One ill Kitty

Snowbelle age 6

I'm starting this edition of my blog differently. I had a scare recently...my cat, pictured on the left, Snowbelle, was having trouble breathing. You know how a person with asthma has trouble catching their breath? Well that was Snowbelle. She'd never behaved like that before. Lately I've been leaving my Air conditioner off during the heat of the day in the attempt to conserve energy. While 84 degrees isn't hot to me, it is probably uncomfortable for a cat, after all, unless they are hairless, she's covered in fur and I'm sure wearing a fur coat in the Arizona heat can't be comfortable.
My husband and I took her to the Vet yesterday (although we really didn't have the money for the extra expense) and they presume it's asthma but aren't sure due to the fact that we couldn't afford to pay for the x-rays which would have been $200.00. In order to have the x-rays we would have had to pay for the visit up front, and we simply didn't have the funds. It's really hard to get blood out of a turnip but we still had to have her looked at. I didn't want her to die, and I do know an animal can die from lack of oxygen. And being an asthmatic myself, I know how it feels not being able to breath.

What's the password?

We were able to make payment arrangements, but what worried me the most was the medication we needed to give her. Come to find out she needed it IMMEDIATELY, otherwise we would have waited until today to get her prescription filled. So my poor husband had to forgo his wrestling to ride his bike up to Walgreens in order to get her prescription filled. He wasn't happy about it but he went any way knowing our "baby" needed her medication. Well, after going the couple of miles, his trip turned out to be fruitless because they didn't have either of her meds in stock and wouldn't be able to get it until Monday. He also went to Fry's pharmacy but they were already closed. I was finally able to get a friend of mine, through Facebook, to give me a lift over to a CVS over on 19th Ave off Indian School Road where they had both her medications in stock AND they were able to give me a discount. It would have cost me $32.00 but ended up costing me $15.00.
After giving her the medication and staying up with her all evening, she was breathing easier, although you could tell she was still breathing hard. She ate, drank some water and went to the litter box, which was a relief. So I am hoping that with the medication she's been given that it is asthma and we can get her breathing back to normal. So far the medicine seems to be helping and I'm leaving the air conditioning on until I know her breathing is under control. On a side note, she DID bite me when I tried to give her her pills. She bit down on my first finger when I tried to get the second pill (the most important one as it helps her breath) into her. Can't really blame her though. Would YOU like having someone trying to get a pill down YOUR throat? :)

I've started another Cartland entitled Wish For Love. The time period is 1818 and is about Mariota who's family is hard up due to her Grandfather spending the family fortune. And although they still have the house, most of it is closed up because they can't afford to hire servants to help it.  The house is run by Mariota who does the majority of cleaning and cooking. Her brother Jeremy wants better clothes and just funds to live comfortably and comes up with the brilliant scheme to become a Highwayman in order to get the money necessary to live as he would like them to. Mariota is against this idea but ends up helping him anyway because she doesn't want to see him hurt or hung and accompanies him. In the process they end up wounding an Earl after robbing a carriage that contained his sister who was visiting one of the local gentry.

Map from Wikipedia

I've gotten to the section where the Earl they wounded (he doesn't know that her and her brother were the ones who robbed his sister) has professed his love for Mariota but can't marry her because he's already said he'd marry someone else BEFORE he met her. Being a gentleman he can't go back on his word or break the engagement.The story itself takes place in Worcestershire.

Today's paper doll is another Boots from June 8th, 1952. I like how they added the scenery in the background but it just doesn't seem to go with the gowns. I suppose she could be taking a drive and crossing the old covered bridge. Very romantic if you are in a horse and buggy. My favorite of the two is the red gown although I think it would be more elegant if it didn't have the extra drapery on the side of her hip.


For my paper doll design, there is Little Bo Peep. Done in the early 1980's I've rearranged the pages thanks to Photoshop. I sell the set on Ebay. She has a total of four pages, with 8 outfits, 10 accessories, one sheep, and two extra faces. I'm not going to revise the doll or clothes but want to do a different border.

Aloha for now. I leave you with a beautiful view of  majestic Diamond Head as seen from Ala Moana Beach Park.

Diamond Head March 2007

                                                           

A Condo in Paradise,,,

I know it's been awhile since my last post but there are times when I just don't have anything to write about and I wonder what is the point of doing the blog anyway since I pretty much am writing to myself rather than the public in general. And I wonder does any one read this stuff? Does any one care? LOL

The photo above is Maili Cove. A nice apartment complex (although they call them "condos") on the Waianae side of Oahu. The unit I stayed in was on the bottom floor, just to the right of the corner unit in the photo. It's hidden by the palm tree. I was able to find on the web a plan of the unit that I rented for a month in March of 2007.
http://www.thehawaiistatecondoguide.com/oahu/MAILICOVE.html It has a listing
for the Condo.

  

It was wonderful going to sleep every night listing to the sound of the ocean.  I altered the plan they had just a little by flipping it since my until faced north. Although it was only 774 square feet it seemed large to me, especially when you opened the sliding doors to the bedroom. I really liked the open floor space. I rarely used the bed but slept on the futon instead which was located on the right side wall in the living area. On the opposite wall was the entertainment center which I rarely made use of. :)  I was to busy exploring the island during the day and by the time I got home, cooked my meal (which I ate outside on the lanai most nights) I was pretty much ready for bed. And I would leave the lanai doors open, the screen locked, and let the ocean lull me to sleep. The security at Maili Cove was wonderful so I wasn't afraid of someone suddenly coming into my apartment. If you like taking care of yourself, cooking rather than eating out every night, I highly recommend the place. The residents are very friendly and there was quite a few nights where they'd have something going on at pool side. No one was to noisy and they usually wrapped things up before midnight...and if the "party" did go past the witching hour, they kept it pretty quiet. The lovely part about the place is that it is literally on the beach. The only thing separating you from the ocean is an iron fence.

Shot was taken as the sun was setting.

If you go to this site:
http://www.mailicove.org/mcoutside.html
they show a panoramic view of the condo and they pan right by the unit that I stayed in.

The layout of the interior that they feature is identical to the unit I stayed in. In fact judging by the exterior view it was a couple of doors down. http://www.mailicove.org/maili_pano.html

2007 was the first year that I was able to really give my new Kodak camera a "work out". I'd bought it for it's 10x optical zoom feature and used it quite a bit while I was there. The photo that I took of the condos, though it looks like I was close, I wasn't. In fact I was quite a distance away at a beach park several miles down the road.  If you look closely at the photo with the three palm trees I've framed Maili Cove between them. If you take out the condos I can just imagine what the area looked like before there was a building there. It was built, if anyone is interested, 1975. So it's been around awhile.

It sometimes takes me several days to write my blog, which means I may have started it at the end of May but will post it at the beginning of June. I suppose I should at least post SOMETHING...a photo without having a lot of words attached to it. :) I can hardly believe that it's already June and we are now six months into the new year.

I'm still reading Barbara Cartland's. The one at the moment is entitled: An Innocent in Russia, about a young woman who's father has died and she's gone to live with her Aunt, who's now her Guardian. The year is 1836 and  her Aunt has decided that she will not tolerate Zelina's presence because she's very pretty and doesn't want the competition even though the Aunt herself is married, she doesn't want to vie for the attention of young men with her niece so she decides to send her off to Russia as a more or less glorified Governess. Because Zelina is only 18, she still must do what her Guardian tells her, regardless of the fact that she has money of her own and doesn't necessarily have to depend financially on her Aunt. But because she is a woman alone and doesn't have man to look after her, no one will give her a place to live. A woman living on her own just wasn't done in those days. And if you did live on your own you were fair game where men were concerned since they considered a female alone prey to their advances. Especially if they were attractive.

Courtesy Wikipedia

It takes place during the reign of Tsar Nicholas I and according to the novel he wasn't a very nice Monarch. The Secret Police had eyes and ears everywhere and no one was immune from them, not even if you were a visitor to Russia. Scary stuff!  I can't imagine living in a country where you can't voice your opinion if you aren't happy with what the party in power is doing, and you have to not only watch what you say but who you talk to!  If you are seen talking to someone who is an enemy of the state, you could be hauled in and questioned by said police. Hopefully you didn't end up somewhere in Siberia after they were finished questioning you. Cartland wrote at least two novels dealing with this time period, this one and another book entitled: Fire on the Snow, which I read a week or so ago. The scenerio is similiar in the respect that both women are sent to Russia. In Fire the niece accompanied her cousin who was to marry a Russian prince. Her Uncle disliked her and told her in no uncertain terms that she was never going to marry and after her cousins marriage she was to return home. Both characters liked to read and the beginning of the story starts out the same where the heroine is reading a book. But in Fire the niece is slapped on the back of the head with a fan and her Uncle also beat her. In Innocent her Uncle is indifferent and is only related to her by marriage to the Aunt. in Fire, the Uncle was the brother of the heroines father.

I have to say that the cover of Fire on the Snow is one of my favorites. It rather reminds me of Cinderella with the Prince being in military uniform and Alida in a white ball gown. You can almost see them moving around the ball room and hear a waltz being played. I also have to share the other cover for Fire on the Snow published by Arrow. Both were done by Francis Marshall. It's nice but not as beautiful as the one done for Bantam.

As in Innocent, the story takes place during the reign of Tsar Nicholas I. Only Alida was taken before the secret police because she was seen speaking with a former Russian citizen on the ship taking her to St. Petersburg. Both stories take place in that great city, only I haven't gotten that far in Innocent. Zelina is about to change ships after arriving in Denmark in order to continue her journey to the former Russian capitol.

Today's paper doll is from Boots and was originally published on Sunday June 5th 1949. It is a challenge to find newspaper dolls published on the same day I'm posting. I have quite a few of these and most are not organized yet. I'm getting there though. :) My ultimate goal, which might be unattainable, is to have every newspaper paper doll ever published. Which is quite a task in itself if you consider that I have to try and get a whole years worth of paper dolls and there are a variety of them. Still it is fun to try and collect all of them. It's the hunt that is the fun part. I do enjoy going through my collection and just seeing what I have so far. And all things considered it is impressive. :) My favorite of the dresses in the latest paper doll is the tiger stripped one. Love the impression of her standing with the wind blowing. Can't you just picture her standing on a cliff somewhere in New England looking up and watching the seagulls wheeling over head?

 For my paper doll I'm sharing a "Ballerina doll". The first is the pencil version. I used tracing paper at the time (1980's) because I didn't have a light table in order to put her clothes on regular drawing paper.  You can see the tape in the scan. The second is the color version of the same doll which I am selling on Ebay. This set has 5 pages of costumes. I haven't decided yet if I'm going to revise her or not. Sometimes it's just better to leave something as it is rather than improve on it.

Well, I've reached the end for another addition of my blog. Until next time (and I don't know when that will be, hopefully within the next few days) hope you've enjoyed reading about my lovely trip to Hawaii and will return again to at least, if for no other reason, check out more photos from that trip.

Until next time...ALOHA!!

BEST FRIENDS
Copyright N Dennis June 2012

Pink clouds at sunset

Sunset Maili Cove March 2007

This is one of my favorite photos from my trip in 2007. I was walking in the beach park next to the condo where I was staying at Maili Cove and looked up and saw how beautiful the clouds looked. My faithful Kodak camera was never out of my hands.  Sunsets in Hawaii are always beautiful and each one has a magic all it's own. The clouds rather remind me of pink cotton candy. 


I tried to be at a different beach park on the western side of the island every night to capture one of the amazing sunsets. Sometimes I succeeded and at other times I was still on the road. I always wanted to capture the sun as it eased it's way into the western ocean. So with that being stated, here are more photos of Hawaii sunsets. 

From condo at Maili  Cove 3/2007

What could be nicer than staying in a condo (really an apartment complex) on the beach and seeing this view each night from your Lanai. Is it any wonder that I want to move there and live there for the rest of my life? How can a person be stressed out when they have this kind of a view to look forward to each evening while they are eating their supper? 

Maili Cove March 2007

In regards to the photo on the left, I took a series of photos on this day as the sun slowly sank from sight. It might seem strange but I never grew bored watching the sun disappear from the sky each evening. The only thing I never had the opportunity to observe was the sun rising each morning. I just was never up early enough. LOL  I kept promising myself that I'd get up early to drive over to the windward side of the island (or go to Koko head) to see the sun come up, but I never got around to doing it.  I will do it one of these days though.  On an observant note...sunsets are mores spectacular when there are clouds in the sky. :) I have to be honest and say that the photo to the right is doctored somewhat. I just darkened it a little because when it was taken it was darker than the photo came out. This is the sky I saw on that day. This is looking directly west toward Japan. :)

While I was there, and each time I've gone, I rarely watched television during the day or anything on the web. With views like this to gaze upon daily who needs television?

http://www.queensroyalsurreys.org.uk

I'm still reading The Slaves of Love. Yasmina is now aboard HMS Himalaya in the cabin of Lord Castleford having been smuggled aboard the ship by a faithful servant of Mihri (who is the Sultan's favorite)  in a trunk (try that these days!). Yasmina might have been in the harem until the war with Crimea was over had it not been for the Black Eunuch's interest in her and he was not the most gentle of master's. Of course Castleford is not to happy to be involved in her escape since Britain is at war with Russia. His being the new Ambassador to Greece and his harboring a Russian would not look good for his career. 

Photo from Wikipedia

I wish in some ways that I had the Internet when I first read these books. I so enjoy looking up the people and places mentioned in them. For example: In this book the Sultan of the Ottoman empire is mentioned, it is into HIS (Abdülmecid I) harem that Yasmina has taken refuge. He was quite a handsome fellow judging by the painting. In the book there isn't much of a description of him but then perhaps Cartland didn't have the painting on the right to go by. She did have, however, his accomplishments where the Ottoman Empire was concerned. I've tried to find out if Mihri was a real person and the closest I could come was Gülüstü Kadın Efendi who was of Circassian descent as is the character in the book but who was a servant in Yasmina's household before she was abducted and imprisoned in the Sultan's palace, something that was pretty rampant back then. I couldn't really find to much about Gülüstü but the time period when she was his wife matches with Cartland's novel. 

Today's paper doll is Jane Arden from May 9th, 1943. I enlarged it a little and brightened it up.  My favorite garment is the dress with the fur coat. 


For the paper doll from my designs, I present a baby Ewok. I don't know what the heck I was thinking giving it modern clothing. This is another one I'm in the process of revamping and giving it more "primitive" outfits made out of fur and hide. I suppose I was thinking at the time along the lines of a teddy bear. The clothes however, just aren't right for the little critter.  I will also be changing the border to something more appropriate

to Endor.  The set has only two pages of clothes. I am not sure if I created more for this little girl or not. If I did I hope to eventually find the other pages. I'm still searching for my other sets. I had created 100 of them varying from children to adults, reality to fantasy. I had one set that went with the movie Clash of the Titans and while I've found some of the clothes, I've yet to find the complete set. I suppose that is the downside of moving, you may leave things behind. Yet, I don't really think I did, I just feel that perhaps the other sets are packed in a box that I haven't  gotten to yet or squirreled away and I've just forgotten where I put them. 


I suppose that is it for this time. This blog is a little shorter than usual. I was trying to fix the lettering on the blog and lost quite a bit of writing in regards to the palace mentioned in The Slaves of Love and I really don't feel up to trying to hunt down the photos again, and try to remember what I'd written. Maybe next time.  I wanted to share the photos of the palace because it was and is quite impressive. I'm also rather late in posting this. I was going to post a few days ago but ended up selling quite a few things on Ebay and with one thing or another I wasn't able to complete this posting until now. So until next time...Aloha and May the Force Be With You. 

N Dennis March 2007

Crystal clear water

Hanauma Bay from lookout March 2007

I love this shot of Hanauma Bay . The water is so crystal clear! I like how you can see the coral under the water. I've always wanted to go snorkeling but as of yet haven't been able to. Mainly it's a monetary issue not that I physically can't do it. I didn't go down to the beach on this day. It's a steep incline (if you look closely you can see the incline on the right hand side of the photo) and though I hate to admit it at times, I'm out of shape and walking down the incline would be easy..it's the coming back up that would be the hard part. I could do it, but would have had to walk backwards and since there were quite a few people there on this day, didn't want to look silly walking in reverse. It's easier on my calf muscles if I walk up such a steep hill that way.  I took this on the same day that I took the photo of Koko head. If you turned to the right of this photo you'd be gazing up at Koko head. It was also extremely windy from this vantage point. 

This is also another doctored photo.  Again the sky on the left side of the photo was to light so I separated it from the bottom portion and using the brightness/contrast feature of Photoshop altered it so that the sky was a little darker. There isn't to much of a difference to the two photos really. I did brighten the bottom portion a little as well which you can tell by the water and the sand being a little brighter in tone. Hawaii is the only place I know of where you don't mind gadding about on an overcast day and said overcast doesn't ruin it in the least. It did sprinkle a little but not so much that my camera got to wet. I had just bought the camera in 2006 and it was the first time I'd given my Kodak a real workout. The lovely part of using a digital camera was when I got back to the condo where I was staying, I could immediately download my card on the laptop computer I'd brought with me without having to go to Wal-mart, K-mart or Walgreens to get the pictures developed. 

Lord Stratford Canning age 29

I've finished THE PASSION AND THE FLOWER (it was really good so only took a day to read) and I'm now reading THE SLAVES OF LOVE. The time frame is 1855 and the setting is Constantinople, Turkey or what is now Istanbul.  The Crimean War is raging and fear abounds that there are Russian spies every where. Our hero, Lord Vernan Castleford, is on his way to the Bazaar in search of a present for the British Ambassador Stratford Canning, who, I might add, was quite a handsome fellow.  The book takes place when Stratford is 68 and according to Castleford is still a handsome man. (Photo of Canning courtesy of Wikipedia) He actually was still quite good looking in later years. 

Photo from Look and Learn website

Upon arriving in the Bazaar he is witness to the beating of a Russian by a mob. It is here that he comes upon a young Russian woman, Yasmina, who was raised in both Crimea and in Russia. Her father is ill and she'd come to the Bazaar for herbs in the hope that they'd help her father get better. He'd been sick for awhile and not trusting British hospitals she was trying to nurse him herself. I'm at the part where Yasmina's father has just passed away and she's trying to figure out what to do. She doesn't have any where she can go. She's now pretty much alone except for Hamid and he's just told her that the safest place for her to be during that dangerous time would be in the Sultan's harem.  

Today's paper doll is a Jane Arden. I couldn't find a matching paper doll for today's date in my collection so decided to post this one. I'm not sure of the year but judging by the dress I'd say either 1950's or 60's. I remember these paper dolls in the Sunday paper. I wish now I'd kept them but like all things from my childhood, my paper doll collection was relegated to the trash bin or a garage sale when I "out grew" them. This paper doll was also on a disc I bought from a seller on Ebay. It was rather on the small size so I enlarged it. The scan I received was at 150 dpi which isn't to bad of a resolution. I also made this one into a black and white version for those who like to color their paper dolls. This pose was a common one in the Jane Arden series so the clothes of other dolls will fit this one. 

For my paper doll design I present Babs the Ballerina Cat. I'm in the process of revamping this one. I'm thinking of perhaps making her into a greeting card. Maybe have several cats with the same pose and with two or three costumes a piece. I'm also thinking of enlarging her. She doesn't have to many outfits. As she is now she only has three pages of clothes. 

It's time to call it a day. Until next time, Aloha and may your day be a great one!!

N Dennis 2007

Cruising down the highway

Along Kamehameha Highway North Shore looking west

One of the things I love to do when I'm on Oahu is drive to the North Shore and along the only road that circles the island, King Kamehameha Highway. It is a beautiful drive whether you head east or west on the island. I'm not sure which part of the highway this is but no matter it's beautiful. I never get tired of looking at the mountains here. Although unseen, the ocean is just off to the right.

It seemed like most days when I headed for the North Shore it was overcast. The one thing I did while in Hawaii, each and every day, is head out doors. Unless I was sleeping I was outside. And I walked...a lot!  In Arizona it is rare if you can catch me outside, it's either to cold or to hot, but there wasn't a day on Oahu, even when it reached the 90's that I wasn't traipsing somewhere in the open air. Why would you want to stay in your hotel room when you can enjoy this?? :) I wish I had taken a photo of some kind of landmark so I could pin point exactly where on the island this is.

I saw a extremely funny show on Netflix a couple of days ago. I laughed so hard my stomach muscles hurt. It was Jeff  Dunham's Arguing with Myself. I absolutely love his stand up routine. When you are watching him you know in the back of your mind he's making the puppets talk but you sit there and with the other part of your brain consider each puppet an individual personality and you can picture them having 'lives' off stage. Jeff really brings them to life. I couldn't tell you if Jeff moves his lips or not because all my attention is on the puppet and not on Jeff unless he's "arguing" with Walter or Peanut or one of the other characters. My favorite character is Peanut and I just love Walter. The funny thing is, I can actually see Walter as a door greater for Wal-mart except I doubt he'd last very long as an employee with his attitude. LOL

Lately, for some reason, I've been on a Barbara Cartland graving. That is to say I have been wanting to read her books. It was through her books that I discovered the romance genre. I started reading them in the early  70's and have since amassed quite a library of her novels. She wrote over 160 novels so I'm not any where near having every book she wrote. What always appealed to me about the books is that she would include real people who actually existed as well as real places. Through her books not only did I go back in time but I traveled the world. She literally introduced me to the historical romance.

What also appealed to me was the covers of her books. I found out just recently that the artist was a man named Frank Marshall. There is a great site: http://barbaracartlandbooksandcoverart.blogspot.com/
that has posted some of the covers from her books. I'm in the process of reading one of her books now: THE WILD CRY OF LOVE which takes place in the Camargue region of France. The time period is 1899 and the Kodak camera (I happily own one of it's descendants) has just been invented. The heroine of the story, Valda , is determined to show her Stepfather that she DOESN'T need a man and can make a name for herself, so with the help of some Gypsy's who had been camping on her stepfathers land and  were headed for Saintes Maries de la Mar she leaves her home and heads for the Camargue. When I used to read the books I'd go to the library and look up the places and people Cartland would mention in her novels. Now, thanks to the Internet I can travel to the Camargue, see the area and gaze upon the white horses and black cattle of the region. I used to collect maps in order to "travel" the world but with Google maps I don't have to do that any more. In fact, I pretty much got rid of my modern maps. I have kept my vintage ones. I love the colors used in them and they were made at a time when map making was an art. As to the historical people and events mentioned in the books it is easy to find anything regarding history on the web. Someone, somewhere has written a blog about it or them. Whether it was for a class paper or some professor who is knowledgeable in the subject. It's just a matter of finding the person or event. I've always loved history which is why historical romances appeal to me more than contemporary ones.

I tried to find among my collection a paper doll that would match today's date and alas I didn't have one. Most of my newspaper paper dolls don't have dates. So I decided that if I couldn't find one from years ago that matched the date of a post I would post one without a known date. Eventually I will run across the date and rename it later. Someone is always listing an old paper doll on Ebay so I'll eventually be able to put a proper date to this particular paper doll. Since last time it was Tillie the Toiler I thought I'd do Boots this time. I always love how the artist has the garments 'blowing in the breeze'. Since summer is literally right around the corner here is Boots water skiing. I don't think it would be practical to wear the dresses while on skis but it does look good the way the artist gave the impression of movement. You can find more of my Tillie, Boots and Jane Arden paper dolls as well as some of my art work here: http://home-and-garden.webshots.com/album/270210829nnfFyl I set up my Webshots site to share my work and my collection with every one else.

It's time to call this blog entry finished. But before I do, let me share a page of another paper doll set that I designed back in the 80's. (Still hunting for the other sets...sigh) Since I was on a space theme the last tine

Space Princess original size

Space Princess enlarged

I will continue with it by presenting Space Princess. Her costumes include outfits from Science Fiction films such as Galaxina, Star Crash, Flight to Mars, the television show Buck Rogers, from the Star Wars comics and designs by a fellow paper doll artist Diana Ablard, and by me.  I'm in the process of enlarging the set and cleaning it up a bit. I did find the original of this one and if you look at the small version (which is the original) you can see how the tracing paper that I used to make the clothes really shows up. Years ago I would have had to use a projector to enlarge any of my drawings, now with Photoshop it's just a matter of scanning and enlarging the drawing to the size I want. (Or vice verse) I like the larger version better. I re did her face a little and I'm darkening in the lines on her costumes and she'll be spread out over more pages. There is a lot of repairing I have to do but in the end, I think it will be worth the extra work. I had considered keeping her the same size, enlarging her to fix where the tracing paper was visible then reducing her back down but once I'd enlarged her, re did her face, I liked it and therefore decided to offer the enlarged set for sale. The large set won't have the black border, I darkened it for Elfwood. They're really picky if there is more white showing so I made the outer portion look more like a frame. As a foot note the pose was inspired by an illustration in an old Frederick's of Hollywood catalog that my husband used to receive. Wish I still had it so I can show the illustration that inspired her pose. Ah well...

Until next time...Aloha!