I went on an awesome hike up to Manoa Falls this morning with friends. This is my favorite photo from the hike:
On top of that, I’ve taken a nap, eaten cupcakes, and done some reading. Plus there are two very happy guys in my backyard (okay, one’s my husband) drinking gin and tonics and grilling pork.
A few photos from a sunset cruise Frans and I went on last weekend:
Waikiki and Diamond Head
Toes
Sails
Sunset
Some photos I took in Chinatown sometime last week.
The espresso machine at Manifest, a bar Frans has become very fond of as a place to hang out and wait for me after work until I show up and the adventure begins:
Gold Gate Lounge sign:
Frans and Nuuanu Ave sign:
Shop display:
Frans does keep me on my toes. Today a seven-foot calamansi tree (like a lime, very popular among Filipinos, see Wikipedia article on Calamondin) arrived at our apartment. It’s amazing what you can find in Chinatown – and have delivered to your door!
It’s actually a darn cool tree – there are already five or six fruits on it, and hopefully it will make more. We’ll get it in the ground this weekend.
Spent most of yesterday on the other side of the island in the shadow of some FABULOUS mountains (photos coming soon) at the Hawaii Library Association annual conference. Getting there via bus + bike was an adventure in itself, and it turns out there are major disagreements between Google Maps and Reality over whether certain small roads actually exist or are just overgrown and barricaded tracks through the mountains inhabited by slavering Rottweilers.
But we got there, more or less on time, and it was beautiful, and we were truly the dork library couple as the following photo attests:
(photo by Andrew Wertheimer)
I sat in various sessions by various librarians and learned a lot about how libraries are working to incorporate new technologies to be more useful/relevant/far-reaching in their communities. Sarah of Librarian in Black talked about (among many other things) free software that could help libraries do more with less. I’ll get links up to some of it eventually, but for now I’ll stick to pictures. Speaking of which – just loaded the mountain photos from my camera:
Incredible, yes?
Frans and I have been saving leis for the last two or three years – leis we’ve been given for birthdays, graduation, our wedding, and other things, as well as leis visitors have left at our place before leaving the island. We would throw them over the arm of a reading lamp we have, and the collection got so heavy that in the end we couldn’t even raise it up to read by. Unfortunately, some of them started getting a little stinky, and pieces were constantly falling off and getting all over the floor and sofa.
So we finally decided to throw them all out. It was a rough decision, because they were so pretty, and there were so many memories wrapped up in them. But at least I got a photo, and now I won’t have to sweep stinky flower petals off the floor every day.
I’ve been taking guitar lessons for a few months now, but today, with my teacher’s blessing, I brought the ukulele to my lesson instead. The poor thing’s been sitting around neglected, and I figured it would be a good idea to at least learn the basics so I could mess around with it at home. I learned some basic chords and a couple fun songs, and realized a ukulele’s a lot easier both to play and to carry around. It was great fun.
Still, I think I’ll keep concentrating on the guitar. I love how it sounds, and I (sometimes) like the challenge it gives me. I guess the greatest thing is having both sitting next to me, so I can pick up whichever one I feel like.
Pork kebabs at a spontaneous grill party Friday afternoon.
Tiniest apples, found at Star Market. For all their cuteness, they really didn’t taste that great. A little mealy.
Brown rice has become our staple rice now. It’s easy to make in the rice cooker if you just add a touch more water than for white and soak it fifteen minutes before you turn the cooker on.
Yes, still. Things are happening. Work is excellent. The sun is out. Blogging must go on . . .
Blueberries from Pike Place Market in Seattle a few weeks ago. Yum.
I am very interested in the launch of Belletrista, a journal of literature by women from around the world. Must read. Also want to donate and get that cool tote bag.
Have started compiling photos of our Cooking Adventures – mainly to print out and paste into a new blank book we got from a friend, but an online component might be fun too. Tonight Frans grilled whole sardines (!) and showed me how to pull out the spines and eat the rest.
Guitar is excellent. I am learning cool songs and playing them very badly but enjoying the whole process.
Adele. I cannot stop listening to her album. To the point where my obsessive dedication to Bregovic is suffering.
I spent most of the morning wandering through Waikiki with the new camera. A few photos I took:
Funny guys outside Cheeseburger Waikiki.
Flower at Hilton Hawaiian Village.
Seed pod on the sidewalk. This picture disturbs me because it looks like a painting. But it’s not. That’s just how the sidewalk looked, and how the seed pod looked.
Frans bought me a beautiful guitar for graduation. I bought him a cool leather bag. If you ask me, I think I came out ahead. But he might think differently.
For the past three weeks or so I’ve been taking guitar lessons from a UH grad who lives nearby (and who I would HIGHLY recommend if anyone’s looking for a good teacher). I already knew how to play a few basic chords, but she’s been teaching me some cool stuff (barring, picking, theory) that makes everything much more exciting than just boring chords. Today we worked on some barred chords and it was like things just CLICKED – oh, you bar two steps up from an A minor and get a B minor? Ahhh, I LOVE it when things make sense!
I’m trying to think of some songs to work on. This week was totally Eagles week, but what’s next?
Conclusion of the New Camera saga: I finally chose the Leica D-Lux 4 (after weeks of searching around for a store in the US that actually had it in stock), and it’s here, and I love it, and this is the first real (real as in not of my feet or anything around the house) picture I’ve taken with it:
On Wednesday I had lunch with three friends from the linguistics department, all of whom make me very happy. It was a wet, rainy day, but it was wonderful to see them, and I’m happy I got a picture of us all before I had to run back to work.
Librarians have taken over Chicago!! Really, everywhere I look, SWARMS of them! Well, maybe not quite swarms, but I did hear that around 12,000 people were coming to the American Library Association conference, and every time I turn around, it seems I see someone else with a massive nametag like the one Frans is lugging around (photo of that coming soon). I do wish I could go to some of the meetings, but my registration would have been expensive, and NOT attending the conference means I have a chance to explore the city. Which I LOVE.
It’s not nearly as hot here as everyone told me it would be. I’m hoping it warms up because my jeans and sweatshirt are dirty but I have plenty of clean shorts. The plan for today is to rent a bike at Millenium Park and bike around the waterfront, then down to the museums, then back in time for a scholarship bash at the Art Institute. Not bad, eh?
I can’t speak for Chicagoans, but when people from my parents’ part of Minnesota say “Chicago”, that second vowel is not the “a” in “father” that it is in standard American English. It’s pronounced a little further forward in the mouth, so it’s between the “a” in “father” and the “ae” in “bat”. This gives it, to my ears, a slightly grating, sharp sound. I like it. After a few days in Minnesota around my cousins and grandparents, I’m leaning back toward that accent myself. So here I am. In Chicaaago.
We got into town yesterday after an hour-long train ride from Joliet, found and checked into our hotel, and grabbed some lunch and a quick nap. Then it was time for Frans to start the leadership institute and for me to EXPLORE. With only two hours before I would meet him again for dinner, I decided to walk east from our hotel towards the water. This took me through the Theater District, past gobs of coffee shops and restaurants, and into Millenium Park.
It is so nice to be in a big city again. I love small towns and rural areas and mountains and of course beaches, but I always feel good in big busy cities. I’ve spent time in Seattle, New York, Paris, St. Petersburg, Moscow, Athens . . . it’s hard to articulate, but there’s just so much personality in these places. It’s exciting.
A few more photos:
