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TGIF Christmas Weekend

TGIF Christmas Weekend

Dec 23, 2017 | Lifestyle

TGIF!

Just got out of work and I’m so so so excited for the Christmas weekend!

We opened our Day 22 advent gifts.

I got Ian polarized sunglasses made of recycled skateboard wood, and they can float in water.

And Ian got me 2 tupperwares of takeout from Double Z’s!!!! I am obsessed with Double Z’s teri and katsu plates so I was vvvvvery happy with my present! Ian wins today lol.

The sunset was beautiful. Ian took Yodi for a walk and I journaled for a bit.

We ate dinner and watched “Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets” in bed on the big screen (our wall).

We headed to the airport to pick up my parents but there was a stupid police roadblock and they ticketed us for what they said was a broken light but it’s just a different colored light! We were so bummed. I called my parents and they said their friends picked them up so we turned around and finished our movie. Bummed about that, but that won’t put me down. This weekend is going to be awesome!

2017 Samoana Jazz & Arts Festival

2017 Samoana Jazz & Arts Festival

Dec 19, 2017 | Culture, Photography

2017 Samoana Jazz & Arts Festival

Day 1 at Tradewinds Hotel Pavilion

Day 2 at Sadies by the Sea Hotel

Day 3 at Tisa’s Barefoot Beach & Bar

Photos sponsored by Bluesky

This was my 3rd year as the official photographer for the Samoana Jazz & Arts Festival. And even though I see many of the same faces year after year, and have made friends with the musicians, I still get nervous to take the stage and put on the “Official Photographer” badge. I’m always worried I’m blocking people’s view, or being a bother, or that I look like I don’t know what I’m doing. I always wear all black (something I learned from my time working for GradImages) to not draw attention to myself. And it really helped to take photos and meet the new musicians at the mixer event the night before, so I was familiar with who the musicians were, and they were aware that I’d be invading the stage periodically to take their photos. Last year I took almost all the photos without a flash, which is ridiculous. This year I brought my Altura external flash and brought a bunch of extra AA batteries just in case. The photos turned out SO much better thanks to the flash. Here is a clickable gallery of photos for the 3-day Jazz festival. Photos sponsored by Bluesky.

Journal 4/52: View (and Perspectives)

Journal 4/52: View (and Perspectives)

Dec 17, 2017 | Journal, Lifestyle

Inside looking out

The view from my window right now is a lot of green and living things. I can see a little girl playing with 2 dogs a couple of houses away. The pua flowers are in bloom and falling to the ground graciously. The pandanus looks inviting but I know better. Birds are singing and zooming by. I can see the peak of Mt. Matafao, the island’s tallest mountain. The banana tree is leafy and the coconut fronds are salt frayed. The sky is gray. There is wind in the air.

Outside looking in

The studio room is a mess. Christmas wrappers, ribbons, fabric, discarded mail, art supplies… all strewn about. It’s where I’m hiding Ian’s advent gifts. Where I journal. Where I blog. Where I sew and paint things. I’m mentally preparing to close out the year. Declutter. When did I become such a hoarder? Just had a clothing swap with some girlfriends last weekend and then donated the rest of the stuff to Hope House. I’m thinking of getting rid of a bunch more stuff. I did a bit of tidying up around the studio. Here’s a video of that in fast forward.

Oh Starry Night

Oh Starry Night

Dec 15, 2017 | Lifestyle

Something so serene about lying in the dark looking up at nature’s night lights… A friend texted me early Wednesday evening to look out for a meteor shower that was peaking at 1am. It was only 8pm but we grabbed our big pillows and blankets and drove to our usual vista in Vaitogi. We laid in the back of the truck ready to behold the Geminids Meteor Shower. We didn’t stay out for long but for the 45 minutes we were out there we caught a glimpse of 4 shooting stars illuminating the starry sky.

Didn’t manage to get any of the comets on camera

but that’s life, fleeting.

Pacific Roots Open Mic #12

Pacific Roots Open Mic #12

Dec 12, 2017 | Culture, Lifestyle

It’s been a year and some months since the last Pacific Roots Open Mic (a.k.a. “PROM”). A lot of the “usuals” have left the island and if you were worried that there would be less performances, you’d be wrong. Fresh new talents got up and spilled their struggles, their criticisms, their voices out on a borrowed stage.

Between spoken word, original poetry, reenactments, singing, rapping, instrument playing, and excerpts read aloud – that Tuesday night was not short of encouragement from an audience of young adults all different walks of life.

Shout out once again to Tamiano Gurr, owner of Pacific Roots and fellow poet, for inspiring us all and providing a real life/offline social platform.