1980s Hawaii childhood – Life, the Universe, and Lani

What’s your relationship with clothes?

Clothes and I have never had any problems. Clothes have taught me a thing or two about penny-pinching, distorted body images, and beloved jackets. And just like how you change on the inside throughout the years, “my style” has evolved too. [Thanks, Marta for the inspiration for this post.] Childhood Running around with the boys,…

29/04

Discover Prompts, Day 27 + 28: Team & Focus

Like most kids in Hawaii during the ‘80s, I enjoyed an abundance of free time and sunshine. My younger brother and I grew up in an enclosed neighborhood of tall rock walls and bougainvillea and hibiscus bushes. Even though I had a collection of Barbie dolls and her accessories, I ran with the boys. We…

05/0405/04

Discover Prompts, Day 4: Street

Take me back to Hawaii On Anania Circle Where you could feel the light, laughter, and sun Bouncing off the black pavement, On many afternoon. After long school days We played in the parks, Climbed the walls, trees, and dug into the ground. Across Kamehameha Highway In the enclosure As we wished In the warmth…

04/04

Discover Prompts, Day 3: Song

Dear Dangerous Kitchen, We had a lot of laughs, didn’t we? Who would have thought that a song would describe my childhood kitchen? Sure, maybe a heartbreak, a rekindled romance, or a perfect summer’s day, but a kitchen? At this point in my life, I’ve seen a fair share of kitchens, messy, minimalist, modern, but…

08/1123/12

✍🏼 Left-handedness: some stories and some science

I am left-handed. Although, my younger brother was originally left-handed, he was corrected in grade school. He likes to joke that he’s been robbed of his true self as a result. But since he ended up in the U.S. military, I think that being right-handed served him better. It turns out that being left-handed makes…

29/0729/07

My reaction to “Want to be Less Racist? Move to Hawaii”

In 1991 Spike Lee released ‘Jungle Fever’, a movie about an interracial couple. When it came out, it was making the news, but I only remember it because my brother looked at me and said, “What’s the big deal?” I shrugged, “I have no idea.” Fast forward to 2019, he sent me a New York…

06/0506/05

Can you use chopsticks?

I remember the first time I used chopsticks. We were at Aiea Chop Suey (HA!); it was my mom, my younger brother, and me. We were not given any silverware, just those horrible off-white plastic set of sticks. “Uh, I said. “How are we supposed to eat this?” My mom was already eating. She laughed.

15/0107/02

I am Wonder Woman (an Asian American woman reflects on childhood female superheroes)

A tale of finding comic book heroes, like Wonder Woman.

04/1228/08

Living with lizards: a love story

If you ask SE Asians what they are afraid of, they will most likely say: ghosts, snakes and lizards. Since I grew up in Hawaii, I can certainly understand why ghosts would be a legitimate concern. Ghost stories are very much part of Hawaiian culture, whether this be a modern development or something that spans…

14/1107/01

An Asian American expat musings on the post-election malaise

As an expat, one of the things I experience is how different governments treat their people, and how my passport country measures up. Until I had moved overseas, I had taken for granted American infrastructure, rules and regulations and our homegrown love for criticizing politicians and government. I lived in a democracy where political cartoons…

Green plant patch growing out of concrete

15/0507/02

Starting the #365grateful challenge

You’ve seen these kinds of things before #365grateful, gratitude journals, how to be more grateful articles, etc. And while I think it’s a good idea, especially if the practice is new to you, I’ve refrained from participating publically. But for my 43rd birthday, I’ve decided that the time is right, the timing is now.