More About Bryan

He's a funny one, you know. And he has a bit of a coffee habit. I tease him about it when he gets all dramatic and whines "I neeeeeed coffee" or when the coffee maker broke and he was brewing it into a bowl (thankfully he got a new maker this weekend). Mostly he loves Starbucks but I didn't realize how much until recently.

A few weeks ago we flew back to Honolulu from the Big Island. We were at the baggage carousel when Bryan ran into a woman he knew and they started chatting. He didn't introduce me which I thought was odd but they chatted about weekends and the Big Island. We grabbed our bags, said goodbye to the woman, and walked away. I tured to him and asked "do you work with her?" He sort of mumbled, "No, she works at Starbucks." CAUGHT!

Earlier this week and this morning we went to Starbucks together (when he pays, I don't pass it up). Starbucks is busy in the morning. As soon as Bryan got in line the barista yells in a very booming voice "GRANDE LATTE FOR YOU TODAY, MAN?" Two days this week this has happened. Bryan turns red and sort of mumbles a different order. And I stand there wondering how often he really goes to Starbucks.

Now, those of you who know Bryan know this is about more than coffee. The truth is Bryan will make friends with anyone, anywhere. EVERYTIME we get in a cab or get to the register at the grocery store Bryan asks the guy or girl "how's it going? are you busy today?" And to my infinite surprise, they usually happily respond and some sort of conversation is started.

From the Eye of Bryan

Bryan has this very funny habit of taking pictures of me doing nothing. It's odd. It usually goes down like this...

Bryan: Sweetie, can I take your picture?

Jenni: What? No.

Bryan: But you look so cute sitting on the couch/at your computer/[insert other mundane activity here]!

Jenni: You're weird.

Bryan: You blog readers will want to see it!

Jenni: Eh.

Sometimes I let him. Sometimes I tell him to go away. I really don't understand why he wants to do this. It's probably so he can blackmail me someday. I figure I'll beat him to the punch and post the pictures here. It's only fair, the URL has his name too. Plus, it gives me reason to post embarassing pictures of him later.

For your odd viewing pleasure, these are shots Bryan snapped. This is me, in real life, evidently with a very wrinkly neck.








It is remarkable how much time I spend on the couch!

Paddle. Fun. Paddle. Fun. Paddle. Fun. Fun.

That's how this three day weekend went down for me. It's officially paddling season and, as expected, it has replaced any free time I had before.

It all started Friday night with a grueling paddling practice that had me salty, sweaty and achy. Ugh. Then I raced to change my clothes and headed out to meet Bryan and friends at Art After Dark. Good times.

Saturday was yet another practice that lasted longer but wasn't as tough. I think my muscles are getting used to it. Plus, I ate a ton before practice so I wouldn't be so achy. My coach keeps putting me in Seat One which is a mystery and an honor. But man, that's the toughest seat. So my arms are like jello at the end and every muscle aches.


Later that day I met some friends for a sailing trip. Very fun!

Sunday was a paddling race. You see the pattern, right? It lasted ALL DAY. Sort of fun. Sort of taxing.

That night we went to a movie (Spiderman, we don't recommend it). Sunday we took a long walk into Manoa and then met our friend Gordon for drinks and the Japanese Lattern Festival. Fun!



Bryan's weekend went like this: Fun. Sports. Sports. Sports. Work. Fun. Fun. Work.

Hope yours was Fun. Fun. Relax. Fun!

Inspiration Everywhere

I'm reading a very terrific book right now that Nida recommended. It's called Eat, Pray, Love. It's a memoir so it's mostly real and takes place in Italy, India and Indonesia. I'm in the India part right now. The main character is friends with a religious teenage Indian girl and the girl tells her this...

"...how did I get here? Why was I born an Indian girl? It's outrageous! Why did I come into this family? Why must I attend so many weddings? I want to live in Hawaii!!"

Funny, right? And it struck me. Not to say that Hawaii is better than anywhere else. I'm sure this Indian girl might also exclaim she'd like to live in San Francisco. Or Boulder. Or Detroit for that matter. And hell, I'd love the chance to live in India. To wear silk saris, eat mangos, and speak with a beautiful accent. But it made me pause and realize yet again that I should be soaking up every moment.

Bryan Meez

Wasting more time... here's Bryan. He's mostly Hawaii but is chillin' at the lake in Idaho.

Volcano Weekend

This past weekend we were on the Big Island with my parents. The weekend went by in a blur and had almost everything to do with volcanoes.

We started the weekend with family karaoke in town. Very entertaining and moderately humiliating for me. Here's pictures of my parents and my auntie and uncle singing along to something you probably know the words to but wouldn't necessarily queue it up for karaoke. Something like "Wendy", "Delta Dawn" or maybe "Doo-a-diddie". And there's Bryan rocking out to something circa 1982.





On Saturday we packed up and headed out of town to explore the lands of lava. We drove down the highway until the point where it was covered by lava many years ago. And then we kept on driving - over the lava and into no-man's land. There used to be houses, a highway and a church here. Now there's just black LAVA!

LAVA!

We stayed at my grandmother's near the National Park so had plenty of time for the Volcano Park activities that I have actually never done in all my many trips to the park. We walked through a lava tube - at one point with only our weak flashlights to show us the way. So dark! We hiked along the pretty fern paths. So green! And we hiked across the bottom of the crater to see more LAVA! and many steam vents. So hot!













The rest of our time was spent relaxing, eating, discussing guitars, driving, and pretty much sitting around. A very nice weekend.

Hey, It's Meez

Just wasted precious time creating this split identity version of me. She's in Hawaii but just can't let go of her San Francisco roots.

Leading Me to Stash Vodka In My Desk

Today is one of those days. Completely sucks. In fact, is about the third day like this in as many weeks. So it's compounded suckage.

I'm going to go home. Go swimming. Grocery shop. And buy myself a treat I don't need but do deserve.

And then I'll start the post about our weekend on the Big Island. Which was nice and not sucky.

Family Time, Weekend to Weekend

My parents have been in town since last weekend. That's why I haven't posted much. Instead of my normal sit-on-couch-with-computer time, I've been hanging out with them. We've had lots of fun but I have close to zero pictures to show for it. Seems like I only take pictures when I'm bored instead of when there's really something picture worthy. This makes for pretty boring pictures.

Mom, send your pictures over!

Last weekend we spent some time at Bellows Beach with my brother, his girlfriend and her sister who just moved to town. We relaxed and sunned and swam with the Portugese Man-o-Wars. Yikes! Later we hiked to Manoa Falls and got completely soaked in a tropical downpour. Then we rewarded ourselves with a dinner at my favorite, Town. On Sunday they skipped church (imagine!) so we had breakfast at home and then walked around Waikiki. That afternoon we hosted a Mother's Day brunch on our rooftop. It was hot, yummy and special. Monday I took the day off from work and the three of us went to Kailua for a kayak trip the Mokes. Good times, perfect weather, and turns out I'm better in my own kayak. Tuesday my brother and Dad went for a hike and my mom went shopping (imagine!). And Wednesday Bryan and I met them for dinner and then said goodbye.

Goodbye, that is, until tonight. We're off to Hilo tonight for the full family experience including such events as extended family karaoke and Bryan-Dad guitar jam. Should be fun. I'll try to take pictures.

BBQ in action (do you seen the asparagus and wine? Yumm.)

Mom on Mother's Day on rooftop.

Family kayak to the Mokes.

Random Fact

Two-thirds of all people who have ever lived to age 65 are alive today.

JJ Double Trouble

I'm on the Big Island this week for work. Stessful and fun all mixed together. We're up at 5am shooting pictures on the beach or watching the sunset. But the best work perk so far was being able to meet my friend Jaisy for dinner and drinks. We chatted about friends, work, Hawaii life, boys and everything in between over many glasses of wine. It was exactly what both she and I have been missing lately. Easy friend time!

Here's a JJ double trouble toast to all our friends out there.

Friends

I often say that I don't really have friends here. I have nice people I know. And we spend time together but they aren't really friends like the friends I have tucked into special places in the world. The folks here have often felt like activity buddies. We make plans, we do things, we talk a bit (usually about what we have in common - work or paddling) and we do have fun. But I don't really feel comfortable having those meaning of life or "I don't know what the hell I'm doing" sort of conversations I have with some very special people.

I'm a place now where some of my favorite activity buddies are leaving Hawaii. And suddenly I'm thinking "No! You can't go, you're my friend."

I think it's true you can meet very special people anywhere and at any time. Unfortunately for me, I seem to realize how special they are a little late in the game. It's making me feel so sad that I didn't live up every moment with these people and accept them as friends as quickly as possible.

OMG, I Would FREAK!

As is my normal routine, I started the morning by reading my online blogs and news sites. After I got up to speed on LOST's plans to end the show in three years (fine, whatever, just start explaining things already!), I read this story about a boy who had two spiders living in his ear. OH. MY. GOD. Gross. GrossGrossGross. I cannot imagine. It makes me want to wear earmuffs everyday.

This news comes just as I'm starting to normalize my complete fear of cockroaches. So I immediately start thinking about how if a spider can crawl in an ear, so can a roach. Ack! Gross! And guys, I had a three inch roach fly onto my collarbone while we were camping. I freaked out and accidently bit my friend's finger as she was trying to help me. Eww. Spiders. Roaches. Everything is gross!

And then I tell my co-workers this story because I share anything remotely interesting with them. My one co-worker shared his story about how his wife got a pretty good sized moth stuck in her ear. She had to go to the emergency room. Ick. Too awful. It would scar me for life.

Spider. Roaches. Moths. I think I should move to the moon. I don't think they have bugs on the moon yet.

Back in the Paddle

Have I told you yet? It's paddling season again! My life is once again taken over by hours and hours of sitting in a boat and then coming home to go straight to bed. Well, it would be if I would actually go to practice! I've been a complete slacker lately but resolved to be more dedicated this week.

Today I practiced in the morning AND the evening.

Three hours of paddling.

I'm EXHAUSTED.

Fascinating or Maybe Completely Normal

This morning in a bit of a migraine haze, I rode the bus to work late in the morning. I ended up sitting in front of two Asian people who were speaking Spanish. I found it fascinating! Asian people speaking Spanish - you don't encounter that everyday. I speak a bit of Spanish so I started listening in on their conversation. Turns out they don't know each other. She asked him about work. He works everyday. Later he asked "do you speak English?" She said no. He asked "Don't you find English necessary?" She said no. I was hooked! This wonderful older Asian woman lives in Hawaii and doesn't speak English but speaks Spanish fluently?! Fascinating! I tried to listen in on the rest of their conversation but I didn't pick up on much.

I got to work and started telling my co-workers this story. They already think I'm ridiculous so it was no surprise to them that the most exciting thing to happen to me recently was listening to Asian people speak Spanish.

One co-worked suggested they were Japanese and had come from a Spanish speaking region of South America that has a very large population of Japanese residents.

Another co-worker came by and asked if they were Filipino. I had to fess up that I really can't identify races of most Asians. I hate to say it but they all blend together. He says the Filipino language is Spanish-based. And then he told me the words for "work", "English", and "speak" are pretty much exactly the same as Spanish.

So, maybe I simply heard Fililpino people speaking their native language in Hawaii? Which of course is not unusual at all.

Bummer.