Thursday, December 29, 2022
Three Interesting Things
Tuesday, December 27, 2022
Years and Things
Thursday, December 22, 2022
Three Interesting Things
Monday, December 19, 2022
Light
Thursday, December 15, 2022
Three Interesting Things
Monday, December 12, 2022
Adaptability vs. Arranger
Thursday, December 08, 2022
Three Interesting Things
Monday, December 05, 2022
7 Things About COVID
Thursday, December 01, 2022
Three Interesting Things
Monday, November 28, 2022
Today is
Today is Hawaiian Independence Day. It's a day that like some other so-called independence days commemorates a particularly odd, if politically important at the time moment in Hawaiian history. And well, Hawai'i is also not currently independent, so there's that too.
My very unofficial historical context is that Hawai'i had established itself as a monarchy, but because it was strategically located for all those folks who were sending ships to Asia, there were folks who wanted to be able to guarantee they could stop there and do all the things they wanted (which tended to included let all the sailors off the boat for a sex break, but I digress). Anyhoodle, in the way of people who think land should be owned by the most important person who wants it, some folks had shown up and declared Hawai'i theirs a time of two. So, King Kamehameha III said, okay folks, how about we sign a document that we all agree that Hawai'i is independent. And Great Britain and France agreed, and it was signed on November 28th. The US had said they totes would agree, they just had to like, send the treaty to Congress, and like would absolutely go do that. Several other countries also agreed to acknowledge that Hawai'i was yep, it's own country, no plans to poach that here.
It's not really a spoiler to tell you that worked for about fifty years, and then a bunch of pineapple and other businessman decided, it really would better benefit their purpose if Hawai'i was part of the US, so they just overthrew the government, imprisoned the Queen, and called the US, and were like, so we took it for you, you're welcome.
And the US government hemmed and hawed, because of course they did not just take other countries, not like real ones, that they had like had dinner with. The US investigated the overthrow, and concluded that is was indeed not nice to take over other people's governments. The "new" government made a new constitution, and then turned the independence Day into Hawaiian Thanksgiving basically. (Redoing the holidays does not seem like a high priority in your brand new super legitimate, what no, we did no steal this country government, until you realize that they were very concerned that all the people who had not agreed to this new government, might rally, and use the day to try to take it back.)
Funnily enough, there was an attempt on January 6th.
Anyway, the US elected a new President, who apparently cared a little less about how territory got acquired, and so, the "new" government resumed negotiations for annexation, and well, as you know Hawai'i is now part of the US.
And after that, Hawai'i began celebrating American Thanksgiving, ie a moving target, and the day fell into history.
Some folks want to bring it back, as a reminder that Hawai'i is part of the stolen land that the entire US is made up of. There is of course precedent for the US essentially giving territory back, like they did with the Philippines. The revelation that O'ahu's water is currently being poisoned with military jet fuel has added to that.
But, like a lot of independence days, it's kind of odd. It was a treaty signing day. Hawai'i wasn't really more or less free, though certainly two large political powers agreeing to not encroach seemed likely to buy Hawai'i some time.
But Hawai'i isn't free now. And turning the day into a day of drinking and fireworks doesn't really seem like it will bring more visibility to the issue. Goodness knows, I don't think bringing Cinco de Mayo into wider notice has helped more people understand much more nuance about Mexican international relations.
So, today is that day. I am a person who enjoys looking into the histories of holidays, both grave and silly. And so here we are.
Friday, November 25, 2022
Three Interesting Things
Monday, November 21, 2022
Grateful
Thursday, November 17, 2022
Three Interesting Things
Monday, November 14, 2022
One Million Words
Thursday, November 10, 2022
Three Interesting Things
Monday, November 07, 2022
75 Percent
Thursday, November 03, 2022
Three Interesting Things
Monday, October 31, 2022
7 Things About NaNo
Thursday, October 27, 2022
Three Interesting Things
Monday, October 24, 2022
Cat Food
Thursday, October 20, 2022
Three Interesting Things
Monday, October 17, 2022
Let's Talk Closed Captioning
Thursday, October 13, 2022
Three Interesting Things
Tuesday, October 11, 2022
Seasonality
Thursday, October 06, 2022
Three Interesting Things
Monday, October 03, 2022
Vegetables
Thursday, September 29, 2022
Three Interesting Things
Wednesday, September 28, 2022
Paper Books and an Epilogue!
Available at etailers here: https://books2read.com/u/47O6GL
And in print: https://bookshop.org/books/bored-by-the-billionaire/9798201048518
Clear as Ice - A City Entanglements Novella - Sienna is no stranger to social media. When she unwittingly starts something claiming there are no Asian Americans in hockey, and then discovers there is one on her hometown team, she knows it's up to her to make amends. And given her new no dating this year rule, she won't have any trouble keeping things professional. Al is used to people acting like he's the first or only Asian American in hockey. As the Domes' season moves towards the playoffs, he knows how to keep focused just on hockey. Even as Sienna turns out to be more than he expected in so many ways.Scenes from this were originally posted on my blog for #HockeyFiction. Now the whole story will be available.
Available at etailers here: https://books2read.com/u/mvXreX And in print: https://bookshop.org/books/clear-as-ice/9798201254728
Monday, September 26, 2022
The Levels Do Not Exist
Thursday, September 22, 2022
Three Interesting Things
Wednesday, September 21, 2022
"Heathers: The Musical"
Monday, September 19, 2022
Banned Books Week
Thursday, September 15, 2022
Three Interesting Things
Monday, September 12, 2022
Breaks, Snacks, and Other Things
Thursday, September 08, 2022
Three Interesting Things
Tuesday, September 06, 2022
Imagined Futures
Thursday, September 01, 2022
Three Interesting Things
Monday, August 29, 2022
Done is What's Important
I made a list.
I made a list before I went to run errands Saturday, and then I did what I often do, which is go to the stores, not check the list, get home, unpack, relax, and then inevitably realize the thing I forgot to buy because I didn't check the list.
Now sure, I should probably learn to check the list.
Or accept that the joy of living in a city, in walkable distance of a number of stores, is that, I can and did just get the thing the next day.
Because yes, process improvement is good, but also there are no grades for optimizing your shopping, and basically, I had planned to take a walk outside and listen to an audiobook anyway, so adding walking in the direction of a store wasn't a big shift.
I don't usually consider myself a perfectionist, but I will sometimes find myself berating myself for not doing things efficiently and yes, efficiency is great. But here, the only one inconvenienced - if we could even call it that - was me. I still went for a walk. I still listened to my audiobook. And I got two more things purchased that I needed. The end result was fine. So who cares?
One could argue, this many words later, that clearly I do. But part of what I've been trying to remind myself, is that sometimes optimization and efficiency can just take a break already. Done is what's important. And it got done.