Saturday fun

Saturday I woke up to the sticky hotness of the summer morning. Desperately needing cool off and avoid wasting the day away, I went for a short dive with Erik. I've been wanting to go out diving with him for a while now, as he's an amazing photographer (you can check out his stuff here: http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/esaav22 ) and I'm hoping that in time, some of his skills might rub off on me.

He lent me his camera and let me have a go. It was fun, but I can tell already that it's going to be a long while before I master the art of underwater photo-taking. Erik took me to a secret spot that often has whitetip reef sharks chilling in the shallow, but yesterday we were out of luck. We did, however, see some small creatures here and there which was fun. The underwater world has always been fascinating to me, and it was even more so with a camera in my hands. Also, for the first time, I wasn't afraid to get close up to an eel... sure it was a baby eel, but still, I was proud of myself. The photos below are nothing great, but hopefully with more practice I'll get the hang of it.

erik in action

specks of silver

shrimp

baby eel

Later in the day I went surfing with Laarni out at Cliffs. Summer is here, and that means waves in town as well as big crowds. Despite the crowd, it was a lot of fun, and a lot of exercise. I forgot my leash, so I got to practice both surfing and swimming.

After that, we got ready to head out to Boardriders Kailua to support Garrett, my sister's bf, and his band Potluck. It was a once in a ten year time event. Garrett and his friends used to rock out on a regular basis back in the day. Last night they did their first and last reunion show. Knowing Garrett as I know him (quiet and almost shy in moments) I couldn't imagine him as the lead singer of a once popular punkrock band. I kept saying to others "I'm so excited and curious to see this!"

My curiousity came to an end last night and I have to say, it was AWESOME. I was really really impressed. It makes me kind of sad that this was a one time event.

Also, it was eww worthy cute to see my sister swoon over her bf.

friends gathering to cheer on garrett... check out how laarni drinks her beer

potluck groupies

hazel with her potluck t-shirt from 1999 (she used to watch them back in the day)

Potluck (john, arie, garret and basil on the drums)

blurry rockstar garrett

his #1 adoring fan

And then we headed back over the Pali into town... it was all in all a great Saturday from start to finish.

back through the tunnel into town (photo by laarni)

Art After Dark, Shaker Face and Amos Lee

Friday, May 29

Went out to Art After Dark with the girls. I've been attending this event pretty consistently for the past couple months and really like it. I don't know why... it starts and ends too early, the cover is $10, the drink lines are long and the place gets hot, but still... every last Friday of the month, I find myself excited for AAD. To me it's just F-U-N.

art after dark peeps

my peeps @ art after dark

Earlier in the week Chessa told me about this blogsite she found called Shakerface... I don't have a link but my google search lead me to this site: http://www.e4.com/e4site/doitandwin/1fac374781f0c26e9ee148e43fe13a04/entry-terms.e4. Basically the idea is to relax your face and shake it side to side while a friend takes a picture. It leads to some pretty ridiculous and unflattering photos, but that's the whole purpose. It's all about the dorky fun. When Chessa sent me an email about it, I immediately got excited and promised to bring my camera out. You're actually not supposed to smile when you make your shakerface, but that was a near impossible feat for us.

chessa's shakerface

heidi's shakerface

malia's shakerface

laarni's shakerface

my shakerface

kim's funnyface

double shakerface w laarni and heidi

double shakerface with kim and malia s.

What's funny is that shakerface bears a striking resemblance to drunkface... the next time someone catches a bad drunk photo of me, I'm going to lie and say "I wasn't drunk, I was just doing my shakerface!"

And if that wasn't dorking it out enough, as we waited in line to grab our drinks, a framed opening caught our eye, so of course we had to strike our poses there as well...

me


laarni (doesn't she look like she's posing for her driver's license photo?)

heidi- aww such a cutie

a rambunctious looking chessa

At AAD they gave out free Honolulu Magazines.. when I saw the subject I found Heidi and made her take a photo for me. I wish I had gotten Kim in there as well.

we know where the good teachers are at!

After that we headed downtown to see one of my swoon-worthy musical artists, Amos Lee. He played at Next Door and while I love, love, love his stuff in my ipod or cd player, it wasn't as great at Next Door... He did a good job and was a nice live performer, but the mood was a bit too mellow and the venue didn't match. Laarni repeatedly whispered to me that it'd be the perfect concert if she were out on a grass lawn in a hammock and while I just gave her stink eye each time she said it and told her "shhh," deep down inside, I had to admit she was right.

Still though, it was fun for me.

the streets of downtown honolulu

a blurry amos lee

And that is all for now. I hope every one's weekends are off to a great start.

home on maui

i flew home to maui this past weekend (5/22-5/25) to visit the familia and help my dad celebrate his 62nd birthday.

for the past 4-5 years my dad has been working on his dream house.

a couple months ago he and my mom finally moved into it. it's a magnificent house and going home this time felt more like going to some fancy hotel rather than actually going home.

i'm really proud of my dad. he started off his business with nothing more than a wheelbarrow and a hand mixer but from there continued to build and build. both his business and his life.

he and my mom remind me of that "easy street" song http://www.imeem.com/shakilama/music/5rxHHuJN/hawaiian-reggae-easy-street/ if you've never heard it,click the link. it's a cute song.

one of the things i really admire about my parents is that no matter what the circumstance, or what our economic status has been, their focus has always been on having fun and making the most of whatever we have.

and truth be told as much as i love this new lavish house, the haiku house is still my favorite house that i've lived it. mostly because it hosts some of my fondest memories. from the chickens, cows, pet pig named muddy who later got turned into dinner (very sad story actually), and other farm animals, to the irrigation ditch behind our house that we used to play in and fish for crawdads and prawns... to fishing and diving weekly for food and picking fruit to sell to the juice companies. the haiku house was in my opinion, the perfect way to grow up.

i still remember as a little girl having to run and grab the pots everytime it would rain so that we could catch the drips. to this day, the sound of water hitting a tin roof is still one of my favorite sounds.

haiku house... a place where our early childhood memoires were born

but, that being said. the new house is really cool too. it's big and pretty and when i'm in it i feel rich, and it's a weird feeling. almost like i'm an imposter in someone else's house.

keokea house... just a slight upgrade

in addition to being all big and lavish, it's also got a farm feel to it which i absolutely love. we've got goats and sheep and lots of raw land that holds a lot of promise and potential. there's also deer, wild turkeys, pheasants and franklins.

it was so nice to wake up early every morning and breathe in the cool kula air as i drank my coffee, then run down to the pasture to feed the goats and sheep.

my herd

this is coco, she's my favorite of the bunch

my maui weekend went as follows... i arrived on friday night and hung out with my parents. the next day i played farm girl and then helped my mom prepare for my dad's birthday bbq. i invited tawny and sesa to come over. tawny is my dear friend i've known since the 3rd grade and sesa i've known since my sophomore year in high school. words cannot express the love i have for these girls. it was really nice to see them again.

both are amazing mothers, and tawny brought her girls (naia and ariel) and sesa brought her boys (nate and seth). the kids had a ball running around wreaking havoc. i had a ball watching them and enjoying their fresh young energy. it was cute to see tawny and sesa in their kids' features and personalities.

sesa, tawny and me

naia, seth, ariel-- such cuties

nate-dawg. so well behaved and polite

at one point i let the little one's have my camera and allowed them to take one "money shot" each.

ariel's "money shot"

seth's "money shot"


naia's "money shot"

while i hung with the kids and tawny and sesa, my dad and his friends cruised out on the lanai. it's fun to watch my parents with their friends. listening to the banter, teasing and smack talking made me think a lot of my own frienships and how i hope they'll continue strong until my 62nd birthday and beyond.

wooden chopstick candle

what could he possibly be wishing for? he's already got me as a daughter heh heh ;)

the next day i visited my friend faith and her boyfriend and cruised with them down to the stretch of beaches between maalaea and kihei. faith had to meet up with some friends, and i was feeling quiet, so i took a long walk down the beach and tried to get a good shot of sandcrabs... no luck but i did make friends with a starfish.

star fishy friend


the following day i had to fly out in the morning, so my dad and i woke up early to make a birdhouse. one of my mom's complaints about the house was about the birdshit on the lanai, so we tried to remedy the situation. i learned a few things about skill saws the hard way, as i got suckerpunched by a flying piece of wood, while my dad shook his head. after that incident i left the cutting to him and took to gluing, screwing and painting.

a house for birds. plan to decorate it more when i go back

and that was that. my maui blah blah blah's... mellow. fun. heartwarming.

Unemployment Mondays II

My unemployment Mondays continue... this past Monday was Jess Press's birthday. Happy 30th Jess!!! On this day, I went to sewing class in the morning and then later went on a short hike with a friend.

While on the hike I got giddly excited when I saw this flower:

It's the mountain version of the Naupaka plant. My mom told me the story about the plants when I was a little girl, and I've always loved the romance behind it.

My mother's retelling of this myth goes as follows...

A long time ago, back in ancient Hawaiian days, there were two beautiful lovers who were deeply devoted to one another. Pele took interest in the man, and pursued him for his returned interest. Despite Pele's beauty and power, the man was loyal and faithful and denied her which angered Pele greatly. And so, she separated them, chasing one to the mountains and one to the ocean. For if she couldn't have him, she'd be damned if she'd allow the two of them to be together...

Separated and unable to see each other, both lovers were filled with grief. Without each other, they did not feel whole... they could not go on... And so they died of broken hearts and where their bodies lay to rest, a Naupaka plant grew... and the flowers, like the lovers with out each other, were incomplete halves.

Kinda makes you wonder if the writers of Jerry McGuire got their inspiration from the legend of the Naupaka plant, huh? ;)

Growing up and even now, I've always seen the beach version of Naupaka plants. The leaves are good for cleaning/defogging your diving masks... but up until today I've never seen the mountain version. I was beginning to wonder if it really did exist.

Congratulations Dr. Massarotti!!

Sunday, May 18th...

I still remember when I first met Haane... it was when I first moved to Oahu, about 6 years ago. She and I paddled for Hui Lanakila and were in the same crew. She was good friends with Brianne, and while I knew her and liked her, it wasn't until a random trip to San Diego, that I fell in love with her as a friend.

Since then, she's become a large part of my life. We've seen each other through good times, bad times and all those in between times. We've been there to bear witness to the stories of each other's lives... seen each other's ups and downs, set backs and accomplishments. I still remember when she first decided that she wanted to go to Med School...

I was incredibly happy and proud to watch Haane through another accomplishment on Sunday. My heart swelled with pride. It's been fun and interesting to watch her journey through school. To live vicariously through her experiences, to hear about the first time she worked with a patient, the first time she had to do a prostate examination, the first time she delivered a baby by Cesarean, and so much more. Her enthusiasm and drive for learning have always impressed and inspired me.

And so, congratulations Haane!!! And, if anyone needs a good surgeon, well, I know one ;)

Yay!!! Check out the "MD" after her name!

Haane walking the line

Mother-daughter hug for the lei presentation

Haane groupies

Dr. Massarotti!!!!