hunger is the best sauce

today was all about food, sort of... at least as far as the "tasks" are concerned. and it was fun... if not a little strange. it might be a member of the union, but this place honestly feels a little more like a foreign country to me... not completely but in some ways.

day started out (late) with a search for the "original pancake house" and my mission to try Poi Pancakes... you might be asking what Poi is... a quick explanation: Poi is a Hawaiian word for the primary Polynesia Staple food made from the Corm of the kalo plant (known widely as Taro). Poi is produced by mashing the cooked corm (baked or steamed) to a highly viscous fluid. Water is added during mashing and again just before eating, to achieve a desired consistency, which can range from liquid to dough-like. I liken Poi to grits. not in flavor but in consistency. Anyway... i found the place pretty easily (thanks for the address Marassah). it was a little hole-in-the-wall joint in the industrial/rough part of town. the shopping center had some asian grocery stores, a karaoke bar, and a hair joint. pretty non-descript area. i walked in and instantly knew the food was good. not because of the smell, but because the patrons looked overly "healthy". it was obviously a place these locals come to on a regular basis. saw at least three families walk in and see other groups they knew and walk over and exchange kisses and hugs... so the very short asian lady seats me, asks if i want coffee then scurries on her way. she comes back and takes my order... two eggs over medium with bacon, and a side of POI PANCAKES.

the pancakes come first and look just like regular pancakes. then the eggs and bacon and i'm set. my curiosity is on fire so i dive into the pancakes... let me try and articulate how they tasted, but it's a little easier to articulate how they felt. they weren't horrible tasting by any means, different but not bad. had an earthy taste to them. like when you lick the side of a tree, unless you don't do that... then it's like chewing a dead leaf. not disgusting but different. the tough thing for me was the weight of these things. when i think pancake i think light and fluffy. not these things, they were heavy. and the consistency when you chewed them was pasty... not awful, just like a goo in your mouth. i ate about half my order so i could fully appreciate what i was dealing with, i also picked up a pancake and felt it, sniffed it, and held it up to the light. all so i could better report back. my big takeaway was they were heavy, thick... and if you ate the entire order you'd gain no less than five pounds and not have to eat for a week. the eggs and bacon were good.

so after that, i got a ticket for not having my seatbelt on... nevermind that I was putting it on as i backed out of my parking space... cop said your wheels can't be moving at all. jerk. i hope he gets a splitting headache tonight.

then i was off to the other side of the island to fulfill the other portion of the day's tasks. this one also had to do with food... SPAM. Hawaiians have a love affair with spam. go to this link to read why... pretty interesting actually. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29301750/ ... so my daughter got on the internet and found "the best musubi" on the island (Spam musubi is a very popular snack and luncheon food in Hawaii. A Spam musubi is composed of a block of salted rice with a slice of Spam (cooked or uncooked) on top, and typically nori (dried seaweed) surrounding it to keep it in shape. sounds nasty? i was a little concerned to be honest.


love the drive to the other side though. you go through the mountain and emerge under massive volcanic cliffs shooting thousands of feet straight into the air. breathtaking views of the bay right in front of you too. just awesome.

I found the place pretty easily (thanks Nanny). apparently it's a Hawaiian landmark. imagine an old school 7/11 before there were 7/11s. very cool place... the folks that own it were awesome. young guy up front said they were out of musubi but he'd ask his mom in back to make me one real quick (told him it was important, my girls would be upset). he came back and chatted me up about my Jeep (everyone loves her) and then went back to check on my musubi, his mom yelled at him to get out of her kitchen. then she comes out and hands me this block of rice and meat wrapped in plastic. she said she makes hundreded (yes she really did say hundred-ed) of these everyday, best on the island.. i will like. it was now or never, so i tore off the wrapper and jammed it into my pipe. the stuff wasn't bad, but was salty as all hell. i like meat to give a little resistance (that make sense?) this "meat" didn't, it just fell apart... so from a textural point of view it freaked me out. the taste wasn't bad though, it almost tasted like meat, sort of. i couldn't make sense of it. almost like limp bacon, i like my bacon crispy, but this stuff was limp and didn't fight back.

all in all a good day... some good people... minus the cop who I'd like to congratulate on making his quota.

tomorrow i'll be surfing... thanks kara for the suggestion... a day in the salt water is nothing short of amazing.

When I die, I hope to go to Heaven, whatever the Hell that is.

much better day....

i appreciate the suggestions for the weekend adventures. while i have been surfing since i got here... i figured i'd take that suggestion and surf somewhere new. hopefully i don't get killed... thinking maybe the north shore. timmy and kara... expect a full report tomorrow. i'll also be exploring this little dive market the girls pointed me to so i can eat a local "treat", SPAM musubi... the Hawaiian's are in love with SPAM.. apparently this little place serves the best stuff on the island. we'll see.

quick look at today... spent most of the day with the lawyers. other than me, they're my favorite people. they work hard and simply don't get caught up in the "game". realized that i've never met a lawyer i didn't like... and that's not me being funny... really. in my line of work, you meet a lot of sycophants doing everything but working hard and being the best at their respective jobs. not these guys... they do their jobs, and say it like it is regardless of who they're talking to. my kind of cats...

I'm excited for tomorrow... can't wait to share the day with you. again, thanks to those who take the time to comment, just so you know... those of you who leave comments make me smile.

be well... see you tomorrow

We can evade reality, but we cannot evade the consequences of evading reality.

Existence exists

Day three and it wasn't much better, but not for the same reasons. I don't think I've been sleeping well... woke up today looking for a fight. Angry, tired, and ready for it to be over before it began.

Typically I'm the guy that will talk to everyone and anyone. I'll joke during a meeting, talk to strangers in the elevator, smile at everyone, and when asked how I am respond with "extraordinary"... but not today. Was grunting at everyone and cut straight to the point in meetings and phone conversations. I hate being like this. Again, I'll blame it on a lack of sleep. And maybe the weather... nasty all day... NO sun what-so-ever. Paradise?

The adventure today was leaving work early for a few appointments. Fell asleep in the dentists chair while I was waiting for the doc to check a jacked up filling... then went and signed for a house.

My "healing" moment came later when the daughter of some friends graduated the 8th grade. I went to the ceremony and then dinner with some friends and their families. Was a nice night. A bit sad but very eye opening... we've known their daughter for several years and she's now off to H.S. She was just a little girl when we first met them. When I leave this Island, my oldest will be a teenager... so as I watched all these kids tonight, I saw my daughters and realized time is too short... Can't allow days like today to consume me. I tend, like a lot of people, to get consumed with things out of my control. Tomorrow will be a great day.

Was great to get another comment on the blog... hopefully tomorrow I'll get a bunch more as I head into the weekend. Two full days to execute whatever ideas are fired my way. So far I have one in the hopper for Saturday morning (Thanks Dre). If I don't get any I'll have to make due with some self-generated creativity... a scary thought indeed.

reason, purpose, self-esteem...

Day two: Sucked

well.. day didn't go as well as I'd hoped. maybe my idea was better kept in my head. I'll stay with it because i said i would. Rained here tonight so any travel on my part was limited... no top on the jeep....

i only got one idea from two chicks on the east coast but it's a good one... was told to find this "famous" roadside market up on the North Shore and order spam musubi, apparently they have the best on the Island. It's a really small, quaint local joint. Hawaiians love spam... eat it in all sorts of crazy ways... more on that when I engage in this first adventure.

please send me your ideas.

weak post, I know... long day, crummy weather... not a lot to say... will make up for it tomorrow I promise

Your Own Personal Voodoo Doll

Ok... here I am and this time I mean it. Have some thoughts and ideas I'm throwing down but need your help. But before we get into that... I should explain where I've been.

If you read one of my past blogs you'll see that I had MRSA (Staph infection) in my thumb. Well I was lucky enough to get it again... so awesome. This time I got it everywhere... the main spot that required surgery was the back of my right thigh. If I thought the thumb hurt, I was dead wrong... the thigh was just unbearable. And yes, I had surgery again... quite a bit of drama involved in this one. ER visits, narcotics, body scrub down with brillo pad-like devices, narcotics, surgery that sucked a lot, IV injected narcotics (wonderful stuff), open wound on leg, daily visits to hospital for a week, self-packing the open wound (causing me to take more narcotics), and on and on and on...

I then went through an "eradication period" because apparently the 'suck' caused by MRSA might be fun I get to have quite often from now on... I'm a "carrier", sounds like I have an STD. But I don't.

Alright enough of that drama.

HERE'S the DEAL:

I've decided to step outside my comfort zone and embrace this blogging thing on a different level... I'm challenging myself and attaching a "punishment" to the challenge for motivation. Hopefully I can get an interactive dialogue going with you and you'll find it at least mildly entertaining. Read on...

I will BLOG every day until at least June 15... if I fail just one day.... I SHAVE MY HEAD. I'll take pics and prove I'm a man of my word.

What will I BLOG about?... anything and everything... if YOU want me to do something... name it and it's done. I'll only caveat that with this... I won't jump out of a plane (skydive), I'm not made of money, and I won't do anything to embarrass myself or my family. I DO however live on an Island that apparently a lot of people want to get to... SO, if you're planning a trip and want someone to field test some things, let me know. I'm up for anything...

Hopefully this will be an interactive thing... and some good suggestions come through. I'll take pics and give my candid take.

I'd also like to see how many followers I can generate in the next few weeks. So PLEASE send your enemies (friends might get mad) my way and tell them to follow.

Help me save my marriage (shaving my head would be a buzzkill for the significant other)... give me fuel for the blog. I don't care if you find some randon thing on google and want me to go take a picture in front of a sign somewhere obscure. Send it...

Thanks for your help. This could be fun.