Merrie Monarch Hula Festival 2013

Well, the first night of competition for the Merrie Monarch Hula Festival was last night. We have a new “Miss Aloha Hula” for another year. {Smile}

If you want to see what I get so excited about each year, the “official website” is here: http://merriemonarch.com/ , while this is the main Merrie Monarch page for the TV station that’s broadcasting it: http://www.k5thehometeam.com/category/260043/the-2013-merrie-monarch-festival-on-kfve . I notice last night’s competition is available to watch on the web, but I don’t know if they’ll keep it up when tonight’s competition starts. The Merrie Monarch is a LOT of video to host by web standards. {Smile}

Anne Elizabeth Baldwin

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter everyone! {SMILE}

I do hope you've had good ones this year. {WARM SMILE}

We did. Dad and I would have liked to go to church, but they started too early. So we concentrated on fixing a nice dinner and relaxing instead. We had turkey, some of the fixings, and apple pie for dessert. We had to make a run this afternoon for the pie; Dad remembered dessert only last night. {Smile}

Anne Elizabeth Baldwin

A surprising bird

On Sunday, we had a surprise. {Smile}

Dad and I were sitting in dining room near the end of lunch when mom came in. She said she’d heard a strange noise, and when she looked, it was a peacock. She led us to her bedroom window. Dad spotted the bird just before it went out of view back by the old carport. I didn’t, so when Dad went out back for a better look, I definitely followed. We found her behind the woodshop and the patio. Yes, her; technically, she was a peahen, which is a female peacock. {Smile}

She was wandering around, calling. A lot. I’ve heard peacocks call before, but not as often as this one did. I thought maybe she was looking for someone, like she was lost. Dad agreed.

He tried to get closer.  No problem. She let him get within six feet of her without showing fear. So she was obviously used to people. Dad thought she must be someone’s pet.  {Smile}

We went inside, and Dad tried to figure out who to call. After a few tries, he found someone who gave him the Humane Society’s after-hours number.  Unfortunately, that rang busy repeatedly. {lop-sided smile}

Eventually, Dad decided we really needed to get some milk, so he and I went to the store, and picked up that and a couple of other things we were nearly out of. He figured he could try again if the bird was still around when we got back.

She wasn’t. Mom said she left after a while; she thought the bird must have gone home for dinner. The way she was calling, I wonder. I honestly thought she was lost. Dad says at least she wasn’t our concern any more. I have to agree, since I know nothing about caring for peahens. {spread hands, Smile}

She hasn’t returned, either. I wish I knew she’d returned home for a happy reunion, or at least found someone to take care of her. I don’t. But I don’t know that she’s met a bad end, either. She spice up our Sunday afternoon quite a bit with her visit. {SMILE}

Anne Elizabeth Baldwin

Blog Readers

So... Google is cancelling Google Reader to make everyone switch over to Google+.

{wry look} I'm not going to play that game. I suppose in another few years, they'll cancel that to make folks join Google++, and a few years after that, Google * or something.

I'd rather find a provider who will continue to provide the service that attracts their customers in the first place. Preferably without changing every around every few months like Facebook. Yes, of course I can learn to use a new system each time they dump an old system, but I'd really rather not have to. I have more interesting things to do that I'd rather not drop periodically to learn a new system. {lop-sided smile}

I don't suppose anyone has any suggestions for a reliable blog reader that won't keep changing stuff and dumping users all the time? {Wistful Smile}

Anne Elizabeth Baldwin

Girl Books and Boy Books

   A while back, Amazon sent a range of suggestions for books by types of readers. Under "books for girls" was The Hunger Games

.

   Under normal circumstances, I would expect "books for girls" to be books no one expects boys to be interested in. I really don't think that's the case with The Hunger Games. I can't see how it could have sold as many copies as it has if guys weren't interested in the book too. Especially since the plot descriptions sound like something many guys I knew back in school would have loved. {Smile}

   I suspect I know what the problem is. Publishers, librarians, teachers, and apparently booksellers who study what children read have been telling each other "boys will only read books about boys, but girls will read books about girls or boys" long enough they believe that's the deciding factor when kids pick books.

   That may sound good, but the kids I know, and knew, and the girl I remember being myself didn't care as much about gender as about what the characters did. If they liked mysteries, boys would check out Nancy Drew and the Dana Girls as well as the Hardy Boys. If they liked fantasy, they wouldn't skip the middle book of the Earthsea Trilogy. And so on.

   Then I wonder if I'm wrong. I'm up against a pretty large and well-educated group, and my personal opinion fights some of my own education on the subject. So I'd really like to know what you think about this, too. {Hopeful Smile}


Anne Elizabeth Baldwin

Happy New Year!

I know I'm a little late, but I do hope your new year has started well, and continues to do so. {Smile}

So yes: Happy New Year! {BIG SMILE, REALLY BIG GRIN}

Anne Elizabeth Baldwin

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas! {WARM SMILE}

I do hope you have a good one, for a nice, full twelve days, however much of that you may or may not actually celebrate. I'm sure you can use twelve good days in any case. {BIG SMILE}

Anne Elizabeth Baldwin

Happy Thanksgiving! (etc.)

Happy Thanksgiving to those who celebrate it today. {Smile}

If you celebrated it a month and a half ago because Canada does, I hope you had a good one then. {Smile}

If you skip it entirely because your country doesn't go in for it or something, I hope you've had a nice day. {SMILE, wink}

Anne Elizabeth Baldwin

November

First, Happy Halloween, since it is Halloween for a few more hours. {Smile}

Second, November is coming up. A few of my friends are doing NaNo (which is short for NaNoWriMo, itself short for National Novel Writers’ Month).  That’s when a surprising number of folks in many countries try to write a novel or at least 50,000 words of one in a month. (It went international very quickly, despite the name.)

If you’re one, I salute and encourage you. I watch somewhat wistfully. It does look like fun. Unfortunately, cramming 50,000 words of writing with no editing into a single month doesn’t go well with way I’ve been learning how write for slightly over three decades now. {Smile}

It does look like fun, but you want me to change how I approach this NOW?!? {SMILE}

Anne Elizabeth Baldwin

Quick check-in

Popped over to check on friends due to the possible tsunami prompted by a Canadian earthquake. Fortunately, we live at 800 feet, so we're just postponing laundry and watching the news until the tsunami is clearly over. {Smile}

Anne Elizabeth Baldwin