Flying in a Blue Dream

Originally uploaded by Champuru.

A dear friend, Ms. Aiyah, was kind enough to remember my birthday and gifted me with a generous iTunes gift certificate. My birthday was a few weeks ago, but I finally got a chance to sit down and leisurely browse iTMS for some songs to add to my MP3 collection.

What started as a hunt for favorite songs turned into a fond walk down memory lane. It’s wonderful how old familiar tunes can spark recollections of times past, memories as fresh as if they occurred only yesterday.

“Flying in a Blue Dream” by Joe Satriani brings to mind the outdoor concert at the University of Hawaii Andrews Ampitheater. At age 15, it seemed so surreal. Seeing my favorite guitar god in person, standing there with my boyfriend’s arms wrapped tightly around my waist as he embraced me from behind, feeling his warm breath on my cheek, and the cool evening air on my skin… Continue Reading »

The Next Generation

Originally uploaded by Champuru.

Several of my co-workers purchased the 5-megapixel SD400 shortly after it debuted. With its sleek form factor, it instantly smote me with an acute case of camera envy. I managed to stave it off for a while, convincing myself that my trusty S400 was more than sufficient for my needs. However, once I discovered that the health of my S400 was declining, I decided it was time to start looking for a replacement. Continue Reading »

Mitchell has been keeping busy with a ton of web projects. In addition to maintaining his Chalkdust blog, recording his own Literate Loser podcast, and participating in a group podcast with the Village Idiots, he has started a wonderful Christian discussion forum called HawaiiBeliever.com.

To be honest, my “fellowship” time with other Christians is fairly limited. Currently, I don’t attend a midweek Bible study and I usually don’t stay very long after the service to chit-chat with members. Although I don’t expect my online interaction with other believers to completely fill my need for fellowship, it is definitely a healthy thing for me.

Although it’s a small group thus far (he just launched a couple of days ago), I can tell that it will be a great environment to hang out, fellowship and talk story. If you’re a Christian, I would encourage you to check it out, sign up, and join us in the discussions.

Kudos to you, Mitchell, for your hard work!

The cows have come home. Hubby signed up for MySpace tonight.

I don’t think my previous musings about it was really what sold him on the idea. Actually, a few of his close Army buddies have sites and blogs hosted on MySpace. It would be only appropriate to keep the gang together, even online.

Remaining true to his oath of anonymity, he doesn’t list his real name anywhere and even posted a picture of a Japanese superhero (not Kikaida) on his profile. Being the possessive doting wife that I am, I gave him strict supervision input on his profile. If I could have indicated “MARRIED” in ALL CAPS and boldface, I probably would have. Nevertheless, Hubby is a man of integrity that I never have to worry about. He even wrote a nice blurb about being married to a “wonderful Okinawan girl” without me having to twist his arm - much.

All kidding aside, it’s quite exciting to see the Hubby getting his feet wet on the Internet. Next step: KikaidaHubby.com!

So, I was thinking about what I wrote last night about online networking sites and my statement about “losing interest in forging friendships with people that I would probably never meet.”

The more I thought about it, the more contradictory it seemed. After all, why is it that I find myself surfing blogs for hours on end, reading about the lives of people in far off places, and being completely absorbed by their words and images? In certain instances, I find a kinship with the author who penned the entry and even feel compelled to express my own opinion. I leave a comment and check back periodically to see if they responded. Sometimes, I may even get an e-mail from the journalist and thus begins a spark of a friendship, maybe. At the very least, with the volleying of a few messages to and fro, you may even venture to call yourselves “online acquaintances.” Continue Reading »

I was just pondering the recent phenomena of online networking sites.

Admittedly, I am usually quick to jump on the e-bandwagon and will indiscriminately sign-up on sites like Global Pau Hana, Friendster and MySpace if a friend invites me to join. However, like my offline personality, I tend not to collect a lot of “friends”and will find myself with probably a dozen or so contacts on my friends list. It’s almost enough to give me an inferiority complex when I see other people with lists numbering in the triple digits.