Wednesday, July 11, 2007

meeting the coolest people at ChoiceMart

So ChoiceMart is the local grocery store by my house. It's the hot place to be, that's for sure. On Friday I was there buying some food and got invited to a dinner party at "The Dirty Shack"...I was told it's the coolest house on Napoopoo Road...so how could I resist. It turned out the guy who invited me was cooking an Indian meal for about 15 people. It was super fun, and the dirty shack did rock my socks off.

Then today I was walking around ChoiceMart and some guy comes by me and says, "what give you the right to own such a cool motorcycle." Haha, what do you say to that. He was definitely a character. Had seen me around and gave me his card. He apparently is a lava enthusiast and takes people down inside the volcano where the hot lava is. He said it's totally illegal but he's been told if no one gets hurt they won't arrest him. Haha. I may have to take him up on that adventure. That sounds way too awesome.


Here's a silly picture of me at the Kava Bar, just for fun.

Sunday, June 24, 2007

I'm Back

Whew, life has been a whirlwind and I'm finally catching my breath and catching up to some of the things that have fallen to the wayside. I think I'll list some of the highlights of the last few months, since there's way too much to report.

Okay, so:

1. Continuing to work at Kona Boys. Was working too much in the shop but now feeling a bit more balanced and now doing lots of tours. I'm now officially a kayak/snorkel tour guide...it's awesome. I get to take people through Kealekekua Bay to Captain Cooks monument, telling the history and showing them around. It's very relaxed and fun. I've seen so much cool stuff over there. 5 foot eel, 1 foot lobster looking thingy, huge barracuda, octopus...and those are just the unusual things.

2. I went to Kauai to visit Serena for a week in May. We played with her friend that lives there and explored the island.







2. I moved to Napoopoo Road, in a small apartment on some land attached to the main house. Finding a suitable place for me to live here has been a challenge, but I think things have worked out and I'm ultimately liking my new place. It's got character, that's for sure. I have some of the most beautiful flowers growing outside my door.

3. I started volunteering at a place called GreenSource, a new sustainably minded/green community center in my neighborhood. There are wonderful people with a big vision. I'm already part of the core council. Their other vision is a sustainable village where we can all live here on the Big Island. So exciting. Right now we're gathering resources, trying to find funding, collecting key people. It's been a wonderful opportunity. One of the coolest things I've done was participate in the opening ceremonies of GreenSource where Aka, a Hawaiian Kahuna performed a sacred blessing on the center. It was a blessing to be in her presence. A very powerful woman.







4. I did my first Vision Board workshop at GreenSource a month ago. 22 people showed up! Awesome! You can check out my site at www.thrillofcreation.com There's just a one pager up right now.

5. I went to the Mainland a week or two ago to go to my Aunt Jody's wedding and coincidentally my best friend Serena was also having a graduation, as well as my cousin Cory. Congratulations everybody. It was a wonderful visit and I had a great time with friends and family.



6. When I got back my friend from Santa Cruz, Elizabeth, was here and she stayed with me for about 5 days. We had a blast. She just left 2 days ago.

7. In the meantime, my computer had been having technical difficulties, but I just got it back up and running. So, I'm BACK! Horray.

I hope to update more often now.
Much love to you all.

Sunday, May 6, 2007

feeling the contrast and the magic

Hello on this 05-06-07 magical day...I like consecutive numbers this year...last year it was all about double digits...I was 33...this year I'm 34 and aparently this day is a good one for me.

Anyhoo, the last couple days have been interesting. I'll give you the update. I started my first day of work at Kona Boys (www.konaboys.com) and they hooked me up by taking me out on a guided kayak trip with a Fromme's Guidebook writer and her boyfriend. Yes! This is what I want to do. It was so fun and beautiful. Frank, one of the owners of Kona Boys, is a super sweet guy with a lot of aloha spirit, very helpful and relaxed. They launch their kayaks from a private launch in Kealekekua Bay on property that was given to Kai by Hawaiian royalty. It's very special that we get to launch out of there and he shows his respect in every way possible. We paddled across the bay and he told the stories of the Bay, how when royalty would die the bones would be carried down the mountain by a man tethered to a line where he would put the bones in the caves and then pile rocks in front of the cave, once he was done he would either cut himself from the rope or be cut off from above and drop to his death as a sacrafice to the gods. He also told us the story of Capt. Cook and his demise after wearing out his welcome. We then swam with dolphins but the girl got cold very quickly and we soon returned to the kayaks. Then we headed to the monument where we pulled out our kayaks and warmed up on the rocks. Afterwards, we headed to the monument where he took us inside the monument and suddenly we were transfered to England! That little plot of land is owned by England. We were wisked off back to Hawaii and jumped into the most beautiful reef I've seen yet. Wow, it blew me away. At that point the underwater landscape goes from 2 feet to 250 feet within about a 50 feet. We ate lunch out on the point of traditional Bento box of rice, fish, egg, and...delicious...spam...just kidding about the delicious part. But apparently he got it from the oldest Japanese restaurant on the island. All in all it was a fun day and my arms weren't even that tired afterward.

That afternoon I was hanging out at the house and met up with a bunch of different people. I met a poet, a baby who had just had open heart surgery, and some older friends. The poet had written a beatiful poem about the old almond tree at the end of Ho'okena beach. Then later I met Fred a guy that is a fixture at the beach. He and a crew sit out there and drink beer and smoke weed all day. They are a bit sketchy but good to know. They gave me dinner and some wild boar, a pineapple, and some tortillas since I was the only one with a refrigerator. Later, the poet ended up coming back over to write out his poem in calligraphy because he wanted to laminate it and put it on the tree. It may work out that we will laminate some of my collages too. Though he ended up staying until 10:30pm and I had to get up at 5am.

Frank, from Kona Boys, invited me to volunteer at a swimming race up the road the next morning so I got up at 5am to meet him back up at the shop. We got to the race at 7am, it started at 8, done by 9 and they were serving burritos and beer by 10:30am. I had already felt like I'd lived a whole day by the time we got back to the shop at noon. We acted as water safety for the swimmers and took surfboards out to keep the swimmers on track and make sure everybody made it. There were some top athletes there so that was pretty exciting. I got a t-shirt, a pint glass, and a gekko keychain bottle opener and a burrito. It was pretty fun.

On the way back Frank and Hannah stopped at the SPCA to pick out their new kitty. Then we were off back up to the shop. I went and had lunch with Meg, took a nap and then we were off to a party at Asolaria's house. It turned out to be the most etherial party I've ever been to...there was an ET representative (yes, that does mean extraterrestrial), a Quan Yin channel, other channels, and some other meditations that were not so out there. All that stuff certainly is interesting, though I have a hard time with so much of it at one time. They are all very sweet people and the potluck and music was very nice.

Last night was interesting in that I came home to Cinco de Mayo celebrations at my neighbors house. Luckily the loud music only lasted until 10pm but then at 4am apparently some Hawaiians had gone out fishing in their outriggers and came home to party on the beach...with loud music and general merriment. Then about 4:30am my water heater started going off and overflowing. Gees...I'm not sure I can live down at Ho'okena for very long. As much as I love it there, I think I might just want to visit it so I don't get too annoyed with it.

This morning I woke up with the intention of going to yard sales with Meg to find a few items but instead we swam with the Dolphins, talked to friends made last night, and got serenaded by Michael the flirty old Irishman with his tin whistle. When Meg and I finally started driving around looking for sales we couldn't find a single one, but whe did find an open house sign. We went to check it out and it was a beautiful place on Napoopoo Road overlooking the bay. I think it would be a great place for mom and Jon, the perfect mix of luxury and nature, close to the water (5 minutes) yet in the cooler part of the mountain. Just a few houses down from Meg and probably 8 minutes to the grocery. Plus it had mangos! Just a few days ago Jason asked me if I could only have one type of tree on my land what would it be and I choose mangos...this peice of property has 30 mango trees which they put there because there aren't very many mangos on this side of the island and they thought it would be perfect for selling instead of coffee plants. Wow, pretty cool.

That's it for now...until next time...much love to you

PS Leave comments, I love to read them.

Thursday, May 3, 2007

Incommunicato

So I'm a bit out of touch lately, and hoping to get back in touch soon.

I have times of feeling inspired to write beautifully worded blogs describing my new house, the beautiful irridescent termite wings, the dolphins spinning in the bay right outside my house, but once I'm here in front of the computer I am too tired and less inspired to write.

Unfortunately, I don't have internet access at my home, much less cell phone access. Let's see, lately I've been going to the Burning Man party in Pahoa...paled in comparison to the real thing. Swimming in the Champaign Ponds, trying to get my life in Hawaii settled, seeing Jason off to Mass, getting a job at Kona Boys kayak, surf, and dive shop. I'll be going on a kayak tour tomorrow for my first day. My adventure career has started. Horray.

That's it for now...sorry.

Thursday, April 26, 2007

Trying to keep up with myself

So I guess things have been a little crazy...too much fun to write a blog everyday. I wish I would have kept up since I've had some amazing experiences and lots of fun have been had by all. Here are the highlights...

My friend Jenna came to town a couple of days after I got here. It was perfect since she had a car and I had a place to stay. It was a good trade.


me, Jason, Jenna


Jason and I being silly on the grass

Ahhhhh! This was in my bed one night.

After we got the cennipede out Jenna said, "Good night, don't let the bed bugs bite". Jerk

Jason has become by best friend in Hawaii, he hooked me up with my beach house and introduced me to fun people and generally welcomed me to the island. Next week he leaves for Massechusetts for 2 months so I'll be on my own after that. But it's been a gentle transition here.

The next arrivals were Seaweed (Jen) and Eddy (Kristin). They were here for two weeks, and we had lots of fun.


We had delicious papaya...they are papaya nuts.


This is the sunsetting at the Place of Refuge in Honounou


Here we are at the Kava Bar, all blissed out on Kava...that boy is another Jason, we call him Dream Jason because he interprets dreams.


And here's my new house:













Friday, April 6, 2007

My New Life

Okay, I'm back in Captain Cook, Hawaii and things are falling into place very nicely. This is day three and I've manifested loving new friends, potential new collaborators in authentic expression, a permanent place to stay on my favorite beach (Ho'okena), my taxes will be returning $2000, a potential other retreat center in our neighborhood, a rubber duck floaty, a free meal, two swims with dolphins already, my friend Jenna from SF who has a car and has been driving me around, and just an incredible life all around.

Thank you, thank you, thank you...I am so gracious for this new life experience.

This is not even to mention all that was manifested before I left for the Big Island. I had a wonderful last few days in Santa Cruz. Everything wrapped up smoothly and easily as the days grew nearer. I had a garage sale on Saturday and everything was taken except 2 bins of stuff which were graciously taken to the Goodwill by Seaweed. Squishy found a temporary home with a friend of mine until Jen could take him on Tuesday. Then my mom came and we attended Adayashanti that evening. Of course, it was mind blowing again...he does his job well. Then we stayed at the Coast Hotel (the old Dream Inn) overlooking the bay and the pier. Wow, it was wonderful. I ended up staying there for the next three days until I left.

On Sunday my mom and I attended Inner Light which was an incredible service. Serena and her new housemates threw a wonderful party at her new home in Soquel. It was beautiful to say goodbye to my beautiful community in Santa Cruz in that way. Thank you to everyone for so much love and appreciation flowing my way.

Monday during the day I got an Ayurvedic massage from Talya and the grand finally was that night when all the girls came over and we had a hotel party. It was wonderful to say goodbye to my wonderful female community. I love them so much and can't wait to rejoin them in different places all over the world including back in Santa Cruz and Hawaii.





Serena and Seaweed spent the night and early the next morning the limo...you read right...the limo picked us up to take us to San Jose.











Our flight was easy and uneventful and we actually time warped from Honolulu to Kona in 20 minutes instead of the 40 minutes it was supposed to take.



Meg's new house has spectacular views of Kealekekua Bay and we just found out that it's for sale and that the people who lived in Meg's house before had intentions in creating a retreat center there. It is a magical place too. Wow...life here abounds. As I said before, today I secured a room with a lovely woman my own age in the first house from the beach in Ho'okena, my favorite beach ever. We have swam with the dolphins for the last two days there.



Last night Jason, Jenna, and I went to Kona for margaritas and kava and we had a wonderful adventure, meeting interesting people exploring imagination.

Sunday, April 1, 2007

Final Days

Two days until I leave for the Big Island. I am watching the sunrise over the Boardwalk in Santa Cruz. Someone is testing the rides and one by one they illuminate in the dark of the morning like fireworks. Then as night shifts into morning the sky puts on another show of sky blue and magenta...my colors.

I am at the Coast Hotel on Cowell's Beach, it's a beautiful final view of Santa Cruz. Almost everything is complete with my life here. There is only taxes and maybe shuffling a few final things around in suit cases and boxes. Oh the things. The never ending things. Letting most everything go has been easy...and now it almost seems like I could just let it all go...why am I even holding on to these few final items. What do these things mean? Are they what I really need? I have a sense that I don't really know what I will really need in my new life.

It is interesting to see what is kept when almost all has been shedded. The motorcycle, the art supplies, the clothing...so much clothing, the computer, the art, the books. I wonder what I'm holding onto with these things. Is it the truth of who I am? Or is it just the final grasping of what I used to be? It's all alright, it's all okay...it's all just my journey...my adventure.