<p>Sluggbugg has been causing trouple again…</p>
<p>Earthquake hits Hawaii: <a href=“http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/15/us/15cnd-quake.html[/url]”>http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/15/us/15cnd-quake.html</a></p>
<p>we know that our slugg is part cat and has nine lives, so sending prayers and good wished to her and Himom</p>
<p>I was wondering if slugg is back in cali - anyone know? and hoping to hear from HImom asap. marite started a thread.</p>
<p>Well I’m in NY, NJ, and PA this weekend. No earthquakes. Hoping all our Hawaii people are OK.</p>
<p>200th post!</p>
<p>(Can’t accuse me of spending all my time on CC. Tho I do a fair amount of browsing & grinning.)</p>
<p>OK, why did my last post not get me up to 200? I have two posts #199, evidently? </p>
<p>(It’s embarassing when you do a little end-zone dance and the officials say the goal wasn’t good…)</p>
<p>Parent cafe postings don’t count.</p>
<p>Go give a SWAG in the “What Are My Chances Threads” and you will hit your goal.</p>
<p>Yeah, the cafe is frivolous communication, unlike the Forum :)</p>
<p>Right. Thanks!</p>
<p>Woohoo, mommusic! A strawberry daiquiri topped off with whipped cream and a sparkler for your 200th post! A post in Sinner’s Alley is worth oodles more than other posts in CC because we’ve got ::::
:::: in our sleezy little corner of cyberspace…and a hot tub. Oh, and crazy straws…and a kickin’ jukebox. 
</p>
<p>Well, we’re back in the Bay Area. We missed the earthquake by a couple of days, but the Big Island folks will be just fine. They’ve got aloha over there. The earthquake’s epicenter was about two miles from where we stayed last year for our 25th anniversary. Shaka to Madame Pele as she reminds visitors and locals that they are living on an active volcano. 
</p>
<p>Maui needs to get some aloha. I don’t know whether it’s the influence of the sugar factory that belches brown and white smoke and irrigates the cane fields with matching brackish water or if it’s the cruise ships that park in the harbor and plant their big da kines in front of postcard perfect sunsets, but man, something about this island gave me a pain in my okole. </p>
<p>The jackhammering of the pool at our hotel and a week of stifling heat, humidity and vog (volcanic ash and fog) didn’t bother us-- that much. It was just that everywhere we went, we couldn’t find much aloha. We drove through the beautiful, rolling pastures of Upcountry to the summit of Haleakala, Maui’s biggest volcano, and we saw the lovely and weird Ahinahinas (a.k.a. Silverswords). The landscape looks exactly like the surface of Mars, and it’s definitely worth hiking over some boulders and up a few stairs to get a view of the impressive crater. We kept reminding ourselves that we were on Maui each time we said, “Aloha,” to a stranger and got a stink eye in return.</p>
<p>We drove the road to Hana for which they sell teeshirts around the island that say, “I survived the drive to Hana.” If you don’t succumb to the slam-barf-snarf (hurling through the nose while trying not to) from 50 miles of one-way hairpin turns, the sheer cliffs, falling rocks, and maybe the breathtaking scenery will leave you with the permanent impression of you and your spouse careening off the side of the mountain into a dense jungle of carnivorous vines never to be seen again.</p>
<p>Actually, I enjoyed the road to Hana. It was one of the few times we found our aloha. Nothing worth doing in Hawaii is easy, and on the way back, we stopped at a pristine black sand beach where the soft round pebbles on the beach twittered whenever the waves tugged them back toward the ocean. You know you’ve got aloha when there are no words to describe the astonishing beauty of what you are seeing, hearing, breathing, and feeling. You’ve either got your aloha or you’ve had a couple of Maitais or both. </p>
<p>A <em>beautiful mind,</em> a la John Nash, would have appreciated the perfect order of the beach, from the tiny black grains of sand to the polished oval stones that fit nicely under our feet and massaged our phalanges. I lost my aloha for a minute when a couple who apparently thought that we were all drooling morons decided to play *humuhumunukunukuapua’a<a href=“humu-humu-nuku-nuku-apu-ah-ah,%20formerly%20the%20Hawaiian%20State%20Fish”>/i</a> in the water in front of a dozen keikis (kids). They stopped before I was able to summon a tiger shark with my haole armpit rendition of Sweet Betsy From Pike. Who says we haoles don’t know the kanaenae (family chant) of our ancestors?!</p>
<p>We found aloha when we met a family of spinner dolphins during a catamaran trip out to Lana’i. Our captain decided to annoy a sea turtle until the little Honu decided that he’d had enough and disappeared under our boat. He was probably floating around eating seaweed just minding his own business when this big boat full of screaming ninnies came along and disturbed his turtle-y aloha.</p>
<p>We were aloha stupefied when a school of large florescent, green and blue parrot fish swam up to our raft off of Lana’i. They were like poodles in fish suits. They darted and flashed their incredible colors, and I’m pretty sure that they were grinning at us. Then, our guide threw them several handfuls of Cheetos, and my brain twitched. Could it be that they were so pretty because they’d been scarfing daily doses of MSG and vermillion powder? Were they like Barry Bonds and Marion Jones whose stars shone a little brighter because of cheese puffs? Probably not. The fish in Hawaii are amazing with or without ferrous sulfate and yellow 6. :)</p>
<p>I brought back a pitcher of Maitais made by the wonderful bartender at Ferraro’s at the Four Seasons in Maui. Guaranteed Aloha!</p>
<p>Alright, I just asked sluggSr for some man-talk, and he said, “You got me there, honey,” to which I replied, “Wha?” Our empty nest is non-stop excitement. </p>
<p>Then, he came back after changing his manly Tommy Bahama work pants and suggested the following contribution to man-talk:</p>
<p>*Slap on the chaps, and strap on the stirrups<a href=“sounds%20like%20my%20last%20gyn%20appointment”>/i</a> – Yippee ti-yi-yay. Yup, the empty nest is really shaping up. </p>
<p>Alright, I’m challenging all of you to a loogie hocking contest. Let’s go over to my mom’s trailer, and we can use the side of her garage as a target. It’s in Manhattan, Nevada. Take your orange hats. She and her legally blind husband got their hunting tags this year, and I think it’s still elk season.</p>
<p>::::horkKK:::::splatt!:::: No girly sissified talk in this corner of Sinner’s Alley!</p>
<p>Oh how we have missed you!</p>
<p>ROTFLMAO!!! 
Oh, Slugg, Sinner’s Alley hasn’t been the same without you! </p>
<p>As you probably know, flamingos get their colouring from the alpha and beta carotene in their snacks. Perhaps the fish are the same way… would be nice to see a curly-Q one swimming about… ;)</p>
<p>“legally blind” hunters?? Forget wearing orange, I plan to stay far away!</p>
<p>Thanks, slugg, for the drink & sparkler! The hot tub sounds even better since I woke up with a cold. But I am looking forward to the weekend when freshman S comes home for fall break! I’m trying to imagine how long his hair is now…</p>
<p>Insights from D’s first visit home:</p>
<ul>
<li>She drinks coffee now.</li>
<li>Tried a cigarette. Thankfully, she didn’t like it. She asked the smokers “do any of you ever think how your insides will look at 60?” The answer a unanimous “No.” Youth, wasted on the young.</li>
<li>Planning to bag the glasses for contacts for an older, more sophisticated look (less Thora Birch in “Ghost World”)</li>
<li>Is doing well in her studio art classes, althought they are more competitive than collaborative. SHe wan anticipating more of the latter.</li>
<li>We have so much more food at home!</li>
</ul>
<p>Otherwise, the same kid we shipped off. Loved her long, roomate-free naps in her expansive bedroom with the dogs that she misses so much.</p>
<p>And her parents and brother are OK too.</p>
<p>DS says it’s Baja, not Maine, for Xmas. I guess his mama didn’t raise no dummy. So planning is afoot. I’m picturing strings of hot peppers on the tree, cranberry margaritas, guacamole (with cilantro, now that Alumother is in the midst of a conversion!). That takes care of the color scheme. Guess we’d better hustle out there and get some beds into the casa. Next most important necessity? Internet service, of course ;).</p>
<p>m&s,
Isn’t it sweet to have her back, even if only for a minute? :)</p>
<p>jmmom,
If you have enough tequila, internet service will not be essential. Nor beds.</p>
<p>SB !!</p>
<p>Just arrived in my hometown after a few days in the Bay…and discovered that my brother flew down to Burning Man from Alaska. His friend brought a giant Russian Bi-Plane which was parked in front of the ‘airport’. My brother slept underneath one of the wings but didn’t get much sleep due to all the BM tourists visiting the plane.</p>
<p>Never made it to the airport! Too bad!</p>
<p>He said that 150 people brought their planes…but the bi-plane was the biggest hit.</p>
<p>I had to laugh. I haven’t been to Burning Man but I bet beans to dollars that my brother is a quintessential BM. He was New Age before there WAS New Age!</p>