GALFROMDOWNUNDER UPOVER

Dec 2014:  University of Hawaii Forestry Professor JB Friday helps me  nip an invasive albezia tree in the bud  UPDATE: December 2024: The end of an era.  I no longer own my sliver of fern-covered lava in Hawaii. It's been 18 years since I signed on the dotted line with a vague dream of following the flip-flops of my friend Ann Kobsa, whose 99.9% sustainable life in the Big Island was the initial inspiration to take the plunge (scroll way down for the lowdown on that).  But here I am, clearly a city mouse, because the closest I ever got to moving there was... well, talking about it. But, over the years, it gave me a wonderful excuse to visit IMO "the best place in America," where the sun and rain are free, where you can technically live under a tarp year round... the closest you can get to "true survival." Who doesn't secretly romance being off the grid?  Over the years the cost of holding onto this 8429 sqft,  pizza-slice-shaped lot land rose...

The view from my homestay in Kaneohe, Oahu First, a mini movie review ... I'VE JUST crawled out from under a crocheted cushion after 'viewing' the Wachowski Bros (Matrix) 1996 movie, '"Bound." I don't think I'll sleep tonight, I'll need a stun gun and a Valium to close my peepers... which were closed for probably 60% of the movie. Extreme suspense, violence, Joe-Pesci-at-his-damndest dialog, a severed digit (or ten) thanks to a pair of garden clippers, plus a rather topical twist: a lesbian couple star as the glam Bonnie and Clyde. Topical, because I've just seen "Brokeback Mountain", this year's darling gay western flick. 'Bound' has terrific acting and plotting, highly recommended. Warning: it contains some serious Vaseline-covered lens action. I'm now holed up in Oahu, via the Big Island, Kaui and Maui, as the guest of Bike Friday customers Ralph and Bernice. Ralph is the Bike Friday Club of Hawaii leade...