this week’s throwback thursday was an easy one, thanks to facebook.


this is me, looking like some kind of fancy dwarf, with the very attractive ashley kruse on my arm. she was kind enough to be my date to the equality hawaii gala at aloha tower in september of 2013.

the gala was a formal fundraising event for the organization as we made the final push for marriage equality in hawaii. i reluctantly agreed to don a suit, newly acquired, just for the occasion…. it a fun night all around, though the highlight for me was having ashley accompany me.

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several progressive and bernie supporters gathered last night at the ward center consolidated theater to see the movie snowden, directed by oliver stone.

the movie, in case you’re not familiar, follows edward snowden through his career in intelligence until june 2013 when, working with reporters, leaked information about various spying programs by the NSA.

i’d definitely recommend it. the movie is well done and, rightly, portrays snowden as a hero who risked his career and freedom to make public the illegal spying being conducted by the NSA.

at the conclusion of the movie, i thought i should go back and read the original articles from the guardian and washington post. check them out as well.

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as i’ve been bogged down in actual work today, this will be a quick post.

one. i want to invite everyone to the fifth annual laborfest.

it’s a great event, put on by good, solid progressives and supporters of economic justice concerns and organized labor. please attend if you can and spread the word.

two. in an effort to encourage more people to read my blog, i thought it might be worth asking people what they might like to see me write about. current events, politics, personal… whatever, are just some examples. of course, if the suggestion is, for me, boring or too personal, etc. i just pass it over. but maybe there are some good ideas, interesting topics that folks might want to see written about here.

i’d really appreciate any suggestions on topics you can share.

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the national is one of my all-time favorite bands. i dig their sound and their style.

i found them in a very random way. writing a post about a friend’s wedding… several years ago… i was looking for a website for the late-night dinner we had gone to after the reception was over. both the that post and the name of the dinner are lost to me, but i still have the national. a great find.

this is the very first song i stumbled upon so many years ago.


and this one… well, i just like pretty much everything about this video.

as they’re one of my top five bands, you’ll likely be seeing more of them here, but in the meantime, i’d encourage you to check them out.

happy monday!

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i’m spending the weekend on kauai, not for r&r, but to help my friend gary hooser run for reelection to the kauai county council.

the last time i was on this island for any stretch was… several years ago when i flew over for a week to spend time with family who had come for vacation. Those were the times when I used to rig a paddle board for kids and reprobates in the area and engage in a little fun. a small, sleepy island, it’s definitely a change from my normal honolulu scenery. its been good.

immediately after landing on friday afternoon, i joined a sign waving already in progress at the intersection just outside the airport. it was a great turnout, despite the occasional downpour; i arrived about an hour into it and there were still roughly 50 people there.

saturday was a canvassing day. i’m not terribly fond of canvassing, as i’m usually not comfortable knocking on doors and talking to strangers. it’s ok, though. intent on helping, despite my discomfort, i was tasked with placing campaign signs. and by placing in mean hammering into the ground! it was labor intensive, but still much preferred to the alternative. by the end of our three-hour shift, my group had planted something like 30 signs.

we returned to gary’s house for lunch, after which the afternoon group went out. having not gotten much sleep the night before, i stayed behind to do some data entry… and have a nap.

saturday night was the kauai turno ball and gary’s campaign had purchased a table. i’d never been to one and though i didn’t really know what to expect, it was a very nice evening: music, dancing (not by me), good food, and an entertaining program. i even donned some of the traditional attire. all in all a good evening.

exhausted, we came back to the house and straight to bed.

aside from a campaign meeting this afternoon, today will be relaxing and low key. a trip to the beach is in order, if the weather clears. otherwise, lounging will be fine with me too.

sorry no pictures, but i hope you enjoy your sunday.

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