Election debate is a little different in my household than at other places in the country. This probably has to do with the fact that Michael and I are radically leftist in our politics compared to, say, Democratic candidates that further big business interests over effective social services and equate shoddy health insurance policies with universal health care.
Anyway, here are some gems from recent conversations. I should add a disclaimer, though, that none of these gems occurred in the course of sincere political debate. It's mostly cynicism and humor as a defense against the sorry state of American politics. Maybe it solves nothing, but oh is it amusing!
^ me and my friend Jeremie on life after Bush:
Jeremie: Will we recover?
me: depends on what you mean by "will"
Jeremie: In 2009?
me: you know the top contenders right now are Clinton and Giuliani
that's not really boding well for our future.
Jeremie: Oh come on.
You may hate Clinton, but she's a helluva lot better than Bush.
(But then again, I would settle for Nixon at this point.)
^ Michael on recent poll results:
Giuliani's numbers are going down, but Clinton's still up by 30 points. We may really be looking at a choice between Romney and Clinton. The only worse choice I can think of would be Pat Buchanon and ... Stalin.
^ my cousin Will and Michael on Clinton as President:
me: (reading Will's facebook quip about a poll that asks if women would make good Presidents) My cousin Will says, "This question is absurd. Of course a woman can be as effective as a man, gender and race are not defining characteristics of a leader. This however is a loaded question aimed at Hillary. The poll will be interpreted as support for Mrs. Clinton. Hillary would be nearly as bad as Jimmy Carter."
Michael: Huh. I see Hillary and I think Stalin. He sees Hillary and he thinks Jimmy Carter. I guess she really can be all things to all people. All bad things.
Saturday, December 29, 2007
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Enjoying the Weather
According to my.msn.com, the weather in Honolulu today is 80 degrees and sunny. It's December 19th. That's so cool. As a reference, the weather in Chicago (also according to my.msn) is 32 and cloudy, Memphis is 57 and cloudy, and Murfreesboro is 55 and cloudy. Yes, I keep track of the weather in all the places I have lived. It's not that I'm that sort of geek, it's mostly that I never bothered to take any of those locations off my my.msn.com weather information thingy.
In Chicago, that weather information thingy allowed me to feel particularly like a martyr as I watched the well-above-freezing temps in TN versus the plummeting temps just outdoors. It allowed me to appreciate how very 'put out' I was by having to wear all sorts of layers of clothes when I hate wearing all sorts of layers of clothes. Here, the weather information thingy allows me to appreciate the difference between where I am now and where I was last year. Particularly the fact that I no longer have to wear all sorts of layers of clothes.
I swear, this post is not about lording my good fortune over the rest of you. It's more about enjoying my good fortune while it lasts.
Michael picked up a couple of chairs off the side of the road yesterday morning. They are currently flanking our front door, on the outside of it, but I don't know if that'll last. I'm not entirely sure that we're not breaking fire codes by having chairs out there, obstructing access to the stairs. They may eventually go back onto our very cramped lanai, to take up space near the washer-dryer and water heater. But I like them where they are, because the view (although not quite good) is better in the front of our apartment than the back. More open, at least.
This morning, I awoke early (well, early by Xmas vacation standards) and had two cups of coffee and a slice of patitsa sitting out on our balcony, watching the traffic and feeling the breeze. It's a beautiful day today. The still air is warm and the breeze is cool and the sky is blue and the clouds are white and Honolulu's high is definitely not the temperature at which water freezes.
The weather has been particularly good here this last week, in comparison to the weather we had BEFORE they fixed the holes in our roof. For a month we had a string of torrential downpours. Thunderstorms. Thunderstorms are uncommon here, but we had them nearly every day for a good while. They came into our kitchen through the ceiling. They came in through the windows, blowing clear sideways six feet in. They kept me indoors if I could help it. There were not your typical Hawaiian rain, that happens while it's still sunny, lasts ten minutes or so, and doesn't really bother anyone, even if you don't have an umbrella on you. I don't want to tempt fate by claiming these storms are over; I'm just glad that they're not happening right now. Because it means I can go outside and have my morning coffee there, and keep our windows open without worrying about getting gusts of water blown in.
Another thing that's really cool about Hawaiian weather is its penchant for rainbows. Rainbows are far less common where I'm from than they are here. Every time I see one (almost every day), I get this jolt of excitement and feel like a kid again. Every time I see one I feel this way, even after six months.
But the coolest thing was a couple weeks ago on the way to the North Shore for filming, the car I was in was going over a bridge in the mountains and we came within 20 feet of a rainbow! No kidding! It was right there -- thick and almost tangible. It looked like a colorful plasma, shooting from high in the sky down into the valley over which we were passing, nearly touching the bridge as we went by. I kept expecting it to dissipate as we neared, but it stayed put and we got very, very near to the end of the rainbow.
Ryan slowed the car and we all awed over it... four kids from Tennessee, North Carolina, Argentina, and Indonesia, dumbstruck over this colorful illusion.
Except it didn't look like an illusion. It looked like you could walk into it and be painted those colors. It was like childhood dreams and fantasies, long outgrown.
I look out my living room window and I see city. And there are trees and grass and broken down buildings and overgrown lots and crumbling asphalt that kind of passes for a sidewalk, but even still the weather is great and the neighbors are friendly and I just feel so comfortable here. But then sometimes I'm out there and suddenly I can feel the land beneath me like a living thing, and I can understand why Native Hawaiians believe that the land is literally their ancestor. Sometimes I can feel the spirit of this place and it's like sitting in the middle of the heart of God.
So yes, absolutely I am enjoying the weather here. It's brilliant.
In Chicago, that weather information thingy allowed me to feel particularly like a martyr as I watched the well-above-freezing temps in TN versus the plummeting temps just outdoors. It allowed me to appreciate how very 'put out' I was by having to wear all sorts of layers of clothes when I hate wearing all sorts of layers of clothes. Here, the weather information thingy allows me to appreciate the difference between where I am now and where I was last year. Particularly the fact that I no longer have to wear all sorts of layers of clothes.
I swear, this post is not about lording my good fortune over the rest of you. It's more about enjoying my good fortune while it lasts.
Michael picked up a couple of chairs off the side of the road yesterday morning. They are currently flanking our front door, on the outside of it, but I don't know if that'll last. I'm not entirely sure that we're not breaking fire codes by having chairs out there, obstructing access to the stairs. They may eventually go back onto our very cramped lanai, to take up space near the washer-dryer and water heater. But I like them where they are, because the view (although not quite good) is better in the front of our apartment than the back. More open, at least.
This morning, I awoke early (well, early by Xmas vacation standards) and had two cups of coffee and a slice of patitsa sitting out on our balcony, watching the traffic and feeling the breeze. It's a beautiful day today. The still air is warm and the breeze is cool and the sky is blue and the clouds are white and Honolulu's high is definitely not the temperature at which water freezes.
The weather has been particularly good here this last week, in comparison to the weather we had BEFORE they fixed the holes in our roof. For a month we had a string of torrential downpours. Thunderstorms. Thunderstorms are uncommon here, but we had them nearly every day for a good while. They came into our kitchen through the ceiling. They came in through the windows, blowing clear sideways six feet in. They kept me indoors if I could help it. There were not your typical Hawaiian rain, that happens while it's still sunny, lasts ten minutes or so, and doesn't really bother anyone, even if you don't have an umbrella on you. I don't want to tempt fate by claiming these storms are over; I'm just glad that they're not happening right now. Because it means I can go outside and have my morning coffee there, and keep our windows open without worrying about getting gusts of water blown in.
Another thing that's really cool about Hawaiian weather is its penchant for rainbows. Rainbows are far less common where I'm from than they are here. Every time I see one (almost every day), I get this jolt of excitement and feel like a kid again. Every time I see one I feel this way, even after six months.
But the coolest thing was a couple weeks ago on the way to the North Shore for filming, the car I was in was going over a bridge in the mountains and we came within 20 feet of a rainbow! No kidding! It was right there -- thick and almost tangible. It looked like a colorful plasma, shooting from high in the sky down into the valley over which we were passing, nearly touching the bridge as we went by. I kept expecting it to dissipate as we neared, but it stayed put and we got very, very near to the end of the rainbow.
Ryan slowed the car and we all awed over it... four kids from Tennessee, North Carolina, Argentina, and Indonesia, dumbstruck over this colorful illusion.
Except it didn't look like an illusion. It looked like you could walk into it and be painted those colors. It was like childhood dreams and fantasies, long outgrown.
I look out my living room window and I see city. And there are trees and grass and broken down buildings and overgrown lots and crumbling asphalt that kind of passes for a sidewalk, but even still the weather is great and the neighbors are friendly and I just feel so comfortable here. But then sometimes I'm out there and suddenly I can feel the land beneath me like a living thing, and I can understand why Native Hawaiians believe that the land is literally their ancestor. Sometimes I can feel the spirit of this place and it's like sitting in the middle of the heart of God.
So yes, absolutely I am enjoying the weather here. It's brilliant.
Friday, December 14, 2007
Satisfaction Not Guaranteed
...because I've had the flu and it just may have stolen all my creativity. So, here's a potentially boring update of things.
1) I had the flu. It sucked. I spent have of the time in denial that I was really that sick, and half of the time complaining about how I wanted to do things. I don't know what it is about the flu. I guess I just can't stand having all the energy sucked out of me and so in retaliation against the sickness I come up with all sorts of really exciting things that I must do today and cannot wait until next week. Like, going to the library. Or cleaning my bathroom. Of course, because I have the flu I wind up not really doing any of that, or I wind up doing a half-assed job of it. Most all of my trips out of the house this week got me a block away before I gave up and went back to bed. Keep in mind, too, that I was in denial about the flu. Which is why I left the house to begin with.
2) Before I got the flu Michael had a birthday and the newby CCCers had a party to celebrate our first semester finished and then... hm, kind of fuzzy on the timeline thing just now... at some point Michael finished his first semester of college and we ate Indian food and it was good.
3) The newby CCCers (me, Gina, and Melodi) inherited responsibility for the Lokahi Adopt-A-Family program and so we've been soliciting donations while I've been sick (I was in charge of emails) and this weekend we'll go shopping for stuff (I'm in charge of books) and next week we'll deliver it to a family in need. Much aloha. It's actually kind of nice. Not quite the crazy excitement/effort/insanity of the Pantry last year, but it makes me feel like I'm still involved. Also makes me feel homesick for the pantry.
4) A group of us from Oahu nanowrimo have continued on into December. Some of us are writing a new novel (like me), some of us are editing last month's novel, some of us are completing last month's novel. I dig this group of folks. They're geeky writers like me and we have a good time at the write-ins. There's a movie night tonight, but I'm skiving off because I did wind up going to the library today and it wore me the frig out. Sad story because a lot of them are going home to various places over Christmas so I won't see them again for a bit. Ah well.
5) I got accepted to the Quentin Burdick Summer Practicum. I'll be going to Honokaa on the Big Island (the one that's named Hawaii) for six weeks over the summer to do interdisciplinary work with the community, hopefully developing or furthering a program they can continue on after we've left. Oh, I'm so excited!
Mmmmmm... I'm sure there's more but later. I'm tired. Gonna have dinner and lay down.
Love muchly!
1) I had the flu. It sucked. I spent have of the time in denial that I was really that sick, and half of the time complaining about how I wanted to do things. I don't know what it is about the flu. I guess I just can't stand having all the energy sucked out of me and so in retaliation against the sickness I come up with all sorts of really exciting things that I must do today and cannot wait until next week. Like, going to the library. Or cleaning my bathroom. Of course, because I have the flu I wind up not really doing any of that, or I wind up doing a half-assed job of it. Most all of my trips out of the house this week got me a block away before I gave up and went back to bed. Keep in mind, too, that I was in denial about the flu. Which is why I left the house to begin with.
2) Before I got the flu Michael had a birthday and the newby CCCers had a party to celebrate our first semester finished and then... hm, kind of fuzzy on the timeline thing just now... at some point Michael finished his first semester of college and we ate Indian food and it was good.
3) The newby CCCers (me, Gina, and Melodi) inherited responsibility for the Lokahi Adopt-A-Family program and so we've been soliciting donations while I've been sick (I was in charge of emails) and this weekend we'll go shopping for stuff (I'm in charge of books) and next week we'll deliver it to a family in need. Much aloha. It's actually kind of nice. Not quite the crazy excitement/effort/insanity of the Pantry last year, but it makes me feel like I'm still involved. Also makes me feel homesick for the pantry.
4) A group of us from Oahu nanowrimo have continued on into December. Some of us are writing a new novel (like me), some of us are editing last month's novel, some of us are completing last month's novel. I dig this group of folks. They're geeky writers like me and we have a good time at the write-ins. There's a movie night tonight, but I'm skiving off because I did wind up going to the library today and it wore me the frig out. Sad story because a lot of them are going home to various places over Christmas so I won't see them again for a bit. Ah well.
5) I got accepted to the Quentin Burdick Summer Practicum. I'll be going to Honokaa on the Big Island (the one that's named Hawaii) for six weeks over the summer to do interdisciplinary work with the community, hopefully developing or furthering a program they can continue on after we've left. Oh, I'm so excited!
Mmmmmm... I'm sure there's more but later. I'm tired. Gonna have dinner and lay down.
Love muchly!
Thursday, December 6, 2007
Hurray!
I have finished my first semester of grad school, and here I live to tell about it. So, what to tell... Um... well... you know... stuff.
My projects were well received, and I'm pretty sure I'm gonna walk out of this semester with high A's in my classes, which is really cool and a great way to start off. I've got a research topic now, so over Christmas break my major academic goal is to learn as much as possible about this topic so that I can figure out a specific research question, make some contacts, figure out a design and methodology... but first things first. At this stage I'm reading background news stories on the Superferry. Once I'm well versed in that, I'll go through the legislation and technical legal stuff that's happened these past years. Also, will be looking into psych journals for previous research on community change. Oh, it's exciting.
Non-academic goals for Christmas break are to write another novel (10K already, hoping to add 4 more K this evening at the write-in), to move forward with editing the one I just wrote, and to finish this fanfiction I've been working on forever. Fanfiction one is particularly fun right now... My fics have apparently been listed on some site or other because I've gotten dozens of new readers over the past month, and this during my nanowrimo hiatus. International readers too... it's neat.
Anyway, I feel confident having all these goals because I'm staying here over the holidays, I won't be doing much by way of work (or maybe not anything), and so I'll have time. Time over Christmas holidays. To do whatever I want. Anything at all. I just... it occurs to me that I'm not entirely sure when this happened last. I guess 10 years ago, my first year in undergrad. Holy cow. This is so cool, and certainly will not last so I must milk it for everything it's worth.
I heard this morning that fireworks are huge here for New Years, and that some neighborhood streets get covered (actually blanketed) with spent fireworks, and that if I can get to high ground I'll be able to look out over a haze of gunpowder smoke that will cover Honolulu. And that Waikiki and Chinatown and downtown will have cool stuff happening to celebrate. Ah, will miss going home even still, but what are you going to do?
It's December here (and probably where you are as well) and while it's not been 82 and sunny these past few days, it has definitely been 78 and rainy. Which is still hellza above the Chicago low of 21 today. I remember playing last year, telling people that I would lord this great weather over them, but secretly thinking that I'd be glad for the bad weather if I could just be with my loved ones. Well, really, I wish everyone would just come here. I'm a pansy already. I lost my touch with the cold and I think it scares me now more than ever, given that I really do need sweatshirts now when the temps drop into the mid-seventies. Ah, but still I'd brave even Chicago's winter...
I miss you all. Life is going well for me, but it is so far away. So, let me send my love on out there to you.*
.
* This is as close as you will get to Christmas cheer. Take it or leave it.
My projects were well received, and I'm pretty sure I'm gonna walk out of this semester with high A's in my classes, which is really cool and a great way to start off. I've got a research topic now, so over Christmas break my major academic goal is to learn as much as possible about this topic so that I can figure out a specific research question, make some contacts, figure out a design and methodology... but first things first. At this stage I'm reading background news stories on the Superferry. Once I'm well versed in that, I'll go through the legislation and technical legal stuff that's happened these past years. Also, will be looking into psych journals for previous research on community change. Oh, it's exciting.
Non-academic goals for Christmas break are to write another novel (10K already, hoping to add 4 more K this evening at the write-in), to move forward with editing the one I just wrote, and to finish this fanfiction I've been working on forever. Fanfiction one is particularly fun right now... My fics have apparently been listed on some site or other because I've gotten dozens of new readers over the past month, and this during my nanowrimo hiatus. International readers too... it's neat.
Anyway, I feel confident having all these goals because I'm staying here over the holidays, I won't be doing much by way of work (or maybe not anything), and so I'll have time. Time over Christmas holidays. To do whatever I want. Anything at all. I just... it occurs to me that I'm not entirely sure when this happened last. I guess 10 years ago, my first year in undergrad. Holy cow. This is so cool, and certainly will not last so I must milk it for everything it's worth.
I heard this morning that fireworks are huge here for New Years, and that some neighborhood streets get covered (actually blanketed) with spent fireworks, and that if I can get to high ground I'll be able to look out over a haze of gunpowder smoke that will cover Honolulu. And that Waikiki and Chinatown and downtown will have cool stuff happening to celebrate. Ah, will miss going home even still, but what are you going to do?
It's December here (and probably where you are as well) and while it's not been 82 and sunny these past few days, it has definitely been 78 and rainy. Which is still hellza above the Chicago low of 21 today. I remember playing last year, telling people that I would lord this great weather over them, but secretly thinking that I'd be glad for the bad weather if I could just be with my loved ones. Well, really, I wish everyone would just come here. I'm a pansy already. I lost my touch with the cold and I think it scares me now more than ever, given that I really do need sweatshirts now when the temps drop into the mid-seventies. Ah, but still I'd brave even Chicago's winter...
I miss you all. Life is going well for me, but it is so far away. So, let me send my love on out there to you.*
.
* This is as close as you will get to Christmas cheer. Take it or leave it.
Monday, December 3, 2007
Juice Dopplegangers
Oh, it's fun! This is a video made by Edy Dominguez who I knew in Chicago. It's got several of my boys and marimba music to boot! Say HI to Holy Cross and Back of the Yards for me!
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