Why?

An anonymous commenter asked "Why?" I thought long and hard about how I should answer this question, especially since I've always, always tried to be honest and open with all of you. Being evasive and vague is not in my nature, yet that's exactly how I've been behaving regarding my decision to stop blogging. I think that you deserve to know the truth.

I've been getting e-mails from a blog reader that disturb me. I've learned that I can easily block the e-mails, but just knowing that by following my blog, he has knowledge of the comings and goings in my life and especially in the lives of my loved ones makes me feel uneasy and scared even. He probably doesn't even mean to scare me, but he does. So, that's why I decided to stop.

I've loved being able to share my life and its misadventures with you these past 6 years. The blog started as a place for me to show off my photos, but I soon realized that it's the story telling that I loved to do the most, and this blog proved to be a great outlet for me. Mostly, you "Peoples" were such a great audience . . . I always appreciated and enjoyed all of your comments and emails. I thank those of you who did take the time to send me your thoughts. It made me so happy.

I regret that Photos by jalna is ending this way, but I do hope that you'll return sometime when you want to follow one of Wendell's recipes that you liked, or need a laugh after a hard day or after screwing up an order at a drive through, or maybe when you feel you need an inspiration from some craft project that I might have done or maybe you just want to look at Kona's cute face again. I don't plan to close down the blog.  I hope that it'll be available to you for a long time.

Maybe someday I should start up another public blog.  I'll call it Photos by jocelyn.  I'll give everybody fake names.  Kona will be "Maui". Wendell will be "Wonderful".  My sisters "Moe", "Larry" and "Curly".  But then, how do I get you guys to find me?  I need to work on that . . . 

Final Blog Post

I know.  Sorry.  I was gonna go gradually . . . posting less and less frequently until you got used to it. But NOOOOOOO, BAMM . . . here it is . . . the final post.  Again, I'm so sorry. 

I'm sad for the end of Photos by jalna updates, but if you're Buddhist or even just a wannabe Buddhist like me . . . you know that nothing is permanent . . . change is inevitable.  And it's been six whole years!  I thought it'd be for just a few months at most.

I've "met" a lot of awesome friends through this blog and I will always be forever grateful for that.  Thank you, Peoples, for giving me the incentive to keep this thing going on for so long.

If you haven't read every single one of my posts, here are a few of my favorites. Maybe you haven't seen some of them yet.  Topping the list by far is the story of Kino, my favorite, favorite Micronesian boy. If you click on each of the titles, it'll get you to the post.

Kino
Stuck in Traffic
Our Dog Kona
I Yelled at My Mom Yesterday
Kazuki and Naoko Kato
Comparing Muscles
I Wannabe Like Frank Amodo
Tiger Cubs at the Honolulu Zoo
The Bane of My Existence
The Ant
Walking Kona Walking Me
Denver, Did You Do This?
Madagascar Geckos at the Cactus Garden
My Mom the Musician
Wendell and the Scammers
Hah?
Ah Ah's Back
Damn Rabbit
Me and Drive-Throughs
Late to Work

They're probably more that I like, but the above is all that I could find for now. Again, I'm so sorry for springing this on you so suddenly. I wish you guys all the best, and thank you, thank you, thank you for having been so supportive for all these years. I hope that you will always remember to

Enjoy the Strawberry.

Beads by Calvin Orr

I'm a little disabled after having "surgery" on my toenail, so I couldn't go gallivanting with my sisters this weekend.  Instead I dragged Wendell to Waioli Tea Room yesterday so that I could check out local glass artist Calvin G. Orr's beads at a tiny fair that was being held there. You can check out Calvin's website here. 

These are the beads that I bought.  Loooooook how pretty!!  They were around $5 each.


















Calvin threw in these two for free. Nice yah!


These kawaii creatures were $6 each.






This cute guy got put on my cell phone right away.


Calvin had even prettier ones for sale, but I couldn't afford.  If you get the chance, you can check out his stuff on September 20 to 22 at Bead Show Honolulu to be held at Ward Center next to Bed, Bath and Beyond.

Ingrown Toenail

I finally went to a podiatrist yesterday to take care of my ingrown toenail problem.  My Tiger Balm remedy worked good for awhile, but it couldn't flatten out my toenail and stop it from pinching inward.  The toe had become increasingly sensitive to touch.  I knew that it would only be a matter of time before it could get infected, and so I needed to take care of it before our Japan trip.

I chose Dr. Ricky Sukita because of the many good reviews he's had online. I was pretty sure that he was a good pick for me. Yet, as I was driving to my appointment I was really, really nervous worrying about the impending PAIN that I might have to endure. 

I was about 25 minutes too early, but they took me into the exam room right after I was done with my paperwork. The nurse who did the preliminary workup was really sweet and nice. I learned (because I'm nosy) that she had been with Dr. Sukita for around 9 years.  I also found out that there's another worker who's been with him for about 20 years! That was comforting to me.

When Dr. Sukita entered the room, I felt tremendous relief.  He looked kind and GENTLE.  He sat down and examined my toe. He was very thorough in explaining what was happening to my toe and why (mostly age-related).  He said that some people have it on all ten toes!!!  OMG!!!  He then went on to describe my options.  I chose the fix-it-forever solution where he would clip off the digging-in edge of the nail and then treat the root so that the nail won't grow any more.  !!!!! 

Before actually starting, he asked if I had any questions.  I told him that I didn't, but I did confess that I was scared.  He put me at ease by explaining how he would numb the whole toe so that I wouldn't feel a thing.

The needle pokes to numb my toe did sting A LOT, but the good thing was that the injection sites were at the base of my toe near its attachment to the foot.  He didn't go anywhere near the sensitive nail area until my whole toe was totally numb.

I didn't watch the procedure.  I texted people with my phone instead.  In no time it was done.

Now I gotta soak my toe twice a day in salt water, apply Betadine (which I'm happy to say he provided, 'cause it's choke expensive at Longs), and wrap in bandaid.  I see him again in a week.

So, if you ever need a foot doctor, go see Dr. Ricky Sukita.  I'm so, so glad that I picked him. 

Some Animal Photos

Thanks for sharing, Loraine!

808 Urban, Community Arts in Action

Video by Vincent Ricafort

808 Urban was commissioned to do a mural at the Disney Aulani resort, located on the West side of Oahu.  The collaborative effort by 17 high school students from around the island and their mentor artists depicts the story of the legend of Maui.



Congratulations Prime.  I'm so proud at how far you and 808 Urban have come.  Hopefully, I'll get to check out the mural myself soon.

Niagara Falls

Leslie took this picture with her iPhone yesterday.  She's in New York this week on a work-related trip.  She's actually staying in Rochester, but took a drive BY HERSELF to Niagara Falls.  Hopefully, she'll post more photos for us on her blog later.



Is there anyone else out there besides me who, when they hear the words "Niagara Falls", says to themselves . . . NIAGARA FALLS!!! . . . slowly I turned . . . step by step . . . inch by inch . . . 

Bon Dance at Leahi Hospital

We took Aunty to a bon dance at Leahi a couple months ago.  Each of the participants had a volunteer who would wheel them around the yagura. I thought that was so cool.  For privacy purposes they asked that we not take any photos, but I thought that this one from afar with obscured faces should be okay. 

Pastor Fernando on Homosexuality

I was curious to see how Pastor Fernando Castillo would handle this subject in last week Sunday's sermon at New Hope.  But, I opted to go to the swap meet instead. Luckily, there's this video.  

Odori-Don

I have laundry duty today at work so going in early again.  Fast one for you today. Coworker Mich shared this with me awhile back.  "Odori" means dance.

Landon's Meatball Soup

Landon treated me and Wendell to a shabu shabu dinner last week to celebrate Wendell's birthday.  So sweet, yah. He bought lobster, crab legs, thinly sliced beef and choke vegetables.  He made a kinda buttery broth to cook in and two different kinds of dipping sauces. They all waited until I got home from work so that I could enjoy the meal with them. 



A few days later, Landon made this meatball soup using the leftover watercress and won bok.  I totally loooooooved it.


This is the best "recipe" that I could get from Landon:

Sautee 4 pieces of sliced bacon with about 1/4 lb. of ground pork.  Deglaze with some sake. Add chicken broth, at least 1/4 c. of oyster sauce, 1 tbs. chili garlic sauce and 2 tbs. pickled ginger slices.  Add watercress and won bok. When vegetables are around half cooked, thicken a little with some cornstarch slurry. Add in meatballs.

For the meatballs:  3/4 lb. ground pork, 1 tbs. sesame oil, pickled ginger, oyster sauce, shoyu and chopped up fishcake (Amano brand).  Was so so so so ono.

Under Penalty of Law

When I was a young girl . . . a long, long time ago . . . I accidentally ripped off one of these tags from my mattress while taking off a sheet.  Back in the day, it didn't say "Except by the Consumer", and when it happened, I gasped.  I looked at the label in my hand and read every single word on it.  I wondered how in the world they would find out that I had ripped it off, but I knew that somehow they could. 

I worried about what the penalty would be.  I thought that they might haul me off to jail.  So, I did the only thing that I could do . . . I used around 50 yards of scotch tape and I taped the tag back onto the mattress.  I didn't tell a single soul . . . not my mom . . . not any of my sisters . . . not any one of my friends.  

Every washday I would carefully take off the sheet.  I would check the tape. I would make sure that the tag was still secure.  I would replace tape if needed. I would pat, pat, pat the tag down flat before putting on a clean sheet.

I did this for years.

Swap Meet - 9/1/13

It's already Tooosday . . . neva post anything since Sattaday . . . oh boy . . . 

Wendell played in a softball tournament on Saturday, so we traded Aunty duties for the weekend, which meant that I was free, free, free on Sunday.  I emailed my sisters and all three of them were able to join me.  I haven't brought my real camera with me to the swap meet for awhile now.  iPhone is so much lighter. 

Sheets of this Techni Ice were selling for 3/$5.  


You can cut them to any size you want. They start out thin.  After you smoosh um in water they puff up.  You can then freeze or microwave um.


I paid $2 for this stapler.  I didn't realize that it was actually broken  until I got home.  Luckily I was able to fix it.

Didi found this abalone shell hair pin.  It was $5.


This lauhala visor was $25.


I'd been wondering for quite some time about this gadget.


I finally found out . . . it's to make pots like this.  Another buyer explained it to me and gave me his recipe . . . two parts sand to one part cement.


These cute little coconut fish planters were $1 each.


These are clothespin magnets.  The small ones were 2 packs/$5 and the big ones were $3/pack.


Sweetie scored this grass clipper for $3.  I just saw new ones at City Mill selling for 22 bucks!


OMG!  TORTURE.


Free samples.  More torture.


4/$1.00.


$2.


I wondered about these guys.  They had barely anything to sell.  I asked a girl at a stall across from them.  She said that sometimes they don't have anything to sell, but they like to hang around and talk story.


Geri got these wire cutters for $3.


Here are my wire cutters . . . swap meet find from awhile back. They were also $3 . . . rusty but works good.


Here's Sweetie trying to figure out where to put all of her crap.


Cute bug hat - $3.


I got really bloated after our normal Sam and Syd's meal last weekend, so I suggested we try 99 Ranch this time.  The top dish is an appetizer sampler and next to it is spring roll/vermicelli, both from a Vietnamese place.  The round container has Lechon Kawali in it (Filipino).  Below and to the left is fried squid and fried tofu (Japanese), in the middle is a hamburger steak and to the right is a curried noodle dish (Chinese).  Everything except for the fried tofu was good.  The tofu was HORRIBLE . . . hard and dry.


I wonder now if I shoulda gone back to the stall that I got it from and said something about the tofu, or even returned the uneaten pieces (I got 4).  I did once buy a really bad turkey/bacon wrap from Whole Foods, and it wasn't cheap. It was dry and hard and the bacon, burnt and salty.  When I went online, I found a "contact us" link that hooked up to the Kahala store, so I emailed them about it.  I recommended that they try it for themselves.  They did respond and said that they would look into it, and said that I could get a refund.  I told them that no refund was necessary (emphasizing the point of my email) . . . and that I just wanted them to know. I think they would wanna know, yah?