Saturday, March 31, 2012
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
I swam with a pod of wild dolphins yesterday afternoon. It looked like this:
(photo from Goldfish Kiss)
My friend, May, and I hitched a ride with the wonderful people from Trilogy to the island of Lanai (about 9 miles off the coast of western Maui). We cruised across the ocean channel in about 2 hours, anchored in Manele Bay and walked over the hill to the amazingly bright and pristine Hulopoe Beach.
While standing on the beach, I looked over the calm bay and noticed about 100 yards out into the water a group of dark shapes cutting through the water.
I poked May in the shoulder. "Dude, I think those are dolphins."
May looked out to where I was pointing. "No," she said. "Those are snorkelers."
I looked back to the swimming shapes and saw dark fins and backs arch over the water. "No, May," I said. "Those are definitely dolphins."
A pod of about thirty to fifty Hawaiian Spinner Dolphins was slowly cruising the shallows of the bay. Later, May told me that they were in their relaxed or resting "alpha state" where they "shut down" half of their brains so they can "sleep." Since half of their brains are still active, the dolphin can still come up for air at regular intervals. During this alpha state, dolphins are generally very relaxed since they are not actively hunting for food.
We dropped our bags on the sand, grabbed fins and masks and ran for the water. Later, I can note how impressed I was by how quickly we were able to go from a flat out run on the beach to leaping into the water while snapping on goggles and slipping on fins. We should do a triathlon or something. We have this running to swimming transition down!
I usually don't swim with fins, but I was so grateful to have a borrowed pair to help me reach the dolphins faster.
The second I put my head under the water I could hear them whistling and clicking to each other. They sounded so close and all around. As I ferociously swam out towards them, I kept popping my head out of the water to gauge where they were to make sure I continued to swim in the right direction.
I swam out about 100 yards and still didn't see any dolphins under the water but with my head above water, I could see that they were just a few yards away from me. I ducked my head back under and saw that a spinner dolphin was zooming towards me.
The dolphin came straight for me at a speed that did not feel that different from watching a torpedo jettison through the water in a bad submarine movie. Knowing that there was no way I was going to out swim a dolphin, I suddenly felt very foolish and felt that maybe it had been a terrible mistake to swim out this far. And then suddenly at just a few feet away, the dolphin slowed, turned slightly, and slowly cruised past to eyeball me with what looked like a grin on its face--and then he was off again.
And then I was watching a group of ten to twenty dolphins swim under and around me. Although they were traveling in a group, many of them looked as if they were paired up. Each pair would come up at different intervals to take a breath and continue swimming. They didn't seem to be headed in any direction. They were just swimming. Sometimes they stayed at the surface, and sometimes they dove a little deeper, and sometimes a few would leap out of the water and show off a few of their signature spins before slapping the surface and falling beneath it.
I held my breath and dove deep to swim alongside them. They were close enough to touch. I swam about five to ten feet down and did a lazy half turn to swim on my back and watched dolphins swim above me.
May and I swam with the dolphins for about thirty minutes before they started to group together and move out of the bay altogether.
After they were gone, May and I high-fived each other. We could not believe our good luck.
May turned to me. "Weren't you just saying on the boat over here how you wanted to swim with dolphins?" she asked. "Well, you got your wish today."
We treaded water a bit, waiting to see if the dolphins would come back, but they had vacated the bay.
May and I swam back to shore, and when we got out the Trilogy crew told us how lucky we were. Although the spinner dolphins are usually found cruising in Hulopoe Bay, the Trilogy crew says that they usually just see them there about once a week. They also said that on all the Lanai trips they do, it is very rare that the dolphins are close enough to shore to make it an accessible swim out to them.
Swimming with the dolphins today was such a mind blowing, spine tingling experience. I have always loved swimming out in the ocean, and I feel kind of like a dolphin myself. I love the feel of the water around me as I move through it, so it felt even more special to share this experience of moving through the ocean with incredibly beautiful and powerful animals.
My dolphin encounter was definitely the highlight of my day, but the rest of the Lanai trip was phenomenal. It was a gorgeous day, and I pretty much spent all of our allotted beach team in the water. The snorkeling was incredible.
When I got tired, I cruised up to the beach and soaked up the sun.
A little too much sun. I got a little sunburned today, and I'm going to be feeling the sting tomorrow. Ouch.
But the burn was worth every single second of my amazing day with May on Lanai.
On our trip back to Maui, we were about to raise the sails when we came across a pod of about 300 spinner dolphins as they were zipping through the open ocean at incredible speeds. What a perfect bookend to our Lanai trip. We began the trip swimming with the dolphins, and we ended the trip watching them fly on by.
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
Super excited to find these "alive" bean sprouts at the grocery store. These pea, adzuki and lentil beans are packaged after having sprouted, so each bean has a little shoot growing out of it.
It looks like you could just stick them in a plastic cup filled with a damp paper towel and continue to watch them grow. Don't act like you didn't do this in kindergarden!
These softened seeds and beans become phytonutrient-rich. "The sprouting stage of growth makes these foods easily digestible, lower on the glycemic index, and nutrient-packed, having increased levels of vitamins and antioxidants" ("Why You Should Eat Sprouts").
It was a great addition to my quinoa and kale salad I made tonight. I topped it off with tomatoes, hummus, feta cheese and a drizzle of Annie's Goddess Dressing. Delicious! So happy that I sucked it up and made dinner at home tonight instead of eating out. Hopefully this will start a trend. I need to start making healthy food at home a little more often.
It looks like you could just stick them in a plastic cup filled with a damp paper towel and continue to watch them grow. Don't act like you didn't do this in kindergarden!
These softened seeds and beans become phytonutrient-rich. "The sprouting stage of growth makes these foods easily digestible, lower on the glycemic index, and nutrient-packed, having increased levels of vitamins and antioxidants" ("Why You Should Eat Sprouts").
It was a great addition to my quinoa and kale salad I made tonight. I topped it off with tomatoes, hummus, feta cheese and a drizzle of Annie's Goddess Dressing. Delicious! So happy that I sucked it up and made dinner at home tonight instead of eating out. Hopefully this will start a trend. I need to start making healthy food at home a little more often.
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Sunday, March 25, 2012
Kahana Canoe Club posted a photo of the coed winners for their Relay Race. I thought you'd like to see it!
From left to right: Lisa (in the hat) has an arm draped around her "invisible" partner (he had to bail the award ceremony to get to work). Strider and I are in the middle (he is a giant!). And the duo to the right were amazing competitors. I wish I could recall their names, but the blonde kicked my butt in the swimming leg. She trains with the Masters swimming team. I ran with the gentleman in black during our last leg.
What a fun--but exhausting--day!!
During our walk around town on Wednesday, Bryan and I stopped in at the Island Sandals store in the Wharf. I have always walked past it, always been curious, but had never stopped in until now.
I'm so glad we made the trip!
The store is owned and run by craftsman Michael Mahnensmith. He was a delight to meet and so wonderful to talk to.
His custom and handmade leather sandals are based on a design used 3,000 years ago by the desert warriors of King Solomon in Ethiopia.
The sandals feature one single strap that creates a harness around, under and over your foot that securely keeps you in place every step you take. Michael says that this was the same design that warriors and runners in Ancient Ethiopia wore, and he says that you can run in your as well.
I tried on a sandal in his shop, and I'm deeply in love. The price for a handmade pair of Michael's sandals cost $165 for ladies and $185 for gentlemen.
My jaw dropped a little at the price, but you have to keep in mind that they are custom made for your two feet, and they are handmade by Michael. I loved talking to Michael about his craft and his store. He was a gracious host and showed us many of his tools, his materials and told us the history of his work and designs.
I'm thinking about splurging and treating myself to a pair! Unfortunately, it would take a while to get them into my hands. He told me that he can get me my sandals in six to eight weeks. I think it would be worth the wait! Until then, I may be going back to the shop and picking his brain. If you are in Lahaina, please go check him out! His shop is open every day except Sundays from about 10 am to 4 pm.
If you want to learn more, check out his website.
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Saturday, March 24, 2012
I got a little obsessed with Malvina Reynold's song "Little Boxes" when I got sucked into watching Weeds (it's the show's song that plays over the opening credits--so you hear it often, and it's catchy...and repetitive). Once I had exhausted Netflix's collection of Weeds episodes, the song faded away--but it's back with a vengeance!
Youtube sensation Walk off the Earth covers the song in a cardboard set all filmed in one take. Enjoy.
Youtube sensation Walk off the Earth covers the song in a cardboard set all filmed in one take. Enjoy.
I saw this video posted on Mighty Girl and got totally sucked in and had to share it.
Totally cute! It's starting to heat up in Lahaina, so I won't have too many opportunities to try out these styles, but for those of you enjoying some cooler days please try these out and tell me what you think!
After dinner at I'o, Bryan and I played some Yahtzee the other night. It's amazingly easy and entertaining, but boy, can it get my blood boiling. The dice gods are a fickle bunch, but I've been winning the last few games I've played with Bryan...but I have a feeling the tide is about to turn. Until then...YAHTZEE!!!
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Friday, March 23, 2012
For Christmas, my mom and dad sent me some snazzy wine accessories: a super smooth, futuristic corkscrew that removes the cork with the pull and release of a lever and the Vinturi wine aerator.
Bryan and I were tickled pink by the corkscrew, and we are both excited to use it again--especially once we figured out how easily the cork releases from the corkscrew when you are done opening your bottle.
After getting the bottle open, we moved on to the wine aerator. Bryan and I are definitely not wine connoisseurs, so we didn't think we would be able to tell the difference after using the Vinturi, but we were so wrong!
We poured one glass straight from the bottle and then a second glass through the Vinturi. The flavor from the Vinturi was so much bolder. What a huge improvement!
Now that we have all these fun wine toys, I may have to invest in some real wine glasses!
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Thursday, March 22, 2012
Besides having a wonderful dinner out last night, Bryan and I had fun all day. We visited my friends at Take Home Maui and had massive deli sandwiches and a fresh fruit smoothie for lunch. Bryan had never been to the deli before (what a shame). I'm sure he'll be a frequent visitor to make up for lost time, especially since the deli is a block from his home.
On my way home from Coolers, I saw this hibiscus plant blooming. Not a bad walk around town!
a Ti plant across from Take Home Maui
After lunch, we walked along Front Street where we stopped in at the Island Sandals shop in the Wharf (more on that in a separate post).
We then ventured down to the harbor and then cruised back up Front Street and got a drink at Coolers.
On my way home from Coolers, I saw this hibiscus plant blooming. Not a bad walk around town!
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Even from across the ocean, my dad has the ability to completely spoil me rotten. He sent me some spending money and told me to buy a nice dress then take Bryan and myself out to a restaurant we would not normally go to and buy a bottle of wine we would typically not order.
When my parents and sister were here on vacation, their favorite restaurant on island was I'o. Bryan had never been there, so I decided it was the perfect place to take him.
I wore a dress that I bought from Mahina:
and we shared a bottle of Cabernet:
I love the cork!
We enjoyed the Ahi Poke appetizer served with fried wontons, brown butter sauce, radish sprouts and greens:
We split the Waipoli Saald (not pictured) and each got our own I'o Trio dish:
Left to right: Grilled Petit Filet Mignon, Seared Nairagi (Hawaiian Striped Marlin) topped with a lobster coconut curry sauce over a mushroom asparagus risotto and then a grilled Madras curry and porcini mushroom dusted lamb chop.
The lamb chop was our favorite part of the trio, but the Filet Mignon photographed the best.
We pretty much licked our plates clean, leaving just the bone off the lamb chop:
Our servers treated us to a dessert: a dark chocolate "pate" garnished with fresh strawberries.
We managed to show our appreciation by devouring every single bite.
Bryan and I had a fantastic night out. It is always a treat to have the night off together, but it was especially nice being able to enjoy such a fantastic dinner out!
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
My dermatologist recommended Cetaphil products for me when I was battling icky dry skin in Portland. When my skin was really bad, he recommended the tub of Cetaphil's moisturizing cream. I was always felt kind of gross slathering on goops of the stuff onto my skin, but it worked wonders.
I have since graduated to using the lighter formula of Cetaphil's lotion, and I am once again totally wowed by how great Cetaphil works!
It's fragrance free, clinically tested by dermatologists and paraben free. It glides on silky smooth and keeps my skin feeling creamy and soft all day.
It is easy to find at your local drugstore. It's a little pricier than other brands, but totally worth it!
I have since graduated to using the lighter formula of Cetaphil's lotion, and I am once again totally wowed by how great Cetaphil works!
It's fragrance free, clinically tested by dermatologists and paraben free. It glides on silky smooth and keeps my skin feeling creamy and soft all day.
It is easy to find at your local drugstore. It's a little pricier than other brands, but totally worth it!
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Alfredo and I went to the Vietnamese restaurant in the Wharf for lunch. I've been dying to try their big bowl of Pho: noodles in a big bowl of beef broth served with fresh basil and sprouts for garnish.
It was delicious!
I was very happy with my meal:
We wrapped up our lunch with ice cream eaten under the Banyan Tree. Not a bad way to spend the afternoon before work!
It was delicious!
I was very happy with my meal:
We wrapped up our lunch with ice cream eaten under the Banyan Tree. Not a bad way to spend the afternoon before work!
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My friend May and I had lunch and cocktails at Pacific'o this afternoon. After eating, we walked to the harbor to meet May's friend who works on a yacht. I liked how all the boats looked lined up in the harbor.
After our brief trip to the harbor, I laid out in the sun at 505's beach and swam two loops out over the reef before retiring to my beach towel and reading my "lightweight" book.
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Monday, March 19, 2012
Sunday, March 18, 2012
I decided to treat myself to a decadent and delicious lunch today. I popped my "lightweight" book into my purse and walked down Front Street to Longhi's.
I started off with their complimentary pizza bread and a small Longhi's salad. The salad is perfectly dressed and topped with bleu cheese, juicy tomatoes, white beans and crisp, chilled green beans.
I also enjoyed the rich and deeply cheesy Manicotti: hand-rolled pasta wrapped around ricotta cheese topped with a hearty tomato sauce with a dab of béchamel sauce.
Delicious!
It was the perfect treat to start my day after yesterday's action packed day. The relay race really took the zip out of my step. I felt like a highly functioning zombie yesterday at work. It took me about an hour before I could pull myself together. During the first turn of my tables last night, I had to fire every single brain cell in my head to churn out the specials without tripping over my tongue. My guests were all very nice and no one made any jokes about my stuttering.
After work, I relaxed at home and shared a bottle of wine with Bryan. We ended up putting in a disc of Planet Earth, and it took everything I had to keep my eyes open. Unfortunately, I didn't make it through the whole episode. I nodded off quite a bit and fell completely asleep by the end.
Thankfully, I was awake for this bit about Mandarin ducklings taking their first flight from their treetop nest:
Those little ducklings literally bounce when they hit the ground. Ouch. I guess I can't complain too much about how sore I am today, now can I?
I started off with their complimentary pizza bread and a small Longhi's salad. The salad is perfectly dressed and topped with bleu cheese, juicy tomatoes, white beans and crisp, chilled green beans.
I also enjoyed the rich and deeply cheesy Manicotti: hand-rolled pasta wrapped around ricotta cheese topped with a hearty tomato sauce with a dab of béchamel sauce.
Delicious!
It was the perfect treat to start my day after yesterday's action packed day. The relay race really took the zip out of my step. I felt like a highly functioning zombie yesterday at work. It took me about an hour before I could pull myself together. During the first turn of my tables last night, I had to fire every single brain cell in my head to churn out the specials without tripping over my tongue. My guests were all very nice and no one made any jokes about my stuttering.
After work, I relaxed at home and shared a bottle of wine with Bryan. We ended up putting in a disc of Planet Earth, and it took everything I had to keep my eyes open. Unfortunately, I didn't make it through the whole episode. I nodded off quite a bit and fell completely asleep by the end.
Thankfully, I was awake for this bit about Mandarin ducklings taking their first flight from their treetop nest:
Those little ducklings literally bounce when they hit the ground. Ouch. I guess I can't complain too much about how sore I am today, now can I?
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Someone posted a few photos from yesterday's Ocean Relay on the Kahana Canoe Club's Facebook page, and I decided to share them here with you.
The ocean relay course all mapped out:
The ocean relay course all mapped out:
The relay kicked off with the swim! My partner is standing to the far right in a grey shirt. I'm half hidden by the swimmer in the red swimming trunks. See if you can spot me!
The guy in the super sporty swimming shorts on the far left ended up winning the whole relay with his partner. They came in first fifteen minutes before anyone else finished second. Whoa.
Saturday, March 17, 2012
That's right, baby, that's a medal! And it's not just any medal. It's a medal for first place.
About two weeks ago, my coworker Strider convinced me to partner up with him for his canoe club's Season Kickoff Ocean Relay. I'm not much of an athletic competitor, but at the time it seemed fun.
I much prefer to work out on my own, at my own pace with absolutely no witnesses to mock my slow progress. Strider told me that his canoe club event was going to be a super friendly and low key race. It's more of a meet and greet to start the season off in high spirits and to introduce newbies to the club and the sport and to hopefully recruit some new paddlers.
Strider and I arrived at Canoe Beach a little after 9 am. Strider unloaded the gear from his truck, then we registered for $5 each, got our team number inked onto our legs with a permanent marker and headed to the beach.
Around 10 am, the race organizers showed us the maps of all four legs of the race and outlined the course for us.
I told Strider that I would do the first and fourth leg: a quarter mile swim and a one mile run. Strider would do leg two and three back to back: longboard paddling for one mile followed by a one man canoe sprint for two miles.
Standing on the beach and looking out towards the swimming buoy, I felt that their idea of a quarter mile was a lot longer than any quarter mile I had ever seen. I started to get nervous. I snapped my goggles into place and stood in line next to the other swimmers.
When the air horn sounded, I plunged into the water with 25 to 30 other swimmers. This was the first time I've ever raced in open water, and it was the first time I've swum competitively since I was in middle school.
I feel like I'm a strong and accomplished swimmer, but I certainly had overestimated my abilities prior to this race.
I didn't get pushed into the bottom of the pack, but I swam hard and exhaustively to stay in the middle. At a few points, I swiveled onto my back to catch my breath. Even swimming backstroke I made good time and passed a few swimmers to the buoy. I finally rounded the buoy and made the long return back to the beach.
The shore looked so very, very far away.
I managed to focus more on my form on the swim back and decided to slow down my pace. I began to focus on using proper technique so I wasn't tiring out my arms, legs and lungs. Once I slowed down a bit and focused on taking a deep, even breath every three to five strokes, I was able to make some better time. I passed two or three more swimmers on the stretch back to the beach.
I had never been so relieved to see sand. I started walking before I was really out of the water and slipped over some big rocks, so I kicked back into a few swimming strokes to land me on the beach.
I ran up over the rise and through the starting flags to tag Strider.
Strider is a beast. He powered through his two events like it was no big deal. On both events he sailed past fleets of our competitors.
Once he was out of the water from his second leg, I put myself in position for the beach run.
I'm not much of a runner. I can do a mile--just not very fast. And not after doing a quarter mile swim, but I had Strider at my back, cheering me own, so I had to push through.
I kept my pace nice and steady and passed one other runner on my first leg. The leg back of the first lap was a little hard. It began to dawn on me that I was already getting tired, and the last thing I wanted to do was slow down and walk, so I slowed my pace a little and kept plunging onwards.
The start of my second lap felt stronger although my calves were already burning from running on sand. I tried to stay on the harder packed stuff along the waterline, but every once in awhile I had to inch back up into the softer sand to avoid running through water as the ocean lapped up onto the beach.
As I rounded the flag on the far end of the beach to make my last leg of the mile run, I saw Strider halfway down the beach clapping and cheering me on. I picked up my pace and started really running for the finish line. As I passed Strider, I pushed even harder and sprinted for the finish flag.
With our powers combined we managed to finish first among the coed teams that were competing today.
It was a great event, and it was even more fun running into so many of my friends there. After the race, beers and snacks were provided, and everyone got to hang out for a little while.
I had a fun time, but I'm completely worn out. Work should be fun tonight...wish me luck!!
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Wednesday, March 14, 2012
My poor Panasonic Lumix is still experiencing some technical difficulties, despite a short visit to the camera store today. I realize that the blog has been seriously lacking in photos that I've taken myself, so I am resorting to snapping away on the cameraphone until I send my Panasonic to the mainland to see if it can be fixed or until I see if it's still workable and convenient without being able to easily turn it off.
Until then, let's focus on fun stuff rather than camera woes.
I went to body boutique Lush last month to find a creamy way to solve my Sahara-dry hands. I've always had dry skin, but when I moved to Maui in 2010 it seemed like my skin became a sponge. I soaked up sun and warm, balmy air and my skin was so happy...until it wasn't.
I guess my body acclimated to the awesome climate, and now I'm back to dealing with dry flaky skin. Gross. This needed to be solved. And now.
I went in with my bucket of tears sob story, and the super friendly and knowledgeable sales associate pointed me to a few products and the Handy Gurugu won me over almost instantaneously.
Not shown to actual size...of course :)
The Handy Gurugu is a heavy duty, super rich and thick hand cream made from organic Shea, cashew, almond and pumpkin butters with soothing essential oils to save cracked, dry and sore paws like my own. It smells a little medicinal, unlike some of Lush's other fruity and floral products, but once I smoothed on a small pea sized amount, I was hooked. This stuff is awesome.
Don't waste it all on your hands either! I dab and rub this on other dry spots like my elbows and feet. I have barely put a dent into my 3.5 oz container, so I have many, many months of Gurugu goodness to look forward to.
Monday, March 12, 2012
I kind of felt like the Wicked Witch of the West today as I biked headlong into the roaring wind towards Ka'anapali. My friend, Alfredo, was riding ahead of me and I stayed directly behind him and let him break the wall of wind. We rode the three miles from Lahaina to Ka'anapali so we could snorkel at Black Rock.
When we left the sunny and windless Lahaina, we were certain we were in for a perfect day of snorkeling.
As we turned onto the highway and passed the turnoff for Front Street, the wind kicked up and small beads of rain began to smear across my sunglasses.
All of a sudden, I wasn't so sure about this snorkeling thing.
We continued to push hard into the wind for another two miles. We pulled off into Ka'anapali and locked our bikes up at Whaler's Village.
We decided that we were still going to snorkel Black Rock since the water looked clear. We had a long streak of stormy weather last week, and the ocean is no longer murky from all that runoff.
Alfredo and I walked along the pedestrian path past the restaurants, shops and hotels toward Black Rock at the Sheraton. We dumped our stuff onto the beach and embraced being pelted by the sharp needles of sand as we got our gear together.
I just swam out with my Speedo swimming goggles and a borrowed pair of fins from Alfredo. The water wasn't as cold as I had anticipated, and there was no real current this afternoon, so it was easy to slice through the water with Alfredo's fins.
PS--as much as I enjoy ocean swimming fueled by the power I generate through a graceful stroke of my arm or the fluttering kick of my own bare feet, swimming with fins has a lot of advantages: I can swim further and deeper on one breath of air with fins, which means that I can see a lot more fish before coming back up to breathe. I may need to invest in a pair.
photo from www.examiner.com
On our swim over to Black Rock we encountered a honu, or sea turtle. A pair of snorkelers had stumbled upon it first, and we all enjoyed watching the turtle float along until one of the snorkelers swam up to the turtle and pushed hard on its shell. It was as if the snorkeler wanted to provoke the turtle into reacting in some way. The turtle looked startled as it adjusted its equilibrium from the force of the snorkeler's push.
I was furious. The law here prohibits touching or chasing the turtles. I was upset that this snorkeler ruined this peaceful encounter with the Hawaiian Green Sea Turtle.
Before I could say anything, the two snorkelers took off to shore.
Most of the sea turtles I have encountered have never been afraid of swimming with humans. In fact, I feel as if they are almost oblivious to our presence unless they feel too crowded. It upset me that these snorkelers would disrespect the space of this turtle.
After we watched these snorkelers take off, Alfredo and I left the unharmed sea turtle behind and continued toward Black Rock.
The water was super clear and calm underneath the windy surface. I could hear whales singing in the far distance whenever I slipped my head under the water. I watched hot pink parrotfish, banded in bars of yellow and blue, swim by me, and I played in the bubbles bursting up from the scuba divers that skimmed over the ocean floor below me.
Black Rock is definitely one of my favorite places to look at fish. It's a great swim from the beach to the pinnacle, and the fish are plentiful all along the lava rock. Once you swim around the bend; however, is when you are apt to see the best variety of fish.
After our swim, Alfredo and I quickly toweled off, got our gear together and retreated from the stinging beach. The wind was still in full force, blasting any sunbather with sheets of sand. It was not an afternoon to soak up the sun--not that there was lots of it at Ka'anapali today. It was mostly overcast, and I was cold from our swim.
We had lunch at Hula Grill. I really wish I could have had a Hot Chocolate, but we had a cold (but delicious) Ceviche appetizer instead. I ate the Gado Gado salad (brown rice mixed with greens, grilled and chilled veggies and a drizzle peanut sauce) topped with Ahi. Alfredo had the fresh Ahi sandwich (smeared with a jalapeno aioli sauce), and we split the ice cream sandwich dessert. The ice cream did nothing to stop me from shivering in the wind and light drizzle.
Thankfully, our bike ride home warmed me up. And the hot shower I took the instant I walked through my door at 4:30 pm.
Now it is 7:16 pm, and I am starving. Must have been all that swimming.
After we got out of the water today, Alfredo was calling me a "mermaid" and a "delfin" (means "dolphin" in Spanish). I love being in the water. I definitely need to make ocean swimming a bigger priority and do it much more often. Who's with me?!
Speaking of dolphins and Spanish...I had to share this Far Side cartoon with you
I am on a reading stampede! The month of March has been good to me. I have already finished two of the Bill Bryson books in my stack (In a Sunburned Country and Bill Bryson's African Diary). Granted, Bill Bryson's African Diary was less than 100 pages, but I still feel like an accomplished reader considering that I have already plowed through a third of Bryson's A Short History of Nearly Everything--the Special Illustrated Edition.
A Short History is the size of a high school textbook with considerable heft, so it's been a "bed book": a book that I can only read in bed because it's too cumbersome to stash in my purse and bring with me to my favorite solo dining spots in Lahaina.
Because the book is so big, I picked up a "travel book" or a "lightweight": a book that is portable and can be enjoyed anywhere. My newest lightweight is Rules of Civility, a novel by Amor Towles (please take a moment to admire the author's name). I have only read the opening few pages, but I'm hooked. I foresee a potential conflict as I struggle to keep Rules shut and stick to just reading Bryson's Short History at home.
However, I am thoroughly engrossed in Bryson's A Short History of Nearly Everything. With his signature stock of wit and wry observations and unending curiosity, Bryson's book is "the answer to the Great Question, of Life, the Universe and Everything" (forgive me for quoting Douglas Adams' The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, it almost had to be done). Bryson's book came about as an effort to educate himself about the world we live in: how the universe came to be, how the planet Earth formed and how humans evolved into what we are today.
The book has a wonderful cohesive narrative as Bryson marches through history, but what makes the book so accessible is Bryson's coverage of huge scientific topics in cosmology, astronomy, paleontology, geology, chemistry, physics...and the list goes on. What makes this book so fascinating is that Bryson revels in everything that he has researched and discovered, and you can't help but marvel along with him. The book is not just about what we know about our universe and the planet, but how we came to know it. The human stories of these huge scientific endeavors are thrilling and downright amazing. It blows my mind what was discovered and concluded before modern technology (like how far the earth is from the sun and the mass of our planet).
There are so many things in A Short History that I am being bowled over by, but I especially like the concept that supernovae is the reason that we can exist on earth. A supernova occurs "when a giant star, one much bigger than our own Sun, collapses and then spectacularly explodes, releasing in an instant the energy of a hundred billion suns, burning for a time more brightly than all the stars in the galaxy" (Bryson). Supernovae generate the kind of heat needed "to forge carbon and iron and the other [heavier] elements without which we would be distressingly immaterial" (Bryson).
This following quote is not from Bill Bryson, but from Lawrence M. Krauss, a Canadian-American theoretical physicist:
Of course, Krauss' closing statement in the quote above has caused some controversy, and he continues to generate debate as he tells us to put our ideas of religion aside and examine the facts and the science, because the science can be just as marvelous and miraculous as what we read in the Bible.
The quote is from Krauss' lecture turned book entitled A Universe From Nothing: Why There is Something Rather than Nothing. I haven't read it myself, but I am putting it on my list. If you are interested in more of Krauss' thoughts on cosmology, you can read a transcript of his NPR interview.
I know close to nothing about cosmology, but what I have been learning has been captivating, entertaining, mind blowing and astounding, and makes me realize how very lucky I am to be who I am and where I am. The tiniest of deviations in history could have changed my entire life or negated my entire existence. Bryson writes:
It makes me think long and hard about the choices that I make to fill my 650,000 hours.
I could spend less time worrying. I worry about a lot of things: what other people think of me, if my stomach is too fat, if I will ever have a job that is more fulfilling than waitressing but makes more money than what I get tipped, if my collection of freckles are cancerous, if I will get eaten by a shark when swimming--well, I guess if that happened, I wouldn't be worrying anymore, and I wouldn't have to be concerned about what choices I make in my 650,000 hours allotted to me.
Granted, I think I have also done some really amazing things in my 650,000 hours. I have traveled. Extensively. I am forever grateful to my family to have had this opportunity. I have cultivated meaningful relationships with my family and friends. I continue to make good efforts to meeting new people and learning about new experiences. I made the very ambitious and brave move away from everything and everyone I knew to live in Maui--and I have absolutely and truly never been happier.
There are certainly people who have done more, and people who have done less, but I am going to do my best to stop comparing and really focus on making the rest of my 650,000 hours as enjoyable as they can be.
A Short History is the size of a high school textbook with considerable heft, so it's been a "bed book": a book that I can only read in bed because it's too cumbersome to stash in my purse and bring with me to my favorite solo dining spots in Lahaina.
Because the book is so big, I picked up a "travel book" or a "lightweight": a book that is portable and can be enjoyed anywhere. My newest lightweight is Rules of Civility, a novel by Amor Towles (please take a moment to admire the author's name). I have only read the opening few pages, but I'm hooked. I foresee a potential conflict as I struggle to keep Rules shut and stick to just reading Bryson's Short History at home.
However, I am thoroughly engrossed in Bryson's A Short History of Nearly Everything. With his signature stock of wit and wry observations and unending curiosity, Bryson's book is "the answer to the Great Question, of Life, the Universe and Everything" (forgive me for quoting Douglas Adams' The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, it almost had to be done). Bryson's book came about as an effort to educate himself about the world we live in: how the universe came to be, how the planet Earth formed and how humans evolved into what we are today.
The book has a wonderful cohesive narrative as Bryson marches through history, but what makes the book so accessible is Bryson's coverage of huge scientific topics in cosmology, astronomy, paleontology, geology, chemistry, physics...and the list goes on. What makes this book so fascinating is that Bryson revels in everything that he has researched and discovered, and you can't help but marvel along with him. The book is not just about what we know about our universe and the planet, but how we came to know it. The human stories of these huge scientific endeavors are thrilling and downright amazing. It blows my mind what was discovered and concluded before modern technology (like how far the earth is from the sun and the mass of our planet).
There are so many things in A Short History that I am being bowled over by, but I especially like the concept that supernovae is the reason that we can exist on earth. A supernova occurs "when a giant star, one much bigger than our own Sun, collapses and then spectacularly explodes, releasing in an instant the energy of a hundred billion suns, burning for a time more brightly than all the stars in the galaxy" (Bryson). Supernovae generate the kind of heat needed "to forge carbon and iron and the other [heavier] elements without which we would be distressingly immaterial" (Bryson).
This following quote is not from Bill Bryson, but from Lawrence M. Krauss, a Canadian-American theoretical physicist:
The amazing thing is that every atom in your body came from a star that exploded. And, the atoms in your left hand probably came from a different star than your right hand. It really is the most poetic thing I know about physics: You are all stardust. You couldn’t be here if stars hadn’t exploded, because the elements - the carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, iron, all the things that matter for evolution - weren’t created at the beginning of time. They were created in the nuclear furnaces of stars, and the only way they could get into your body is if those stars were kind enough to explode. So, forget Jesus. The stars died so that you could be here today.
Of course, Krauss' closing statement in the quote above has caused some controversy, and he continues to generate debate as he tells us to put our ideas of religion aside and examine the facts and the science, because the science can be just as marvelous and miraculous as what we read in the Bible.
The quote is from Krauss' lecture turned book entitled A Universe From Nothing: Why There is Something Rather than Nothing. I haven't read it myself, but I am putting it on my list. If you are interested in more of Krauss' thoughts on cosmology, you can read a transcript of his NPR interview.
I know close to nothing about cosmology, but what I have been learning has been captivating, entertaining, mind blowing and astounding, and makes me realize how very lucky I am to be who I am and where I am. The tiniest of deviations in history could have changed my entire life or negated my entire existence. Bryson writes:
Getting here wasn't easy, I know. In fact, I suspect it was a little tougher than you realize.
To begin with, for you to be here now trillions of drifting atoms had somehow to assemble in an intricate and curiously obliging manner to create you. It's an arrangement so specialized and particular that it has never been tried before and will only exist this once...
The bad news is that atoms are fickle and their time of devotion is fleeting--fleeting indeed. Even a long human life adds up to only about 650,000 hours. And when that modest milestone flashes into view, or at some other point thereabouts, for reasons unknown your atoms will close down, then silently disassemble and go off to be other things.
It makes me think long and hard about the choices that I make to fill my 650,000 hours.
I could spend less time worrying. I worry about a lot of things: what other people think of me, if my stomach is too fat, if I will ever have a job that is more fulfilling than waitressing but makes more money than what I get tipped, if my collection of freckles are cancerous, if I will get eaten by a shark when swimming--well, I guess if that happened, I wouldn't be worrying anymore, and I wouldn't have to be concerned about what choices I make in my 650,000 hours allotted to me.
Granted, I think I have also done some really amazing things in my 650,000 hours. I have traveled. Extensively. I am forever grateful to my family to have had this opportunity. I have cultivated meaningful relationships with my family and friends. I continue to make good efforts to meeting new people and learning about new experiences. I made the very ambitious and brave move away from everything and everyone I knew to live in Maui--and I have absolutely and truly never been happier.
There are certainly people who have done more, and people who have done less, but I am going to do my best to stop comparing and really focus on making the rest of my 650,000 hours as enjoyable as they can be.
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
A while back, I heard that they were making a third Men in Black movie, and I couldn't handle the news. The sequel was such a disappointment. I had already dismissed the newest Men in Black movie as junk until I saw the trailer!
Josh Brolin playing a young Tommy Lee Jones? Perfect. Seriously. Perfect. I'll definitely be seeing it this summer. Will you?
Josh Brolin playing a young Tommy Lee Jones? Perfect. Seriously. Perfect. I'll definitely be seeing it this summer. Will you?
My photos on my computer don't go too far back, but there are still some pictures that need to see the light of day. Like this one from a trail ride with Terry Kauffman of Rancho Red Rock from 2004. She took me, my mom and my sister out into the mountains behind her ranch to find the small cluster of mustangs.
A close-up of Praga's mane done for a show, circa 2003. Praga was the mare I used to show during high school during junior and senior year.
My dad's friend from work owned a ranch on a polo field in Mexico. He had a stable full of polo ponies, a barn with chickens--including fighting roosters, and his newest addition to the menagerie was a Rhodesian Ridgeback, Zulu. I remember meeting Zulu when he was a tiny pup, but the last time I saw him out at the ranch, he was full grown stealing cake slices off the picnic table and lunging at unsuspecting polo ponies (one of whom gave him a good swift kick discouraging Zulu from ever playing with the ponies again).
Freddy with one of his aforementioned fighting roosters
A photo of my two cats, Cinder and Grizzy, enjoying some sun at our home in Mexico. The cats liked sneaking behind the curtain to enjoy the full blast of sunshine through the window. We brought the cats to Mexico from Singapore. We adopted them from our vet's office after a disastrous adventure in taking in a stray kitten.
Monday, March 5, 2012
It was amazing having family on Maui (and I sincerely hope they return very, very soon, much sooner than they have estimated--hint, hint, Family!). I enjoyed playing tour guide and fellow adventurer as we explored the island, but it was a lot to cram into seven days (including two nights working at the restaurant during the busy spring season).
Now that the family is gone, and I'm taking a pause in my Maui adventuring, things have settled down at home quite a bit.
Bryan and I are catching up on our Netflix queue. The Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Seth Rogen 50/50 is still sitting in my stack of mail, but we have whipped through two discs of BBC's documentary Planet Earth.
So far, nothing has been more satisfying than lying back in bed and watching our crazy planet and all the crazy animals in it.
I am especially fond of this clip documenting Birds of Paradise going about their business:
Amazing.
Another one of our favorite segments is this clip of baboons wading through a river created from a flash flood that has cut through a desert.
And then of course, the Emperor Penguins weathering winter in Antarctica:
We've also been doing a lot of reading. I'm plowing through a stack of library books: all of them by Bill Bryson. After reading A Walk in the Woods, I'm determined to read most everything Bryson has written. I'm almost finished with In a Sunburned Country, a nonfiction account of Bryson's travels in Australia. My friend Ann had done a semester abroad there, and I remember her telling me about how most of the animals are designed to kill you in terrible ways. I am delighted and horrified by the further details that Bryson parcels out.
It led Bryan and I to do some more youtube searches to learn more about the Giant Worms of Gippsland (they are so large that you can actually hear them gurgling under the ground) and the cassowary: "the flightless, man-size bird that lives in the rain forests, with a razor claw on each foot with which it can slice you open in a deft and appallingly expansive manner..."
After watching the incredibly terrifying and territorial cassowary chase around zoo wardens, we began to watch videos of kangaroos kicking unsuspecting tourists into rivers and whatnot.
We watched this video several times in a row.
Nothing beats a quiet night in.
The blog Maddie the Coonhound features Maddie, the Coonhound, photographed on things. Like on a basketball hoop.
The photographer is Theron Humphrey. You must, must, must look at more of Maddie on Things! Check it out here:
A big thanks to blogger Joanna Goddard for finding this and linking to it in the first place!
Sunday, March 4, 2012
Remember when I was going to do these Blast From the Past posts featuring old photos dredged from the depths of my computer hard drive?
Oops.
I only remembered about this great concept after looking up youtube videos of Jewel performing my new song obsession: "Foolish Games." Although to be fair, it's not really a new obsession considering it's a song I've always liked.
And then I remembered that I saw Jewel in concert back when I lived in Singapore. I was in middle school at the time and I didn't really know anything about music. I hadn't really developed any tastes of my own when it came to performers or genres (except for musicals and Disney), but I remember bopping along pretty happily with whatever was playing on the Top 40.
It was my friend Miko's birthday and her family had gotten her tickets to see Jewel perform, and I was invited along. I had no idea of who Jewel was or what songs she was known for, so I went along not expecting very much. I don't remember much of the actual concert. And that's not Jewel's fault. I do remember that she had a great rapport with the audience, and she was very open and friendly and comfortable up there in the hazy blue lights.
I recall that the music was quiet and mellow, and it wasn't until a week or so after the concert when I purchased my own Jewel CD that I realized how much I liked her, and I wished that I had been a little more attentive at the concert.
As much as I enjoy listening to her recorded music (just the first two "folky" ones before she tried to do a pop album before settling into the country genre), her live performances are extraordinary. This is one of my favorites that I found.
Oops.
I only remembered about this great concept after looking up youtube videos of Jewel performing my new song obsession: "Foolish Games." Although to be fair, it's not really a new obsession considering it's a song I've always liked.
And then I remembered that I saw Jewel in concert back when I lived in Singapore. I was in middle school at the time and I didn't really know anything about music. I hadn't really developed any tastes of my own when it came to performers or genres (except for musicals and Disney), but I remember bopping along pretty happily with whatever was playing on the Top 40.
It was my friend Miko's birthday and her family had gotten her tickets to see Jewel perform, and I was invited along. I had no idea of who Jewel was or what songs she was known for, so I went along not expecting very much. I don't remember much of the actual concert. And that's not Jewel's fault. I do remember that she had a great rapport with the audience, and she was very open and friendly and comfortable up there in the hazy blue lights.
I recall that the music was quiet and mellow, and it wasn't until a week or so after the concert when I purchased my own Jewel CD that I realized how much I liked her, and I wished that I had been a little more attentive at the concert.
As much as I enjoy listening to her recorded music (just the first two "folky" ones before she tried to do a pop album before settling into the country genre), her live performances are extraordinary. This is one of my favorites that I found.
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