Saturday, 8 May 2004. New officers of our DAV Chapter 9 Puna, Big Island Hawaii... 3 females! Yep, I'm one of them. The one in the center is also an officer in the DAV State Executive Committee (hence her white cap).

A former commander of the chapter was VERY upset that 3 women were (duly) elected (2 unopposed!). He stated in a letter that the women were not contributors, nor attended meetings until recently. HAH! We've attended more meetings than he has! We also don't take credit (like he has done) for stuff we didn't do, nor use 501.3c funds for personal interests.

We have alot of goals for the chapter. The main one is to get more of our members to attend meetings. Over the past year or so, attendance has dwindled to just 15% of the members of our chapter. This has come about for several reasons, including dissention. One thing we all need to realize is that we're not there just for us, but for all Veterans. It doesn't matter if another Veteran is a chapter member or not, we're Veterans helping Veterans.

I have proposed that we make a chapter website. This isn't so much my idea, as others have made comments about lack of information dissemination; mentioning that we need to send out emails, etc. There has been the opinion that members don't have computers. That number is actually small nowadays, & those who don't often seek public computers for information access.

I read something in our local paper recently regarding recycling old computers. One of our waste transfer stations has a recycling setup & has acquired several computers & perifials. They're also seeking more, to benefit non-profit organizations. At the next Executive Committee meeting, I'm going to suggest we look into it to possibly acquire computers for some of our members with financial hardships, or at least find out what we can do to get some for the chapter. Currently, our chapter's 'office' is in the basement of a church. I'm not thrilled with this, because I've learned that some of the items belonging to the chapter have been glommed onto for use by another organization one of our chapter's members also belongs to (a former commander, whom I won't name). I wouldn't want any acquired computers to go the same route. I'd also like for them to be accessible to any & all members of the chapter within certain guidelines.

For a hearty laugh, go here:  http://www.funfry.com/showphoto.php?photo=2270 I've watched this video over & over & was laughing so hard that tears were falling & my son came out of his room to find out what was so funny.

UPDATE:  Some really disturbing news to us cat lovers on this island... KGMB highlighted a story this evening about an incident in Kona, where someone's poisoning cats in a ferral colony there & strung 3 of them up by the neck, as a protest against those who put food out for them. The world's full of sick-os!

Yesterday, a short time after getting off the phone with a friend, I heard a loud, familiar "Whump!" I didn't hear the car before the whump, but ran out only to find one of my kitties lying dead in the downhill lane of the road in front of my house & no car in site. This is the kitty I wrote about back in November who came through my front window & never left. http://www.xanga.com/item.aspx?user=Pikake&tab=weblogs&uid=42540023

Aggravatingly, this kitty spent alot of time out in the roadway or at least near the road. I had chased him back into the yard many times, on foot or in my car when I've come home to find him in the roadway, presumably waiting for my return. I guess my lessons didn't take.

I never did pick out a name for him, having planned to take him to the Humane Society when they weren't so overloaded that they'd just put him down. I waited too long.

Just a few weeks ago, I was outside messing in the yard when I heard that familiar 'whump' & ran out to the road in time to see another of my kitties as an orange ball of fur flash out from under a neighbor's van & take off running for my house. I hunted around for him for awhile, then grabbed my keys to go to the neighbor's house to chew her out. This woman has a habit of flying up & down this road, at speeds as much as 50 mph, when residental limit is 35 mph, unless otherwise posted.

Since I had taken a bit of time before going to her house, I was less agitated & able to maintain a polite manner when dealing with her. She never saw the cat & thought she had run over an avocado (there aren't any avocado trees in my block overhanging the road). She was certain she wasn't going over 35, but I told her that her speed was more like 45. She asked what I expected & I asked her to just slow down & be more aware of my kitties when she's near my house. Where my property's located on the street, there's excellent visability both directions... as much as 3-4 blocks each way. There's NO excuse for someone to hit any of my animals! They're either just NOT paying attention to their surroundings or flying so fast they can't avoid hitting something that happens to be in the road.

The one who got hit a few weeks ago turned up in my house, a tad dazed but apparently uninjured, other than only having 8 lives left. That was Rhubarb.

Here, on the right, is a pic of Rhubarb, taken in January. The odd stuff on his tail tip is dirt adhering to sticky stuff from when he accidentally got a fly strip stuck to his tail, getting up where he didn't belong. It took a long time for it to wear off.

When I went out into the road to pick up my dead kitty yesterday, another neighbor was coming down the hill as I was in the road. I flagged him down so I could pick up the kitty & not have him get totally smashed by being run over again. That neighbor also has kitties & told me 2 have been run over lately. This is happening out of pure meanness! What they sow, so shall they reap. I pity them!

This kitty died instantly, apparently with extensive internal injuries, since I found no external ones nor what appeared to be any broken bones. He did have severe hemorhaging in his lower abdominal area. I laid him to rest with some of my other kitties gone before him.

Please pardon my apathy. It's been going on for a few months now & doesn't seem to be getting any better. I know of a few others dealing with PTSD who seem to be behaving much like I am... sorta withdrawing from everything (almost). I've had to 'kick' myself just to go into Hilo town for groceries, etc, & to my DAV meetings. At the last 2, we went through the election & installation of officers for the upcoming fiscal year. I got installed as Treasurer. YIPES! Apathy or not, I've now taken on a responsibility that MUST be followed through. I'm one of 3 women now holding officer positions within my chapter, much to the chagrin of one of our former commanders.

Alas... no one took advantage of being my 10,000th visitor. I started a nice tag as a gift for it, using one of my orchid photos. I have a theory of who it was, but I suspect the person doesn't want to be identified with my blog anymore, having not left a comment in over a year, yet still visits.

This makes me violently ill:  http://msnbc.msn.com/id/5030097/ But the things it indicates really doesn't surprise me much, having been told by at least 2 members of the US Army IG Div in the past about what was ultimately done with Vietnam War prisoners in our custody. And we call these other countries barbaric? "Our" intelligence policies are in direct violation of the Geneva Convention... always have been. "We" consider this only for our service people held by other countries, but "we" are above its requirements. I hope they go all the way up the Chain of Command on prosecuting these atrocities! I'm sick of our 'holier-than-thou' attitudes in which members think they can get by with doing whatever, justifying the means by the end results (information)! I'm glad that something is finally being done, but it isn't enough to prosecute just the low-level service people who committed the acts. Those who issued the orders to do so (& I'm POSITIVE orders were given!) must also be punished!

I'm a 'boat-rocker'... this wouldn't have continued under my watch.

Visitor number 10,000 is coming up quickly! Let me know if it's you.

I know... I haven't written in ages. Actually, I started a long blog last month, published private, then just didn't finish it, figuring no one would be interested in it anyway.

I'm in a funk lately. I can't accomplish much of anything. I can't be bothered reading others' weblogs, much less write my own. I have been posting a few images to my fotolog & a few more on group fotologs as well as viewing others' images there & leaving brief comments. I also entered a photo for myself & one for my son in a local photography contest, judged by a world-renowned photographer, Douglas Peebles & another outer-island photographer, Inger Tully. Neither of our photos won or were selected for display at the club's exposition this weekend. *SIGH* I could have chosen better overall images, but I just didn't. Here's my image on fotolog,net:  http://www.fotolog.net/pikake/?pid=7649248 & my son's:  http://www.fotolog.net/flowerpower/?photo_id=7654542

These judges were very particular on presentation of the photos, meaning the matting & framing. They are primarily stuck on the idea of white matting & simple frames. I personally can't stand white matting. It makes the image appear smaller & detracts from the image, since the eyes are normally drawn to white or bright colors, taking the eyes away from the image unless the photo is in black & white, or if the intended wall to place the image on is sterile white (YECH!). It seems strange that these judges preferred the white matting when they both clearly criticized one particular color photo of some women in colorful clothes & headwear against a white wall. They both thought the photo should have been cropped down of the area above the women, so the white wall didn't detract from the focus of the image. Maybe it wouldn't have so much if it had been both matted & framed in white?

I went for the judges' critique & did ask for a critique of my photo. It seemed that Peebles DID like my photo, but Tully didn't like the matting & frame. Peebles mentioned appreciating the angle of the picture as well as capturing the action in the image. I should know that if I have issues with my work, professionals will too. Here are the winners (none of which I would have chosen, knowing what some of the others looked like):  http://hiphoto.org/Expo/Expo2004/results.shtml

I DID win first place in the State for my Rainbow Falls image I previously showed on this blog (#2) in the Veterans Creative Arts contest. A slide of my image has been forwarded on to the national competition for a chance at one of three medals on the national level. If I win the Gold medal for the digital photo & graphics art category, they will pay my way to Salt Lake City for the exposition there in November.

Seems Xanga recently got a bad rap here in Hawaii. Our local TV news station aired a story just the other night about weblogging being dangerous for kids (teens) because of them giving out details they shouldn't, making them vulnerable to child molesters, etc. My personal view is that parents need to be more aware of what their kids do online, as well as giving their kids the tools they need to protect themselves, such as what NOT to post publically & what to do if someone wants to meet them like making it in a crowded public place & bringing friends with them.

Incidentally, KGMB news did say that Xanga's the NUMBER ONE weblog community in Hawaii!

This morning, I called the radio station I listen to all of the time, B-97 (97.1 FM Hilo). I went to their website to check out their current info, because they're going to do a live broadcast at Pahoa Auto Parts, which is in the community where I live. When reading the time for the broadcast, I caught a typo, so thought I'd let DC, the morning DJ who updates the website, know... quietly, I thought. He'd written 'tin' instead of 'ten.' LOL! I said 'thought' because even though I knew he records the phone calls for possible broadcast & could tell he was recording mine, I didn't think he'd make his mistake public. He had said 'Hold on' when the song was ending & then came back, LIVE, asking if I was still there, then asked ME to tell the radio audience what he had done! Kripes! Someone actually willing to admit to a mistake to a large listening audience?! Cool!

Earlier in his show, he had mentioned the website to a local Hilo band, which I had checked out before the station's. They used another B97 DJ, Yisa, as their T-shirt model. She's also on the station's main page. A very pretty auburn-haired woman. Really great personality too.

While I was on the band's website, I clicked their MP3 link in the side menu, which loaded in their frame their page on GarageBand.com. I learned that they're transplanted from Maine. Hell of a climate difference, which seems to be what they were looking for. I'm just amazed that they chose the Big Island rather than Maui or Oahu to relocate to, which has more public awareness (nightclubs & such) that would be supportive of bands.

Tying all of this together, I remembered that monsur a few months ago had asked for input of other music available to add to his repertore. So I posted this band's site in his comments from his blog yesterday, in case he might care to check them out. When I was on-air talking to DC, I brought up the news story involving Xanga & mentioned that I was trying to boost our local band by pasting their link into the comments of one of the webmasters for Xanga who is heavy into alternative music (hoping that exposure through someone in NYC might help). Maybe he even remembers the band, since Maine isn't too far away?

So I got a plug in for Xanga, the band Technical Difficulties, & highlighted a typo in just seconds on LIVE radio! DC, the disc-jocky, mentioned that he'd thought about getting into a weblog community. Currently, besides DJ-ing, he maintains the radio station' website & one of his own, so wasn't sure if he could find the time. He clarified during our on-air conversation that a weblog is like an online diary. No, I didn't plug my own Xanga blog!

Since my conversation with DC, he's had a guest in the studio... the grandson of my former 'boss' when I worked at the community association. That guy owns an Internet cafe in Pahoa (Aloha Outpost) & has done some commercials for the Mainstreet Pahoa Association. For more about the community & people of Pahoa, visit PlanetPuna.com. I have known the website's originators for years. My son was a good friend of Paradise's son, Tiger, who's depicted in a photo on their main page.

Grrrrrr!!! Thank goodness I saved a copy of what I'd written above. We're having rainy weather & just lost power for a few minutes, so as I scrambled to try to post, I had forgotten that I lose my DSL when my power goes out, even though it's power is plugged into my battery back-ups (it must be in one of the auxilliary outlets, instead of the backed-up ones)! So I got the 'page cannot be displayed' error. Thankfully, the outage was short-lived, but it means it can go again any time.

Kauai & Oahu have had the nasty storm cell hit yesterday & the day before. It's our turn today. Oahu actually had TWO people hit by lightning! Yipes! Thunderstorms are so rare in Hawaii, that for 2 people to be hit by lightning in one day has to be a record. Probably an annual record too! One of the people hit by lightning on Oahu yesterday was a Marine stationed at Kaneohe Marine Corps base, who was standing near a utility pole on their firing range. I hope he's recovering ok now.

Update:

Yesterday, I lost another kitty to a speeding vehicle. Her name was Pele, in honor of Hawaii's Volcano Goddess, because she was the color of dark smoke. I heard a vehicle flying down the road in front of my house, giving the vehicle more gas than necessary, since it's a steep down-grade, then heard a loud THUMP. The vehicle had never slowed, much less braked! I flew out the door, afraid of what I'd find. I stood in the middle of the road, near her lifeless body, nearly oblivious to any other possible traffic (this had been the ONLY vehicle in about an hour!), giving the local 'Stink-Eye' to the driver, who had stopped at the top of the next hill just 3 roads down, talking to someone in the road. I screamed at the top of my lungs 'JACKASS!!!' which I knew they could hear... my voice carries for a LONG way! May Pele, the Goddess, take action on that jerk for what was done to her namesake.

I missed getting a picture of Pele, but here's a pic of her full sister, Ginger. Imagine Ginger as a grey, with a creamy belly & you have Pele.

Thanks to John for forwarding me an email that was sent to their feedback box. It came from the woman who holds the women's cancer retreat I went on. Her remarks mean alot to me!

As for the women's cancer retreat I went on, it'll be a blog in itself, when I get around to writting it all, since I have many links to add to it. It was a wonderful experience!

Please help one woman participant, Annette Donaldson (a former New Zelander, but her family still lives there), by holding her within your prayers/white light. She looked to be at death's door, with her breast cancer spread to her lungs & liver. She was currently undergoing chemo, which had her as thin as a toothpick, her eyes sunken into their sockets & her cheeks so sallow! After the retreat, she made the decision to stop the chemo, which was making her so ill, looking toward alternative treatments. Blessings, Annette!

I'm going away for the weekend Friday afternoon. My kid will be on his own. I hope he does as he's supposed to with feeding our critters. It'd be great if he worked on cleaning up his room as well, but knowing him, he'll be either hoofing it or copping rides from a neighbor into town so he can go skateboarding.

The place I'm going is in Volcano Village. It's for a women's cancer survivors retreat. I heard about it on the radio & called to ask about it a few weeks ago. The woman running it is an RN; cancer survivor herself. Here's the info about it:  http://www.artofdove.com/retreats.html

The cost for this retreat is $195, donation. She said that if cost was an issue for me, they've collected enough in the past that I could have a 'scholarship' for this one, paying what I can, toward future retreats.

She runs 2 of these each year. One in Volcano, the other on the opposite side of the island in Kona. They're limited to 6 participants.

Even though I didn't get my application sent in & tried to beg out of going to it, with all the usual excuses, she convinced me that it sounded like I really need it. I know I do, but it's hard to put aside the rest of my 'world' for so long.

Today, I took a CD in to Wal-Mart with 4 of the Rainbow Falls pictures on it, to have them make up 8x10s of each, in matt finish. I found another of the pics I had first thought to 'poll' so added it onto the CD. It's halfway between photos #2 & 3 below... distance-wise, & from a slightly different vantage point than the bottom 2.

Please continue to add your choice for the best picture. Concider this one #4. So far, since the selections over the past couple days are split pretty even, I may just go with the one I like the best. I'll narrow it down more with the actual photos when I pic them up tomorrow.

I bought a cheap oak frame from Wal-Mart. The contest requires matting & plexiglass, so that bumped the cost up considerably. To have a mat cut as well as the plexi cost me $29.32. The frame is a cheap $5 one. The glass broke already, although I have no idea how it happened. The prints are $2.84 each for 8x10s (plus tax).

While I waited for the plexi & matting, I picked up a flyer for another photo contest, coming up in April. This one costs to enter, but offers cash prizes. It's put on by the Hilo Photography Club. Their site doesn't have the photo contest information put up yet, unfortunately, but they do list a contest sponsored by Cannon that takes place the last day of this month. Cool! I'll dig through my pets pics & try to select one for that.

Again, please place your selection for the best picture from the last blog & this one. Click on the pictures for larger images. Mahalo!

Update: I found the link to Hilo Photography Club's upcoming contest:  http://hiphoto.org/Expo/

Update 14 February 04 3:20 PM:

I'm about on my way out the door, but thought I'd let you guys know that I definitely made my pick. I'm going with #2 from the blog below. Even my son noticed how bright the rainbow is. I definitely agree with zarathustra that the huge leaf in the one on this blog steals the show.

I picked up the four 8x10s this morning. After flipping through them, I feel that #2 has the most professional appearance. I snatched some time once we got home to go ahead & stick it in the frame. It looks wonderful!

Now, my next task is to go through my critter pics & find one for Canon's photo contest here. So far, I think I may go with the one I use in my MSN Messenger profile, of Patches, one of my kitties who vanished after I heard some horrible cat screams. I think a neighbor's dog got her. She was an outside kitty, with a non-social attitude toward the rest of my cats, although she was nearly always there beside me when I was outside. I miss her.

Help!

I plan on entering a photo in the VA National Veterans Art Contest. I took some pictures today when I went for my first appointment with the VA Rheumatologist of the nearby Rainbow Falls in Hilo. I've narrowed my choices down to 3. I bounced those 3 off my son & he chose his favorite. I think I have one narrowed down, but thought I'd bounce them off you guys. Which do you think would have a chance at winning? By the way, these are completely unretouched! Click on the picture for a larger one.

#1

#2

#3

Please place your choice's number in the comments. I need to decide soon. I have to print out the pic (at Wal-Mart), mat, frame it & replace the frame's glass with plexi-glass before next Wednesday, when I need to drop it off with the VA clinic's director. She goes to Honolulu, where they will judge the State's entries, on Thursday.

Mahalo!

I'm going to give a brief lesson in the Hawaiian language, in hopes of helping people with pronouncing Hawaiian words found so much nowadays in the media.

To start out with, the Hawaiians had no written language when the Spanish missionaries first came to 'help' the Hawaiian people into becoming 'civilized' & pushing them into Christianity. The Spanish language is the biggest influence on the written Hawaiian language. Therefore, those of you who have even a moderate understanding of the Spanish written text will easily grasp what I'm saying here.

• There are only 12 letters in the Hawaiian alphabet... a, e, h, i, k, l, m, n, o, p, u, w
  
• ALL letters within a word are pronounced! This means if there are 2 o's together, both are pronounced separately, not as a new vowel sound as in English 'ooh'
  
• The pronunciation of the vowels are the same in Hawaiian as in Spanish... ah, aye, eee, oh, oooh
  
• Sometimes, the 'w' is pronounced as a 'v', like in Ha'vai'ee (Hawaii)
  
• Since there is NO 's' in the Hawaiian language, the words used can mean singular OR plural, as in the word 'lei'. They specify multiple by additional words in the phrase, such as 'Mau' meaning 'many.'

There are hundreds of rules for the Hawaiian language, for which there are excellent books available. Many Hawaiian/English dictionaries cover basic rules as well as providing correct pronunciation of the words, brief descriptions of the meanings & sample usage. Here's an online one:  http://nahoahoa.olelo.hawaii.edu/~keola/php/search_dict.php

Why do I go into all of this? Because so many have difficulty pronouncing my username, as well as mangling what it stands for. Pronounced peh-kah-kee, the word is the name of a very popular & fragrant flower here in Hawaii, used in making lei. It is a member of the jasmine family, native to India, & is the source of the jasmine teas & jasmine rice.

Here's a pic of the flower (I 'borrowed' this, since my pikake plants aren't blooming at this time).

Besides their wonderful fragrance in the lei, it is also a wonderful perfume, consequently, MY FAVORITE! I've tried several manufacturer's versions, but the one put out by Royal Hawaiian Perfumes Polynesia is the best. It's available through many online stores. Here's the manufacturer's own site:  http://www.royalhawaiianperfumes.com/perfumes/1.2.3.pikake.shtml

There are a few different types of pikake flowers used in lei. The one above is the one they call 'lei pikake.' There's another they call 'rose pikake' here, which, like the rose, has layers & layers of petals. It's more durable, with the flowers lasting longer before wilting or falling apart. The lei pikake pictured is very delicate & difficult to string into a lei. I have about 4 varieties of pikake jasmine in my yard, as well as night-blooming jasmine.

The latter becomes obnoxious when the blossoms open at night & the bush is loaded with them! I used to have a hedge of them, until the over-powering, sickeningly sweet scent made me sick to my stomach! I yanked them all out (with help), giving several old bushes away. All I kept was one bush (near my living room window!) & some cuttings I poked in dirt with the thought in mind to sell. I keep butchering all of them back, especially when the blooms proliferate & make me ill.

The night-blooming jasmine to me is a weed. It is VERY prolific & fast-growing! It appears to love the heavy rainfall we have in my area, along with the acid soil & excellent drainage.

Anyway, back to the pikake... Here is a pikake lei pic (also borrowed):

And a page with several styles pictured:  http://www.hawaiibride.com/customs/lei2.html

Also a page which has loads of fresh, REAL flower lei that can be ordered & shipped almost anywhere. The pikake ones are about a third of the way down the page.  http://www.leisofhawaii.com/fresh.htm

Finally, a song about the pikake lei:

MY SWEET PIKAKE LEI

©
Lyrics & Music:

Sheet Music:

Recordings:
78: Charles K. L. Davis (Everest Records)

More beautiful than pearls
My sweet pikake lei
I string each tiny flower
With love, Hawaiian way

More eloquent than words
My white pikake lei
A perfume of the gods
Will speak for me today

More binding than a vow
My sweet pikake lei
A chain of memories
If you should go away

More haunting than a song
You know, but cannot play
A song you can't forget
My sweet pikake lei
More delicate than lace
My white pikake lei
You dance and strands of white
Around your shoulders sway

More subtle than a sigh
My sweet pikake lei
As every little breeze
Grows scented on its way

More haunting than a song
You know, but cannot play
A song you can't forget
My sweet pikake lei

Well, my son made the front page, sorta, again, connected with the Pahoa skate park project. They're trying hard to get the funding together to get the building of the park started. They have matching 'funds' available from the County, in the form of materials. I'm not sure how much more they need to get started, but they hope to begin construction in March of this year. The site for the park has already been set aside for this project by the county. What's really neat is that the woman who is doing so much to get this off the ground has secured a $1k grant from the Tony Hawk Foundation!