sorry for subjecting you all to that "freewriting exercise." to be honest, i thought it would be okay since no one reads this blog anyway. and besides, most of my blogs are relatively "stream of consciousness" anyway, although there are a lot of darker, dirtier topics that i wouldn't dare post (they likely would make this blog a bit more exciting... then again, maybe not).

this morning, we (my family) went to ice palace. like most of the country, we are experiencing a lot of "weather" lately, here, in the form of frequent violent rain storms. so doing anything outside with my family (now that my wife has a rare day off) would be out of the question. options considered were ice skating, or bowling, or going to a museum. we opted for the former.

anyways... hadn't been to ice palace in ages. it opened in about 1982, and always served as a pretty cool place to go (no pun intended). i remember skating beneath that disco ball, dots and fragments of light dancing across the dark white of the floor, as i glided (in my mind) to the sounds of songs from michael jackson's "off the wall" album. dreaming of girls. and then afterwards, sitting, drinking hot cocoa (whatever i could afford), and feeling all cozy and warm. it was the coolest thing, the coolest place to be.

today, in the role of father, things were a little different, a little more encumbered, but it was great to see a burgeoning excitement in the faces of my kids, to introduce them to this cool hangout place, to the new activity of ice-skating. we hung out in the kiddie section, the kids pushing the "sleds" like shopping carts, while i or my wife would kind of hover along behind, giving gentle directional guidance in little nudges, or lifting the kids up when they would collapse... my skates were either too loose, or too big, so eventually, they started to splay my ankles outward. by the time we were ready to go, i was so desperate to get out of those skates that i took them off and WALKED across all that wet floor (in my socks!) to the locker to get my shoes. i was thankful for the feel of terra firma, flat soled, after that experience.

we were kinda tired out by the skating, but we still managed a brief trip to ice garden in aiea (i dimly mused how ironic that was, considering where we'd just been). i didn't order anything, but kinda stood around, looking at the cramped confines of the shave ice place. they have a case of pinned butterflies hanging up on one wall. i noticed that the dessicated thorax of one of the insects was lying in one corner of the display, and i tried searching for the butterfly that it belonged to...

back at home, i fell asleep while the kids played their wii games (they have been playing electronica far too much this break!!!). later, dinner, and that brings us roughly to now. pretty boring dull day. the weather, i feel, is really starting to bug me. dampen my mood. i'm not exactly a fan of sunshine, but i do think it's starting to be a drag, not being able to go out and play...

well, yes, another boring entry. i'm reserving my "private" freewriting rambles for my own computer, thank you very much...