Hula ambition, storm a-comin

Hmmm, not all too much to report, same old same old. The weather is nice and warm, flowers are blooming but honestly it's a little boring sometimes; it feels sometimes like there's nothing really fabulous to look forward to. You know, no visits or trips or anything. My Wonderful Glassworker Friend visits but she's the only one. I do tend to think once in a while that people are afraid to visit; like it's going to be a house of mourning or something. Which it isn't. Just a little boring. :) I'm still peeved that I started to really like that one guy and he had to go away for the summer. MAI POINA.

But, it's easy to start to feel sorry for oneself! So best not to do that.

Actually, yesterday my fave aunt sent me a message just to say "Hi, you're awesome, have confidence in yourself and be happy." It's not the kind of thing you hear often and it really made my day.

I've got 3 birds: two starlings and a grackle. They're really sweet and fun. Getting another one tomorrow, I think, though I don't yet know what kind. A robin would be nice. A nice, fat, noisy, healthy baby robin.

Say, Sano's been freaking out for about an hour, trying to hide in the bathroom and trying to crawl under my chair and stuff and I'm like, "WTF is wrong with you, go in your bed!" And I just found out we're having massive thunderstorms pretty soon and it's been thundering like crazy just east of here. I should trust him!

My Mom let me borrow her VCR-->DVD recorder, and I put some old Hula dances on DVD. I'm not sure they play on my DVD player yet 'cause I haven't popped them in, but they do not work on my computer. Hahani Mai is coming along – I can't believe it's eleven years since I learned it. Trying to also re-learn: O Pau'o (Mark Keali'i Ho'omalu,) Maunaleo (Keali'i Reichel,) and Hi'ilawe (Chinky Mahoe.) I used to own Hi'ilawe, and Hahani Mai but that was a long time ago. Hi'ilawe did really start to come back to me, actually. It's not too hard.

Ooh, I have a Hula show on the 19th. That is going to be mad fun. There's something awesome to look forward to! I'm even thinking about making my own Tahitian hip hei out of my own plants. I've got an Adam's Needle that would do a great job with this. I get very ambitious during Hula season – whether or not I'll actually do this remains to be seen. :) La Toere! I will make that mine. :)

Oh, now I hear the thunder. Damn, the storm's a-comin. I should go running before it hits. Oh yeah, I got some really fly running shoes yesterday. AND, an entirely too-cute bathing suit. Now, if only the occasion would come to get all dolled up. Maybe I'll take a beach day one of these days, when it's super hot. Just put on my new bathing suit, pack a lunch and something to drink, and hit the beach. Yeah, that's what I should do, once it's really hot. ^_^

Okay well, I'd better get jogging before the lightning and rain follow. Byeeeee.

Oh yeah, and my fish tank finally cleared up. PRAISE BE TO THE GODS OF FISH TANKS. ^_`

Hula ambition, storm a-comin

Hmmm, not all too much to report, same old same old. The weather is nice and warm, flowers are blooming but honestly it's a little boring sometimes; it feels sometimes like there's nothing really fabulous to look forward to. You know, no visits or trips or anything. My Wonderful Glassworker Friend visits but she's the only one. I do tend to think once in a while that people are afraid to visit; like it's going to be a house of mourning or something. Which it isn't. Just a little boring. :) I'm still peeved that I started to really like that one guy and he had to go away for the summer. MAI POINA.

But, it's easy to start to feel sorry for oneself! So best not to do that.

Actually, yesterday my fave aunt sent me a message just to say "Hi, you're awesome, have confidence in yourself and be happy." It's not the kind of thing you hear often and it really made my day.

I've got 3 birds: two starlings and a grackle. They're really sweet and fun. Getting another one tomorrow, I think, though I don't yet know what kind. A robin would be nice. A nice, fat, noisy, healthy baby robin.

Say, Sano's been freaking out for about an hour, trying to hide in the bathroom and trying to crawl under my chair and stuff and I'm like, "WTF is wrong with you, go in your bed!" And I just found out we're having massive thunderstorms pretty soon and it's been thundering like crazy just east of here. I should trust him!

My Mom let me borrow her VCR-->DVD recorder, and I put some old Hula dances on DVD. I'm not sure they play on my DVD player yet 'cause I haven't popped them in, but they do not work on my computer. Hahani Mai is coming along – I can't believe it's eleven years since I learned it. Trying to also re-learn: O Pau'o (Mark Keali'i Ho'omalu,) Maunaleo (Keali'i Reichel,) and Hi'ilawe (Chinky Mahoe.) I used to own Hi'ilawe, and Hahani Mai but that was a long time ago. Hi'ilawe did really start to come back to me, actually. It's not too hard.

Ooh, I have a Hula show on the 19th. That is going to be mad fun. There's something awesome to look forward to! I'm even thinking about making my own Tahitian hip hei out of my own plants. I've got an Adam's Needle that would do a great job with this. I get very ambitious during Hula season – whether or not I'll actually do this remains to be seen. :) La Toere! I will make that mine. :)

Oh, now I hear the thunder. Damn, the storm's a-comin. I should go running before it hits. Oh yeah, I got some really fly running shoes yesterday. AND, an entirely too-cute bathing suit. Now, if only the occasion would come to get all dolled up. Maybe I'll take a beach day one of these days, when it's super hot. Just put on my new bathing suit, pack a lunch and something to drink, and hit the beach. Yeah, that's what I should do, once it's really hot. ^_^

Okay well, I'd better get jogging before the lightning and rain follow. Byeeeee.

Oh yeah, and my fish tank finally cleared up. PRAISE BE TO THE GODS OF FISH TANKS. ^_`

Thoughts from kama'aina

Okay, okay, I'm LJ spamming, sorry. I know this isn't a Twitter. But honestly, how often do I post more than once a day? Not often. So gimme this one time because I went for my jog and I have more thoughts to add.

So this storm's a-brewin' and the thunder is getting closer. I set out in my new sneakers with a wave to a neighbor who is doing a task outside. I tell him, "Better hurry in before it hits." Then I pass my other neighbor Frank in his farm-field and I go on my way.

Make my right onto the second block I go down and I pass the little girl who's always outside playing with her brother when I jog by. Today it's just her, on a little pink bike, her hair in neat cornrows and ponytailed at the back. She says "HI!" and I say hi back. She turns her bike around and goes, "Where are ya running?"

"Oh, just around," I tell her. "Just getting exercise."

She says, "Oh, okay!"

I really want to stop running, turn around and tell her, "Well you know, the truth is that I run in a circle every day, a big silly circle! Because back in the day, we didn't have to go out specifically to get exercise; you know, people worked outdoors, in the fields, doing physical labor all day. But now we don't have to do that, so we have to invent ways to keep ourselves fit. Sometimes we over-invent and spend tons of money, when really it's just as simple as buying a good pair of shoes and going in a circle. You pay for the shoes but the circle is free. I don't know why it's so hard for us to get off our asses once we hit adulthood, but I guess that's not even the point. I may be running in a big silly circle and ending up where I started with nothing to show for it but better legs and lower cholesterol, but it's got to be better than sitting down. I think."

I don't know, I just thought it was a cute question. "Where ya runnin?" Well, really nowhere!

Then on my way back I passed Frank again, on his way inside. I don't think I've ever talked about Frank before but I always had it in mind to, because he's kind of awesome.

Frank is this old guy who has a farm a tad down the road from me. He served in WW2, and a few years ago his, whatever you call it, vow or order of silence, or gag order or whatever was finally over. He called my Mom and Dad over and started spilling all these secrets from his time in the war. It was pretty interesting. He's married to this little Japanese lady named Yoko. She goes back to Japan every year and a few years ago she bought me this little wooden doll back from there. I don't know why, she just did it randomly. Frank and Yoko were the only neighbors outside of family to come over after we lost Dad. Yoko brought some food over and Frank said, "The world lost a whole lotta good man."

Frank had hip replacement recently but he is up and about again, taking his long walks like he always has, working on his little farm and everything.

I used to see him first thing in the morning when I was a real wee lass, and when I insisted on either pulling an all-nighter, or getting up extra early to watch the sun rise and then catch Sweeney Todd on PBS. I'd go outside at 5 AM and he'd be out there in the farm, first light.

Here's another interesting thing about my neighbors: I like about half of them. I think I've mentioned this before. There are douchebags east and south of me. I mean like real creepy douchebags, the kind that let garbage pile up outside of their house for months, or throw sneakers on the phone lines to signal "drug dealer here," you know. Well the good news is that the neighbors just east of me are moving out, and a childhood friend of mine is moving in. We'll call this childhood friend Billy, after Billy Squires, because that was his code name when we were in a club together called the Rockin' Five. (I was Cyndi Lauper, my two cousins were Pat Benetar and Sheena Easton, and our other friend was Bruce Springsteen.)

My cousins, and "Billy" and "Bruce" and I used to meet up every day after school, and all day on weekends, and every day in the summer, to play outside. We'd play all sorts of games like War, SPUDS, Spy, Mental Hospital (we made that one up,) freeze-tag where everybody's it, and most especially, Ghost In The Graveyard. Except in the summer we'd all be in the pool, stopping only for lunch and dinner. Then by ten PM we'd be exhausted, and we'd lay outside in Gran's driveway waiting for the ice cream man. (The truck used to go "RING RING," not this irritating Murphy's Oil Soap song that it does now.)

I think that Bruce ended up in jail (I know at least one of his brothers did,) but Billy got married and had some kids. So, Billy is moving back in next door which is all kinds of crazy, right? (Well not really. I mean the house does belong to his parents. In fact it was left to them by a former neighbor whom my dad always called "The Mayor" because he kind of acted like he owned the whole town. He left it to them for no other reason than that he loved Billy like a grandson, so it's only right that he should get the house, after all these years I think.) I am so glad these people are finally moving the hell out. Lately they've had this guy, some cousin of theirs or something, helping them move. But it seems to me that he just wanders around in the same clothes every day looking skeevy and dirty. He has that "I'd definitely steal your iPod out of your car for drug money" look.

When Billy moves in, I seriously might ask him if he wants to play Ghost In The Graveyard again. The only one missing would be Bruce. OMG, how funny would that be.

Yes, so I've lived here for just about ever and if anyone's ever been kama'aina here, it's me. :) Yes, I can tell you all about that local legend, yes I can give you directions, yes I can tell you a quicker way to get there, too. Yep, I can identify that bird, and tell you want day the tree frogs will start singing and when it's about to start to get cold. I can tell you what the real best beaches are, but I'm not going to, 'cause they're mine, not yours. Cooper's Beach just got named the best one in the country. It's not. ^_^ At least not to me.) I can tell you where the best stores are and which ones are the cheapest, which are family owned and if the people are cool or not. Mail comes at around 10:30 and the ice cream man around 4 these days. (Used to be between 10 and 11 PM. I thought it was better that way.)

Well, that was my afternoon ramble around the block, hope no one minded. :) I should post up some pics of my rambles, sometimes.

Oops, the storm's just hitting. Gotta go close the southern door.

But anyway, anyone on my f-list, I'd like to hear you guys's rambles, too.

Thoughts from kama'aina

Okay, okay, I'm LJ spamming, sorry. I know this isn't a Twitter. But honestly, how often do I post more than once a day? Not often. So gimme this one time because I went for my jog and I have more thoughts to add.

So this storm's a-brewin' and the thunder is getting closer. I set out in my new sneakers with a wave to a neighbor who is doing a task outside. I tell him, "Better hurry in before it hits." Then I pass my other neighbor Frank in his farm-field and I go on my way.

Make my right onto the second block I go down and I pass the little girl who's always outside playing with her brother when I jog by. Today it's just her, on a little pink bike, her hair in neat cornrows and ponytailed at the back. She says "HI!" and I say hi back. She turns her bike around and goes, "Where are ya running?"

"Oh, just around," I tell her. "Just getting exercise."

She says, "Oh, okay!"

I really want to stop running, turn around and tell her, "Well you know, the truth is that I run in a circle every day, a big silly circle! Because back in the day, we didn't have to go out specifically to get exercise; you know, people worked outdoors, in the fields, doing physical labor all day. But now we don't have to do that, so we have to invent ways to keep ourselves fit. Sometimes we over-invent and spend tons of money, when really it's just as simple as buying a good pair of shoes and going in a circle. You pay for the shoes but the circle is free. I don't know why it's so hard for us to get off our asses once we hit adulthood, but I guess that's not even the point. I may be running in a big silly circle and ending up where I started with nothing to show for it but better legs and lower cholesterol, but it's got to be better than sitting down. I think."

I don't know, I just thought it was a cute question. "Where ya runnin?" Well, really nowhere!

Then on my way back I passed Frank again, on his way inside. I don't think I've ever talked about Frank before but I always had it in mind to, because he's kind of awesome.

Frank is this old guy who has a farm a tad down the road from me. He served in WW2, and a few years ago his, whatever you call it, vow or order of silence, or gag order or whatever was finally over. He called my Mom and Dad over and started spilling all these secrets from his time in the war. It was pretty interesting. He's married to this little Japanese lady named Yoko. She goes back to Japan every year and a few years ago she bought me this little wooden doll back from there. I don't know why, she just did it randomly. Frank and Yoko were the only neighbors outside of family to come over after we lost Dad. Yoko brought some food over and Frank said, "The world lost a whole lotta good man."

Frank had hip replacement recently but he is up and about again, taking his long walks like he always has, working on his little farm and everything.

I used to see him first thing in the morning when I was a real wee lass, and when I insisted on either pulling an all-nighter, or getting up extra early to watch the sun rise and then catch Sweeney Todd on PBS. I'd go outside at 5 AM and he'd be out there in the farm, first light.

Here's another interesting thing about my neighbors: I like about half of them. I think I've mentioned this before. There are douchebags east and south of me. I mean like real creepy douchebags, the kind that let garbage pile up outside of their house for months, or throw sneakers on the phone lines to signal "drug dealer here," you know. Well the good news is that the neighbors just east of me are moving out, and a childhood friend of mine is moving in. We'll call this childhood friend Billy, after Billy Squires, because that was his code name when we were in a club together called the Rockin' Five. (I was Cyndi Lauper, my two cousins were Pat Benetar and Sheena Easton, and our other friend was Bruce Springsteen.)

My cousins, and "Billy" and "Bruce" and I used to meet up every day after school, and all day on weekends, and every day in the summer, to play outside. We'd play all sorts of games like War, SPUDS, Spy, Mental Hospital (we made that one up,) freeze-tag where everybody's it, and most especially, Ghost In The Graveyard. Except in the summer we'd all be in the pool, stopping only for lunch and dinner. Then by ten PM we'd be exhausted, and we'd lay outside in Gran's driveway waiting for the ice cream man. (The truck used to go "RING RING," not this irritating Murphy's Oil Soap song that it does now.)

I think that Bruce ended up in jail (I know at least one of his brothers did,) but Billy got married and had some kids. So, Billy is moving back in next door which is all kinds of crazy, right? (Well not really. I mean the house does belong to his parents. In fact it was left to them by a former neighbor whom my dad always called "The Mayor" because he kind of acted like he owned the whole town. He left it to them for no other reason than that he loved Billy like a grandson, so it's only right that he should get the house, after all these years I think.) I am so glad these people are finally moving the hell out. Lately they've had this guy, some cousin of theirs or something, helping them move. But it seems to me that he just wanders around in the same clothes every day looking skeevy and dirty. He has that "I'd definitely steal your iPod out of your car for drug money" look.

When Billy moves in, I seriously might ask him if he wants to play Ghost In The Graveyard again. The only one missing would be Bruce. OMG, how funny would that be.

Yes, so I've lived here for just about ever and if anyone's ever been kama'aina here, it's me. :) Yes, I can tell you all about that local legend, yes I can give you directions, yes I can tell you a quicker way to get there, too. Yep, I can identify that bird, and tell you want day the tree frogs will start singing and when it's about to start to get cold. I can tell you what the real best beaches are, but I'm not going to, 'cause they're mine, not yours. Cooper's Beach just got named the best one in the country. It's not. ^_^ At least not to me.) I can tell you where the best stores are and which ones are the cheapest, which are family owned and if the people are cool or not. Mail comes at around 10:30 and the ice cream man around 4 these days. (Used to be between 10 and 11 PM. I thought it was better that way.)

Well, that was my afternoon ramble around the block, hope no one minded. :) I should post up some pics of my rambles, sometimes.

Oops, the storm's just hitting. Gotta go close the southern door.

But anyway, anyone on my f-list, I'd like to hear you guys's rambles, too.