Big things and vacation

Before I start posting away with my Hawaii pics, three quick things that I want to mention:

-this Wednesday, August 15th, Steven Harper, author of the amazing Clockwork Empire steampunk series as well as Writing the Supernatural Novel and many other books, will be doing a virtual chat on Shindig.  It’s a VERY cool thing, and you won’t want to miss it.  Click here to RSVP for the event.  Very important!

-a little over a week later, three fab authors, Rachel Caine, Chloe Neill and Christina Henry will be doing a Knight Agency chat on Twitter at 8 p.m. ET.  You won’t want to miss it!

-if you’re an instant gratification junkie, you can get a start on hearing from Chloe Neill, who’s Once and Future Podcast interview is up today.  Anton Strout does such a great job with his guests, and Chloe is so interesting that you’ll definitely want to check it out.

And now…

Hawaii Day 1.

Your cast of characters:

Su: the whitest  brightest red  peelingest person we know

Pete: knot guy, chauffer and comic

Ty: turtle boy, tiki-talker

Me: um, just me

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We arrived in paradise at about four o’clock local time, determined to at least see the beach and have a tropical drink before dropping like stones given the time difference and jet lag.  We succeeded and witnessed a beautiful sunset on top of it.

For our first full day, we headed to Hanauma Bay for snorkeling.  The caldera itself is gorgeous.  The color of the water is…perfect, and the fish are so used to swimmers that they’re totally unintimidated by our presence.  I wish I could have captured on camera everything I was able to witness with my eyes—the shimmering colors, the quicksilver movements of some of the fish, particularly the huge and most beautifully marked parrotfish, which was always in such a hurry.  I can’t wait to develop the pictures from my underwater camera to see how they turn out.  Hopefully, the silt and non-stop motion of the sea life will not defeat me.  I live in hope.

We arranged to go to a luau that evening, and had a wonderful time.  Our escort, Georgie, was a hoot.  She kept us entertained and informed, and we learned about the spirit of aloha as well as many other words in the Hawaiian language:

Smile = mino’aka

Kiss = honi

Until we meet again (which is what you say instead of aloha for good-bye, because that one is final) = A hui hou kākou

Pig = pua’a

Beef = pipi

We ate pineapple coleslaw, teriyaki beef, kalua pig, etc.  I’d been looking forward to the kalua pig ever since we began planning the trip, because I remember it as being the best stuff on earth (whole pig seasoned only with sea salt, wrapped in leaves and slow cooked all day in a deep pit), but, unfortunately, it wasn’t as amazing at this luau as I remember it from when I was a kid.  We drank tequila sunrises (me), mai tais (Pete & Su) and virgin pina coladas (Ty).  We watched traditional dances and even learned some hula.  Su is extremely thankful that the pics of this didn’t turn out at all, so there are no blackmail photos forthcoming.  (Sorry, Judi, I tried.)  We saw an amazing fire dancer and just generally had a wonderful time.