No title would do this video justice

Not a singer I'd heard of before, but the video is absolutely charming. "Her morning elegance" by Oren Lavie. Now I guess I need to check him out. (I suppose this is how these things are supposed to work, eh?) It somehow makes me want to go out on an adventure and curl up under the covers, all at the same time.



(via The Daily Dish.)

My bird has got a new buddy

Last January, I got this darling little painting of a Mejiro, or Japanese White-eye, done by local artist, Gary Kato.

And it hung all by itself...alone...for months.

But now it has a friend! (Thanks, B!)



This painting is another little green bird, the 'amakihi (Hemignathus virens chloris). It's considerably less common than the Japanese White-eye, but they say 'amakihi are regularly sighted in Oahu forests and even in Manoa. They are one of the few endemic birds that is still relatively common.

We, alas, have not yet seen one. But I'm keeping an eye out for it. I'll let you know.

Catching up

We've been behind on everything lately. For instance, we still haven't sent out what was supposed to be our New Year's greeting (since clearly we've missed Christmas).

And with not having TV (we have the appliance but no cable or signal) we even were behind on the events of the week.

Last night we finally watched the inauguration and speech (B had heard it on the radio, earlier, actually).

I usually avoid overt references to politics on this blog, but dang, I'm awfully excited about all this.

I know not everyone may share the optimism B and I do when we think about the new administration. No one knows what will happen -- no one on in any camp. And while the President is a strong figure in what happens, he's not (supposed to be) an all-powerful entity and he is just one of many important players. It's one of the thrills of a democracy. And even though I like how things are going, it all just seems to be happening awfully fast and doesn't seem quite real.

I am not going to gush that everything is now going to be great. In fact, the chances of that happening are slim and would have been slim no matter who came into office. But we will be watching it all with great interest.

And regarding our own selfish interests: it doesn't hurt to have a President in office who is fully aware of us in Hawaii. Out here. In the middle of the Pacific Ocean. All by ourselves.... And have I mentioned that my employer gets 1/2 it's funding from the U.S. gov?

Anyway, all I really want to say is Happy New Year. Best wishes to everyone.