Category Archives: Daily Sketch

Kohala Earthquake Relief
Aloha Family & Friends,

We wanted to let you know that we are all fine and safe after the recent earthquake we experienced last Sunday. The first earthquarke clocked in at 6.7 with a second one at 6.0 magnitude. Everyday since then we have felt aftershocks. We experienced minor damage. Our solar panels for our water heater shifted 2 feet damaging two out of three panels and our ceiling fan/light ripped out and crashed on the floor. We thank God that our home was free of structural damage. But many of our neighbors and friends suffered major structural damage to their homes.
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In early October, I came down with a bad case of the flu.  I was so sick that I only felt like laying in bed.  I did not go to work, and I felt totally weak.  One of my students’ moms called me up and said she was bringing me some soup for dinner, and also was bringing her portable massage table!  I said ok, and soon she appeared at my house.  She even brought   a CD of a light rainstorm, to relax my ears.   I had a very relaxing massage, which helped my sore back and neck.   When she was ready to leave, I felt so much better.  I told her she was my angel.  She said that her two small children often call her "Angel Mommy," and that it embarrasses her.  By the way, this woman happens to play the HARP… now isn’t that the instrument of an angel, after all? 

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アリソンさん、長屋の玄関、いろいろなサンプルを考えてくださって、ありがとうございます。
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先週ラスベガスに行った時に「オペラ座の怪人」（The Phantom of The Opera) というミュージカルを見た。何の知識も無かったけど、ピアノの先生が音楽がいいと言ってたのを思い出して大枚をはたいた。一番安い席（それでも＄75！）だったけど。ちなみにその上は＄100、＄125、＄150だった。入り口に着くと周りは着飾った人達がいっぱいで、普段着にバックパック姿の僕はちょっと気が引けた。中に入ると満席状態で、ゴージャスな舞台設備と天井に吊るされた巨大シャンデリアに驚かされた。そのシャンデリアはストーリーの途中で落下する仕掛けになっていて、落下時には観客の「キャ～」という悲鳴がすごかった。荘厳なオーケストラの音楽と役者さん達の歌が素晴らしく、手の込んだステージセットも大いに楽しめた。ラストシーンは感動的だった。あんまり気に入ったので、家に帰ったその日に即映画のDVDを買いに行き、夜中過ぎまで見てしまった。このミュージカル曲をバイオリン、ピアノ、歌でトライしてみよう。

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I love lifehacker! It points me to fun apps that I would never have found myself — today it linked to Line Rider, which is a flash toy that lets you draw (curvy) lines, and then you can watch a little person sled down your line! 😀 Continue reading →

ジャニスさん、６月２９日にお会いしたのが最後になってしまいました。
いつもいつもお世話になりました。

ナコス一同 Continue reading →

I’m currently in Oregon visiting family.  This is a picture of my niece, Mary.  She’s going to end up being the most spoiled kid ever, so to give her some balance I’ve decided I have to be the "mean" uncle.  That look on my face isn’t a smile…it’s the stern look of an authoritarian.

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I found this list today: 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die, which I think is from a recently-published reference book. It’s never a good idea to take book lists too seriously since everyone has different tastes (Justine is on this list, and there’s no way in heck I’m ever going to read that), but I’m a sucker for lists, so…

I printed out the list and checked off the ones I’ve read. I love checking things off lists! I’ve read only 48 books on the list, and of those, 13 were for school. Thank goodness for school! There were about 7 books (not included in the 48) that I suspect I’ve read, but can’t remember for sure. I’d better get cracking on (most of) the rest of the list! 😀 Continue reading →

I once read an essay that had a neat idea — that there are two types of book lovers: courtly lovers and… another kind that I forget what they called.  But!

Both kinds of book lovers adore books, obviously, but they go about it in different ways.

Courtly book lovers adore their books’ forms.  They’ll buy a particular edition because it’s pretty, and they’ll go to great lengths to make sure the book remains pristine.

The other kind of book lovers love their books’ essence.  They’ll embrace the spirit of a book (its story), but they don’t particularly care about its form — one example the essay’s author gave was of someone who ripped chunks of pages out of a book and threw them away as he read it in order to save luggage space.

Isn’t that a neat idea?  Usually courtly book lovers will look down on the other kind of book lover, but since both kinds really do love reading, they’re equal, don’t you think?  🙂 Continue reading →

Ooh, that little flickr badge thingy on the left side is neat!  Today I was working on my friend’s friend’s dog breeding website, and I was trying to figure out what photo gallery app to use.  I would’ve liked to use flickr, but I didn’t think I could since my friend’s friend makes money off her site.  Shucks! Continue reading →