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December 28, 2005
dawn patrol
cruz'd into DH this morning & was able to pull a few shots off with the camera phone. an epic sunrise & such a great glow over the islands. in these photos the view is looking off to the east. under that sunrise are several other hawaiian islands. (big island, maui, lanai, molokai & kahoolawe)
surf this morning was small. even over at lighthouse i was having to pull the longboard real close to the reef to be able to catch a coupla smaller ones. was able to get to the nose for a smaller fun one over at cliffs. made the morning a nice bookend to the sunrise.
i've been spending more & more time as of the last coupla months wandering around in my head. kicking over old shoes boxes of memories, dreams & hidden treasures. stumbling across smiles & heartache. time to check my head. maybe the beastie boys were onto something there ;-}.
thinking of heading to north shore for the weekend to surf into a blissful new year in the water. when we lived in seattle we would head to the mtns & play outside to bring in the new year. i'm thinking this year would be unique to just surf my cares of 05 & the past away under the powerful beauty of mother natures ocean.
check this out...
CURRENT SUMMARY: North Shore, Hawaii
"A High Surf ADVISORY (15 ft. faces) remains in effect until 6:00 PM today. Current long-period and slow-fading WNW Swell dropped only slightly overnight. Surf is still looking super clean & fairly solid in the 10 to maybe 15 ft. (faces) range early this AM. Standouts are still getting some bombs near Triple Overhead. Many North Shore breaks are still Closed Out . A few select Outer Reefs are still breaking this morning. A few more North Shore breaks should become more manageable and rideable as this swell continues on it's slow decline today. Smooth and near glassy conditions due to the No Wind Situation early this morning Another High Pressure Ridge has parked itself right near the Hawaiian Islands. When this ridge is just a little North of here....the result is light wind out of the East. When this Ridge veers directly overhead...Light & Variable Wind dominates. Either way, the wind will be less than 10 mph later today...so clean conditions should prevail. But ONshore Sea Breezes could develop in some areas. If that Happens, expect some slop & mush out on the ocean this afternoon. This beautiful, clear, dry, sunny tropical weather to last through most of this week....Paradise!"
Posted by Single Fin at 11:57 AM | Comments (2)
December 25, 2005
mele kalikimaka
winding down from fun-filled week-end of festivities....
christmas eve was mostly spent on the surf. we did a 3 hour mid-morning session and a sunset session. i had my best morning yesterday. i've been practicing walking to the nose. it's been lots of fun...slowly tip toeing towards "buddha's head". corey turned reddish pink and i turned a shade browner from 5 hours of surfing. then we went over to our friend, fanny's place for christmas eve pupus and cocktails. here's a great family portraitof us all.
christmas morning started off with dawn patrol surf session. the arms are a bit sore from the from yesterday. then back home, invited a bunch of "orphans" over for brunch and a "white elephant" gift exchange. recycling gifts are always fun to do. some great gifts were "the best of journey" cd, arnold schwarzeneggar's "encyclopedia to body building" & "the shining" book, & my borderline scary/yet kind of cute in a weird way buddha that corey got for me from kmart. it's all about saving the environment & getting a few good laughs in, as well :)
afterwards, we had our traditional ginger bread cookie making event. they were a bit darker this year than the years before. one of our friends said that they were aboriginal people from new zealand.
this is a great photo of our "orphans"...a canadian guy, a german guy, a japanese/hawaiian guy, a hippie guy, a vietnamese girl.
mele kalikimaka!!
Posted by soul sista' at 09:28 PM | Comments (1)
December 22, 2005
clark foam....
nough said right here....
Posted by Single Fin at 06:46 PM | Comments (0)
walking on water
small day out in the waves. super clean, glassy w/ gorgeous pinks & oranges in the sunrise. great day for a single fin 10ft board or bigger. lots of little knee to waist high inside sets. i was thinking that i should just take advantage of this moment & try to ride the nose more. so i slid the fin back all the way in the box & rubbed a little extra wax on the nose.
for the next hour or so i caught about 10 waves. lots of fun & walked the board enough to feel good about the session. not to mention the stoked feel of surfing the nose. realized that again i still need lots of work on my cross stepping. ironically though at that moment there was a local girl cross stepping but having trouble riding the nose. polar opposites we were. there was another guy as well spending alot of time on the nose. really talented with the drop to cross step...very impressive to see someone pull a drop knee turn into a small floater then walk to the nose for a cheater 5. however the local gal was so graceful & soft in her cross steps. very fluid w/ a gentle touch. almost like she was tip toe'n quietly along the board.
after about an hour & 1/2 we started to head in. caught my best wave of the week...a nice right hander where i was able to get a cheater 5 & 10 toes on the nose. i was in the moment & so stoked. funny thing then happened. i was waiting my turn out deep for one last wave in. a nice chest high glassy wave rolls by & up i go sweeping down the face for about 30yrds. the face opens up into another section & i cut for the lip to make another drop. of course there are other surfers around & they tend to not be in the way or they'll @ least move if they are. but this morning this one guy starts to drop in on me. except i'm literally a board length away from him. i give him the friendly "whoooo-weeeee" local yelp to get him aware of what he's doing. no luck.....he drops & throws his board as he dives under in a last minute ditch to save his ass from getting run over. there was no moving on my part as it was to fast & short distanced for me to flutter in anyway. first thought was sh_t this is gonna hit me in the face. so i throw my right hand up by my face & catch his board out of the white wash to shove it back to buy me a second or 2. it kicks around & the fin stabs me in the hand & elbow.
my arm goes numb & i zip over the section to the shoulder. but i couldn't paddle for about 2 minutes cuz the arm/hand was numb. i figured the guy would come over & say he was sorry or something..i mean he was 100% out of line.
nope...nothing....he starts to paddle away.
so i one armed paddle up to him & he just looks at me with a blank stare like he got caught or something. we then had a 2 minute pointed discussion about etiquette, the fact that he was in the wrong, knew it, did it, hurt someone & then never checked up to be a responsible surfer. then just for added future warning i let him know if he did that to a local they would be much more harsh for dumb stunt like that. especially if you don't say your sorry. the best advice i gave him was "its like crossing the street, look both ways before you j-walk"
a smaller gal or kid could have broken his/her hand over that move. fins are like knives moving that fast in the water. anyhow...it's all good & i wasn't sweating the guy. it was more about surfer safety & local break politeness.
still enjoyed the session & still have sand caked on my feet here at work.
not a bad day all in all so far.
Posted by Single Fin at 12:38 PM | Comments (1)
December 19, 2005
pipeline masters
headed up this weekend to north shore for the crown jewel of the van's triple crown competition series.
we arrived bright & early w/ hot coffee in hand. paid a $5'er to a local family to park in the yard next to the pig pen. which of course even the pigs in north shore get excited this time of year and want to come over & check everything out. so ye gave them some sweet grass from the other side of the fence which i'm sure they stare at ever day....then we headed over to pipeline.
conditions: a bit of a west & north swell combo was hitting the reef @ a decent 4-8'ft hawaiian scale w/ light winds. therefore lighting up the left which is pipe & the right which is called backdoor. this made for some beautiful early morning heats for the competition. several thousand people on hand w/ an expected million + or so watching live from the net. for those that do not know what this event is. just think world cup soccer semi's & finals all in one day.
in the morning pipe was working the best..but later in the day backdoor was the place to score the serious points & get the most amp'd barrels. it was an interesting day to say the least. sunny garcia & luke eagan retired that day & were beat out in semi's. slater was beat out as well leaving both irons brothers, kalani chapman & mick fanning to slug it out. 3 hawaiians & 1 aussie.
andy irons taking home 40K today just in prize money! not a bad days work for some tubes, sun & stoke.
oh yeah....also, we got to "surf" some of our own big waves...double to triple overhead over by "daystar" & "mokuleia". pretty trippy stuff! much more of a gun wave then a short board. but that's the first time ye's ever been fearful surfing. each time we go out...we gain more profound repect for the locals. those folks are bad ass & are some of the best surfers in big waves. nothing like seeing a 260 pound old hawiian guy in his 50's w/ a thick bushy mustache drop in a tripple over head glassy monster riding a 10ft board. big belly hanging over his shorts & a grin from ear to ear like a 10year old boy @ christmas.
funny moment: when we paddled in ye says "oh yeah, i think i also saw a shark's fin near my board as i was coming into shore." never a dull moment here on the islands!!
Posted by Single Fin at 12:35 PM | Comments (0)
December 18, 2005
holiday spirit...
the holidays here on the islands just isn't quite the same as back on the mainland. i haven't been quite so in the holiday spirit, lately. i miss the snow every so often. corey has been really good about trying to make things festive for me. we strung christmas lights all around the house. we pulled out all our christmas ornaments that we got and were given to us through the years. we watched our first xmas movie, "national lampoon's christmas vacation'. "charlie brown's christmas" is up next.
today topped it off, though. we went to oahu's only xmas tree farm, that officially opened up this year. we got a 6 foot norfolk pine tree.
it's a cross between a palm tree and a soft evergreen tree, who's needles never fall off. the only thing is, that we've been all over town looking for a xmas tree stand & they're totally sold out. so we've resorted to putting it into a cinder block with a water bottle cut in half, stuffed with sone of our stones we've collected through the years :)
Posted by soul sista' at 07:22 PM | Comments (0)
December 14, 2005
gadgets..
studio holiday party was last night. lots of good times & humor to carry on into the late evening. ended up scoring a little present as well in the x-mas raffle. no complaints here....
loaded some photos up this morning to check out the quality. "not bad at all" is my opinion. i'm finding the nano to be light weight, durable & about 2gb of storage for some digital STUFF is a nice addition.
Posted by Single Fin at 03:19 PM | Comments (2)
December 13, 2005
winter solstice party invitation...
aloha our dear o'hana,
season's greetings!! come help us celebrate winter solstice. please pass this email along to anyone and everyone :) let's make this a big holiday celebration bringing together all "walks of life".
what: holiday/winter solstice potluck beach party
where: kaimana beach...
when: wednesday, december 21 at sunset till whenever
why: why not??!! :)
what to bring: food to share; anything else that "inspires" you; eg. musical instruments, glo-sticks, crayons & construction paper, tarot cards, portable karyoke machine, poi balls, swords, fire, cameras...the possibilities are endless.
loving aloha,
ye
p.s. for those of you who want to do some yoga beforehand, feel free to drop in our class from
5:15pm to 6:15pm. we're located in the grassy area across from the natatorium underneath the palm trees at kaimana beach "park". just bring a towel and maybe something warm to cover yourself up with afterwards. there's a sitting meditation time after 6:15pm for those of you who are interested.
Posted by soul sista' at 11:51 AM | Comments (0)
December 11, 2005
surrendering...
i'd like to proudly announce the birth of a beautiful healthy baby boy. he is half japanese and taiwanese. the baby was birthed at 3:40am this morning in the comforts of his home. mommy birthed her baby in a water birthing tub, that was set up outside on their deck underneath the big mango tree decorated with christmas lights.
i checked her at 10:30pm, she was at 4 cm dilation. her dilation process seemed to be not progressing as quickly as she had hoped for. we talked about surrendering, letting go, working with her breath in order to be in the present moment. this allows her body to relax order for her cervix to dilate, so baby's head can come through and out the canal.
i received a phone call a little after 1am, she was 10 cm dilated and ready to push! amazing what happens when we just surrender :) it's amazing how much i learn about life as i am able to witness the miracle of birth.
as always, i am so full of gratitude for each precious moment.
Posted by soul sista' at 08:00 PM | Comments (0)
games
shessh. normally i don't talk about work on this blog. but this is a rather big deal. after one large buyout this year here comes one of the biggest for us yet. last week it was announced that EA (Electronic Arts) has purchased our company for some sick amount of money. its great news in my opinion. we were just a puppy dog several years ago w/ big ambitions & a great game. now we are part of the largest game house in the world. kind of like being a proud parent & seeing you kid go off on their own. in the same sense i feel like the kid beingout there and saying "damn...where the hell am i?"
i'm stoked with the chance though. i mean..i've been here before. this is my 4th start up company i've been involved in. i think this is my 7th or so merger /acquistion as well. @ this point the skin is a bit thick i suppose. i've been on both sides of the glass in these situations & now its unique to sit back & watch people experience the range of emotions that float about during these times.
so whats my mental remedy? i'm just going to buckle up the seat belt, slap on a decent bike helmet, grab some 3d glasses & a nerf gun. hell might as well go for the deep end smiling.
Posted by Single Fin at 11:20 AM | Comments (0)
screaming under water
caught the movie rent last night & loved it. yes its a musical & yes its damn good.
maybe it just resonated w/ that _ucked up space of leaving my 20's far behind & running headon full speed into my 30's. throwing loose baggage out the window in a confused, lost, love, hurtful, death of loved ones state of mind.
i think my favorite clip of the movie is the scene at the "life cafe". the cast of actors have a huge outbusrt of emotion, dance, singing & portray life as just being abstract but in the moment. death maybe around the corner but it shouldn't limit the souls ability to glow.
for me i think the pixies nailed it on the head....with the song "where is my mind?"
"...With your feet in the air and your head on the ground
Try this trick and spin it, yeah
Your head will collapse
But there's nothing in it
And you'll ask yourself
Where is my mind
Way out in the water
See it swimmin'
I was swimmin' in the Carribean
Animals were hiding behind the rocks
Except the little fish
But they told me, he swears
Tryin' to talk to me to me to me
Where is my mind
Way out in the water
See it swimmin' ?
With your feet in the air and your head on the ground
Try this trick and spin it, yeah
Your head will collapse
If there's nothing in it
And you'll ask yourself
Where is my mind..."
Posted by Single Fin at 11:02 AM | Comments (0)
December 10, 2005
unconditional love...
another wonderous day here on the islands...
we just spent the morning on the west side of the island out on a tour boat, called the island princess. this was the boat that picked up lori and i on my birthday. we were out on our surfboards looking for the dolphins way out deep heading towards kaena point. mom was a little bit worried because she couldn't see us from shore. so she called all the lifeguards out to come rescue us. we got the lecture about 20 foot sharks out in the water. so needless to say, we've been warned about being in the big wide ocean :)
little baby dolphins jumping out of the water everywhere. i had never seen so many babies in one pod. some were as little as 2 feet. so cute!!! we were surrounded by at least 80 dolphins. it's funny how it doesn't matter what's going on around us or in our little heads, dolphins have such a magical way of making people feel at total peace. i think one of the reasons being that they represent unconditional love, which is so very healing.
i recently discovered how "accessible" the dolphins are at this local resort, which i am really excited about. in the wee hours of the night, you can sneak in through the gate and sit on the docks to be close to them. they'll come right up to you. ssshhh, don't tell anyone.
Posted by soul sista' at 05:52 PM | Comments (2)
December 08, 2005
flow of nature...
just checking in...i had a very nice day. i started my morning barefoot walking meditation hike back in the the valley, to visit my favorite waterfall. a peaceful morning, climbing up the roots of the banyan trees up to the second waterfall. i feel like a monkey, using each and every one of my limbs, going upwards taking one breath at a time.
i saw a few clients today, one of them being a baby boy. we had the honor of delivering him at his home 9 months ago. i'm so very thankful to be able to see these little babies grow up.
then off into the water at our favorite local spot, diamond head. i was teaching one of my friends how to surf for the first time. i love first timers. i didn't overwhelm him too much with all the details of technique. i just told him to "be with the ocean". we saw a double rainbow overhead! "just another day in paradise", as corey would say.
i have discovered that if i follow the flow of nature, i can't go wrong...
thank you, mother nature.
Posted by soul sista' at 10:08 PM | Comments (0)
December 06, 2005
coupla more shots of the trip to kauai...
nice lush red & yellow colors
where to surf? choices choices choices....
the one thing i will say is that the north side and the upper west side are sweet when a good N or NW swell is passing through.
great water fall shot of the waimea canyon. other wise known as the largest canyon in the south pacific. (tropical version of a smaller grand canyon)
mug shot on the upper west side of the island
Posted by Single Fin at 05:29 PM | Comments (0)
celebration of life...
my grandfather from vietnam passed away a couple of days ago. he died at the ripe age of 91 years. he's a special man. he loved to laugh and joke around. a fond memory i have of him, is my sister and myself walking with him in bao loc, the village where i was born. we were on both sides of him, arm in arm, talking & laughing back and forth. he told us that he wanted us to only speak to english to him so the villagers could talk about him :)
i am sad about not being able to see him as a physician & as a grown woman. my last trip home was before i started medical school. i vowed to myself that i would give back to the country that i was born in, when i became a doctor.
my wish is for all of us to celebrate the life that we have today, to extend love and gratitude to those that are around us, family, friends, enemies & strangers. we are all interrelated and connected on so many levels. it's times like these that reminds me of how fragile life is and that we must never take it for granted. take the time to share your love and be in the moment.
love,
ye
Posted by soul sista' at 02:52 PM | Comments (1)
December 05, 2005
lush tropical lands & sweet warm waters
(secret spot...head high spitting little almond shape barrels w/ one guy out)
friday night we arrived & cruz'd on up to the north side of the island. nothing to do but enjoy a long weeknd of exploring. maybe even dismantle the mind from the rat race & think about life.
6am up & at'm for dawn patrol. loaded the ride up & in a sleep state we made our way around the lagoon. however as we turn the corner along the ocean damn straight in front of us stacked up 2 A-frame breaks going off.
whoooooo weeeeeeeeeeeeee! one guy out w/ butter glass conditions.
(another secret spot we discovered after about 10miles of 4x4 offroading. that wave is about 6ft high)
(great looking vantage of the northeastern lighthouse)
more to come a little later.
yet after a weekend of a place like that....i think this kauaiian bumper sticker sums it up the best:
Posted by Single Fin at 05:03 PM | Comments (0)
December 02, 2005
surf safari is headed out....
its friday.....& we are outta here...
flight leaves in 90minutes. heading to kauai's northern shores for a lil'winter cabin getaway...south pacific style. boards are packed & the surf is 6-12ft regular face w/ light to variable winds. weather is suppose to be epic w/ sweet pink sunsets over the north west.
alohas until tuesday..
Posted by Single Fin at 04:18 PM | Comments (0)
"autism is cureable!"
i attended a DAN (defeat autism now) conference in long beach, california last month. it was so inspiring to see all types of people from all over the world there for one cause, to cure a child of autism. physicians, parents, educators, practitioners, a small handful of naturopathic physicians were all there to learn about biomedical approaches to cure autism.
the most touching part of the conference was when a group of kids went up onto the stage with their parents to give a their testimonial about how they were cured.
for all of you who know of someone who has autism, please refer them to a DAN or naturopathic practitioner, who is familiar with the protocol.
AUTISM IS CUREABLE!!
http://www.autismwebsite.com/ari/index.htm
Posted by soul sista' at 10:53 AM | Comments (0)
vipassana meditation
i went to a vipassana meditation retreat in northern california that i went to at the beginning of this month. it was the hardest thing i have ever done in my life & yet the most rewarding and life altering. words cannot even describe fully what was felt.
the one objective thing that i can say is that everyone left the retreat so full of peace deep within.
if this interests you, check out the website: http://www.dhamma.org/goenka.htm
may every breath that we take in be full of love and every breath that we give out be full of gratitude. may all beings be happy. and above all else, may peace prevail on earth.
~namaste
Posted by soul sista' at 10:43 AM | Comments (0)