Garfield Minus Garfield

This is brilliant. Genius.

From Garfield Minus Garfield

Who would have guessed that when you remove Garfield from the Garfield comic strips, the result is an even better comic about schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and the empty desperation of modern life? Friends, meet Jon Arbuckle. Let’s laugh and learn with him on a journey deep into the tortured mind of an isolated young everyman as he fights a losing battle against loneliness in a quiet American suburb.

Mahalo, Hawai'i

It's our last night here and, of course, it went too fast. Since I last posted, we've been snorkeling in a protected, crystal clear cove and swam with all manner of tropical fishes, where the waves gently pushed us too and fro in the warm water. I could have stayed in there all day. We returned today to snorkel in the same cove and I watched in awe as a humongous, ancient sea turtle swam just inches from my face.

Thursday, we drove around the north and east sides of the island, another all-day car ride, but so worth it as we saw gorgeous, tropical valleys, stunning waterfalls and ate delicious sandwiches in little hippie towns (where no one takes credit cards or has restrooms.) We ended in Hilo, as far from Kailua-Kona as we could be, just as everything was closing. We looked in vain for an ice cream parlor and drove down Banyan Drive where notable people have planted banyan trees when they visited Hilo (most of them in the 30's)...Nixon and Babe Ruth were amoung those we didn't see, but we did catch a glimpse of Cecil B. DeMille's tree.

Today I went to the spa and for dinner we ate steak and the most sumptuously sweet, fresh pineapple I have ever had. We and watched our final Hawaiian sunset from the balcony.

Volcanic Emissions

The drive to the volcano was long and slow. I got really car sick, so Jerry let me drive which freed up all his energy for complaining about what a waste of time going to look at some steaming LAY-vah hole is.

When we got there we learned that some roads were closed due to abnormally high sulfur-dioxide emissions but that if we rolled up the windows and turned the a/c on recycled air, that we could drive through those places. We had a picnic at the visitor's center and then drove off on the 11-mile loop around the crater. It was pretty spectacular to see from up top, much bigger than I imagined and there were steam vents everywhere. It looked prehistoric and smelled even worse.

We were turned back about 10 minutes along the route due to the roads now being closed. Apparently, the emissions had got worse. We looped back the other way to see what we could before heading home. At one of the lookouts, there was a sign warning children and pregnant ladies not to go any further, so I stayed in the car while the others held their noses and explored.
All of us got a little congested and my throat was a little sore. The fumes were very uncomfortable.

The final stop was the Thurston Lava Tube, which was a tunnel formed by a lava flow 550 years ago. It was about 15 feet in diameter and now surrounded by rain forest. It was the highlight for me. A 20 minute walk down to it and through was well worth it and the highlight of the trip for me.

Black sand, guava smoothie and breaching whales

Our day yesterday was a long one. We drove past the southern tip of the island to a black sand beach, supposed to be home to hundreds of green sea turtles, but the water was cold and the sand rough and not a turtle in sight.

On the way there, however we did stop at several cool places -- an ethnobotanical garden, comprised of native and early-introduced species of plants, a painted church whose interior walls were (somewhat crudely) decorated with biblical scenes to educate the natives about Christianity over 100 years ago, a sacred lava flat with 20 foot tall tikis and a fruit stand with the most amazing fresh fruit smoothies and macadamia nut brownies ever. By the time we got to the (somewhat disappointing) black sand beach, we had had such a cool and full day of sights and tropical fun that we were hardly even fazed.

Here are a few shots from yesterday. he first few are from our balcony in the condo. That's a humpback.

Rest assured, we are relaxing really hard

I'll let some photos speak for our second day:

We took the car to the north and discovered exotic fruits, new road signs and hung loose with kings.

Paradise is exactly like where you are....only much, much better.

Actually, Laurie Anderson's words aren't ringing true right now. If there is such thing as paradise, we are in it. It is about 74 right now (at 10:00 AM). We slept to the sounds of the waves crashing literally feet from our balcony.

We arrived last night around 5:30 at the condo after a trip to Costco. The surrounding areas are a little industrial and there are crusty, black lava flows leading all the way to the water.

The crusty shores and business parks give way to the trademark turquoise waters and crystal tide pools. Drove through a quick little touristy downtown of Kona and we arrived in our home for the next week. The deck looks out to the ocean as far the eye can see. Below us are sea turtles sunning themselves on the rocks and whales are breeching and crashing a few hundred yards out. Yep. Paradise.

It's a...

What kind of baby is it?

Thanks to a great idea (loaned to me by Dan, owner of Neptune Coffee on Greenwood Ave.) Jon and I have now in our possession a sealed little card which, on the inside, will reveal to us the sex of the bean. Sometime tonight, we will know if he or she is a she or a he and while I was not on board with the whole, "finding out before it's born" scenario, I am really excited now. We can nail down the perfect name and stop calling it "it."

We had our second ultrasound yesterday (pictures to come soon). We get to have a few more ultrasounds, thanks to my borderline high blood pressure and they want to measure the bean every 6 to 8 weeks and make sure s/he is growing at the right rate and getting enough blood etc. The technician said she was pretty sure she could tell what it was (adding the necessary disclaimer that they are rarely 100% sure), and she obliged us by not telling us what it is, but by writing it on a card and sealing it. This is the card we will open tonight, together after a celebratory dinner at Coupage, just Jon and I. Eeee!

Stay tuned.

In: Caucusing - Out: Voting

Sometimes I really feel like I am living under a rock. I have heard people say that "your democratic vote in the presidential primaries in Washington doesn't count" but until today, I had blinders on (or ear plugs or whatever it is that makes you tune things out that you don't understand.)

I went to the Washington State Democrats webpage and found out all about caucusing and primaries and our stupid, idiotic state that holds a primary election seemingly for the fun of it to the tune of 9 or 10 million dollars. Neat. When I try to find out why this stupidity is part of our system, all I find is weird cop out finger pointing -- "It's not us, it's them!"

The Washington State Legislature was the body who voted to hold a primary. The means that the Washington State Democratic Party, which chooses how delegates are decided, had no participation in the decision to hold the primary...

And on the Secretary of State's website, they basically say that the caucuses are unfair and everyone should be able to participate, so they will hold a fakey election so everyone at least feels like they are involved.

The…presidential nominating caucus system in Washington State is unnecessarily
restrictive of voter participation in that it discriminates against the elderly, the infirm,
women, the disabled, evening workers, and others who are unable to attend caucuses and therefore unable to fully participate in this most important quadrennial event that occurs in our democratic system of government.

The Legislature further emphasized that the presidential selection process must be more open and representative of the will of the people.

Jon and I are going to caucus this year and see what it's all about.

In totally unrelated news, we are going to see Riverdance tonight. It's a long story, don't ask. God help us. Help with what, you wonder? How about with staying awake or not laughing during the smackdown dance-offs.