Barry O'Brien

I'm sorry mom (and dad), but my name can be kind of a pain.  I feel for Barack Obama.  My name has brought me what I would consider a fair amount of trouble/annoyance in my short life (because of the pronunciation issues), but obviously not nearly as much as Barack's.  But what is your name?  It's just what people call you...it doesn't say anything about you.  My name certainly doesn't say that I'm Swedish or obviously even that I'm from India.  So why do some people read unintended meaning into the name Barack Obama's family gave him (which is an African name)?  He may as well have been named Barry...and his middle name is a family name!  Don't you know like 10 people who have been named after a relative?  

I didn't even vote for Obama, but I feel bad about what is happening to him in this campaign. There are too many out-and-out lies being thrown around, and they could easily be set right by even just going to wikipedia.  First of all,  I happen to have some friends who are Muslims and it is NOT okay with me that they are being marginalized in this way.  And what's even more ridiculous is that Barack Obama isn't even Muslim (as if that would be such an awful thing!).  How can someone on one hand be associated with a radical Christian leader and on the other hand be "accused" of being of a completely different faith?  Barack Obama is a Christian- if that matters to you.  

If you care about where this country is going and have the same values as Mr. Obama, I think a vote in his direction is a good way to go.  I would've voted for him, but for the fact that we don't agree in the area of Gay Rights.  At least do yourself the service of checking into where he stands on the basic issues by visiting his site at: Barack Obama: the Issues

It'll take 5 minutes, but it's a decision that will last at least 4 years.

Bye-Bye Kauai

Being that I'm such a coconut fan- I found it only proper that we go to the Coconut Festival in Kapaa.  The festival would've been more fun had I not already fulfilled my non-GF quotient for the day/week/year, because they had coconut treats in abundance, but it was actually really fun to see the local-made crafts all in one location.  I was only wearing SPF-30, and you've SEEN my skin, so we didn't linger at the Festival.  I later found out that there were demos showing how to weave baskets out of coconut fronds, but I guess I missed out.  :(

We stepped out onto the main street of Kapaa (Kuhio Hwy), which is not unlike Atwater (for the 3 readers who have been there!), although maybe a bit more rustic and worldly.  On this little main street is the little mom & pop shop called Pono Market where Milind and I got our marriage license.  The man who gave us our marriage license took our picture to put up on his wall with all of the other happy couples and we had hoped to go and "find" ourselves-but Pono Market was inexplicably closed the days we were there.  

How about Monico's Taqueria for a surprisingly delicious lunch or dinner?   We decided to drop by there and check it out and were really loving our lunch.  Mexican food on Kauai? YES!!!  But then, follow it up with some Lappert's.  Which is what we did.  :)   "Tutu's Anniversary" again, which is what they call the flavor I love: Coconut, Passion Fruit and Raspberry Sorbet.  Mmmmmmmm.  Oh how I miss it.  

We went to the beach for awhile and then up to our hotel room...and I was looking out the window and noticed a commotion near the water on the beach.  We ignored it for awhile, but Milind was convinced that there was a Monk Seal on the beach, so we went out there.  Sure enough, there were two Monk Seals gamboling around in the water.  I took about 50 steps back.  I felt really strongly about not bothering them.  

There were several people there (yet, keeping their distance, due to some "Monk Seal 

Volunteers") with cameras, and they were able to capture the Monk Seals playing with eachother as they came out of the water onto the beach. 

Keeping in mind that we had an Anniversary dinner reservation, we headed back up to our room to get ready.  There was a knock at our door, and the champagne arrived!  Milind threw himself a little 15 minute party.  The party continued at the Hukilau Lanai, which is a semi-fancy shmancy restaurant adjacent to our hotel, which is the same restaurant to which Milind and I "wandered aimlessly through the night" on the night of our wedding.  It was only fitting that we go back exactly 2 years to the day.  We didn't get to sit at the same table, though.  :(  The food there is pretty good...Milind got the Mixed Grill 

(which was Ono, Butterfish and Shrimp) and I got the Filet Mignon.  Of course there was the option of going to get some Lappert's afterward, but I declined. (WHAT WAS I THINKING?!)  We went back to the hotel and caught the last half of the Amazing Race.  

After a seriously overpriced Breakfast Buffet (aren't Buffets always overpriced?), we decided to checkout kinda early.  Bernice, the very kindly woman at the front desk, shares a name with one of my great aunts, and I told her so.  She shrank back and replied that she really dislikes her name.  I think that's too bad, because I happen to really love the name Bernice.  My aunt Bernice influenced me in a lot of ways and taught me A LOT of things, but one of the most basic was how to tie my shoes.  

I wanted to grab a book to read on the plane-and as far as I know there isn't a Borders anywhere near Kapaa-so we headed over to the ABC Store and I got a Botany book about the flowers of Hawaii.  I needed something that would hold my attention like that Pomeranian book did on the way over!  We were SO early to the airport-  I think we were about 4 hours early.  We unfortunately had seats that were in different rows, so we were on the hunt to find people to switch seats with us.  I asked a couple people in the waiting area, but no such luck.   Once we got on the plane, we did find a man who would be a great potential candidate to switch seats with us, but when we asked him to switch, he literally got one notch below irate with us.  The stewardess came over to see if she could help diffuse the situation.  She explained the situation and it must've sounded better coming from someone in a uniform, because he finally relented.  Once we were all in our seats, the man patted Milind on the shoulders and said something to the effect of, "Don't worry about it, man".  At least Milind and I got to sit next to eachother.  HOWEVER--Milind had the window seat, I had the middle seat (AGAIN!  I hate the middle!) and on the aisle was a man who had recently had a stroke and had lost the use of his left side.  It turned out that we were basically pinned into our seats for the 5 hour flight, because this man couldn't move from his seat without assistance.  I usually drink water like a fish...I really rationed the water on this flight.  My poor kidneys!

So we arrived back in San Francisco and found our parking shuttle (FastTrack) without any drama, and we actually made it home by 10pm.  A weekend was just enough time to spend in Kauai...for people like us who don't hike and don't scuba.  I think if you're a little more adventurous, you could easily spend a long time on Kauai and find countless things to do there.  Our main focus was a relaxing weekend getaway, though--we weren't there to enjoy the mountains like most people.  Next time we go to Hawaii, we'll check out a different island, just for some variety; not that we don't love Kauai--we just want to have some new experiences.