05/31/2006: "Elise is Gonna Get Leid!"

Friday morning I'm off to the Big Island of Hawaii, land of Kilauea, Pele, and plumeria, not to mention black sand beaches, giant sea turtles, and some of the best coffee I've ever had!

I am going to a conference in Kona with an extra week for vacation. I hope to hike in Volcanoes National Park, visit the Mauna Kea Observatory to do some star gazing...scuba dive, read on the beach, eat fresh fruit, and explore the island in the convertible jeep I splurged on. I'm also hooking up with my roomy from when I went to grad school on Oahu.

I'm going to take lots of photos while I'm there but I don't know if I'll have much of a chance to check emails or blog as I'm not taking my laptop with me, (though I am taking a sketch book and some water colors.) Here are some paintings I did while I lived in Palolo Valley.

I have not packed or finished any of the hundreds of small chores I have to do before I leave; I've been primarily lying on the couch nursing a swollen foot, finishing up Memoirs of a Geisha, which turned out to be much better than I thought it would be.

Have you noticed that with many epic tales the storyline often starts to jump forward by 5 or more years at a time during the last chapter and they start telling you what ultimately became of many of the characters? Getting to that part of a story always makes me feel a little sad, maybe because it reminds me of real life; how the older you get time speeds up just like that, a melancholic reminder that the end is not too far off...so I'm going to try and not waste any of it!

Replies: 14 Comments

on Wednesday, May 31st, Judy Vars said

You lucky puppy :laugh:I won't be checking your blogs every day for awhile then. Good choice not to take your lap top with you but taking your sketch book and paints.

It feels like real life does speed up towards the end. Just ask me 50+ honestlly if given the opportunity to take the merry-go ride again, I'd choose to go around one more time. In the mean time I'll settle for real fun fast ride. You have fun girl :) :) :cool: :laugh:I like these funny faces..

on Wednesday, May 31st, Elise said

Well, I *say* I'm not going to post much but it will depend on how many Internet cafe's are around...I am a total blog junkie!
:blush:

on Thursday, June 1st, Rod said

Have a great time on your vacation, I hope you get my package before you leave, there are prizes inside!
Oh, and don't drive that fun little Jeep off a cliff while trying to take any pictures. Stop first, and always set the parking break! I know from experience. :crazy:

on Thursday, June 1st, greg said

How great! I love the big Island the best I think. Get up to the Waipio Valley and take a Mule ride through it with Hanelei ( I hope he's still there) he's a hawaiian elder (shaman I think) who gives the best guided tour I've ever been on!

Don't forget to bring home a big box of souvenier lava rocks!! ;-) j/k dats taboo!

Aloha!

on Thursday, June 1st, Elise said

Hey Rod, your package arrived...THANKS! That was soooooo cool of you. I am ooowing and aaahing over all of my goodies...I'm not worthy! Can't wait to watch Bis ans Ende der Welt, and I can't believe I really got my book back after all these years!!!!

And thanks for the reminder about the parking break...you know, I still drive my little tracker so it won't be much different than here when I'm swerving down the road trying to shoot a sunset in my rearview mirror.
:confused:
kidding!

And Greg,
Thanks for the suggestion about Waipio. I will check it out though I'm traveling with very limited funds. It's funny because the conference is in this swanky resort but the rest of the time I'm there I'll be at "Uncle Billy's"... if I budget everything right I can do both the scuba and the observatory but that might be it for ole money bags...(and I've been saving for awhile but if I hadn't sold this last painting I couldn't have done either).

Oh, and don't worry about the lava rocks, I mean what? Do you think I never watched the Brady Bunch growing up!???
:cry:

on Thursday, June 1st, Elise said

Hi again Greg, I just checked my work email and got the following from the conference organizer:

"THE CURSE OF PELE: DON'T TAKE THE ROCKS
Pele is the volcano goddess living in the crater of Kilauea. It is well
known to locals on the island of Hawaii, that there is a curse upon those
who take one of Pele's lava rocks. It is said that he who takes a lava
rock, is taking something from Pele and shall receive bad luck because of
it. In the old days people were said to die from the curse, but now you
only receive bad luck. If you were to spite or irritate Pele in any way,
you would be cursed with a bad omen.

There are tons of rocks that are mailed back to Hawaii Volcanoes National
Park each year. They are used to getting five or six rocks a day, along
with black sand, conch shells, Pele's tears, all enclosed in packages. One
woman wrote to the Volcanoes Park about a heart-shaped rock that she took
with her to the Mainland: "I am returning it to you so you can put it back
where i belongs. I have had more grief and problems in the last year than
I ever have in my life. I don't know if having this rock has anything to
do with it but...returning it as at least a symbol to me that I am doing
something to change the direction of my luck and life. If you visit Hawaii
Volcanoes National Park, check out the display of letters testifying to
the tragedies that befell those who took Pele's rocks. If you think I'm
exaggerating, read the following
article.

Finally, if you are still convinced this is an urban legend, myth, or
superstition, know that it is against Federal law to take anything out of
a national park."

on Thursday, June 1st, Jackie said

E: Oooh - you lucky bum, you! I wish I had conferences in Hawaii! I haven't been since I was 14, but we used to spend vacations there every year with our mom. We lived there for about a year when I was 9 (in Waikiki). Have fun, and don't forget your sunscreen!

We watched the movie of "Memoirs of a Geisha" a couple weeks ago. It was a good film - I had wanted to read the book, but too many people were in line before me to borrow a friend's copy, and I'm on the waiting list for a library copy. I find it interesting that the novel was written by a man. Supposedly, the real geisha the story was modelled after has written her own real memoirs. Do you know the title of her book?
Aloha nui, wahini!
:laugh:

on Thursday, June 1st, Elise said

I was considering writing about the strange Alaska / Hawaii connection that exists, almost everyone I know who lives in Alaska has been to Hawaii, and usually they go habitually...which I dont think is true for any other US state.

Anyway, I had a hard time getting into the book because I knew it was written by a Western male, but with most fiction you have to suspend a lot of disbelief in order to enjoy the story.

I would be really interested to read the real geisha's account, I don't know her name but as a uber librarian I can find it out for you!
:laugh:

on Friday, June 2nd, holly said

Ooooh! I bet you're already there. Have a wonderful time!

on Friday, June 2nd, wall@uas.alaska.edu">Emily said

Hi Elise! I hope you're already sitting on a beach. Corey, me, Lamoni, and Osiris send long, wet sighs of loneliness--we miss you! Have fun and see you in August.

on Friday, June 2nd, wall@uas.alaska.edu">Emily said

Hi Elise! I hope you're already sitting on a beach. Corey, me, Lamoni, and Osiris send long sighs of loneliness--we miss you! Have fun and see you in August.

on Friday, June 2nd, Rod said

I live in Arizona all year long, then get back to Alaska and get sunburned! Go figure. Hope you get a nice tan! BTW, the Wallace & Grommit DVD is also an import, it's all their shorts. Really funny stuff. The VHS is my prized Blade Runner version you've never seen.You gotta return those two though. ;)
Enjoy the salmon, my mother made it.

on Sunday, June 4th, Kasia said

Have a goooooooood time! Hawaiiii...sounds sooo exotic! :cool: So take your sunglasses and enjoy! (I hopr you are not going to stop posting for a while)

on Sunday, June 4th, Elise said

Hi everyone....I, oh wait, only 7 minutes, I'm gonna try and make a fast post.