but how am i supposed to stay mad

when i got this right outside the door? go away, rainbow! i'm being pissed-off! shoo, now -- git!

rainbows. i hate those friggin things. Well, you know. You'll just be sitting there, minding your own business, and they'll come marching in, and crawl up your leg, and start biting the inside of your ass, and you'll be all like, "Hey! Get out of my ass you stupid rainbows!"

Oh. RainBOWS. Yeah, I like those. Those are cool.

oh, memphis, you broke my heart! (and all my stuff!)

it's reassuring to know that the post office couldn't even get my stuff to Memphis before destroying it. look! my books are all damaged, i can't even talk about what they did to my muppets lunchbox, and my dvds are just gone. well not the weird ones, they let me keep Hedwig and Twin Peaks and Tenenbaums. it's awfully peculiar that they were able to "salvage" some of them (see pic), since all the DVDs were packed in a box within another box. hm. the outside box must have come open, despite their gentle handling, and then the inner box must have somehow exploded, leaving only the difficult-to-sell videos "intact". I can think of no other explanation.

it's a good thing i sold all the wedgwood. i can't have nice things. or even somewhat crappy things in good condition, apparently. they even un-strung my glass mardi gras beads!

another person must have been similarly Memphis-ed, as I got the cover only of a book entitled "Our Love Is Here to Stay" by Tony & Lois Evans. I can only wonder what they got of mine.

*sigh*. oh, and i had to pay for the privilege of such careful handling of my things as well. $26.16 because i "underpaid" initially. no matter that my stuff is broken and/or missing. they even managed to rip the ears off my bunny magnet, who was wrapped up inside the Muppets lunchbox! it seems rather violent and un-coincidental. his little expression looks all the more poignant now. we must make him some prosthetics.

but first, i think it's time for a mai-tai.

Fun Fact Friday!

since i've been so remiss in sharing what i've learned so far about hawaiian culture, and since i need to take my mind off the whole will-i-ever-see-those-irreplaceable-books-again thing, I'm going to make this Fun Fact Friday! Whee!

have you heard of the menehune, or little people? Legend has it that when the Tahitians arrived on Hawai'i, these people were already here. some think they are akin to Brownies or Leprechauns, but others think they were descendents of ancient Jewish peoples.

wtf? if they're real, how'd they get here? nobody knows.

Hawaiian mythology (up to the second arrival of polynesians) is very similar to judaism. There is a creation, an adam and eve, a cain and abel, and lots of very literal parallels. (there are also co-existing mythologies, about three separate ones, that interweave, contradict each other, and generally make hawaiian religious history difficult to categorize.)

No one has ever found any menehune skeletons, though census results in the early 1800s show 65 people identified as menehune on Kaua'i, where it is thought they were driven by the influx of polynesians on the southernmost islands in the chain. "menehune" also means "slave".

when things go wrong, especially on kaua'i, the menehune get blamed. if you lose your wallet, it was the menehune. flat tire? menehune. crops fail? and so on.

whatchathink? little jews, faeries, or what? cryptozoologists want to know.

things are getting interesting around here

1. we had a 3.7 earthquake
2. i got (most) of my stuff in the mail from nawlins
3. i have a job interview next week
4. i saw another turtle
5. at least doodle's important things made it safely


1. yes, we had an earthquake at about 5 a.m. today. it felt like the bed turned to jelly for a minute. i thought i was possessed by de Debil! doodle got all freaked out, and then we went back to sleep. apparently it was 5 miles underneath us and about 26 miles south. my first earthquake! yay, i mean, eep.


2. Tuesday I got 3 boxes (out of six) in the mail. Unfortunately I was not here to accept them so they went to the post office. I picked them up on Wednesday. They were all open and the P.O. ppl made me pay, cause we tried to sneak them thru the cheap Media Mail option, and they didn't contain Media. It would have worked, too, if i had been home instead of volunteering at the stupid volcano. (pout) oh well. today i got a verrry small package. inside were a few of the contents of one of the Big Big boxes. i got a photo album torn in half -- wait, let me rephrase that -- half of a torn photo album, my undergrad degree, one store-bought DVD (I had about 35), and that's about it. they cut out the postage and address from the original box and taped it on this one. i'm really hoping that tomorrow i will get the rest of that box's contents, but i have to say i might have lost a lot of things: all my cds and my DVD "archive" (500 cds; about 250 movies) and a lot of books. so say a little prayer that they were able to collect all those items and figure out to send them to me.

3. what was 3 again? oh yeah, i have a job interview next week. for the job in the enchanted rainforest protecting all the little endangered birdies. i will keep you posted on that, fo shizzle.

4. self-contained and fairly explanatory

5. doodle got his favorite toy back. his mama was too stoopid to pack it in her suitcase. it was a joyful reunion.

oh, and that picture with the green things on a big stick? yeah. that's a tsunami siren. i've seen a few different designs and i'll be posting some more de temps en temps.

that's the Aloha Report for today. I'm going to go try and think aloha thoughts and not kill-the-postman thoughts.

somebody else likes tropical treats

yertles!!!

today it was sunny, but i didn't trust it to stay that way, so i decided i was going to take a trip along the hamakua coast, which is a scenic drive from Hilo north to the Waipi'o Valley. I wore my suit because there are a few beachy places on the route, and i thought if it happened to be sunny for a while, i'd just hang out and make some vitamin D. well i had a few errands to run, and i decided that first i would just go check out a little park in Hilo i hadn't been to yet. it's called Onekahakaha Beach Park, and it's behind the airport. to get there you go thru a very industrial area that reminded me a lot of River Road. so of course i expected a skaintchy little stretch of muddy beach and rocks.

well. color me taken aback. this park is byootiful! and huge! and the water is crystal clear! there's a breakwater to keep the ocean from smashing you into bits while you look around the biggest, best tidepools i've seen yet. lots of angelfish, little fishies that like to pretend they're dolphins jumping out of the water in formation.... AND SEA TURTLES!! yes i finally saw them! two of them, big 'uns. the first picture you see has a turtle in it if you click on it and look at the top middle. oh and there's a little fish in that last picture that looks like it's just some rocks. you'll never find it. okay maybe you will. it'll be a fun game. find the fishie! that's straight down into about a foot of water, btw. don't look like water, do it?? oh, and no it did not rain, it was super-sunny and i got quite a healthy dose. god, i love this place.

i'll check out the hamakua coast tomorrow maybe.

hey, did you notice that i figured out how to link things? actually, i didn't. chris told me how. click on that link to hear about how he just scored a roundtrip ticket to come see me in june for $577.54. we are gonna have such a good time, and i can't freeking WAIT!

yeah so i had a good weekend. hopefully in the next few weeks i'll be hearing about that job. otherwise the posts are gonna get depressing. you'll hear about me eating pbj's and ramen noodles. i've stocked up Just In Case. so wish me luck.

the little apartment is almost starting to look like somebody lives here. i put up a few pictures and things, and it's getting there. i've decided i need a papasan chair, so once i get some income i suppose a picture of that will be forthcoming.

happy birthday to my mama, who turned a certain age yesterday. i love you, mama!

that's it, hope everyone had a lovely Earth Day, and pleeez let me know if my links don't work, huh?

aloha!

well, double poop

See this? this is what an unripe durian looks like. yes he was green as all get-out, and when i cut him open, there was NO stink and his little seedy poddy pulpy things were all solid and not custardy at all like they are supposed to be. i hate to pass on this disappointing turn of events, but there it is. i don't think he ever would have gotten ripe. i think they have to ripen on the tree. can anyone help me with that? they say that no two durians are alike, and i still intend to get a ripe one... someday. *sigh*. there is a thai restaurant (the Garden Snack Club, incidentally) that purports to sell durian ice cream, but they were out the day i went. the durian gods hate me.

it's still rainy here. if this keeps up i'm going to have to go to the other side of the island for some sunshine. i'm getting pasty again! i'm kind of scared of becoming one of the Leather People, but i also don't want to look like the inside of that durian. if i take a road trip i'll be sure and get plenty of pictures for you all.

what else have i got for you? not much. oh here's a fun story about things proceeding slowly here on the island: i took the jeep in b/c there is a recall on the catalytic converter. remember i had to wait 2 weeks for them to see me? okay. so monday i went, and the letter i got about the service said it would take 1-2 hours, so i chose to wait around for them to finish. BIG MISTAKE! Seven hours later, they told me it was finished, and i was like, yay new catalytic converter for free, and they were like, no we just looked at it and determined that the part does need to be replaced. (hello, there was a recall.) THEN they tell me that Daimler-Chrysler, in an attempt to keep dealers from hoarding the parts, only lets them order one a week. (??!?) and they have a waiting list already. I'm #4 on the list. therefore, they can *order* the part for me in 4 weeks. then when it comes in, they MAIL me a notice and i call them for an appointment (another two weeks, i'd imagine). Somebody please tell Elbert how much i am missing him right now!!!

*****(okay, here we go again with the blog not letting me make a new paragraph. chris b, help me out here, why does this happen?)*****

in happier news, i figured out an easy recipe for a mai-tai facsimile without all the fancy complicated ingredients. yes these two events were directly related.

big birthday shout-outs to kressy and dorothy! happy birthday, ladies. hope you had lovely celebrations.

aloha!

more parade pix while i wait for the sun to come out

to my cackalack peeps

i read last night that the starlite drive-in in durham closed because the owner passed away last month. does anyone know if it will re-open? i found some showtimes listed for it for this week and i'm wondering if some good samaritan took the reins. it makes me sad to think the starlite might be gone forever. please let me know if y'all hear anything?

well, poop.

i was gonna go to the beach today, but look, it's all rainy and grey. i know, i know, cry you a river, right? i thought y'all might like that after i've tortured you for so long. since i can't go to the beach, i think i might bust open this durian thing. i was sitting here last night and i kept getting wafts of something funky-smelling, and i finally realized it was the durian! so i don't know if it's time yet, but if it gets any stinkier i'm not going to want to eat it at all. so check back later for that action.

i guess i'll send doodle out for the paper. actually it'll be a good excuse to try and find some more jobs to apply for. i mean, if i didn't have that volunteer gig i might be a little stir-crazy by now. i was hoping that gig would introduce me to some folx and start some networking, but instead, my supervisor has made it abundantly clear that she hopes i *never* get a job. i explained that at some point, i wouldn' t have gas money to drive there and help her, and she graciously offered to give me bus fare.

yeah, deb's a funny lady. we've been working in the botanical collection and neither of us are botanists, so when we read a plant's Latin name, we look at it from a purely aesthetic perspective. Neither of us care for the fern genus Doodia. Deb is particularly fond of the raspberries, Rubus, especially Rubus mcraei. I think that should be a old hound dog, not a raspberry. So there we are, two grown women, saying things like, "pass me the Thyssanothingy", or "hm. Phyllocanthria. That would be a lovely name for a baby girl."

I looked at the pictures i posted from the parade yesterday, and i didn't post any of the floats! yes there were plenty of floats, so i might have to put up a few of those. later, i mean.

*yawn*. i've discovered that coffee tastes good with coconut milk in it instead of half and half. those who know me know that i have to have my half and half. except it's $5 a quart here. yikes! so i tried the coconut milk ($1.39 a quart) and it is a more than suitable alternative. don't worry, i'm not gonna go vegan or anything, milk and cheese are quite affordable (they even had a special on Brie last week). but half and half will have to be reserved for sales. also cereal. i did pick up a box of frosted flakes when they were on sale for $3.50. Cereal here runs about $6-7 a box! even the bagged stuff is pricey. i saw some frosted mini-wheats on the sale rack (the little box) for $4.99. meanwhile, sashimi-grade ahi is $6/lb. so it's not like i'm suffering or anything.

okay, more later on durians. and i think the sun is coming out, hooray!

aloha!

parade day!

everybody loves a parade! especially when they're throwing macadamia nuts and leis! this was the Merrie Monarch parade, capping off a week of hula competitions. King Kalakaua is the monarch they're referring to, and he was responsible for reviving the art of hula after the missionaries had a cow about it and pushed it underground for being too lascivious. now they have modern hula and ancient hula divisions. i need to learn a lot more about them to begin to appreciate the movements and especially the mele, or chants.

anyway. it was a damn fine parade, with an elvis impersonator, a middle-school ukulele band, all the princesses from all the islands, horses in leis, and a brass band whaling "When The Saints Go Marching In" with such Nawlins-like gusto that it brought tears to my eyes. i took 157 pictures so it was kinda hard to pick which ones to show y'all, but i think these'll do.

the durian seems not to be ripe yet. it's hard to tell, though. he might be rotten for all i know. but he doesn't stink, so from everything i've read i'm pretty sure he's not ripe.

that's all for now. happy weekend to everybody!

downtown (sing it like petula)

okay, i think i finally got some pix that do Downtown Hilo some justice. this cute little area is about six blocks long and four deep, and is chock full of little goodies. i took these pix today, easter sunday, so it was dead. everybody in a ham and candy coma, i reckon.

see that woodcut in the window? that's the river that i cross when i go downtown, the wailuku. that's the bluey-greeny thing that isn't the ocean that you've seen so many pictures of. i got a copy of that. i heart it. i think it's going in the kitchen.

and no, i have not been in chi-chi la fong's yet, but it is definitely On The List! take care, and remember, god is watching you.

We Have Durian! and it's Internet Independence Day

well, after 4 days of phone calls to cingular and samsung, i went to the cingular store today to get them to fix my frustrating Lack Of Internet. there was a 16-year old asian kid there that got me hooked up in no time. apparently the geniuses at the support center signed me up for the wrong data package, so of course i couldn't get on the internet with the bluetooth thingy. *sigh.* i won't get into the madness of the hours and hours of service call contents. i just want to put it all behind me.

so there's that. and also, after i got done at cingular, i went to the farmers market, and lo and behold -- they had a little durian for me!! isn't he cute? i accidentally reached my hand in the wrong bag and he stabbed me with one of his pointy things, and he drew blood. awwuh! just precious, he is. he also kind of looks like he's flipping me off. he better taste really good. i was warned repeatedly that he is not ripe yet, so i can't dig in for a while. but yay, we have Durian!

i also have chairs. that's big. my back was hurting from having a bedcouch be my only piece of furniture. now i have a little kitchen table (thanks al!) and two folding bamboo chairs, so i can sit upright and not hunched-up like a little monkey.

and the Merrie Monarch Hula Festival starts tomorrow! it's big. real big. like you have to book your flight a year in advance big. unfortunately tickets were sold out long ago, but they do have some free hula exhibitions, and there are other free non-hula things associated with the festival. it goes for a week and culminates in a big parade next saturday. yay, parades!! i do miss them.

okay, now i don't feel the pressure to post as much as i can, now that i'm free of the chains of Spotty Wireless Internet. Happy Easter everyone! i hope the easter bunny brings you lots of goodies, especially of course that king of easter candies, the Reese's Peanut Butter Egg. Enjoy!

walk wiz me thru my 'hood