Blown Away By Tasmania

Literally

I'm not really doing the whole blogging thing on vacation. It's way more fun to look at koalas and duck breaking tree branches than type. But only 6 more days and I'll be back tap tap tappy tappin

Over and out

Help Wanted

Will you clean my house for me? At least my sheets?

Argh, leaving for Australia on Thursday morning (so I'll be blogging upside down soon) and have the energy of a caterpillar. I have a mountain of laundry in the closet, some sneaky mold appearing on the edge of bookshelves (my absolute least favorite part of living on Kauai) and a fridge that I need to either clean or discover the cure for cancer in already!

I will pay you in guava. And you can have all the chickens you can catch.

Lock up your children

I just got my confirmation letter from the University of Hawaii-Manoa welcoming me to the Elementary Education program. This means that in a few short years I will be actively manipulating, er molding, the minds of impressionable, er sweet, children.

My class rules will consist of:
1) No Lunchables, ever
2) Be nice to Mr. Winkles the friendly class piranha
3) Forget the apple, I'll accept homegrown lychee and mangoes.
4) Charlotte from Charlotte's Web was a martyr and thus should have some sort of shrine
5) I'm Ms. not Mrs. Teacher mahalo very much

Beware the Beach Babes

A slight change of plans moved us from Anini to Kahili Beach (aka Rock Quarries) over the weekend. We woke up in the morning to albatross calling and spotted frigate birds, white tail tropic birds, nene and a breach happy humpback. I'm going to come right out and make the bold statement that R.Q is my favorite beach. Yes, there are others more beautiful but EVERY. SINGLE.TIME I've been down there nothing but fun has occurred.

I told someone this today who sniffed, "It's a little overvisited." But all day Saturday and Sunday there were about 6 people in the water at it's most crowded (ok, it was also real flat) and a couple of local families fishing and playing with their naked sand covered babies.

Compare that to some of the beaches closer to me and it was heaven. My favorite Poipu Beach story (only about 10 min from my house) was hanging out with Nick one night watching the sun slink down while munching some cold pizza. A woman in an ill-fitting swim suit proceeded to crawl cat like through the sand scowling? grimacing? pouting? for her husband who snapped the whole scene like a pornographer gasping "Oh yeah baby, that's hot, no THAT's hot right there."

I had grease on my lips, tomato sauce on my fingers and sand down my jocks and even I knew...that was so not hot.

Sweets

Last night bawled against Nick through the lovely Minnesota-set film, Sweet Land. Gorgeous!

Woke up early this morning inventing ice cream flavors I'd like to try. Ideas included: carrot and ginger sorbet, chocolate and chili 'scream, lychee sorbet and coconut date 'scream.

Hoping to get to North Shore tomorrow for a camp out on the lovely Anini Beach. Have been invited to free rein of an amazingly juicy pink grapefruit tree up my road, so off for a scavenge. Makes to best breakfast juice I've ever had.

Better than Folgers in Your Cup

I've been having some slow mornings lately and really relishing the extra time in bed. From my window I have a nice view of a jungly canopy of dense palms and mango. The first thing I hear before opening my eyes is the distant sound of a morning commute, ubiquitous chickens clucking, rustling and finally the roosters. Then come the doves with their cooing which sounds an awful lot like "ooooh" "ooooh" like they're seventh graders watching skateboard videos. Then comes the shama with it's machine gun song followed by the japanese white eyes that flit their tiny (look like flying green marshmallow) bodies through the leaves.

Finally, the sun breaks over the hillside across the valley and the dark green turns to gold.

It's always good to wake up this way.

A Red Flower Day

It's been an anxious week so I'm giving a lovely hibiscus to the universe in hopes of attracting some positive lovin'

Beezlebub and Barley

This was on front page of Drudge Report today. Hillary and her pal...Beezelbub. So THAT'S how she raised $35m in the last month. I'm getting tired of the Hillary bashing, but then I'm also tired of Hillary bashing Obama. And it gets bad when I'm sick of bashing because if there is one thing I love...it's a good ol' fashion bashing.

Last night I watched The Wind that Shakes the Barley and went to bed heartbroken.

Oh to be young, nipple pierced, with huge yellow shades again...

Finally, the dirty truth about Australian youth is exposed...

Over the line...

Last night was the first annual "Bowling for Biodiversity." This bowl down at Lihue Lanes included conservation professionals from various island organizations rallying together for a night of cheap beer, sweaty shoes (someone else's sweat to boot), rainbow birthday cake and elmo party hats. The rainbow cake and elmo party hats were to celebrate Nick's 33rd birthday. He had an overall good bowl session but did pull a butt cheek. Must be his advanced age. I can say these things because he's now currently en route to Seattle...

Our bowling team lost by a heartbreaking .4 points, but I think we were the best looking.

The Dude didn't make an appearance but I did spy one or two nihilists hanging about.

Which leads me to must see bowling films:

1.The Big Lebowski (undisputed champion)

2.Mystery Men (when J. Garofalo uses the skull of her deceased father encased in a golden bowling ball as weapon)

and...I'm spent. I can't count Kingpin, hated that one.

Photo c/o an anonymous co-worker

Summer's a-comin'

It's so freaking hot on westside Kauai today. Headed down to Waimea Days where Nick, me and five our our closest friends took part in the annual ice cream eating contest. I lost. Decisively.

Now feel sick and think first a nap than a swim is in order.

Sometimes Living on Kauai is Really Hard

Sometimes I feel like life (the kind of life full of art galleries, music, film, good coffee, highways, deer, squirrels, bagels) is bustling away "out there." "Out there" is the magical world that exists somewhere past the waves.

But then I have days where I think, this is what I get to do at the end of the day.



My afternoon lounge spot



View from my hammock

Have you seen me?

Hawai‘i is the "Endangered Species Capital of the United States."

Last known footage of the Kaua‘i ‘Ō‘ō

Warning: Sad

Weekend in Review

This weekend I borrowed a friend's Dick Brewer up at Hanalei Bay and managed to get quite a few nice little rides! Ok so the surf was microscopic, but I managed to pearl only once which is a big achievement for me.

Later that night Nick and I used a christmas present gift certificate (thanks Kristen) to dine at my all-time favorite Kauai establishment, The Blossoming Lotus. Nick ordered a new garbanzo masala dish that turned out pretty bland but my "Udon Odyssey" was sublime as always. The B. LO was my first revelation that when done well, vegan food tops anything the meat and dairy industry can toss at us.

Yesterday I began a cleaning frenzy. The type of frenzy that only envelopes me once or twice a year and makes Nick run out the door clutching his bike without looking back. The type that moves furniture, tears about piles of junk and digs deep beneath the bed. I made great headway clearing out the workshop beside the house, this building made of rusting corrugated iron and screen has become a stockpile for Nick's "treasures." By treasures I mean molding scraps of mosquito net, random screws, broken kites and trail food from two years ago. I carved out a nice sunny corner beneath two large windows to use for crafting, reading, yoga or just plain nothing.

I also fought a prolonged battle with an anole. I really, really don't like sharing my house with anoles. I don't hate them like I do the ants or the occasional cockroach/centipede. But I do not want to live beside them at close quarters. Why? They are really brazen, hang on the wall above my head and do little chest presses to show dominance and jump like Olympian hurdlers. I am terrified of one jumping in my hair. The thought of it is currently sending tingles down the back of my arm.

So I tried to chase one out yesterday with a broom. It would sullenly move in slow inches, pausing to chew a mosquito or give me a death stare. But finally I won and as I watched him?her? run down the boardwalk in front of our home and disappear beneath the banana tree I felt the exhilaration of a soldier at the end of battle.

My Teary Valentine

Today something is in the air, or at least the chocolate at work. Many tears being shed in furtive corners. My guess is that many different stresses are coming together in a perfect storm. Overall, I'm not too involved in any storms so relatively tear free until listening to the lovely musician, Songs:Ohia, and caught myself getting verklempt over the following lyrics:

you said every road is a good road
between the next road and your last road
every love is your best love and every love is your last love
and every kiss is a goodbye


Tonight I have to stay late for work and Nick is helping me out by giving an 11th hour lecture for the meeting (the other speaker I had lined up dropped out quite suddenly). So I owe him many coconuts and promise not to make any snide comments over his bike riding in the next few weeks.

Tonight? Reaching for a mai tai. Maybe one for each hand.