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Showing posts from November, 2007

In the Spirit of the Holidays: Cyber-Activism

This is a repost from the NinjaGirl Productions Blog ... because I think these causes sound cool enough to be mentioned multiple times: Recently, the following causes have come to our attention, and we think they are pretty damn cool. Please check them out, and if you think they are cool too, please come together and give them whatever support you can. http://www.childsplaycharity.org/ - Provides toys, books and video games to sick kids in children's hospitals on four continents http://www.videogamevoters.org/ - A network of American voters trying to defend free speech and creativity in video games from intrusive US legislation and regulation. http://www.xogiving.org/ - Provides laptop computers to children in developing nations, who otherwise have almost no access to education or means of self-expression. " Great achievement is usually born of great sacrifice, and is never the result of selfishness." - Napoleon Hill

Hawaiian Thanksgiving

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There are only certain things I miss about New England since moving to the Pacific. Near the top of that list is Thanksgiving Day with my brothers, parents and cousins. Even on the outskirts of Lahaina, no picnic on the beach could ever compete with Mom’s cooking surrounded by the dramatic comedy that is my family. However, today in the Maui sunshine, I chose to be content with a simple meal, a boogie board and some new friends. Despite certain hardships, I am very grateful for a lot of things and people in my life right now. To all the folks who have continued to stand by me near and far, as well as those with whom I’ve shared simpler kindness and have since parted ways: Thank you, Thank you, Thank you.

Maui Mailer

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Last week, while I was raising unholy heck around the island with my German buddy ( see previous entry ), the holiday issue of Maui Mailer hit tens of thousands of mailboxes across Maui . Now if you have a copy, trust me, don’t just toss it. Maui Mailer is the only magazine I know of on this island that sincerely dedicates itself toward real quality print advertising both for and to Kama 'aina. Plus, it has some interesting articles, good deals, event announcements, charity stuff, and best of all , a whole bunch of ads and artwork designed by yours truly. ;) So, before you need to wrap some fish or line the cat-box, actually take a look through it and let yourself be surprised... and better yet, if you have a business on Maui , and need a great new advertising angle, contact them today , cuz you can't beat it.

German Invasion

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As many people know, I was a bit hard to get a hold of last week. As many of those people know, it was because my old friend Carsten was visiting from Europe. Carsten is originally from Frankfurt, but these days, he's dealing with the British while working in jolly-old London. Fortunately, he was able to divert himself here last week, right before a big business trip to Southern California. The two of us went to school together years ago, back when I briefly lived in Australia. These days, we only get to see each other about every other year on average. So, whenever we do get together, we always try to make it a helluva thing to remember! For example, this time... We had meals in humble surroundings. ...and acquainted ourselves with marine life. We also got really high... ...visited a goddess... ...and journeyed past the end of the road. Carsten was happy to see that he wasn't the only one representing German coolness in Maui... ... and he was oddly fascinated with the notio

Attention Kids: Don’t Drink Glass

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I use to love thermoses. When you’re a little kid at school, that’s what you got, your lunch box and your trusty thermos. Mom packs them up all nice for you and you always knew the thermos would keep your juice cold and your soup warm, and as a little kid you can only ponder the magic and wonder, “How does it know?” Best of all, both the lunch box and the thermos were always tough as hell, so if you drop them, maybe a little dent or scratch, but no worries. If a bully messes with you, you could always hit them in the face with either the lunch-box or thermos and then run like Hell, and all would be good. Yeah, I use to love thermoses... until recently. In my apartment we have a seemingly nifty thermos. It is a one-liter “Add-A-Cup” Thermos brand bottle (pictured left). It supposedly keeps warm stuff warm for a full 12 hours and cold stuff cold for twice that. As you can see in the pic, it’s made of that tough-looking red plastic that people are just socially conditioned t

Lahaina Halloween

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This still being my first year living in Hawaii , of course I had to go check out Halloween in Lahaina. Apparently it is one of those events that people come from far and wide for and it’s quite the staple in contemporary Maui culture. Now, first of all, I’d like to go on record and say that people talked this thing up to me way too much. I went in thinking it was going to be like Mardi-Gras with all sorts of dangerous partying and crazy Girls Gone Wild crap all over the place; and while it was indeed quite crazy and somewhat raunchy, it certainly wasn’t of the caliber I was set up to expect. However, being a Halloween person who grew up with people who usually gave it limited due (with preference to occasions like Christmas, Thanksgiving or Easter), I felt extremely gratified to finally be amidst folks with true spirit in celebrating Halloween. In my opinion it’s the most fun holiday of all if you just let go and allow yourself be young again... and trust me, many of the cool f