Gargoyle in Berlin Bar

mainichi/everyday blog has this photo from a bar in Berlin but it was too dark to see it at all--by running it through Photoshop Auto SmartFix we can see what it is--!!

Goodnight, Hawaii

On my last day we went to see the museum exhibit "The Dragon's Gift: The Sacred Arts of Bhutan." What a riot of varied and very bright colors, all from natural dyes. Colors in textiles for daily clothes as well as the dancers' costumes--and there are a lot of dances in Bhutan! So many questions about all we saw--will have to study!


Goodnight, Hawaii, my plane boards at 21:10. You have been a luscious beauty and a paradise backdrop for a drop-out time. Thank you.




And thank you, my good friend, for making it all happen! It was a gift of great price. From days on the beach to running daily life in a house, it was all magical.

Stepping Out

In between errands today my friend and I had lunch at the Wedding Cafe nearby--fun decor (and serious business) and truly delicious sandwiches (pineapple iced tea that is like ambrosia!).





Our treat for evening drinks and pupus was my friend's favorite place here, the Kahala Hotel. I had my Mai Tai (a treat at last at the end of my stay) and the spring rolls were joined by mango chili sauce. Ooohhhh!

On Kahala Beach (not far from Shangri La) surrounded by sea, dolphin pools, beauty and serenity, paradise is believable.
My friend loves the orchid wall, so we drifted back to the car park via the orchid stairs......

Almost Indigo Tonight

My friend and I had reservations at Indigo tonight, but we both felt under the weather, with tummy part, and canceled. Hoping to be on top of the world and able to enjoy tomorrow. Wish us well!

Carports' View

In Hawaii housing, the view is all. It is said that the carports have the best view, and since they are up at street level with the houses being down below them, this seems the case indeed.



This is the carport, and this is the view from it (you can see the houses are all lower)




And this adorable "one-room mansion" (that's a yellow watering can just peeking at the right next to the door) has the same view!

Lovely Easter

On a brilliant blue and sunny Easter Sunday, my friend and I went to church, which is at/in the Koolau Golf Club half an hour from here. We took the luxurious shuttle bus, and the large and beautiful former golf club house half bought by the church was stunning. Coffee and breakfast breads after in the waterfall atrium.

For dinner, we went to Olive Tree, the Greek cafe. Souvlaki lamb was my main, with Greek yoghurt/mint sauce, and yummy Greek caviar was the starter, with pita. Despite the disparaging remarks in the Ono Kine Grindz blog, this restaurant has long lines nightly, and has for at least the 17 years my friend has lived here.


Masterpiece Theater presents Jane Austen's Emma tonight, so a great ending to a lovely day.

Bhutan update: today's paper has an article on the new parliamentary elections in Bhutan! This from last year gives more. Very meaningful after the film experience. Who knew there was an ideal country somewhere in the world, free and happy (GNH: Gross National Happiness index!), but still limiting tourists. What will democracy to/for them? Stay tuned!

Film from Bhutan

My friend and I went to the Friends of Film Friday at the Doris Duke theater tonight to see the first in a Bhutan film festival, DRUK GE GOEM (THE GUEST), Director: Kinley Dorji. Bhutan, 2006, 103 mins. The director's wife wrote the screenplay and starred, and other relatives took parts--saves on costs!

"While on a trekking tour in Bhutan, Michael, a New Yorker, is separated from his group and injured in a [foggy!] forest. While the tour company, the army, and locals search for him, a yak herder girl named Tshomo—who has never met a foreigner before—comes to the rescue. Their attempt to communicate with each other is amusing yet poignant. The two fall in love, but when the authorities and Tshomo's angry uncle discover Michael, he must return to New York. Months later, Tshomo's uncle wants her to marry a young man from their village and the auspicious date is fixed—but will Michael return?"

There was a speaker, Tsewang Nidup, who is giving guided tours of "the Dragon's Gift: The Sacred Art of Bhutan" exhibition at the museum, who told us so mnay fascinating things about the development of film (since 2000) in Bhutan.

It was very good--the foreign actor being the worst among them, the Bhutanese were naturals! A wonderful experience!

Lost Days?

Rumblings have reached me about postless days. Hmm, what would have filled them? The CPAP Mask Saga, aka Hannibal Lector Is Back (being closer to the reality than these smiling, mask-free folks; think Hannibal Lector trailing a 6-foot hose on the way to the bathroom at 3 a.m. rather than CPAP Barbie)? Somehow the photos in the ads are nowhere near the reality. But one wonders how much folks want to read of the nightly saga...... Of course, the news is that in the rainy, busy days, the nightly hook-up can serve as an exercise alternative, i.e., the yoga position "the Plough." But do you really want to know the whole story?

Or, there is the Saga of the Cute Phone, so tiny, so cute, and so free to call the East Coast. It was a 5-day wonder. Prepaid, like the one Jason Bourne grabs from a kiosk in The Bourne Ultimatum, but taking a couple of hours to "get"; Jason would have sneered and my readers would have been so bored.


Or, how much does everybody want to know about educational technology conferences on Second Life? My old friend and his wife took me to breakfast to catch up on teaching with computers in Hawaii and Japan, as well as the TCC conference. Had I blogged this 3-hour breakfast talk, would there have been yawns across the globe?

My friend's mother had just died and the funeral was the next day; his wife's mother had left her with unfinished grief. They both urged me to start building an online community for "caregiver re-entry" since there is nothing that can be found in support of this hard (for some) time. Lots of ideas here (like social bookmarking at del.icio.us), but again, caregiver recovery is one of those things like the event you had to have attended to get the point about.

So to avoid blog burn-outs of boredom from my readers, there has been a blessed (?) silence.....

More of Kay x 144

Further in the "do you really need more" department . . .

Another Movie Day

On a clouding-up, sprinkling-rain day, how nice to escape to a movie theater for a fun diversion: Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day. Gives a girl hope, that movie does, and the lingerie, as well as the men (one of whom designs the lingerie), are enough to make one long for the late 1930s in London. With popcorn.

And for dinner, a GREEN salad (and Guinness): Mediterranean Salad with edamame.
torn romaine lettuce, thinly sliced cucumber, cherry tomatoes, feta cheese, edamame, slivers of red onion. Dressing: rice vinegar, olive oil, oregano, black pepper and garlic powder. Toss and and serve with olive bread like we did!

To Market, to Market

The great KCC Saturday market provided me with local-bread French toast and Portuguese sausage, plus Kona coffee, for breakfast. This photo leaves out the hordes who all stopped behind me in deference to my super-photographer abilities. Foodland grocery store provided me with pate to go with my Market olive bread (who knew there was pate to be had in Hawaii; never found any in Alaska!). The Market provided us with Alaskan salmon, too!

Saturday is errand day everywhere, even in Paradise, and so we moved through them all morning, and my friend had an errand in Macy's where I needed to occupy myself for half an hour, so I found two Hawaiian shirts, 3/4 sleeve and a Tee, with total price (yes, for the 2!) of $21.

New flowers pop up in the yard daily--these little orchids are the latest.

And, so it goes with Daily Life in Honolulu, taking over from The Tourist Round: Alaskan salmon at home tonight and a DVD of a classic movie from Movie Museum (rental, not on-site). The trade winds are back, so that wilt-in-a-minute hot spell is over and Paradise regains its appeal as, well, Paradise. With pate.

Another Week in Paradise

You noticed the new title of the blog! Well, what with one thing and another, plus a direct flight with a front aisle seat waiting in the wings for me, I added 9 days to my stay here in Honolulu. I'll get back to Alaska at dawn on March 28th.... I'm still wrapping my head around this.

After errands today, my friend (she's back-->my house-sitter career is over already) had made us reservations at Town for dinner with her son and his girlfriend. An organic, local ingredients bistro, it was sophisticated and delicious. Town doesn't have a Web site, so.... the outside photo does not do justice to the dim, art-work-on-the-walls casual elegance of the interior, but..... The menu changes daily, being local, and I stopped at the appetizers: pickled fennel, cucumber, radish, frisee lettuce, walnut and gorgonzola salad with another starter of local venison loin, grilled radicchio and limequat marmelade, and their homemade breads, of course. Even though I was not major in the conversation, my jaws ache now, and it is hard to tell people how alien-wonderful it is to be out at night with people to talk to--not to mention the Hawaiian food!

Who Knew #3

Sierra Club Hikes
Early on, I heard SC is a great way to meet people, according to the landlord's girlfriend (it's how they met); and the Club has had some attractive hikes. They meet just down the street! Hmm, Sandy Beach cleanup coming up isn't as attractive as "A great hike through a valley with lush vegetation and a dozen stream crossings. Lunch and a swim at a superb swimming hole" would have been. Who knew?

White Merlot
Good grief, a wine I've never heard of! Fuller body than rose or white zinfandel, a very satisfying hot-day wine. Who knew?

Vanity Fair
A wonderful magazine to read with a glass of White Merlot. Dream along with the high fashion ads for handbags and shoes, but get down to earth with pithy information and meaty articles. My favorite in the March issue is Michael Wolff's on the writers' strike. History of scriptwriting in Hollywood and all the issues. Riveting. And VF's blogs! To die for! Glad I know now.

Setting Sun
I, unexpectedly, really groove on the setting sun which comes into the French doors onto the corner of the couch where I sit in the late afternoon. The sunset is the pale yellow of the bougainvillea I love, the pale yellow sunset I first discovered and fell in love with in Saipan. Now, I love sunset, even though it is way too early! Who knew it was pale yellow here, too! (Um, Kay, you never noticed what?)

A New Word
Bivocational. Usually for pastors with another job, I think this should be common for folks who do two different things as double-main jobs. What a great word to drop at a party . . . "What do you do?" "Well, actually, I'm bivocational." Bet the conversation would take off!

McDonald's Coffee Price for Seniors
Coffee is 63 cents for seniors (half price) at McDonald's. Always thought theirs was good coffee but haven't tested it here. Thinking of Starbuck's prices, wow, Mickey D's is a steal deal! Who knew?

Empty-Nexter?

Today's paper had an article on a female baby-boomer syndrome that I think fits just as well across the age spectrum . . . I mean "those searching for new meaning to their lives, struggling over their next steps" really don't have to be in their 50s. Karen Gail Lewis named folks looking for what they really want in life empty-nexters — "a term she admits coining by accident when she meant to write "empty-nesters" on a brochure." I mean, one doesn't have to be a woman in mid-life (or older) to ask "What's next?" Life design when one least expects it--never was a course on that in high school. So a fancy name, but the syndrome isn't much different from what William Bridges calls "the neutral zone." It's good, though, that people are paying attention to this empty stretch so those of us in it are not quite so alone.

Early post--early night. Seriously dragging here. The closer I get to going back to Where I Was, the more I become Like I Was; gaining back all the weight I lost, losing all the muscle tone I gained, seriously dragging. Another cat/house-sitting job showed up, for Spring Break, starting the day after I plan to leave; we'll see if it works out. In the meantime, Hawaii needs to get back to doing its magical job on me!

You Don't Want to Know

No, you really don't. If I were to go through this day it'd be sort of like this cartoon, with a tad more drama. No, I assure you, you don't want the 13-hour-long golden oldies playlist of the neighbor's new Karaoke machine. On the bright side, I'm totally ready for "Don't Forget the Lyrics"!! Nor do you need the saga of . . . . no, really, 'nuff already.

To lend a spot of beauty to this day, the pink hibiscus bush, full of blossoms, outside the back French doors is worth long contemplation (it hides the view, but not the sound of the Karaoke party). The petals are much pinker than the photo shows.....
So, ear plugs, a glass of white Merlot, pink hibiscus and the day is saved.

Oh la la.....tomorrow I have to remember it is 6 hours later on the East Coast. For them, it is already!

Beautiful Day Kafe

A very comfortable and cool place to work for a few hours on a hot afternoon, It's a Beautiful Day Kafe near here turns out to be a popular drive-through. In a former gas station, it also has a patio area with two big couches and lots of tables and chairs and a lovely breeze. There were some elderly people with the son of one them to help them in and out, who were enjoying a lively conversation in the couch area on one side. Nice little oasis. The owner and another woman who was there later are really nice and the whole experience is a lot better than Starbucks (no, I don't go to Starbucks, but pass it).

Beautiful Day has marvelous teas--the African Tropical and the Green Jasmine are divine. And, I tried an oatcake, hallmark of the islands (I think--they seem really big here). A quiet afternoon for a very tired lady--it seems that this is the hot season--blazing sun and no trade winds. Takes a lot out of a gal from Alaska! Thank goodness for the Beautiful Day Kafe! Otherwise, a droopy-gal day. Apparently this "kafe" is nicknamed "the Parachute" since the seating area is covered with a parachute! Wireless Internet connection, of course.

Kailua Charms

Spent the afternoon on Kailua Beach today . . . along with a lot of other folks, but nothing was crowded. Just lots of people of all ages having fun in the sun (and the shade). I took my lunch (the couple sleeping here had their sandwiches, too) and loved the warmer water, which is aquamarine, green! Milky, like a gem. Strong waves and brisk winds, so in the water was the warmest place. Outside it was chilly so I wrapped up in a towel (forgot shirts--got burned).

There was a woman swimming with her 3 dogs, two on a small styrofoam board and one swimming along. Sorry for bad photo--ran across them on the beach later as they were going back in--she puts the two on the board and throws a Frisbee far out for the third, and she swims back (a long way!). Who was holding on the rope of the board I never found out. She's swimming out front on your right, the two dogs on the board in the middle, and the big, swimming dog, at the end. A beagle and a pug on the board, big dog alone.

Finished with dinner at Zia's--their special: pear, blue cheese, mushroom and chicken pasta--green flat pasta. It was so good!! Of course eaten outside. Since it's only a 20 minute drive from here, this charming little town is the place to do beach things. Big bookstore, Coldstone ice cream, and a lovely, cool green drive to and fro.

Transitions

Both William Bridges (the classic and best) and Julia Cameron (of The Writers' Way) really get transitions.

From Julia's Transitions: (gift from my Hawaii friend a few months ago after Marina recommended it)
The door to the future may stick when we try to open it. Not all transitions are easy or graceful. Sometimes out past is done before our future seems quite ready. We are caught in the corridor of in between, a limbo that feels awkward and uncomfortable. At times like these we must practice the art of containment. Soon enough the future will unfold, the door will swing open and the way be clear. In the meanwhile, we can consider the distance we have come already, the lessons we have leaned and the chapters closed. By pausing to appreciate our growth, we find outselves more restful than restless. The wheel will turn and find us ready.
[end of Julia]

From William, whose Transitions has been on my top bookshelf for 25 years:
[Too many people are] change-heavy and transition-light. Change and transition are different, and both are necessary for any significant change to work.

As I use the term, change is a shift in the externals of any situation: a new boss, setting up a new program, the death of a relative, a move to a new city, or a promotion.

By contrast, transition is the mental and emotional transformation that people must undergo to relinquish old arrangements and embrace new ones.

Transition has three phases: an Ending, a disorienting sort of "nowhere" that I call The Neutral Zone, and a new Beginning. If people don't deal with each of these phases, the change will be just a rearrangement of the furniture. And then we say, "It didn't work."
[end of William]

Ah, "the corridor of in between" and "a disorienting sort of 'nowhere'"--as Sue Monk Kidd puts it, "this spiritual waiting [is like] that of the caterpillar in the cocoon waiting to become a butterfly . . . [and] we tend to be long on butterflies and short on cocoons."

But, in the "corridor of in between,"in the "Neutral Zone," in the "cocoon," I howl, "How long, O Lord, how long?" (Psalm 13)

Mysterious Paris

Cara Black is a Californian who writes dense mysteries set in Paris I learned from a blog I read. The small, wonderful local library here had three of the eight she's written and they follow a pattern. Featuring out-of-the-limelight political issues (Corsica, Vietnam, Turkey, etc.) and a different arrondissement (Paris' 20 wards) each time, these are intense, action-packed and human-relationship-intense stories. Most are Right Bank, my only disappointment, being a Left Bank girl at heart. They last roughly a week, the first chapter being, say, "Tuesday Afternoon" and the last "Saturday Morning." The shadowy black-and-white covers give the atmosphere (a long way from Paris Hangover!). So on a trip into Borders bookshop today, I treated myself to just-published #8 and will force myself to save it for the plane back to Alaska, even though "only a dip" has taken me to p. 35. And for background music while reading Black, the soundtrack from La Vie en Rose or anything by Ali Farka Toure works.

Pacing Myself

I've had to give in and pace myself, take breaks and rest more. Maybe my Alaska-acclimated blood is still too thick for the heat here, or . . . . but I'll just have to save parasailing and hula lessons for the next time (though I've had two offers of places to stay if I want to extend my time here).

So Monday morning yoga under the palm trees (today photographed by a Japanese promotion team for ads back there!) while Pihalani practiced her yoga stretches at home (her left arm was straight up but she moved when I took the picture), then a walk into central Waikiki to International Market which is the only place on the island that sells fanny packs (the zipper broke on the one I brought), and just a half hour relaxing on the beach. On the way back to Sans Souci along the ocean I saw a man in a thong bathing suit -- the front just a strip of cloth from low-riser elastic (Amazon has a lot of samples...) -- and I turned for the back view and a charming, handsome guy walking his bike next to me struck up a conversation, "You don't see that very often, huh." I told him I was sorry not to have my camera for my blog and he gave me some great blog quotes to use (if I'd gotten a picture, that is).

Then off to Ono Hawaiian Foods, since this is about the last time I'll be able to work this in. Fuzzy photo of interior, walls plastered with photos of the famous who've been there (I recognized Lily Tomlin). The nice man asked if I wanted fresh or day-old poi (??!); day-old is tarter and more sour, and I chose that. He gave me some fresh to compare--hard choice. I got the combination of course (chicken lau lau), to try everything. Since "ono" means "delicious" in Hawaiian, no wonder it was fabulous. What I hadn't known is that everything is dipped in the poi; I used to just eat the poi straight. The cooked taro leaves were the best I've had, and the haupia melt-in-your-mouth.