IMR: Entries: 2001: July: 31 — Tuesday, July 31, 2001

They Do Love is in the air, and while it's nice enough, I hope it clears up next month.   Katie at the zoo — just too cute for words. The hyena takes a siesta in the sun. A late afternoon stop at the beach. You know you own too many domain names when... A rainbow spanning lush Manoa Valley. Katie demonstrates a new talent. On Saturday, Ka Leo alum, long-time friend and Star-Bulletin staffer Donica finally married Jason, fellow Ka Leo survivor, "sports snob" and Donica's squeeze of five years. It was only the second wedding of the month, but even so I was suffering from mild deja vu. Actually, though, it was quite a special day. I've known the two of them for a long time, and always admired the quiet sincerity and patience with which they approached their relationship. They were the pinnacle of "cute and adorable," an intriguing mix of sharp and bubbly and gentle and thoughful. And, of course, it's always a jolt to see a fellow down-to-earth journalist walking down the aisle in a veil and a fluffy white dress. The wedding was at Makiki Christian Church, and fittingly beautiful yet fun. Mio served as seargent-at-arms, herding folks around and watching the clock, and Martha (in from California) ran the registration table as enthused as she's ever been. Wayne (also coming from the Golden State) made his bald-headed debut, and took great pleasure in reporting, "Donica told me I couldn't tell anyone what I do for a living." Eventually Mio rushed everyone into the pews and handed out little soap-filled bottles, and the ceremony began. The minister made some jokes, then got down to business; the couple said their vows, lit a candle, and shared a perfect kiss; then left the building in a thick cloud of bubbles. (They are, indeed, classier than the rice showers of old.) The reception was at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel (a.k.a. "The Pink Palace"). It was a perfect Hawaii day, and folks sipped juice and caught up while enjoying the view of Waikiki Beach. The food was great, the speeches were fun and mercifully short, and Katie held together fairly well through it all. It was fun to spot all the familiar and not-so-familiar faces, a mix of the couple's family and newsroom colleagues. Ka Leo vets were there in full force — in addition to Mio, Martha, and Wayne, also in attendance were Kevin Hashiro, Keith Kosaki, Wilma Jandoc, Stephen Guzman, Wai Kee Chan (yet another flying in from California), and a few more I couldn't quite place. Jim Borg made it a point to stop by and say "Hi," and mentioned that he was now working at the Star-Bulletin too. It means a lot that many of these people still count me among their friends, and that I get to spend time with them once in a while. Otherwise I feel like the sheep that strayed from the flock. Although I know the newsroom spirit will always be in my blood, my "J" skills have decayed well past the point of recovery. (A fact that brings Jen no small amount of relief.) Anyway, yet another one joins the club. Wayne later noted that he was among a dying breed... but we both agreed he's probably better off as a lifelong bachelor anyway. Sadly, at some point during the afternoon, my digital camera was swiped from our diaper bag, which was hanging off the back of my chair. While we talked to housekeeping and repeatedly called in to lost and found, I'm fairly confident it's gone for good. I was bummed. I hadn't even owned it for two years, for one, but even worse, I really liked some of the shots I'd captured of the wedding. I'd almost let the camera get stolen if I could've at least kept the pictures in it. No question I'll have to replace it — I'm a photo-snapping fiend — but the key questions are, with what, and which organs I'll have to sell in order to afford it. For now, though, at least I've got my cool little Eyemodule. Jen's my hero. Seriously, she rocks. As a parent, she kicks butt. She makes my supposedly thought-out laissez faire childrearing philosophy look like nearly criminal negligence. She's still the "Kid Commando" I'd grown to know and love (and sometimes fear) a couple of years ago. The latest proof? Every day after work, I go to pick up Katie at preschool. I ask her if she had fun, and I ask a teacher — usually "Miss Jill" — how she did. She tells me if Katie stubbed her toe or refused to eat, but otherwise I'm happy to simply hear, "She did great." Of course when Jen got home, she'd ask me how everything was going, and I'd only say, "She did great." She clearly wasn't too satisfied with that. Recently, on her day off, Jen came to my office to join me on the Katie pick-up run. And I learned how it's supposed to be done. Jen quickly cornered Miss Jill and gave her the third degree. Did she eat? How much? Did she nap? How long? Is she playing with other kids? Is she speaking well? What were the day's activities? What's going on tomorrow? I slipped away to sign Katie out, and when I came back, they were still talking. Miss Jill, to her credit, wasn't fazed, and answered every question. Then, right before we turned to leave, Jen noticed a black spot on the side of Katie's nose. There were also tiny black spots on her shirt. "Is that blood?" Before I could say anything, she stepped right up to Miss Jill and demanded to know, "What's this? What happened?" Poor Miss Jill was surprised, saying she didn't see anything. While she squirmed, though, I rubbed at the spot with my finger, and it disappeared. "Oh," Miss Jill said, visibly relieved. "That's chocolate. We made chocolate today." Jen had to pause to downshift. "Oh, okay." We thanked her and Katie waved as we left the yard. I half expected Katie to say, "Don't mess with my mama!" I sure know I think twice. Just how far did Jen come when she moved to Hawaii? Some recent statistics I spotted by chance in the newspaper prove it was more than 4,745 miles. The median price for a single-family home sold to new owners in America is $123,700. Not surprisingly, at the top of the list (along with San Francisco) was Honolulu at $300,000. The cheapest city? Ocala, Florida, Jen's home town, at $64,100. That means for the price of my mom's modest townhouse, we could get five three-bedroom standalone homes (with yards, two-car garages and hardwood floors!) there. Sheesh. Another study released a couple of weeks ago named Honolulu as the most densely populated U.S. city (followed by L.A. and New York) with 12.36 people per urbanized acre. Three guesses what city beat out Hickory, North Carolina and Beaumont, Texas for the title of the most country countryside? That's right — Ocala, Florida, with 1.23 people per urbanized acre. So. We could live in a nicer house in Florida. But we'd be pretty lonely.

Comments Ryan, If you still haven't found your camera my mother and i (mom is also a frequent diary reader) would like to contribute to the purchase of a new camera. We really enjoy your dispatches and hate to think they could be interrupted!! —martha shade (August 1, 2001 5:22 PM) As a regular reader and devoted fan, I too would like to contribute to the replacement of your camera. I love the pictures of your family and the events in your life. What a disappointment missing out on pictures of Donica's wedding! —Old Bag (August 2, 2001 8:08 AM) E kala mai! Comments have been disabled due to overwhelming abuse by spammers. Please click through to any of the video hosting services linked above to leave a public response, or feel free to send an e-mail. Mahalo! < July 30 · July · August 04 > © 1997-2008 Ryan Kawailani Ozawa · E-Mail: imr@lightfantastic.org · Created: 13 November 1997 · Last Modified: 14 January 2008