Whirlwind

Have you ever felt that you've lived a year in two weeks? Or something close to that? The past few weeks have been a whirlwind and the reason why I haven't been posting recently. Here are some of the things that have kept me away from my computer:

Hilo comes to Oakland:
The cheery Libra-Army Horse with the bling, the charming tropical storm, the woman of every hour, the social butterfly with more friends than Oprah, the Tubular One's new best friend, a.k.a. my mom--was here for a visit earlier in November. Her visits are always like protracted slumber parties with Diet Pepsi. Our friends were treated to her colorful stories and infectious laughter. I remember growing up how I always felt that my friends found my mom a lot more fun than me. But thankfully now I can stand back and admire her without anger or jealousy. She has the ability to engage people in a disarming way, can charm anyone, and can probably sell grains of sand to a lifeguard at Banzai Pipeline on the North Shore.

The visit was somewhat bittersweet however. My aunt and her daughter also were in town from Hilo--which is one of the reasons my mom came to Oakland. For as fun as it was, we were also very sad about my aunt's diagnosis of ALS. The good news is that my aunt is now being treated for the early stages and is surrounded by wonderful friends like my mom and her family. What has been amazing is that friends and co-workers have come forward with information I never knew. A co-worker told me that her grandmother was diagnosed with ALS at age 70. My good friend wrote me an email about how she worked for a ALS physician at the University of Chicago. Another friend is going to let me know about the current ALS stem cell research at UCSD. I've been learning so much.

Ayame Kai:
Ayame Kai is the annual Holiday Bazaar at the Buddhist church in Seattle. For over five years, my mom has been peddling her Hawaii-made goods at this fair of sorts. If you've seen her o-musubi towels, you know what I'm talking about. For me, Ayame Kai means heavy lifting at 7.30 a.m. (unloading the truck in the rain), and putting on my happy face from 10 a.m. to 4.30 p.m. Last year, Cappy modelled a dress, which drew a big crowd. Unfortunately, this year Cappy was sidelined after a long business trip in Miami.

What is Ayame Kai like? Imagine swarms of Japanese-American ladies with silver and purple hair reaching and grabbing for towels, t-shirts, and purses. They turn our booth/table into a feeding frenzy--kind of like koi fish at feeding time. The morning hours of 10-12 pass like minutes. We sell and sell, ladies stop to chat with my mom, we trip over each other reaching for the cash box, we help three people at a time... It's a situation. Now here's the unfortunate bit of this year. Usually, the church sells bento boxes--rice, teriyaki chicken wings, and tsukemono. This year, the cooks were on strike due to an inter-church misunderstanding. By the time I went to the food concessions a little after noon, all that was left was mochi, brownies, and snickerdoodles. No spam musubi, no curry rice, no fried saimin. We lunched on Diet Pepsi and crumbly cookies.

Las Vegas
Family members from the Big Island and Kauai crashed into downtown Las Vegas for a long weekend of wedding frivolity. We were stationed at the Main Street hotel. It felt like the lost red light district of Honolulu with saimin and spam musubi. The wedding was in an ultra chic "chapel" at the Mandalay Bay hotel. The reception was at the Venetian. The best part of the downtown Hawaii-Vegas experience was the ability to get portuguese sausage, eggs, and rice for breakfast with side orders of kim chee and poke. And for some reason, I always tend to win big with dealers wearing Aloha shirts.

Beatles Love/Cirque du Soleil
All I can say is "Wow." I got tickets for Cappy and I, and also treated my parents for their birthdays. If you don't know about this show, it might be because it only opened in June of 2006, so it is fairly new. Apparently there are 6500+ speakers in the space that seats 2000.

I've not been a huge Beatles fan in my life. I mean, I've appreciated them and can sing along to many of their popular songs but I never would called myself a fan. Not anymore. I often thought the Beatles were overrated, but I realised that I only thought that because they've been over-exposed. The original recordings snapped and buzzed as if we were right in the recording studio. The version of "Strawberry Fields" and the mash up involving my "A Day in the Life" brought me to tears, literally. It was gorgeous.

We sat in the lower orchestra seats just near the side stage. My dad, who generally sleeps in anything from Shakespeare to weddings was very much awake. He kept pointing and saying, "Hey look there! Look over here! Wow, look at that puppet!" It was very endearing. After the show, my mom told me that the music brought her back to the days when her and my dad were dating. And now 40+ years later, they're still together.

I think the best part about the Beatles Love show was the anticipation. We knew we were in for a treat, but had no idea what to expect. It was really a transformative experience, at least for me. I developed a new love for the music and a creative bug. Or so I wish. At various points during the show, I kept thinking that I'd love to quit my job and concentrate 24/7 on a new skill like the cloud swing or the tissus. How many people concentrate on one skill for years and years?

I've not been able to mention the Bridal Shower or the trip to Chuck E. Cheese with the niece and nephew. Both of these warrent separate entries, for obvious reasons.

I'm off in search of ginger crab for you know who. The effort to dismantle a crustacean is infuriating. So much effort for so little reward.