Skip to main content

'elelu

i was feeling somewhat self-conscious today that our family and
friends were starting to think i've been lax in cleaning since we moved.
this occurred to me as i was thinking that we never shared what
our native hawaiian friend told us before we settled here:

"everyone has roaches. it doesn't mean you're dirty or your neighbor
is dirty. they are everywhere and so you just do your best to keep
the kitchen clean and food put away. but they'll still find their
way into your house."

any doubts i had about the validity of her statement were clearly
dismissed when i came accross this as i read "the hawaiian alphabet"
to owen toinght:



they even glare at you from the picture, don't they!

Comments

mama mia said…
'elelu
amor fou
what to do!

coexist?
make a fist?
smashed, not missed
lehpve said…
I can vouch for that, Erin. We didn't have any in our first two apartments in Honolulu, but when we moved into our third one, which was older and only two stories, it was hopeless. Once someone told me they not only eat food but soap, too, I gave up the guilt.
Karin said…
When I was a kid we used to go to Maui every year for a conference my dad attended. One year we rented a minivan. There were even roaches IN THE VAN. Its definitely not your fault.
jcom said…
Dude there were even ants in the kabillion dollar cottage they put us up in on Maui. Don't blame yourself for the 'elelu!

Popular posts from this blog

A view from your shut down

The Daily Dish has been posting reader emails reporting on their " view from the shutdown ." If you think this doesn't affect you, or if you know all too well how bad this is, take a look at the growing collection of poignant stories. No one is in this alone except for the nutjobs in the House. I decided to email Andrew with my own view. I plan to send a similar letter to my congressperson. Dear Andrew, I am a professor of astronomy at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA). The CfA houses one of the largest, if not the largest collection of PhD astronomers in the United States, with over 300 professional astronomers and roughly 100 doctoral and predoctoral students on a small campus a few blocks west of Harvard Yard. Under the umbrella of the CfA are about 20 Harvard astronomy professors, and 50 tenure-track Smithsonian researchers. A large fraction of the latter are civil servants currently on furlough and unable to come to work. In total, 147 FTEs

The Long Con

Hiding in Plain Sight ESPN has a series of sports documentaries called 30 For 30. One of my favorites is called Broke  which is about how professional athletes often make tens of millions of dollars in their careers yet retire with nothing. One of the major "leaks" turns out to be con artists, who lure athletes into elaborate real estate schemes or business ventures. This naturally raises the question: In a tightly-knit social structure that is a sports team, how can con artists operate so effectively and extensively? The answer is quite simple: very few people taken in by con artists ever tell anyone what happened. Thus, con artists can operate out in the open with little fear of consequences because they are shielded by the collective silence of their victims. I can empathize with this. I've lost money in two different con schemes. One was when I was in college, and I received a phone call that I had won an all-expenses-paid trip to the Bahamas. All I needed to d

back-talk begins

me: "owen, come here. it's time to get a new diaper" him, sprinting down the hall with no pants on: "forget about it!" he's quoting benny the rabbit, a short-lived sesame street character who happens to be in his favorite "count with me" video. i'm turning my head, trying not to let him see me laugh, because his use and tone with the phrase are so spot-on.