I received an email from Tashira Tierney-Houze, a public relations executive out of Columbus, Ohio, with SBC Advertising. Let me tell you how awesome it is to hear from someone in Ohio responding to a gripe from someone in Hawaii. However, I suspect she might have been tipped off by someone at Hawaiian Telcom. I assume my "Stop Printing Phone Books" group, which I just started on Facebook a couple of weeks ago, was the catalyst for her getting in touch with me. You know what? I love it. I love the power of the Internet. I love the power of social media. Our world is rapidly changing, and for the better, thanks to technology. Luddites, be damned.
Here's what Tashira had to say:
"Hawaiian Telcom Yellow Pages has kicked off "Think Yellow Go Green," the annual telephone directory recycling program on Oahu. Outdated telephone directories can be recycled every weekend until Feb. 14, 2010. Drop off locations and times are detailed below. "
OK. Here's what I'm wondering. You know those phonebooks that just got dropped off? I don't know about you, but I don't want them. And I don't want them in the future either. Can I bring them to be recycled or will I be forced to keep them because they aren't "outdated?" And how can I get off the list for getting phone books in the future?
Tashira continues:
"If you lined up last year's total recycled directories, end to end, it would stretch the total distrance from Honolulu to Maui! Hawaiian Telcom Yellow Pages wants to exceed last year's total of 90 tons to ensure all outdated directories are recycled into usable goods.
"The neat thing about this project is that Hawaiian Telcom Yellow Pages has partnered with to make the result a lasting impression on Oahu. All recycled directories will be processed at Island Shell, a local recycling plant, and converted into environmentally safe products including materials for vehicle oil change kits, mulch and wall insulation products which will then be sold and used locally. Think Yellow Go Green will ensure its mission is supported on each island from start to finish.
"This program only runs through Feb. 14. We'd appreciate any help you can provide to spread the word about the Think Yellow Go Green recycling program.
Mahalo,
Tashira
Oahu Think Yellow, Go Green Recycling Program Schedule:
Dates:
Friday, Jan. 22-Sunday, Jan. 24
Friday, Jan. 29-Sunday, Jan. 31
Friday, Feb. 5-Sunday, Feb. 7
Friday, Feb. 12-Sunday, Feb. 14
Times:
10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Drop off locations:
Ward Centers
Windward Mall
Waikele Premium Outlets
Kahala Mall
A bright spot in all this gloomy Furlough Friday business occurred this past Saturday at one of my favorite University of Hawaii campuses, Kapiolani Community College: The first annual Farrington-Kaiser-Kalani Middle Schools Science Fair.
First of all, KCC has come along way from when I attended classes in rickety old military barracks. The structures all match, the green space is expansive, the xeriscape gardens are alive with wildlife great and small. Every time I go to KCC I hear and sometimes see a shama thrush. Gorgeous song!
Back to the science fair! Many readers know I'm a proud parent of a Niu Valley Middle School student. I also have a Koko Head Elementary School student. I know how fortunate I am to have my two girls enrolled in such fine schools, with administrations that are excited about igniting bright young minds.
Niu Valley truly represented at this first science fair that is expected to continue forever! The middle school students presented dozens of experiments and displays that touched on a variety of questions many of us ponder.
Does your cell phone ring in the microwave? YES!
Is there a way to raise your senses? YES!
What is the theory behind musical learners?
Gov. Lingle with Sophie & Julia
My daughter and her partner Julia, under the guidance of their science teacher Scott Brown, presented a display on Pangea, the theory of plate tectonics, and how the continents seem to fit into each other like some magical, mystical and ancient jigsaw puzzle. At the school level, I credit one of the judges who asked the girls about the earthquake in Haiti that had just happened. He told the girls to find out what happened there. The girls acted on the advice and were well armed when it came to the regional competition at KCC.
According to their teacher, both girls are well spoken and tend to like to out talk the other when it comes to explaining the points of theory. They not only know their material, but they exude confidence when talking to adults. Of course they do!
I'd be writing this blog entry no matter what. The science students from the region who participated were in grades 6th, 7th and 8th, and were a fun and positive bunch. They cheered each other on, they generously gave shout outs to their young colleagues who rose to the top.
Niu definitely represented at the fair. Sophie and Julia won the display division and will be moving on to the state level in April. Mr. Brown, their teacher, coach, referee and roadie, will help them hone their presentation for the states. In fact, several students from Niu will be there.
Niu Valley winners with Mr. Scott Brown
Governor Linda Lingle presented the awards after she gave a speech about how it won't be the football stars who win games that will move Hawaii into the future, "It will be you, our scientists." She's right.
Nerdy smart kids are the coolest kids in school. Really. Check 'em in 20 years.
I'll be back in a few days. Mahalo for reading and for your suggestions.
It's not exactly a national holiday, but my less-than-scientific research on years of Super Bowl Sunday in Hawaii has concluded several things: bars, sports bars and retail electronics departments fill with rabid sports fans. And beaches and surf breaks are little pocket ghost towns. Nice.
Unless my home-town favorite Philadelphia Eagles football team is in a Super Bowl, then I watch for the commercials and the half-time show. I guess it's like buying a magazine for the articles, LOL.
It's probably the case in every neighborhood in Hawaii, where we all live pretty much in each other's armpits, that about 87 percent of the people are watching the same sporting event on TV. You can tell when UH football is on and when someone scores a touchdown or scoops an interception. If your skylights are open, you can hear who cheers for who, who is really disappointed, and whose team just won!
But if you want to get out of the hale and aren't going to a party, how about checking out East Oahu establishments for some HDTV NFL thrills?
There are some fine spots to watch the Super Bowl in East Oahu. Therapy Bar & Grill and Kona Brewing at Koko Marina Shopping Center instantly come to mind. So does Cha Cha Cha Salsaria and The Shack over at Hawaii Kai Shopping Center. That new place at Hawaii Kai Towne Center, Maile's Thai Cuisine, has an awesome TV hanging above the bar. Stuffed chicken wing dance? Who knows? Even Costco Hawaii Kai might be a few fans deep in the electronics ghetto.
But don't rule out a less than obvious option: 24 Hour Fitness anyone? I find that 24HF Hawaii Kai, especially on the weekends, is SportsTV central. Lots of guys, lots of sweat, and four TVs brewing with sports and the funniest commercials on the air. Instead of grinding on gumbo or chomping on chili, you can watch and burn a ton of calories while the Super Bowl -- and I'll bet money on this -- will be on every TV hanging in 24-Hour Fitness Hawaii Kai.
I'll let you in on a little secret: ESPN gets a little tedious and seems to repeat its cycle way too fast, but when it's college sports, you can bet every wahine in 24HF Hawaii Kai has her eyeballs trained on a TV. What a great cover for breaking a sweat.
I used to get really ticked when some guy would change the TV station from Headline News or CNN for sports, but, I'm over it. During the week, when the butt-crack-of-dawn folks are there from 3-5 in the morning, we sometimes break our news routine to watch professional tennis at Wimbledon or le Tour de France. I draw the line at wrestling and dirt bike riding. Extreme Sports? Wince!
Whatever you do on Super Bowl Sunday, have a blast, be or designate a driver, and...who's playing again?
As one of many commuters who travels Kalanianaole Highway, I experience a daily cringe as I pass the infamous stop along TheBus route that serves Niu Valley Middle School students across the road from Niu Valley Shopping Center. You know the one: big white wall fronting the finally no longer vacant lot? The wall/canvas often a target for graffiti? The extremely tall wall that proves that tweens could be mistaken for cute little monkeys or chest thumpin' gorillas?
On January 6, 2010, Niu Valley Middle School Vice Principal Kelly Bart called parents to inform them that two bus routes, the Kuliouou Valley route and the Mariner’s Ridge route, were to be canceled immediately. The school was not informed of the decision so proper notification to parents could not be made. Bart called this a "regrettable action, which was poorly executed by the DOE."
In a notice on the school Web site, Bart said he contacted the Student Transportation Section (STS) of the DOE to inform them that the lack of bus service and the lack of a timely notice adversely affected families. He said he made it clear to STS that there is no public bus service to those areas, and that the lack of notification left parents scrambling to get their kids to and from school. The routes were temporarily reinstated.
Parents should note that all student transportation routes will be terminated by March 1, 2010, because of a lack of funding. Consider enrolling your child in an after school program, or enlisting families and friends who can scoop them up at school.
We don't need more kids skateboarding in the bike lane or rappelling the tall wall while waiting for theBus to ship them to your neighborhood shopping center. Where else do kids go?
No one will ever ask me to donate my hair for Locks for Love, and that's really OK. I didn't ask for these fuzzy curls, but I've got them, and in my short lifetime I've learned to love them, despite my having been 10 years old during the Summer of Love and when Great Body Shampoo and SunIn were the most popular hair-care products on the market. Yes, I'm that young.
But if you've got 10 inches or more of hair to spare, consider making an appointment for January 17, 2010, at J Salon & Spa at Koko Marina Center. For your hair donation, you get a fabulous haircut in return, and the fantastic feeling that a child suffering from long-term hair loss will have the shelter of some lovely locks.
The Locks of Love organization provides prosthetic hairpieces to children, ages 6 to 18, every 18 months for a total of up to eight hairpieces. Each hairpiece requires from five to 10 ponytails and takes about four to six months to manufacture.
Recently, Lijun Bolger, who is a facialist and threading expert at J Salon & Spa, arranged for colorist/stylist Haecha Brehm to cut off her hair for Locks of Love.
We all know that our hair provides a source of comfort. It is our security blanket. Even little kids bust out in tears when it's time for haircuts. Some men creatively swirl thin, long strands atop their heads when really all they have to do is polish and be proud of all that kissable real estate.
But for those of our family and friends who experience hair loss because of an extended illness, it's not even something they want to kid around about. They are going through the most painful experience of their lives. They return for treatments and endure the consequences so that they might cling to the hope of being cured.
It is the hardest thing ever to comfort a loved one who is dealing with a life-threatening malady. We can send a card or flowers, we can bring them poi, we can pray with them, we can sit by their side and listen. Consider, though, making a donation to someone you don't know, may never meet, but who desperately desires what it is you have to give.
Jilung Bolger is pleased with her new hairstyle.
Get a fantastic haircut at J Salon & Spa on January 17, 2010, by calling 388-8747. Don't you leave your hair behind anyway? Donors should arrive at the salon with clean, dry hair, which must be at least 10 inches long and neither dyed nor permed. The first 50 hair donors will receive Locks of Love bears.
Paula Gillingham Bender, has lived in Hawaii since 1981 and resides in Hawaii Kai with her husband and two daughters. She is a senior writer at Hawaii Medical Service Association.
