Epic adventuring!
Sooo, what have I been up to recently besides feeling like I've been punched in the face? A LOT. I shall attempt to be brief.
-The Embalmer's Ball! Friday before Halloween, awesome live music, nice dance floor, quality pupus, pirate theme!
-Went to another Halloween party the next night with the folk dance crew, had a good time but ducked out early to hang with Eric and Micah and Kira (high school friends). We drove all the way to Waikoloa to catch happy hour at Sansei's, this awesome sushi bar. Everything on the menu was half-off, and everything was delicious, and the waitress took awesome care of us and the chef made us dessert even though he usually doesn't, and it was fried ice cream and it was DELICIOUS. And then we drove to Hapuna and lay on our backs in the sand and watched the stars and the meteors and talked about movies and Micah fell asleep and the rest of us went skipping up and down the beach, and then we got back in the car and Eric opened the sunroof and drove the back roads while we stood with the wind in our faces. Didn't get home until after three in the morning, but it was so worth it.
-On Halloween went to see The Rocky Horror Picture Show for the very first time; had a lot of fun and of course Tim Curry is always sexy even/especially in drag, but all in all I think The Room is a more hilarious experience. Or maybe it's just that I'm usually drunk for that one.
-Was sick for a few days. It was sucky and lame.
-Had the most awesome day at work EVER last week Thursday. It was almost the most boringest day ever. Everyone else in the team was off in Ola‘a or Kahuku and it was just going to be me and Laurèen doing koa processing all day. This means eight hours of sitting in one spot, peeling open koa pods and stripping out the seeds. I remembered to bring my iPod and speakers, so that was a good start. And we're sitting there and we're telling each other, "Hey, we could go to the volunteer house and watch movies, that would be okay, right? It doesn't matter where we do the work so long as we do it, right? Maybe?" And then boss-lady Sierra walks by and says, "Hey girls, you should go to the volunteer house and watch movies!" and we were like, "WOW SIERRA WHAT A GREAT IDEA." And then my iPod died, so we went to the volunteer house and watched movies. And we sat in big squishy armchairs and drank tea and there were KITTENS and we watched Spirited Away, Top Gun, and Aladdin and it was the BEST DAY AT WORK EVER.
-Mom's friends Evan and Moira came to visit from Connecticut, and we had ALL OF THE FUN. Friday morning we started off with a Blue Hawaii helicopter tour, which was SO AWESOME, OMG, SO VERY VERY AWESOME. We had a flyover of the active lava flow and Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō and the whole Southeast Rift Zone and Kalapana and the waterfalls of the Wailuku River and tributaries, and it was GORGEOUS. Also, when the pilot (in the islands six months) found out we were locals, he invited us to explain how the islands were formed. Impressed with our lecture, he invited us to speak up whenever we had something to say, which is... a dangerous thing with me and my mom, and we basically ended up giving the entire tour ourselves and everyone was super impressed and the pilot gave us his card and asked us to email him so he can pick our brains over lunch. Hahahahahaha, incurable know-it-alls for the win! After the helicopter tour we went to brunch at Ken's House of Pancakes and I had crabcakes with Thai lemon sauce and omg delicious, and then we drove up to the Volcano and saw as much of the Kīlauea summit area as possible.
-Friday night was Black and White Night, which is this awesome party that takes over all of downtown Hilo, and everyone dresses up in black and white and the shops keep their doors open and the restaurants sell pupus on the sidewalk and there is live music EVERYWHERE, on the street and in the furniture shops and the art galleries and the crèpe restaurants and the theater lobbies, and it is AWESOME. I wore a sexy sexy dress and danced all night at, like, four different bands, and it was AWESOME.
-Saturday we took Evan and Moira up the Hāmākua Coast. We hit up the scenic Old Māmalahoa Highway and Onomea Bay and delicious smoothies at What's Shakin' and ‘Akaka Falls and Laupāhoehoe Point and Waipi‘o Valley, and it was awesome.
-Sunday we took the Saddle Road over to Kona, and we did a coffee tour at the Kona Joe coffee plantation, and learned lots of interesting things about how to grow and roast coffee, and we drank lots of coffee and had a lot of fun. Then we hit up Pu‘uhonua o Hōnaunau and Kealakekua Bay and Hikiau Heiau and the Painted Church, and after the sun went down we pulled over in the National Park again and went to see the glow of Halema‘uma‘u, which was so very excellent... the moon was out, lighting up the steam plume and the whole caldera, and the orange glow was bright enough to light up the back wall of Halema‘uma‘u Crater, and when the wind shifted just right you could see part of the way down into the vent, it was totally cool.
-I had another fun day at work on Tuesday. We went seed-collecting in Mānuka, which is not part of the Park; it's State land. We hiked up to Kīpuka Olopua Nui, which I haven't been to since I went there with my Hawai‘i Youth Conservation Corps in 2003 to plant endangered loulu palms. I only saw one surviving loulu (D:), but we collected about a metric shit-ton of ripe olopua fruit, and we found some ‘ohe mauka, and I learned what lama fruit tastes like. We had to ditch early when the weather rolled in, and we hiked out with warm rain on our faces, thunder over our heads, and the honey-sweet smell of maile blossoms in the air. It was a nice day. ^_^
-Speaking of weather, it's basically been pouring non-stop since Halloween. All the streams are full, we've had snow on both peaks, and there's been thunder and lightning a few times. Someone's house got hit by lightning, even- shattered all his windows and blew a hole in his wall. Luckily no one was home at the time. :O
-The other thing to report is that I seem to have acquired an adorable Southern boy. :D :D :D His name is Alex, he's from North Carolina, he likes dancing and hiking, he's a pharmacist by day and a talented jazz/rock pianist by night, and he is adorable and his accent is, too. He plays with several of our swing club's favorite jazz bands... apparently he has enjoyed watching my dancing. :3 Anyway, one of his regular gigs is with the Island Swing Band, which was one of the bands playing at the Embalmer's Ball. After they were done and the next band was setting up, he sort of plopped himself down next to me and started chatting. We had some awesome conversation and danced for the rest of the evening and I gave him my number. So then a week later it was Black and White Night, yeah, and he was performing for part of the evening, but we met up at the official After Party at the Palace Theater lobby. And we danced, and we talked, and when the band took a break we went for a walk and forgot to come back and there may have been hand-holding and there may have been kissing and there may have been slow-dancing on the sidewalk to inappropriate music. :D :D :D :D We have plans to go hiking as soon as the swollen mass that is the left side of my face recovers enough that I feel comfortable being seen in public. And also, am able to eat solid food and stuff. You know. ...Anyway. Boy! :D
-While I'm here, allow me to make some recs. First of all, they're remaking Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. Watch the awesome trailer! And oh my god check out the cast: Gary Oldman, Colin Firth, Tom Hardy, John Hurt, Toby Jones, Mark Strong, Benedict Cumberbatch, to name a few. BE EXCITED WITH ME.
-For those of you enlightened people on my Flist who are fans of Richard Ayoade (you know who you are), and even if you aren't, if you haven't seen Submarine yet... why the hell not, what is wrong with you?! It's bloody fantastic, honest and poignant and quirky-funny and unique... I already liked Ayoade, of course, but now I have a bloody great amount of respect for him, I mean, I am seriously impressed. Also seriously impressed with those kids, I mean, wow, fine acting job! ...Anyway, see this movie. It's great. I'd say especially see it if you are a fan of Wes Anderson, it's got a similar kind of feel to it.
-More importantly, part of the reason I've been so absent from the internets recently: I got all caught up in watching FlashForward. OH MY GOD, THIS SHOW. It is this bloody fantastic science-fiction action mystery thriller, and the writing is fantabulous and the plot is intense and the show is so goddamn addicting, I mean, seriously, one episode and I was hooked, and I stayed hooked all the way through to the end, I couldn't hardly think of doing anything else. And the cast! So fabulous! Joseph Fiennes (whom I've somehow managed to avoid seeing before despite his many fabulous roles), John Cho, Jack Davenport, Peyton List, Dominic Monaghan, Genevieve Padalecki, Gabrielle Union, Lee Thompson Young, James Callis (asjghlskghl;hsljfs), Shohreh Aghdashloo, etc., etc. I dunno how I missed this in 2009/2010 (besides not having a television, ffffff) but I'm glad I've seen it now. WATCH THIS SHOW and then join me in sobbing about how it went the way of other fine, well-written shows like Firefly, Dollhouse, Pushing Daisies, and Kings, cancelled due to mystifyingly low ratings, stupid average television viewer is stupid a;shgls;ghalsjflssfaldsk!!
-Finally... picspam! (LJ is frustrating and mystifying and some of the pictures are sideways, so... tilt your heads, whatever. XP)
Check me out, I am a sexy pirate!
This was my costume for the other Halloween party. Ten million points to anyone who knows what I'm dressed up as. Most people on this list who actually know me in person should be able to get this, especially platoapproved... I think I stole the idea from you anyway.
Jack-o-Batsignal, for the third year in a row. Figured I should do it at least one more time, since no one in Hilo had seen its gloriousness before. Maybe next year I'll do something different.
Mauna Kea from Hilo Airport just before helicopter takeoff. Ain't she pretty? :D
Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō vent. :D :D :D
Looking southeast down the Rift Zone toward Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō; pit crater in foreground.
A surviving piece of the Royal Gardens subdivision, which was almost entirely destroyed in the 1990 Kupaianaha flow. This home is now Lava Jack's, a bed and breakfast that can only be accessed by helicopter.
Looking northwest up the Rift Zone along the active flow toward Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō.
Steaming Bluffs, Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park.
Halema‘uma‘u, the traditional home of Pele, Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park.
‘Akaka Falls.
Laupāhoehoe Point on a cloudy evening.
Reconstruction of a temple structure, Pu‘uhonua o Hōnaunau, South Kona.
Part of the residence reserved for visiting ali‘i; kapu to lesser mortals. Pu‘uhonua o Hōnaunau.
Tiki dudes, Pu‘uhonua o Hōnaunau.
Tiki dude, Pu‘uhonua o Hōnaunau.
This one is very well-endowed. :D
Outrigger canoe built using traditional methods.
Kealakekua Bay, South Kona. The two-master added a bit of ghostly historic echo to the scene; Captain Cook came here in 1779 in ships similar to this one, and was clubbed and stabbed to death in a skirmish with the natives. The white pillar of his memorial is just visible beyond the prow of the ship.
Hikiau Heiau, Kealakekua Bay.
Hawaiian outrigger canoe and two-masted sailing ship at anchor, Kealakekua Bay.
-The Embalmer's Ball! Friday before Halloween, awesome live music, nice dance floor, quality pupus, pirate theme!
-Went to another Halloween party the next night with the folk dance crew, had a good time but ducked out early to hang with Eric and Micah and Kira (high school friends). We drove all the way to Waikoloa to catch happy hour at Sansei's, this awesome sushi bar. Everything on the menu was half-off, and everything was delicious, and the waitress took awesome care of us and the chef made us dessert even though he usually doesn't, and it was fried ice cream and it was DELICIOUS. And then we drove to Hapuna and lay on our backs in the sand and watched the stars and the meteors and talked about movies and Micah fell asleep and the rest of us went skipping up and down the beach, and then we got back in the car and Eric opened the sunroof and drove the back roads while we stood with the wind in our faces. Didn't get home until after three in the morning, but it was so worth it.
-On Halloween went to see The Rocky Horror Picture Show for the very first time; had a lot of fun and of course Tim Curry is always sexy even/especially in drag, but all in all I think The Room is a more hilarious experience. Or maybe it's just that I'm usually drunk for that one.
-Was sick for a few days. It was sucky and lame.
-Had the most awesome day at work EVER last week Thursday. It was almost the most boringest day ever. Everyone else in the team was off in Ola‘a or Kahuku and it was just going to be me and Laurèen doing koa processing all day. This means eight hours of sitting in one spot, peeling open koa pods and stripping out the seeds. I remembered to bring my iPod and speakers, so that was a good start. And we're sitting there and we're telling each other, "Hey, we could go to the volunteer house and watch movies, that would be okay, right? It doesn't matter where we do the work so long as we do it, right? Maybe?" And then boss-lady Sierra walks by and says, "Hey girls, you should go to the volunteer house and watch movies!" and we were like, "WOW SIERRA WHAT A GREAT IDEA." And then my iPod died, so we went to the volunteer house and watched movies. And we sat in big squishy armchairs and drank tea and there were KITTENS and we watched Spirited Away, Top Gun, and Aladdin and it was the BEST DAY AT WORK EVER.
-Mom's friends Evan and Moira came to visit from Connecticut, and we had ALL OF THE FUN. Friday morning we started off with a Blue Hawaii helicopter tour, which was SO AWESOME, OMG, SO VERY VERY AWESOME. We had a flyover of the active lava flow and Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō and the whole Southeast Rift Zone and Kalapana and the waterfalls of the Wailuku River and tributaries, and it was GORGEOUS. Also, when the pilot (in the islands six months) found out we were locals, he invited us to explain how the islands were formed. Impressed with our lecture, he invited us to speak up whenever we had something to say, which is... a dangerous thing with me and my mom, and we basically ended up giving the entire tour ourselves and everyone was super impressed and the pilot gave us his card and asked us to email him so he can pick our brains over lunch. Hahahahahaha, incurable know-it-alls for the win! After the helicopter tour we went to brunch at Ken's House of Pancakes and I had crabcakes with Thai lemon sauce and omg delicious, and then we drove up to the Volcano and saw as much of the Kīlauea summit area as possible.
-Friday night was Black and White Night, which is this awesome party that takes over all of downtown Hilo, and everyone dresses up in black and white and the shops keep their doors open and the restaurants sell pupus on the sidewalk and there is live music EVERYWHERE, on the street and in the furniture shops and the art galleries and the crèpe restaurants and the theater lobbies, and it is AWESOME. I wore a sexy sexy dress and danced all night at, like, four different bands, and it was AWESOME.
-Saturday we took Evan and Moira up the Hāmākua Coast. We hit up the scenic Old Māmalahoa Highway and Onomea Bay and delicious smoothies at What's Shakin' and ‘Akaka Falls and Laupāhoehoe Point and Waipi‘o Valley, and it was awesome.
-Sunday we took the Saddle Road over to Kona, and we did a coffee tour at the Kona Joe coffee plantation, and learned lots of interesting things about how to grow and roast coffee, and we drank lots of coffee and had a lot of fun. Then we hit up Pu‘uhonua o Hōnaunau and Kealakekua Bay and Hikiau Heiau and the Painted Church, and after the sun went down we pulled over in the National Park again and went to see the glow of Halema‘uma‘u, which was so very excellent... the moon was out, lighting up the steam plume and the whole caldera, and the orange glow was bright enough to light up the back wall of Halema‘uma‘u Crater, and when the wind shifted just right you could see part of the way down into the vent, it was totally cool.
-I had another fun day at work on Tuesday. We went seed-collecting in Mānuka, which is not part of the Park; it's State land. We hiked up to Kīpuka Olopua Nui, which I haven't been to since I went there with my Hawai‘i Youth Conservation Corps in 2003 to plant endangered loulu palms. I only saw one surviving loulu (D:), but we collected about a metric shit-ton of ripe olopua fruit, and we found some ‘ohe mauka, and I learned what lama fruit tastes like. We had to ditch early when the weather rolled in, and we hiked out with warm rain on our faces, thunder over our heads, and the honey-sweet smell of maile blossoms in the air. It was a nice day. ^_^
-Speaking of weather, it's basically been pouring non-stop since Halloween. All the streams are full, we've had snow on both peaks, and there's been thunder and lightning a few times. Someone's house got hit by lightning, even- shattered all his windows and blew a hole in his wall. Luckily no one was home at the time. :O
-The other thing to report is that I seem to have acquired an adorable Southern boy. :D :D :D His name is Alex, he's from North Carolina, he likes dancing and hiking, he's a pharmacist by day and a talented jazz/rock pianist by night, and he is adorable and his accent is, too. He plays with several of our swing club's favorite jazz bands... apparently he has enjoyed watching my dancing. :3 Anyway, one of his regular gigs is with the Island Swing Band, which was one of the bands playing at the Embalmer's Ball. After they were done and the next band was setting up, he sort of plopped himself down next to me and started chatting. We had some awesome conversation and danced for the rest of the evening and I gave him my number. So then a week later it was Black and White Night, yeah, and he was performing for part of the evening, but we met up at the official After Party at the Palace Theater lobby. And we danced, and we talked, and when the band took a break we went for a walk and forgot to come back and there may have been hand-holding and there may have been kissing and there may have been slow-dancing on the sidewalk to inappropriate music. :D :D :D :D We have plans to go hiking as soon as the swollen mass that is the left side of my face recovers enough that I feel comfortable being seen in public. And also, am able to eat solid food and stuff. You know. ...Anyway. Boy! :D
-While I'm here, allow me to make some recs. First of all, they're remaking Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. Watch the awesome trailer! And oh my god check out the cast: Gary Oldman, Colin Firth, Tom Hardy, John Hurt, Toby Jones, Mark Strong, Benedict Cumberbatch, to name a few. BE EXCITED WITH ME.
-For those of you enlightened people on my Flist who are fans of Richard Ayoade (you know who you are), and even if you aren't, if you haven't seen Submarine yet... why the hell not, what is wrong with you?! It's bloody fantastic, honest and poignant and quirky-funny and unique... I already liked Ayoade, of course, but now I have a bloody great amount of respect for him, I mean, I am seriously impressed. Also seriously impressed with those kids, I mean, wow, fine acting job! ...Anyway, see this movie. It's great. I'd say especially see it if you are a fan of Wes Anderson, it's got a similar kind of feel to it.
-More importantly, part of the reason I've been so absent from the internets recently: I got all caught up in watching FlashForward. OH MY GOD, THIS SHOW. It is this bloody fantastic science-fiction action mystery thriller, and the writing is fantabulous and the plot is intense and the show is so goddamn addicting, I mean, seriously, one episode and I was hooked, and I stayed hooked all the way through to the end, I couldn't hardly think of doing anything else. And the cast! So fabulous! Joseph Fiennes (whom I've somehow managed to avoid seeing before despite his many fabulous roles), John Cho, Jack Davenport, Peyton List, Dominic Monaghan, Genevieve Padalecki, Gabrielle Union, Lee Thompson Young, James Callis (asjghlskghl;hsljfs), Shohreh Aghdashloo, etc., etc. I dunno how I missed this in 2009/2010 (besides not having a television, ffffff) but I'm glad I've seen it now. WATCH THIS SHOW and then join me in sobbing about how it went the way of other fine, well-written shows like Firefly, Dollhouse, Pushing Daisies, and Kings, cancelled due to mystifyingly low ratings, stupid average television viewer is stupid a;shgls;ghalsjflssfaldsk!!
-Finally... picspam! (LJ is frustrating and mystifying and some of the pictures are sideways, so... tilt your heads, whatever. XP)
Check me out, I am a sexy pirate!
This was my costume for the other Halloween party. Ten million points to anyone who knows what I'm dressed up as. Most people on this list who actually know me in person should be able to get this, especially platoapproved... I think I stole the idea from you anyway.
Jack-o-Batsignal, for the third year in a row. Figured I should do it at least one more time, since no one in Hilo had seen its gloriousness before. Maybe next year I'll do something different.
Mauna Kea from Hilo Airport just before helicopter takeoff. Ain't she pretty? :D
Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō vent. :D :D :D
Looking southeast down the Rift Zone toward Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō; pit crater in foreground.
A surviving piece of the Royal Gardens subdivision, which was almost entirely destroyed in the 1990 Kupaianaha flow. This home is now Lava Jack's, a bed and breakfast that can only be accessed by helicopter.
Looking northwest up the Rift Zone along the active flow toward Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō.
Steaming Bluffs, Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park.
Halema‘uma‘u, the traditional home of Pele, Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park.
‘Akaka Falls.
Laupāhoehoe Point on a cloudy evening.
Reconstruction of a temple structure, Pu‘uhonua o Hōnaunau, South Kona.
Part of the residence reserved for visiting ali‘i; kapu to lesser mortals. Pu‘uhonua o Hōnaunau.
Tiki dudes, Pu‘uhonua o Hōnaunau.
Tiki dude, Pu‘uhonua o Hōnaunau.
This one is very well-endowed. :D
Outrigger canoe built using traditional methods.
Kealakekua Bay, South Kona. The two-master added a bit of ghostly historic echo to the scene; Captain Cook came here in 1779 in ships similar to this one, and was clubbed and stabbed to death in a skirmish with the natives. The white pillar of his memorial is just visible beyond the prow of the ship.
Hikiau Heiau, Kealakekua Bay.
Hawaiian outrigger canoe and two-masted sailing ship at anchor, Kealakekua Bay.