found in Waikiki, along with many shops, excellent hotels, and of course Waikiki Beach. My suggestion is to spend your days outside of Waikiki, and save your evenings to enjoy the nightlife in Waikiki.

Rule #2: Everyday Adventure Each day that you’re in the islands promise yourself some adventure. Do something that you can’t do back home that will give you an experience you can tell your friends about for years to come. There are a number of helicopter tours available, surf lessons, submarine rides, deep sea fishing charters, scuba diving, and on and on. If you’re looking for this kind of adventure, be sure to ask the concierge at the hotel; they generally know which companies are the best and they’ll be happy to set something up for you.

Of course, not everyone is in to such dramatic adventures. That’s okay. Renting a car and driving around the island can certainly be just as fun. Going to a luau can be an adventure. Tasting some of the local cuisine each day can be a delightful adventure. Even finding a different beach to lounge on each day can be a fun adventure.

Rule #3: When in Rome, Do as the Romans In Hawai’i the uniform of the day is shorts, t-shirts and tank tops, and rubber slippers or sandals. Hats and sunglasses are encouraged and sunscreen is highly recommended.

A Few Noteworthy Sites:
Ala Moana Center
Aloha Tower Marketplace
Arizona Memorial
Bishop Museum
Byodo-In Temple
Chinatown
Diamond Head Crater
Dole Plantation Maze
Foster Botanical Garden
Hanauma Bay
‘Iolani Palace
Makapu’u Lighthouse Trail
Matsumoto’s
Nuuanu Pali Lookout
Polynesian Cultural Center
Tantalus Lookout

* Save a little money with Hawaii eCoupons. Discounts on car rentals, food, activities, leis, and much more.

Have a great Aloha Friday!