http://www.auntiepupule.com/blog/soos.php en http://backend.userland.com/rss092 Sat, 12 Jun 2010 00:51:23 +0000 lynn.vasquez@gmail.com lynn.vasquez@gmail.com
Gaze at green mountains, rainbows, clouds of all colors. Then take a walk. Head west to see the Waianae mountain range and the promenade of dog walkers, Segways, ski pole walkers and homeless. Stroll east for views of Point Panic, Kewalo boat harbor and Waikiki and Diamond Head in the background. Stay to watch the sun set behind the mountains.

Lucky you live Hawaii!
]]> http://www.auntiepupule.com/blog/soos.php?id=1457 Sat, 12 Jun 2010 00:48:41 +0000 General http://www.auntiepupule.com/blog/soos.php?id=1457#cmt Honolulu Academy of Arts Park on Victoria Street. You'll have to feed the meter for an hour's time, but it's close by, so worth it. Pay the $10 admission - or it's free if you're a member.

You'll be there on the ONLY night the Academy is open - the second Thursday of the month - for aloHAA. aloHAA After checking in for your sticker, pop into gallery 14 for a look at the exhibit there.

Now, head right for the Pavilion Cafe. Buy enough scrip to get some food and a cocktail, wine or beer. Or water or a soft drink, if you MUST. Note: the margarita was STIFF, and resulted in loud women at an adjacent table!

Relax, and around 6 pm, the Chris Yeh jazz quartet starts: 4 young guys who play seriously old school sounds. Not quite as dry as a Paul Desmond martini, but still very tasty. Gaze at the amazing Jun Kaneko "dango" sculptures, the soft water feature beneath them, and the serene face of your significant other having a swell time. When the set is over, talk to the musicians - 4 fellows who clearly love what they do.

Then head for gallery 28 and the print show: http://www.honoluluacademy.org/cmshaa/academy/index.aspx?id=5162 Prepare to be amazed by the Academy's works from master of light and dark, Winslow Homer, the singular vision of Thomas Hart Benton, the power of Kathe Kollwitz, and the mind of Marcel Duchamp. You will each of you find something that captivates.

If you can tear yourself away, return to the cafe for the final jazz set, and another drink. Things wrap up around 8 pm, but you still have time for modern art gallery 27. Check out my favorite painting, by Franci ..]]> http://www.auntiepupule.com/blog/soos.php?id=1456 Sat, 12 Jun 2010 00:43:41 +0000 General http://www.auntiepupule.com/blog/soos.php?id=1456#cmt
That Eleanor had some life of the mind! I do think it reads better backwards, though. Start with the "Small minds..." Don't you think?

Here's another one from her: "No one can make you feel inferior without your consent." From what little I've read about her, she was all about doing rather than merely thinking, and just getting on with it.

I love great quotations, and those 2 have made me a fan of her. I'm off to look for the definitive biography of Eleanor Roosevelt.

If you haven't had enough quotes from Eleanor, here are some more. ]]> http://www.auntiepupule.com/blog/soos.php?id=1451 Sun, 21 Mar 2010 22:44:43 +0000 General http://www.auntiepupule.com/blog/soos.php?id=1451#cmt
But this is the kind of dreams I have.

I'm in Paris in a large, white room. My family is waiting for me to change clothes so we can see the city together. I can see the lovely skyline through an open door.

But I'm looking in my suitcase for something to wear, and all I see is one pink striped shirt. 4 slacks that don't go with it. And 5 ugly pairs of shoes - mocassins, Birkenstocks and Crocs - that I would not be seen DEAD in.

And NO guidebooks or maps.

So, yes, folks, for me THAT would be a NIGHTMARE. To be in one of my favorite cities in the world, with nothing to wear and no research or help to get around.

Go ahead and laugh!

But what is YOUR idea of a nightmare? ]]> http://www.auntiepupule.com/blog/soos.php?id=1450 Sun, 07 Feb 2010 14:08:28 +0000 General http://www.auntiepupule.com/blog/soos.php?id=1450#cmt
Guys, appliances ARE NOT GOOD GIFTS!!! DH loves the MUSIC, DECORATIONS and LIGHTS of the season. In his classroom, he puts up a small tree and lights - in OCTOBER, BEFORE Halloween. C-r-r-razy!

We were talking about where we want to travel if we ever have any money (so hard with furloughs/temporary jobs/reduced income/expensive child). NOT Vegas - we are about the only local people we know who have never been there.

It's been 30 long years since we've been to Europe together: "Paris", I said, dreaming of the Seine, the museums, the quality of light. "And Italy, for the food, the museums..."

"How will we go, on a tour?" Asked the DH.

"NO WAY!", I answered, "As long as we can still walk, Eurail is the way to go."

"Then," he said quickly, "pack light!" I bus' out laughing, and he grabbed me for a hug.

We were sitting in the park, counting the stars, like the old people we are.

"OK," I said, 'we'll add Germany for you!"

Then I asked him if he remembered one of our first dates, when we were so hot from sketching near Hanauma Bay and being at the beach. I looked at some nearby lawn sprinklers and dared him to run through them. And we did.

And we still would. ]]> http://www.auntiepupule.com/blog/soos.php?id=1446 Sun, 13 Dec 2009 14:13:11 +0000 General http://www.auntiepupule.com/blog/soos.php?id=1446#cmt
Down to reading the last hundred or less pages of Ben: A Memoir, from Street Kid to Governor. I describe the book here.

Former governor Cayetano writes about the 2000 US Supreme Court decision on Rice v. Cayetano, which overturned Hawaii State legislation limiting Office of Hawaiian Affairs voting to Hawaiians, Justice Anthony Kennedy said, "When the culture and way of life of a people are all but engulfed by a history beyond their control, their sense of loss may extend down through generations and their dismay may be shared by many members of the larger community. As the State of Hawaii attempts to address these realities, it must, as always, seek the political consensus that begins with a sense of shared purpose. One of the necessary beginning points is this principle: The Constitution of the United States, too, has become the heritage of all the citizens of Hawaii."

When personal interests are involved, it is easy to lose sight of the larger laws that govern us all.

ACLU and Christmas

On a similar note, I am among those who received that email blast telling me I should send the ACLU a Christmas card, as they are "taking the Christmas part out of the holiday...no such thing as a 'Holiday Tree", etc" Railing against the ACLU appears to be a knee jerk reaction - even occasionally by someone in my household - when they are defending the rights of a group they don't agree with. This may be a good time to remind everyone that the mission of the ACLU is to defend ALL of us when our rights under the Constitution of the United States are denied or threatened.

Happy Holidays to ALL!
]]> http://www.auntiepupule.com/blog/soos.php?id=1445 Sun, 13 Dec 2009 13:36:53 +0000 General http://www.auntiepupule.com/blog/soos.php?id=1445#cmt The Man Who Loved Books Too Much by Allison Hoover Bartlett. I'm fascinated by bibliomania - the over-the-top craze for books. Any kind of obsession, for that matter. Good writing, but the end fizzles out. Probably because the story isn't over. I'm continually amazed at those who "appropriate" the property of others. It's obvious they rationalize entitlement. And yes, I'm thinking of situations in my own little world.

Reading Bento Boxes by Naomi Kijima. Some leftover rice and protein are all very well, but it's the little seaweedy, pickley stuff that make a bento. Some of my faves are hijiki with white sesame seeds and aburage and carrot kinpira with black sesame seeds. And yes, I'm nuts enough to cut the carrots by hand instead of just running them through the food processor. It's a different texture! I've got several cucumbers, so some kind of namasu will be in the works. Oddly enough, this paperback went missing for a while, then I found it among my son's things - ? You'll want to eat the things in this book. And they'll taste even better if someone else makes them!

Also, Ben: A Memoir, from Street Kid to Governor, by our former governor, Cayetano. Interesting to me on several levels, though I'm now at a rather dry point midway. The DH will enjoy reading about his childhood in Kalihi, as the DH sold newspapers on the street and went to Kaiulani School. As those who live in the public lives often do, the former gov glosses over some personal details we would have liked to know more about, but he is mo ..]]> http://www.auntiepupule.com/blog/soos.php?id=1444 Sun, 15 Nov 2009 13:52:59 +0000 General http://www.auntiepupule.com/blog/soos.php?id=1444#cmt
If you've never had to do this, you'll be shocked at what a simple beast an electric clothes dryer is. For gas dryers, PLEASE don't try this at home! That was the project for this morning. It is not rocket science, but it is difficult for one person to accomplish alone.

Persons needed: one to turn off the power, get the tools and open up the guts. Another to help hold the drum in position and replace the belt. We put it all back together, it heated up, but did not turn.

The third person stared at the - poorly illustrated - instructions to try to figure out why all of the above didn't work.

DH: It must be the motor.
Me: The motor runs BOTH the heat AND the pulley/belt that turns the drum.
DS: Looks on with concern. He has laundry to do. Me, too. (And I can't afford a new dryer.)
Me: The belt may not be looped properly around the pulley system. The guts are reopened, DH lies down to look under the drum. "You were right," he says, in a tone that implies I'm not always.

In grad school, Dr. Luz was the one who noticed my critical thinking abilities. My family still doesn't always.

We try it out, and the drum rotates, with heat. Liftoff! The works are put back into place, tools put away, and power turned back on.

I do a load of laundry and put it in the dryer. When I open the door, the drum keeps rotating. It's like going to the laundromat and watching your clothes in the front loader, but the door is open. A full load might fly out, scattering over the lanai! You have to turn the dial to off, to stop it. The wiring between the door and switch must be loose, though we checked it before screwing it all closed. I'll worry about it tomorrow. For now, I have to write about it!

I do recall previously doing all of the above by my lonesome, but that was ten or so years ago - when I was more flexi ..]]> http://www.auntiepupule.com/blog/soos.php?id=1440 Sat, 19 Sep 2009 15:25:33 +0000 General http://www.auntiepupule.com/blog/soos.php?id=1440#cmt "The Statehood Project" DH's cigar smoking buddy, Harry Wong III, was the co-director of this. Tiare Picard, of the group known as Fat Ulu, was one of the editors of the book it was based on. She works in my office.

The fact that it took me more than a week to think about this means it really made an impression on me. I had to think about the fact that not everyone was/is happy that Hawaii is a state, and puzzled over what it would be like if we had just remained a territory. I came to the conclusion that we would be in the bad limbo of territories like Guam, American Samoa, the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico.

Hawaii would still have the military presence and all that means - both good and bad. Good for our economy (many of Ted's students are military dependents - 85 to 90% of them). Bad: the bases occupy prime real estate. We would still pay taxes, but we would not be represented in the Senate and House. Statehood meant that my parents could choose those representatives. (BTW, the 2010 Census is an important one for all states so that we get our share of representation in Congress, and our part of Federal funding. At least that's what they keep telling us at work.)

The actual day, August 21, 1959 - 50 years ago - did not mean much to me. I don't remember it. DH was selling newspapers on the street that day. On a regular day, selling 50 papers was a lot. That day he sold 200. And it was his birthday.

Our son grew up in a world where we had always been a state, but he has so much more opportunity because we are one. Those who worked so hard on statehood aren't alive to see all that Hawaii is.

Those of you who mourn the Hawaii before statehood, I would like to hear your views.
]]> http://www.auntiepupule.com/blog/soos.php?id=1439 Sun, 13 Sep 2009 22:42:19 +0000 General http://www.auntiepupule.com/blog/soos.php?id=1439#cmt http://www.auntiepupule.com/blog/soos.php?id=1434 Thu, 30 Jul 2009 23:07:52 +0000 General http://www.auntiepupule.com/blog/soos.php?id=1434#cmt