There are battles I never learned or thought I'd have to fight. The thought of surrender or of giving up on anything I wanted has always been an anathema to me. I learned at what should have been my childhood that respect was won and took hard work and courage. It meant that on a wintry night in waters off of Punalu'u when in twelve feet of water ( Read more... )

Reading aunt_barb 's journal entry today about ice skating brought back a fond memory.  I can't recall the year and I think Ben was all of 11 or 12 at the time we went to the ice skating rink in Aiea or Pearl City.  The outside of the building wasn't much a warehouse that was painted to look a little like a barn.   Inside the building was a circular rink ( Read more... )

As I grow old, I yearn for Hawaii.  Not the reality of today.  Not the cesspit and miniature tropical version of California's union run, corrupt socialist state.  The Hawaii I long for may never have really existed save in the biased and naive world of a child.  That Hawaii was one where they were indeed the 'incestuous islands' as a friend once ( Read more... )

Produce good outcomes.  At least that's what happened once.

I was flipping through the channels last night, bored.  One of the stations had a shot of F-14 Tomcats and the unmistakable music of "Danger Zone".  It reminded me of a rather pleasant memory.    The movie Top Gun had been released and I'd recently returned from Asia Minor, Ben begged me ( Read more... )