Symphony

A couple weeks ago the boy asked if we could go to the symphony - and if a teen shows interest in a culture/arts experience, you better try to make that shit happen ASAP.

This dress is the reason I added “chicken cutlet bra” to my list of enemies 

We wondered if we were overdressed until we got downtown and saw that the streets of Chinatown were full of Thriller flashmobs and people in fancy costumes spilling out from every bar hosting a Halloween party. Inside the old Honolulu Theater, the solo violinist had a conductor’s baton sticking out of his forehead and a knife in the back, and one of the others was nosferatu. 

The audience was a mix of all ages, full of pirates and vampires and Bridgerton gowns and people looking embarrassed about having just worn jeans. The musicians played recognizable spooky songs, with an actress telling short scary stories between sets. 

It was a really memorable night. Good suggestion, kid. Way better than broiling our butts at the pumpkin patch.

Likeke Falls

The second round of judging cut another 150 paintings from the juried art show, but both of mine made it through. Reception/results on Saturday, November 2nd. Fingers crossed.

Feeling like we should do something fun with the kids, we hiked to Likeke Falls on Sunday morning. It's the "most kid-friendly falls hike on the island", so of course we missed the fork in the trail and climbed halfway up the Pali along narrow muddy cliffside trails before realizing something was wrong. While heading back to the car we ran into a mom with three toddlers coming off of the side path, and then noticed the GIANT SPRAY-PAINTED ARROW on a tree that pointed the correct way, with orange tags to follow on low branches. We are expert survivalists.

The pool at the base of the falls is just deep enough to wade in and cool off, with a big fallen log to sit on. It was really beautiful. 

Log not pictured because I was sitting on it

I'm not in any of the pictures, but that's ok because my cardiovascular system was in full clown mode; my entire face goes bright red except for big white circles around my mouth, nose, and eyes. If I'm ever being chased through a med school, I can hide by pretending to be an anatomical model.

When the next bunch of people with kids showed up we headed back to the car, got some lunch, then went to my mother's house and used up all the hot water in her shower. She made pulled beef sandwiches for family dinner and sliced up the tunnel of fudge cake I made that morning (a cake that can sit safely in a warm car for a few hours while you get lost on a hike for kindergartners).

Really good day. Needed that.

Not great

 POV: the flowers in my studio at 3am 

Had individual intake appointment at 5am, couldn’t sleep.

 It was rough. Turns out going through a lot of bad stuff as a kid makes it hard for someone to gauge the severity of a situation; if you're not in imminent danger of being murdered, it’s something that can be worked through. Also, sudden feel-good hormone dumps are a common fight or flight response, and abrupt loss of shyness/self-consciousness is a sign of emotional detachment. 

Seems obvious, but hearing it from a professional helps.

Tried to unwind my brain and paint flowers for the rest of the day, but messed it up and wiped the whole thing out.

Driving the paintings down to the gallery today. I should probably be more proactive in getting to know the other people in the show, build a community. I need more people.

Achievement

Today I paid off my car! Took her for a celebratory wash. 

It’s been a mess over here. We’re good. We’re bad. We’re shopping for a new fridge. I don’t know. Therapy tomorrow. 

My mother and aunt want to go on a trip next month for my milestone birthday. We can’t find an opera to reenact the original San Francisco trip of 1996, so I’ve been looking at art museums in cities on the West coast to see if any have a Bouguereau. Maybe we can do an art quest instead of getting yelled at by Wagner for 3 hours.

I’m in!

Two of my paintings were accepted into the show! One of them was the one I irritably named “fuck around and find out” at the last minute. Whoops. At least if I win anything, we get to hear a respected dignitary announce it over a PA system. And then I will have set the expectation for all my future painting titles. “The fuck is this”, “that goddamn lace collar took 42 hours”, “another fucking landscape”, “tranquility and shit”. Sorry, progeny.

I’m surprised they picked the one I accidentally sent blurry pictures of. Maybe it was because it was blurry and they didn’t know better, but I have a suspicion that they just liked the Native & Naturalized theme because it’s more “Hawaii”. I kind of preferred the invasive species one, with the mongoose skull.