I was in Honolulu for a week. I was planning to take my laptop with me, but the crazy last-minute-packing day found me with a sore back so the thought of lugging that not-so-light laptop was not appealing...not to mention I couldn't find the carrying case. It seems I'm forever looking for things these days.
My Maui friend Karen made my day today. She sent me a funny forwarded email. Ordinarily I don't care for forwarded emails, especially the mushy/threatening type (oh please forward this sentimental loving message to 10 friends OR ELSE YOU WILL HAVE TEN YEARS OF BAD LUCK, YOU SELFISH OAF!). Karen, however, can be counted on to forward only the FUNNIEST or most informative of forwarded emails. Today's email made me feel NORMAL. I could've written it! The following is a shortened Colleen version of the forwarded email entitled "Age-Activated Attention Deficit Disorder":
I'm packing for Honolulu. "Vitamins!" I remember. I head for the kitchen to pack up a week's supply of vitamins. I have two dozen different bottles of supplements to go through. Before I begin, I realize that I'm running low on calcium, tumeric and COQ10. I can't order it while I'm away, so I have to do it NOW before I forget. I go to the computer to order it online from Swanson (GREAT company!). As soon as I turn on the computer, I hear the email alert. A friend in Honolulu is emailing to ask about getting together for dinner. Hmmm, I'd better phone my mom FIRST to ask her plans before I make dinner plans. I phone her, she reminds me to take her some Miracle Soap. I go to my boxes of soap. Running out of soap! I'll have to order more before I go to Honolulu because it takes a month to get here! I'd better make a list. Where's the pen? Oh, there's one on the diningroom table. I go to the diningroom and see the mess of newspapers on the table. Oh hey, I forgot to read the Garden Island this morning. I sit down to read. The first article I read mentions Hawaiian Airlines. Omigod! I should be packing! Now where was I?
"Vitamins!"
As I said, that's a SHORTENED version. The real version lasts all day and thus explains why it takes me all day to pack. AND--I'm not making this up--explains why while unpacking in Honolulu, I looked in my carryon bag and was shocked to find that I'd inadvertently packed our cordless phone from Kauai! WHAT THE...?!?!
Swanson has both Gingko Biloba and Bacopa Monnieri--great supplements for brain/memory support. Which reminds me, I never did put in that Swanson order!
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Striving for Excellence
I'm sure I'm not the first to ask this, but I will anyway: Why are the Chinese able to deliver stunning Olympic facilities, jaw-dropping opening ceremonies, and an incredible gold medal tally and yet export tons of defective products? I'm impressed that they are so successful in athletics and obviously have the attitude of "gold or nothing." (After all, when I think of Chinese jewelry, it's all about gold and jade. Silver? What's that?) They strive to be the best, they want to impress the world, etc, etc...and yet does it occur to them that the 1)crappy DVD player we got at Walmart that lasted a couple of months 2)laptop cooling pad which lasted one week and 3)earphones that would only please someone deaf in one ear, might be more significant an indicator to us of their worth than their Olympic accomplishments? Ah well, I suppose it's easier to cultivate 39 gold medalists than to manage the millions of laborers in their manufacturing plants. Hopefully now that the Olympics will soon be over, they can turn their attention to improving their reputation as manufacturers.
On the local front, hubby was given a Mel Rapozo campaign sign by a friend and being a very accommodating fellow, promptly put it in front of our driveway. I questioned this because I thought he was considering voting for another candidate. He said oh, he'd be happy to put up almost anyone's sign. Well, I'm not sure whose sign I want in front of our house yet, so I said maybe I should letter in "Colleen Toyama does NOT approve this message" on the sign. He said "Well look, now we have a good sign for our next garage sale...just put 'GARAGE SALE' over Mel Rapozo". I brightened at that thought since our garage sale will be in a few weeks.
Yesterday we got a Bernard Carvalho campaign postcard in the mail. Hubby said he's thinking of taping it onto the Mel Rapozo sign. "Look," he pointed out. "Bernard is saying 'Together we can!' so it'll be funny to stick it on the Rapozo sign, like they'd be working together!"
Later on he came into the house and reported that the neighbor was selling avocados in front of their house and their "Avocados for Sale" sign looked suspiciously similar to our Rapozo sign. Now he's thinking of more uses for our sign like selling tangerines.
On the local front, hubby was given a Mel Rapozo campaign sign by a friend and being a very accommodating fellow, promptly put it in front of our driveway. I questioned this because I thought he was considering voting for another candidate. He said oh, he'd be happy to put up almost anyone's sign. Well, I'm not sure whose sign I want in front of our house yet, so I said maybe I should letter in "Colleen Toyama does NOT approve this message" on the sign. He said "Well look, now we have a good sign for our next garage sale...just put 'GARAGE SALE' over Mel Rapozo". I brightened at that thought since our garage sale will be in a few weeks.
Yesterday we got a Bernard Carvalho campaign postcard in the mail. Hubby said he's thinking of taping it onto the Mel Rapozo sign. "Look," he pointed out. "Bernard is saying 'Together we can!' so it'll be funny to stick it on the Rapozo sign, like they'd be working together!"
Later on he came into the house and reported that the neighbor was selling avocados in front of their house and their "Avocados for Sale" sign looked suspiciously similar to our Rapozo sign. Now he's thinking of more uses for our sign like selling tangerines.
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
ESP Must Need Vitamins
I've been having a dry spell. I haven't had a "coincidence or not?" moment in a couple of months. I won't go so far as to claim I have ESP, but a couple of years ago I started to write down some "coincidence or not?" moments. I do believe in the "paranormal" and you have to admit that there are forces in nature that we have not yet defined, much less understand. Here are a few of my interesting moments from the past 3-4 years:
I have more stories similar to these that I shall share later. Meanwhile I'll try to think of reasons I haven't had as many of these cool coincidences this year...I may be lacking some essential nutrient (ice cream, I hope)...or maybe not exercising enough?
Right now it's past midnight and time to read my Stephanie Plum!
- My husband was mowing the grass on the easement between our yard and the street. I crossed the street to check the mail and because the grass by the mailboxes was long, thought "He should mow over here by the mailboxes!" Then I thought "Well why would he do that, he'd never cross the street to mow! Crazy!" That night on the way home from a party he said "I mowed by the mailboxes today!" That was the first time he ever did that.
- After almost FIVE YEARS of wearing braces, Jordan's braces were supposed to come off very soon. The day she was scheduled to visit the orthodontist, I thought to myself "Even though it took almost 5 years, at least we were lucky she didn't have to wear headgear or rubberbands." When Jordan came home that afternoon, not only did she still have her braces on, she had on RUBBERBANDS!!
- On a visit to Honolulu my husband and I had a conversation about Woolworth's Waikiki where I was an assistant manager almost 30 years ago. Although I had worked with about a dozen other managers, the first "I wonder what happened to..." that I thought of was Cornell Lam. I'm not sure why since I hadn't been any closer to him than the others. Well just a couple of days later, we went to Ross, one of our favorite Honolulu stores which we always shop at. I was on my way out after paying and noticed a free-standing sign near the door saying "Store Manager: Cornell Lam".
- We went to Mini Garden Chinese restaurant on another trip to Honolulu. I was hanging my purse on the chair back and thought "I'd better zip it closed in case the waitress spills food on it". I don't recall thinking like that before. Well before our food arrived, a waitress dropped a milky drink behind me which splashed on me.
- On the ABC news show "20/20" they featured a story on Dubai and how the city is developing in such an ostentacious fashion. They showed workers who were virtually slaves from other countries. I thought to myself "I should write to Essar to warn him against going to work in Dubai." Essar is an internet friend of mine from Pakistan who talked about wanting to emigrate somewhere (he never mentioned Dubai). The very next day I checked my email and found he'd written me a couple of days ago saying he was living now IN DUBAI and enjoying being in a new environment. Happily, he was employed by the same employer he'd been working for in Pakistan (TV company).
I have more stories similar to these that I shall share later. Meanwhile I'll try to think of reasons I haven't had as many of these cool coincidences this year...I may be lacking some essential nutrient (ice cream, I hope)...or maybe not exercising enough?
Right now it's past midnight and time to read my Stephanie Plum!
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Beijing Ceremonies
Someone ought to hire me to be a consultant because I sure have a lot of cents I want to put in about a whole lot of stuff. That's probably why I started this blog. As my idea piggy bank, my steam catcher...hmm that's catchy.
I watched our recording of the Beijing Opening Ceremonies last night. We went to the last bon dance on Friday so we had to record it. The ceremonies were spectacular! How did they do that performance of the printer that formed characters? It was mind-boggling when you consider all that detailed planning was so brilliantly executed, but still I had--to the slight annoyance of my husband--some cents to put in:
First of all, why oh why, didn't President Bush have an advisor on his left? So ok, he doesn't want to look left (haha), then put Laura on his left and the advisor on his RIGHT. What is with Laura Bush anyway? What kind of wife is she? If my hub were prez, I would've nudged him and said "Eh, the other Presidents still have their coats on! Sit up! Sit still! Have some class!" Maybe she was thinking, "Oh heck, he's on his way out, who cares if he looks as dopey as usual?" I mean please, someone should've told him to keep his coat on or at least to look more presidential . It seems he was the only head-of-state to take off his jacket and look all slouchy. The camera even caught him checking his watch during the parade of athletes!! Oooooh shame!! And so ok, he had his jacket off. He had ample time to put it on just before the U.S. team arrived. But noooooo he's over there putting on his jacket while they were coming in. Why why why must we look so disorganized? Imagine the Chinese had all those details to worry about: 2008 performers at a time on the floor, for example. And all Mr. Bush had to worry about was his one jacket and he couldn't put it on in a timely manner?
While I'm on the subject of sweaty presidents, if the Chinese could spend 300 million dollars or whatever on that one night, couldn't they have at least given each dignitary one of those little handheld battery-run fans? Jordan brought one home from Special Olympics. It was made in China and REALLY effective. President Bush would've loved one I'm sure!
I feel sorry for those athletes who have to miss the opening ceremonies because they have events the following day. Why don't they start the events on the third day instead? What's one more day? Ok, don't tell me another hundred million dollars. But gee, did they really need all those fireworks? Surely they could have saved a few bucks by cutting back on them, not to mention less smoke would've been added to their already choking smog problem. DUH!
Sweden is the coolest country EVER!! I love Swedes!! In my chatting days I met a lot of Swedes online and the first person I met from the internet REALTIME was a Swede who visited Hawaii. They are nice people, good-looking, intelligent, POLITE, and they make Volvos (which reportedly do not crumple easily). And the reason I'm writing all this is because the female team members were wearing Chinese cheongsam-inspired uniforms! I tell you, we should all be Swedish. They are awesome!
And please, why wasn't I consulted when they tossed out the name "Zaire"? That was one of my favorite country names. The country is now named the Democratic Republic of Congo. There were so many countries we'd never heard of before, but I've decided not to get too attached to any country names because who knows when they'll change it.
I found out that there are 56 "officially recognized" ethnic groups living in China (NOT counting residents who were born in other countries), while the United States has 7. On the other hand, the U.S. has 6 time zones, China has 1. I guess it only shows the mindset of China's governing system. Keeping everyone in line with one timezone, identifying every "minority" to possibly keep better track of them? It's pretty amazing since the majority of Chinese are Han (92%). Can you imagine 56 choices on those application forms--they'd take up one whole page!
I think it'd be pretty cool if the United States, democratic pioneers that we are, would simply do away with race labeling and on those applications we fill out, there'd be just one choice "human". Why not? Are we going to leave it to the British to be the first to do this? Or the cool Swedes? It will come to this sooner or later. I know a lot of people who don't know what box to check already and that is a GOOD thing. Come next year our own President will likely be the first U.S. president who does not have a box to check!
I watched our recording of the Beijing Opening Ceremonies last night. We went to the last bon dance on Friday so we had to record it. The ceremonies were spectacular! How did they do that performance of the printer that formed characters? It was mind-boggling when you consider all that detailed planning was so brilliantly executed, but still I had--to the slight annoyance of my husband--some cents to put in:
First of all, why oh why, didn't President Bush have an advisor on his left? So ok, he doesn't want to look left (haha), then put Laura on his left and the advisor on his RIGHT. What is with Laura Bush anyway? What kind of wife is she? If my hub were prez, I would've nudged him and said "Eh, the other Presidents still have their coats on! Sit up! Sit still! Have some class!" Maybe she was thinking, "Oh heck, he's on his way out, who cares if he looks as dopey as usual?" I mean please, someone should've told him to keep his coat on or at least to look more presidential . It seems he was the only head-of-state to take off his jacket and look all slouchy. The camera even caught him checking his watch during the parade of athletes!! Oooooh shame!! And so ok, he had his jacket off. He had ample time to put it on just before the U.S. team arrived. But noooooo he's over there putting on his jacket while they were coming in. Why why why must we look so disorganized? Imagine the Chinese had all those details to worry about: 2008 performers at a time on the floor, for example. And all Mr. Bush had to worry about was his one jacket and he couldn't put it on in a timely manner?
While I'm on the subject of sweaty presidents, if the Chinese could spend 300 million dollars or whatever on that one night, couldn't they have at least given each dignitary one of those little handheld battery-run fans? Jordan brought one home from Special Olympics. It was made in China and REALLY effective. President Bush would've loved one I'm sure!
I feel sorry for those athletes who have to miss the opening ceremonies because they have events the following day. Why don't they start the events on the third day instead? What's one more day? Ok, don't tell me another hundred million dollars. But gee, did they really need all those fireworks? Surely they could have saved a few bucks by cutting back on them, not to mention less smoke would've been added to their already choking smog problem. DUH!
Sweden is the coolest country EVER!! I love Swedes!! In my chatting days I met a lot of Swedes online and the first person I met from the internet REALTIME was a Swede who visited Hawaii. They are nice people, good-looking, intelligent, POLITE, and they make Volvos (which reportedly do not crumple easily). And the reason I'm writing all this is because the female team members were wearing Chinese cheongsam-inspired uniforms! I tell you, we should all be Swedish. They are awesome!
And please, why wasn't I consulted when they tossed out the name "Zaire"? That was one of my favorite country names. The country is now named the Democratic Republic of Congo. There were so many countries we'd never heard of before, but I've decided not to get too attached to any country names because who knows when they'll change it.
I found out that there are 56 "officially recognized" ethnic groups living in China (NOT counting residents who were born in other countries), while the United States has 7. On the other hand, the U.S. has 6 time zones, China has 1. I guess it only shows the mindset of China's governing system. Keeping everyone in line with one timezone, identifying every "minority" to possibly keep better track of them? It's pretty amazing since the majority of Chinese are Han (92%). Can you imagine 56 choices on those application forms--they'd take up one whole page!
I think it'd be pretty cool if the United States, democratic pioneers that we are, would simply do away with race labeling and on those applications we fill out, there'd be just one choice "human". Why not? Are we going to leave it to the British to be the first to do this? Or the cool Swedes? It will come to this sooner or later. I know a lot of people who don't know what box to check already and that is a GOOD thing. Come next year our own President will likely be the first U.S. president who does not have a box to check!
Friday, August 1, 2008
Just a cute story
Feedin' my blog, just feedin' my blog. I remembered a cute story that I thought I should write down before it inadvertently gets deleted from the limited capacity of my braincells:
Several years ago we had a picnic down at Lydgate Park, which is 3-4 miles down the hill from our house. Hmmm, I did read somewhere that the vast majority of Hawaii homes are just 3 miles from the beach. ANYWAY...we got to the park and we realized we'd forgotten something...errr ok so now I've once again forgotten what it was we'd forgotten (at least I'm consistent!). It's puzzling to me now that I didn't send my husband to go back home to get it, but maybe in those days I actually enjoyed driving so I decided to drive back home alone to get that twice forgotten item.
When I was a half mile away from our house, I noticed two young boys on the opposite side of the street thumbing a ride. I never pick up hitchhikers, but they looked like 9 or 10 years old...cute little boys decked out for a day at the beach. I thought, "Oh how cute, I'll pick them up if they're still there on my way down."
After retrieving the forgotten item from home, I headed back to the beach and saw the boys still trying to hitch a ride. I pulled over for them and they hopped into the car, thanking me. Once in, the first boy says to the other, "See! I TOLD YOU if we took off our sunglasses someone would pick us up!"
I was polite enough not to burst out laughing and instead just said solemnly, "I would've picked you up even with sunglasses."
Maybe I should have just agreed instead, since they may have liked the notion that they looked "gangsta" and intimidating wearing sunglasses. Anyway, they were just too cute.
_____________________________________________
I would like to give heartfelt condolences to the family of Alan Nakamatsu who recently drowned while fishing on Oahu. I worked with Alan for a couple of years at my first fulltime job at the Waikiki Woolworth's. We were both assistant managers. He was a very very good guy. I have to say "very very" because when someone passes, people will routinely say nice things, but Alan really WAS a good guy. I took a lot of "stuff" as the only female manager out of nine, and Alan was one of genuinely nice coworkers who was kind, hard working, and dependable. Aloha Alan...I will think of you at tonight's bon dance.
Several years ago we had a picnic down at Lydgate Park, which is 3-4 miles down the hill from our house. Hmmm, I did read somewhere that the vast majority of Hawaii homes are just 3 miles from the beach. ANYWAY...we got to the park and we realized we'd forgotten something...errr ok so now I've once again forgotten what it was we'd forgotten (at least I'm consistent!). It's puzzling to me now that I didn't send my husband to go back home to get it, but maybe in those days I actually enjoyed driving so I decided to drive back home alone to get that twice forgotten item.
When I was a half mile away from our house, I noticed two young boys on the opposite side of the street thumbing a ride. I never pick up hitchhikers, but they looked like 9 or 10 years old...cute little boys decked out for a day at the beach. I thought, "Oh how cute, I'll pick them up if they're still there on my way down."
After retrieving the forgotten item from home, I headed back to the beach and saw the boys still trying to hitch a ride. I pulled over for them and they hopped into the car, thanking me. Once in, the first boy says to the other, "See! I TOLD YOU if we took off our sunglasses someone would pick us up!"
I was polite enough not to burst out laughing and instead just said solemnly, "I would've picked you up even with sunglasses."
Maybe I should have just agreed instead, since they may have liked the notion that they looked "gangsta" and intimidating wearing sunglasses. Anyway, they were just too cute.
_____________________________________________
I would like to give heartfelt condolences to the family of Alan Nakamatsu who recently drowned while fishing on Oahu. I worked with Alan for a couple of years at my first fulltime job at the Waikiki Woolworth's. We were both assistant managers. He was a very very good guy. I have to say "very very" because when someone passes, people will routinely say nice things, but Alan really WAS a good guy. I took a lot of "stuff" as the only female manager out of nine, and Alan was one of genuinely nice coworkers who was kind, hard working, and dependable. Aloha Alan...I will think of you at tonight's bon dance.
Monday, July 28, 2008
Brett Favre and tshirts
I participated in the Koloa Plantations Days craft fair on Saturday, my first fair in six months. I had decided in 2007 to quit my handcrafted clothing business after 16 years. I still enjoy designing the shirts, receiving compliments, and meeting both new customers and loyal returning customers. I no longer enjoy the "back breaking" parts of the business: hours hunched over the sewing machine and the heavy lifting involved in setting up and breaking down craft fair booths.
In my excitement of making this life-altering decision I prematurely announced to everyone at my 2007 craft fairs my plans to quit. I did say at the time that I'll continue to do fairs to sell out my stock, but you know how people are, we tend to hear just the main part of an announcement. Unless you're a husband, of course...then you usually don't even hear the main part. Hehehe...
Annnnyway, everyone's reaction to seeing me at Koloa Days was "What?! You're here? I thought you said...." I was happy to see my fellow "crafters" (I'm not sure why , but I hate that term) and I suggested that I might be the Brett Favre of craft fairs. Well the reality is I have over 200 shirts in stock to sell and judging from the slow sales on Saturday, I'll be around for many more fairs. The lower tourist numbers and bad economical conditions impacted all of the vendors I spoke to at Saturday's fair.
We are certainly going through a transitional period no matter how you look at it. Our planet, our country, Hawaii, Kauai, my neighborhood, my household, and my own life are all experiencing major changes this year. It's a lit-tle scary, as though something "up there" has lined up. We can only hope that it's all 7's.
In my excitement of making this life-altering decision I prematurely announced to everyone at my 2007 craft fairs my plans to quit. I did say at the time that I'll continue to do fairs to sell out my stock, but you know how people are, we tend to hear just the main part of an announcement. Unless you're a husband, of course...then you usually don't even hear the main part. Hehehe...
Annnnyway, everyone's reaction to seeing me at Koloa Days was "What?! You're here? I thought you said...." I was happy to see my fellow "crafters" (I'm not sure why , but I hate that term) and I suggested that I might be the Brett Favre of craft fairs. Well the reality is I have over 200 shirts in stock to sell and judging from the slow sales on Saturday, I'll be around for many more fairs. The lower tourist numbers and bad economical conditions impacted all of the vendors I spoke to at Saturday's fair.
We are certainly going through a transitional period no matter how you look at it. Our planet, our country, Hawaii, Kauai, my neighborhood, my household, and my own life are all experiencing major changes this year. It's a lit-tle scary, as though something "up there" has lined up. We can only hope that it's all 7's.
Saturday, July 19, 2008
My Smokey Robinson Story
From what my readers have been telling me--hehe, "my readers" sounds pretty impressive, but for all you know it might be three very loyal friends-- many people start blogs and fail to maintain them. As Cousin Al said, "Make sure you take care of it and 'feed it' often."
Weeeelll I'm pretty busy this week, so I'll feed you a "re-broadcast" instead. I wrote this about 12 years ago, but it's pertinent because it's still a major story in my hermitesque life and also, we recently saw Smokey again after 12 years. So here's the story:
If you ever get a chance to see Smokey Robinson perform in person, don't miss it...you'll love him. And if you happen to sit up front in the first row, be forewarned...you'll FALL IN LOVE with him...anyway, that's what happened to me when I first saw him perform live in Las Vegas! Must be those green eyes??
Whatever it was, it turned me from a Smokey fan into a Smokey fanatic! I started buying every Smokey tape and CD I could find. I read Smokey's autobiography then other Motown biographies and books...they all fascinated me. In the 60's when Motown was at it's peak I was too busy being a Beatlemaniac to care much about Motown music, so this was all "new" to me...and fun!
I had two new purposes in life now:to see Smokey perform again and to MEET him. I decided to write to him to let him know how he touched my life and just as I finished the letter, I had this great idea. I bought one of those disposable cameras and sent it with the letter, a couple of goodies from Hawaii and a stamped self-addressed envelope. I asked him to please have someone snap a couple of pictures of him and mail me back the camera in the envelope (you have to make it convenient if you want a response!)
Well I didn't hear anything for almost two months so I figured that was that. Then one day while I was taking an afternoon nap the phone rang. It was Ivory Stone--Smokey's back-up singer for over 20 years now. I recognized her name immediately and wondered if I was dreaming. She told me they thought the camera was a great idea and she'd been snapping pics of him while on tour... but she'd lost the camera at O'Hare Airport! She promised to buy another one and send me the pics ASAP. After we hung up I was SO excited and wanted to tell someone about it. My dad, who was visiting me, had been outside in the yard and when he came into the house I blurted out the whole story. He told me "Are you sure you weren't dreaming?" I said "Well, didn't you hear the phone ring?" He said no....ARRRGH! *LOL*
I waited very impatiently and finally THE PACKAGE arrived, full of goodies (tshirts, concert program, autographed 8X10, etc.) and THE PHOTOS!! Ivory explained that this had turned out to be a photo fiasco because after she had lost the first camera, the pictures she took with the second camera turned out badly and so she finally used a "real" camera and took a third roll. She sent me over a dozen pics of Smokey. Most of them showed him in different stage outfits, obviously she took a pic every night before he went onstage. It occurred to me that if she went through three rolls of film before she finally got a good set, then he had to pose about 30 times... OH MY GOD...he is a true prince to have put up with THAT!!! I had wanted him to remember me, but not as the fan that made him pose 30 times!! *LMAO*
I wrote back to Ivory to thank her for all her efforts and asked her to let me know when they'd be in Las Vegas again. A few months later she sent me a note saying they'd be there in March so my husband and I were able to plan another vacation to Vegas then. We ended up seeing Smokey's show 3 TIMES (I'm blessed with such a sweet, patient husband who puts up with my crazy whims *g*) and got to meet Smokey and Ivory backstage. My dream come true! He was exactly as I expected: gorgeous and unbelievably gracious--even when someone tried to "rescue" him from me because I was taking up too much of his time, he didn't rush off. He was very patient with me while I did my "Kathie Lee" bit, showing him a picture that my daughter drew, making him autograph it, etc. I will truly remember my Smokey Encounter for the rest of my life...but considering what I put him through, I think I'll give him a few years before I ever try meeting him again!!
Whatever it was, it turned me from a Smokey fan into a Smokey fanatic! I started buying every Smokey tape and CD I could find. I read Smokey's autobiography then other Motown biographies and books...they all fascinated me. In the 60's when Motown was at it's peak I was too busy being a Beatlemaniac to care much about Motown music, so this was all "new" to me...and fun!
I had two new purposes in life now:to see Smokey perform again and to MEET him. I decided to write to him to let him know how he touched my life and just as I finished the letter, I had this great idea. I bought one of those disposable cameras and sent it with the letter, a couple of goodies from Hawaii and a stamped self-addressed envelope. I asked him to please have someone snap a couple of pictures of him and mail me back the camera in the envelope (you have to make it convenient if you want a response!)
Well I didn't hear anything for almost two months so I figured that was that. Then one day while I was taking an afternoon nap the phone rang. It was Ivory Stone--Smokey's back-up singer for over 20 years now. I recognized her name immediately and wondered if I was dreaming. She told me they thought the camera was a great idea and she'd been snapping pics of him while on tour... but she'd lost the camera at O'Hare Airport! She promised to buy another one and send me the pics ASAP. After we hung up I was SO excited and wanted to tell someone about it. My dad, who was visiting me, had been outside in the yard and when he came into the house I blurted out the whole story. He told me "Are you sure you weren't dreaming?" I said "Well, didn't you hear the phone ring?" He said no....ARRRGH! *LOL*
I waited very impatiently and finally THE PACKAGE arrived, full of goodies (tshirts, concert program, autographed 8X10, etc.) and THE PHOTOS!! Ivory explained that this had turned out to be a photo fiasco because after she had lost the first camera, the pictures she took with the second camera turned out badly and so she finally used a "real" camera and took a third roll. She sent me over a dozen pics of Smokey. Most of them showed him in different stage outfits, obviously she took a pic every night before he went onstage. It occurred to me that if she went through three rolls of film before she finally got a good set, then he had to pose about 30 times... OH MY GOD...he is a true prince to have put up with THAT!!! I had wanted him to remember me, but not as the fan that made him pose 30 times!! *LMAO*
I wrote back to Ivory to thank her for all her efforts and asked her to let me know when they'd be in Las Vegas again. A few months later she sent me a note saying they'd be there in March so my husband and I were able to plan another vacation to Vegas then. We ended up seeing Smokey's show 3 TIMES (I'm blessed with such a sweet, patient husband who puts up with my crazy whims *g*) and got to meet Smokey and Ivory backstage. My dream come true! He was exactly as I expected: gorgeous and unbelievably gracious--even when someone tried to "rescue" him from me because I was taking up too much of his time, he didn't rush off. He was very patient with me while I did my "Kathie Lee" bit, showing him a picture that my daughter drew, making him autograph it, etc. I will truly remember my Smokey Encounter for the rest of my life...but considering what I put him through, I think I'll give him a few years before I ever try meeting him again!!
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Well, I gave him 12 years and truth be told, when I found out he'd be performing at the Waikiki Shell, although I fully intended to attend the concert, I didn't feel it necessary to try to meet him again. Until...Jordan asked to meet him. As giving her as many unique experiences as we're able to is important to us, I felt obligated to make this happen for her. Luckily Ivory Stone had not moved and I was able to write her and again bribe her with dark chocolate mac nuts. Nah, she would've done it for nothing, she's such a nice person. She put me in touch with Smokey's manager and we were even offered free tickets (but I had already purchased them).
Smokey was even more amazing twelve years later. I urge you to see him perform if you get a chance. He is not a NARAS Living Legend for his past glories, he can still out-sing and out-entertain most young musicians popular today. What's more, he's a gracious prince of a man, not to mention gorgeous.
Unfortunately, we were at the end of the line to meet him at the Shell and his manager wanted to rush him off so although we got the photo clicked for Jordan's photo album, I didn't get a chance to remind him of how we met the first time. I'll never know if he had to pose 30 times for any other fan!
Monday, July 14, 2008
What do you think?
One day a couple of weeks ago I was looking at YouTube videos of different bon dances and came across a video taken at a bon dance in Kona. People were dancing to an Usher song (Usher is a popular contemporary R&B artist). One of my pet peeves is the Westernization of Bon Dance so I wrote a comment saying so.
The other night while checking one of my many email boxes, I found that someone had replied to my comment explaining the origin and intent of having Usher played at a bon dance. Apparently it originated in a Honolulu temple and was created or supported by the temple's bishop: "Bishop Dean also received numerous complaint letters basically questioning why he would make a dance with 'that kind' of song. He basically shrugged them off saying if they don't like it, too bad because there were many deaths of young members of the church and he wanted to do something in their honor."
I appreciated that the emailer, a 23-year-old, took the time to explain this to me and it did make me feel a tiny bit more comfortable with the idea, but basically I'm still against Westernized music creeping into bon dance. This was my reply to him:
Thanks for explaining the origin and intent of that dance. I feel slightly better knowing the motivation, but I still don't care for the precedent it may set. It's bad enough the way Western music is creeping into the mix, with "Beautiful Sunday", "Shiawase Samba," and the worst was "Elvira" which we saw in Honolulu. Ugh! It's very sad if this trend continues. Of course the first two are Japanese versions, but if each year brings another new Westernized song, when will it end? What's more, the dance choreography to these songs are also not traditional. On Kauai, where I am, the choreography to "Sunday" and "Samba" are mostly clapping, turning, and Western type footwork. It saddens me to see the older, traditional dances being replaced with what resembles Country Western line dancing. Maybe I'm reacting to bad, untraditional, and/or oversimplified choreography more than to the music itself. I'm not sure how the introduction of the Usher dance was handled, if people were still upset even knowing the purpose of it. It's unfortunate that controversy marred what should have been a happy occasion. Frankly I think someone should've anticipated what would happen and found some other way to honor the young who passed, rather than to choose that situation to "push the envelope" and annoy people. Being Buddhist, however, I try to see every perspective and understand there's no answer. I acknowledge that the Buddhist churches in Hawaii are facing a very uncertain future and I'm sure the leaders are struggling to find ways to get the youth involved and committed. IMHO, they should concentrate on attracting the 30 and 40-somethings because that's the age where people become more spiritually aware plus have the time and resources to support the church. Most younger people have too much living to do or they go off to college, etc. (That's how I first left my church and I never really returned until my 40's and only for bon dances and an occasional service). I'm sure that many church leaders are torn between mimicking the Christian methods of attracting the young and remaining true to their Buddhist principles.
I'm a bit torn between wanting to cling to tradition and accepting inevitable change. On one hand I want to say, "Hey, did you see our generation introducing disco music into bon dance? Nope! Surely there was a year where several of our young peers passed away. Did we insist on bringing the BeeGees into the ring?" In Buddhism, life's transient nature is a core understanding as is acceptance, so it would be "un-Buddhist" of me to expect things not to change. I don't think, however, that it is "un-Buddhist" to be a bit bummed. To comment, click right below this entry where you see "comment".
Tonight we went to see "Hancock." I went in knowing that this movie was rated low on RottenTomatoes.com In my experience a highly praised movie doesn't necessarily mean I'll like it. (And yet I always check out their tomato-meter before seeing a movie...duh!) I liked the movie, although I do agree with the critics that the movie took a weird turn. At my age, however, I appreciate unpredictable plots and dislike formula "I saw THAT coming!" movies. I forget those two days after seeing them. I'm off to bed!
I'm fighting a cold that Jordan gave me. She had her last day of school after 17 years of schooling (from age 3) on Friday and would you believe she came down with a cold that morning? She was all set to go out to wait for the bus when suddenly she said she was sick and had to run to throw up. I went out to the bus to tell them she was sick and wouldn't go to school. I wondered if it was psychosomatic, but she DID have a slight fever. Imagine, on her very last day! They had a little party planned for her too! I think I was more heartbroken than she was. I wasn't the only one, though. Luckily her personal aide, Bonnie, felt the same way and since Jordan wanted to go, we decided to let her attend class for the last hour. Jordan was happy, her teacher was happy. (Although she had to be careful not to spread her germs, let's face it, she probably got the cold germ from school in the first place!) At this time, I would like to thank the makers of ZICAM. Our family has been using this wonder drug for years and it works consistently. It often stops an oncoming cold in it's tracks (if you use it early enough) or at the very least, shortens the length/severity of a cold. Try it, you'll thank me! NOW I'm off to bed!
Friday, July 11, 2008
29th Wedding Anniversary
There are so many things I want to write about, but I'm selecting the topic of marriage today since we just had our 29th wedding anniversary a few days ago. You know, we got married on Ringo Starr's birthday. Just thought I'd throw that in. It could be loosely relevant because well, I consider him the funny Beatle and he's the oldest Beatle and the least controversial. I think our marriage is all that. Oh and another thing. We got married on 7-7-79. darn it's really too bad we didn't get married two years earlier! I'm sure we would've been much luckier in Vegas over the past 29 years.
When someone asked me what the secret was to our long marriage, I replied "We're two very tolerant people." I was joking, but now when I think about it, isn't it the truth? What two people are so perfect that tolerance is never necessary at some point? Love is not enough, sorry to tell you. Acceptance, a sense of humor, and commitment are mandatory. This is why I sometimes question the institution of marriage. It's NOT natural, it's man-made. Like everything man-made, there are advantages and disadvantages. Take shoes, for instance: they protect your feet and keep them warm, but can cause bunions, foot odor, and often are hard to dance in.
Marriage enables a partnership which promotes better upbringing of children and it provides love, comfort and friendship; but it can also cause financial problems, high blood pressure, and some husbands don't take you dancing. *LOL*
In my case, my husband has the high blood pressure and takes me dancing. Seriously, however, marriage can be restrictive if not handled carefully. I may bemoan his being unromantic and point to a guy on TV proposing to his girl on a moonlit balcony in Paris, but at least he never tries to suppress my creativity or public expression of unconventional views (such as those found in blogs) and he tolerates my overanalyticalitis. Any man who would take his wife to see Smokey Robinson on three consecutive nights in Las Vegas is marriage-worthy in my book.
Lastly, I would like to stress the importance of complementing each other. Too often we are given the impression that for a marriage to be successful, you must be soulmates with a singular mind. One of my favorite funny quotes is Woody Allen's "I would never want to belong to a club that would have me as a member." Not sure if that's totally relevant but I love that quote. Sometimes when two people are alike it can be disastrous. Imagine two vain people in a bathroom with one mirror! Or two people who love to eat the turkey neck...or butt? Surefire ingredients to a rocky marital road!
Years ago I was criticizing someone's childrearing methods. Unfortunately, "Supernanny" wasn't around or she'd have proven me right. That person said "Well, you're lucky. Jordan's an easy child!" It never occurred to them that maaaaybe, just maybe, their child was difficult BECAUSE they were spoiling him and that Jordan was "easy" because I was studiously following John Rosemond's advice. So some may say "Well you're lucky you found each other, that's why your marriage lasted." Maaaaybe, just maybe it's not only about luck but also that we are simply two people who are smart enough to understand that married life can be great if you're committed, learn to accept, have a sense of humor, and go dancing once in a while.
When someone asked me what the secret was to our long marriage, I replied "We're two very tolerant people." I was joking, but now when I think about it, isn't it the truth? What two people are so perfect that tolerance is never necessary at some point? Love is not enough, sorry to tell you. Acceptance, a sense of humor, and commitment are mandatory. This is why I sometimes question the institution of marriage. It's NOT natural, it's man-made. Like everything man-made, there are advantages and disadvantages. Take shoes, for instance: they protect your feet and keep them warm, but can cause bunions, foot odor, and often are hard to dance in.
Marriage enables a partnership which promotes better upbringing of children and it provides love, comfort and friendship; but it can also cause financial problems, high blood pressure, and some husbands don't take you dancing. *LOL*
In my case, my husband has the high blood pressure and takes me dancing. Seriously, however, marriage can be restrictive if not handled carefully. I may bemoan his being unromantic and point to a guy on TV proposing to his girl on a moonlit balcony in Paris, but at least he never tries to suppress my creativity or public expression of unconventional views (such as those found in blogs) and he tolerates my overanalyticalitis. Any man who would take his wife to see Smokey Robinson on three consecutive nights in Las Vegas is marriage-worthy in my book.
Lastly, I would like to stress the importance of complementing each other. Too often we are given the impression that for a marriage to be successful, you must be soulmates with a singular mind. One of my favorite funny quotes is Woody Allen's "I would never want to belong to a club that would have me as a member." Not sure if that's totally relevant but I love that quote. Sometimes when two people are alike it can be disastrous. Imagine two vain people in a bathroom with one mirror! Or two people who love to eat the turkey neck...or butt? Surefire ingredients to a rocky marital road!
Years ago I was criticizing someone's childrearing methods. Unfortunately, "Supernanny" wasn't around or she'd have proven me right. That person said "Well, you're lucky. Jordan's an easy child!" It never occurred to them that maaaaybe, just maybe, their child was difficult BECAUSE they were spoiling him and that Jordan was "easy" because I was studiously following John Rosemond's advice. So some may say "Well you're lucky you found each other, that's why your marriage lasted." Maaaaybe, just maybe it's not only about luck but also that we are simply two people who are smart enough to understand that married life can be great if you're committed, learn to accept, have a sense of humor, and go dancing once in a while.
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Everybody Have Fun Tonight...Everybody Bon Dance Tonight!
I just love attending and participating in bon dances (bon odori) every summer. In brief, bon dances are a Japanese Buddhist tradition and in Hawaii, take place at a different Buddhist church every weekend from June through early August. There are just enough churches on Kauai so that there is one bon dance going on twice each weekend (Friday and Saturday nights) for ten weekends, so a true bon-addict can attend them all if so inclined. I'm pretty sure there are people who attend 20 each summer because it seems that every time I go to a bon dance I see the same people. Either that or they're thinking the same thing: "That lady must go to EVERY bon dance because I see her at every one I go to!" *LOL* Actually, we attend maybe 10 nights per summer.
I can't think of anything like a bon dance, although I'm sure there must be similar traditions in other cultures that provide a comparable experience. The beauty of the bon dance tradition in Hawaii is not limited to the beauty of the tradition itself: dancers in colorful garb happily dancing around a wooden tower on a balmy moonlit night, paper lanterns swaying--ok let's not think of the occasional termite swarm. The beauty is also in the sharing and integration you're guaranteed to experience.
First of all, you'll notice that the dancers are not just Japanese. Bon dance has evolved into a Hawaiian tradition and consequently you'll see people of all ethnic backgrounds participating. Many of the non-Japanese know the dance routines well, but newbies are also welcomed to join in. No one needs to feel self-conscious. On Kauai, there's this one Japanese guy who dances like he's at a disco, never attempting to learn the routines and rarely even dancing with the flow of the circle. Ok, no one doubts he is probably mentally ill, but he is not ridiculed or asked to leave. Of course when I see him nearby it throws off my concentration and makes me miss a step or two, but it gives me a chuckle.
Another beauty of bon dance is that all ages are represented in the ring. Adorable toddlers decked out in teeny tiny yukatas follow their moms or dads, stopping occasionally to stare up at the lanterns, at the other dancers, or to watch the drummers. Groups of teens, male and female, jostle each other as they invariably head for the innermost circle (Why is that? My guess is typical of teens, they don't want to be seen too easily so they go to the inside to hide). Grandmas are well-represented, of course, and a few grandpas, too.
My very favorite people to watch at bon dances are the tourists and obvious newbies. I love that they're eager to participate, and it's fun watching them concentrate on imitating the movements of the seasoned dancers. When you look at someone willing to look silly to learn a "foreign" dance, you're looking at a person enthusiastically embracing cultural diversity. That's a beautiful sight.
One of my mottos is "It's all about energy," and at a bon dance, you get a healthy dose of good energy. I swear that the steady beat of the taiko drums is somehow in sync to my "bio" rhythm. You don't have to dance in the ring to get it. Dozens of people are playing carnival type games, buying food at the food booths, or shopping at the church's white elephant sale. Dozens more sit around the ring watching the dancers, "talking story" with friends, and enjoying the favorite bon dance fare: teriyaki meat on sticks, flying saucers (round toasted bread filled with sloppy joe style beef), shaved ice, andagi (doughnut balls), and saimin noodles. I said you get a "healthy dose of good energy", not a "good dose of healthy food." I tell myself the healthy energy makes up for the not-so-healthy food.
So if you get a chance to visit a bon dance, take your camera, a few dollars, your folding chair, and your smile. You'll be using them all and loving it.
I can't think of anything like a bon dance, although I'm sure there must be similar traditions in other cultures that provide a comparable experience. The beauty of the bon dance tradition in Hawaii is not limited to the beauty of the tradition itself: dancers in colorful garb happily dancing around a wooden tower on a balmy moonlit night, paper lanterns swaying--ok let's not think of the occasional termite swarm. The beauty is also in the sharing and integration you're guaranteed to experience.
First of all, you'll notice that the dancers are not just Japanese. Bon dance has evolved into a Hawaiian tradition and consequently you'll see people of all ethnic backgrounds participating. Many of the non-Japanese know the dance routines well, but newbies are also welcomed to join in. No one needs to feel self-conscious. On Kauai, there's this one Japanese guy who dances like he's at a disco, never attempting to learn the routines and rarely even dancing with the flow of the circle. Ok, no one doubts he is probably mentally ill, but he is not ridiculed or asked to leave. Of course when I see him nearby it throws off my concentration and makes me miss a step or two, but it gives me a chuckle.
Another beauty of bon dance is that all ages are represented in the ring. Adorable toddlers decked out in teeny tiny yukatas follow their moms or dads, stopping occasionally to stare up at the lanterns, at the other dancers, or to watch the drummers. Groups of teens, male and female, jostle each other as they invariably head for the innermost circle (Why is that? My guess is typical of teens, they don't want to be seen too easily so they go to the inside to hide). Grandmas are well-represented, of course, and a few grandpas, too.
My very favorite people to watch at bon dances are the tourists and obvious newbies. I love that they're eager to participate, and it's fun watching them concentrate on imitating the movements of the seasoned dancers. When you look at someone willing to look silly to learn a "foreign" dance, you're looking at a person enthusiastically embracing cultural diversity. That's a beautiful sight.
One of my mottos is "It's all about energy," and at a bon dance, you get a healthy dose of good energy. I swear that the steady beat of the taiko drums is somehow in sync to my "bio" rhythm. You don't have to dance in the ring to get it. Dozens of people are playing carnival type games, buying food at the food booths, or shopping at the church's white elephant sale. Dozens more sit around the ring watching the dancers, "talking story" with friends, and enjoying the favorite bon dance fare: teriyaki meat on sticks, flying saucers (round toasted bread filled with sloppy joe style beef), shaved ice, andagi (doughnut balls), and saimin noodles. I said you get a "healthy dose of good energy", not a "good dose of healthy food." I tell myself the healthy energy makes up for the not-so-healthy food.
So if you get a chance to visit a bon dance, take your camera, a few dollars, your folding chair, and your smile. You'll be using them all and loving it.
Sunday, July 6, 2008
Waaaaaaall E
We went to see Wall-E tonight. First of all there was a nice surprise from the very beginning because Jordan and I just love "Put On Your Sunday Clothes" from "Hello Dolly"! And then a few minutes later they played "La Vie En Rose"....of course not Edith Piaf's version, but pretty cool also since Jordan loves EP.
The movie was fun and cute, but of course I had my usual questions afterwards to which my hubby replied, "It's a cartoon." Yeh but....
What were those fat people eating for 700 years?!?!
Why must they land in the CITY!?!?
How did Eva get separated from the plant in the first place!!?!
Where were the kids and teenagers?!?!
Why didn't I see any fat Asian people!!?!
Hmm, I would love to see a PREQUEL to Wall-E.
If you like to read murder mysteries, and want to laugh out loud, read the Monk books by Lee Goldberg. I haven't been able to watch "Monk" on TV regularly, but still, it's one of my favorite programs. I love just about every detective/lawyer program, especially the ones that don't waste time visiting the personal lives of the detectives and lawyers. If I cared about their personal lives I'd watch soap operas. Just solve the damned murder! Stop worrying about your beautiful hair and cleavage too (CSI Miami). Oh and please TURN ON THE LIGHTS (CSI Las Vegas). I love to watch the process and I want to be able to SEE it. What's funny is that on Law & Order, they don't seem to need CSI's to solve their cases, and on CSI, they don't need police to solve theirs. Gee whiz, don't they watch each others' shows?
Before I go to bed, I would like to say Aloha to our Mayor Bryan Baptiste. I really trusted and liked this man. I often marveled at how he seemed to be such a quiet and almost shy person for a mayor. He got elected without being a "politician" that campaigned aggressively and verbosely, but just worked hard and quietly. That's what it seemed like to me, anyway. I'd see him at every big craft fair I participated in on Kauai. He'd walk through the tent quietly and nod and say hi with such a humble air. I feel very sad and can't help feeling that the stresses our island put upon him was unhealthy for him: the homeless problem, Superferry fiasco, bike path issue, overdevelopment, slowing economy, on and on. Thank you, Bryan Baptiste, I don't doubt that you gave your life for our island.
The movie was fun and cute, but of course I had my usual questions afterwards to which my hubby replied, "It's a cartoon." Yeh but....
What were those fat people eating for 700 years?!?!
Why must they land in the CITY!?!?
How did Eva get separated from the plant in the first place!!?!
Where were the kids and teenagers?!?!
Why didn't I see any fat Asian people!!?!
Hmm, I would love to see a PREQUEL to Wall-E.
If you like to read murder mysteries, and want to laugh out loud, read the Monk books by Lee Goldberg. I haven't been able to watch "Monk" on TV regularly, but still, it's one of my favorite programs. I love just about every detective/lawyer program, especially the ones that don't waste time visiting the personal lives of the detectives and lawyers. If I cared about their personal lives I'd watch soap operas. Just solve the damned murder! Stop worrying about your beautiful hair and cleavage too (CSI Miami). Oh and please TURN ON THE LIGHTS (CSI Las Vegas). I love to watch the process and I want to be able to SEE it. What's funny is that on Law & Order, they don't seem to need CSI's to solve their cases, and on CSI, they don't need police to solve theirs. Gee whiz, don't they watch each others' shows?
Before I go to bed, I would like to say Aloha to our Mayor Bryan Baptiste. I really trusted and liked this man. I often marveled at how he seemed to be such a quiet and almost shy person for a mayor. He got elected without being a "politician" that campaigned aggressively and verbosely, but just worked hard and quietly. That's what it seemed like to me, anyway. I'd see him at every big craft fair I participated in on Kauai. He'd walk through the tent quietly and nod and say hi with such a humble air. I feel very sad and can't help feeling that the stresses our island put upon him was unhealthy for him: the homeless problem, Superferry fiasco, bike path issue, overdevelopment, slowing economy, on and on. Thank you, Bryan Baptiste, I don't doubt that you gave your life for our island.
Saturday, July 5, 2008
Blogging for the first time...
Ok this is officially my blog. I'm thinking there must be a million or more blogs out there so why would anyone want to read this? I write long emails to my friends and I THINK they enjoy them and guess what.. I enjoy reading them myself! SO even if no one else reads this, I've got an audience of at least one..in a million!
So please, if you do read this, say hi in a comment so I'll know at least two of us are reading me.
Today's topic is ....ohhhh kind of negative. Maybe I should change topics because who wants to start out negatively? I wanted to vent about how we went to watch the fireworks in Lihue and parked in the Ace Hardware parking lot. On each side of us were annoying, inconsiderate people. What a pity because until these people arrived, everything was so pleasant. Each of these parties were young families. To our left, a young family with three little boys were playing fireworks. Not only is that illegal because the boys were underage (the oldest looked 8) and looked like an accident waiting to happen, but they were in a parking lot with cars passing by them, making rubbish, and taking advantage of Ace's hospitality. After all, Ace could've blocked their entrance and none of us (40 or more cars) would've been able to park there. I was very tempted to go and say my piece to the young dad, but didn't want to be the scolding old lady. I considered calling the police, but just then it started to rain and everyone got back into their cars.
The other young group on our right wasn't breaking any laws, but one young lady began taking flash pictures when the fireworks started... pointing the camera towards us viewers. She was taking photos of her friends watching the fireworks. Ok, I wouldn't have minded a few photos, no big deal. The flash was so distracting as we're trying to watch the fireworks and it's amazing that her friends didn't discourage her after she'd taken about twenty photos of six people. I am not exaggerating. Somewhere out there you might find 20 photos online of 6 people sitting on a blanket watching something.
One of my biggest pet peeves is inconsideration. It's so BASIC to be considerate of others, or so you would think. You know.. GOLDEN RULE? Hello, that's a Western concept so these two young groups should've heard of it. What's so difficult to understand? Maybe they don't know the word "UNTO". That IS a bit old-fashioned and knowing the illiteracy rate these days, we really should have it officially changed to something simpler like maybe plain old "TO". So people please, "Do TO others as you would have them do TO you."
So ok, getting back to the first topic of my blogging. It should be something positive and fun. Oh hey, did you know that Benji Schwimmer, who won So You Think You Can Dance, was on Kauai a few weeks ago? Awwww I wish I could've seen him. Now he is one fun and positive guy, from what I know of him. What a pleasure to see him dance! Thank goodness for YouTube, go and watch him there.
Well it's very late, 1:30 a.m. and according to Ayurvedic medicine, I again missed the optimum sleeping time of day (night), which is 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. That is when your body should be resting and healing itself. Instead this body is up typing a blog that possibly just one person will read.
Aloha for now!!
So please, if you do read this, say hi in a comment so I'll know at least two of us are reading me.
Today's topic is ....ohhhh kind of negative. Maybe I should change topics because who wants to start out negatively? I wanted to vent about how we went to watch the fireworks in Lihue and parked in the Ace Hardware parking lot. On each side of us were annoying, inconsiderate people. What a pity because until these people arrived, everything was so pleasant. Each of these parties were young families. To our left, a young family with three little boys were playing fireworks. Not only is that illegal because the boys were underage (the oldest looked 8) and looked like an accident waiting to happen, but they were in a parking lot with cars passing by them, making rubbish, and taking advantage of Ace's hospitality. After all, Ace could've blocked their entrance and none of us (40 or more cars) would've been able to park there. I was very tempted to go and say my piece to the young dad, but didn't want to be the scolding old lady. I considered calling the police, but just then it started to rain and everyone got back into their cars.
The other young group on our right wasn't breaking any laws, but one young lady began taking flash pictures when the fireworks started... pointing the camera towards us viewers. She was taking photos of her friends watching the fireworks. Ok, I wouldn't have minded a few photos, no big deal. The flash was so distracting as we're trying to watch the fireworks and it's amazing that her friends didn't discourage her after she'd taken about twenty photos of six people. I am not exaggerating. Somewhere out there you might find 20 photos online of 6 people sitting on a blanket watching something.
One of my biggest pet peeves is inconsideration. It's so BASIC to be considerate of others, or so you would think. You know.. GOLDEN RULE? Hello, that's a Western concept so these two young groups should've heard of it. What's so difficult to understand? Maybe they don't know the word "UNTO". That IS a bit old-fashioned and knowing the illiteracy rate these days, we really should have it officially changed to something simpler like maybe plain old "TO". So people please, "Do TO others as you would have them do TO you."
So ok, getting back to the first topic of my blogging. It should be something positive and fun. Oh hey, did you know that Benji Schwimmer, who won So You Think You Can Dance, was on Kauai a few weeks ago? Awwww I wish I could've seen him. Now he is one fun and positive guy, from what I know of him. What a pleasure to see him dance! Thank goodness for YouTube, go and watch him there.
Well it's very late, 1:30 a.m. and according to Ayurvedic medicine, I again missed the optimum sleeping time of day (night), which is 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. That is when your body should be resting and healing itself. Instead this body is up typing a blog that possibly just one person will read.
Aloha for now!!
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