Kamu rocks the mic on Off the Air’s Geek Nation radio show
Now - on the air!

As promised, here’s a quick plug for my friend Kamu’s radio show, Geek Nation — which is now on the air, every Monday night from 7:00 - 8:00 pm on KUMU 1500 AM. You can even call in and talk to Kamu and Kento on the air. (Call 808-296-1500 and you might even win a prize!) If you don’t live in Hawaii, or can’t get AM on your radio, you can also listen online at their website InternetRadioNow.com. Continue Reading »

Ryoichiro and Kenichi were in town. What a great excuse to assemble the culturally-minded champuru posse for an outing.

Okay, so maybe you haven’t heard of them - yet. They’re the Yoshida Brothers, two young talented virtuosos, musical phenoms that take the traditional art of tsugaru-shamisen and modernize it for their generation. They play the shamisen like Hawaii’s Jake Shimabukuro plays the ukulele: fast and furious. Continue Reading »

Donna and da Bon Dance Man

Originally uploaded by Champuru.

Admittedly, it was the weirdest gig I’ve ever done. We donned our kimonos and led a bon dance for a cafeteria full of children dressed in their Halloween costumes. It was quite surreal, dancing “Shichigwachi Eisa”, looking back and seeing a 6-year-old Dracula dancing in step with me.

We danced 5 songs and it seemed quite enough for me. The kids seemed more interested in the shave ice and cotton candy outside, but at least we had a small group of diehards who stuck with us until the end.

As always, it was great seeing bruddah Keith and the bon dance folks. Hopefully, the kids enjoyed it, too.

Mom is 74 today.

We celebrated her birthday at Makino Chaya where she was treated to a free dinner. Dad drank half of the 40 oz. bottle of Budweiser that he ordered. Hubby ate a lot less than I thought he would. I discovered the chocolate fountain. It was a good evening spent with the family.

Happy birthday, Mom. I cherish these moments and pray that we have many more of them to enjoy together.

Favorite thing #17: Watching a chick flick on DVD with the Hubby on a lazy Sunday afternoon.

As the years go by, it seems that I am becoming a more emotional person. While this may not necessarily be a negative thing in itself, it can be somewhat inconvenient at the theater. Watching “Finding Nemo” and crying into my popcorn isn’t exactly something I like to do in public. Especially since I am not the type that can shed a few tears gracefully. No, not me. Almost instantly, my eyes get red and puffy and my nose swells to twice its normal size, beaming brighter than Rudolph’s. Worse than that, I don’t recover from a cry very quickly. Can you imagine taking me to a nice dinner after seeing “The Notebook”? (Incidentally, I deliberately avoided seeing it because everyone told me what a tear-jerker it is.) Continue Reading »

I met with my academic counselor this afternoon. She gave me the best news I’ve heard in a long time: my remaining credits (15 — and counting!) can be accomplished by CLEP or DANTES exams. What does that mean for me? It means that my current course will be the last one I will take for my undergraduate degree! HOORAY! Continue Reading »

Feeling sufficiently practiced for the exam, I was confident that I would fare decently well. I practiced the katas under the watchful eye of Hubby, who incidentally was testing for shodan (1st degree black belt) and continued rehearsing them in my mind as I lay in bed, staring into the darkness just prior to slumber. When I awakened this morning, I reviewed yet again — ensuring that the movements were adequately burned into muscle memory.

When it came time for the exam, I approached it with an enthusiastic spirit thanks to the adrenaline coursing through my veins. It seemed like a blur and, although it wasn’t perfect, I felt satisfied with my performance. (At least I didn’t fall on my face, right?)

A few hours later, I noticed a tenderness developing on the inside of my left knee. Not a good sign. I think I may have tweaked it or pulled something. While it doesn’t seem serious, I decided that I should take Hubby’s suggestion and apply ice to it. I’m hoping that I won’t wake up with my knee swollen to the size of a grapefruit tomorrow morning.

Thank goodness for Motrin. Or as Hubby often says about things like this: “bumbai pau.” (Translation for the pidgin-challenged: “It will be over sometime.” In other words, why worry? It’ll be over soon.)