Infinite Arms and more

On Friday night, Nate and I went with some friends to see Band of Horses at the Greek Theater in Berkeley.  Not only was it an amazing venue and an amazing, amazing show, but they are also just a bunch of really nice guys.  I would wholeheartedly recommend seeing them next time they come to your area and definitely if they're performing at an outdoor venue (you wouldn't think it would make a difference, but listening to songs like "Blue Beard" and "Evening Kitchen" while looking up at the stars?  Sort of priceless.).

(I don't own any of these vids -- you can find them on YouTube by doing a simple search.)

eat.pray.love. check.

it makes me want to reread the book.

hope

i cried.

excuses, excuses

i'm sorry i've been absent lately, but between starting a new job, traveling for said new job, planning little sister's visit this weekend, going away for little sister's visit this weekend, nanowrimo, and the upcoming thanksgiving holiday, november has totally not been a good blogging month for me.

i will be back, make no mistake.

just not tonight.

and so, my dear blogger buddies, i leave you with this:

life as art

i hope it makes you take a deep breath and relax.

song is "please don't go" by barcelona.

wallow

a short post because i refuse to allow myself to wallow so completely for very long.

the fact that i still haven't found a job is astounding. i mean (and i know this will sound arrogant, but i promise i don't mean it like that), how exactly has it been nearly two months of applying for jobs and i've gotten no call-backs? how?

the economy, you say.

no shit, i say.

but someone is getting these jobs. and yes, they probably are way more qualified than i am (though i'm already over-qualified for a lot of these positions), but doesn't this go against some sort of law of physics or nature or the universe? throw enough mud at the wall and some of it will stick, right? right?!

wrong, my friends. so very, very wrong.

because i've been throwing mud for weeks. none of it stuck.

and i don't think it would be so completely overwhelming (because hey, who couldn't use a two-month long vacation?), except for the fact that it's a hit to my pride, and i have bills to pay. lots of bills. astronomical bills.

bills that have brought me to my knees and made me promise God that, when i finally do get a job, i will never step foot in anthropologie again.

okay, that's a lie. (sidenote: maybe i should apply for a job at anthropologie...)

but you get the idea. lots of expenses, little money. practically no money at this point.

so this is all to say that i know some of you have been waiting for that post about my plans for the next two years. but amidst the sleepless nights (and by sleepless i mean SLEEPLESS), the frantic job hunting, and the frustration, i just haven't had time to think past next months rent. sorry. it's coming eventually.

alright! to make myself feel better, and because i neglected to post it earlier:



and just because (there never needs to be a reason for some rob): an oldie but goodie.

yes, i think they can dance

i love this. and not just because i've got to support the kid i apparently went to high school with (go native hawaiians!) and the girl i think should win the whole competition. but because it is amazing. i literally cannot say enough about how powerful i thought this dance was. the judges need to get their heads out of their rear ends on this one.

sooooo much fun. so much fun. so good. and i'm kind of in love with this song.

who i am meets who i used to be

what i'm listening to: "come on get higher" - matt nathanson

there's something to be said about experiencing again the life you used to have and realizing that it was amazing. in college, i used to go shows. (and by show i mean a small-ish concert, of a certain genre of music - so i'm not counting the rolling stones or van morrison, or jr. gong, etc.). not as many as i should have, or would have like, or that many of my others friends managed to go to, but enough so that it was a big part of my life.

the showbox. el corazon. the crowds. the small venues. the stages. hoodies. chucks. tattoos. cigarettes and beer. amazing music. taking back sunday. the used. brand new. greenwheel. thrice. all-american rejects. ben lee. 30 seconds to mars. nofx. mxpx. new found glory. death cab for cutie. eisley. something corporate. dashboard confessional. the starting line. yellowcard.

more.

and then i just stopped going. i don't know why, but i know i've missed it.

so last night, for the first time in probably 4 years, i've gone to a show. B., who may just be one of my long-lost musical soulmates, and i went to see jack's mannequin at the warfield in san francisco. low vs. diamond and matt nathanson opened for them. and it was so just what i needed. jm played every single song i wanted/needed to hear. made even more epic by the fact that i really do think "dark blue" is one of those songs that helped me survive the second half of last year. we sang, we danced, we screamed at the top of our lungs.

we were in college again. can i be in college more often?

for K: jack's mannequin is my jimmy eat world.

unfortunately, my little digital didn't take the greatest pictures, so instead i'm posting some videos from last night that people have already uploaded.

back from paradise

this video always makes me miss hawaii. listened to this song a few times on the flight back.

first semester almost over!

is it just me, or does it feel like the end of the year, from around mid-november though december, comes in the biggest rush ever? i feel like just yesterday i was getting ready for thanksgiving, and now i'm stressed out over christmas presents and new years plans! where did all my time go?

i think this is a direct result of the mess i've been this semester. up until thanksgiving, i was a certifiable wreck. between class, work, relationship, not seeing my friends anymore, trial, research, future plans, etc., i just felt like i couldn't breathe. and then thanksgiving break came, when a majority of those things were finally done, and i could practically feel tension leaving my body in waves and shifts and floods.

that's when i started taking pages out of elizabeth gilbert's book, "eat, pray, love." i began asking myself, "what do you want to do right now, kahea?" so over thanksgiving break, i rested a lot. i slept a lot. i spent time with the bf. i even watched twilight again (and took N. with me. for the record, it is leaps and bounds better the second time around for some reason, and N. didn't think it was so bad either!). i listened to a lot of music.

and since then, things have been going okay.

• i took my federal indian law final on monday. i almost laughed out loud during the exam. i mean, i pretty much threw up 15 pages of "well, you could argue this, but the court will probably say that, unless they think this, then they'll say that instead, unless you're here, in which case the court will probably follow that other thing..." you get the picture. i'm constantly astounded at how interesting and frustrating fed. indian law is. at how...malleable and subjective it is. and that's the way it should stay i think, at least while these particular nine are on the bench. because let's face it, this bench would screw over all indians if they had the opportunity. maybe not intentionally, but it would happen. it's happened before. facts of life, my friend.
  
• I PASSED THE MPRE! the MPRE is the multistatate professional responsiblity exam that you have to pass in california in order to be admitted to practice law. in essence, it's a component of the bar. and it's really not that difficult, but given both my state of mind at the time i took it, and the fact that i didn't study AT ALL, i'm amazed that i passed. i'm so glad i don't have to retake it. now i just have to take and pass the bar. which i think i've decided to do after all.
  
• i've only got one more thing to do before my break officially starts and i am hawaii-bound: my upper division writing requirement. which also doubles as the article i'm publishing with a law journal. it's due to both my professor and the journal editors on monday, which is fine by me, as i already have 30 pages of it complete. it's another really interesting topic (which i actually rambled on about for nearly 4 pages on my fed. indian law final): the jurisdictional gap in the criminal justice system when it comes to sexual violence against native american women. maybe i could figure out a way to post the article, or a link to it, once it's done....hmmm...
• we exchanged our secret santa gifts yesterday at our christmas lunch for work. which was also my last official day (though i'll probably continue to work next semester remotely and for PAY). i bring this up because i got a gift i absolutely love. i'd been talking to one of my coworkers about the gift-giving marathon N. and i have coming up over the next few months (christmas, 4-year anniversary in january, valentine's day, our birthday in march - yes, we have the same birthday), and how we make wishlists so that the other isn't guessing at gifts. (i also gave the same wishlist to my family for our secret santa as well). on that list, i'd said that i'd love to have people donate money to the world wildlife fund, which is an organization i donate to as much as possible. realistically though, i don't know many people who give to a charity instead of giving a tangible gift to someone, even when that someone says that's what they want. so i was banking on just donating all the money i was given for christmas to wwf's conservation efforts. but my secret santa at work made a donation for me! i think it's always a great idea to ask for donations to causes you find important, and see, it works! best gift EVER!

and speaking of wildlife, here's something to leave you all with. N. found this video and was literally like, "i saw this and realized that this would be your dream come true." he knows me too well. :)

FYI: Kamehameha Schools

Kelly Hu on Doe v. Kamehameha.

This is old, since the case has now been settled, but I figured that this is a clearer way of explaining why I'm always ranting about my high school.

another awesome video

this is nick pitera. nick can sing. nick can sing both parts of "a whole new world" from alladin. listen to nick sing.

Law School Musical

fellow natives from aotearoa

children, this is why we are proud to be pacific islanders.



go all blacks.

it's the quiet ones that worry me.