The holiday during this time was really heartfelt for me because I was really anticipating to be alone and slightly melancholy due to the events of ‘09 and other significant days of that year but it ended up being SO beautiful and memorable. Even more so being the last holiday in Hawaii as residents. I ended up in the hospital the Monday before Xmas day and we were so busy getting to all the different family homes that week, I was slightly tired/haggered the whole time but it was the folks that was my medicine.

My photography class had popped off in September, meaning not only were there better pictures of everything during this time, but also photo excavations.

Thanks for the holidays! And in case all ya’ll didn’t know, all the thumbnails open into galleries you can navigate thru. Just click on a thumbnail and click right side of photo to ascend or left side of photo to descend. [See other galleries of Aloha Hawaii here1, here2 and here3]

I think in September especially, there were so many people visiting Hawaii that there ended up being lots of pictures of people.

There was going to be a day where I would move away from Hawaii and hear about people getting all stoked going on trips to Hawaii and that time is now.

The weather has been beautiful here in Washington. I went on a hike that reminded me of Manoa today. This life’s waters are changing rapidly again and the time is flying. All of this seems so far away now while making myself into this person in this city I now love and am so proud to call home.

Thank you again to the folks and fam that made a memory in that chapter and especially for this entry, the ones that don’t live in Hawaii but were the ones that came to visit that got us all excited every time. [Part one and two]

I love and miss…you…

It’s been one month and two days of 206 living.

Same thing I said last time: Aloha Hawaii (click here if you missed it last time because it still applies) thanks for everyone who made these memories memories. I have learned so much about how people work and what that means to me. My final conclusion especially thinking about people I really want to see again that are now far away to the people I could care less about is- everyone values their own actions, tradition and relationships differently. Never expect someone to act they way you would or think is most respectful to you. I am learning to take people as they are, and the very best parts of them I admire and try to incorporate on how to be a person similar, sometimes, the return is disguised differently because that’s how that person measures their action and values in action. Even taking parts that just aren’t and recognizing that you never would want to be that. Sometimes friendships are moments in passed time that you can remember and admire forever. One act of realization to you to change you.

Thanks for the lessons. Thanks for the fun. Thanks for the memories. I hope this strikes something special to take you back to when…

It’s been two and half weeks since we got to Seattle. It’s now officially the longest I have been away from Hawaii since living there. I can tell you honesty, I do not miss Hawaii…yet. I could tell you about the folks and family I miss…not to mention I can’t find ume maki anywhere here and sushi in general is expensive!

So from living in a hotel to the very welcoming home of the homies Geo and Chera, we have now found our home on Beacon Hill. Which is what I would kind of like to describe as the Kaimuki of Seattle but maybe better? I have a tendency to like the “Kaimuki Areas” of cities since I could consider Richmond/Sunset to kinda of like that as well.

I could tell you all about Seattle but I wanted to say Aloha Hawaii. I’ve been wanting to leave Hawaii so long that I always imagined my last month would be laying on the beach everyday, BBQing with homies, hiking and other ridiculous paradise activities we often make fun of tourist fantasizing about but secretly wish in our working days we could do. Turns out the last month was a bloody mess with packing, moving, selling, packing up the whole life to move across the ocean, which moving already sucks but moving across the ocean sucks even more. Then I came to the conclusion that I have been living this life all 14 years and ESPECIALLY  the last year along the with G.P.S. (grown people shit)

So if you happen to see yourself or something that strikes your memory in these photos, it’s probably because we made a memory together, you have showed me some kind of kindness, humility, something unforgettable, admirable  or I just plain love you and want to thank you for making that chapter in my life what it is. ESPECIALLY the last year.

Here are some photos I went thru in the month of March, April and May of 2009 in Hawaii. (This is before my photos got better and some are Aarons) Clips of certain places, places in time, people, things and life in Hawaii.

Thank you. I love you. I remember you.

The capital of Washington is Olympia.

Washington is located at 47.041N, 122.893W

Washington reached statehood on November 11th 1889 making it the 42nd state in the United States

You’re looking at 206, 253, 360, 425 and 509 for phone numbers.

The state bird is the Willow Goldfinch which is also the state bird for Iowa and New Jersey

The bordering states are Idaho and Oregon.

What supports Washington’s Economy are the seafood, dairy products, apples, cattle, wheat, potatoes, nursery stock, aerospace, software development, food processing, paper products, lumber and wood products, chemical products and tourism.

Washington is ranked 18th largest state in the United States as well as 13th most populated at about 6,500,000 in 2008. Seattle ranks at the most populated city at about 602,000 people.
In 2007 this became the first state in the nation to target all forms of highly toxic PBDEs for elimination from many common household products.

The current governor is Chris Gregoire who is a white democratic woman. She is the 2nd woman to be in office and the first to ever win reelection in Washington state. In 2008 it was measured that about 57% of the state voted democratic. Although it has been known that the Western side of Washington is liberal and the Eastern side of Washington being more conservative. But Washington state has voted a democratic presidential nominee since 1988.

Before European explorers, Washington State had many established tribes of Native Americans that were proficient in craving, fishing and hunting. The small pox epidemic of 1770s had devastated most of the native population. (One more thing to have in common with Hawaii)
In 1775 was when Spanish Captain of the Santiago, Bruno de Heceta had become the first European in recorded history to land on the Washington Coast. In 1778 Captain James Cook sighted Cape Flattery (which is the farthest NW point of the US located in Clallam County.) but more explorations would come from Spanish explores Manuel Quimper in 1790 and Francisco Eliza in 1791. The next was a British Captain by the name of George Vancouver in 1792. Then there was a bunch of fighting/killing.

The highest point is Mt. Rainier coming in at 14,410 feet. It is located 54 miles South East of Seattle which is about a 2.5 hour drive. The last recorded eruption was between 1820 to 1854 although there has been other eyewitness accounts in the later 1800s. Captain George Vancouver was the first European to see the mountain and named it after his friend Rear Admiral Peter Rainier. Mount Rainier was first known to the Native Americans as Talol, Tahoma or Tacoma. To climb Rainier is difficult and can take three days, about 8,000 to 13,000 people attempt to climb Rainier annually. About half succeeded. The weather and conditioning is the reason for most of the failure. The Washington State quarter has a picture of a salmon and Mt Rainier. It has the 4th most Prominent Mountain peak in North American, being the highest point, Cascade Range.

The state flower is the Pink Rhododendron. It was selected at the World’s Fair in Chicago in 1893.

Seattle is known as the Emerald City and Washington known as the Evergreen State.

The state motto is Al-ki a Chinook Indian word meaning “bye and bye” which translates as “Hope for the Future”

The state was named after George Washington.

The state song is “Washington My Home”

This is my country; God gave it to me;
I will protect it, ever keep it free.
Small towns and cities rest here in the sun,
Filled with our laughter, “Thy will be done.”

Washington my home;
Where ever I may roam;
This is my land, my native land,
Washington, my home.
Our verdant forest green,
Caressed by silvery stream;
From mountain peak to fields of wheat.
Washington, my home.

There’s peace you feel and understand
In this, our own beloved land.
We greet the day with head held high,
And forward ever is our cry.
We’ll happy ever be
As people always free.
For you and me a destiny;
Washington my home.

The teams to be rooting for are going to be the Seahawks for football, the Mariners for baseball, the Sonics for basketball and the Storm for Womens basketball.

So that’s what they say about Washington. But from my stand point. So far, so great.

My first entry was a Work In Progress of the “film boy”. I’ve been posting mostly photos since it has been easier to take photos during the time of moving around then it has been trying to paint anything especially without having a studio space set up anymore.

Well, the days are dwindling down until Seattle and let me tell you, it’s a roller coaster.

I donated a set of plaster figures for form study, tracing paper, and card stock to Kapiolani Community College where I took my first oil painting class. Then I consolidated all of my unfinished work and was sadden that first of all, they looked like crap and second, I never got to finish them or at the very least prime over those canvases and paint over it again. I just ran out of time.

SO in a backroom in Kalihi, where my Hawaii roots really sank (for nine years!) in and I think it’s funny I am here in Kalihi one last time before I leave HI, where all of the last of my worldly possessions are getting ready to be packed in less then a handful of boxes, I took a couple of hours out of packing, sat in the middle of my things and painted on my easel one last time.

He’s finally finished. If you guys didn’t catch that first entry, this was the painting I promised New Day Kids President Eric Rulona all the way back in August when he had returned from he’s charity work in Malawi. Well, he’s done and all he is missing is a title and a home.

He’s for sale, 100% of the proceeds go to New Day Kids charity. March 22nd is World Water Day and the next project that New Day Kids would like to have funding on is pipe water for the E&K Orphanage school. Contact eric@newdaykids.org for any kind of inquires.

And contact me if you have any ideas of what the title of this painting should be. Photo was taken in Malawi, Africa. The boy is using a roll of exposed film for the sunglasses for his bright future and yes, that’s sugar cane in his mouth.

Please check out the New Day Kids site, Twitter and facebook page. It’s a truly amazing organization and I am not just saying that because Eric is my partner which really makes you see the insides of everything but because it actually makes a difference in SOMEONES life.

I ain’t gonna lie, my favorite facebook album is the Bright Future Shades Album because if you wanna look cool and be a charitable as Bambu, Dj Phatrick, Dj Packo, Elsie, Steph and myself, cop one of these bad boys for $20 and know those $20 goes straight to the project. And send a photo!

These were taken on Oahu’s North Shore. I am so glad I got to kick it with the homegirls (the entourage fly-er then your girlfriend who will make beezies eat bullets) one more time before I leave the 808 that’s been home for over 14 years now.

Cheers to my BAYWAII 2010 ohana and new ohana. Thanks for coming out. Next time I won’t be the one that lives here anymore. Make the sunshine for me Arlene.


I am pretty sure these all leaked all over facebook already.

Just a quick look into what Feb 27th was like for our household in Alewa Heights. Which mostly consisted of 3:30am post Soul Clap grocery shopping, sleeping, watching the ocean from the lanai and filling cups up with water.

Again, this time it was on the free pass trip.

This was attached to where the rain meets on the roofs corners.

I was told they make a sound.