My Hot Valentine

Words are only painted fire; a look is the fire itself. 
- Mark Twain, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court

Joey - after 10 years together, I still think you're super hot.  Love you, baby.

This is a valentine love song for you, Joey, and other good husbands out there:

"Sun is Shining"

Bob  Marley

Sun is shining, the weather is sweet
Make you want to move your dancing feet
To the rescue, here i am
Want you to know, where i stand

(monday morning) here i am
Want you to know just if you can
(tuesday evening) where i stand
(wenesday morning)
Tell myself a new day is rising
(thursday evening) get on the rise
A new day is dawning
(friday morning) here i am
(saturday evening) want you to know just
Want you to know just where i stand

When the morning gathers the rainbow
Want you to know i'm a rainbow too
So, to the rescue here i am
Want you to know just if you can
Where i stand

***

__________________________________________________________________________________

And for the ghost of Valentine past (just another silly old name), play me  . . . .

Hobo in the Sunshine

Stop dreaming my dreams

            it’s unsettling me

The way you recede without approaching

The way your details climb into my brain

            and conjure fantasies there

You’re stirring up an empty dust cloud

Time cannot be destroyed

            and time cannot be caressed

So words are shadows of timelessness

And this moment will not be repeated

            or trespassed

So give me a little significance and a chaotic smile

You’re a hobo in the sunshine and I’m your even sleep.

I Started in the Water and Hopefully I'll End up There, Too

Ever feel like you're living that movie Groundhogs Day, experiencing the same monotonous 24 hours over and over again?  Most of the day spent at work boxed in a little depressing cubicle hunched over a sticky computer. You blurt out the same tired phrases to about 20 other sad faces, wearing the same boring Target clothes, haunting the same paths like a depressed widow.  Everything becomes so routine that when something out of the ordinary finally happens it makes you a little nervous - like a forest animal scenting fire.  A void begins to form in your stomach (that you may start to fill with microwave taquitos and time-management computer games).  Is this really it?  Please someone pinch me.

Okay I'm being overly cynical.  But some days I'm basically an Egyptian slave hunkered down pushing around stones to build the symbolic palaces (read tombs) of the rich.  

If you're over 30 it's even worse.  You know what I mean.  As a kid you think you'll be president or a rock star by thirty.  But as 30 creeps up - life just kinda slips away (or slips it to ya, however you want to look at it).  I'm not a pessimistic person - I had goals (I graduated from law school last year thank you very much).  But ironically life is most weary when you know how good it is (or was).  Because then you know what you're missing.

Might as well throw in the towel now before any teeth get knocked out, right?  It's easy to just given into the flow and become a drone.  Don't do it.  I moved a family of 4 to the Big Island with $5,000 last month.  Now I don't make as much money anymore, but now I swim in the actual ocean and it's in the 70-80's every day of the year.  Sound too monotonous.  Try living three years in Wyoming where it gets 30 below and snows 9 months a year.  I guess what I'm trying to say is that Groundhogs Day should be in paradise.    

How to Find the Cheapest Rental Car in Kona

Local Tips

1. Plan to pick up and drop off your car at the Kona airport.
2. Visit a discount Hawaii-based travel website, such as "Hawaii Car Rentals." (http://www.hawaiicarrentals.net/) or "Aloha Rents" (http://www.aloharents.com/).  Your goal is to obtain a discount code.  You will plug in this code directly into the coupon box of the website of the major car rental company of your choice (e.g. Budget, Avis, etc.) 
3. The island's discount travel sites have great deals but are extremely difficult to navigate.  
4. My advice: From "Hawaii Car Rentals" website, choose the word "Daily" "Weekly" or "Monthly" under the box at the very center top that says "Amazing Rates."  A page will open that lists rental specials, but the page doesn't list the brand names.  For example, "Major National Brand #1" is Avis rental car company.  (Hint: To find out what brand is being offered, click directly on the words "Major National Brand #1").  Look for the data row that represents Economy/Subcompact cars.  
5. The first number represents the daily rate and the second number is the weekly rate.  For example, if the listing says "$28/142," the weekly rate is $142 (NOT including taxes and fees which are expensive).
6. When you locate the deal you want, click directly on the words "Major National Brand #3" (or whatever you chose) in the boxes naming rental companies.  You will be taken to that company's website with the "Promo Code" or "Coupon Code" or "Corporate Code" or whatever box filled in automatically.  I suggest you write this code down.  
7. Continue to book online through the specific car company's website.   
8. When you pick up your rental car make sure to obey the speed limit and drive courteously!  If you exceed the speed limit, you will be pulled over and given a ticket.  This is not California - no tail-gaiting, honking, or road rage.  Be wary - cops here drive their own SUV's and are hard to spot.  Be especially careful on Queen K and Alii Drive.