Have your SO pick up poke from Paina and sushi from Ward Sushi, and some soft drinks. Head to Kakaako Park - avoid the horrid potholes in the parking lot near John Dominis, park and find a picnic table. Enjoy the food, company and incredible views: surfers, sailboats, commercial and pleasure craft. Not enough?

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!

Go straight from work to the Honolulu Academy of Arts 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 Francis Bacon Powerful!

Visit a courtyard - the Chinese is our family favorite - and see our old sculpture friends. I've known the Kwan Yin since I was 6 or 7 years old. DH's inspirations are the fierce temple guardians. Finally, head out into the night, and you'll want to take a long walk to discuss all you've enjoyed.

Art, jazz, food, drink - what's not to love?

The next aloHAA event is scheduled for Thursday, July 8th, from 5 pm to 9 pm. PLEASE, don't all rush to be there.

I kinda liked all the elbow room, and choices of where to sit!

I've been thinking about this quotation the DH shared with me: "Great minds discuss ideas; Average minds discuss events; Small minds discuss people." - Eleanor Roosevelt

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.

Don't laugh.

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?

As gray as we are, there is still a little kid in both of us. Take the DH. He doesn't just LIKE Christmas, he LOVES it. Not the gifts - he hates shopping, doesn't ever know what to give. Evidence: one Christmas, I got an IRON. As a GIFT? I retaliated with a VACUUM CLEANER!

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.

POV

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!

Just finished 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 mostly honest about his successes and misses.

One area of interest for me are his views on ethnicity in Hawaii. He makes it clear that he would not have been elected for ANY office if not for support from many groups. Then, there are the back stories behind those events you read about in the newspapers. I recommend it for its details about the politics of the time, and the effects of that legislation on the current state of the State. It is a slice of institutional history from a personal POV. Also, for what it means to be a public servant.

Wait, shouldn't our CURRENT legislators read this?

There are many other books waiting for me to read them. What are YOU reading now?