Pure Manaʻo

Christmas tree Originally uploaded by cathy.ikeda My husband bought himself a large ticket item while I was in San Antonio. It will probably be his Christmas, birthday and anniversary gift for the next couple of years. Was I surprised? No. He's been talking about getting a stand up paddle board for months, and after 21 years, I know that once he gets an idea in his head, the result is that the thought will eventually become reality. Long story short, he set up all my trees and brought up all my boxes of Christmas stuff before I got home from Texas. I hate shopping, standing in line, wrapping and all crafty/homemaker pursuits that are associated with Christmas. However, I love my Christmas trees an.d I love, love, love my ornaments. The only thing I love more than my ornaments are the icicle lights outside my house and the ones on the 2nd floor lanai that stay up all year long. So when Ken put up my trees and tested my lights, I didn't care what he bought, I had a job to do! Th...

photo.jpg Originally uploaded by cathy.ikeda I'm finally on my way home, and yes, I did figure out how to blog on my iPhone, but wow, busy, busy, busy. Ok, I'm on a free internet computer at the Houston Airport, so I need to type fast. According to the countdown clock, I have 17:15 and counting down. 5 Reasons to come to San Antonio 1. The food downtown (sorry, it's probably great around other parts of San Antonio, but I've never been here with a car) is FABULOUS! I don't know if it's TEX-MEX, but yum! My favorite so far is Boudros. I like the guacamole for two that they make right at your table, and their steaks are wonderful. I also like the wild appetizer with the polenta. Another place that was good was Zunis they have this soup with beer, it's one of a kind. 2. The boat tour along the river - if you're a history buff, an architect buff, or just plain niele, this boat tour is pretty cheap and very informative as long as you get the right gui...

No laptop Originally uploaded by cathy.ikeda I'm hoping that this will work, but it's basically emailing the photo to my flickr account, then setting up my flickr so that it upload to my blog. If this actually works, then all I have to do is practice my no looking texting technique. My son says I can't look at the keyboard, I just have to feel the keys like some zen experience. He must have been cheat texting for a long time.

1. Type this blog with any kind of speed that's not considered geriatric. 2. Figure out how to put pics on this blog if my pics are not uploaded to an Internet site. And finally, 3. Type this blog without looking like a lame-o old lady who does not have her multiple finger cheating on my test taking abilities down. Still, since I'm on way to San Antonio, my husband says why do you need to take your computer, you have your iPhone? It can do everything you want it to do. So, in order to save space for books I'm going to scrounge for free, I am without my laptop. I have 4 days to figure out how to get my iPhone to work for me so that I too can be an iPhone weiner.

For the second round of the 16 Bars competition, the rappers and slam poets get a topic, so tonight the topic was "Wiwoole (the retail store) is the bomb." They got one week to write and memorize. It's not really what he writes about, but that was the purpose - to keep them on their toes. Ahi made it through again, so will post soon!

Sitting in front of the TV on Tuesday and listening to Obama's victory speech really brought home the idea that this is indeed a historical event. The media threw that idea around, but in my lifetime, I didn't feel that this election was historical in the way watching the Twin Towers fall on CNN or seeing the Challenger blow up was historical. The message is not unusual. We've heard it before, but said now, said in this way, with these words strung together like a Baptist sermon, with the pulse of the crowd as they stood in silence, save for the call and response, "yes we can." That's history, "our stories are singular, but our destiny is shared." Hundreds of miles away, whole continents of people that watched or listened to his speech shared breath with those people watching him, and the message really resounded. . . "while we breathe, we hope."