paradise ali

George Carlin died yesterday.  He was such a brilliant comedian.  I got this in an email a while back.  It was written by George Carlin after his wife passed away and shows a different side of him.  It is poignant and eloquent and brought me to tears when I first read it. 

A Message by George Carlin:

The paradox of our time in history is that we have taller buildings but shorter tempers, wider freeways, but narrower viewpoints. We spend more, but have less, we buy more, but enjoy less. We have bigger houses and smaller families, more conveniences, but less time. We have more degrees but less sense, more knowledge, but less judgment, more experts, yet more problems, more medicine, but less wellness.

We drink too much, smoke too much, spend too recklessly, laugh too little, drive too fast, get too angry, stay up too late, get up too tired, read too little, watch TV too much, and pray too seldom.

We have multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values. We talk too much, love too seldom, and hate too often.

We’ve learned how to make a living, but not a life. We’ve added years to life not life to years. We’ve been all the way to the moon and back, but have trouble crossing the street to meet a new neighbor. We conquered outer space but not inner space. We’ve done larger things, but not better things.

We’ve cleaned up the air, but polluted the soul. We’ve conquered the atom, but not our prejudice. We write more, but learn less. We plan more, but accomplish less. We’ve learned to rush, but not to wait. We build more computers to hold more information, to produce more copies than ever, but we communicate less and less.

These are the times of fast foods and slow digestion, big men and small character, steep profits and shallow relationships. These are the days of two incomes but more divorce, fancier houses, but broken homes. These are days of quick trips, disposable diapers, throwaway morality, one night stands, overweight bodies, and pills that do everything from cheer, to quiet, to kill. It is a time when there is much in the showroom window and nothing in the stockroom. A time when technology can bring this letter to you, and a time when you can choose either to share this insight, or to just hit delete…

Remember; spend some time with your loved ones, because they are not going to be around forever.

Remember, say a kind word to someone who looks up to you in awe, because that little person soon will grow up and leave your side.

Remember, to give a warm hug to the one next to you, because that is the only treasure you can give with your heart and it doesn’t cost a cent.

Remember, to say, "I love you" to your partner and your loved ones, but most of all mean it. A kiss and an embrace will mend hurt when it comes from deep inside of you.

Remember to hold hands and cherish the moment for someday that person will not be there again.

Give time to love, give time to speak! And give time to share the precious thoughts in your mind.

AND ALWAYS REMEMBER:

Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.

This is one of my favorite songs.  It was released after Anna died.  She would have loved it, too.  She lived this way. 

Like You’ll Never See Me Again

 If I had no more time
No more time left to be here
Would you cherish what we had?
Was it everything that you were looking for?
If I couldn’t feel your touch
And no longer were you with me
I’d be wishing you were here
To be everything that I’d be looking for
I don’t wanna forget the present is a gift
And I don’t wanna take for granted the time you may have here with me
‘Cause Lord only knows another day is not really guaranteed

So every time you hold me
Hold me like this is the last time
Every time you kiss me
Kiss me like you’ll never see me again
Every time you touch me
Touch me like this is the last time
Promise that you’ll love me
Love me like you’ll never see me again

Oh oh oooh

How many really know what love is?
Millions never will
Do you know until you lose it
That it’s everything that we are looking for
When I wake up in the morning
You’re beside me
I’m so thankful that I found
Everything that I been looking for

I don’t wanna forget the present is a gift
And I don’t wanna take for granted the time you may have here with me
‘Cause Lord only knows another day is not really guaranteed

So everytime you hold me
Hold me like this is the last time
Every time you kiss me
Kiss me like you’ll never see me again
Can you do that for me baby
Every time you touch me
See we don’t really know
Touch me like this is the last time
See everyday we never know
Promise that you’ll love me
I want you to promise me
Love me like you’ll never see me again
Like you’ll never see me again

Ooh oooh oooh oooh oooh

–by Alicia Keys and Kerry Brothers, Jr.

Saturday is Anna’s birthday.  I want to celebrate her life, to be proud of what she accomplished, to be happy for the time that she was here.  I AM grateful for her love and friendship.  

So why am I crying and missing her so much?  Why am I still angry at her for dying?  Why does it still hurt so deeply that it feels like my chest will cave in with every breath?  Why can’t I just let her go and accept that she’s an angel driving the big rig of her dreams? 

It comes and goes.  Most of the time, I’m fine.  Every now and then, I’m an emotional wreck. 

Today is just one of those days.

Okay, I know I’m not the only one that does this.  I really like to look at other people’s houses, yards and garages.  Not in a peeping Tom or stalker way but as I drive by, sometimes I catch a little glimpse into the lives of the people who live there and it’s interesting.  There are families sitting around the dinner table laughing and enjoying what I imagine to be a fantastic meal, Tata patiently pulling weeds one by one out of an immaculate front yard, six custom Harley Davidsons all lined up in the driveway, huge garden filled with colorful petunias, Sponge Bob on a  big flat panel TV, fishing poles and huge ice chests in the garage, homemade picnic tables and benches underneath a double wide tarp, big trampoline with an enclosure, hunting dogs in kennels next to pickup trucks — the nice list could go on without end. 

Every now and then, though?  I like to hear my neighbors yelling at their children to clean their rooms or see a dining table piled with papers or boxes stacked in the garage threatening to overflow into the driveway or an overgrown jungle of a yard or a rusty roof or a house painted an off color.  Why?  Purely selfish reasons!  I like to see that other people also love their children but sometimes want to hug their offspring really, really hard . . . around the neck. Other folks have problems with clutter.  We’re not the only ones who need to save money to replace the roof.  Someone else out there picked the perfect paint sample in the store only to find out that it looks 10 times brighter on the house than in the store, too.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not judging anyone or taking joy in the misfortune of others or sending out bad vibes.  I guess what fuels my voyeurism is I want to remind myself of the good things that I already have and that are to come in the future and to also have the assurance that we’re all only human.  I’m not the best or the worst or the only one to take missteps and make mistakes.  We all do.  It’s a common experience.

I signed up with the user name “paradiseali” for a Twitter account a little over a month ago just to check it out and see what the buzz was about.  I started out following a few Hawai`i people that I remember from back in the day and it just expanded from there. 

And guess what?!  People tweet about family, what they’re eating, about traffic and weather and surf, share cute things about their children and pets, confess that their house or office is a mess, that they unclogged a toilet, where to go for KC Drive Inn waffle hot dogs or sushi or Hawaiian food and then some. Sometimes these tweets are linked to audio/video clips, pictures, books, event sign ups, and all sorts of juicy online tidbits. 

The best part is . . . I get a peek into other people’s houses/yards/offices/cars/lives without getting into my car and taking out a loan to cover the price of gas! 

I haven’t watched American Idol since Fantasia was on in Season 3!  Got this clip of Jason Castro performing the Israel Kamakawiwo`ole version of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” via Neenz via Twitter.  I think he did a good job!  Probably won the hearts of many Hawai`i viewers.  Since when do they let the contestants play ukulele? 

“Earth Hour shows that, together, our small actions can make a difference in the fight against climate change. By turning out the lights for one hour on March 29, individuals, businesses and communities across the world will demonstrate our collective concern about climate change and signal our willingness to do something about it.”   EarthHour

Google’s page is black today “as a gesture to raise awareness of a worldwide energy conservation effort called Earth Hour.” 

Honolulu, Hawai`i is signed up to participate, as are many companies.  It’s a symbol and celebration of our commitment to each do our part in reducing the carbon footprint on a daily basis.  Save yourself some money while saving the planet.  My family will participate at home and I’ll be at a friend’s party turning off the lights there!  It’ll be fun!

Please join me and millions of others around the world in turning off the lights tonight between 8:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m. 

Turn off your lights for one hour between 8:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m. on Saturday, March 29, 2008.  Be a part of worldwide event to avoid global warming.  Check it out!

Sign up at http://www.earthhour.org  and participate on March 29, 2008 at 8:00 p.m.

You know those late night infomercials for “Hits of the 80’s” and “Smooth Soul” and other compilation CDs? They play just a tiny snippet of the song and move on to the next snippet while a bunch of titles and artists from the melodic past scrolls through the screen. I love that! It makes everyone else crazy but that’s how I listen to the radio. I watch TV like that, too.

Yesterday, I followed a link on Alltop (great site, by the way) to this article called “Describing Twitter in Plain English” at The Cranking Widgets Blog. At first, I thought, “Why would I want to broadcast the mundane little details of my life?” Well, after watching the little video, I decided to give it a try. It’s kind of fun! It’s perfect for attention deficit disorder me! Short–no more than 140 letters at a time. It’s interesting to read little blurbs of people’s day.

True, it’s not very productive (it’s filed under “distractions, practical, technology”) but it is entertaining . . . at least it is for now. There’s a Twitter thingy in the left column. Go sign up so I can stalk, just kidding, I mean follow you!

EDIT:  The Twitter Badge is in the right column now.

Sugar Cane and Rainbow by Omega Man

I was raised in a rural sugar plantation/farming community.  My folks usually had a garden with plenty of lettuce, beans, corn, mustard cabbage, carrots and all sorts of things.  Even if it wasn’t in full production, there were always the staples of green onion and chili pepper.  We also had aloe.  Not to eat, it’s good for burns.  (We had animals, too, but I’ll save that story for later.)  It was nice back then, we gave our neighbors vegetables and mangoes and they gave us fish.  The hunters would share pigs, goats, pheasants and smoked meat.  Nobody ever called it bartering or trading either.  No one thought of it like that.  It was a gift from the heart with no expectations of reciprocation.  It was life.

People would come together to prepare the pig to kalua (bake in the ground) and dig the imu (underground oven) for a baby luau or party.  It was a time consuming process (I’ll spare you the gory details of pig prep), usually overnight, and it would be a mini party right there.  Primo and Olympia beer flowed freely and then there was the music.  Not just singing, mind you, they had ukuleles, guitars, bass, drums, harmonicas and even accordions!  Later, at the party, people would get up and do an impromptu hula or sing a favorite song. There was no such thing as karaoke–the backup music was live and unrehearsed!  It wasn’t uncommon for the singing and merry making to last a few days, especially when family from other islands came in to visit.  There was the cooking for the party, then the party, then the clean up where folks broke down tables and took the rubbish to the dump and then lunched on the leftovers.  (There was always food leftover.  Just about the worst thing that could happen would be having too little or running out.  That would be “shame”! )  It was a blast! 

Besides the parties, other things were based around food.  It was a culture of food.  The first thing you’d hear when you went to someone’s house to play was, “Come!  Come inside and eat!”  It didn’t matter if all they had were crackers and sardines, it was offered.  Oddly enough, in the humbleness of local style, if some aunty or uncle (every adult was aunty or uncle out of respect) asked if you were hungry, you had to say “no” even if you were starving.  Aunty would bring something out to eat anyway and you had better eat whatever was put in front of you and say, “thank you!”  How you behaved reflected directly on your family.  In a more formal visiting situation, you’d bring a gift of food with you.  Whether it was fruit from your backyard or homemade goodies like sweet bread or sausage, you wouldn’t think to go empty handed.  Same if you traveled to O’ahu or some other place, you’d bring something for your host and you’d bring back for family and friends things like King’s Bakery Sweetbread, Liliha Creampuffs, Chinese food from Chinatown, Kona coffee, Atebara Potato Chips, Kaua’i Cookies and other endless goodies.  Food is the universal language of love!

What were parties and food traditions like when you were growing up?

Linkmeister has some links to photos and video of the lava flowing into the ocean.  Awesome stuff!

The lava passed through Royal Gardens subdivision again.  Back in the 80’s, it was a pretty nice place.  We used to drive along past Kalapana beach and the fishponds on our way to visit friends.  They lived in a house they designed and built themselves.  It was small but it was theirs and they loved it.   When the lava was approaching, they decided not to evacuate.  I remember thinking that they were crazy!  They held on as long as they could, planting even more ti leaves around the boundaries.  (The old timers used to say that the ti leaves would protect the property.)  In the end, it was of no use.  Madame Pele flowed over not only their home but most of Royal Gardens and, eventually, almost all of the Kalapana area.  Some of the places gone forever–

Queen’s Bath

Waha‘ ula Visitor Center and ancient heiau

Harry K. Brown Park

the black sands of Kaimu Bay

Kalapana, Fishponds, Walter’s Kalapana Store & Drive Inn

In the end, Madame Pele claimed what was always hers but she also gave us  a powerful and beautiful show, more land and a new black sand beach.

Gorgeous photographs courtesy of J.D. Griggs, D. Weisel and G.E. Ulrich.