Vaca: halfway mark (or just over)

Wow, have not had a moment. It's really crowded round these parts and difficult to do much of anything. Right now Spencer and Meghan are here in the room with me, Spencer playing FF12 and Meghan playing Mystery Dungeon on DS. We've been waiting all frigging week for any of the stores out here to get Wii and Twilight Princess, but no luck. Megastore downtown might get it on Friday (a bit late, I'd say,) but they won't sell it to you unless you buy THREE games with it. WTF.

The good news is that when I called work on Monday to see how everyone was doing, Dan told me that they had rechecked Sano's bloodwork (recall that his kidney values were a little high last time, and Rob thought maybe itwas conditional because he'd been a little dehydrated because of the diarrhea,) and it all came back normal. Everyone else is also doing fine. So this all makes me totally happy.

Let's see. In Epcot on Sunday I bought some lovely red pants to wear to the Kung Fu christmas party, as well is cool sticks to shove in my hair. There were these three drunken frat boys in the store, trying on all these lovely, delicate Chinese clothes over their own clothes and doing pretend Kung Fu while taking pictures of each other. I passed by them and said, "I'll teach you some Kung Fu moves if you want," which seemed to offend them. Later on they ripped some of those fine clothes, and no one even told them to stop.

Monday, Meghan and I went to Universal, which was THE BOMB. We barely had time to do everything we wanted to do, which amounted to riding the best coasters: The Hulk, a quick ride on Flying Unicorn, and three times on Dueling Dragons. Meghan loved all of these. Later that night we all met up at MGM, where we did Rockin Roller Coaster and Tower of Terror. It would have been entirely a thrill ride day if not for the Great Movie Ride. That ride used to be the most awesome thing, but now I just mostly think it's silly.

Yesterday: Magic Kingdom, and then dinner at 'Ohaha, where we met up with my friend Jonathan (JoNathan, from Kawehi's halau.) He's so much fun and such a sweet darling. While we were there, Auntie Kau'i and another sweet lady who works with her, Ku'ulei, came up and gave us each a fresh carnation lei. Then Kaleo came out to chat for a while. Auntie made a point of telling me to be at Tambu Lounge at 8 tonight because she wants me to dance. Gah, I never know what to do with live music. I think I'll ask for Island of Love, and if Kaleo can't do that, I don't know what else to ask for. I don't know the really popular Hulas. Jonathan might be there again, and if so, maybe we could both do something that Kawehi taught.

Today we made the attempt to do something at Animal Kingdom, but it was so crowded that even walking around wasn't much of an option. Meghan made th executive decision to go back to the hotel and play video games until dinner time. So here we are.

One really funny thing that went on was a few night ago when we were driving into the hotel parking lot. It was really late, and the guy at the signpost always stops incoming cars. Well, he stopped our car, but he wouldn't speak to say what he needed to see to let us by; instead he chose to just gesture vagely into the window. Finally exasperated, my Mom--who is normally polite to even the worst oafs--barked at him, "What?! Say a word! Stop pointing!" So since then, Meghan keeps repeating that phrase. Say a word! Stop pointing! the other inside joke between Meghan and I is, "Something's making me cough." The first night we were here we were watching all 30 Seconds to Mars footage and interviews together, and there is one interview in which the woman asks Jared a question and he replies with, "Uhhhh... uhhhh...." and then suddenly coughs violently, looking at the mic like it did it. He says, kind of blankly, "Something's making me cough," and this cracked Meghan up for the rest of the night.

Speaking of, I haven't read much in the way of news lately, so I haven't been keeping up on things. (It's like a different world down here, remember, and I feel really disconnected. Maybe when I'm down here I don't want to be bombarded with news or something. The only thing thing I've really heard about is Michael Richards' outburst, and that bums me out, because I can never look at him the same way again.) Anyway, so most of my online time has been spent tryng to locate and download 30 Seconds to Mars's newest "music video" for From Yesterday. "Music video" is in quotes because it's really more of a ten minute film. Meghan and I MSTed it all the way through ("I'm a magician. Your clothes are black!") but it's a really interesting piece of work. It's also loads of fun, because it amounts to four adult men filming their sword-geek fantasies. (When adults pretend, it's called "art.") I'm so on board with that. This band is an awesome thing to behold, if you don't take them too seriously. It's so neat that they have a Kung Fu sword fight in there, that makes it meaningful to me. They each have an encounter with some kind of darkness. Jared's seems to be with a ghostly girl that only he can see. That makes me happy for some reason.


Well, tomorrow is Thanksgiving and I've got my Native Pride T shirt all lined up. Never let it be said that I don't make people uncomfortable by reminding them of the ugly truth during times of celebration. ;) I know it must make me a kind of Debbie Downer, but for one thing I'm not like that all the time, and for another, I just don't like to forget. Things need to be acknowledged.

Ooooh, Vaan just got shanked by a dinosaur type creature. Spencer has to restart.

I'm superfly hungry for dinner. And admittedly a little nervous about tonight's show at Tambu. O_o

Vaca: halfway mark (or just over)

Wow, have not had a moment. It's really crowded round these parts and difficult to do much of anything. Right now Spencer and Meghan are here in the room with me, Spencer playing FF12 and Meghan playing Mystery Dungeon on DS. We've been waiting all frigging week for any of the stores out here to get Wii and Twilight Princess, but no luck. Megastore downtown might get it on Friday (a bit late, I'd say,) but they won't sell it to you unless you buy THREE games with it. WTF.

The good news is that when I called work on Monday to see how everyone was doing, Dan told me that they had rechecked Sano's bloodwork (recall that his kidney values were a little high last time, and Rob thought maybe itwas conditional because he'd been a little dehydrated because of the diarrhea,) and it all came back normal. Everyone else is also doing fine. So this all makes me totally happy.

Let's see. In Epcot on Sunday I bought some lovely red pants to wear to the Kung Fu christmas party, as well is cool sticks to shove in my hair. There were these three drunken frat boys in the store, trying on all these lovely, delicate Chinese clothes over their own clothes and doing pretend Kung Fu while taking pictures of each other. I passed by them and said, "I'll teach you some Kung Fu moves if you want," which seemed to offend them. Later on they ripped some of those fine clothes, and no one even told them to stop.

Monday, Meghan and I went to Universal, which was THE BOMB. We barely had time to do everything we wanted to do, which amounted to riding the best coasters: The Hulk, a quick ride on Flying Unicorn, and three times on Dueling Dragons. Meghan loved all of these. Later that night we all met up at MGM, where we did Rockin Roller Coaster and Tower of Terror. It would have been entirely a thrill ride day if not for the Great Movie Ride. That ride used to be the most awesome thing, but now I just mostly think it's silly.

Yesterday: Magic Kingdom, and then dinner at 'Ohaha, where we met up with my friend Jonathan (JoNathan, from Kawehi's halau.) He's so much fun and such a sweet darling. While we were there, Auntie Kau'i and another sweet lady who works with her, Ku'ulei, came up and gave us each a fresh carnation lei. Then Kaleo came out to chat for a while. Auntie made a point of telling me to be at Tambu Lounge at 8 tonight because she wants me to dance. Gah, I never know what to do with live music. I think I'll ask for Island of Love, and if Kaleo can't do that, I don't know what else to ask for. I don't know the really popular Hulas. Jonathan might be there again, and if so, maybe we could both do something that Kawehi taught.

Today we made the attempt to do something at Animal Kingdom, but it was so crowded that even walking around wasn't much of an option. Meghan made th executive decision to go back to the hotel and play video games until dinner time. So here we are.

One really funny thing that went on was a few night ago when we were driving into the hotel parking lot. It was really late, and the guy at the signpost always stops incoming cars. Well, he stopped our car, but he wouldn't speak to say what he needed to see to let us by; instead he chose to just gesture vagely into the window. Finally exasperated, my Mom--who is normally polite to even the worst oafs--barked at him, "What?! Say a word! Stop pointing!" So since then, Meghan keeps repeating that phrase. Say a word! Stop pointing! the other inside joke between Meghan and I is, "Something's making me cough." The first night we were here we were watching all 30 Seconds to Mars footage and interviews together, and there is one interview in which the woman asks Jared a question and he replies with, "Uhhhh... uhhhh...." and then suddenly coughs violently, looking at the mic like it did it. He says, kind of blankly, "Something's making me cough," and this cracked Meghan up for the rest of the night.

Speaking of, I haven't read much in the way of news lately, so I haven't been keeping up on things. (It's like a different world down here, remember, and I feel really disconnected. Maybe when I'm down here I don't want to be bombarded with news or something. The only thing thing I've really heard about is Michael Richards' outburst, and that bums me out, because I can never look at him the same way again.) Anyway, so most of my online time has been spent tryng to locate and download 30 Seconds to Mars's newest "music video" for From Yesterday. "Music video" is in quotes because it's really more of a ten minute film. Meghan and I MSTed it all the way through ("I'm a magician. Your clothes are black!") but it's a really interesting piece of work. It's also loads of fun, because it amounts to four adult men filming their sword-geek fantasies. (When adults pretend, it's called "art.") I'm so on board with that. This band is an awesome thing to behold, if you don't take them too seriously. It's so neat that they have a Kung Fu sword fight in there, that makes it meaningful to me. They each have an encounter with some kind of darkness. Jared's seems to be with a ghostly girl that only he can see. That makes me happy for some reason.


Well, tomorrow is Thanksgiving and I've got my Native Pride T shirt all lined up. Never let it be said that I don't make people uncomfortable by reminding them of the ugly truth during times of celebration. ;) I know it must make me a kind of Debbie Downer, but for one thing I'm not like that all the time, and for another, I just don't like to forget. Things need to be acknowledged.

Ooooh, Vaan just got shanked by a dinosaur type creature. Spencer has to restart.

I'm superfly hungry for dinner. And admittedly a little nervous about tonight's show at Tambu. O_o

Tambu Lounge

After dinner tonight, Uncle Don, Betsy and the kids went to watch the Wishes fireworks show. (I love fireworks, but I've seen Wishes and itdoesn't do much for me. Meghan really wanted to see it because she's a huge fan of fireworks, too, but she's also the snarkiest little cynic I know, and she generally makes snide remarks about the nature of Wishes even as she's oohhing and aahhhing over the display itself. I'm proud of this clan of cynics. These kids will get far in life and know true happiness because they have so few illusions. /tangent) Mom, Dad, Gran and I went over to the Poly for the show, because Autnie Kau'i had told me to show up with some Hula in mind to dance. When we got there Kaleo was already playing, so we listened to him for a while, hen he came over to chat while he was on his break. At around 8:15, Brian came up, and we chatted for a while, too. Then soon after, Auntie and her dancers came up, including Ginger who I haven't seen in about a year. Auntie asked me if I knew any of the Hulas they were doing. I didn't, and she said, "Well think of something to do and Kaleo will sing it." They did a few really wonderful dances. Auntie Kau'i is a joy to watch, with her huge smile and sweet face, and boy can she move fast. They did a pu'ili number and she was whipping those babies around. (Brian had said earlier, as Auntie wa walking into the lounge with her pu'ili, "She's a tough lady, especially when she teaches those. Look, she's wiping the blood off them." Everyone acknowledges her as one of the finest ladies on earth, but no one denies that she's got a strong hand and apparently really long arms, as she can whack you from the back of the room.) After they did about three numbers, Auntie had me by the arm and was pulling me up to the stage.

Kaleo introduced me as Jules from the Beautiful Island of Long. I felt a little silly at first, because Auntie and her students were all in their lovely dresses (Auntie with a beautiful haku on her pinned up hair,) and there I was in jeans, a t shirt, and a hoodie with "HULA GIRL" across the back. O_o I had already decided to ask Kaleo to sing "Island of Love," which was taught to me by Uncle Moon a few years ago and which I did with Meghan back in '03 or so, because I was sure I still remembered it. Unluckily for me, Kaleo said he didn't know all the words to that, and could I chose another one? So I asked if he could to White Christmas, and he said he could. Boy, would I have been screwed over if this was in September or something! But the entire hotel is all decked out for Christmas, so it worked out. I did a version that was taught to me by Lynn, which she learned back in the 90's by Kumu Mahina. I hadn't practiced this dance in about two years, but I only made one mistake, and I don't think anyone noticed but Auntie, and she just kind of smiled. My Dad said that the guy next to him said to his wife, "This girl can't be a student; she has to be a professional dancer," and some other guy said, "Not ony is she beautiful, but she can dance." That last one I'm not sure about. I think sometimes my Da hears things he wants to hear. ;) He could have said "I think I'll have another drink" and my Da might have still heard something complimentary about his daughter.

Afterwards I said to Auntie that I hoped I did all right, and she said I did a wonderful job. (It's a very easy dance, so it'd be hard not to do a halfway decent job. In fact, dancing as long as I have, I'd probably just have to go ahead and shoot myself if I couldn't pull this one off.) Then this little black girl of around 9 or 10 came up to me and said she thought I did a great job. That was all really nice. It was especially nice since earlier in the evening I caught an inevitable glimpse of my reflection in a mirrored elevator and became really depressed. Sometimes being a great dancer makes up for what else I lack, and hearing people acknowledge that I at least have this talent is a wonderful thing. I have no shame: Tell me I'm a great dancer, I totally eat it up. ;) Then Auntie and her group did another dance which was lovely, and then at around 8:45 they left. Kaleo came to chat again for a while which was awesome of him, and he brought us some of his CDs which was also awesome. More excellent music to listen to!

After we said goodnight and were heading out, my Mom turned to me and said, "I love these people. All of your Hula friends, I just love them. And I generally hate people, but I can't find anything wrong with any of them." Dad and Gran heartily concurred. (Kaleo was calling Dad "brother" which is not something to take lightly, either.) And Gran is like everyone's Grandma. In Hawaiian culture, Kupuna, or elders, are really highly respected, so everyone treats Grandma like a person of great importance. Well, which she is to me, but usually not to th general populace.

Downstairs on the way to the car, Da made a stop in the bathroom while Mom, Gran and I waited outside the gallery. This young guy came out and said, "Hey, what are you folks up to this evening? Bringing some customers to me?" I told him, just waiting. Then, eyeing the painting on a stand next to me, I commented that I'd seen a similar painting get plowed down by a bunch of out of control kids Saturday morning. He said, "Yeah, it was a two thousand dollar painting, but it ended up being fine. I remember that; you were dancing then." Which is absolutely true; it was, in fact, while I was doing Waikiki Hula. And I always feel funny when someone remembers me, because I'm never sure that it's a good remembering. I always think that it's because I look so, uhh, let's say distinctive. Either that or he recognized the HULA GIRL hoodie I was wearing.

But all in all it was a really good evening with some of my finest Hula friends. And Auntie Kau'i is like an angel; the day is always nicer after having seen her.

There was something else which I wanted to write about, something from a few days ago and something to do with Meghan, but I can't remember what it was just now. They're still probably trying to make their way back from the Kingdom, which actually has given me some time to type this all up.

Thanksgiving tomorrow, and it's so weird to be away from home for this. Otherwise, I would be working. (As it is, I'm working on Christmas instead. >_> ) Then Friday is the last full day and we all head home Saturday morning. That's all right, too, because I'm starting to miss my dogs and Kung Fu. I have he sneaking suspicion that Lee got her green belt, and now I have belt jealousy. ;) Time to check email.

Tambu Lounge

After dinner tonight, Uncle Don, Betsy and the kids went to watch the Wishes fireworks show. (I love fireworks, but I've seen Wishes and itdoesn't do much for me. Meghan really wanted to see it because she's a huge fan of fireworks, too, but she's also the snarkiest little cynic I know, and she generally makes snide remarks about the nature of Wishes even as she's oohhing and aahhhing over the display itself. I'm proud of this clan of cynics. These kids will get far in life and know true happiness because they have so few illusions. /tangent) Mom, Dad, Gran and I went over to the Poly for the show, because Autnie Kau'i had told me to show up with some Hula in mind to dance. When we got there Kaleo was already playing, so we listened to him for a while, hen he came over to chat while he was on his break. At around 8:15, Brian came up, and we chatted for a while, too. Then soon after, Auntie and her dancers came up, including Ginger who I haven't seen in about a year. Auntie asked me if I knew any of the Hulas they were doing. I didn't, and she said, "Well think of something to do and Kaleo will sing it." They did a few really wonderful dances. Auntie Kau'i is a joy to watch, with her huge smile and sweet face, and boy can she move fast. They did a pu'ili number and she was whipping those babies around. (Brian had said earlier, as Auntie wa walking into the lounge with her pu'ili, "She's a tough lady, especially when she teaches those. Look, she's wiping the blood off them." Everyone acknowledges her as one of the finest ladies on earth, but no one denies that she's got a strong hand and apparently really long arms, as she can whack you from the back of the room.) After they did about three numbers, Auntie had me by the arm and was pulling me up to the stage.

Kaleo introduced me as Jules from the Beautiful Island of Long. I felt a little silly at first, because Auntie and her students were all in their lovely dresses (Auntie with a beautiful haku on her pinned up hair,) and there I was in jeans, a t shirt, and a hoodie with "HULA GIRL" across the back. O_o I had already decided to ask Kaleo to sing "Island of Love," which was taught to me by Uncle Moon a few years ago and which I did with Meghan back in '03 or so, because I was sure I still remembered it. Unluckily for me, Kaleo said he didn't know all the words to that, and could I chose another one? So I asked if he could to White Christmas, and he said he could. Boy, would I have been screwed over if this was in September or something! But the entire hotel is all decked out for Christmas, so it worked out. I did a version that was taught to me by Lynn, which she learned back in the 90's by Kumu Mahina. I hadn't practiced this dance in about two years, but I only made one mistake, and I don't think anyone noticed but Auntie, and she just kind of smiled. My Dad said that the guy next to him said to his wife, "This girl can't be a student; she has to be a professional dancer," and some other guy said, "Not ony is she beautiful, but she can dance." That last one I'm not sure about. I think sometimes my Da hears things he wants to hear. ;) He could have said "I think I'll have another drink" and my Da might have still heard something complimentary about his daughter.

Afterwards I said to Auntie that I hoped I did all right, and she said I did a wonderful job. (It's a very easy dance, so it'd be hard not to do a halfway decent job. In fact, dancing as long as I have, I'd probably just have to go ahead and shoot myself if I couldn't pull this one off.) Then this little black girl of around 9 or 10 came up to me and said she thought I did a great job. That was all really nice. It was especially nice since earlier in the evening I caught an inevitable glimpse of my reflection in a mirrored elevator and became really depressed. Sometimes being a great dancer makes up for what else I lack, and hearing people acknowledge that I at least have this talent is a wonderful thing. I have no shame: Tell me I'm a great dancer, I totally eat it up. ;) Then Auntie and her group did another dance which was lovely, and then at around 8:45 they left. Kaleo came to chat again for a while which was awesome of him, and he brought us some of his CDs which was also awesome. More excellent music to listen to!

After we said goodnight and were heading out, my Mom turned to me and said, "I love these people. All of your Hula friends, I just love them. And I generally hate people, but I can't find anything wrong with any of them." Dad and Gran heartily concurred. (Kaleo was calling Dad "brother" which is not something to take lightly, either.) And Gran is like everyone's Grandma. In Hawaiian culture, Kupuna, or elders, are really highly respected, so everyone treats Grandma like a person of great importance. Well, which she is to me, but usually not to th general populace.

Downstairs on the way to the car, Da made a stop in the bathroom while Mom, Gran and I waited outside the gallery. This young guy came out and said, "Hey, what are you folks up to this evening? Bringing some customers to me?" I told him, just waiting. Then, eyeing the painting on a stand next to me, I commented that I'd seen a similar painting get plowed down by a bunch of out of control kids Saturday morning. He said, "Yeah, it was a two thousand dollar painting, but it ended up being fine. I remember that; you were dancing then." Which is absolutely true; it was, in fact, while I was doing Waikiki Hula. And I always feel funny when someone remembers me, because I'm never sure that it's a good remembering. I always think that it's because I look so, uhh, let's say distinctive. Either that or he recognized the HULA GIRL hoodie I was wearing.

But all in all it was a really good evening with some of my finest Hula friends. And Auntie Kau'i is like an angel; the day is always nicer after having seen her.

There was something else which I wanted to write about, something from a few days ago and something to do with Meghan, but I can't remember what it was just now. They're still probably trying to make their way back from the Kingdom, which actually has given me some time to type this all up.

Thanksgiving tomorrow, and it's so weird to be away from home for this. Otherwise, I would be working. (As it is, I'm working on Christmas instead. >_> ) Then Friday is the last full day and we all head home Saturday morning. That's all right, too, because I'm starting to miss my dogs and Kung Fu. I have he sneaking suspicion that Lee got her green belt, and now I have belt jealousy. ;) Time to check email.

And on a less than Aloha note...

"I think that is very sad," said Janice Shaw Crouse, a former college dean and public high school teacher and now a spokeswoman for Concerned Women for America, a conservative organization. "He is teaching his students to hate their country. That is a very distorted view of history, a distorted view of Thanksgiving." Right. Teaching kids the truth is BAD.

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And on a less than Aloha note...

"I think that is very sad," said Janice Shaw Crouse, a former college dean and public high school teacher and now a spokeswoman for Concerned Women for America, a conservative organization. "He is teaching his students to hate their country. That is a very distorted view of history, a distorted view of Thanksgiving." Right. Teaching kids the truth is BAD.

( Copied for saving... )