Bad Blogger

Dear No One in Particular,

I know, I'm a bad blogger. I'm sorry for disappearing, but I'm dealing with a ton and a half of stressful mess right now and it doesn't look like it's going to let up soon.
I graduate on Saturday (!!!! Oh God, I need a paper bag to breathe into) but have two humongous finals to deal with before I get to don my green cap and gown* and parade about in front of a thousand of my classmates and all of their friends and families. On top of that, my parents (and the Boy's parents, natch) are coming over not only to watch the ceremony, but to "help" us pack up our apartment. We're tenatively slated to leave Hawaii (and ne'er to return ... maybe) by 6 June, which is right around the corner and creeping closer every time I look around our place and see piles of stuff to be sold off and walls to be painted and I can hear the arguments already Oh Christ's Holy Pita Pocket I'M DONE ALREADY.

So yeah, my personal life is a bit of stress-riddled mess right now, allowing for very little blogging time. I have posts all lined up, but no time to finish them. Hopefully I'll catch a break and find a quiet moment to slap something up here, but until then, who knows.

I do have some news that directly affects the wonderful people who read and comment on this drivel! I'm planning a giveaway -- a true giveaway in the sense that there's no contest, just me sending a care package. I'm working out some of the kinks, but it boils down to the fact that my readership is tiny, yet incredibly thoughtful. You have no idea how excited I get when I see someone out there feels so compelled to read and comment on what I've written. So, as a demonstration of my gratitude, I'll send you a little giftbox filled with some of my favourite things from Hawaii.
Details to come soon, I promise!

xoxo,
amanda



______________________
*Yes, we have to wear green graduation robes. Effing GREEN. What university requires coloured robes? I thought black was de rigueur? Oh, added bonus: throw my honour cords and stoles over the forest-coloured polyester and voila! Amanda-Christmas tree.

Aloha HARD.

I saw this last night and laughed so hard, I started wheezing.



It's funny, but I find myself having similar conversations whenever I'm on the mainland:
Stranger: Oh, you live in Hawai'i? How awesome is it?
Me: If by "awesome" you mean paying $1.50 for a single lemon, it's pretty freaking awesome.
Stranger: But you must go to the beach and surf all the time, right?
Me: Not at all. I'm not on vacation; I have things to do, exorbitant bills to pay.
--conversation ends awkwardly--

Don't get me wrong, Hawai'i's lovely, but living here is not the same thing as vacationing here. The story about the shanty town, complete with meth lab and teenage pregnancy? So true and so prevalent, it hurts.

All that aside, I'm madly in love with The Rock*, even if he is a Samoan man playing a Hawaiian man doing a Tahitian-style dance.


_________________________
*I know he's going by his "real name", but he'll always be The Rock to me.

Ho'omaika'i 'Ana

Some more Obama lovin' to spread around:



Stephen Colbert reminds us of the historical importance of a Hawaiian President. (Close on the pronunciation of Queen Lili'uokalani and ukulele, Colbert, but no cigar.)

And a wicked awesome mix tape dedicated to President-elect Obama.

My President

[via: The Daily Dish]

I didn't want to sleep last night, for fear that I would wake up to a harsher reality than than the euphoric one I closed my eyes on. I was terrified that I would wake to the news that it was all a dream, a wonderful, painful dream and that we, the American people, resigned ourselves to a fate far worse than "more of the same".

I have to tell you, waking up to hear President-elect Obama's voice on the radio and the headlines of "Hawai'i's Own Makes History" is somehow even more incredible than the announcements of last night.

I mention this worry, this deep-seated cynicism, comes from my first election. I waxed in-eloquent last night about my father's first election; mine was the Bush-Kerry Presidential Election of 2004. I went to bed that November night, only to wake to the news that Kerry could have won the election, and instead, conceded without disputing the Ohio votes. The raw anger and disappointment I felt that morning raged throughout the day, making me slightly regret voting for such a man. That election was ours to win -- and we should have taken it.

Four years after swallowing that bitter pill, I found hope in Barack Obama. It moves me so deeply to know that I was not the only one.

Congratulations again, President-elect Obama. For the first time in eight years, I can say with pride "I am an American, and Barack Obama is my President."

"This is our chance to answer that call. This is our moment. This is our time - to put our people back to work and open doors of opportunity for our kids; to restore prosperity and promote the cause of peace; to reclaim the American Dream and reaffirm that fundamental truth - that out of many, we are one; that while we breathe, we hope, and where we are met with cynicism, and doubt, and those who tell us that we can't, we will respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of a people:

Yes We Can."

Everybody's Working for the Weekend

Dear No One in Particular,

Is there anything better than a long weekend? Yes. A long weekend-and-a-half. I have no class tomorrow, since one of my teachers didn't want to come in on a Friday, and my earliest class on Monday is cancelled. Sure, I have a major presentation due on Monday, but I've been going more than a little bit batty, so I'm looking forward to my extended weekend.

The Boy and I have been living on Oahu for nearly 2 years now, and we feel as though we know nothing about the island. We live on the outskirts of Honolulu, so "going into town" tends to be a hassle, since traffic here rivals L.A. Naturally, this avoidance of driving too far in any direction means that our island fever has been greatly exacerbated, and is keeping us from truly enjoying our living situation.
When we visited Kauai, we had great success with the Lonely Planet Kauai guidebook. We found amazing beaches and fantastic food that we would never would have happened upon, had we not had such guidance. Inspired, we promptly bought the Oahu version, hoping it would give us some insight into what there is to do and to eat here.

So far, Lonely Planet has lead us to some tasty local restaurants (hello, Anna Miller's). We decided to put our long weekend to good use and set aside a couple of days to really take in the glory of Honolulu.
We're planning on visiting a highly recommended Contemporary Museum and dim sum restaurant. I love me some dim sum, and I haven't had any in .... years, really.

I'm far too excited about this.

--amanda

P.S. The world economy is bananas. The Boy and I tried to book flights back to California last night and I pretty much had a heart attack when I saw the prices. $750+, ya'll. Before this, the most expensive tickets we'd purchased were somewhere around $450 -- a $300 increase! And we're booking over a month in advance. I shudder to think what the prices would be had I insisted on procrastinating.

P.P.S. We totes scored, though -- a local travel agent hooked us up with non-stop round trip tickets for $600 each.

P.P.P.S. I just acknowledged that $600 airfare was a steal. Kill me now.

Captain's Log

Dear No One in Particular,

A short break from my Kauai vacay to update in bullet form. In the past 3 days, we have:

• Visited the emergency room once.
• Driven around the island twice.
• Eaten some amazing meals, including taro hummus (!) sandwiches and Brazilian food.
• Gotten really, really drunk.
• Gotten really, really drunk within 10 feet of Pierce Brosnan.
• Been woken up by roosters crowing.
• Met two young siblings named Phoenix and Dayton (yes, really.)
  
• Hiked 1/2 a mile of sandy beach at midday.
• and I have gotten 2nd degree burns on my feet.
  

Not exactly the relaxing beach vacation I had in mind, but it's only our 3rd day here. Then again, it's only our 3rd day here, holy God why do these things happen to us.

Tomorrow: a short trip to a lovely nearby beach, a farmer's market (and hopefully liliko'i), shave ice, and a sunset dinner with drinks. And if we see Pierce again, all the better.

--amanda

Me = not good with animals

Dear No One in Particular,

Do you know what it feels like to be stalked by a small reptile? I do.
I was catnapping on the couch, when I felt something crawling along my arm. I twitched, thinking that it was a fruit fly, or some other small insect that we're plagued with here. It didn't leave my arm, so I brushed off my elbow, hoping to scare it off. What should fall off but a small lizard? Let me repeat that: a small lizard. Crawling along my arm. What the fuck, Hawaii.

I jumped up, screaming. The Boy combed through the couch, continually asking me if I was sure it wasn't a mosquito or something. Eventually, I sat back down, and continued to watch Anthony Bourdain's show. I look over at the Boy, who is sitting next to me, and crawling along his lap is the small demon lizard. I scream and point again, and the Boy jumps up to capture him in one of our drinking glasses. He kept trying to convince me that it was cute (I kept trying to convince him to KILL IT), but eventually let it free on our lanai.

I really, really want to move back to California now, pleaseandthankyou.

--amanda

Hula Aiha‘a

Dear No One in Particular,

It is the Merrie Monarch Festival weekend here in Hawaii, and while I don't live on the Big Island, where the Festival is held, it is showing on local TV. I absolutely love watching hula -- real hula, the kind that tells a story.
As an anthropologist, hula is an interesting study. Nearly every aspect of (modern) hula has diverged from the traditional, pre-contact (or should it be pre-missionary ?) hula; it is a testament to the resiliency of the people and how adaptive culture really is.
Then again, as an anthropologist, my favourite hula are the kahiko hula, or the more traditional ones. I can't stand the modern hula auana, with the singing and steel guitars.

It's hard to watch the Merrie Monarch Festival, since I only understand what they're talking about half the time. I can pick up a few words, like "halau" and "kumu" (the hula school, and teacher, respectively), but when the commentators begin their assessment of the dancers, I'm completely in the dark.
For example, right now, there are a bunch of people filing on stage, recieving maile leis and greeting each other. Traditional Hawaiian names are a mouthful, and I can't really tell if they're introducing the people, or just commenting on the various halau.
Ah -- okay, so now the kumu are all dancing together. It's interesting to see the subtle differences in their interpretations of the same mele.

I have a slightly creepy sounding confession: I love watching dancers. Rather, I love watching dance being performed. Some of my absolute favourite TV shows are dance-related, like "So You Think You Can Dance", and the new Elizabeth Berkley vehicle, "Step It Up and Dance", which by the way, is pretty fabulous. I have pretty high hopes for "Step It Up and Dance", imaginary reader, because any show that opens with Spice Girls routines is aces in my book, especially when they invite Scary Spice to be a guest judge. I pretty much fell in love when, a contestant pointed out that they don't have much experience as a hip-hop dancer, she shot back with "But you're BLACK." A-mazing.

I know I said a movie review was forthcoming, and I did see Leatherheads, which was utterly charming, but I don't really have the energy, so a full-on review will have to wait.

Sorry to keep you on tenterhooks, non-specified blog reader.

--amanda

P.S. In case you were wondering, the title refers to a specific type of hula dedicated to Pele. The more you know, unknown reader.