just an update... i got hired today, won't mention the school or position yet, but i am very happy about it. i had been quietly worrying about my prospects. so now, i have something concrete (in teaching) to devote my energies to...

we went to kauai for the fourth of july weekend. it was wonderful. we stayed at the kahalani resort, which is located right in the middle of lydgate park. lydgate park is a great community park, with two playgrounds, one on either end, that were planned and constructed (as i understand) by the local community. they are not "playgrounds" in the conventional sense, but monuments devoted to fun. one of them, the first we visited, is called a "playbridge," and it is quite literally a multi-leveled maze constructed upon a hillside. there are a couple of tube slides, one straight and another spiral-shaped, but the main draw is the possibility of "getting lost" in all of the dividing pathways... on the other end of the park is a