Hitorikiri no Book Club: The Story of Land and Sea

My husband loves his coworkers.

He works at Barnes & Noble, which is pretty awesome (despite the minimum wage......), and we've made a friend in one of his coworkers, an English major who loves books as much as we do.

She invited me to participate in a year-long Reading Challenge, the gist of which is reading 40 books in a year that fit into particular categories. Details are here: https://www.popsugar.com/entertainment/Reading-Challenge-2018-44138581

I have finished one book, and expect to get to about 12. Setting the bar low. (I'm pretty sure my husband and I spend more time with our coworkers than each other, aside from sleeping, which there is never enough of.)

My first book was:

The Story of Land and Sea, by Katy Simpson Smith.

I don't know quite what to say about it. I picked it because it was languishing on my shelf about eye level from my bed, it had the word "sea" in it, and I originally bought it on clearance and felt guilty about spending money on a book I hadn't yet read.

It's set in the 1700's, just after - and during - the Revolutionary War, which I found very interesting, as I haven't read many novels in that era that weren't focused on Important People or Important Events (hello, endless books about Alexander Hamilton). The war was a faint background for the real story about normal people, full of drama and tragedy. It was a good book, and well written, I think, but so, so depressing. It left me with a vague impression of what it was trying to say, but also confusion - who IS this story about??

I will say that it knocked out the "about death or grief" category in the challenge.

My next book is Chocolat: "Made into a movie you've seen". Quite the change. I analyzed the movie Chocolat for a college class, so I'm enjoying reading the original.

Anyone have any future recommendations? :-)

A hui hou!

Happy New Year!

It's 2018, and I finally remembered that I had a blog. Some of the intense things of 2017 have died down (getting married, husband moving in, death in the family), and I am excited for what the new year holds!

As long as it's not another missile warning.

Things I am doing at the moment:

-Planning a late wedding reception for family: Our wedding was last-minute for serious reasons, which was good, as we were able to celebrate with ALL of our immediate family, and I am terrible at planning. We are planning a visit home to celebrate with the rest of my family. (And possibly a flood of cousins on the husband's side)

-Adventuring in cooking with allergies: husband developed an intolerance for eggs, our go-to food, and I am experimenting with cutting out inflammatory and/or acidic foods and not nearly passing out from a protein deficiency. On the bright side, I can drink more coffee!

-Volunteering: I volunteer at an animal rescue, and recently passed my one-year mark! Although I don't have much time, I love being able to care for the animals and share my farm skills (goats and chickens), which many of our volunteers don't have. We have been struggling with some behavioral and handling issues in the animals, but things are looking up!

-One month exercise challenge: As a teacher, I sit for most of my day. Even as a singing teacher, I tower over my students, and sitting helps me be at their level. I had a lot of stiffness and pain in my hip, and exercising has helped a lot.

-Continuing in my hula halau: my halau's style is incredibly different from what I was used to while I was dancing and performing in California. We are learning a beautiful slow 'auana song, and I'm slowly starting to remember my hula sisters' names!

-Trying to speak more Hawaiian: for the obvious hula reasons, but also because my housemate teaches at a Hawaiian charter school and is trying to learn herself. And because I can.

-Studying Japanese: I am awaiting the results of my JLPT N2 test that I took in December. 2 is the second-highest level, with a focus on business and formal language, none of which I use very often in my current job. I loved studying, but we'll see if it was enough for me to pass. Meanwhile, I am continuing to study and keep ahead of my super-smart students!

-2018 Reading Challenge: As the husband works for a bookstore, books are accumulating in our house faster than we can read them. My friend (and his coworker), a literature major, invited me to join her in a 40-book reading challenge for the whole year. So far, husband is beating me, because he cheats.


That's way more than I realized! We are definitely keeping busy!

Hau'oli Makahiki Hou!

Hitorikiri no Book Club: The Farthest Shore

Aloha!

I have FINALLY finished a book for the first time in months (aside from textbooks, work-related materials, and the odd comic). I have a slight abrasion on my eye -- again, but this time caught before it was devastatingly painful -- and decided if I was going to stare at something, paper was a better choice than a screen.

That and I am tired and procrastinating.

I have just finished The Farthest Shore, which is Book 3 in the Earthsea series by Ursula K. LeGuin.

Upon looking for a photo, I found it interesting that the vast majority of them involve dragons, when most of the book takes place on a boat. Dragons are more exciting, I suppose.

I only came across the series by watching Tales of Earthsea, a movie by Studio Ghibli (the same who made Totoro, Spirited Away, Ponyo, etc.), which combined the stories of The Farthest Shore and Tehanu, Book Four. Having seen the movie, much of the suspense was lost, but it was interesting to see the similarities and differences. The movie was much fluffier.

I have read the first two books, A Wizard of Earthsea and The Tombs of Atuan, and loved them both. This book was much the same. They tend to be slow paced, but never boring. I REALLY like LeGuin's style of writing, whether it be dialogue or descriptions. It sort of feels like I can enjoy each chapter for what it is rather than racing to find out what happens next (especially since I mostly knew what was going to happen), and as someone who reads a ton of mysteries, it's very refreshing.

I don't yet own the next book in the series, but I do have a whole stack of books I bought on sale waiting to be read. Maybe I'll finish one by the end of the year...

Read any good books lately? I would love to hear about it!

A hui hou!

Farmer's Market!

Aloha!

It managed to be a month since my last post. May was especially busy, partly due to the fact that I am now engaged!

It's also spring, which means allergies. It's nearly summer, which also means allergies. The vog hasn't been as bad, but I have no idea what to expect when our most distinguishable season is hurricane season. Which is also coming up. I have the vague superiority of living on a hill, but I work in an area notorious for flooding.

I have been trying to eat healthier this past week (Fiance's birthday left me with 3/4 of a cake that was eaten in a far too short amount of time), so that means heading to the farmer's market! I bought my usual group of vegetables and decided to wander. I ended up with this:

That would be my normal boring vegetables, a jar of kimchi that ACTUALLY TASTES GOOD, and pa'i'ai!! Pa'i'ai is pounded kalo, or taro, before it's mixed with water to make poi. In theory, you make poi with it. I am lazy and have mostly eaten it in chunks straight from the bag.

The kimchi came from a artisan-type booth at the market that has meats, honey, cheesecake, etc. This time they had both the yummy kimchi AND some really good pickled beets. Most store-bought kimchi I've tried tastes like water and/or salt with some spicy added in, but this one isn't lava-hot like most homemade kinds, and it made a fantastic noodle bowl. I'm not much for fancy expensive food at my farmer's market, but I'm definitely coming back.

The pa'i'ai came with a stamp card, which is dangerous.

Judging by the few trees in my neighborhood, it will be mango season soon! Stay runed!

A hui hou!

Kahiko vs. 'Auana

Aloha!

It's been a week since Merrie Monarch, I finally got my shirt (thanks to Hilo connections - woohoo!), and I'd love to post some of my favorite performances. No videos are up on the official website, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

However, this year's competition cracked down on unofficial photos and videos, mostly out of respect to the halau and other participants, but I suspect it also had something to do with DVD sales. (Especially when every 5 minutes we were bombarded with the Japanese advertisement of their marketing company.)

I missed a few performances (which of course turned out to be the winners... go figure!) but managed to catch quite a bit of the whole thing! And this year, I found myself experiencing something different and shocking: I thoroughly enjoyed 'auana night.

Kahiko, ancient hula, is by far the more popular of the performances. Aside from being actually traditional and uniquely Hawaiian, it's much more energetic, shows off more of the dancers' intensity and athleticism, and has the more intricate, hand-crafted costuming and adornments.

'Auana, or modern hula, encompasses everything from Victorian-era to modern dances. It tends to be slower, romantic, and ever so graceful. And because it's Merrie Monarch, the songs are VERY long. If you have a short attention span (hello!), it's easy to lose interest after the first 4 verses. However, I found myself hanging on and only reluctantly pulled myself away to get enough sleep to work the next day.

I have a few favorites from Kahiko night, but I loved so many 'auana that I have a hard time choosing. (I think my favorite might have been Halau I Ka Wekiu's performance of 'Ulili E - a song about shorebirds, complete with bird-like steps and motions. Or any of the songs about Hilo.)

As a dancer, I've performed much more 'auana, although I've learned plenty songs in both and prefer to practice kahiko whenever possible. AND the Hawaiian is much clearer and easier to understand. I had worried about losing my Hawaiian in the past 4 years (yikes!), but it seems there's still quite a bit left, and I'm sure I have hula to thank for that.

So there you have it, a haole girl's review of this year's Merrie Monarch. (Heoli the Haole - new blog title? Of course there's a great debate on the word "haole", but that's another story for another day.)

A hui hou!

Miss Aloha Hula

It's Merrie Monarch!


If I were in Hilo, I would be running around to craft fairs, stuffing myself with snacks and poi, and complaining about the rain. But I'm in Oahu, and all we got this year was the rain. (Which is welcome enough in itself, but makes my 60-degree workplace especially frigid.)

The order of competitions are: Miss Aloha Hula (Thursday), Kahiko (Friday), and 'Auana (Saturday). Kahiko is by far the most popular, but my favorite to watch is Miss Aloha. Why? Because of the oli.

Oli, or Hawaiian chant, is unique, powerful, and difficult to master. I have learned chants both in UH and in my own halau, and it's even in my Hawaiian name (HeOLImeleikalani)! Being a soprano chanter is tough - we don't have the same oomph as an alto - but it's always something I've wanted to study more.

I also love watching Miss Aloha because, as opposed to group hula, you can really focus in on a dancer's motions, facial expressions, and interpretation of a song. As a dancer, I watch it mostly for inspiration. In addition, seeing both kahiko and 'auana from the same dancer is fascinating, especially when considering all the different kumu and their different styles.

This year I was able to join in a text-based viewing party with my hula sisters back home - well past midnight for them! They accurately predicted the winner (Halau Hi'iakaikamakaenaena) and had some great insight into the songs, dances, etc. (My favorite was from Hula Halau 'o Kamuela, who came in second. Oh well.)

Round 2: Kahiko! Since there's no AHA (Mark Ho'omalu), I'm looking forward to Kahikilaulani and Kamuela's performances.

Anyone else?

A hui hou!

Waikiki Adventures!

Aloha!

I am still sick, which between sneezing, coughing, subsequent asthma attacks and dehydration means I spend a lot of time resting - a perfect time to write a blog post!

My work occasionally receives offers of free tickets to Blue Note Hawaii, a very fancy jazz club in Waikiki. I was able to drag the boyfriend with me a few weeks ago to see a jazz trio featuring an amazing pianist, Hiromi.

Here's a very short video:

The Blue Note club itself is located inside a Waikiki Hotel, which meant much confusion and yelling through one-way streets. (We were terribly late, but no one really cared - it is jazz, after all.) Boyfriend hates Waikiki, and I hate finding parking, so it was not an adventure undertaken lightly. The concert, however, was fabulous and well worth it, and there was creme brulee involved, so everyone went home happy.

Afterwards, we explored the surrounding area, since we were already there. We found the International Marketplace - completely unrecognizable from the place I visited years ago - and headed to the beach. Thankfully most of the crowd were inside battling over restaurant space, so we were able to enjoy a short walk. Then we happened upon this:

The pink is a little lost in the dark, but it's there!

Royal Hawaiian Hotel was one of the last dances I learned in my halau before I left, so the hula dancer in me was thrilled. I have yet to find a halau here.

And speaking of hula, it's Merrie Monarch this weekend! I am looking forward to being in the same time zone so I can watch it online! (You can watch it with me here, or they occasionally have recordings available after the event.) The Miss Aloha competition is my favorite. A few of the halau are in my neighborhood, so it will be interesting to see what they come up with! (No Academy of Hawaiian Arts this year - sorry everyone.)

A hui hou!