No, we missed the Happy Hour 50% Off Special, but we are planning to go back super early another day. The shabu shabu place had given me the runaround about a table (They figured out we’re Americans!), so we went for yakiniku. Gyu-Kaku is a cool, open-late restaurant near Ala Moana that has great rice. They really do; I’m picky about rice. I got it from my ex-husband. I gotta have good rice.

When I go to Pietro’s, I find the proprietary atmospheric shout-outs (“Irrasshaimasse!”) annoying, but somehow in Gyu-Kaku it’s ok. Maybe it’s the dark wood, low lit, den-like ambience. Or maybe it’s just the correct inflection/pronunciation. I dunno. When the servers turn in orders, they shout “Order onegai shimas!” & the kitchen responds “Hai yorokonde!” I actually like that. Great psychological attitude booster.
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That’s the sound the price of gasoline makes. We have a price cap on gas here that’s set according to a survey of several gasoline markets on the mainland. Supposedly, this is in place to protect us from price gouging since there are only a couple of refineries Hawaii. These refineries resell gasoline to all the other gasoline franchises around here, which in theory provides a monopoly on gas on the supply side. The second week of the program, the whole deal backfired on us. When Katrina hit the gulf, the price of gas in Hawaii shot up like a rocket since the gulf area prices were included in the calculations for the price cap. The price of gas went up 70 cents in 2 weeks, then dropped 50 cents in a week. WTF? Is this what we’re in for? Sure, prices might have gone up, but is that dramatic price bounce really what the legislature had in mind? Supposedly the price of gasoline is going to level out after this week, but damn dudes. Virtually every economics class I’ve ever taken has shown that the free market generally works out to be better than a price cap. We’re not supposed to penny-pinch and worry about the price of gas with the cap in place, but with morning radio reporting gasoline forecasts along with the surf report, everyone I know is playing “gas strategy.” That’s the downside of giving us a number, I suppose. I actually waited until today to fill my car up because gas cost too much last week. I think I saved a few bucks, but somehow I still feel really manipulated.

BTW, J.D. Fortune beat Marty to become the lead singer of INXS. WTF?

Work recently brought me to Hawaiian Host over on Alakawa Street. I don’t eat a lot of chocolate (makes me break out!), but I always did love those chocolate-covered macadamia nut candies with the pretty lady on the box since I was little. My grandparents to this day still keep those exact candies in a tupperware in their refrigerator & will consistently bring it out every time I visit to tempt me.

Anyway, inspection of the ground level was ordinary. I was tired, it was hot, & I had put my hair up in a ponytail which was giving me a headache. I really need to chop my hair off, but my hairdresser just gifted me with the very exclusive (I understand only 3 salons in Honolulu are licensed to do it) $500 “Yuko” straight perm for my birthday & she’d probably kill me if I told her I wanted to cut it all off now.
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A doctor I know was complaining about a med assistant’s inability to use proper spelling & grammar when making notes in patients’ charts. It occurred to me that I see all kinds of writing errors everywhere, every day, all the time, to the point where I don’t even notice them any more.

I don’t think it’s that all these people are stupid. In fact, I know they’re not. Ok, well, not all of them. Ha ha.

I went to Kalani High School. I had the fortune of being placed in Honor & AP English each year, & therefore the luxury of caring teachers. In 10th grade I dated a guy on the football team, & I heard that his senior English teacher had told him & his friends that they would all pass with Cs if they showed up for class, were on time, & stopped drooling on the floor.

I’m not kidding. And I dated him for 2 weeks, ok?
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The Devil Cats!

The BarbarellaTones!

I had total fun tonight. Come on people – GiRL FeST is rockin’ this year. The festival is on for one more weekend, so come check it out. Tomorrow night is the gallery opening at the Arts at Mark’s Garage. Drop by.

On a side note, I heard that only a dozen people attended Tracy Lords’ screening of her independent film, Sweet Pea. That’s a real shame, because she’s really talented. (Get your mind out of the gutter; I’m being serious.) I heard that more people showed up at the second screening this afternoon, which is good. Tracy = good.

Well, GiRL FeST is underway. We’re about halfway through the program. I’ve been doing all sorts of errands for the festival, from driving the artists around to sign making to photography. Add that with my rehearsal schedule and I’ve been averaging about 4-5 hours of sleep per night. That was great when I was in my 20’s, but at 34 that’s pretty tiring. Anyway, here’s the lowdown on my favorites of the events so far.

Jennifer Johns. She totally brought the house down. We had her at Next Door, a bar/club on Hotel street in downtown Honolulu. The venue was hot, but it sounded great. She had incredible energy, and she would have kept singing if it wasn’t for the fact that the venue had to close. To Next Door’s credit, they stayed open an extra half-hour so that Johns could keep playing. I wish I got better pictures, but I had to fight for position and I kept getting jostled.
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While feeding my goldfish, I noticed my white oranda had a weird jelly-like patch on its back that appeared to be creating a raw spot. So I picked it up & took the patch off. Which wriggled.

I tried to take pictures but none came out. I counted 5 sets of legs; it actually looked like a shrimp or a baby alien with a jelly turtle shell.

A Google for “fish parasite arthropod” brought up a Fish Louse.

What I’d like to know is how it got onto my goldfish??
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