Waikaki Beach
My Alaska friend Kes Woodward says he always feels as if he’s waking from a dream when he returns home from a visit to Hawai’i. That’s definitely how my wife and I felt yesterday morning when our nonstop flight touched down at Denver International at 9 a.m. I presented a Twitter/podcasting workshop on May 19 for Board and staff of the Hawai’i State Foundation on Culture and the Arts, in partnership with Anthony Radich, executive director of the Western States Arts Federation, and my wife, Darlene. It’s safe to say there were a good number of Twitter doubters in the group when we started, but by the end of the day everyone at least understood that Twitter is about more than what millions of people are having for lunch. As for podcasting, each table group created an experimental pilot, some doing video and others audio, and a good time was had by all. These are the links I used in my presentation.
Surfers on a Crosswalk at Waikaki
I also had a chance to interview Roxanne Darling and Shane Robinson for Episode 44 of The Kindle Chronicles. We met them at Kailua Beach, so the audio features gentle surf in the background. Shane is the “Secret Cameraman” for Rox’s long-running and highly original Beach Walks video podcast, in which she walks along the beach talking about everything from yoga to databases. They make a compelling couple, living their dream as business and personal partners in Paradise.
After the workshop, Darlene and I explored Oahu from our base at the Ala Moana Hotel, which was reasonably priced and well-located within a 15-minute walk to Waikaki Beach.
Now, back home in Denver, we are looking for ways to extend the sense of ease and connectedness we felt in Hawai’i.
For my part, I’ve decided to back off my obsessive consumption of political news. If I clocked the time in a day I spend checking political Tweets and Google Reader or reading The Washington Post or Financial Times on my Kindle, following the latest twists and turns from Washington, D.C., I’m afraid it would add up to at least an hour or two. And imagine my delight if the Universe sent me the following TXT message: “Good news! We’ve decided to give you two more hours of free time each day, to do with whatever you like.” I might spend them remembering when I was in the middle of the Pacific, having a cup of coffee by a beach with the woman of my dreams… and then inviting her to tea in Denver.
I’d also spend more time tending this blog, which is now available in Kindle version. It’s so much fun to see my own posts arrive wirelessly on the Kindle that I’ve signed up for the free 14-day trial subscription. And if Aloha Guy sticks to his plan to write more often, I might even let the free trial roll over to the paid rate of $1.99 a month.
Mahalo…
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