Get Shacked

.swimsuit fetish.

2010-03-02T19:22:00.000-10:00

Apart from my slurpee OCD and chronic fear of feet I also have a rediculous swim suit fetish. Behold.

Ever since I moved into a bedroom upstairs I've had the luxury of two swim suit drawers. Which means easy access to swim suits no matter where I go [which is useful since I am often too lazy to walk upstairs to get a change of clothes].

I have been very, very good this summer only purchasing two swim suits that were not even surfing swim suits! But now I'm getting swim suit antsy. It's a few more months till PacSun puts their suits on sale so I've been forced to resort to online window shopping. Sigh. If only the price of swim suits weren't so expensive ...

I want, want, want!

Of course I don't look quite like that ...

Mari and I have often discussed what characterizes a good surfing suit. Namely, non moveable cups, adjustable strings [thin strings make for easy car-key tying]. Work out suits are good to help to get rid of pesky halter tan lines and are also useful in larger surf [obviously, since bikini tops tend to shift giving everyone else in h2o an excellent view]. Black suits are a must. Girls who wear matchy-matchy suits to the beach are silly [or white].

In a perfect world I'd be sponsored and given millions of free suits. What heaven.

For My Everything Buddy

2008-01-07T15:10:00.001-10:00

Per my everything buddy's request -- and since she claims that this is one of the few mediums which she uses to keep up-to-date on my life and ascertain that I'm still alive -- I have decided to post an update.

That, and I really want to share fun, disgusting, gross photos of my surf injuries. :)

How cool is that right? This is what happens when you go surfing on the North Shore and your friend leaves you by yourself and you make bad decisions, like deciding to duck dive under a shortboarder who skegs you on the head and on your thigh (leaving a really big bruise and a two inch gaping wound in your head). I thought it was just a bruise until one of the guys told me that I was bleeding. Fortunately South Shore has been REALLY small the last few weeks which meant that everyone from Concessions was out there surfing and lots of people paid attention and took care of me and made sure that I didn't die even though G. wasn't around and quite frankly was very mean and unconcerned about the gushing blood and pain that I was in and proceeded to take his time coming in, pee in the h2o, and drive me from the country into town to Straub's (that and I didn't want to die in a Waipahu hospital).

13 stitches and lots of tylenol later I just have a really bad headache and a heightened fear of people taking off in front of me (please don't do that near me).

This is actually a story better told in person, or as G. goes around saying "Crystal has a puka in her head."

In other news, I am mourning the glorious heyday of UH football. I presume that I will quickly have to return to screaming at the tv as we lose game, after game, after game, and have our games pulled from tv since our team is losing by an excessive spread. At least I have Colty's jersey as a reminder of what once was, and could have been if Herman Frasier @#$(*% up the dream's of an entire state.

.almost kissing.

2007-02-24T19:01:00.000-10:00

Congratulations to my beloved Gay Bob (aka Bobalicious) on his impending marriage-hood come tomorrow.

On Friday he was out celebrating his last remaining days of freedom and must have been in remarkably good spirits, allowing me to play with his 7'10 egg. I heart that board but rarely get to switch with him because he never wants to play with my itty bitty 5'10. Anyway, I took off on a wave and had a hard time turning the board (could have been that extra two feet) and thought that I almost killed Greg.

So I paddle over to Jess.

Me: Jess, I almost killed Greg.
Jess: You almost kissed Greg?
Me: NO! ... How do you 'almost kiss' someone?

Please note, Jess = Greg's girlfriend.

Anyway, it was quite funny and I was told that I mumble (which I don't think I do ... because Jess also misheard something again today, so maybe it's just her hearing?)

Oh, and Trisha is back in the h2o after her multiple month recovery. Which means more girls in the h2o for the longboarders to aim at.

.whale watching.

2007-02-20T15:25:00.000-10:00

Yesterday, in the midst of freezing to death in gale-force winds and icy cold water I spotted a whale spouting. :) It was huuuuuuuuuuuuge - it's flipper was the same height as the sail boat which it was swimming quite close to (I told Errol he should swim over and make friends with it). I named my new whale friend Flipper.

Even though there were supposedly waves this morning I dug out and returned home to sleep. I'm not used to winter surf. Maybe tomorrow though.

Remind me to share the story of the time I locked my keys in the car (because I took out the wrong key - I had the car not the truck) and Warren and Brad broke in with a screwdriver and a hanger, Gavin had to lend me a towel and everyone came over to watch the festivities. All very entertaining.

.animal killer.

2007-02-13T14:17:00.000-10:00

I just ran over a mongoose. :(

In my defense, I couldn't avoid it and thought that I'd made it clear until I felt a bump underneath my back tire and saw a limp, unmoving, furry body left in my wake (which the car in back of me had to swerve to avoid). The poor goosey managed to avoid the car in the front of me only to get confused and scurry to it's demise beneath my truck. I'm sad. At least there was no blood on my tires though.

.sharkies.

2007-02-04T10:03:00.000-10:00

This morning I dragged my warm and toasty behind (I spent the night sleeping cozily beneath TWO comforters ... one an extra thick one that I used back in California) up and out of bed at 6 a.m. down to the beach. G. spent much of the morning convincing me to surf, but after listening to Brad and Doug's story of the 6 foot shark they spotted (and which brought them all, hastily paddling in) I was content to keep all of my appendages safely on land. FINALLY (at 7:30) I was convinced to grab my board and paddle out when Eddie (Pang) calls G. over to tell him that he spotted four, 10-foot sharks feeding out in front of Concessions. Lovely.

So there was no surfing this morning. Again.

At least there is football.

2007-02-01T18:05:00.000-10:00

Only two sessions in 10 days ... boo.

.rawr.

2007-01-30T08:10:00.000-10:00

RAWR.

Play the game and guess what I am:

a. a baby tiger

b. a baby penguin

c. an adolescent t-rex (I can't spell the first part ... tiranosaurus?)

d. a grown-up eagle

###

RAWR. Anyway, I'm in a foul mood because I KNEW there was going to be south shore wrap from country's HUUUUGE swell and got myself into an excited tizzy just to be disappointed after a phone call with Warren who informed me it was all unrideable. :( This is what I get for not dragging my lazy butt out of bed all weekend -- apparently surfnewsnetwork LIED to me again those *&@#$ and what they SAID was flat - 1 foot was actually decent surf -- and only surfing once last week. Wah. I would ALMOST miss G. (big fat lie we all know I miss him) if it didn't mean blissfully sleeping in till late, late, late. And let me tell you anything is late when compared to 5:30 a.m.

.kelly & cam.

2007-01-23T17:04:00.000-10:00

Taken from celeb gossip blog popsugar.com. I too would like to get dumped by Justin Timberlake, only to take up with Kelly Slater in Hawaii. :(

"Kelly's mom is insisting that the two are just friends, but we beg to differ. The two have been seen all over together along Oahu's North Shore. She arrived Tuesday, and he evidently cleared his whole schedule to spend teh week with her. Wednesday they were seen having dinner at Haleiwa Joe's and Friday they went grocery shopping together. During the week they hit the beach and got in a round of golf at the Turtle Bay Resort. They haven't been completely joined at the hip, though. Cammie was seen shopping Kelly-free at the Ala Moana Center in Honolulu. Reps for both, of course can't be reached for comment so we'll just have to wait and see on this one."

With everyone (everyone, I swear) in Canada I'm promising to wake up one morning -- yes, all by myself with no wake-up call to speak of -- and paddle up ALL BY MYSELF. Yup, that hasn't happened in quite some time (and to think, at the beginning of summer I was doing it every day!). In fact I got a look/lecture from Greg the other day when I said that G. was so excited to surf that he took off without me. But there's a swell (small one) expected Thursday so maybe if it isn't too blustery I'll drag my wetsuited-self out into the h2o. :)

.i knew it.

2007-01-14T18:54:00.000-10:00

Sorry crystal, employees of surfboard shack aren't eligible for the free
board giveaway.

-neal

Sad. I'm going to quit.

.win a FREE Tore surfboard!.

2007-01-13T20:46:00.000-10:00

I just did my good deed of the day (albeit, after a few days of procrastination) and forwarded everyone the email I received to win a free Tore surfboard. Despite the fact that I sent it out to less than 10 people (I don't have many people in my address book and didn't care to look up names/addresses) I'm still going to give myself a big fat pat on the back. If you'd like to enter to win as well (seriously, FREE SURFBOARD) then just email me at crystalyamasaki@gmail.com and I'll forward on to you. That's how nice I am.

All you need to do to enter the drawing (by the way, it's limited ONLY to O'ahu residents and you must enter before February 1) is provide surfboardshack.com with your name, address, blood type, social security number and sexual preference. Hah. I'm kidding. Just enter email, name, age and state (here, I assume that it's the state in which you reside) and you'll not only enter the drawing but simultaneously subscribe to their newsletter. I don't know the exact specs for the board but Neal talks about the Tore quite a lot and recommends it so it must be a good deal. I wonder if I can enter to win or if I'm automatically exempt from the contest as an "employee" of the company. Would it look rigged if I won? I don't think so ...

I think the surfboardshack logo is cute and would go nicely with the new blue/green Roxy sticker that G. got me for the bet that he lost. :)

And now, since I've already logged in and literally forced myself to blog I might as well tell everyone my Gay-Bob-can't-drive story of the morning which is probably not nearly as funny as entertaining as it is to anyone but myself, Gay Bob and maybeother old people who are entertained by me and my stupidity. I was driving to the beach this morning and was waiting at the light on Ward that turns onto Ala Moana. After the light turned green I went and the silver truck to the left of me (I was in the far right lane) tried to cut in. Now let it be known that I am not a very nice driver and should probably work on that more than I do but cutting down on the mean things I say behind rolled up windows and the (occasionally) inappropriate gesture. This particular morning I was not feeling very charitable and thought that the idiot driver (who had a sticker with a girl on a longboard on their back window) should know better than to be in that lane if they wanted to be in MY lane and refused to let them in. When the proceeded to turn into me I honked at them. Well, said truck turned into Ala Moana Beach Park and parked just a few cars down from me and when the guy got out (it was dark) I thought it was OJ and yelled "learn to drive" down the street to them and walked away without really finding out who it was. Well, at least it wasn't a complete stranger (cause I'd probably get beaten up for something like that) or OJ but Gay Bob who then spent the morning telling everyone I sit at traffic lights digging my nose and what not. Vicious lies!

It's been pretty good recently (yesterday and today ... heard it was good Thursday morning too but I didn't go). And hopefully it will be decent again tomorrow and without the many, many people who think they can surf and can't (normally this would include me, but I'm just going to ignore the hypocrisy). I mocked G. for getting hit by a longboard this morning so I'll probably get killed by one tomorrow. Hooray.

.presents.

2007-01-10T17:13:00.000-10:00

Teeny tiny bubbles. In my waves.
Maybe there will be bigger ones (waves, not bubbles) tomorrow.

Recently I received two great gifts. One, from my everything buddy (who reads this all the time even though she doesn't like surfing or water, but still loves me), was a bikini bag from Cinnamon Girl. Very cute. G. has a ghetto version which consists of a plastic bag. Mine is better and prettier. :) G. also got me new sunglasses (don't tell him but I like the case more than the glasses ... just cause the glasses are pink. :p)

I think there's going to be waves tomorrow. 1-2+. I want to shortboard again!

.country.

2007-01-07T14:59:00.000-10:00

It's already a bit (okay, very) late but regardless, I thought I'd extend a big fat

Happy New Year!

to all of you who (still) read this blog - especially when I fail to update it for weeks on end. Mahalo's and kisses and all that yuck.

ANYWAY, just wanted to put it out there that I FINALLY surfed country for the first time in my life - I don't believe all those times that we went in high school and "tried" to surf count as legitimate attempts. G. woke me up at the crack of dawn (grrrrrr) and picked me up (yay) and we drove down to Lani's and met up with some of his friends and Doug.
We (tried) to surf at the end bowl of Lani's but apparently I truly suck at it because I caught only two waves the entire time. I also got BOTH contacts simultaneously knocked out of my eyeballs when a gigantor set came in and I didn't duck underwater in time. I was SO BLIND. But luckily I found one of the contacts on the outside of my eyelid and G. had one in his pocket so I was okay. It was fun and what not but REDICULOUSLY crowded (seriously, people complain about town and Concessions? This was 592 times WORSE ... at least MOST town people know what they're doing and how to do it!) and there were a bunch of longboarders out there - for who knows what reason since it was at least 2-3 occasional 4 - teaching themselves to longboard and this guy on a red longboard ate it right in front of me and his board missed me by less than a foot. Meh.
Once we got in there was warm water to shower with - because G. is a freak who wakes up early to bring warm water in his little water jugs - and freakish north shore locals who stand on the side of the road and spit at cars who drive by.
Then there was yummy breakfast at a Haleiwa cafe (forget the name but they had delish potatoes) and Sunnyside bakery pie. Mmmmmmm.

I didn't go surf this morning (I was so lazy this past week I think I seriously surfed only two times) cause I was tired from our late-night escapades the previous night but all is well. The south shore is still flat and maybe I'll be able to drag my butt out of bed next weekend ... or even tomorrow. :)

.rainy days blustery waves.

2006-12-29T17:43:00.000-10:00

I still love rainy days.

It's big, big, BIG on the North Shore (too big to surf, even) and blustery this morning and G. is finally home walking on my land, breathing my air and swimming in my h2o. I think all of his gambling/Vegas debauchery has tuckered the poor old man out so that he actually slept in till 6:30 (I think the blustery, rainy, overcast weather and of course, missing moi, helped) and we didn't get out to the beach till close to 8.

I met OJ's nephew who informed me that I was sassy and high-maintenance and lost a bet to Gay Bob. Apparently old surfer men notice more things than I'll ever give them credit for.

More surfy-surfy tomorrow.

Maybe try the 6'10 again ...

.merry christmas.

2006-12-25T19:25:00.000-10:00

Yay me, blogging TWO DAYS IN A ROW.

Today I reluctantly woke myself up at 6 a.m. My favorites, Steve and Delbert, were already down at the beach when I got there and Delbert arrived bearing gifts of Zippy's omelet sandwhiches, beverages and a present for little old moi! We waited till the sun came out and paddled out (with Nat) and met up with Bryson H. out there who had made his mommy get up at 5 a.m. to wrap our Christmas. It was teeny tiny but clean conditions and I paddled in at around 8:30 to shower, change and hand out the sugar cookies that I baked (no small feat considering that I managed to turn off the oven once and forgot to start the timer twice). At least Brad liked them and Warren said he'd eat them even if they were black (cause he loves me).

Then I came home and ate (more) yummy bacon, butter rolls and eggs. I was rather "ba-humbug" this year (as those around me will vouch) but I spent all morning playing with my BRAND NEW MUMBLE THE ROBOTIC DANCING HAPPY FEET PENGUIN. :) Hands down the best present that I got this year. I heart "Santa."

Hope everyone had a fabulous holiday. The highlight of my day was the 3.5 hour nap in the middle of the afternoon.

.my surfer is cuter than your surfer.

2006-12-24T22:03:00.000-10:00

I was Christmas shopping in T&C the other day (just two days before Christmas, mind you) with Kai and Dars when Kai pointed out a shirt to me.

"My surfer is cuter than your surfer"

Or something to that effect. Anyway, he said that that would have been a good shirt to get G. for Christmas (since we are madly brainstorming what to get for THE most impossible person to shop for ever) and it was actually a good idea, right? Unfortunately I couldn't find a male version of the shirt because T&C sucks toes (kidding, I love T&C!) and am going to file a complaint with Ryan.

This story doesn't really have a point, since I am still COMPLETELY at a loss of what to get G. for Christmas. I know, I know, it's Christmas Eve, but he's in Vegas until Thursday so technically I still have three more days ... assuming of course, that I find something at all. So if anyone has any ideas of what to get a surfer who already has everything, let me know ...

And while I was brainstorming for this entry I remembered that I used to (I think I actually still had it in the dresser in my old room, but my parents took the dresser out of the room so I don't know where it is anymore) have a T&C tanktop that read something to the effect of,

"My boyfriend surfs better than your boyfriend"

Not that I've ever had a boyfriend, let alone one who surfs, but I can dream.

Merry Christmas. :)

I just stole my little cousin's 6'10 Epoxy Costco board to take out tomorrow. I'm EXCITED. It's almost kind of like getting a new board for Christmas!

.day off.

2006-12-22T10:49:00.000-10:00

There was no 5-ish a.m. wake up call this morning so I was forced to drag myself out of bed to the sound of my own alarm. Got down to the beach around 6:30 just as Errol pulled in and we paddled out together. It was NOT 1-3 (no sign of the swell yet) but we're still hopeful for tomorrow morning. Or at least I am.

I've grown very spoiled with all the south swells coming in this season. Lucky, lucky, me. My arms are still exhausted from being worked (especially on the double session I pulled Wednesday, with Nat & Dars now that I actually have FRIENDS home). Needless to say I think I've gotten better at duckdiving. Kind of.

I ended up staying out until 9 a.m. because I HAVE THE DAY OFF. Glorious, glorious. Eddie was telling me this morning that the ocean is just a pot of stew full of our love for one another (if you knew Eddie you'd know he's being sarcastic) and I told him that in Hawaiian, wa, the ocean is also another word for amniotic fluid which means that everytime you enter the water you are returning, in a sense, to your mother's womb. There is someone that I used to know who would have agreed with that.

I also taught Joey that Grent's name was not Grant and that Errol's name was not Earl. I'm so useful.

I think I should get a gold star everytime I talk about surfboardshack (*ahem* boss). This morning Errol and Helmet guy were talking about selling their boards on Craig's List and I (at least made an attempt to) convinced them otherwise. Look at me tooting my own horn.

.an early Christmas.

2006-12-17T10:27:00.000-10:00

I'm EXHAUSTED, but today's session was just so good that of course, it warranted mention in this poor neglected blog. We took out Andrew (Iva's husband) this morning and he did REALLY well but I guess that's just how guys are ... they can do anything you throw at them. They have no healthy fear of death (ahem ... unlike myself). The surf report said that it would only be 1-2+ but I guess the swell came in early and it was solid 2-4+. Yikes, bikes. It took me around 20 minutes to get out to Big Rights THROUGH THE CHANNEL and I was so tired I almost turned around and went back in. We got out while it was still dark and it was only Doug, G., Andrew, Ken and myself so super mellow. I made the mistake of ignoring G.'s and Doug's warning of "outside" on one 5 foot set. I thought I'd made it under the first wave (and was about to pat myself on the back) when the whitewash sucked me back over the falls and into the inside. As I was floundering in the h2o G. shouts to me (cause there's another huge set coming in) to just throw my board and dive under which is just what I did, though I got my butt kicked as a result. After that I listened to EVERYONE and every warning of "outside" no matter how small it may have been. I caught a few good waves and went over the falls a few times (cause I hesitated ... dammit, I'm such a wuss ... and of course that's when I fall, not even actually CATCHING the waave) but I survived. I want to surf again tomorrow but I'm scurred. If I could just duckdive and make it OUT into the break I'd be fine ... but we'll see. :) Yay for south shore surf and an early Christmas present.

Oh, and ever since I got a lecture on my lack of enthusiasm for promoting surfboardshack.com I've been making it a point to get the word out. Sadly, if it were a contest, G. is kicking my butt since he manages to mention it in casual conversation much more than myself. Meh. In the scheme of things I think I will just take credit for HIS promotions since technically I was the one to tell him about it. :)

Go check it out. Surfboardshack.com. Surfboards are great presents for uh ... everyone. And even if you don't get one for someone else ... every once in a while you need to get a little something for yourself, right? Or at least that's what I tell myself ...

.perfect Concessions.

2006-12-12T09:14:00.000-10:00

I've been neglecting poor surfboardshack, I know. Writing all day makes one reluctant to write, even if it is about something somewhat diverting. And all of the recent blustery weather (and even blustier conditions) doesn't really motivate me to get out of bed either.

But today I dragged myself out of bed since I promised G. (he threatned to go Country if I didn't)I'd bring a longboard. And it was GOOD. Perfect, clean, (not glassy, but great considering the previous week) semi-decent surf. I wanted to surf all morning, and would have if G. hadn't dragged me out of the h2o with reminders of an actual career (is it a career?) that I had to attend to.

I "said" that tomorrow I'm going to get up bright and early and surf. Too bad that now days that means surfing while it's still dark! I checked my handy dandy tide chart and on December 31 the sun isn't scheduled to rise until 7:09 a.m.! :( I need some night vision ...

.would you rather.

2006-12-03T20:16:00.000-10:00

Would you rather ...

Surf perfect, clean 1-2 EMPTY conditions

OR

Surf crumbly, CROWDED 2-4+???

Seeing as how I can't shortboard the latter, I'd opt for the former.

.post gobble gobble.

2006-11-24T16:10:00.000-10:00

Surfed with my Darsie for the first time in MONTHS. It was very [very] small but I guess that just goes to show you that it's not [always] what you're doing, but who you're doing it with.

I somehow ended up working on my day off. Go figure. So no Black Friday for me. But I still got free shipping, no tax on my purchases, and a free Victoria's Secret tote. Yay. :)

.gobble gobble.

2006-11-23T22:27:00.000-10:00

Despite the somewhat stressful going-ons of this past week and today's flatness it was a very merry Thanksgiving nonetheless.

I'm thankful.

For days when grandma knows my name, eats her lunch and can laugh at my jokes.
A new job that I [still] heart dearly and which allows me to do the things I love [ie. SURF IN THE A.M.]
Very cool surfing buddies
G. [yes, gross, gag]
BFFS [y mejor amigas] on the mainland and at home
Family who are my best friends, my confidantes, my heros, my support system, etc.
Shortboarding [which I still suck at but love, regardless]
My new McDreamy which has me keeping my night shift for the moment ...
Wireless internet & Netflix

And all that good stuff. :) I'm about to pass out from all the gobble gobble in my tummy and lack of slumber ... Off to sleep so I can get up and surf with DARSIE.

.intense backup.

2006-11-19T13:12:00.000-10:00

From a conversation this morning between the First Holes guys.

"_____ was getting mad at ____ cause he kept dropping in."
"Yah, what does he call it?"
"Intense backup."

Okay, so maybe it's only funny if you were there ...

It's still SO small. Grrrrrrrrrr.
But I have Sunnyside chocolate haupia pie. :)

.tsunami watch.

2006-11-15T20:38:00.000-10:00

It was one of those really weird days where you wake up at 5:00 in the a.m. and listen to the news discuss an earthquake off the coast of japan, the tsunami watch that had been posted and then canceled by Civil Defense and then go down to the beach only to get loudly warned to stay out of the h2o by Civil Defense workers as they drive up and down the beach with their lights flashing and sirens blaring and get to watch as the helicopter flies by with more loudspeakers, chasing the surfers already in the h2o, out of the h2o.

FUNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN.

G. and I were going to surf at 9 when the warning of strong currents and ocean surges went down but I was forced to finish a project. Instead we actually did go surfing around 12-ish and it was a very painful reminder of why I don't surf after 10 a.m. anymore. Too much sun, too much stupid people, too much wind and junky conditions.

There is going to be a swell tomorrow maybe.

2006-11-14T09:56:00.000-10:00

There's a swell forecasted for this weekend! 2-3 PLUS on Friday. I'm so excited I'm almost giddy. And shortboarding in all the small waves has made me brave enough [and stupid enough] to think that I could shortboard in 2-3 footers.

There's also another [smaller] swell for next week. Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay.

And the Triple Crown has started on the North Shore. I think Mari guys went down for the kick off this past Sunday. I've never been to a Triple Crown event but maybe now that I'm actually in Hawaii when all the fun nonesense takes place I'll be able to partake in the fun? If not there's always the internet ... They think that this year about 2 million people will watch the Triple Crown ONLINE. Which makes sense [kind of] since there is no way 2 million people will ever make it down to the North Shore with their one-lane roads.

I didn't surf today because of Kona winds. Stupid Kona winds.

.a funny anecdote.

2006-11-09T21:30:00.000-10:00

I was too tired [and disconcerted by the surf report] to wake up this morning.

But a funny story from YESTERDAY when I actually got up and got in the h2o ...

I ate it on a wave and subsequently slammed some part of my board into my shin. When I got out of the h2o G. recommended that I put a bandaid on it and some kind of ointment from his HUGE first aid kit. He held out two ointment packets and asked, "do you want the one with aloe [pronounced ALLOY], or the one without?"

And I said, "Alloy?! It's pronounced aloe [ah-loe] before I even realized what I was saying." [This because for four years away at college, my roommates would always correct me whenever I said "alloy"]

It's not funny after the fact, except for that Hawaii people can't pronounce words properly. That is all.

Hopefully I wake up tomorrow, though for what, I don't know.

2006-11-07T15:22:00.000-10:00

What to write, what to write? There is no waves ANYWHERE. Not south, not north, nor east or west. G. is trying to convince me to surf Lani's one of these days [which is where there are all the TURTLES ... fun] but that seems doubtful if I have to be near my precious internet access to actually DO WORK. Since today is election day everyone has the day off but me. Even the pool is closed [and the pool NEVER closes except for Thanksgiving, New Years and Christmas] which says a lot. Today I longboarded for the first time in about 2 weeks - yesterday it was so small that all I did was paddle for waves on my shortboard and ride them lying down ... it actually made the waves look big [I'm such a dork]. Writing about surfing when there is no surf is useless. I miss summer.

.blackout.

2006-11-03T17:56:00.000-10:00

It's hard to write about surfing when you black out on Halloween night while walking to the living room, fall, hit your chin against the frame of your wooden sofa, are subsequently diagnosed with a sinus infection [which apparently causes you to lose your balance] and kept from surfing in the a.m. under the threat of death [by your mommy].
I [finally] got a job and it's great and I L.O.V.E. it so much. And I still get to surf!
Assuming of course, my dad doesn't unplug the engine to my truck ...

.breakfast bbq.

2006-10-29T18:19:00.000-10:00

It was smaller this morning than yesterday, but after a fun session [where I was mocked for going over the falls by everyone out] I paddled in to a yummy homecooked breakfast prepared by the old guys. Some of them brought their wives and kids, and we all just hung out under the tents eating everything from fruit salad, croissants [Byron didn't know what a croissant was ... he thought it was like a turnover ...], chili, chicken to eggs, steak, a variety of sausages, beverages, etc. It made my tummy happy.

It's going to be very small for a while which might give my poor legs a break. I have bruises all over from where my skegs [or other parts of the board] have ruthlessly attacked me. I'm not used to having so many fins so close to my body.

2006-10-26T15:25:00.000-10:00

How is there STILL waves on the south shore?! [not that I'm complaining, really!] What have I been missing out on all these years, believing that I was only missing flat, boring surf? Hmmmmm?

Sunday the guys are having a bbq in the morning and I am at a loss for what to contribute. Mainly because I have no domestic skills. But since all the rest of them do [I mean, seriously, they make scrapbooks and bake cookies and what not] I'm sure they'll be able to compensate for all that I lack. Maybe I'll make muffins. Or just buy Liliha Bakery cocoa puffs...

Byron left his kids in the car today while he surfed. I may be voted most likely to never get married/get divorced/never have children by my friends but I would never leave my kids in the car while I surf ... I'd leave them at home with their father.

.down to two.

2006-10-23T09:00:00.000-10:00

Last Thursday's tragic surfing incident [which fortunately, I missed, opting to return home to work on my project rather than paddle out] I admit, has made me much more wary of big waves and the people that surf them.

It's funny even on an island so small, how quickly the news spreads. I'm going to miss one of the few surfing female buddies I have out there since she's out of commission for a good 4-6 months but Estee and I have plans to bring food and entertainment next week.

Our trio is down to two. :(

This morning was junk. But then again we've been quite spoiled. Swell due tomorrow?

.what you wish for.

2006-10-18T09:47:00.000-10:00

Okay, when I said "go surf," I didn't mean EVERYONE had to go surf. Really! There are waves in country, GO THERE! I guess I should watch what I wish for, right?

Today was fun. It was very pleasant before the sun came up and the conditions were clean and it was empty. I enjoyed a few waves [that Layne forced upon me] and only almost-died once.
Mari and Amelia paddled out later. On one memorable set wave, we were on the inside and scurrying to make it out, and all I heard was Mari in back of me saying, "Oh my god, I'm going to die." I was laughing too hard to be scared. :)
More tomorrow.

.get waves.

2006-10-17T09:32:00.000-10:00

So go surf!

Town's picking up. It was clean this morning [and EMPTY, how glorious!] and should be up to 2-4 by tomorrow.

.i need electricity.

2006-10-16T12:59:00.000-10:00

Who would have thunk it, but THANK GOODNESS for late-night-strip-club-partying with the boys in celebration of Christopher's birthday that actually KEPT ME IN BED and out of the water in the early AM on Sunday. I woke up to my bed shaking and windows rattling all about [and wondering - because the floor of my bedroom is kind of thin and questionable - if I was going to plummet through the second floor and onto my parent's bedroom below me]. Through the shaking I managed to secure my contacts and throw on some shorts and a shirt [in case I had to run to safety outside] and went downstairs to see my parents drinking coffee.

So then, the first throught to run through my head was, MAYBE IT WAS THE GARBAGE DISPOSAL?!
Yes, I told my California roommates, that that is the difference between Hawaii people [or just me] and California people. California people assume everytime the ground moves in any small way that it is an earthquake. I on the other hand, quickly try to attribute it to outside factors such as, say, the garbage disposal.

It was not, in fact, the garbage disposal. The 6.6 earthquake 9 miles off the coast of the Big Island [while oh-so-thrilling] quickly threw my pretty island into a state of natural disaster and NO ELECTRICITY. For around 15 hours yesterday [yes, that is from 7 am till around 10 pm] my pretty little casa in my pretty little island was without television, internet, proper lighting, copious amounts of hot water, the freedom to open our refrigerator whenever we pleased, and a working stove or microwave. Oh, the things we take for granted when we don't live in a third world country. All I did yesterday was eat [tuna and crackers and some grilled cheese our neighbors brought over], read [I finished The Alchemist] and sleep. What else is there to do? Once the sun began to set though, we were in dire straits and my mom and I had to resort to playing poker [which wasn't much fun when it's just between two people and she kicked my butt].

At least I got back into the water this morning. The conditions were pretty choppy but at least there were waves? Maybe? Hmmmmmm. Hopefully the conditions will clean up by tomorrow. There's supposed to be a 4 foot swell forecasted for later in the week. And hopefully my electricity [which had the nerve to go off AGAIN this morning] will stay up on a consistent basis. Let's keep our fingers crossed.

.news from all over.

2006-10-13T21:50:00.000-10:00

Yesterday my parents and I went down to wave signs with Della. How very political of me. Daniel Inouye was there too and we spent a good hour in the hot, hot afternoon being ignored by drivers on cell phones. I now have a much greater appreciation [or is it commiseration?] for [political] sign-wavers. I guess that means I'll be waving at the [weird] Linda Lingle sign waver who stands by his lonesome with seven signs on the Pali at 5-ish in the a.m.
If you live in the Makiki district vote for Della Au Bellati!

Paddled out a bit late this morning, around 7:30. I don't know if it's the fact that it was FLAT all week or that I was on a shortboard but the waves appeared rather large. Conditions were good though and there were only 4 or 5 guys out.
This is actually my first winter HOME and if the south shore would stay in the 1-2 foot range I think I could actually get used to surfing in empty, clean conditions while everyone flocks to country. Mari wanted to surf North Shore this Sunday but if it's in the 3-5 foot range I think even the "smaller" breaks might be too large for me. Yikes. At least everyone will be over yonder rather than invading my personal bubble, right?

Must go to sleep so I can get up early, get in, and get out and go teach lessons. It's the first Saturday lessons of the Fall session [since the pools been closed for 2.5 weeks] and I have SIX kiddies in my level 1 class including one whose autistic and gets his own special helper. Arghhhhhhhh.

.all alone.

2006-10-11T23:26:00.000-10:00

For the past 4 months I've been lying to myself, saying that I "surf by myself." In reality I can't remember the last time I had to paddle out by myself [it's been some time that I didn't have Dars, G., Delbert, Steve, or another "buddy" to paddle alongside]. This became abundantly clear when [due to the total lack of waves everyone stayed landlocked] I found myself paddling out [on a shortboard, nonetheless] alone.
I was about to paddle in, having given up on the concept of "shortboarding" for the morning, when Eddie paddled out. I stayed out for another 45 minutes working on my "backside" and talking story with him about how to woo women and about how certain people are worried about me. Go figure.

I guess this means that the 50/50 swell they forecasted won't come in [unless by some miracle it appears tomorrow]. All I can do is hope for bigger waves, and that haole Brian shows up to play with me tomorrow like he promised.

.surfing with girls.

2006-10-10T21:04:00.000-10:00

Thanks to a week-long "vacation" [her job ran out of $ to pay her] Mari deigned to surf with me at Concessions. It appeared just as flat as yesterday, but Mari, Amelia and I, being the die-hard adventure-seekers that we are, paddled out.
I must say it's very refreshing and very un-Concessions-like to have the ENTIRE break to ourselves. The last time I can remember such a wonderous occasion was two or three years ago surfing with Toe right before the sun went down as we taunted one another that our "grandmother could paddle faster than that." Good times.
Today was equally entertaining - falling on itty bitty waves, trying to cross over, cheering eachother on the "bigger" waves, and talking loudly about future occupations for Amelia ranging from being a surrogate mother to construction worker.

Sometimes I think I miss surfing with girls my own age.

.back from my sojourn.

2006-10-09T19:58:00.000-10:00

Sorry that there's not much to blog about. Just back from my sojourn to SoCal [the land of Target, In N Out, Chipotatle, Shaken Iced Tea Lemonades, H & M, Victoria Secrets, Trader Joes and other wonders of the world] and I must say that I haven't missed Hawaii oh-so-much. The humidity here is particularly unbearable - I'm sweating just sitting in the living room typing this. Yuck. Not to mention the fact that there are NO WAVES on the south shore. I surfed yesterday [Sunday] with Delbert, Warren, Bradley, Gavin, Gaylen, and some other guys but it wasn't particularly remarkable what with the size and the fact that everyone has already migrated to the north shore for the winter. Today I got up and drove down to the beach only to look at the lake and turn around and drive back home.

There's supposed to be a "bump" on Wednesday. I hope so because I need motivation to stay in the water and out of this heat.

.optimistic.

2006-09-30T09:00:00.000-10:00

Today was SO SMALL. But at least the guys [ie. Gay Bob, Delbert, Bradley, Warren] paddled out so I had buddies.

Delbert on the itty bitty waves.
"Hey, look on the bright side, at least we're not on the north shore paddling to make it out of the way from the set waves."

Oh, Delbert. Ever the optimist. :)

Tomorrow is either going to be smaller than today ... or seven feet. I'm a really good south shore forecaster.

.big rights.

2006-09-25T15:21:00.000-10:00

The past few days it's actually been BIGGER than what I expected ["bigger" still being from my skewed perception, only 2-3 occasional 4]. Let me just say that shortboarding in big waves, when you can't catch big waves and have to sit on the inside, and can't duck-dive under the big waves when they come in, sucks. Does life go on? I hope so.

Concessions was crowded [again!] this morning so after an hour or so Brian and I decided to paddle over to [the completely empty] Big Rights and surf with OJ. That means that for the first time in MONTHS [with the exception of that morning where I surfed the inside of Second Holes with the little kiddies] I actually surfed another spot. Granted of course, the spot is just a few feet away from Concessions but another spot is another spot and I pat myself on the back. The rights at Big Rights actually are FUN and LONGER than Concessions and I wasn't so scared since I was on a shortboard. Maybe if Brian comes out tomorrow and Big Rights isn't crowded we can try our luck again. One wave I caught I rode for longer than the cumulative lengths of all my other waves [today]. Yes, that is how pathetic a shortboarder I am.

It should get small later this week so maybe I'll resort back to longboarding. My arms are starting to get sore from all the exercise.

.the start of Fall.

2006-09-22T14:09:00.000-10:00

Despite my fear of shortboarding in big[ger] waves I sucked it up and brought out the beloved 5'8 four-fin that I have newly christened Shaniqua [okay, so I haven't really christened the board Shaniqua - I'm open to suggestions!]. I thought it was only 1-3 feet, but there were some bigger [maybe 4 foot] sets coming in every once in a while that forced me to paddle for dear life as I tried to not get taken out by all the guy catching the sets on the outside. Even though I didn't catch a single wave for the first hour I was out, I started actually "trying" when HB [haole Brian] came out and promised to stay out until 9 with me.
Shortboarding has a way of putting everything into perspective, making "small" waves appear "too big" and causing me, a forever-longboarder to start loathing people with boards bigger than 7' who almost decapitate me everytime they try to catch a wave.
Longboarders really do suck. I'll hate myself and my people until I grow either too bored or too frustrated with shortboarding and revert back to the dark side.
Afterwards I did breakfast with Tricia at Cooke St Diner which entailed her downing two breakfast entrees and discussions ranging from the soap-opera-esque drama that the 22 year old females [ie. us] have managed to wreak upon Concessions and lactating. I love surfers.

Tomorrow [Saturday] marks the first day of Fall leaving me to assume that the waves that we are seeing now marks the last of the south swell-age until April. I'm actually going to "try" and shortboard again tomorrow. Once I get used to the whole actually duckdiving under a wave without getting my butt whipped all over the place I'm sure the process will be a lot more pleasant.

.jellies.alohadayparade.

2006-09-16T21:21:00.000-10:00

Today was the annual Aloha Day parade. Since I haven't been around for the festivities for the past 4 years I was unaware that they shut down the ENTIRE Ala Moana park from 1 am until 10 am, leaving only Kewalo Basin open ... Fortunately, we got there at around 5:30, narrowly beating the guys with permits who tried to kick us out. Since some of the guys had already gone into the h2o and everyone had already fed the meters [not to mention the fact that they hadn't put up any signs notifying the public that the lot was closed] we got to stay put and watch Steve A. call the permit-bearing messenger a ding-dong.

The swell didn't come in AT ALL [liars], however the influx of box jellies did arrive per scheduled [10 days after the full moon]. Yesterday they were out in full force in the channel between Concessions and Big Rights. Along with a few of the other guys, I got stung multiple times by jelly babies, leaving me with oodles of itchy scratchy bite-like dots all over my arms, legs, feet, back and stomache. Looks like chicken pox.

Since the waves didn't arrive today everyone is saying that it will arrive tomorrow. I don't believe them but I'm bringing out my longboard just in case.
One of these days I swear I'll be able to shortboard in waves bigger than 3 feet.

.surfboardshack.

2006-09-14T09:21:00.000-10:00

My laptop died last week so sadly it has been near impossible to update or do much of anything that requires the internet. Miraculously though, I've been coping surprisingly well with the loss [if this had happened a few months ago while I was still in college and attempting to hand in my senior portfolio I would have had a meltdown] but the laptop gave me four good years and I suppose it is now the time to let it rest in peace.

Anyway, I finally got around to having Neal post my shortboard [one of the two that sit in my storage collecting dust] on surfboardshack.com and within less than 24 hours I had a phone call and email asking about the board. One of the guys even stopped by my house to check out the board and said that he'd think about it and make a decision by this weekend. Also, surfboardshack is free so I get to keep all the $100 I asked for which means $100 more into my puppy/new surfboard/trip to the Centennial Party fund. Hopefully it sells, so that I can move the four-fin that G. has been letting me hold into the storage instead of letting it sit on a chair in my grandmother's living room.
I've been shortboarding the past few days because it's been small and rideable and duck-dive-able. I'm slowly [think: pace of a tortoise] getting the hang of it but since there's a south swell due this weekend it's back to the longboard for me. Hopefully I won't un-learn everything ...

.memory walk.

2006-09-09T12:15:00.000-10:00

The Alzheimer's foundation held their annual Memory Walk this morning, blocking off the ocean-side of Ala Moana for their runners/walkers to traipse through, leaving the rest of us [ie. morning exercise people and surfer people and old[er] people who get up really early to look at the ocean] only one side.

The conditions weren't as good as yesterday. Smaller, a LOT more crowded, and twenty times as windy. Too many aggressive boys all paddling for the same wave ... testosterone, pft. I had to go in early [before 7:30 am] but a lot of the guys headed in the same time to eat breakfast not wanting to deal with the surf/people either.

I hope everyone surfs NS tomorrow ...

.finally.

2006-09-07T08:45:00.000-10:00

After much flatness this week finally [finally] saw some waves. Today was actually considerably larger than yesterday [though it didn't appear so from the beach pre-6 am in the near-darkness]. Needless to say after finally working my way out through the channel I wanted to give up and go back in but stayed out for a while. Bradley said I need to take a break from surfing [my back is sore, probably from surfing every.single.day and swimming a mile yesterday] so I actually went in before 8.

I was talking to Layne yesterday discussing [the common subject of] how I would never ever date a surfer. He said that it was hypocritical to say that since I was one of them. I said that I would never be one of them. He said I am DESPITE the fact that I'm a girl [because apparently girls shouldn't surf everyday ... pft]. I said that I was going to date a non-surfer and surf everyday till my hearts content and leave him back on shore. Layne said that if I were ever to date a non-surfer it would never work because I'd leave him alone all the time to go surfing.

Should have waves into the weekend. Depending on whether or not the predicted and much-hoped-for NS swell actually arrives it may or may not be crowded. We shall see.

I want at least ONE MORE good swell before flatness pervades the south shore.

."cute".

2006-08-30T09:30:00.000-10:00

It didn't seem possible but today was actually smaller than yesterday. In fact, the elderly couple that parks beneath the trees, by the lifeguard stand labeled the waves, "cute." Though I doubt that any surfer approves of waves being labeled as "cute" and if I didn't actually want to ride them I suppose I would find them sort of adorable, in their own way.

After only an hour everyone went in and spent the next hour or so talking story on the beach. :) I think all this time spent conversing with surfer boys/men has made my once-proper English [the kine I talk on the Mainland when surrounded by haole people for months on end] slower, lazier, and nearly as perfectly-imperfect as the men I surf beside. My attempts at pidgin are still laughable ... but hey, I try.

.it's small again.

2006-08-29T15:06:00.000-10:00

Today was tiny. After a week of reasonable size it's difficult to convert back to actualy WORKING for a wave and then not knowing what to do with it once you're on it, since the face of the wave reaches up to about your ankles.

G. made fun of me while I tried to catch a wave today and I subsequently fell off of it. I love how the guys love to humiliate me ... as if surfing with them everyday and listening to them discuss their bowel movements and having them ask me about menstruation weren't enough ...

It's okay because there will be waves tomorrow. I promise. And if not tomorrow then Sunday ...

.katrina.

2006-08-28T17:52:00.000-10:00

Scrawled upon a whiteboard in the classroom we stayed in during our 10 day visit to New Orleans.

"We are immersed in tears, yet always
filled with deep joy; living on handouts,
yet enriching many; having nothing
yet having it all."
2 Corinthians 2:10

At times like this, even I believe.
My memories are this.

.sharp teeth.

2006-08-27T09:18:00.000-10:00

Yesterday I got bit on the butt by a small sharp-toothed creature as I paddled back out over a wave. Yikes.

If I ever, EVER have kids and then leave them sleeping in the car with the windows up while I hop in for a quick morning session before driving them to their 7 o clock orthodontist appointment I will have to shoot myself. I swear that I'll never be like that. At least I think I won't.

.beach field trip.

2006-08-26T17:50:00.000-10:00

The conditions held up today and though it was smaller it was still fun. Everyone must be all surfed-out from this past week since the crowds weren't particularly atrocious or unbearable.

After this morning's lovely session I spent the day at the beach [or beaches, actually]. We stopped by Waikiki to have lunch and got to watch the Duke's festivities.

H2o polo played on foam-topped surfboards. The surfboards looked like they got in the way more than anything else.

We also caught the tail-end of the longboarding contest held at Queens. The conditions were a lot mushier than Ala Moana, but still nice, especially with only 4 or 5 other guys out ...

Should be smaller tomorrow, but we shall hope.

.perfect.

2006-08-25T22:07:00.000-10:00

Today was perfect: clean, 2-4 foot sets. Not even that crowded [Big Rights was *gasp* actually more crowded than Concessions] and the rights weren't closing out. Bliss. Tomorrow should be a little smaller [and probably more crowded] but still excellent.

Delbert played hookie cause he had to get a tooth implant and played with me so I had the opportunity to tell him my girly worries and he got to tell me that my boobs weren't that small [it's relative to the conversation]. I also got to play with Tricia's baby, Summer. She is the cutest thing ever ... so much so that I almost want one of my own. Almost.

.attempt with soft racks.

2006-08-23T16:35:00.000-10:00

For the first time ever I had to drive a car with racks to the beach. ICK. Not only is it a pain in the behind but it also makes that irritating misquito buzzing sound when you drive too quickly on the freeway.

The night before, after learning of my intentions, my father sat me down and gave me a stern talking to about safely securing the board to my vehicle. Not [of course] because he was afraid that my board would fall from the car and break into pieces, but because [of course] there was the likelihood [with me] that it would fall off on the highway causing another car to get into an accident and for the driver to die. That last part is almost verbatim. That's my dad.

I convinced my brother to help me put on the racks last night at 11:00 pm when he returned home and we managed to do a decent job in the complete darkness. I even managed to get the board on top and secure it without any problem. HOWEVER, when I tried to start the car, the wheel was locked in place and my key wouldn't turn. I tried and tried and failed. It being 5:30 am I reluctantly woke up my brother and convinced him to help me which he did [not even too grumpily] but we failed. I was then forced to go downstairs to wake up my parents and enlisted my mother's help to come and help me [which she did] and we failed again. Finally my father, [very grumpily] dragged himself from bed and started the car and called me an idiot. It turns out I was trying to use the wrong key.

ANYWAY, I finally made it to the beach where there was surf and lots of people to go with it. I played with Estee & Tricia and we blocked the guys for one another and tried not to die [okay, maybe I was the only one trying not to die].

I also learned some very not fun news to which oddly enough I can only laugh because I am not the kind of girl to cry. [needless to say there will be a great deal of alcohol consumption tonight as a result]

My condolences to Ryan Sugihara and his family who lost their grandfather/father/husband yesterday. :(

Tomorrow will be bigger. Maybe better. Maybe.

.told you so.

2006-08-22T10:45:00.000-10:00

The swell didn't come in [I told you so] but it was still nice enough to spend 4 hours of my morning out in the h2o. I actually woke up before the alarm this morning and managed to stay awake enough to get me to the beach. Waited around a few minutes for the sun to come out and paddled out with Este [who apparently, all summer thought my name was Darsie]. Hmm. It never ceases to amaze me how many people there are [besides the unemployed/partially employed such as myself] who make it out into the h2o each and every day ... and then even more impressive, the guys who actually DO have full time jobs and are still in the h2o before the sun comes up. I keep telling myself that I'm not one of "them" [ie. people to whom surfing is something akin to a drug].

Yellowboard girl and yellowboard guy was out again in full force irritating a good 10-20 people each. I told Ryan I can't surf with my yellow board anymore or run the risk of being associated with the yellow people.

The guys from gallery808 were out taking pictures. At one point Ryan took over the camera and I made concerted efforts to run him over [and almost succeeded]. I asked Ryan if I skegged him if he'd hate me as much as yellowboard girl. He said no. I feel so damn loved.
I'm going to go stalk gallery808 until they post pics. Mostly so I can oggle at certain particularly dreamy people [despite the fact that I found out he has a special friend ... sad]. Also, I am particularly enjoying their new blog that they've started. The writing is simple and they have pictures. :) I'm a HUGE FAN of pictures. Makes you wonder why I did creative writing instead of fingerpainting.

2006-08-21T19:33:00.000-10:00

I missed my 5:10 am and 5:20 am alarm again this morning and instead awoke to the sound of birds chirping and the sun rising at 5:45 am. At least I made it out to the beach while there was still parking and forced myself to deal with the 20 something odd people who were attempting to surf prior to work/school/real lives. I, on the other hand, suffer none of the above and surfed to my hearts content until after 9:30 when the waves started coming in at a funny angle and convinced me that all the talk about the swell arriving tomorrow would in fact, undoubtedly either a. not arrive or b. arrive but by "swell" they mean "waves over 1 foot." I don't know what surf forecast medium everyone else is looking at but surfnewsnetwork has been telling me for the past week or so that the swell was due on THURSDAY not TUESDAY so I feel both lied to and cheated. There must be a more reliable surf forecaster out there, there must. I just wonder if they will discover it during my lifetime.

2006-08-20T22:26:00.000-10:00

Today Ken [a colonel I worked with last summer] came down to the beach to take pictures. I don't know how the pics came out since it was relatively small and also relatively crowded but we shall see.

There should be waves tomorrow [think: bigger than the flatness that pervaded this entire week] so I am now slumbering so as to wake up bright and early and enjoy the festvities. Night.

.mcdreamy.

2006-08-19T18:21:00.000-10:00

I've seen him only twice this summer but I find him oh-so-dreamy.
Nick Mita [he's the one on the right ...]

Apparently he "surfs for a living" [something I will only ever do in my DREAMS] doing Japan pro tours and what not and the only few times I've seen him at Concessions/Big Rights he was shooting pictures with the guy from Gallery808. Since it has been quite small of late [though there is a swell due Tuesday ... cross your fingers!] I have had to look to other diversions to entertain my fancy. :) Pretty diversions are best.

2006-08-18T09:46:00.000-10:00

Happy Birthday to the state of Hawaii. :)

Today was so crowded because *dum dum dum dum* it was a holiday!
The holiday meant no school, which meant that Glenn was out surfing in all of his Glenn-y Glenn-ness. I wanted to throw balls of wax at him but managed to restrain myself though I think if Glenn and I were to get into a tussle I would be able to take him ... in the h2o.

Today was Bryson H.'s last day in the aina. :( He's leaving for Seattle and won't be back till Christmas. Now I have to resort back to independent surfing.

.surfing daddies.

2006-08-16T12:16:00.000-10:00

Daddy stole my truck today so I was forced to resort to shortboarding or not surf at all. :( I borrowed G.'s 6'4 [which is actually Eddie's old board]. It was VERY, VERY crowded, probably because everyone found out that it was good yesterday and wanted to catch the tail end of the swell. Poop. And since I was on a shortboard I stood no chance whatsoever and paddled over to First Holes to play with the little kiddies who were getting surf lessons from their daddies [so cute]. One of the dad's kept telling his daughter to "Go, Go!" and that they needed to "commit to the wave or they'd go over the falls, because 9 times out of 10 they would make it if they commited to the wave."

I always thought that I wanted a Daddy who surfed who could teach me how but now I don't know. I already have a G. and a Ryan who tell me what to do ... I think having a surfing Daddy would be too much. But regardless, those are still very lucky little kids.

Back to longboarding tomorrow ... shortboarding requires too much patience and virtue.

.new best friends.

2006-08-15T21:09:00.000-10:00

There were waves today! Solid 1-3 and NO ONE OUT. Just Bryson, myself and 4 other guys. :) Happy, happy, happy.

I also must have been in a good mood [or all the waves went to my head] and I started a conversation with Eddie telling him that Dars had gone back to California. And he said that he is learning to "go with the flow" and has Grent introduced me to his good friend Glenn "Aloha" *******. So now we are best friends. See what happens when I learn to smile more?

And in completely unrelated surfing news I have two brand new options for a future life occupation.
#1 winning the Honolulu Marathon [prize money is $40,000 and an additional $10,000 if you break the record]
#2 find any one of the 8 most wanted child molesters [Oprah is offering $100,000 for tips leading to the arrest of any one of the men]
In the mean time I'm going to revel in being able to surf everyday ... because one day soon I'm going to have to get a "real job." :(

2006-08-14T17:44:00.000-10:00

Yesterday there were two cute newly-planted little baby fronds near the showers at Concessions [the ones closer to the tennis courts than the Concession stand]. Whoever planted them had also dug little tunnels so that the run-off from the showers watered the baby fronds all day long. They were cute [and obviously not planted by the City] and I hearted them and had every intention of naming them one day soon. I was even going to take pictures of them.

But today they were gone and there were only little holes in the sand where baby frond #1 and #2 once stood. Either they were stolen or went back home with their owner. :(

Darsielyn left today so I am left sans one more surfing buddy. I miss her already.
But Bryson H. returned home till Saturday!

I have heard tell that a man contracted the flesh-eating bacteria after being in the h2o at Ala Moana Beach. It hasn't been in the news and they say that they cannot definitively say that he contracted the bacteria while at the beach. Still ... CREEPY. I don't like flesh-eating bacteria. I like my flesh.

2006-08-13T17:34:00.000-10:00

Teeny tiny waves means no people out [except for cool, chill people that I heart - Earl, Warren, Steve, G., Este, Paulo, Oj, Bradley, etc]. It means paddling for waves that are about as high as my ankles [maybe, MAYBE mid calf] and prancing about on my board because I can. It means bringing out my goggles to look at the fishies and then losing my goggles on one of the itty bitty waves and not realizing it for another 5 minutes. It means listening to Steve talk about the implants he bought his special friend, their impending wedding and me asking to be flower girl.

I like small days, but we NEED to have another swell before the end of summer. Because I don't do North Shore and I don't want to surf in flatness for another 8 months. :(

.flat like a rock.

2006-08-12T08:31:00.000-10:00

It has been so flat this entire week I'm going crazy. I missed yesterday and today because I was literally too lazy to paddle out in knee-high waves. Poop on the south shore. I want waves. 1-3 feet [and no crowds] please.

.where's waldo?.

2006-08-10T08:56:00.000-10:00

Remember the Save Our Kaka'ako rally from so long ago? Well, perusing Makai magazine in Jamba Juice, I found a one page spread with pictures from the rally ... and we are in it. :) Guess which one and you win a prize ...

.the tide is high but i'm holding on/you're going to be my number one.

2006-08-09T18:20:00.000-10:00

Something about the rotation of the moon and sun made for a very high tide yesterday and today. Mari O. said that yesterday the tide was so high there was talapia swimming about over the "beach." Today the high tide was at 4:30 pm at 2.6 ft and low tide was at 9:18 am at -.2 ft. Such high tide makes for junk[er] surf.

It's going to be flat all week. Yay for longboarding.

.surf contests for surf stores?!.

2006-08-07T17:44:00.000-10:00

They have surf competitions for surf stores?!

Maui's Hi-Tech now has state bragging rights, too

I like the prize. One full page ad in Surfer magazine [which runs for about $4,000]. Not that I would personally want a full page ad ... okay, yes I would ...

.cursed.

2006-08-05T20:02:00.000-10:00

After being plagued by an allergic reaction to a bee sting, a sprained ankle, and hives, I'm now sick. Grrrrrrrr. So another surf-less weekend for moi.

I heard the "old guys" had fun playing at D & B's for Mike's good-bye though. They are so "cute." I want to be part of a "club" like that when I am their age ... :)

2006-08-04T09:01:00.000-10:00

Dear Darsielyn,

Sorry that I dragged you from your slumber this morning only to have some stupid guy let go of his board, have it tangle with yours, and leave your board with multiple dings. :( If you want I can find out where he lives and put bologna on his car.

Love,
Me.

People suck. And this is just proof that everyone else is nicer than me because I think I would have yelled at the guy for being such a dumb****. Grrrrrrrrr.

.duke's ocean mile swim.

2006-08-02T09:30:00.000-10:00

After we finished the Waimea Bay swim my little cousin told me that she was swimming Waikiki Roughwater AND the Duke's Ocean Mile Swim. While Roughwater might still be slightly out of my ability levels I am enticed by the prospect of being able to complete another open water swim [short, though it may be]. LAST YEAR [my little cousing LIED to me and told me that he would be there this year] Aaron Peirsol was here and swam it. I'm so sad that I missed the opportunity to swim in the same water as such a dreamboat as Aaron.

The proceeds will benefit the Outrigger Duke Kahanamoku Scholarship Fund so it's all for some kind of wonderous cause. The swim is straight out from Duke's [the canoe club, not the statue] and is not as devious, and angular a course as the Waimea swim since it's just straight out to the buoy's and back [guess it's harder to get lost/confused that way, but also one would assume, easier to cheat]. AND you get a free t-shirt.

So if you're not doing anything on August 26th at 9 am [Mari!] play with me. At least it's cheaper than Waimea [and not as far a drive]. :)

Duke's Ocean Mile Swim application form.

.ryan so cute.

2006-07-31T17:29:00.000-10:00

Kawaii so.
Last night I got bored and, wondering how Ryan had done in this past weekend's longboarding contest searched the internet for results to no avail.
I forgot about it this morning [and couldn't ask Ryan because he didn't surf] until I found this article in the Honolulu Advertiser.
"Families win big at Uemura's meet"
Despite the typical bitterness that would normally ensue when learning that someone who is ALREADY an awesome shortboarder, the heir to the T&C throne, and whose JOB it is to work around and with surfboards all day, goes and wins a longboarding competition after practicing for just one week, Ryan is such a sweetheart [sorry to his wife if she ever reads this and thinks that I'm stalking her hubby] that I will forgive him this small slight against the less-talented surfing population and just bug him for an autograph for a few days. :)
Even his daddy is a shortboarder and still managed to win his division. AND he is 60. I wonder if I'll still be surfing at 60, let alone winning contests [doubtful].

Too bad the article had no pictures so that you could all oggle at how cute Ryan is for an Asian boy. Okay, he isn't really "cute" but did I mention that he was the heir to the T&C throne? And his cutbacks ... *swoon*

.kauai surf trip.

2006-07-30T18:01:00.000-10:00

That never-going-to-happen surf trip WILL happen. I'm determined [kind of] and I even have a sort-of date in mind.
MARK THE DATE ON YOUR CALENDER ...
August 18 through August 20 for a fun, Crystal-and-Mari-filled weekend of surfing, playing, and gallavanting around the beautiful Garden Isle [ie. Kauai]. We can play with puppies at the Humane Society, look for washed glass at Washed Glass Beach, eat Hamura Saimin, play in my grandma's cute house, go fishing at Small Boat Harbor, discover fun Kauai-ian surf spots. :)
Tonight's 5 o' clock news advertised go! airlines offer [which extends till Tuesday, but I already checked the site and most of the dates are already sold out! poop!] with interisland roundtrip tickets for only $29!!! Go! airlines is the new love of my life. Even though I don't fly interisland often [or even at all] the fact that they are forcing Hawaiian and Aloha airlines to lower their stupidly inflated prices brings joy into my little heart.

Let me know if you want to surf trip it with me! :) I want to get off my butt [which is hard since I sleep so damn much and it's so hot that I don't feel like moving] and GO PLACES before I am forced to find a "real" job that keeps me from beloved extra curricular activities such as traveling.

2006-07-29T16:52:00.001-10:00

Got the latest issue of FreeSurf magazine from Jamba Juice ...

I have to say that for a locally published magazine the quality of writing is quite good [well-written AND interesting which is no small feat when writing about surfing]. I want to write for it! Alas I do not know the right people who know the right people. :(

This issue is the "travel issue" which describes surf trips to Tasmania and Tahiti. Mari and I have been talking about a surf trip to Kauai for forever now and we still haven't managed to pull it off. But we WILL one of these days [if we can swim Waimea we can fly to Kauai for some surf]. I've never been on a surf trip but it's definitely somewhere up there on my "to do list." I envy all the old guys at the beach who go on surf trips/surf cruises with their buddies. I wish I were a guy [I know, surf trips and being male are seemingly unrelated but they aren't too much!].

Morning surfing = Happy Crystal.
There was the ocean junior lifeguard competition which meant that there was a more limited amount of parking spaces than usual [taking into account the group of people that do exercises on the beach, the senior citizens that bring their coffee to watch the h2o, the surfers, etc]. Watched Steve do his Tai Chi and told him he was crazy. Then made him paddle out with me. Had Earl tell me that he would find me a boyfriend. Warren was out early and said that he came out early just to see me because I always go in when he gets out though the REAL reason was because he was going to Kona to go fishing. Caught exactly 5 or 6 waves. Went in. Got yelled at because some kid asked me when I was leaving and I said 10 minutes and when I actually left I was giving my stall away to some other guy, so the stupid lady who claimed that she was waiting for my stall started screaming about how she had been waiting for me to leave when "waiting for me to leave" really just entailed parking her car illegaly until she could snag my stall. BLAH. People are such bastards.

But tomorrow it should be smaller so my ankle and I are overjoyed.

2006-07-28T15:05:00.000-10:00

I think that I have special powers.
All the hoping/praying/special wave-reducing dances worked and the swell forecasted for Monday is not going to be the 4-6 feet that they forecasted but has now been downgraded to 3-5+ and 3-6.
Either no one on this island can forecast swells or I'm magical. Yay.

2006-07-26T07:30:00.000-10:00

SERIOUSLY! As if my poor body wasn't suffering enough [and emotionally too, from lack of surfing! wah!] I go and tumble down the stairs and hurt my ankle. GRRRRRRRRRR. At least I didn't break it but it's probably sprained [I don't know for certain since I haven't seen a dr]. Which means out of surfing comission for who-knows-how-long.

Kill me. Kill me now.

.paw paw.

2006-07-25T09:22:00.000-10:00

Overnight my poor bee sting became this [and I suffered the entire night stuffing my hand beneath my pillow so that I wouldn't scratch it]. I took some Ibuprofen and iced it all morning [which is what the information I got from the internet said to do] but it still looks like a fatty animal paw. Attractive, huh?

In case I was ever wondering, I now know exactly what it feels like to be a sausage. If my finger swells anymore it will surely explode.

I was planning on surfing this morning with Dars but seeing as how I can only close my hand *yay* much, it would make holding onto my surfboard a bit difficult. I heard it was small this morning anyhow [and stupid yellow longboard haole girl was out with a bunch of other people] so I didn't miss much. G. said that Ryan asked where I was in front of G. and he made a snorting/chortling sound. How is it possible that 40-something year old men can act like such pre-schoolers? Goes to show you, surfers never really do grow up ...

.mellow yellow.

2006-07-24T17:40:00.000-10:00

Today was by far the most mellow day thus far. Nice waves, only a handful of guys out, AND Glenn's second to last day. LOVELY. And since Ryan is training for China's contest this weekend he was longboarding it [as if he didn't catch enough waves on a shortboard!] and I got to try the board.

I don't think this is the exact board [maybe it is] the dimensions [9'0" x 21 ½" x 2 ¾"] are similiar but this neato board had a thruster AND four-fin setup. Today Ryan had the four-fin setup and it was a very different ride than my pretty little 8'6 that I'm accustomed to. G. is going to purchase the board after Ryan uses it for the contest and has said that I may use it, hooray! Either that or I'm going to cave and go purchase it for myself ... so much for a new shortboard.

I also got stung by a stupid bee today. I saw something fly into my hair [and in my head, even kind of thought it was a bee] but quickly reached up and brushed it out anyway. Just as Ryan opens his mouth and says "Don't! I think that was a bee!" I can feel the stinger in my finger. Lovely, just lovely. So Ryan pulled the stinger out for me and I nursed a slightly swollen hand all day. Weasels! This made up for all the mean-ness that had taken place earlier when Ryan mocked me for putting sunscreen on on my stomache [since it gets on the board and makes it oily].

Ryan [as he climbs onto my board]: "Do you oil your board?!"

Me: "No, but I wear sunscreen."

Ryan: "On your stomache?"

Me: "Yes."

Ryan: "So Potagee, you!"

I guess I need to start wearing shirts again so I can continue to wear my sunscreen and prevent skin cancer! [I still love Ryan]

.after my 2 day hiatus.

2006-07-23T09:21:00.000-10:00

It felt WONDERFUL to get back into the h2o today. Got to the beach before the sun came up and dragged slow-poke Steve away from his friends to paddle out with me [buddy system!]. It was small but all that mattered was that I could surf again ... yay!

Several of the old guys said they saw me on the gallery's website and on the news. Figures, since they're the only people I know who would pay attention to such things. One guy said he recognized the pink board and then realized, "hey, that's the girl that surfs Concessions!" Steve wanted to know if they put my face on the body of someone who could actually surf. Pft. Oh well .. only old people are so brutally honest.
G. was grouchy today and yelled at a boy for "getting in his way." They SAY they're not territorial at Concessions but they ARE and they will bite your head off if you piss them off. Eek. Fortunately for me I am beloved by all [hahaha, yah right].

Surfnewsnetwork "forecasts" another "swell" for this weekend. HOPE, HOPE, HOPE. I'm getting sick of this pansy 1-2 foot surf. 2-4 on Friday? We'll see ...

.cholo's 2000.

2006-07-22T23:20:00.000-10:00

I swam, I wasn't eaten by sharks or beaten too horribly [physically or emotionaly] by other swimmers, I survived.

Mari and I found the North Shore [poop on anyone who mocks our wonderful navigational skills!] and scored some excellent parking right above the Bay. The Hongies were already there so we frolicked about the beach and rolled in lots of sand for a good two hours until the 9:00 am start. [Excerpt for Kathrine, Florence and other friends who know me well enough to know that I don't smile. I was walking back from the showers when a man stopped me and said that I looked like I was walking to my execution. Grrrrrrrrr]

The event in and of itself was longer and much more painful than I thought it would be, quite possibily because I had to lie to myself in order to be convinced to go through with the ordeal. At 9 am [after the briefed us on the contorted course which started in the front right hand corner of the bay, had us swimming diagonally across of it, between a channel, and circling back around] we walked down to the h2o's edge. The women were in the first group, men in the second, and as we walked down to the beach, people just started to jump into the h2o and swim. Mari and I took it as the race was starting, however, they were just lining up at the start point [which apparently is in the middle of the ocean and requires a lot of h2o treading and jostling to not have your personal bubble invaded - NOT RECOMMENDED IF YOU'RE NOT STRONG SWIMMER/CANNOT TREAD H2O IN CLOSE QUARTERS/HAVE A VERY SMALL PERSONAL BUBBLE.

Eventually the race started and I lost Mari in the first two seconds but managed to keep close to my little cousin [and even then I was only able to recognize her because of her purple cap and bright pink goggle straps]. The first leg, diagonally across the bay and through the channel was the longest. Particularly since I've never done an open h2o swim [and since the h2o in Waimea appears from the shore, deceptively tranquil] I thought it would be like swimming laps in the pool sans flip turns but I was WRONG. Whenever we got close to land [like through the channel or near Buoy B which is against a cliff] the waves would throw us all over the place. At one point someone swam over me, a few times I hit peoples feet and arms, and I kicked someone [hopefully not in the face]. The whole time I was swimming I told myself I would never, ever do it again. But a good ten minutes back on land, and I changed my mind. Not only do I need redemption after having my little cousin beat me and Mari stealing the third place finish, but I think that better prepared [and with more training] it would be fun. Granted it's not the walk in the park, look-at-all-the-sea-turtles-and-clear-h2o that other's had depicted it as, but it's a fun little tryst in the h2o nonetheless. I got to talk about swimming and surfing with Mari [like how if we ever get pregnant we're going to have to have our babies cut out of us prematurely so that we can get back into the h2o and/or also plan the months of conception - conceiving in August/September is ideal so that we'd only be missing winter surf] eat Matsumoto shave ice, roll around in the sand, look at cute haole surfer/swimmer guys, etc. Next year I think more people should play with Mari and I. If we can do it so can you [maybe ... we are pretty damn good ... KIDDING].

Mari placed 3rd in our division for women 20-24. Sucker was supposed to take out the 2nd place girl so I could have a cool little coin too!

Everyone checking the results after the race.

Lesley and I ... after the breather I took collapsing onto the sand. :pCOOL ankle tags! I thought they were used to find us [and/or our bodies if we ever got lost at sea] but they're REALLY used to track your time once you go over the mat at the finish line. I wanted to take mine home with me but the guys are very careful that no one leaves with their tag ... sad.

.results from Cholo's 2000.

Overall I placed 102 out of 396 swimmers and 4th in my age group. Next year, right???

And a text that made my heart smile:

It felt empty without u. Even Delbert asked about u.

YAY. Tommorow I'm getting up at 5:00 to be in the h2o by 5:30 am ... gotta make up for the past two surfless days.

.gallery808.

2006-07-21T18:34:00.000-10:00

Yesterday morning there was a dudeman from Gallery808 shooting pics at Concessions. I'd love nothing more than to post pictures of myself in awkward and unflattering angles, riding teeny tiny waves HOWEVER they block their site from such fun things [they want to charge me $35! sad!] so everyone [here] is spared the cruelty. There are also pics of Dars, G., and Glenn pretending that he can surf [scoffs].

Apparently there was also a jellyfish influx the past few days. I wouldn't know because no one got stung at Ala Moana [while I was there] yesterday and I DIDN'T GO SURFING TODAY [@(@#$*!]. Boo. The newspapers said that they closed Hanauma Bay because of all the poor silly tourists that got stung [don't they know that all the jellyfish like to play 10 days after a full moon?]. Hopefully there are no more jellies by Sunday. However, I will eat my word on jellies if there is even the remote possibility that Glenn could be allergic ... dream, dream, dream.

Tomorrow is the Waimea. Hopefully I don't drown [and see at least twenty sea turtles, five monk seals, a large pod of cute dolphins, sixteen to thirty attractive boys, as well as a variety of other cutesy endangered creatures. :)

Funny.
As I was writing this silly thing [which is taking much more effort out of me due to the lack of sleep and still-hangover] Mommy screams from the couch that I'm on tv. I tell her that it's not but I go to have a look see and lo and behold the pic from that 808gallery nonsense is being used during channel 9 news' surf broadcast. Pft. What silliness.

2006-07-19T08:03:00.000-10:00

For the first time in so-many-days-that-I-can't-even-remember I didn't wake up before 5:30 a.m. to go surfing.
Argh.
And now I'm grouchy.

.learn to surf.

2006-07-17T20:16:00.000-10:00

I am seriously one of the worst surfing teachers ever. I blame this in part, on the person who taught me to surf, who would take me out on a longboard and leave me on the inside to play by myself and flounder in whitewater whilst he went out and surfed in real waves.
If you've ever paddled out with me, or had me "try" to teach you to surf, then you should know that I have no patience. I have patience in very few aspects of life, and surfing is not one of them. Ask Dars [look Dars, I mentioned you]. She has suffered multiple "You're not trying hard enough!"'s and a few "Try harder!"'s. It's tough love, baby.
However Surfline [after discovering the site I'm semi obsessed] offers a nifty "learn to surf" section which if you aren't Kelly Slater I recommend you peruse in your free time [yes, I'm reading it as well]. In particular, I concur with it's advice to learn to swim well before learning to surf [as they say, surfing is 95% swimming ... ] and taking CPR though this is probably only useful if you surf with people you care about saving [since you can't save yourself and I can think of one person off the top of my head I would enjoy not saving]. The site also goes into depth discussing currents, breaks, etc.

Read, read, read.

.twelve days.

2006-07-16T18:10:00.000-10:00

Just twelve days till July 28th [thank goodness for public schools going on a year-round schedule and starting a whole month earlier!].
Twelve days till I don't have to see Glenn's stupid face paddling out at 8 a.m.
Twelve days till complete and utter surfing bliss.

Grrrrrrr. One of these days I'm going to hunt down a mug shot of Glenn and post it on here for people to throw darts at and/or use to find his place of living [may it be the side of the street or garbage can or what not] so that they may hurl smelly eggs at his car and person.

They say "surf with aloha."
I say "surf without a leash and lose your board and have to swim over dry reef for it."

.surfology sounds like Scientology.

2006-07-15T20:57:00.000-10:00

Due to lack of entertainment on a Saturday night I found myeslf perusing Surfline's Surfology section [yay for alliteration]. It's actually quite interesting and chock full of useful surfing information tidbits.

Like what to eat before surfing? : Apparently, the correct answer is to consume NOTHING [which is what I do since I'm too lazy to forage for food stuffs early in the morning]. H2o and/or foods that are easily digestable such as fruit or energy bars] are all they recommend.

Or.

What to do if you're stung by a stingray? [though I've never heard of any cases of stingray stings in Hawaii...] : Apply very, very hot h2o to the sting site.

Surfline also provides readers with a glossary of terms. Beside the more obvious ones [like the defintion for bamboo or beach break, both of which are self explanatory] they also provide defintions for words such as "bathymetry" [The measurement of depths of water in oceans, seas, and lakes. The topography of the ocean floor or underwater bottom] and "beavertail" [Early wetsuit design in the '70s with a large flap affixed to the suit's lower back, wrapped under the crotch and secured in front. Designed to hold the suit in place, the innovation didn't really work and surfers took to letting the slab dangle. (Hence the term, "tail".) ].

I'm seriously considering totally scamming their glossary idea [because it's so cool] and making my own glossary with words I have not yet invented or discovered.

In case you forgot [like me, procrastinator/idiot/lazybutt that I am] and didn't mail in your Cholo's 2000 application the deadline was yesterday and you will now have to pay $40 as opposed to the $30 it would have cost you to send it it yesterday. GRRRRRR. Oh well.

.toying with my emotions.

2006-07-13T18:04:00.000-10:00

Sorry, I've [obviously] been quite lazy of late. Therefore no interesting/intriguing/thought-stimulating posts for your reading pleasure. You can hit/bite/kick me if you want to. But you'd have to find me first [hah!].

As if my life weren't complicated enough, stupid Surf News Network needs to stop toying with my emotions! They can't promise 2-3+ on Saturday and Sunday and then two days before, strip away my hope. Boo! Blah, I suppose it's okay though. Less waves equals less people. Right? One can hope.

.love me, dammit.

2006-07-12T10:34:00.000-10:00

Dear Diary,

Today I went Left.
Twice.
End of Entry.

Love,
Crystal

Yes, it's true. And one was even so that the other guy who was paddling for the wave could go right. I'm so sweet [particularly considering all the icky boy drama swarming around me]. Love me, dammit.

.waimea bay swim.

2006-07-10T08:21:00.000-10:00

What are you doing on July 22?

Even if the answer is something somewhat legitimate such as "playing with my new puppy," you should still cancel these plans and swim the Cholo's Waimea Bay event with me.
[please, pretty please?]

It's the third [not to mention shortest, only 2,000 meters] of four open water North Shore swimming events held annually each summer [obviously, when the north shore is flat and there aren't 20 foot waves breaking at Waimea]. Back in the day [ie. 8-10 years ago] Rainbow Aquatics used to help host the event. Those were the glory years when I used to actually be able to swim 6,000-7,000 meters a day without breaking a sweat and foolishly, refused to swim Waimea Bay and the Waikiki Roughwater. Now I actually have to do silly things like "train" [which for me is swimming 2,000-3,000 ... because that is an actual challenge].
For the past few years I believe that Surf n' Sea and a few other North Shore venues have taken up sponsoring the various races. It's $30 to register [I know, quite pricey considering the fact that I don't even think you get a t-shirt anymore] but I think it's worth it granted there's nice weather [hope, hope, hope].

Reasons #9,230 and #48 to swim Cholo's Waimea Bay include "spending more time with Crystal" and "having the privelege of watching Crystal flounder in the water for 2,000 meters, having her butt soundly beaten by a bunch of in-shape 10 year olds." Sounds like fun right? And if I can sacrifice surfing on a Saturday morning to drag my butt to Waimea for the 9:00 am start time, you can too!

Entry deadline is July 14. I say this to remind myself more than to remind you.

Application for all 4 races.

.2006 travel accessory guide.

2006-07-09T10:07:00.000-10:00

Also in Surfing magazine, the 2006 Travel Accessory Guide. Most items are items that I absolutely cannot live without [and have no idea how I’ve made it this far in life without].

For starters the dockslocks. It safely locks your board to your vehicle so that you can run around leaving your board unattended. Since I have so little trust in mankind this means that I can now run and purchase food after surfing and do little errands without a second thought to my beloved [board]. It also has much larger implications, meaning that one day I might get so brave as to leave my board in the back of my truck while I’m at work [so that my lazy butt doesn’t have to cart it back and forth from the parking lot to the pool and back]. Of course that would mean it sitting in the blistering sun all day [and wax melting all over the place] but we’ll see. I WANT ONE.

Must have numero dos : freestyle audio waterproof mp3 player. I know that I’ve been saying for the past year that the invention of underh2o mp3 players is pure frivolity, but I’ve amended that statement and now know that my life will never be complete without one. Not so much for surfing [since I don’t surf with boardshorts and would lack a safe place to keep it] but for swimming [where I could just attach it to my suit or what not and be on my way] it would be a wonderful thing. I could swim for hours rocking out to whatever new music that I eventually download [I need new music inspiration by the way]. Which would mean longer/better workouts. Which would mean less flab. Which would mean world peace.

And the GoPro, well this I only want because it’s new and shiny [I’m kidding]. My California friends [awesome people that they are] got me the non-digital version for my 21st birthday and though someone [actually I do know, but I love him and don’t want to point fingers … muah] lost the little blue tabby that keeps the camera from flapping all over the place, the idea in and of itself is actually good. And it does stay to the wrist which means that I don’t have to paddle around with a camera dangling from my mouth or attach to some bodily appendage! This one is digital, runs off of one AAA battery and can hold up to 250 pictures or 30 videos. And it comes at the very affordable price of $79.95, Now if only I’d win some kind of lottery …

.a surf spot named Crystal.

2006-07-08T15:08:00.000-10:00

"250,000: miles of coastline on the planet. Only a fraction of which is actually surfed."

Seeing as how I only surf 0.10385 miles of all that open coastline I'm not one to talk. I am such a damn creature of habit. But at least for everyone else that means less Crystal in their lineup, which is almost always a good thing ...

I was reading Surfing magazine [hence the quote] and saw that they're offering a nifty prize [a prize pack AND tagging along on a surf trip to that spot with surfing "professionals"] to the person who discovers the best undiscovered surfbreak using Google's Earth satellite imaging program. If I was at all technologically "ept" I might attempt such a feat. Then again, if I were able to accomplish such things I would find the place, christen it Crystal and travel there all on my own without ever telling a soul about it.

2006-07-07T15:56:00.000-10:00

I don't perform [well] under pressure.
Read : Reason #29485 why I can't/won't date a surfer [who will tell me when to catch waves, which way to go, etc].
I hate being "molded" though God knows I need molding.
Hmphf.

.sharky.

2006-07-06T07:17:00.000-10:00

Yesterday there was an article about the increased number of shark sightings on the North Shore. Yikes bikes. Though the likelinhood of myself ever being attacked by a shark are [I'm hopeful] relatively low I don't care to push my luck. With the exception of Herman [the very very large shark that I've seen at Ala Moana] and the little baby shark that plays around in Concessions at sunset I haven't had that much interaction with the sharky kind. Hopefully they keep to the North Shore [and Kauai, where all the major shark attacks that we usually here about take place] and leave me to my little stretch of beach.

In the article they interview a man who claims that this is the most "shark sightings he's heard of in 40 years." But wasn't it only a year or two ago when all the shark sightings were taking place in Kailua? Hmmmm?

My favorite article quote.
"When people start seeing sharks, the word gets out and people start looking for them," said shark expert Randy Honebrink of the state Department of Land and Natural Resources' Division of Aquatic Resources. "And the more you look for them, the more you see them." Which is true, I suppose. But it sounds like common sense to me, not something that you'd have to ask the state Department of Land and Natural Resources' Division of Aquatic Resources. My grandma could have told you the same thing. I was hoping for a "real" reason such as that as a result of increased toxicitiy levels following the sewage spill sharks have an increased resistence to illness and other natural predators and therefore have increased exponentially in numbers.

I'm not for having an open season on sharks but isn't there a way we could catch a few of the key procreators and ship them off to an aquarium or give them their own little wildlife preserve? Maybe with the monument that President Bush just declared all the sharks can move over yonder. According to the article though, we have nothing to worry about. Those "experts" claim that some years there are just more shark sightings and attacks than others. That next year it will go back to normal. One would hope.

.i grew here you flew here.

2006-07-05T09:08:00.003-10:00

@#*$(&@!
I really, really @*#$(&% HATE Japanese tourists. I hate that they can't surf. I hate that they travel in packs and that when you yell and @#*($& at them they don't know what the heck you're saying. I hate that they're stupid @#*($&&% who should go back to Japan where they came from.
In a perfect world I'd tell them, "I grew here, you flew here," but they wouldn't know what the heck I was saying and would probably just smile and nod at me like idiots. Grrrrrrrrrr.

This anger stems from trying to shortboard in teeny tiny waves.

However, I did try G.'s 5'8 T&C fish. I like it. However, not enough to actually try and consistently ride it. G. said that my problem is that I shortboard like a longboarder. Duh.

Today probably set shortboarding and I back another 6.3 months. But I swear I'm going to learn to shortboard one of these days. Really. Maybe.

2006-07-04T15:49:00.000-10:00

I actually [and surprisingly!] woke up this morning for my 4 am wake up call. We actually found parking in Ala Moana park [though it was at the very, very entrance, beggars can't be choosers] in one of the last five open stalls. The police [or city, or whoever the powers that be are] changed their minds and let vehicles into the park earlier than 5 am [which is what the signs said they would be doing] so that by 4:50 everyone was parked and ready. Grrrrr. I wish I was there just to watch the mad rush for parking. It must have been pretty funny, not to mention that the line waiting for parking on Ala Moana must have been pretty rediculous for the police to start letting everyone in earlier than advertised.

The sun still wasn't up when we got onto the beach so I got to lie on my board for a while [and proceeded to get wax in my hair]. That was probably ten extra minutes of sleep that I could have had in the car! Walking down the sidewalk were kids in sleeping bags, on the concrete and on the sand, looking quite homeless-esque. We eventually paddled out [and it was still dark] but the sun did [as G. said it would] come out by the time we got to the break. Those guys are crazy, cause I don't know how I'd ever find Concessions without other people already out as my landmark. I followed Steve hoping that if a shark attacked me - as the like to do at the crack of dawn - I hoped it would eat him first and get full before he got around to me. However, Steve said that he is old and would taste badly whereas I am young and would taste like sashimi. Urgh.

It was small but pretty. I think I've only seen maybe one other sunrise before. The h2o looks quite pretty in the morning light, especially when it's breaking in front of you. I need to follow Neal's example and purchase myself an underh2o digital camera but I think I'd be too lazy to ever take it out. Ho hum.

I keep telling myself that I'm going to start shortboarding but I REALLY AM. I promise. Sometime soon. I'm just too lazy to paddle around on such a small board and not catch waves that I'd normally be able to get. However, G. said that he would "teach" me how and let me try one of his boards so perhaps I will get the hang of it. *cough cough* I want to go to Tropical Blends and purchase myself one of their cute little shortboards but I think my parents would have a fit [though when I asked if I could get a surfboard or a puppy, Daddy did say that I could get a surfboard]. I also need to teach myself to duckdive [better].

Happy 4th of July! I hate the crowds at the beach but love the Law and Order marathons!

2006-07-03T19:48:00.000-10:00

It was all the guys in the h2o could talk about today. How unlike last year, the state was allowing people to camp out at Ala Moana beach and stake out their area for tomorrows 4th of July festivities. When I pulled up at 6:15 am. there were already groups setting up on the grass strip in front of the key. Obviously people without jobs and real lives to attend to on a Monday [I'm oh so slightly envious].
And though they're allowing people to stay over, the state is forcing people to remove their vehicles from the beach area between the hours of 10 pm and 5 am [quite rediculous]. They're throwing them half a bone which will only result in a mad rush for any and every parking stall at 5 am. on the dot. I predict that by 5:15 not a single parking stall will to be found. People are so crazy and I hate it. All I want to do is surf in peace on the one Tuesday I have off from my internship! Grrrrrrr.
Not to mention the message that this is sending to the homeless community. What does it say that the state is willing to open up the beach and bend the rules for the bourgeoise in times of celebration but conduct sweeps and kick the homeless from their "homes?" Granted, that tomorrow night I'm sure even the homeless will be able to sleep over at the park, however it's obvious who this event is catered towards and the fact is that afterwards, the rules will once again be reinforced and the homeless kept at bay.
Oh, who's kidding. I just don't want people having parking stalls at my beloved beach.

Yay for G. agreeing to pick me up tomorrow if I awake at 4 am. when he calls. :)

2006-07-01T19:31:00.000-10:00

Do our actions in the h2o mirror those on land?
Or is it the other way around?

Either way, I hope that on land some people are less of the *******s that they are in the h2o.

.please do not eat.

2006-06-30T18:22:00.000-10:00

I went surfing this morning and brought my board to work [ie. Manoa Pool] and left it in the closet where one of my beloved coworkers attached this leftover sign [from C. Toe's food] to it. I giggled.

.the only tattoos I get are from the reef.

2006-06-28T16:52:00.000-10:00

"So you kicked the reef?"
"No, the reef kicked me."

The only tattoos I get are from the reef.

I saw the quote in a magazine once. Personally it rings quite true, mainly because of my deathly fear of needles and of my mom biting me if and when she ever saw me with anything but a temporary tattoo [and even those I'm only allowed to wear on the back of my hand like a five-year-old].

So sad that reef injuries leave a temporary [and not necessarily attractive] scar. I just hope that this time the coral doesn't decide to make home and grow ... I enjoy my feet coral-free.

With the exception of this little boo-boo today was a glorious day. Glenn[iffer] didn't try to bite me or eat any babies. Also, my injury was minor. Some of the guys today [and Monday] were talking about a man who ran over a kid on Sunday and split his head open. Not a story I plan on sharing with my parents any time soon.

2006-06-27T18:15:00.000-10:00

Last week I did something kind of silly [and stupid]. Boredom never leads to any good. Of course nothing truly drastic results [thank the goodness] but if it had ... well me not being able to surf at Concessions ever again would probably be the least of my worries.

Lifeguard Mari said that I should never allow a boy to dictate where I surf but I've run away for a lot less. But then again I rarely if ever care about/love something as much as I love my little surf spot.

For the moment there is a truce.

Whilst typing this article my grandma leaned over my shoulder and asked,
"No more boyfriend?"
"No Grandma."
"Good girl."

ARGH.

.suckies.

2006-06-25T19:49:00.000-10:00

After dinner the kiddies wanted to go fishing in the stream. So net and bucket in tow we crossed the street and went frolicking about in Nuuanu stream [the little one, not the larger one].

When I was in elementary school I remember spending my summer days in the backyards of the neighbors across the street fishing in the stream. We caught everything from opai [freshwater shrimp] to crayfish, guppies, swordtails, tadpoles, etc. Of course even then, there would be times when the stream would go dead because someone's lawn man [or even owner] would grow lazy and dump fuel or insect poison into the water upstream. All that we would find would catch was the odd guppy and we'd see dead crayfish shells floating in the eddies.

Today there were a number of fish, but now, mainly suckers. Despite the commercials on tv idiots still continue to dump there aquarium pets into the stream where they proceed to multiply by the minute. We were only scoop-netting a fifty foot stretch of river and caught more than thirty suckers.

They are so disgusting. Ick.

With Daddy's permission we dumped all the little suckies underneath a bush in our front yard. Good fertilizer!

I know the Hawaiian Humane Society offers a program where you can bring in your unwanted aquarium fish. I don't remember where they keep them [or even if they keep them anymore] but either way I'm sure it's a better alternative than releasing them amongst all the poor guppies and opais!

.save our kakaako.

2006-06-24T19:04:00.000-10:00

After this mornings surf session I headed over to Kakaako with Mari's friends to attend the Save Our Kakaako rally.

It was a very well organized event, complete with t-shirts [I love a good t-shirt, particularly in Roosevelt colors], stickers, signs, live music, cute puppies, young children waving signs, etc. The rally started in the parking lot of Kakaako Waterfront Park at 10 am. After a short pep talk, we walked down to Ala Moana Blvd to wave signs for 2-ish hours. Personally, I have never waved signs before, it is a hot, hot, tiring job.
People who honk their horn are awesome. I think there is a direct corrolation - the uglier the car the more likely the driver is to honk. Ugly car = a cool car.

The group, Save Our Kakaako opposes A & B's planned development of several condo units in the Kakaako area. The group is against the sale of public land for the gains of private companies. They would like the state to gain the input of the community to determine Kakaako's future.

Kakaako is one of the few large green spaces remaining in central Oahu.

.small, small world.

2006-06-24T13:30:00.001-10:00

Albeit a bit late [for me] I made it out. It was glassy [yay] and the tide was low[boo] and there were oogles of people [boo] and no waves [yuck] but there was a large pod of spinner dolphins that were traipsing about very near to us [yay]. I like dolphins.

Also, one of my greater fears were realized today when by a random turn of events it was discovered that some of the guys that I surf with are high school/intermediate school chums with Daddy. Yikes bikes. They were asking me where I lived and then named the street that I live on. Then they said that they knew a few people on that street and I asked who. They named Dad. Urghwlksdfj. Apparently they all grew up together and they now think that if Daddy found out I surfed with them that he wouldn't let me surf anymore. Not so. I told Dad and he didn't care. Just more people to watch out for me to make sure I don't die. Yay!

My island is too durn tiny.

.Puffy.

2006-06-23T08:26:00.000-10:00

The potentially big waves and crowds scared me off today. Instead I'm consoling myself with the reminder that I [at least] pulled a double session on Wednesday, which turned out to be the longest day of the year! Days are already getting shorter. Yuck. This morning I was supposed to get up early in order to return Puffy to his motherland [aka. the Pacific Ocean].

[This is Puffy in the right corner. My stupid camera wouldn't focus.]
When the Opihi caught Puffy in his hands Wednesday afternoon the plan was to give him to Mariko but she said that one fish can kill five and we wouldn't want that now would we? So Puffy has been homeless [and living in a glass in my room where I occasionally shake the jar to oxygenate and add tiny bits of tap h2o]. Didn't think that he was going to make it through the night [since I've had brackish pufferfish before and they were quite sensitive] but lo and behold Puffy is a fighter! I was going to return him this morning [since I couldn't yesterday] when I went to surf but I didn't go and now I've become quite attached to the little fellow. Does someone want to adopt him? He is tiny [and loveable, as all the animals I bring home often are]!

[He is the itty bitty speck beneath the "U" in my Nalgene bottle. Isn't he precious?]
I did some research thinking that maybe there was a chance I could keep him. But there isn't. Doh. He eats meat and what not and needs to live in a 10 gallon tank! He is such a needy little fish!
Also, Puffy isn't too attractive when he grows up. Have you ever seen those gigantous ten lb. puffies swimming about? Yes. I think one of them may have been Mom ...
Let me know if anyone wants a little Puffy in their life [or Mari, if you change your mind after seeing the adorableness that he is, he can be Nemo and lead all your other fishies to freedom!].