Wordless Wednesday.

Thoughts, at rest.

Some of these wintr'y chilled nights are made to last forever and ever, where the conversation never lags and the food never stops and the furnace works itself into a half-frenzied overtime and there's no such thing as having to recharge. And there are discoveries to be made and hands to be held and blankets on top of blankets on top of stories shared and told. This is not one of those nights. There's a finish line. Sleep hits like an atom bomb, right about now.

That said, I sure love these days and nights where there's none of that work stuff. I'm getting used to all of that ilk just fine, thanks.

Is it a beaver or really my hair?

Annual Christmas Radio Stream.

Just a quick note here to let you know that, if you missed the Annual Christmas show I do over yonder at KRCL, you can listen to it for the next week or two by visiting this link. Booyah. I'd like to have its name be something akin to "Christmas Music That Doesn't Suck," but everyone's entitled to their own opinion.

Here It Is.

Happy ho ho ho to you, eh? Hope you like what you hear.

Tonight's query.

What if we embraced change rather than ran away from it? I think I might like to live in that world a while.

Ho Ho Ho'ing.

If you've listened to me do that radio Rock Pilot thang for the past 4-5 years now, you'll already know I've an affinity for the Christmas music and I go about devoting a whole show per year to the holiday stuff. This year, that's all gonna go down this very Thursday, the 17th, as I shant be behind the mic on the 24th. Should you wanna hear some old chestnuts (as well as some possible new ones), go ahead and tune in between 8 and 10:30 PM at KRCL and I'll be giving you the best that I got. Really, I will. Drop me any requests now and I might even consider them. I make no promises, though. Mele Kalikimaka!

Christmas Island.

I can hear the surf crashing from my back patio, though I can’t see it. There are flying insect things biting my bare feet on occasion, but I can’t see them. It feels so late here, when really it’s just past 10:30. So dark, this place. But, when all’s said and done (and there’s been plenty done), there is peace in this moment … a good dose of relaxation for the weary. Nobody is yelling. No music is playing. It’s nature at its finest hour. Finest? Perhaps. I’d venture it’ll be this good for many hours to follow it, long after I put this kind of musing to rest.

It’s been almost a week since this Hawaiian adventure started and plenty has happened. I shared a dirty hostel room in Waikiki with an old Hawaiian man who never spoke to me, but could wake me out of a dead sleep with the ferocity of his 3 AM farts. Had a tiny Thai woman walk all over me (literally), passing it off as a massage. Walk, walk, walked until the blisters came. Swam with a turtle about half my size. Snorkled amongst schools of fish I wouldn’t be able to name, not for a million dollars. Cheated death on the North Shore on rocks where huge waves had claimed 24 lives from the very spot (at last count). Lost a flipflop to those same waves and found a surprise hidden reef with both knees. Ouch. Rode a donkey posing as a horse through fields that looked they’d been used in Jurassic Park. Ate a Hostess cupcake for breakfast (more than once). Rode in a helicopter all around the island and marveled at the Na Pali coast, the one I’d so wanted to kayak along (though it’s sadly out of season). Even poked into the wettest spot on earth, where it rains every single day. Danced for three hours straight in a room filled with strangers. Was graceful enough to hit myself in the forehead with a boogie board and scrape it all up in the process (my head, not the board). Ate plenty of rice and BBQ pork and breaded cod and mahi-mahi and even some (inauthentic) shave ice. Saw some sunsets. Saw approximately 378 chickens roaming the island (so far) like they owned it. Took some photos and some video. Tried to capture pieces of it all, this place. Truly I have tasted what Kauai has to offer.

People call Hawaii a tourist trap, but I don’t buy into that. I see more. I hope to kayak and swim and gain a tan over the next few days. There will be more of a focus on relaxing than actually doing. I’ll continue to pretend it’s not smack dab in the dead of winter in a place much more familiar than this one, a place I’ll have to return to. I can get along in the cold just fine and sweaters are even the most favorite part of my wardrobe next to my T-shirts. I just happen to like shorts and swimsuits better. How can you refuse sunshine and humidity? It’s just too glorious and alluring to want anything else.

A Day in My Life.

The one, the only Jonathan Canlas followed me around the other day on an overnight trip to Toledo and back and sorta documented a good chunk of my job in photos. He was able to fully expose, once and for all, just how humdrum these trips really are. Ha! I keed, I keeeed. Anyway, not bad for an instant camera and using actual film, eh? These are as close to Polaroids as you'll get anymore. The man is a master at his craft. See the whole thing over HERE.

A bit of what you missed.

Something True.

Today, I've got Hawaii and warm beaches on the mind. Come Sunday night, I'll be laying my head to rest in a hostel near Wakiki Beach. So, obviously, being at work is bit of a wash. I've lost all ability I ever had to focus. Here's something I do know about tonight, though: there are a couple local bands I really like playing some new songs in a place I just flat out enjoy. If you didn't already know this, music sounds perfect in the State Room. And I think I'd take a bullet for the music these guys (and girl) make ... maybe even two bullets. You already have your tickets, right? Course you do. This'll be a bit of an epic event, methinks, at least on some scale. And I'll be easy to spot in the crowd. I'll be the guy who won't stop smiling ... the one with a beard that doesn't come close to one David Williams. I swear he has a raccoon living on his face. No, I'm not jealous.

Wordless Wednesday.