Salt Pond Beach on the west side of Kauai
This Chongolian update comes to you from California. Yes I am back on the mainland for a couple weeks for my cousin Leah's wedding in Northern California and an art show at Forbidden Island in Alameda tomorrow. It has been another interesting few months over on the Garden Isle for me, with more housing changes, adventures with old friends and plenty of new experiences. I am still working at the silkscreen shop but now only part time for the most part and taking on more side projects as an illustrator and graphic designer. All the while still creating my own t-shirt designs, paintings and drawings. I printed the first batch of my "Moa Kane Coffee" t-shirts the day I left for California and have a box stuffed with t-shirts and artwork that I will be selling this Sunday. If interested you can read more at The Forbidden Island website.
In the middle of July I decided to move out of the house in Kapahi and have been living out of my office at the silkscreen shop over most the summer. It got to the point where I was going to have to find two new roommates in a house that I was already less than thrilled about staying in any longer. So I packed up all my stuff and set out to find a studio where I didn't have to deal with roommates any longer. It didn't take long to find a sweet ohana studio that I will be moving into once I return back to Kauai in a few weeks. My new place is located in an area called Omao, which is on the south side of Kauai near Poipu. I will have my own studio on a very private piece of property and I will be renting from a very cool and nice lady who lives in the main house. The studio has a kitchenette, but I will also have access too the full kitchen in the main house. I am really stoked, the property is tropical, quiet, private and in a really neat part of the island. Also, I already know several of my new neighbors from surfing at Kalapaki.
This summer was really memorable and I was treated to several visits from some of my best friends from different eras of my life; all the way from high school to college to the tiki scene. Each visit was a blast and I was able to share and enjoy the company of good friends while experiencing a few things on Kauai that I had not yet seen or done. I spent fourth of July and surfed with my ol buddy Rudy Drat who came out wih his wife Tika and their charmin' little girl Audrey. Our friend Lulu and her daughter Julia who live on Kauai, but had yet to connect with since I moved here, also joined us in the festivities. I also got to hang out with my buddy Dana a.k.a Feedback Black who became one of my best friends when I lived in Santa Barbara in the late eighties. We road tripped around the island, surfed the longest left break in the Hawaiian island chain called Pakalas, paddled Hanalei river on stand up paddle boards, took a cruise around the Hanalei bay in his friend's boat and I was introduced to a bunch of great folks who Dana knew from his home town of Newport Beach. It was really cool to surf with my bro's who I haven't seen in many years. Another friend of mine Crazy Al was out here too. Al is an insane artist I know form the tiki scene who was out here working on a tiki carving commission at an amazing house in Kiluea on the north shore. When he wasn't busy working on the tiki we were able to do some snorkeling at Tunnels beach, catch a killer jazz band in Princeville and knock back a few drinks and listen to more live music at the Tahiti Nui in Hanalei. Here is a link to a video on Youtube that I had put together of him carvin' away. I also had a wonderful dinner at Duke's in Lihue with The Mai Kai Gents's Iuka Grogg, The Mysterious Mrs. Mauna Loa and there beautiful baby daughter Talula. Later that night I was able to meet up with Mano from The Conga Lounge and have a beer by the poolside and meet his wife Carolyn and their boys.
Other awesome news... Thanks to the unbelievable generosity of my Grandma Nina, who I owe much of my creativity and inspiration too, I was able to purchase a new Macbook Pro Lap top and get back up to speed with my internet shenanigans. A lot of really cool stuff has emerged in the short time that I have been technologically challenged so I been wasting time (or keeping busy if you will) with checking out all the cool new social networking and just plain old fun web sites. Some of my recent favorites include:
Tumbler
Deviantart
12seconds
flickaday
blip.fm
So if you have a penchant for maniacal monkeyism check me out on the intertubes.
I have also been giving a lot of thought to starting up my Coconut Wired episodes in a new format that utilizes some of the new technology that has emerged. If anybody is interested in sponsoring, contributing content or ideas let me know.
Well... it's gonna be a whole new trip for me once I return to the islands, I will be in a new home, aggressively pursuing my art and graphic design projects, surfing new breaks and continuing the exploration of my island home, so stay tuned for more pictures and updates as I get situated and dialed in on the south side.
