Lava day

After a lovely evening last night ...


...we woke up before dawn to go see the flowing lava today. To access the active lava, it is about a 45 minute drive from our house followed by a walk of about 30 minutes. We arrived at the lava at dawn. We were looking for a surface flow and it helps to see where there are red glows in the distance which indicates lava extrusion. Also, during the daytime, there are County workers who prevent anyone from getting close enough to see anything worth seeing. One has to arrive before they do.

Since the only glows we saw were farther than we wanted to walk today, we decided to see the lava flowing into the ocean from lava tubes instead. It was just great. We love lava!


As waves crashed into the flow, hot lava rocks would be shot out, as in this photo. Click on the picture to see the flying hot rock better.

Here are three short videos for those lava fiends who want more:

Come visit us someday when we are here, and we will do our best to take you to an active flow.

From our own backyard...

Smiley noticed today that we can see the observatories on Mauna Kea from our back yard. Who knew? Anyway, we think it is cool....

What work?

I keep telling you all I am working but I haven't given proof. So, here is that proof. I am doing several projects as the same time as I never know how long before a little rainstorm will come. Most of my projects are outdoors but I have indoor projects ready if necessary. Right now, my major projects are finishing two fences (one small, one large) and painting the house.

If you click on the picture below and look carefully, you will see that I am prepping the house in the rain. The material I was using to fill cracks can take a little water so I wasn't too worried.

But, of course, painting in the sunshine (though not when it is too hot). I am putting the prime coat on here.

Here Smiley is helping me as I put up the structure that will hold the reed fencing. This is to block the view of the trash cans.
Everybody was working today (except Rosie). A short video of the work. And, yes, I know that Rosie was standing and not sitting.

Happy Thanksgiving

Check out Smiley's Hawaiian fruit turkey.

Reader's recommendations

Why contributions are just pouring in from my readers!

By brother, Russ, recommended this blog from a math professor friend awhile back and wanted to share it. His particular favorites:

I highly recommend his entry "What Does Sarah Eat For Breakfast?" (on Palin), and for some insight into Ron "Cyrus Restaurant" (on food, eh), and "The Old Guard" (on baseball).

I generally enjoy Ron's fascination with Sarah Palin - something I share. I meant to blog about the Palin/turkey video but will let Ron speak for me instead.

If you are interested in legal issues from a rightist, libertarian (and intellectually honest) perspective, Ken Karst recommends this blog. But, I don’t expect this will constitute a large share of my readership. (Ken, by the way, is a liberal constitutional law professor.) Nonetheless, there it is.

My fabulous sister-in-law (and French professor) Laura says “this might not be blog worthy” mais au contraire! It is almost painful to listen to these two women baby-talk to a little hedgehog thrown into a bathtub. You may not want to view the full six and one half minutes of it. But, do catch the last minute at least….

Why I don't have a cat

My friend, Lynn, also supplied this link that shows exactly why I don't want a cat. I prefer barking and slobber.

Parrot not Quail

My friend Lynn sent this link for this important political effort. I, too, support the cause! What could be more important in these troubled times?

Favorite animal videos

Aren't animal videos the best? There are so many great ones. Dogs surfing and skateboarding, horses fetching the beer and answering the telephone, cats obsessively flushing toilets and the list goes on. They are all great but here are a few of my favorites.

You have already seen this, right? The reunion with the lion? But, it is worth watching again. Even though I know what is going to happen, I always cry.

Yes, it is possible to beat the odds. Go penguin, go!

An oldie but goodie. Only 9 seconds here.

If you have a favorite, please send it and I will post it for everyone to see. (Everyone = maybe a dozen people). It doesn't have to be an animal link. Any fun video would be great.

McKenzie State Park

I love McKenzie State Park in Hawaii. It is in the southeast near the lava flow. It has beautiful color.


It is tropical.
The waves are almost always awesome.

However, I wasn't there on Saturday when Leslie took these photos and video. I was picking avocados at a friend's avocado farm. I was doing it for no money but was rewarded with a bucket of avocados and six bees-wax candles. Work, work, work - that's all I ever do here!

Coconut Island

Just a couple of photos from our favorite island on earth. Such a great spot for cocktails. These are from Friday night.

My cyberspace portal - a real blogger

It isn't like I am a "fake" blogger. But, for now, I am just practicing here for a time that I might take this seriously. The great thing about this form is that you can just do whatever you want and if someone cares, that is great. But, that is not the main point. Unfortunately, I don't yet know what the main point is. I'm working on it. But, for sure, I never wanted to be a writer. I still say that I don't. But, here I am writing. How to reconcile this?

The initial impetus for a blog was simply efficiency. We were going to be in France for six weeks and I didn't want to write a lot of emails or postcards. But, I wanted my friends to know how we were if they wondered. Hence, the blog. The irony is that I ended up also writing a ton of very long emails, too. So much for efficiency.

One could literally get on any blog with external links (I assume that is the vast majority of them) and never, ever leave cyberspace. Until death. I find that so damn cool, but also exhausting. I use a real writer and blogger, Andrew Sullivan, as my portal into cyberspace. He likes to say he is conservative, but his conservative looks pretty damn moderate to me. But, he reads right-wing blogs and left-wing blogs and is interested in everything. So, he leads you in multiple directions. In this article from Atlantic magazine (his home base), he provides the best description of the feel of his blog:

...a blogger feels less like a writer than an online disc jockey, mixing samples of tunes and generating new melodies through mashups while also making his own music.

Yep - it is just like that. If you want a portal into cyberspace, I recommend his. (But, if you think you have a better one - please share.)

The joy of working

Going to the dump is so much fun! This really is paradise.

Ah, this feels better

Ok, this is now my one and only blog. I will start labeling my posts for easy searching. Thus, if you only want to read my Hawaii posts, then search under "Hawaii". I will leave my old blogs in place, of course. But, from now on, you can find me here.

So, I had a thought after yesterday's post. I want all of you to guest blog! This would take some pressure off me to continually post something, anything. What sorts of topics am I thinking about? Well, off the top of my head - I would love to read something on birdwatching, jazz singing, singing in an opera, applying to graduate school, skiing, boot camp, composting, anything about life in France, childrearing, the mortgage mess, Hawaii, classical music, growing old, marriage equity, Ruth Ginsburg, opera, bicycling, etc. Whatever is on your mind!

I hope she doesn't mind being a drafted guest blogger, but a friend wrote me an email and said in response to yesterday's post, in part (emphasis mine):

Yes, Robin you described yourself very well in the first part of your blog. As I was reading that part I was chuckling and thought that there was so much more of your personality that you were not describing. The sweet, lovable, generous, smart, fun person that I have come to know in the last 25 years. And then lo and behold in the last part of the blog you did describe all the rest of your personality. But I noticed you forgot the part about how tenacious and hardworking you are.

So, I wanted to acknowledge that her additions are true. Particularly the tenacious part. I remember a game Leslie and I once played where we had to come up with a one word definition for ourselves. You can guess my answer. When I applied to law school about 18 years ago, the essay was all about how tenacious I am. I don't have a copy of the essay here in Hawaii but I believe that this sentence was included: "Yes, I can!" I generally think of it as a positive trait but, of course, combined with being competitive, opinionated, stubborn, argumentative and quick to anger, it does have it's down side.

Hey word people - is there one word for "quick to anger"? I couldn't think of one. (Update: Lynn supplies irascible. Works for me. Now, is there a word for quick to resolution/ no anger because I do that, too.) By the way, I don't think of myself as a "word person" but it is probably hard for you all to tell this because I keep blabbering away.

(Update - in a note below, another friend mentions my compulsive honesty. That is, I don't like keeping secrets about me or anybody else. This, too, is true. So, don't tell me a secret! I personally think it is one of my better traits but I have also lost some friends because of the trait, too. My mother used to beg me: "Please, Robin, just use tact!" I would think, so you want me to lie?? No way! Seriously, I am better at keeping my mouth shut now - but only slightly....)

Ken's thoughts on Proposition 8 and me

I asked Ken, a Christian who believes in the sanctity of marriage between a man and a woman only, to guest blog when I wrote the piece Thoughts on Proposition 8. He has done so and I publish it below. But, since he begins the piece telling you all that I was the only person in his life he ever truly hated, I felt a little personal context was warranted.

I came to an appreciation of conciliation as the best way to live life after years of practice being a jerk. My base personality is competitive, opinionated, stubborn, argumentative and quick to anger. Also, as I have pointed out in other blogs, I appreciate schadenfreude. Not a recipe for a nice person, believe me. Of course, I do have many traits that temper those qualities. But, it was those qualities that led my brother, Ken, to hate me as we were growing up and for some time thereafter.

However, because I came to realize that my base traits sucked, I set myself on a course to seek conciliation whenever I could. I was wildly inconsistent in this endeavor. Whenever I am stressed, those negative traits re-emerge. One of the reasons I wanted to retire early is to remove that stress and, hence, remove the context in which my bad side emerged. In my life away from work people often actually find me to be fun-loving, generous, forgiving, kind, humorous, intelligent and down-right sweet. (C'est vrai! It's true!)

Anyway, in my relationship with Ken, I have consciously tried to be conciliatory for most of my adult life. Because we differed, politically and personally, on virtually everything, the possibility of conflict was ever-present. However, since Ken is, by inclination, conflict-adverse, I would have been the one stoking the fire. But, I want to live in a world where - as my Mom always says - we all just get along. So, at every turn, I took the high road.

Ken and I might never agree on much politically, but I do think we now both agree on the value of conciliation. It certainly worked for us.

Hi. This is Ken, Robin’s conservative evangelical brother, taking her up on the offer to join her blog for a few comments regarding Prop 8. First, some preliminaries…

On occasion, I have said that the one person I have ever truly hated in my life is my sister. As youngsters, she tormented me—and she really seemed to enjoy it! I was quiet, shy, and “good.” She was…well, different than me. In my late teens, I accepted the truth-claims of the Bible and became a Christian; Robin followed “a different drummer.” By the time we both left the nest, our relationship was poor at best.

I don’t know how I found out, or when, but I learned a few years later that my sister was gay, and I learned that I was the last in the family to be told. It had been, as I recall, two years since my parents and brothers were informed. Robin had been afraid to tell me because I was a Christian, and she wasn’t sure how I would respond. I felt at the time (and even more strongly now) that Robin’s fear of my condemnation meant I was doing something wrong as a Christian.

Much has changed since then. Slowly but surely I have come to love my sister—and to respect her.

We’re still very different, of course, and we disagree on quite a lot. For reasons I won’t go into, I didn’t vote this year (for the first time in my voting life), but if I had I would have voted yes on Prop 8 (to counter Robin’s no vote). As Robin has already suggested, that’s not out of hatred or a desire to deny people their civil rights—those rights are already in place. Instead, it is a reflection of my belief that the institution of marriage is God’s creation that can’t be redefined by man.

If we delved into that in more detail, there would certainly be many points of disagreement. And yet I also have come to learn that life is far more complicated than we often acknowledge, and it’s far too easy to look at someone else’s situation or perspective from our own limited perspective.

Are you familiar with the Parable of the Prodigal Son in the Bible (Luke 15)? The parable is often recounted in moralistic tones, with the point having something to do with avoiding the prodigal son’s wanton and rebellious existence. There is another brother, though, and the story is actually directed to people like him. He is angry, self-righteous, and condemning. The truth of the matter is that both sons are lost. Ultimately, the story is that of a Gracious Father, who unexpectedly loves and accepts both of his sons, and serves as an example for those who follow Him.

I may not agree with you, but I am in no position to condemn you. So let’s talk. I will probably never sway you from your opinion, nor is it likely that you will you sway me from mine. But perhaps we can at least learn to respect one another. And let me tell you, that makes a world of difference.

Return to Hawaii...

I wake up every day very content. But, my flurry of political posts is coming to and end. I just don't have the time to write. I have work on the house to do and French to study. Now, from time to time, I might post here but I will let you know over at the Hawaii blog. I must go and catch you up there....See you there.

I miss Santa Cruz!!

Hey you wonderful Santa Cruz folks - I wish I could have been there to join this celebration for Obama!

But, we did have a good time - if a bit less raucous. But here are a few pictures from our small election watching party in Hilo.

Coloring in the states as we win them...

Popping the cork when it was called for Obama

Enjoying the moment with our bubbly.

Thoughts on Proposition 8

In 1995, in large part for political reasons, Leslie and I got married. We called it a marriage then and now. But, what we were trying to do was push for equal rights for gay couples. We didn’t really care what word was used – domestic partner, civil union and marriage all worked for us. In California, thanks to the Democratic legislature and Gray Davis, we now have those rights. (I also credit Schwarzenegger for helping to tamp down right-wing attempts to overturn the law.)

So, the fact is that I actually felt ambivalent about Proposition 8.

On the one hand, of course I wanted it to go down in defeat to create true legal and symbolic equality between gay and straight couples. But, I also knew we were just having a fight about one word. Marriage. We weren’t fighting about rights – gay couples already have all the substantive rights of marriage in California and those were not being challenged.

Since I knew that conservatives had given up the fight in California to repeal those rights, I actually felt rather kindly to the right and preferred that we extend an olive branch. I was willing to wait a generation without the symbolism, just as long as we have the rights. But, given the Supreme Courts ruling and Proposition 8, this was no longer an option. So I, of course, voted No on 8. (I wasn’t that ambivalent!)

Their “side” wanted that symbolic victory to hold on to what they deeply feel to be right. It doesn’t mean most of them hate us. We need to start engaging in conversation with conservative people of faith not as enemies but as potential friends, not as caricatures but as caring human beings. Sure, there are many that do feel very negative, even hate, towards gay people. But, I do not believe they are a majority. In this spirit, I have asked my brother, Ken, an evangelic Christian to guest blog on this issue. He – like many conservative people of faith – are actually very ambivalent on the issue. I don’t know if he will have the time or inclination to describe his thoughts, but I hope he does. This is the sort of dialogue we need to have. (Update: He does so here.)

Obama likes to quote Martin Luther King: The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice. And, so it has been with gay rights. And, it came so much faster than I would have ever believed. In time, I believe that gays will obtain full legal and symbolic rights with the passing of the generations. We need to keep working for this. But, I strongly believe we need to stop demonizing all conservatives. As Obama always says, let’s try to disagree without being disagreeable. Let’s assume the best about our opposition whenever possible and not the worst. I believe, as Obama does, that this is the best path to unity in our country.

Predictions - the day after

It turns out that he was completely right. Yes, we can!! How cool is that?? So, just a few predictions.

1. Obama sent an email to supporters before he went out for his speech last night. He thanked us and then he put us on notice that we have work to do and he plans to lead. : We have a lot of work to do to get our country back on track, and I'll be in touch soon about what comes next. Yes, he will be in touch! The great, mostly unwritten story of this election is the movement that brought him to power. As I have said in this blog before, all his work to build the organization was not simply to get elected President. It was to build a movement that would create change in America. He believes that change comes from the bottom, from the people. But, of course, a leader is also necessary to help channel that energy effectively. He has shown that he is that leader. And, he showed that it is possible to organize the USA as one community. So my prediction: In four years, people will fully appreciate that this is a movement with on-going political force and not just an election that has been won.

2. Bush will get the prize he has long sought. He will become Baseball Commissioner.

3. The Republicans will get far worse before they get better. Whoever wins the nomination in 2012 will continue to run too far to the right. Romney will be back and he will have the same problem as before. Palin will be back but so will Huckabee. And, I predict Jindal will be pushed forward as the great-not-white hope of the Republicans and will throw his hat into the ring. If you don't know who he is - it is time to read about him. (Summary: parents are Hindus from India; he is smart, young, Catholic, solid conservative and Louisiana governor.) Anyway, it should be very entertaining.

4. Ellen will cry on the first show taped after the election.

Prediction

It is 12:45 am in Hawaii - the first polls close in fifteen minutes. Time to put in my prediction. Here is what I think is the most likely scenario. I think Obama will win by 6% of the vote. (Barr and Nader will both pull in about 1% each.) I hope I am wrong. I hope Obama does even better.... Double digit popular vote. Wins Indiana (it is very close). Wins Montana (if Ron Paul gets a good percentage - very possible). Wins Georgia. Wins Arizona (not likely, but I can dream). If all those went Obama's way, he gets 406 electoral votes. Now, that would make me really happy.



But, I will settle for 270 electoral votes and 50.0001% popular vote.

The coming schadenfreude

No matter what the outcome of the election, one side or the other is going to bathe in an over-flowing river of schadenfreude. For those not familiar with the German word, it means the enjoyment of other’s misfortunes. And, I admit, I have set aside all of Wednesday to just read about the Republican torment. I expect to fully and deeply enjoy the Republican misery.

I feel somewhat guilty for this impending pleasure but I believe we Democrats deserve our moment of gleeful revenge. That said, I think it is very important to put that impulse aside after, say, a week or two. Then, it is time to start working with those Republicans, Greens, Independents and Libertarians who are willing to work with us. I signed on to Obama’s campaign because I believe he sincerely wants to change the nature of political discourse in Washington. I will join him. Just give me that one glorious, gloating week!

But, if the shoe ends up on the other foot and it is people like myself who end up the butt of the joke, so be it. Democrats have been there before. We know what to do.

Either way, drinks will be in order!

Ten annoying men

There are male commentators, writers, journalists, etc. that I do like. Perhaps that list tomorrow. But, far too many are completely annoying. So, here is my top ten list of commentators and/or writers who are like fingernails on the chalkboard to me. I am not including folks like Limbaugh, Glen Beck, O’Reilly, etc because they go well beyond annoyance into complete intellectual bankruptcy. And, yes, there were some women who annoyed me, too, but none would crack this top ten. I am not going to give much individual commentary of why I found them so annoying but the generic reasons were:

1. They were wildly inconsistent.
2. They were intellectually dishonest.
3. They twisted reality to suit their purposes (which is, I suppose, a combination of the first two).
4. They were arrogant.
5. They were often wrong and would rarely, or ever, admit it.

Bill Kristol
David Brooks
Paul Krugman (his Nobel price notwithstanding)
Bill Morris
Paul Begala
Howard Wolfson
Ron Fournier (AP writer – he is supposed to be a newsman, but his articles read like an opinion column.)
Tim Russert (Look, I know that he is dead now and, perhaps, it is bad to speak ill of the dead but he annoyed me more than anyone.)
George Stephanopoulous
Karl Rove (I include him because, unlike Limbaugh, et al., he tries to pretend to be above the fray but, obviously, he is not.)

Top ten women of the election season

I love making lists. So, here is my top ten list of the woman who made this election season (two years!) more interesting, more compelling and better than ever before. This list is, more or less, in order of how happy the woman (and, in one case, women) made me.

1. Rachael Maddow. I am not a person who listens to radio. She has a show on Air America and was the break-out hit of that radio network. But, I first saw her in 2007 as a commentator on MSNBC during election nights. She was whip-smart and intellectually honest and funny. And really cute. MSNBC gave her a show that began in September. If you haven't watched her, check here.

2. Tina Fey. I don't think I need to say anything more. But here is my earlier tribute to her.

3. Gail Collins. New York Times columnist. (Thanks to Brian for continually asking me, "Have you read Gail Collins?") She is always sharp, funny but not (very) mean. (Unlike Dowd, who sometimes makes me laugh but almost always makes me cringe at the same time.) Check Gail out here.

4. Campbell Brown. For acting like a real journalist and insisting that "being objective" does not mean giving both sides of a story if one side is a complete fabrication. I first noticed her when she had this interview with Tucker Bounds, a spokesman for McCain. He wouldn't answer a question about Palin's qualifications and she didn't let him get away with it. But, then, she was given a show called No Bias, No Bull in which she does commentaries. They have been fantastic. She took on Arab-bashing in my favorite one. Watch here. By the way, her husband is a Republican consultant.

5. Donna Brazile. Unlike most Republican or Democratic "spinners" - she actually maintained intellectual honesty throughout the full campaign. While she never declared who she supported, I think it was clear that she had originally planned to support Clinton and after South Carolina primary changed to Obama. But, yet, she never made idiotic statements that didn't conform to the truth like, say, Paul Begala often did. If you don't know who she is, watch this.

6. Katie Couric. She really came through in her interview with Palin. Follow-up questions! What a novel idea.

7. The View. (Ok, it is four women but....) At a time where the press really wasn't going after McCain at all, they did. Watch here.

8. Kathleen Parker. A columnist for the conservative National Review. She wrote a column saying that Palin wasn't qualified and should leave the ticket voluntarily for the good of the Republican party. She had hell to pay for that column from the right - but she wrote several follow-up columns and didn't back down. Read here.

9. Hillary Clinton. This is a complicated one and deserves way more space. For now, I will just say that I do have a deep admiration for her and her accomplishments. And, because she made it a contest until the bitter end, Obama has a stronger campaign network. This is what Clinton claimed would happen and she has been proven correct. And, while Bill has been lukewarm in his support for Obama, Hillary has been great.

10. Sarah Palin. I have conflicted feelings about her, as well. If she didn't lie so much, I would actually really like her. But, I really have a problem with someone who can lie about so much so often. If you want to read all her lies, go to Andrew Sullivan's blog. But, she has sure made it one wild ride.