Congratulations!

Love is in the air this week! We're off to Tucson this afternoon for Dacks and Penny's wedding on Sunday. Then, on Tuesday, we leave Tucson to travel to Lane and Anne's wedding the following Saturday in Washington, DC. Congratulations also to Anne-Marie and Kevin who are getting married that same Saturday.

Some inspirational quotes for the occasions:

I got gaps; you got gaps; we fill each other's gaps.
Rocky

What counts in making a happy marriage is not so much how
compatible you are, but how you deal with incompatibility.
Leo Tolstoy

Ultimately the bond of all companionship,
whether in marriage or in friendship, is conversation.
Oscar Wilde

If you live to be a hundred, I want
To live to be a hundred minus one day,
So I never have to live without you.
Winnie the Pooh

Blazer update

RIP Blazer. Wait, what? It's going to be fixed? For virtually nothing? How could it be?!?

Just got this email from Kyle (the f-bombs have been edited):

God Bless the motherf-ing internet.

We destroyed the car on Thursday.  Burnt the cylinder valve which was my
worst fear.  That is why it was loping.  No pressure.

If we had known this, the next step would be to sell the car at auction for
$300 bucks or so.  Not get it fixed.

The call I just got was from the owner of Artesian who told me this.  And he
also told me that his guy (the guy I spoke to) did not tell him that I had
said the engine was loping.  Otherwise - he would not have wasted the time
and effort on a car worth $3000 at most.

Later when he ran it and saw what was happening, he asked his guy if I had
mentioned the engine and he was forced to admit as much.  So this guy is in
big trouble.

We - on the other hand - are in great shape.  They are going to take the
next week or two and fix this (a $3000 job at minimum) for free and only
charge me the $650 for the radiator and pump work.

I am beside myself with joy.  What a f-ing prince this guy is.

Artesian.  Tell everyone you know.  I told the guy I would flood him with
referrals but he said they already had more customers than they can handle.
They don't advertise and he was confused how I even found about them.

F-ing internet.

k   

What a crazy week!

Whales! Alaskans and Tucsonites! Cleveland State Vikings! Leaky radiators!

It's been a busy week.

Last Saturday, Rob, Jana, Nate, and Elaine all came to town. They rented a beautiful house on the North Shore and we spent Sunday (and Thursday) eating, drinking, and snorkeling with them. The whales were out in abundance as well, and you could look off their front porch at any given moment and see them frolicking along the reefs. Here's Jana checking them out:

We also drank "Mai-tais" and Miller Lites. A drink for each hand!

On Sunday, we took the crew to our favorite snorkeling spot, Sharks Cove. We enjoyed Miller Lites in the sun-warmed "hot tubs" on top of the rocks. Apparently, on Tuesday, Sharks Cove became Sharks Bay, as the famous north shore waves came in and inundated everything, including the roads. North shore pictures are posted here if you want to see the rest of our adventures.


A spring break coaching trip also brought my friend, Dave, to Hawaii this past week. Dave and I played tennis together at Allegheny, and we hadn't seen each other in probably 5 years. He is an assistant coach for Cleveland State now, and the men's and women's teams came to play the local Hawaiian teams (who, by the way, are really, really good). Dave and I had an awesome night in Waikiki on Wednesday, drinking Killian's and messing with cops by jaywalking right in front of them so we could get our picture taken with Duke Kahanmoku statue. Just like old times...

Finally, on K's and my way back from the North Shore on Thursday, our Chevy Blazer's radiator gave out, leading to some sort of miserable spurting of the water pump whenever the accelator was pressed. After a brief respite of steam streaming out of the hood beside the highway (where are the Green Angels when you need them!!!), we sputtered our way to the local Chevron where there just happened to be a willing tow truck driver (how do you say "tow truck" in Pidgeon?). He towed us home for $65 (which turned out to be twice that amount by the time you added "mileage"). But, I was happy to be home to the poor Gaffers who had been home alone all day.

Now, slightly sick from all this running around, I will relax on this St. Patty's day and thank the basketball gods that Ohio State didn't bite it this morning by losing to Xavier. I picked OSU to win it all, and that would have seriously messed up my bracket. Corned beef and cabbage for dinner, and maybe a Guiness or Boddington to remind us of St. Patty's days of yore. Hanging out with old (and new) friends this week really made me appreciate all those good, good times (you know, the ones we will always remember....)

Mahalo, hale aikāne!

The Godfather

Don't make fun of me (especially Brian who I know owns the whole set), but tonight I am watching The Godfather for, what I believe to be, the first time. K was floored when he discovered this the other day, and immediately put it at the top of the Netflix queue. I am excited to see it, especially since K's making me a dinner of insalata caprese and vodka penne, accompanied by a cabernet (French, damn it!)

By the way, I have also never seen Gone with the Wind, all of Casablanca, or Lawrence of Arabia (I fell asleep).

How do I understand any cultural references? I guess, sadly, I don't.

What have I been doing with my time on this earth? Sitting with my thumb up my arse. Oh, and playing outside a lot (I do live in Hawaii, after all!)

Late winter weather

Here in Honolulu, February / March weather means rainbows. You can imagine my surprise, then, when last Sunday my mother asked how much snow I had (oops, wrong daughter!) Trade winds bring the rain and it dumps on Manoa Valley, and since we live on the sunny side of Manoa, we get to peer into the beautifully refracted light almost every day. The Hawaiians, which are sometimes known as the "Rainbow people" have a rich mythology concerning the rainbow. My favorite story:

Lono – Ancient Tiki God of Fertility and Peace
In Hawaiian mythology, Lono is a fertility and music god who descended to Earth on a rainbow to marry Laka. In agricultural and planting traditions, Lono was identified with rain and food plants. He was one of the four gods (with Ku, Kane, and his twin brother Kanaloa) who existed before the world was created. Lono was also the god of peace. In his honor, the great annual festival of the Makahiki was held. During this period (from October through February), all unnecessary work and war was kapu (taboo). This is also the season of taxes, olympic like games and when chiefs regrouped their forces (and organized campaigns ironically).

Damn. I should have read this before February ended. Now I guess I have to do some unnecessary work (manscripts, argh!). At least I got the taxes paid and out of the way!

For more Hawaiian myths and history, check out this website.