~ Totemo Kichigai ~

Holiday Greetings

2007-12-24T19:47:26Z

2007 County Fair, Think Pink Contest & Deviant Art

2007-10-10T07:53:18Z

See, told you I've been busy!

The County Fair was held a week-and-a-half ago and though I'd formally retired from competition after the 2006 Fair, the contest coordinators convinced me to enter a few things this time around, just to keep the name association going. Funny thing was, people noticed. My parents and I received numerous phone calls from friends and relatives worried that they couldn't find all of my entries. They were all bitterly disappointed when they were told I'd only made three things this year.

Here are the three items I entered in the Fair this year...

Lotus Temari

This won a First Place ribbon, as well as a Best in Category ribbon and a cash prize!

Libra Cross-stitch Bag

This won a Second Place ribbon and is now entered in a different competition on Deviant Art.

Beaded Koi

This won a First Place ribbon.

Four ribbons and a cash prize was very impressive for only entering three items, but something happened at the awards ceremony that put a bit of a damper on my good mood and pretty much assured what will happen next year. I knew I wouldn't win any of the Overall prizes, I'd planned it that way to give the other crafters a chance. I did attend the awards ceremony to show my support and to cheer for my friend, who won First Place in the Adult Division. Unfortunately, the woman who won the Grand Championship was the most self-centered, ungracious person I think I've ever seen. She didn't even acknowledge my friend's offered "Congratulations!" WTF! The woman who won Second Place was pretty much the same way! After it was all over and only the die-hards were left in the gym, breaking down the displays and packing everything away until next year, we started talking about those women and how they really didn't deserve to win if they were going to have such terrible attitudes. My crafter friends had a solution immediately, but it took me a few days to mull it over and come to a decision. Next year, minami63 will be coming out of "retirement" to challenge for the Grand Championship once again, because the way the divisions are set and knowing which categories these haughty crafters enter, I'm the only crafter of us all who has a chance of beating them. Think I was stressed this year? I only made three items to enter in the Fair. Next year I will be making 25! Yee-haw! Yep, I'm nuts!

And, to add to my stress levels, because I'm the Queen of the Masochists, don't you know... I finally started my own gallery on Deviant Art at the end of July. Come visit me there! I'm still known as minami63 and you'll get to see a lot of stuff I've never posted here, just because I've got way too much stuff to put here. I've been making a name for myself already, because I don't think they've ever seen anyone do the kind of crochet that I do. My Crochet Sushi has been one of the most popular crochet deviations ever since I posted it and in honor of the 1000 page views I reached a couple of days ago, I created Crochet Sushi 2, which is proving to be nearly as popular as it's predecessor. My work has been featured no less than seventeen times in various galleries and clubs over the last ten weeks and it shows no sign of slowing. What a wild ride...

Last month, DA held a contest in support of Breast Cancer Awareness called Think Pink and this was the first year they opened it to 3D crafters in addition to the usual 2D photographs, drawings, paintings, etc. I decided that it was for a good cause, so I created this guy as my entry in the Artisan Crafts category.

Melville

I woke up to find an email on October 2nd, telling me that I'd won 1st Place! The traffic to my gallery has tripled and I now spend the majority of my 'Net time responding to comments over there. I'm really enjoying it, though, because crafts have always been my forte and now I have somewhere that I can showcase my work and get feedback from fellow crafters. I love being surrounded by such incredible and varied artwork, as well.

Then, last week, I decided I wanted to get a few of my smaller promised projects done, so I made this little guy for a friend.

Mini Ninja 2.0

He was such an instant hit, that I received a suggestion from a DA Admin to make two other characters. Which is how these two came about...

Mini Witch

Mini Clown

The Admin was so thrilled with them that these three Minis were actually featured in an Artist Relations newsletter on DA this morning! Phew... thank goodness I'm on vacation!

I haven't forgotten about the crafts I've promised a few of you here. I just got a bit swamped there and needed to make a few quick things to clear my head so that I can concentrate better on my more finely detailed items. I will be getting to (and hopefully finally finishing) the promised items very soon.

Well, that's everything I can think of so I'm going to quit while I'm ahead and get some sleep. I haven't been to LJ in nearly two months, so I've been sorely out of the loop as to what's going on with you all. I do hope everyone has been well.

Obon, Minyo Kai and Maui Jinsha's Great Autumn Festival

2007-10-10T06:48:41Z

Boy, do I have a ton of catching up to do. Since I'm on vacation from work this week, I was hoping to put up several posts over the next several days to bring everyone up-to-date on everything that's been going on. Unfortunately, I'm overbooked and overextended (as usual) so I'm going to try to get as much as I can into two different posts tonight.

Obon season ended in September with the Azeka's Place dance, the only one we do purely for entertainment. This year's dance was an even bigger event than it has been in the past, attracting hundreds of tourists. I even have a couple of ladies visiting from Germany who make it a point to find me every year so that they can dance with me. I just wish that the shopping center sponsoring the dance would provide the dancers with a bottle of water at the very least. It's on a very hot side of the island and we're dancing for two hours to attract attention to their mall, after all. This year they gave us nothing, not even the free dance towel provided by all of the churches when we dance for them! Cheap &@$#@%&$!

The day after the Azeka's Place dance was the Great Autumn Festival at the Maui Jinsha, the Shinto Shrine I attend. I've been so busy this year that I arrived late, just minutes before the start of Reverend Arine's service. I entered the shrine to find that all of the seats were taken with the exception of the one at the very front, next to the Reverend. I'm about half the age of the rest of the parishoners and they love to tease me. They all snickered as I walked in, then told me that because I'd been late, I was expected to sit up front and help with the service! I've attended the Autumn Festival for four years, but other than make my offering and share in the bottle of sake, I've never had to assist with it before. Fortunately, Shinto services are very simple and straight-forward and I was able to get through the entire half-an-hour without screwing anything up and pissing off everyone's ancestors. At the dinner afterward, all of my older ladies and men enjoyed clapping me on the back and declaring me Shinto. Wow! And it only took four years! *sarcasm*

I took a few pictures of the entertainment we had after the service, so here we have Reverend Arine...

Not bad for a 95 year-old Shinto Reverend, huh?

And some of the dancers of the Miyu Kai, the other Japanese dance group on Maui...

Then... the week after that, the group I dance with, the Minyo Kai, held their 30th Anniversary Recital at the cultural center. I'm still waiting to get a copy of the program dvd, so I don't have any pictures of the actual performances yet. We hold a recital every Spring and Fall, but every five years, on our anniversary, we hold a special recital. This was that special recital and we had 150 dancers from Japan fly in to dance with us. They arrived on Friday afternoon and flew back out on Monday morning, so we didn't get to socialize very much, but we did manage to have a good time nonetheless.

On Friday night, we all attended a luau and were entertained by a well-known local dancer troupe. This is their fire dancer...

The evening ended all too soon and everyone at the other tables was jealous because out of about ten or more tables of Japanese dancers from Maui and Japan, the table I sat at was the most raucous! We had a group of dancers from Nagasaki at our table and we all had a blast! And here we all are, as we were saying our Goodnights ...

Don't we all look like we were having fun?

Before I end this, I was skipping around ont he 'Net the other day, looking at random things under the heading Obon, when I ran across this video and nearly fell on the floor. This is the Okinawan dance I attend and if you look for the tall girl in the bright blue kimono... that's me!">

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hOK3BNnZgGE

I've had a bit of a break from dancing for the past three weeks because my sensei's husband has been sick, so we haven't had class as she takes care of him. I miss dancing, though and hope we're able to get back into it next week. Otherwise, I'm stuck dancing to the video I just showed you!

Okay, on to the craft post!

Think Pink

2007-08-30T12:03:33Z

A friend recently asked why I cram "small" projects, like yesterday's Fish Bag, into my already crazy schedule and I told her that the answer was simple. Just look at the small projects as "palate cleansers" for my brain. I have spent nearly every night for the past two months working on one beaded project or another. That's a lot of beads and even more eye strain. Since giving up crafts is out of the question, I have to find some other way to break the monotony. Hence, the 24-hour crochet projects.

Today's project was a bit more involved than yesterday's Fish Bag, but no less fun or entertaining, mainly because I got to come up with the pattern myself this time. There is a contest currently running on Deviant Art called Think Pink II in honor of the upcoming Breast Cancer Awareness Month. The competition is open to all art forms. The only criteria is that all entries must be "positive" pieces and have the color pink somewhere in or on them.

Meet Melville...

Melville is a 13" tall monster who seems genuinely happy to have been brought to "life". I still have some little details I'd like to work out on him, but the contest due date is September 30th, so I have time. I just wanted to get the basic idea for him out of my head and done in yarn. I managed to use up quite a bit of my leftover "specialty" yarns, which is cool because I never know what to do with the scraps of those things anyway. I started crocheting him when I got to my office this morning and, with the exception of breaks for lunch and dinner (and the drive home), I worked on him for 15 hours today. He's pretty close to what I'd envisioned, so I'm happy.

That's it for messing around at work, though. The boss will be back on-island on Sunday and he'll come back to work on Monday. And I now have several days of paperwork piled on my desk. I'll take care of it tomorrow, so he doesn't figure out that all I've done for the last two days is sit in my office and crochet. It was fun while it lasted, though!

When the Cat's Away...

2007-08-29T11:20:43Z

... the mice will play. And play I did. My boss has gone out of the country for the rest of the week and has given me a much needed reprieve. Normally, this would mean that I get a lot more work done without him hovering over my shoulder, but not today. Today, I decided to take advantage of his absence by getting paid for doing something I actually enjoy.

I was just cruising websites the other day when I came across one with a pattern for a crocheted fish bag. The picture was so cute that I wanted one for myself. Well, after spending five hours crocheting today... voila!... I now have my very own fish bag. I didn't quite follow the pattern precisely, but, then again, I never do. Now, I'm thinking of tossing a few iridescent sequins on him and using him as an evening bag for the Cultural Center. All the snobs there usually look at me like I've grown a second head, anyway, so I'm used to it. At least, now, they'll have a reason to stare.

Hale Makua Kahului & Kula Shofukuji Obon

2007-08-26T13:05:59Z

Well, the final "official" bon dance of the year is now over and many of us are just a bit sad. We look forward to this for so long, only to have it blaze by in no time at all.

Friday night we had one of our "unofficial" bon dances, meaning we didn't dance for any of the Buddhist Missions, but rather, for one of the retirement homes here on the island. The majority of the people in this particular facility are no longer able to get around on their own, so it was quite fascinating to be outside with my fellow dancers and watch as a procession of wheelchairs was rolled out to line the drive. They actually formed the circle that we danced in. I wish I could have gotten pictures of some of the cute, sweet little ladies and gentlemen, but after having already worked a 9 1/2 hour day, my brain was just a bit too fuzzy to remember my camera. Heck, I drove past the place twice before I remembered where the entrance to the parking lot was! And I only live about five blocks away! We danced for an hour and some of the more mobile folks wheeled out and tried to dance along with us. It was the first time I've ever done one of the Hale Makua dances and it was so much fun, I'll definitely be going back. They even gave us snacks and orange juice afterward!

Saturday night was the bon dance I look forward to the most, Kula Shofukuji. Having grown up in Kula, it's always a wonderful homecoming for me. I get an early start and take my time driving along the winding roads to the Mission. This is the only time all year that I will turn off my car stereo and a/c, put my windows down and just bask in the upcountry sounds and smells. I love hearing the odd pheasant or franklin call as the fog rolls in and I really love the smell of the cedar on the Shofukuji grounds, when it's been soaked through with rain. And, boy did they have rain! They'd had such a downpour in the afternoon, the Shofukuji people were afraid it would mess up the entire dance, though there are those of us who'll dance no matter what the weather is like. I've spent more than one night driving home with my car's heater on full blast so that I won't have to walk to my door as a bedraggled, soggy mess!

Luckily, the rain had moved off by the time we all started arriving for the dance. The dance itself didn't start until 7:30, but I got there at 5:30 because I wanted to get a good parking spot and also because I wanted to get some nice pictures of the area. Heh! The first thing I did was sneak a shot of the altar in the Kula Shofukuji Mission. It was taken from across the street, so it's not the greatest. Sorry.

Here we have the reverend leading the graveside service.

Outdoor altar

One of the things that sets the Kula Obon apart from the others is the magnificent view from the grounds. Unfortunately, because of the yucky weather, we didn't get the stunning sunset we normally do. This is as good as it got for the evening.

I love this grave. I know... that's a weird thing to say, but it's true. The family that cares for this particular grave always does such a fantastic job for Obon, particularly with the chochin (lanterns). Every year they put up a whole line of new lanterns and when the sun sets on the night of Obon...

... they light them. I never get tired of looking at these, they're just beautiful.

We had a few technical difficulties over the course of the evening, but that just gave us more time to socialize, so not too many of us minded.

It was just the rather long wait between some of the songs that tended to get annoying after a while. But all in all, it was a lovely dance... a bit more crowded than we were used to, but that's a good thing. Positive community support can't ever be bad.

And I couldn't resist taking this shot. This is a friend's son... future taiko drummer extrordinaire. Isn't he adorable in his little happi coat and headband? Ever since they gave him taiko sticks to play with, he drums right along with the majority of the songs. He's a little young to be able to get the beat right, yet... but give him time. He'll figure it out eventually.

Well, we've made it down to our final week of dances. The "official" dances are now over, but we have two more on the schedule, purely for entertainment. On Friday, we'll be dancing at one of the other retirement homes on the island, then, on Saturday, we'll be at the Azeka's Shopping Center, dancing for the tourists. And that'll be it. The end of Obon 2007 (and my cue to start concentrating on my crafts for the Fair).

I hope everyone has a good week. My boss will be going to Arizona for a few days, so at least part of mine will be stress-free. I'm really looking forward to the break.

Rinzai Zen Obon

2007-08-19T12:10:30Z

What a great night! (Sorry, I just had to get that out of my system!) All of those nights I spent at Okinawan dance practice really paid off because I had a teriffic night tonight.

I'm really glad my friend chihei84 came to the dance tonight, because I was actually too busy dancing to take any pictures for this post. If I didn't have her to give my camera to, this post would only have a couple of pictures taken before the dance even started... although those didn't turn out too bad.

This is the center stage with the sun setting behind the West Maui mountains in the background.

That would pretty much be it for the pictures, though, so thanks a bunch, chihei84!

The crowd at tonight's dance was much larger than I remember it being the last several years. Even the dance circle was a very tight squeeze with all of the people out there. We danced for an hour, then grabbed a snack of sushi and drinks while entertainers took the stage for intermission. After intermission, the dancers went back into the circle for the last few dances. Ooo, and here I am in the brand new Okinawan kimono I bought specifically for this dance. Hee... it made me quite popular with the older Rinzai dancers, too. Looks like I've just increased my fan base!

The final dance of the night is always the "free" dance, where you can do whatever moves you want as you go around the circle. Here Earl is dancing with one of the ladies in the crowd as Hisako dances in to join them. I wish we could do the "free" dance at more of the bon dances 'cause it's a heck of a lot of fun, but it's just a Rinzai thing.

Well, I suppose I'd better get some sleep. I've got Minyo Kai rehearsal later on this afternoon for our upcoming recital and I don't want to screw that up.

Hope everyone has a good week!

Let's see if I can get it right this time...

2007-08-06T08:45:44Z

Nothing too see here, folks. Just trying to see if I can get this cross-posting thing right the second time around.

edit: Yay! I'm not a complete failure! I actually got it right this time!

Kahului Hongwanji Obon

2007-08-05T23:36:12Z

Okay, like a number of other friends I've got on LJ have done this weekend, this is going to be my first attempt at cross-posting to both my LJ and GJ accounts. *crosses fingers* Hope this works.

This week we had the Kahului Hongwanji Obon, which is one of the two largest dances we have on the island. We were a bit concerned on Friday night because it had been overcast and raining for most of the day, but once we all got to the Hongwanji, the evening was beautiful. Of course, I forgot to take my camera with me, which is the first time in nearly three years that I've done that. Bummer, since I had some friends show up in kimono that I'd never seen in kimono before and photos really *should* have been taken to commemorate the occasion. Hopefully, those friends will be brave and daring again next year and I won't be so scatter-brained.

Saturday was sort of bittersweet. I started the morning by sitting in a church for a couple of hours at a friend's funeral service. My Mom and I have been friends with Eleanor Watanabe, the noted Christmas Tree Lady of Maui, for many years. Two weeks ago, Eleanor lost her extremely prolonged battle with cancer and though we're all very sad to lose her, we also know that she's not suffering anymore and that somehow makes it easier to accept. Eleanor was very well known for her doll collection and her huge collection of Christmas ornaments/decorations, which she displayed on various trees & shelves throughout her home. She would open her house to the public every holiday season and all were welcome to stop by and enjoy. I have many pictures from last year's open house in my Christmas 2006 gallery. (click link to go directly to gallery)

Last night's bon dance was much more crowded and much hotter than Friday's. That was to be expected, though, as more people are usually able to go to the Saturday night dances.

I say this every year, but it's hard to believe that the Obon season is almost over. The three months just fly by. We've got two dances at Kahului Jodo (right by my house) this coming Friday and Saturday, then we've got the Okinawan dance at the Rinzai the next Saturday, followed by Kula Shofukuji the Saturday after that. And that marks the end of the official Obon season. There will be several "unofficial" dances, as well, but everything will be done by the beginning of September. Then, all of my bon dance kimono and obi get to be put away for another nine months, until next June, when we'll start all over again. At least we were talking about getting together to practice once a month during the off months, so we don't start forgetting the dances. That would be great, because as confident as I am that I've got most of the dances down... if I don't have constant reminders, I'll be a complete mess for the first dance or two next year.

I have a couple of pictures of the new kimono and obi I wore this weekend, but I need to run them through my graphics program and clean them up before I consider posting them, so they'll have to come later. I was given an obi by one of the senior dancers on Friday night and as coincidence would have it, it matched the kimono I was wearing. So, I wore that obi instead of the one I'd originally taken with me. Then, on Saturday, the two new kimono I just ordered from Japan arrived, so I wore one of them to the dance along with another brand new obi I'd gotten from my Minyo Kai sensei. If I have enough time to get to those pictures tonight, I'll have them up tomorrow, but that all depends on my schedule. I've been so busy lately that I barely even have time to sleep, which is why I've gotten into the habit of falling asleep at weird times, like while sitting in my living room, working on the beaded daruma I'm supposed to be making for the County Fair. I'm amazed I haven't seriously injured myself with the beading needle, since I doze off with the thing still in my hand!

Hope everyone has a good week!

edit: I fail. I forgot the most important thing of all. When posting to several different journals, be sure to indicate *which* journals! *sigh* Will try again another time.

Minyo Kai Performance & Wailuku Hongwanji Obon

2007-07-30T22:22:21Z

Where does all the time go? I spent so much time running around this weekend that the days were gone before I even had time to realize it.

Saturday afternoon, my Minyo Kai class held a short performance at the Maui Mall. I didn't dance with them (this time) because I'm still learning the dances they did. My sensei has already told me that I probably won't be so lucky next time.

Here we have Audrey, Hisako, Geraldine, Nancy, Tasaka-sensei and Karen dancing "Onna no Ippongi." This is actually one of my favorite minyo dances... mainly because the title means "Strong-Willed Woman." It's a great dance, albeit a bit difficult, and I can't wait 'til I can do it without screwing parts of it up!

Okay, now most of our bon dancers are female, which is why I'm always posting pictures of the girls and ladies I dance with, but we do have a few guys. Not very many, mind you, but a few.

This is Daryl, Kilu, Lance (in rear view) and Earl. I teased Daryl about maybe finding board shorts a little less loud so you couldn't see them through his yukata because the orange ones he wore here were just screaming beneath the thin material. He gave me an "Oh, you..." and slapped me on the arm. *rolls eyes* He's such a chick...

Here's everyone milling around and waiting on the start of the dance. This is when we all vie for positions as we decide where in the circle we want to dance. When I started out, I would dance in the outermost ring because I didn't want people to watch me and all of my mess-ups. It's amazing what four years will do. Now I make for the ring closest to the center, not because I think I'm that great, but because it's the one that has the most room, since most of the other dancers prefer to avoid it. You do get people watching you dance when you're in the inner rings, but I'm confident enough in the majority of my dances that I don't mind anymore. Funny thing, Saturday night's dance ran long ('til almost 11 pm), but by the time the last five dances were done, most of the main dancers had left. I got to help wind down the dance by leading several of those last songs. It was hysterical when they started playing the one and only Okinawan dance and only five people out of the 100 still there knew what the moves were. I had so many dancers line up behind me that I nearly lapped myself in the circle! All I can say about that is, it's a good thing I go to the Okinawan dance practices or I would have been one of the semi-clueless people, too! That dance is *hard!*

And here we've got everyone dancing to "Beautiful Sunday", the last dance of the night. I bailed out at this point, since I don't care for this dance. Leaving a little early gives me a chance to get to the dressing room before the rest of the crowd. It also gives me an opportunity to say good night to some friends and take a few last shots of the dancers. What a hectic weekend this was.

Boy, I've also been so damn busy that I either haven't had time to do any washing or the weather hasn't cooperated with me. So, I finally got to toss a whole bunch of stuff in the washing machine yesterday.

This is what my clothesline looked like yesterday morning. Now *this* is what I call a kimono collection! And it's only about half of what I actually own!

Well, I'd better get back to work. LJ was being weird with me when I tried to put up this post yesterday and wouldn't take any of my pictures. I can't put up a post without pictures! That's just blasphemous! Which is why I'm doing this now, at work... when I'm supposed to be working on our corporate taxes for the month. *snigger*

Hope everyone has a good week!

Makawao Hongwanji Obon

2007-07-22T09:19:36Z

Too tired to put up a fancy post tonight, so I'll just make with the pictures and go to bed.

It always rains during the Makawao Hongwanji Obon so as I was driving up the hill on Friday evening and saw this:

I wasn't surprised.

The Makawao Hongwanji is in the middle of renovations right now, which is why the cute little Japanese girls who came to dance with us Friday night look like they're standing in a corral here:

It rained so hard on Friday night that they decided to hold the dance indoors, in the hall. Unfortunately, the hall is cramped and when you put all of the dancers and drummers in there, it tends to loook like this:

It was so hot and miserable in the hall that after only a few dances, those of us brave enough to handle the pouring rain decided to say the heck with it and go outside. There were about a dozen of us and by the time I got home after this dance, so much water had dripped out of my kimono and onto the floorboard of my car that it didn't dry until Saturday afternoon.

Saturday was a much nicer night for us. It drizzled a bit but nothing significant,

which is why the dance circle looked more like this:

Some of the friends I made on Lanai last weekend came over to dance with us, too, so I spent part of the night with them, which was a lot of fun. In all, it was a good dance. And I was really happy that I made it through nearly the entire dance without screwing up too many of the dance moves. Almost...

I have a sick fishie to check on, so I'm going to cut this short.

Hope everyone has a good week.

Paia Mantokuji Obon & Lanai Hongwanji Obon

2007-07-16T03:45:27Z

Holy $#@*&, am I tired! Two bon dances on two different islands in two days!

On Friday night, we had the first of two bon dances at Paia Mantokuji, here on Maui. I got so into dancing that I only took the one picture of the yagura prior to the dance. Sorry.

Saturday night was the second of the two Paia Mantokuji dances, but I joined a small group of 17 dancers who were asked to dance on the island of Lanai, a neighboring island. So, at 8 o'clock on Saturday morning, I was on the Pier in Lahaina, waiting for the ferry to take me to Lanai along with my fellow dancers and taiko drummers.

We stayed at the Lanai Hongwanji, a very quaint little mission with rather uncomfortable hardwood floors. I only know that because that's where we spent the night, half of our group sleeping in the pews and the other half choosing the floor. Next year, I'm taking an air matress! Of course, this turned out more like a camping trip than I anticipated. We spent half the night crowded in a circle, gnawing through all of the snacks we could find and telling ghost stories. And being residents of Hawaii, where ghosts abound, everyone had at least one story to tell. Then, once we'd gone to bed, you could hear the wind howling and rattling through the old wooden structure and a loud knocking started up every half-hour or so, which kept the older ladies jumping up to check the windows and doors.

The reason the Lanai folks ask us to participate in this bon dance is because they have such a small congregation there aren't enough people to warrant a bon dance of their own. As it was, only three older ladies started out dancing with us, though by the end (over two-and-a-half hours later) we'd managed to get nearly all of the crowd, including the firemen from the fire station just next door to join in.

We danced every old dance we could remember (and a whole bunch that we were kinda shaky on). Good thing Earl (the guy on the far right) was there to keep us going through the dances no one else could remember. One thing I learned on this trip... Earl is hysterically funny enough to get me to shoot lukewarm oolong tea out my nose. Don't try this one at home, kids... it's neither pleasant nor pretty.

Saying good-bye this morning was tougher than I thought it was going to be. We'd only spent about 24 hours with the Lanai people, but they treated us like royalty. From the moment they picked us up at the boat ramp, took us touring their tiny city and the large resorts in it, plied us with so much food that we could barely stand, (let alone dance)... until they said goodbye to us back at the boat ramp this morning these people have been the epitome of hospitality. I can't wait to go back next year and see them again.

At 10 this morning we were back at the pier, this time at Manele Bay on Lanai, to catch the ferry back to Maui. I get sad when I think about Mr. Honda (of Lanai) telling us that there may not be a Lanai Hongwanji in five years because the tiny congregation is quite old and it's possible that they could all pass on in that time. I do know that as long as they want us to come back and dance with them... my friends and I will be there.

I've had an incredible weekend. I hope you guys all have a great week.

Lahaina Jodo Obon

2007-07-08T11:57:29Z

I didn't think I would have enough time to work on the daruma today and I wasn't wrong. Between my usual Saturday errands, taking care of my fishy kids, then heading out to Lahaina a bit earlier than I normally do, I was too busy to do anything else.

Even though the dance didn't start until 8pm, I got to the Lahaina Jodo Mission at 5:30. I thought I'd be early enough to find a parking spot close by, but that didn't happen. I actually had to park my car on a neighboring street and walk back. Oh, well... At least I was in time to watch the Maui Taiko group be interviewed on camera by Branscombe Richmond (of movie and television fame) for the local show Good Morning, Hawaii. My friends and I will probably be in a number of the pan shots they'll be using when they air this, too. Fun...



One thing I really love about the Lahaina Jodo is just how photogenic the grounds are. Even at dusk, without using the flash on my camera, the colors of everything, particularly the buildings and the sky really come through.



Once the service is over, it's time for the toro nagashi or floating lantern festival. The procession leads from the mission, across the grounds to the daibutsu, then down to the beach, where the lanterns are floated out to sea.



Heh... I had such a good time taking pictures of everything *before* the dance started that I didn't get around to taking many during the dance, which was just as well, since it was nearly impossible to do anything other than dance while the music was going. It was too crowded and busy.

Next week Saturday we're in for a treat. I finally got invited to go to the bon dance off island! So, I will be dancing at the Paia Mantokuji on Friday night, but I will be joining a number of bon dance friends on the island of Lanai next Saturday. My overnight suitcase is now on my bedroom floor, airing out, as is my sleeping bag. I think I'm going to buy myself another memory card for my camera, so I'll have more than enough room to take all of the pictures I want. I haven't been to the island of Lanai in nearly 30 years, though I'm sure it hasn't changed much. We'll see next weekend.

I wish I could take another week of vacation, but... *sigh* ... wishful thinking.

I think I'd better jump in the shower now because I have no desire to go to bed still sweaty and smelling like cookout smoke.

Have a great week everyone!

Major Craft Project 2007, Day #5

2007-07-07T11:18:02Z

Well, it was the last official day of my vacation and I goofed off more than I had planned.

This was part of today's distraction... it was too gorgeous a day to stay hidden away in my house the entire time. Besides, Dad has been wanting to have lunch at the country club restaurant for ages and I haven't had the time. Too bad he got called in to work early today, so I wound up dining overlooking this amazing view with just Mom. Poor Dad.

After lunch, I hung out with Mom for a while, then dropped her off at home and wandered around town for another couple of hours. I never imagined I could spend over an hour staring at aquariums at the pet store. Fortunately, I have enough willpower (and good sense) not to buy anything... yet. It'll be a little while before my own fishy kids are big enough to warrant the 10 gallon tank I was eyeing today.

Pic #1: Taken at Midnight

I did manage to get some work done on the daruma, though it's a little less than yesterday. His mustache is nearly done. I just have to even the rows and stitches out, since the right side looks a bit shaky. I was hoping to have his face done before the end of my vacation, but I have a bon dance in Lahaina tomorrow which means I'll have to leave the house around 5pm to make sure I don't get caught in traffic and find a decent place to park once I get out there. And because this dance is on the other side of the island, I probably won't get back home until midnight or later, either. I just got a notice in today's mail that said I'll start Okinawan bon dance practice on Tuesday, too. That'll mean Monday nights: Minyo Kai class, Tuesday & Thursday nights: Rinzai Zen practice, Friday & Saturday nights: Obon and starting in two weeks, Sunday afternoons: Minyo Kai recital rehearsal.

It's a good thing I like my Japanese dances, don't you think?

Major Craft Project 2007, Day #4

2007-07-06T11:10:29Z

Boy, it's a good thing the only activity I have planned for tomorrow is lunch with Mom because with everything I ran around doing today, I was left with only three hours to work on the daruma. When you're working with tiny glass beads like the ones I'm using for this project, you can't do a whole lot of bead embroidery in three hours.

Pic #1: Taken at 1am
Beaded left side of mustache and eyebrow... left side of face nearly complete

Unfortunately, that's it for today. Told you not much can be done in only three hours. At least I managed to do something, though and every little bit I complete brings me that much closer to finishing the whole thing. I've got my hopes up that I'll actually finish the face tomorrow, but we'll just have to wait and see.

I can't believe it's Friday already. Where has the week gone?

I need more vacation time!

Major Craft Project 2007, Day #3

2007-07-05T10:26:48Z

Not much progress to report today due to a number of distractions. Oddly enough, my friends and family don't think I should spend my entire vacation in my living room working on a craft project. Hmm... go figure.

Pic #1: Taken at 6pm
Finished the little wedge of red beads from the top of the daruma's head and down his back

Pic #2: Taken at 9pm
Right eye partially filled in

Pic #3: Taken at Midnight
Finished right eye and started on small markings on face

I really hope I'm able to finish this guy's face before I go back to work, but I've got a lot more "distractions" coming up, by way of lunches and dinners out with friends and family, not to mention the Lahaina Jodo bon dance on Saturday night. Oh, well... we'll just see how far we can get before then.

Have a good Thursday everyone.

Major Craft Project 2007, Day #2

2007-07-04T10:12:15Z

As promised, here are the pics from Day #2 of the beaded daruma.

Pic #1: Taken at Noon
Beaded the black part of his left eye and started beading the gold designs on his chest. Also tacked the "minami" kanji applique down

Pic #2: Taken at 3pm
Finished beading his mouth and chin, started working on mustache

Pic #3: Taken at 6pm
Finished more of left eye and two more gold designs on his chest

Pic #4: Taken at 9pm
Finished beading gold designs on chest and started working on the red at the top of his head and down his back

Pic #5: Taken at midnight
Filled in more of the red beads atop his head and down his back

That's where I stopped for the night. Considering I've been beading for the better part of the last 12 hours, I'm amazed that my vision is only a little bit fuzzy right now. I certainly accomplished more today than I thought I would, since I was jumping from area to area so as not to get too bleary eyed by using just one color of bead.

Well, it's off to a quick shower and bed for me. We'll take this up again when I wake up.

Have a good day everyone.

Major Craft Project 2007, Day #1

2007-07-03T10:43:46Z

Even though I'd announced my retirement from the County Fair craft competition after winning the Grand Prize last year, the contest coordinators convinced me to remain a participant. I really thought they would ask me to be a judge, but that didn't happen. Instead, they explained that they want me to keep entering my crafts, even if I don't enter as many things as I have in the past. Because my rather unique and eclectic collection of crafts brought renewed interest to what was turning into one of the most boring venues at the County Fair, they're afraid that if people don't see my name associated with the competition anymore, they'll stop entering things themselves. I didn't think I was that influential in the contest, but, apparently, I'm the person who's set all of the new standards... so I'm the one to beat. Hmmph, goes to show what I know.

Anyway, I decided that with me being so busy with the Minyo Kai this year, I wouldn't have enough time to make a whole collection of crafts like I've done in the past, so I finally settled on entering three very intricate items. The first item will be the lotus temari, which I completed several months ago. The third item I haven't decided on yet, but I have until the end of September, so I'm not concerned... yet. The second item is what I started today.

This is the picture off the 'Net that gave me my initial idea. Because I've been so lucky with this craft competition in the past, I decided that I want to make a daruma. But not just any daruma. I want to make him out of material, then bead him, much like I did with the sushi plate that won me Best in Show last year.

So, here's the start of my beaded daruma... the felt form with some of the basic outlines either stitched or drawn on. I know it looks a little lopsided, but that will be taken care of when I start doing the bead embroidery. Unlike the sushi plate, which was quite small, this daruma is nearly 12" tall and, when I'm done, will be completely covered with seed beads. It's going to weigh a ton! In addition to the several thousand gold, black and white seed beads I plan on using, I brought in about 10,000 red seed beads for this. The amounts were a guestimate on my part and I hope that they'll be enough. I'm on vacation for the week, so I'm going to try and finish as much of this project as I possibly can. I'll be posting pics to LJ nightly, so everyone can see whatever progress has been made.

This is going to be fun!

Fish Tales

2007-07-02T03:34:20Z

No Obon post this week. They did have a dance this weekend, in fact there were two of them at the Lahaina Hongwanji, but two large fires on the way out there kept me from attending either one. The fires themselves were basically extinguished by the time the dances were held, but I chose to stay away at my doctor's suggestion. Considering I can smell cigarette smoke virtually anywhere in a three block radius, it probably wouldn't have been a good idea for me to be dancing for two hours (per night) in an area just down the street from where over 1000 acres burned to the ground.

I'm glad I didn't go to Friday night's dance, although staying home proved to be more stressful than I had hoped. As I'd mentioned in one of my previous posts, I've been fish-sitting for a friend. Another friend from work (who raises fish as a hobby as well as a side business) warned me that the bowl Louie the goldfish came in was far too small for a fish his size and he would probably not live long because of it. I'd managed to keep him relatively happy for a week, but that all came to an end on Friday night. Louie had been gasping for air all day, prompting me to change his water and try a host of other panic-stricken ideas to restore him to health. He'd improve for a little while, then relapse. It was a very long day. After struggling for hours and hours, and in spite of my every best intention, he finally died at 10 pm. Even though I'd only been watching him for a week, I'd gotten rather attached to the little guy. I cried for two-and-a-half hours. When the sun finally came up, I buried him between two of the flowering pikake bushes just outside my kitchen door. My own little fish, Haku, and I miss him very much. When Louie's owner comes home on Wednesday, I get to give her the empty bowl and barely touched container of fish food. I also need to tell her that if she gets another goldfish, at least put it in a 1 gallon bowl, not something so tiny that it fits in the palm of your hand. That's just cruel...

After spending the morning in a very depressed funk, I actually considered going to last night's dance, but by the time the late afternoon rolled around, I started getting a headache. By the evening, I was running for my Tylenol 4's. The funny thing is, I may not have been able to handle dancing in a crowd with that kind of headache, but it didn't stop me from struggling with a crochet hook and yarn. I'd found this pattern on the 'Net a while ago and have been waiting for an opportunity to use it. Since I resort to crafts the same way many of you fall to writing or artwork when in an emotional state, last night was the perfect time for me to try this out. Through the headache that lingered on for nearly seven hours, I made myself a brand new Totoro. At just a little over 12" tall and filled with nearly an entire bag of fiberfill stuffing, he's definitely huggable. I even slept with him last night.

So, for now, I've become the overprotective Mom, running out to check on my own fish several times an hour, which is really starting to annoy them. I can just hear their whiny little fishy voices going, "M...o...m! Quit it, already," as they dive for the cover of their aquatic plants. I'm sure I'll get over it in a few days, but they'll just have to put up with it until then. I even burned some incense for Louie the goldfish last night. Don't know if it did anything for his little fishy soul, but it made me feel better. I'm also glad that I have incense that doesn't cause my asthma to go ballistic, since the smell of something burning is the very reason I didn't go to Obon this week.

Hope everyone had a nice weekend and your week is a good one. (I'm on vacation this week! Yay!)

More Crafts Done Thus Far This Year...

2007-06-25T09:34:27Z

I've been trying to get through all of the crafts that I wanted to make (and promised to others) this year. At 5:20 this afternoon, I finally finished the afghan I told

apaisamma I would make for her daughter's 17th birthday and I'm taking the next few hours to celebrate. It took me 37 hours to crochet this blanket and I'm beyond thrilled that it's finally done, especially since the girl's birthday is tomorrow. I've posted pictures of the small projects I've done as I've finished them. Well, here are some of the big ones.

This is a chirimen kanzashi I made to wear for the Maui Matsuri. It actually looked rather nice when put together with my other combs, pins and hair piece, though, unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures from the Matsuri.

When

isabeau_gower mentioned this year's fangirl get-together, I started trying to come up with ideas for party favors. This was actually the first thing I thought of, though it turned out a tad too big to use as a favor... it's now a paperwieght on my computer desk at home.

So, I tried again. This time I crocheted it much smaller and with yarn instead of thread. Judging from the feedback I received, I'd say they were fairly well received.

Made a chenille phone pouch for apaisamma 's birthday.

This is the lei I crocheted for

apaisamma 's niece's high school graduation earlier this month.

And here is the blanket for

apaisamma 's daughter's birthday. It took me so long to make because I crocheted it lengthwise, so it would look like a flag.

I just wish skeins of yarn were all the same length because this blanket was a serious pain to make. Each of the colored stripes was the same width, but because the skeins of yarn were different lengths, the black and red stripes took two skeins each, while the yellow and green stripes took two-and-a-half. I had to keep running back to the store to buy more yarn.

That finally takes care of all of the major projects I had slated for this year. I still have a couple of gifts that should have been done and delivered ages ago, but I couldn't get them completed in time, as well as a few other items I wanted to make for friends. I'll be working on some of them a little this week, but next week is already booked. I'm taking a week of vacation and I'm going to be working on the huge beadwork project I'm planning on entering in the County Fair this year. I hadn't actually planned on entering anything in the Fair, since I announced my retirement last year, but the contest coordinators convinced me to make at least a couple of items so that my name will still be associated with the competition. They're afraid that all of the people who started entering the contest just to see if they could compete against me will quit if I'm not there anymore. So, I'm going to be entering three items, the lotus temari I made earlier this year and two other crafts that I haven't even started yet. At least I've got until the end of September.

Hmm... I think I'm actually going to get some sleep right now. Novel concept... me going to sleep when I'm tired.

Have a good week everyone.

Portland Taiko at Taiko Festival

2007-06-24T14:31:14Z

Wailuku Jodo Obon

2007-06-23T19:50:22Z

Not a whole lot to report about last night's bon dance at the Wailuku Jodo Mission. The weather was pleasant, the crowd was smaller than we remembered it being in the past and there were a lot of little kids running around. They need to do a better sound check before the dance so we're not all looking at each other going, "What song did they say was next?" because only one of the speakers is working and we can't hear a thing.

Only three of the regular taiko drummers showed up, which left them rather tired at the end of the night. Poor guys. At least we did all of the fan dances this time, unlike last week, when we brought our fans like we always do and they didn't do *any* of the fan dances.

You can tell there weren't very many dancers because there's actually space for everyone to move. I'm used to banging into everyone because there's no elbow room, so this was kind of strange. Nice, for a change, but strange.

This is a cute picture and a common occurrence at Obon, Sensei being followed around by her young dance students like a mother duck with her ducklings.

Action shot of me in my shibori yukata. I'm glad it wasn't hot last night because this yukata is rather heavy and last year I wore it to the hottest dance of the season. I must have lost 15 lbs that night. Not so this year. It was actually comfortable, which was a pleasant change.

There are more pictures from last night's dance in my Obon 2007 scrapbook.

addendum: Boy, I was so tired when I got home from the dance last night that this has been sitting on my computer this entire time. I fell asleep before I could finish it and hit the "post" button.

I've got a taiko festival to attend tonight, so I won't make it to the bon dance at Lahaina Shingon. It's okay, though. I've always missed this dance because of the taiko festival, since they're both held on the same night, every year. I'll be back with the dancers next week Friday and Saturday nights at Lahaina Hongwanji.

Now to finish crocheting this blanket...

Hope everyone is having a good weekend.

I've Got Company! (Trust Me, This is a Rarity)

2007-06-22T11:57:08Z

I'm running on pure adrenaline right now. It's a little after 2 a.m. and I've been crocheting for most of the past four hours. I'm a bit delirious and really giddy because I have a houseguest for the first time in... a very long time.

Some friends went on vacation and asked me to take care of their precious pet, so from today until the 4th of July, I'm fish-sitting.

This is Louis. My friends didn't actually give him a name, but he seems to respond better to "Louis" than "Hey, Fish" so that's what I'm calling him. He doesn't seem to mind.

He's been pretty hyper since I brought him home. He must be excited by his new surroundings (or the fact that his bowl is directly in front of my microwave oven).

*inside joke: I'm allergic to seafood, particularly shellfish (I wonder who told the fish, though?)

Once he gets settled in, I think Louis and I will get along just fine. This could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship...

or I could just need sleep.

Wailuku Shingon Obon

2007-06-17T12:27:17Z

The second bon dance of the season was tonight and, thankfully, it was neither hot nor rainy.

There were no wardrobe malfanctions to report tonight, which makes me happier than you know. Particularly because I now have a complete set of undergarments for the dances. You wouldn't believe the trouble I've had trying to find a few of these items, mainly because I'm nearly twice the size of your average Japanese female. Now I just need to find myself a couple more pairs of zori or geta because the one pair I've been wearing to all of these dances is starting to look like they've seen better days.

Hmm... looks like I was on a kimono kick tonight, considering that they seem to be the focus of most of these pictures. And yes, that is me with chihei84 in the last pic. She's modeling her brand new yukata and we're both showing off our new obi. I love kimono and with 25 yukata/kimono in my collection thus far, I suppose it can truly be said that I've never met a kimono I didn't like. I can't wait for my sensei to have time to make me a couple more kimono because it will be nice to finally have some where the sleeves actually fall to my wrists and we have fewer nights like tonight, where the sleeves barely make it past my elbows. That's part of the downfall of being me and ordering premade kimono online from Japan. Everything is (logically) made to Japanese specifications.

Dad wants to have Korean food for lunch today, so I guess we'll be heading to his favorite restaurant this afternoon. They've got some great veggie dishes, so I'm looking forward to it, as well. It'll definitely beat the yogurt and granola I've been having these last couple of days

Hope everyone has a good week.

Puunene Nichiren Obon

2007-06-10T10:51:42Z

Happy, happy, joy, joy... *does happy dance*

Obon season is here again!

Tonight was the Puunene Nichiren Obon, the same dance that starts off the Obon season every year.



I'm still trying to get used to my new camera so some of the pictures might be a little strange. I promise they'll get better as the season progresses. I loaned the camera to chihei84 for a little bit, as well, and she took a bunch of close-ups of me... one of which I posted here and the rest I sent to my Obon 2007 scrapbook.



I'm also trying to get used to this new "uploading pictures from scrapbook" deal, where it basically posts thumbnails to your LJ and you can click on them to see the actual sized pic. Guess I should send the pictures here from my Photobucket albums if I want to have them show up bigger. Oh, well... now I know.



*chuckle* Half the fun of the first bon dance of the year is seeing all of the friends you haven't seen for the last nine months and catching up on everything that's gone on in that time. And tonight was no exception. I spent a good part of the night chatting with friends, even while we were all dancing. And I seem to have acquired a cheering section this year. I love Obon.

Now, that I'm home, I'm going to eat the container of fresh strawberries I bought this morning, watch Blood+ and mess around with my computer until I fall asleep.

Hope everyone is having a nice weekend. Mine has been awesome.