"Madness"

chills

Ten degrees and getting colder

Try this fun game!

How to play:

1. Put your iTunes/iPod/MP3 player on shuffle.

2. Press the forward button to get the answer to each consecutive question.

3. YOU MUST WRITE THAT SONG DOWN NO MATTER HOW SILLY.

4. Tag five or more friends to play.

IF SOMEONE SAYS "IS THIS OKAY?", YOU SAY?

Hollywood swinging (you know it, baby)

WHAT WOULD BEST DESCRIBE YOUR PERSONALITY?

low red moon

WHAT DO YOU LIKE IN A GUY/GIRL?

you make me feel like a natural woman

HOW DO YOU FEEL TODAY?

that wonderful someone

WHAT IS YOU LIFE'S PURPOSE?

a taste of honey (sweet)

WHAT IS YOUR MOTTO?

dig it

WHAT DO YOUR FRIENDS THINK OF YOU?

bandera

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR PARENTS?

mother nature's son (but i'm a girl)

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT VERY OFTEN?

good old fashion lover boy

WHAT IS 2+2?

planet telex 

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR BEST FRIEND?

one for all time

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE PERSON YOU LIKE?

crazy love (is there any other kind?)

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE STORY?

until it's time for you to go

WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP?

roi (forget queen, i'll be king)

WHAT DO YOU THINK WHEN YOU SEE THE PERSON YOU LIKE?

$1000 wedding (i'm a cheep date)

WHAT DO YOUR PARENTS THINK OF YOU?

angel

WHAT WILL YOU DANCE TO AT YOUR WEDDING?

honky tonk merry go round (apropos)

WHAT IS YOUR HOBBY/INTEREST?

wild honey pie

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR FRIENDS?

johnny too bad (as are most of my friends)

WHAT'S THE WORST THING THAT COULD HAPPEN?

mexico city (i could definitely think of worse)

HOW WILL YOU DIE?

it ain't you (i bet you're relieved)

WHAT IS THE ONE THING YOU REGRET?

perfidia (faithless, treacherous or false; betrayal in love--i definitely regret this)

WHAT MAKES YOU LAUGH?

folsom prison blues (if i didn't laugh, i'd cry)

WHAT MAKES YOU CRY?

the james bond theme (it gets me every time)

WILL YOU EVER GET MARRIED?

why, why?

WHAT SCARES YOU THE MOST?

sad lisa

DOES ANYONE LIKE YOU?

dirty work

IF YOU COULD GO BACK IN TIME, WHAT WOULD YOU CHANGE?

be like a duck

WHAT HURTS RIGHT NOW?

glass onion

WHAT WILL YOU POST THIS AS?

ten degrees and getting colder (it is still winter you know)

tag you're it: rebecca , chieko, ri, paula, connie

Coconut Cream Pie

Yesterday's highlight was coconut cream pie.

That said, we've been experiencing some racial tension in our little paradise vacation neighborhood. On our first day here two little native Hawaiian girls road up to the end of the cul-de-sac where we are in these cool little motorized cars. Erlan, who can be a bit of a gaper sometimes, just stood staring at them. He was already tired and feeling a bit fragile when one of the girls said "what are you staring at?"; he was struck dumb and couldn't reply so she told him if he didn't stop staring she would beat him up. He started to cry. Soon an older sister came to tell us that her sister had ADHD and if she, the little sister, bothered Erlan again she, the big sister, would beat her up. My guess is that Erlan was both fascinated by the little motor car and by seeing children with skin color close to his own.

Yesterday when we got back from our sand and surf outing a little boy was literally prowling around the back of the house and when we surprised him, he dashed off with a small nerf ball Erlan had brought from home. Eventually, I asked for the ball back and invited the boy to stay and play. He handed over the ball and left with his little sister (the six year old who made Erlan cry). Later in the day, the six year old, Anilla, came to ask to borrow the ball to play with. Erlan handed it over with the expectation that it would be brought back. A few hours later when the ball had not been returned, Ren became incensed and decided he and Erlan would go over there with their nerf GUNS and demand the ball back. I said absolutely not, they hadn't given a time line on the borrowing and they would just have to wait. Ren pretty much had a tantrum, Erlan was crest fallen, and I was a total bitch. This was a $2 little spongy ball for fuck sake; let it go. Soon three siblings returned, Alika the boy who originally tried to take the ball, Anilla the six year old who threatened to beat up my son, and Nila the 4 year old on training wheels. The story was that the ball had gone to the dump. Totally unbelievable but that's the story they stuck to.

Over the course of an hour we agreed that if the ball "turned up" they would bring it back, as Ren and Erlan only have a few toys here, and then we would leave it for them when we go. The children told us that their mother owns all of the houses on the street and she is a millionaire. When I asked if they have a lot of kids in there school, Anilla said "no mostly Haoles". I said "you mean like us?" and she said "no, you're mixed". Now I am truly about as white as they come (actually yesterday I thought I could get away with SPF30 instead of SPF50 so today I'm pink) except for the freckles and age spots, so they obviously were talking about Erlan. I don't know if our mixed status gives us a sort of cache with the kids or it makes us worse.

There is definitely a huge disparity on the Island with regard to housing. I spoke at length with shop girl who has lived here for nine years and she said the biggest problem is that son many of these rentals go empty while there is almost no affordable housing for locals who have to work three and four jobs to afford the extremely high rent when they actually can find housing.
John is pretty freaked out by the whole thing, probably because he can empathize given our situation on the West Boulder. I think it's important to be aware of race and class issues, and class, and especially economic disparities when we travel to other regions, states, or countries. It's not just about the sand, surf, and lush landscape. It's also about the history, the people, and the culture, and our tutors are a rag tag bunch of local siblings. I wonder what lessons they have in store for us today?

Hangin' with Puff

5/14
Here we are in the Denver airport (from L to R John, Kris, Ren, Erlan) at the end of a 3 hour layover. The flight from Denver to LA wasn't too bad, but the flight from LA to Lihue was rather long. On long flights you want to cut off your liquid intake a few hours into the trip because the bathrooms tend to get pretty disgusting.
We arrived into a wall of warm humid air which felt so good compared to the never ending winter in Montana.
I actually don't mind humidity, I just don't love being perpetually sticky and damp. We picked up our white Mercury SUV (only $124 more to upgrade) and I drove from the airport to Hanalei.

5/15
Up and at 'em Atom Ant! To the Ocean. Body surfing, boogie boarding, warm salt water, and soft fine sand.
A little shopping too. Flip flops for my boys. Erlan has never worn flip flops and he's still learning how to walk in them. Grilled fresh Ahi and drank a bottle of Tanya's Sancerre.

5/16
More of the same. But I think I'll make lychee martinis!

I'm still here

For the entire month of April I had a migraine.

random play list

Some mornings we play rock-paper-scissors to see who gets to pick the play list, some mornings I assert my right as the owner of the iPod and the car to choose, and some mornings we agree to throw caution to the wind and press random play for the big list. We had a lovely ride to town this morning.

Groove Me--Salt-N-Pepa
This takes me back to my single Bozeman days, dancing drunk and stoned into the wee hours of the morning and then dragging my hung over carcass to my job as an early intervention specialist working with families with children with developmental disabilities.

Not Ready To Make Nice--Dixie Chicks
I never really over listened to this CD so I'm always tickled by how great each song is.

Train In Vain--The Clash
This one always wakes Erlan out of what ever early morning stupor he's in and we both rock hard for the entire song.

One In A Million--The Platters
I love The Platters!

King Of Fools--Social Distortion
A good friend of mine from my University of Washington days had an affair with Mike Ness, which sort of counts as a brush with fame for me.

Perfidia--The Ventures
I went through a period where all I listened to was surf music. I'm very fond of the Ventures.

The Wire--Pere Ubu
This song reminds me of an old boyfriend, a painter working on his MFA at MSU.

The Main Thing--Roxy Music
Bryan Ferry is the ultimate suave sophisticated tuxedo clad rock star/crooner. I was very crushed out on Bryan Ferry when I was in college and a friend delighted in telling me that he had a rich beautiful wife. Like she needed to tell me that, like I really thought I had a chance!

Nothing In Rambling--Lucinda Williams
Don't you just want to be Lucinda Williams' friend and hang out with her in New Orleans?

Motoring to Roswell--Pixies
Not my favorite album, but anything Pixies is good.

Boulder To Birmingham--Emmylou Harris
I can hit replay on this song so many times it would make you throw up.

Fifteen Animals--John Stey
This song is from the CD Philadelphia Chickens, a hilariously great collection of songs from various and sundry famous people.

It's Too Late--Carole King
Classic

Blueberry Hill (Live)--Louis Armstrong
Louis Armstrong is one of Erlan's bedtime favorites. He does a pretty good impersonation.

I Cried For You--Sarah Vaughn
And I cried for you too.

laid low at the beginning of nablopomo

I've had the crud since last Saturday. I do not have the flu or strep throat, but I have had the worst sore throat of my life, a cough that drops me to my knees or has me twisted like a pretzel to prevent urinary incontinence. I've had low grade fevers, body aches and congestion. I've not been sleeping very well. Wah wah wah. Hence, no daily post.
Yesterday was early release from school so John assisted Erlan with his homework. I had instructed Erlan that he was to practice his spelling words and write each of them in a sentence. He's an excellent and intuitive speller, but damned if knows what half the words mean. So, with quite a bit of help from his father, here are Erlan's spelling words in sentence form as instructed:

I propose that we will obtain some religious employment down at the salvation mission.

We will give donations to the prisoners on the anniversary of their journeys in search of medicine deep in the unfriendly wilderness.

The government contractor recognized his trousers which he had left while walking through the orchards in search of his book about pneumonia.

In matters mechanical, one could do worse than study a cylinder.

Good job boys!

Peace be with you

Bon voyage Laura Worth Strange.
Much love to Marcus and Amonette.

March 6

John’s sister is near the end of her 10 struggle with multiple myeloma. She and her twin Reid turned 62 in January, the same age my mother was when she succumbed to lung cancer. This is the poem I read at my mother’s memorial and I send it on as a blessing to Laurie.

For what is it to die but to stand naked
in the wind and to melt into the sun?

And what is to cease breathing, but to
free the breath from its restless tides, that
it may rise and expand and seek God unen-
cumbered?

Only when you drink from the river of
silence shall you indeed sing.

And when you have reached the moun-
tain top, then you shall begin to climb.

And when the earth shall claim your
limbs, then shall you truly dance.
-excerpt from The Prophet, by Kahlil Gibran

March 5/Mystery List

A list left in my office by a patient:

Curves---------------- 40.00

Fines----------------- 10.00

Nose ring------------- Frost
--------------------------- Vitas
Gas ------------- Pawn

Cigs------------- 2 Burner

Phone-------------- pawn

Sugar

Coffee

Food
(I can't seem to make columns in this post)
I’ve held onto this list for years because of its mystery. I have no idea to whom it belonged as I have dozens of people in and out of my office all day long. Curves is an exercise facility for women, the $10 fine probably represents a parking ticket (having received enough of them to know); I love that nose ring tops the list of essentials which include cigarettes, gas, sugar, coffee, etc. Then there are the mysterious items in the right hand column. Any ideas?