Flip or Flop?

While walking at Magic Island recently (all by my lonesome because the wife wasn’t able to join me that day), I came across an abandoned rubber slipper, just sitting there all by its lonesomeness.

It seemed a bit worn (notice the softly-abraded edges) but still usable, and I couldn’t help wondering why this particular slipper had been left behind. Surely whoever wore it must have missed it. I mean, how can you NOT miss your right slipper, y’know?

And then my mind went flying out in left field.

Since we call slippers “flip-flops,” would the right side be the “flop”? And, if the person who lost it were left-handed (and consequently, left-footed), would it then be the “flip”?

Hmmm. After careful consideration, and taking into account the color of the flip-flop, I concluded that I sincerely hope it wasn’t a “flip.”

Because then it would be a “pink flip” … and only those who’ve been laid off from work before will appreciate the significance of that.

I gotta stop thinking so much.

Mental Block … Block

My back hurts today, and it all started last night after I cooked dinner, then came into the office to write a movie review.

As I was sitting here concentrating, trying to keep my brain cells active and alive, the wife came in and interrupted me. I put my hand up, indicating I was finishing a thought and wanted to get it down before I forgot what I was thinking.

Couldn’t have been more than 10 seconds.

Then, I turned around and asked what she wanted. She stood there, staring at me, and then said, “I wanted to tell you something important, but I forgot what,” turned around and walked out of the room.

Maybe 30 seconds later, she burst back in and without any preamble, said: “I wanted to tell you that you forgot to turn off the stove and left it on.” In other words, she forgot what it was she wanted to tell me that I forgot.

The sore back? That happened when I fell off my chair laughing.

House Slippers

I’ve been looking for a good pair of leather cross-strap, open-toed house slippers for a long time now, ever since my last pair of Palama slippers worn down to a frazzle and broke apart.

You just can’t find them anymore. For the past few years, I’ve been using a pair I found at Sears on sale for $25, but now it’s almost time to replace them.

I found an unusual Japanese-made pair the other day at Marukai, and boy were they cheap. They had man-made fabric uppers, were open-toed, were light as a feather, looked pretty good, and were a penny less than $4.

Hallelujah, I thought. At last. They’re called “House Massage Slippers” and have lots and lots of tiny nubs that supposedly massage the soles of your feet as you walk.

Massage? More like “poke.” They just dug into the soles of my feet and hurt like the dickens every time I took a step. Maybe I just need to get used to them, I thought. That was two days ago.

I’ve decided to toss them. The kicker was when I took a shower last night and I stood in hot water. The bottom of my feet felt as though they were burning! Guess they just couldn’t handle the slipper nubbies.

So … the search continues.

Nursery Plant Sale

Yesterday, the wife and I went to the Oahu Nursery Growers Association’s final plant sale of the year in Thomas Square across from the Neal Blaisdell Center Concert Hall, at the corner of King Street and Ward Avenue near downtown Honolulu.

Plant and flower shows/sales are always a joy to me, because I love taking photos of flora that local residents take time and effort to care for. The natural color, patterns and beauty of plants never fail to amaze.

I took a few dozen photographs of plants/flowers that caught my eye, and thought I’d share a few of them with you:

(Panoramic View of the Plant Sale)

Bonsai Water Lily

Persian Violet

Jewel of Thailand

Dwarf Opium

Terra Cotta

Miniature Pineapple

If you’re interested in the association’s and/or its members’ shows and sales, you can check its website at ongahawaii.com. Check out the “Featured Nursery” pages. I did.

Not doing anything today? Then head on down to Thomas Square. The sale is open from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. today only. Miss today and you’ll have to wait until next year for the entire ONGA group to get together again.

There’s a Reason

There’s a reason for the sunshine sky, warm sweet nights and candle lights.

I saw this license plate in a downtown garage and wonder what this driver’s reason is.

Whatever … I just hope s/he lets his/her love show, and lets it flow like a mountain stream. ‘Cause it’s the season for a bird on the wing and all living things.

That’s the reason.

So ... let your love flow!

Free Weekend Biking?

I saw this notice in the Aug. 3 issue of the Honolulu Star-Advertiser “Health Calendar”: “Call the Hawaii Bicycling League at 735-5756 for information on free weekend rides.”

I was stunned!

“What?” I cried out, “You mean it isn’t free to ride your bike on weekends if you don’t call the Hawaii Bicycling League first?”

Never in my life have I heard of anything as offensive as charging people to … to …

Wait … um … never mind!

A Tweet Offer

I’m a little late on this one, but I just read about it in a doctor’s waiting room.

See, there’s this Dutch porn star … Bobbi Eden. And she’s apparently a big soccer fan, especially of the Netherlands team that got into the semifinal game against Uruguay in the recent World Cup in South Africa.

But she may have taken it a little too far in support of her “Go Orange” team.

She had about 4,000 followers on Twitter (y’know, the social networking website where you post thoughts in chunks of 140 words or less). Then she tweeted an announcement promising something to all her followers if Holland won the World Cup.

Four days later, on July 10, her list of followers had ballooned to 72.926 tweeters.

I would guess they were 99% male. You know why? You know what she offered to give all her followers if Holland ended up Number 1?

Oral sex. And no, I did not join the list.

This is just another sign that the Apocalypse is near.

Ukulele Exhibition

Connected to the Hawaii All-Collectors Show this weekend at the Blaisdell Exhibition Hall was the Ukulele Guild of Hawaii’s Ukulele Exhibition.

Since it was free, I decided to wander inside and take a gander at the beautiful hand-crafted “jumping flea” instruments they had on display.

The guild was showing a rare collection of vintage ukes from the early 1900s created with loving care by pioneer luthiers (makers of stringed instruments) of Hawaii.

Just catching a glimpse of the gorgeous instruments was enough to entice me to take a detour from my monkey safari. They rubber stamped the back of my hand so I could come back into the All-Collectors Show after I’d seen the ukuleles.

What do you think? Beautiful, huh?

(Click on the above picture for a panoramic view)

Now, THAT was an enjoyable detour.

Buddha’s Hand

One of the strange collectibles I came across at the recent Hawaii All-Collectors Show was this ivory carving that the booth owner called a “Buddha’s Hand.”

Having never heard of a Buddha’s Hand, I asked him for some information.

He told me that the carving is of a “Buddha’s hand citron,” also known as a “fingered citron,” then showed me how this antique opened to reveal additional carving inside. The nice man didn’t know how old the carving was, unfortunately.

Curious about the fruit itself, I looked it up when I got home. The fruit (Citrus medica var. sarodactylis) looks just like the carving, except that it’s a deep yellow (almost golden) color.

If a fruit has its “fingers” in a closed position (as in the carving), it is considered more desirable, as it then symbolizes the act of prayer.

Finally, I’ve learned that the fruit originated in Northeastern India, or perhaps China itself.

All-Collectors Show 2010

If you haven’t been to this year’s edition of the Hawaii All-Collectors Show … you missed it. The show ended yesterday.

It’s always fun to go to these things, especially since I’m on everybody’s mailing list and I get discount coupons every year. If I had planned a little better, a friend of mine would have given me a free ticket.

No matter, it only costs a couple of bucks to get in, plus a couple more for parking if you can’t find a space on the street.

This year, I went with the express intention of trying to add to my monkey figurine collection, so I walked up and down every aisle, stopping at every booth, checking everything out (because one never knows when something one’s looking for is hiding amongst the treasures on display), and talking to some of the booth owners.

Alas, I came away empty handed. There was only one monkey I found, but unfortunately, it was a Japanese netsuke that I already had in my collection.

But I did take a lot of pictures. Here is a small selection … enjoy!

A Big Bunch of Buddhas

Check Out the Chinese Checkers

Yabba Dabba Doo!

Hand-Made Halloween Stuff

Hawaiiana Ephemera

Japanese Kokeshi Dolls Galore

Uku-Pile Ukuleles

‘30s Deco Vases

Put it on your calendar. Be there ... next year!