Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Issue 3 Low Res
Issue 3 Low Res
Issue No. 3
Issue No. 3
Page 11
FASHION THIS
Lynne
Hanzawa-O'Neill:
From the
Pineapple to
the Big Apple
features
11
To Be Continued:
21
23
Ultraviolet
BY MINDY NETTIFEE
24
Christine
28
Gratuitous Love
from the Editor
39
A Second Look
at Providence
BY CAITLIN LEFFEL
BY MELISSA MATSUBARA
BY KRISTA SHERER
29
BY JOCELYN NG
34
35
Translation IX
BY LYZ SOTO
42
43
Flight
45
Walls
47
Sorry, Dani
BY BRENDA KWON
BY ANJOLI ROY
BY RICHARD HARTSHORN
contents
columns
5
The Prompt
10
Kitchen Medicine
14
Surfacing
15
17
25
Practical Acupressure
BY LORELLE SAXENA
Fashion Showdown
BY STACEY MAKIYA
27
Nonprofit Corner
41
44
Ms. deMeaners
details
Fembodiment
53
Writers' Corner
From the
Contributing Editor
Contributors
young voices
RSVP- Huh?
A Refresher Course in RSVP Etiquette
BY von HOTTIE
51
19
Ponds of Jupiter
BY ZOE MATAYOSHI,
20
AGE 8
BY ALEXA YOKOOJI,
AGE 15
sumoto
HOW TO REACH
HAWAII WOMEN'S JOURNAL
MANAGING EDITOR
CONTRIBUTING EDITOR
ART DIRECTOR & LAYOUT
EDITORIAL
editor@hawaiiwomensjournal.com
Anna Harmon
SUBMISSIONS
submissions@hawaiiwomensjournal.com
Kathryn Xian
EDITORIAL ASSISTANT
PROOFREADER
PHOTOGRAPHERS
Kathryn Xian
ADVERTISING
ads@hawaiiwomensjournal.com
GENERAL INQUIRY
info@hawaiiwomensjournal.com
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
Suzy Allegra
Page 21
Shinan Barclay
Harmonie Bettenhausen
Ivy Castellanos
Suzanne Farrell Smith
Jennica Goo
Anna Harmon
Richard Hartshorn
Jennifer Meleana Hee
Brenda Kwon
Caitlin Leffel
Stacey Makiya
Zoe Matayoshi
Melissa Matsubara
Mindy Nettifee
Jocelyn Ng
Jennifer Dawn Rogers
Lorelle Saxena
Krista Sherer
Mayumi Shimose Poe
Lyz Soto
Ali Stewart-Ito
e
u
s
s
I
t
i
L
e
th
von Hottie
Alexa Yokooji
MAILING ADDRESS
Hawaii Women's Journal
c/o Safe Zone Foundation
4348 Waialae Avenue #248
Honolulu, Hawaii 96816
DISCLAIMER
The Safe Zone Foundation (SZF) dba Hawaii
Womens Journal (HWJ), its Publisher, and
Editors cannot be held responsible for errors
or consequences arising from the use of
information contained herein; the views and
opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect
those of the SZF, HWJ, Publisher, and Editors,
neither does the publication of advertisements
constitute any endorsement by HWJ, Publisher,
and Editors of the products advertised.
Theresa Falk
Anjoli Roy
WEB
www.hawaiiwomensjournal.com
www.facebook.com/hiwomensjournal
www.twitter.com/hiwomensjournal
www.change.org/safezone
[the prompt]
THE
PROMPT
IT'S ALL ABOUT YOU
THEPROMPT@HAWAIIWOMENSJOURNAL.COM
We at HWJ realize that we have amazing resources. My favorite cure for a late night is lots of ice water and mac and
And were not talking about minerals, coconut trees, or hours in
the day. Were talking about the women and men all over the
country writing for and reading this magazine who are brilliant,
creative, thoughtful, and determined.
The night: Waitiki 7 plays NYC. (Note: Tiki cocktails do not equal
regular cocktails; theres extra hoo-doo voo-doo up in there.) The
cure: 7 a.m., waking to carousel operated by a psycho, DO NOT
GET UP. Drink quart of water; take three Advil; crash. 10 a.m., eat
three bread slices; crash. 1 p.m., down mug of yesterdays coffee.
Head toward nearest deli for greasy, delicious croissant wich of
bacon, egg, and cheese. And livebarely.
Mayumi, Managing Editor
So, every issue, were going to feature you. Thats right: Give us
your opinions. Tickle our funny bones. Set your metaphorical bras
(or liberated clothing item of choice) on fire with words. Because
youre the shit, and your forces combined are probably enough to
take over the worldor at least determine a fail-proof hangover
cure. Well start small. For the next issue, we want to know:
What is your must-have morning-after cure for a late night?
(Feel free to include the cause of one such late nightwere
curious little buggers.)
HWJ staff says:
Guacamole toast. Simple and hydrating, sometimes I start to
crave the cold and crispy guacamole + toast combo before Ive
even left the party. A rough chop of ripe avocado, tomato, and red
onion; squeeze of lemon or lime juice; minced cilantro and garlic;
and salt and pepper all frantically mixed together and lathered on
toast makes my queasy belly do a little happy dance instead of a
little vomit dance.
Jenn, Editor-in-Chief
Im always on the hunt for something bready after late nights;
2 a.m., 3 a.m., doesnt matter. I need a bready fix, and it usually
prevents a hangover from ever hitting me the next morning. My
latest: naan, brushed with olive oil, sprinkled with salt and fresh
basil, warmed in a grill pan. How I managed to chop basil in that
state is beyond me, but the naan worked!
Suzanne, Proofreader
poetry
Ultraviolet
Guard closely what is most precious, and wait out the war.
Hold your breath when you hear another horn section warming up outside.
Shine the lock on the door. No one can tell you how to write your own story,
but I will tell you a secret: the witch cannot be killed.
We are so limited by the spectrum of what is visible.
How many things are dazzling in the dark? Are secretly thriving
just out of sight? v
Mindy Nettifee
contributors
Suzy Allegra
Shinan Barclay
Anna Harmon
Richard Hartshorn
Harmonie Bettenhausen
Ivy Castellanos
Brenda Kwon
Theresa Falk
Caitlin Leffel
Jennica Goo
www.pages.teamintraining.org/sj/nikesf10/TeamGooMorrow
email: jenjengoo@gmail.com
Stacey Makiya
Zoe Matayoshi
Melissa Matsubara
Ryan Matsumoto
Mindy Nettifee
Jocelyn Ng
Anjoli Roy
Lorelle Saxena
Lyz Soto
Ali Stewart-Ito
von Hottie
Alexa Yokooji
PART ONE
by Ivy Castellanos
the metrosexual, grooming has become
a national pastime. We are a society of
compulsive primpers, obsessed with looking
good, staying young, and keeping fit, and
each obsession comes with an accompanying
product list. Even for those of us who simply
aim to be hygienic, theres a caveat: Many
commercial personal care products are like
amateur science experiments gone wrong
attractively packaged in sleek bottles and
kitschy containers, emblazoned with clever
marketing terms engineered to appeal to our
collective sense of imperfection and quick-fix
mentalities: ass-firming, tit-enhancing,
proven to increase fuckability. We assume
these products are innocuousafter all, they
line the shelves of our trusted and beloved
corporate storeswhen in fact, cosmetics
are among the least regulated products on
the market.
The issues of safety and health risk
transcend obscure antiaging serums and
cellulite creams. Were talking about
products of the everyday variety: toothpaste,
deodorant, sunscreen, soap. The question is,
how is this allowed to happen?
Lipstick, Lotion, and Loopholes
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration
(FDA) is the agency charged with oversight
of cosmetics, yet its legal authority over
cosmetics differs from other products it
regulates, such as drugs, biologics, and medical
devices. Cosmetic products and ingredients
are not subject to premarket approval (with
the exception of color additives), meaning
the FDA is essentially impotent in terms of
regulating what goes into cosmetic products
prior to consumer distribution. And we
thought Uncle Sam had our backs.
So, who is responsible for substantiating
the premarket safety of cosmetic ingredients?
The cosmetics firms themselves (dun-dundun!). The industry polices the safety of its
own products through a review panel called
the Cosmetic Ingredient Review, run and
funded by the industrys trade association,
the Personal Care Products Council (formerly
the Cosmetic, Toiletry, and Fragrance
Association). In its thirty-four-year history, the
CIR has evaluated only eleven percent of the
more than 10,500 ingredients in commonly
Consumer Comeuppance
Perhaps granola isnt the image youd like
to project. Crystal deodorant and Patchouliinfused hemp shampoo peaked in the sixties, no
matter who tells you otherwise. Nevertheless,
its important to be conscious about whats in
the products you use.
As consumers are becoming more aware
of industry discrepancies and demanding
safer, more natural alternatives, a shift in the
attitudes of manufacturers is occurring. Some
companies have ceded to public pleas for
nontoxic products, responding with product
lines featuring safer alternatives. Over the
past few years, over 1,500 companies have
signed a pledge promoted by The Campaign
for Safe Cosmetics, a coalition of public health
and environmental groups, vowing not to use
chemicals linked to cancer or birth defects (see
The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics n.d.).
So whats an informed girl to do? Grow out
her pit hairs and abandon hygiene completely
while flipping off the cosmetics industry? Not
necessarily. Stay tuned for the next installment
of The Wellness Manifesto, as we continue
exposing the ugly truth behind big cosmetics,
while providing practical tips on how to be
a critical cosmetics consumer. We proudly
present the Pretty Poser Awards, honoring the
top ten most pernicious cosmetic ingredients
(i.e., ones you should avoid at all cost). The goal
is not to live product free but to be free of the
shit in the product. v
REFERENCES CITED
The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics
N.d. FDA Regulations. http://www.safecosmetics.org/section.
php?id=75, accessed May 28, 2010.
Houlihan, Jane
2007 EWG Research: Cosmetics with Banned and Unsafe
Ingredients. Environmental Working Group website, September.
http://www.ewg.org/unsafecosmetics, accessed July 29, 2010.
Environmental Working Group
N.d. Exposures Add UpSurvey Results. Environmental
Working Groups Skin Deep: Cosmetic Safety Database.
http://www.cosmeticsdatabase.com/research/exposures.php,
accessed August 19, 2008.
U.S. Food and Drug Administration (USFDA)
2005 FDA Authority over Cosmetics. USFDA,
March 3. http://www.fda.gov/Cosmetics/
GuidanceComplianceRegulatoryInformation/ucm074162.htm,
accessed May 28, 2010.
Practical Acupressure
[kitchen medicine]
by Lorelle Saxena
To Be Continued:
[exclusive interview]
An Interview
with Lynne
Hanzawa-ONeill
on Not Being
Fabulous and
That Margaret Cho
Episode on Sex and
the City
by Melissa Matsubara
photos by Ryan Matsumoto
fabulous.
If only we could all be a little less fabulous,
discover a little more Aloha Zen, and live
our lives as vibrantly and thoughtfully as
Lynne Hanzawa-ONeill.
HWJ: How would you describe what you do?
LHO: I produce and direct fashion shows
[also known as calling the show]. I work
with designers on the concept of the
show; I review their collection with them
so I understand their vision and what they
want their message to be. Then I work
with production companies, lighting,
sound, stage, runway, if theres any kind
of AV [audio-visual], music consultants,
casting directors, and stylists. [A fashion
show] involves a lot of peoplethe show
is only eight or ten minutes, but it involves
a whole army of fashion people, all experts
at what they do. For [New York Citys]
Fashion Week, we start about two months
out, but it boils down to one week.
Im actually a very
private person but
what I do is very
public.
PR companies, there are casting people,
and different production companies.
Whats exciting about producing fashion
shows is that its theatre. Its got all the
same elements: an audience, the stage,
the runway, the lighting, the sound, the
music, the actors are the models, and the
costumes are the collections. Once the
lights come on, its show time and the
show must go on. Fortunately, it only
goes on for eight to ten minutes. Thats
it! Eight to ten minutes! Its for the press
and buyers, and they dont want to see a
big collection so the collections can only
usually be about 38 [or] 40 looks. It goes
quickly, and the editors and buyers go
from one show to another, so it has to
be really well edited so that they can see
what the designers message is and then
go on to the next one.
[surfacing]
Fashion
Showdown
by Stacey Makiya
by Jennica Goo
minutesand I take that as a success. Much like meditation, pride of lions. Its our primitive, competitive nature to want to
you have to accept whatever happens rather than seeing it in be faster and not dead (literally, in the case of the wildebeest)
terms of success or failure.
last. I couldnt help but beat myself up for my performance
Of course, its also crucial to have points in your training even if I tried my best.
where you measure your general fitness, pace, and endurance.
On the other hand, the 5K reminded me of why I run.
I had one of those days recently.
Running is for me. Its something that I do
Enter my companys 5K. Also known as
for my own self-improvement; its time
the day I got left to be eaten by wolves.
to cultivate fresh ideas while maintaining
Naturally, the other people who showed
my physical abilities. As Haruki Murakami
up to run were serious athletes, because ...if youre the slowest writes in What I Talk about When I
who else would be crazy enough to give up wildebeest in the herd, Talk about Running, In long-distance
their lunch hour to exercise in boiling heat?
you become dinner for running, the only opponent you have to
Even though I knew keeping up with my
beat is yourself, the way you used to be
colleagues was going to be a challenge, I a pride of lions. Its our (2008:10).
needed to prove to myself my own athletic primitive, competitive
Even as a recreational-but-serious
nature
to
want
to
be
mettle.
runner, I still have wake-up calls: for
Now Ive always considered myself to faster and not dead example, my pace is still slower than Id like
be a mid-pack runner. It never concerned (literally, in the case of it to be. But herein starts my official speed
me when massive, muscled hulks loped the wildebeest) last.
training. Naturally, the reward is not going
past. But if the whole pack actually leaves
to come without a lot of hard work and
me behind, my ego definitely takes a hit.
determination. But that determination is
Which, unfortunately, is what happened.
not fueled by wanting to beat the head of
My coworker pumped up my ego before
the pack, it stems from a desire to improve
the race, and after we burst out of the start line, I managed my personal 5K time by just six minutes. If I set a goal that I
to keep up with him for the first mile. But when my legs and know is in reach, I wont give up.
lungs began to burn, I helplessly watched the distance grow
So, watch out, Self, because Im going to kick your ass. v
between us. It was like high school PE all over again.
The 5K ended up being an exercise in calming my competitive
REFERENCE CITED
nature. Why did it bother me to be the slowest runner in the
Murakami, Haruki
race? Consider this: on the plains of the Serengeti, if youre
2008 What I Talk about When I Talk about Running:
the slowest wildebeest in the herd, you become dinner for a
A Memoir. New York: Random House.
Directions
Serves 4 people
Cooking time: 40 minutes
Ingredients
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, plus
more for drizzling
4 cups vegetable stock (preferably
homemade)
3 leeks, tender white and green parts,
chopped
2 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped
1 cup arborio rice
1/2 cup dry white wine
3 cups savoy spinach, julienned
1 cup asparagus, cut into thin slices
1/4 cup fresh goat cheese (chevre)
salt and pepper
Real cooks may cringe when they read this, but Im a former
Peace Corps Volunteer, so I tend to hoard. In my kitchen, I save
all my veggie peels, ends, and unsightlies, and at the end of
the week (or when my fridges scrap bucketyes, bucketis
overflowing), I put all these odds and ends into a pot with
water and simmer it down for at least an hour. Granted,
my cream-colored vegan corn chowder occasionally turns
pink from using stock full of beet parts, but Id like to think
it gives my soups, stews, and whole grains (which I cook in
vegetable stock instead of water) personality. There are only
a few warnings: Dont use much from the cabbage family
(this includes kale, broccoli, and cauliflower) because it will
turn your stock bitter. An overripe tomato and ugly basil are
okay to toss in the stock pot; rotten jicama and slimy basil are
notbe careful with aging produce. Lastly, some produce,
such as lettuce ends, doesnt enhance a stock, so like a bad
relationshipif something/someones not going to add
anything to your stock/life, compost that shit!
Speaking of composting, you can compost cooked stock
vegetables, but youll need to keep it hot (140 to 160 degrees)
for a week and animal proof (bury or enclose the compost).
Do not compost vegetables cooked in sauce, oil, or butter. If
youre an advanced Domestic Diva with your vermicompost
bin, worms love cooked vegetables. And dead bodies. v
Jennifer Meleana Hee
young
voices
Ponds of
Jupiter
There are stars above
Makaikoa Street in Waialae.
There are stars that smell
of ripe lilikoi and plumeria.
There are stars that taste
like sweet Kahuku corn
and tart pineapples.
There are stars that sound
like the calls of the mynah bird
and soothing ukulele tunes.
There are stars that feel
like tall sugar cane stalks
and the sand beneath my feet.
Some stars are brighter than others.
Other stars jump into ponds on Jupiter.
Among the stars are those who paint
a radiant color of citrine.
There are stars above
Makaikoa Street in Waialae,
stars that glow more
than yellow sunflowers. v
Zoe
Matayoshi, Age 8
photo
courtesyWomens
of NASA Journal | 19
Hawaii
young
voices
Yokooji, Age 15
illustration by Kathryn Xian
[local feature]
by Krista Sherer
photos by Ryan Matsumoto
Youth Speaks Hawaii has shown the nation
what Hawaiis next generation is capable
of achieving. TravisT is now the Events
Coordinator, Darron Cambra is the Art and
Educational Director, and Lyz Soto is the
Executive Director. All three of these mentors
have seen the support that the organization
gives to the youth poets: some teens come
from unstable homes and need catharsis,
a family who hears their voices; others are
natural-born writers who want a safe space in
which to express their talent. Either way, the
workshops, open mic events, poetry slams,
and exposure to national competitions have
shaped these young poets into remarkably
confident and well-expressed individuals.
You dont even need to be a huge fan
of performance poetry to be impressed. As
TravisT put it, Im rather certain that once
people see the kids perform themselves, its
really just one of those phenomena that no
one really ever forgets. There is a certain
buzz we carry that I think we all hoped for
but didnt understand how we were going to
get it.
One way they got it was through the
consistent dedication of a core group of staff
and mentorsmost who are spoken word
poets themselvesoffering free weekly
workshops for youth. The workshops are
based on free writing as well as word-exercise
activities that help the teens sharpen their
individual voices. The rules of the workshops
are that the standard is yourself, which
reminds young writers not to compare
themselves to anyone else and that there
are no wrong answers. Poetry is neither fact
nor fiction, and the mentors emphasize to
the youth poets that there is room to play in
the grey area of their thoughts as well as with
the concept of universal truths. The writing
processes as well as the performances help
attach value to their words, and once these
students start to see that their stories have
validityor that they have the ability to
tell the story of someone who cant speak
up for themselvesthey feel more valued
and empowered during a point in their lives
when they might otherwise remain unheard.
Get Involved:
Youth Speaks Hawaii Writing Workshops
Who: Everyone and anyone ages 1319
When: Every Wednesday
Where: ARTS @ Marks Garage
Time: 4:30 p.m.6:00 p.m.
Support:
YSH Poetry Open Mic and Slams
When: Every second Saturday
Where: ARTS @ Marks Garage
Time: 3:00 p.m.5:00 p.m.
For more information:
www.youthspeakshawaii.weebly.com
www.youthspeakshawaii.wordpress.com
www.facebook.com/youthspeakshawaii
email: info@YouthSpeaksHawaii.org
tel: 808-306-7197
Gratuitous Love
from the Editor
WEB EXCLUSIVE :
Check out Jocelyn performing
her poetry on our website at
www.hawaiiwomensjournal.com.
poetry
Christine
There is this melody the ocean conducts
by Jocelyn Ng
the strings,
the simple tick tocks, beat box, hello dearthis is music.
I want to feel each and every onomatopoeia you can think of
Breathe into my flesh.
Like the alphabet
Like vowels
like every a, e, i, o, u,
and sometimes y.
I find myself wanting to become the harmony,
the melody,
the vibrations,
that I wish I could feel.
See, sometimes, Christine,
I wish I could put myself into your shoes
experience music like you do.
Ive tried putting my hands over my ears
But I just cant seem to feel it.
Ive heard that music is universal language
But I seem to be lost in translation.
So could you tell me what it feels like?
Would tracing your fingers on harp strings
Feel like the sensation of caressing your mind into a dream.
Do songs run up the back of your neck
every time lyrics braid themselves around your spine?
And would the melodic strikes of a percussion
remind you of the rhythms of your own heartbeat?
Would the cry of a symphony feel like an earthquake
rumbling beneath the soles of your feet?
Would you dance to the disaster?
by Suzy Allegra
[nonprofit corner]
by Ali Stewart-Ito
[creative nonfiction]
Black,
Y
ou know its a bad idea, but the school where you teach needs
the cash. Money is the number-one priority in private school.
So for the annual scholarship benefit auction, you and your
colleague offer a parents babysitting dream: youll chaperone a
sleepover in the classroom. After drinking daiquiris all evening, four
mothers pool their resources and buy the sleepover for $800. The
following week, they drop off the boys, with snacks and sleeping
bags, for what the kids hope will be an off-the-wall Friday night.
After board games, computer time, and jokes verging on the
inappropriate, you make your way to the gym and ask a member
of the maintenance staff to unlock the storage closet, and the boys
begin to play with huge bouncy balls and hula hoops. A game of
basketball starts up. The boys challenge you to shoot. It goes in,
thanks to your experience as a Junior Varsity basketball coach.
Your stuffbags, snacks, toys, cameraleans against the wall.
Boys periodically run to their backpacks to grab fistfuls of Cheetos.
The game gets messy, giggly. Youre sweating. Its time to bring the
group upstairs for ghost stories. You gather your things.
But your purseyour big red purseis missing. Maybe you left
it in the classroom?
You retrace your steps, leaving the kids with your colleague. The
only other people in the building are the maintenance staffers. You
ask the one who opened the storage room for help. Did someone
come in? Was there a meeting tonight? The school is connected
through a hallway to a church. Was there an event at the church?
No, he says, he saw nothing.
Defeated, you start back upstairs. But you are bugged. Jittery. You
turn around and find the maintenance staffer again.
Are you sure you didnt see anything?
Look, I told you, nothing.
and Red
maintenance locker room. He is there, as is his supervisor, a woman.
She is standing against the back wall. You stand in the doorway, the
man now caught between you and his boss.
You took it, you tell him. Give it back.
You are a teacher and you are convinced that this maintenance
man, who works for the same school you do, has stolen your purse
while you were playing basketball with children whose parents
bought an expensive play date to benefit the schools scholarship
fund. Everything seems fucked up, but you are single-minded. You
want your purse back.
The woman says, Youre wrong. Her eyes are wet. Or yours are,
and hers look wet. How dare you, she says.
The man is silent.
Open your locker, you tell him.
He looks from you to his boss and back to you. You try to fill up
the doorway. Open it.
The man brushes his fingertips against the locker door. He fiddles
with the padlock. It clicks open. He unlatches the metal door and it
swings out.
Your big red purse is in the locker.
You are relieved but also devastated. You slap him. Or his boss
slaps him. Either way he gets slapped.
You grab your purse and run up the stairs. You dont cry because
you dont want the boys to see that anythings wrong. You call the
headmaster at home, he calls the cops, and within thirty minutes
the man is arrested, fired, and gone.
You see the maintenance supervisor at lunch on Monday. Your
eyes meet, but she looks away quickly, and you are left to wonder if
you saw a hint of how dare you still lingering in hers. v
This man has called you Beautiful since the start of the school year.
Youve asked him to call you by your name, but he continues to use
his nickname for you, even when your students are in the room. Its
been awkward for months. Now he wont even look at you. He looks
at the floor.
You return to your classroom. Over the heads of the boys (who
are now composing Mad Libs), you mouth to your colleague, Ill be
back.
Then you look for the man again. You go to the basement, to the
Hawaii Womens Journal | 28
[editor's essay]
How to Sell
Your Body Parts
T
Jennifer
Meleana
Hee
ist of my concerns:
poetry
Translation IX
lungs filled and emptied. Look left and find time stopped. Nothing happens here, we
are safe in our flesh webbed cave. Find him harmless in this anxious womb nothing
happens here. No slivered skins
No abraded elbows or knees
No twisted ligaments
No scarred tendons
No fractures
No
hiccupped breaths after tremor sobs.
Find him safe in my anxious womb, not weeping. Not
one thing happens. Inoculated numb, we are padded. No risk
No first times
No last times
No middles
No
hiccupped sobs after laughter.
Find him silent, or
rupture this trunk, splinter the frame jagged this caesarean wound, Yes!
He breathes messy asymmetrical gasps. He is scar wrapped. He is beautiful. v
Hawaii Womens Journal | 34
Lyz Soto
In here, somewhere, between rib spaces, intercostal webs stretched over these
[creative nonfiction]
Acknowledgments
I could not have written this essay without
Jennifer Hee. I also thank Suzanne Farrell
Smith and Caitlin Leffel for two years of
teaching me how to write creative nonfiction
through their own beautiful examples. Lastly,
I am grateful to Dave for allowing me to
share this story.
Mayumi
Shimose
Poe
[creative nonfiction]
A Second Look
at Providence
by Caitlin Leffel
Mark my words,
WEB EXCLUSIVE:
THE BACKSTORY
Caitlin gives us another
glance at Providence
www.hawaiiwomensjournal.com
by Theresa Falk
poetry
Harmonie
Bettenhausen
poetry
Brenda Kwon
Flight
She once caught an avocado between her hands.
Poised on a rock beneath the tree in our backyard,
she leapt, seizing the alligator-green,
then landed tender in the grass,
no signs of sore leg or blue veins
in the way she clutched her prize to her chest
then held it out to me when she noticed me watch.
Ms. deMeaners
by von Hottie
RSVP-Huh?
Evites:
Facebook Events:
Walls
by Anjoli Roy
Acknowledgments
Thank you to Jenn Hee and Mayumi Shimose Poe for their
wonderful editing and encouragementtheyve improved
this text greatly and inspired me to make it better. Id also
like to thank them for drawing my attention to Sullivans
text, which contains a number of fantastic quotables on
rats, including this storys epigraph and the term manifest
infestation. Diverse Voices Quarterly published an
earlier version of this story in volume two, issue five.
Gorman, Christine
2008 Mapping the Rats in New York City.
Time, December 15. www.time.com/time/
healtharticle/0,8599,1866594,00.html, accessed July 25, 2010.
Sullivan, Robert
2004 Rats: Observations on the History and Habitat of the Citys Most
Unwanted Inhabitants. New York: Bloomsbury.
[fiction]
Sorry, Dani
by Richard Hartshorn
Our Period:
Burden or Blessing?
[fembodiment]
by Shinan Barclay
helpful while endless chat with colleagues
irritated me; decapitating the hedge row
was helpful but angry thoughts toward
my boss increased my irritability. I noticed
that when I suppressed or repressed my
feelings, I became depressed, and that
when I expressed my feelings without
compassionate awareness for my partner,
I erupted like a volcano. Energy that is
suppressed, repressed, or depressed often
explodes. Imagine this high-spirited, redhaired Irish gal. It must be your period,
my husband used to say, because thats
when all the plates start to fly. Yes, I
demolished my china and then started
throwing my potted plants. It took several
years of psychotherapy and interpersonal
communication training for me to learn that
every moment brings a choice for me to be
100 percent response-able. By attending to
my moontime, Ive become more skilled at
positive choices.
The cause of PMS is undetermined; its
merely labeled a hormonal imbalance.
Yet this very imbalance or heightened
sensitivity was believed by many tribal
cultures such as the Lakota, Apache, and
the Maori of New Zealand to enhance
a womans intuition and to open her to
vision, wisdom, and insight. During a
womans moon, hormonal changes bring
about a time of heightened vulnerability
and a dreamlike awareness. In earlier times,
these women were encouraged to drift into
dreamland and then to bring back stories,
songs, and insights that would benefit
themselves, their families, and their tribes.
Tribal cultures live in harmony with nature,
aware that everything goes through ebb
and flow. Fluctuations in the rhythm of life
and changes in the seasons are gifts from
the Great Spirit. As rain purifies the air, so
too does a womans bleeding time allow
for transformation, purification, newness,
and change. Through menstruation,
pregnancy, and birth, many indigenous
people believe that women are instruments
of transformation because our basic
biology embodies a sacred ritual of change
(Allen 1986:28). Native traditions view the
biological changes of the menstrual cycle
or moontime as a powerful and positive
pathway to inner growth and wisdom
(Medicine Eagle 1991).
[writers corner]
Five Minutes
first met Kaui Hart Hemmings in Bronxville, New York. It was 2001,
and we had both signed up for a class called Anthropology Goes to
the Movies at Sarah Lawrence College. She was a graduate student in
Writing, and I was an undergraduate finishing my junior year. Even then, I
had a serious case of stars-in-the-eyes combined with jealousy/panic along
the lines of: Shit. Shes from Hawaii and writes about Hawaii and is wayyyy
further along than me in her craft. Which means she will be the hottest thing
to come out of Hawaii since Lois-Ann Yamanaka. Was she my role model
or literary nemesis? Of course, I did what all aspiring artists in their early
twenties doI publicly supported my fellow female writer from Hawaii while
secretly hoping shed go and Eat, Pray, Love it up in a third-world country for
a few decades, so I could become the next superstar literary darling instead
of her.
But instead of moving to a third-world country, Kaui went to northern
California, garnered the coveted Stegner Fellowship, and became the
youngest member in San Franciscos premier writing collective, The Grotto.
She published a highly acclaimed book of short stories (House of Thieves,
2005), a novel (The Descendents, 2008), and had a baby in under three years
flat; then she dropped her babyweight incredibly fast and moved home to
Hawaii, where she now hangs out on the beach in a bikini, shooting the shit
with Dog, the Bounty Hunter. Bitch.
KHH: The turning point was realizing that exciting isnt the point. Anything
and anyone can be interesting. I didnt necessarily give myself permission to
write about home. I test out places and voices and use what fits.
HWJ: The writer Robert Vivian (among others) has said that in this life,
we are given only one or two true landscapes. Would you agree with this
statement? Do you consider yourself to be primarily a Hawaii or local
writer or have you found that, with two books set in Hawaii under your
belt, you are now experimenting with other landscapes?
KHH: Im experimenting. Right now Im writing about San Francisco and
Colorado.
HWJ: In a recent Honolulu Advertiser article,3 local author Chris McKinney
has suggested that The Descendants has a universal qualitythat
Hawaii in this book is just a backdrop to these American characters
lives. In your work, do you consider Hawaii a landscape/backdrop to your
characters or a character in and of itself?
KHH: Hawaii is the setting. A setting informs who we are, the choices we
make, the way we live. Nothing could be more important.
HWJ: Whats a work day in the life of Kaui Hart Hemmings look like?
KHH: [Writing] is my only job as of now. I work a little, do mom stuff, cook,
grocery shop, exercise. We go out a lot.
HWJ: Worst writing advice you ever got?
KHH: Youll never write anything good until after youre thirty-five.
HWJ: What are you reading these days?
HWJ: I read your interview of author Pete Rock where you asked him to
describe his book in one sentence.1 I liked that question so Im biting you.
Tell us about The Descendants in one sentence.
KHH: The Descendants is about a father and his daughters forming a united
front against someone they love; its about sacrifice, shame, death, and real
estate.
HWJ: In a 2009 Star Bulletin article,2 you discussed how you came to write
about Hawaii in your first two books: that initially you didnt think writing
about life in the islands would be interesting or exciting enough but
after trying to write about other things you realized it wasnt my material,
in the end. What was the turning point that gave you permission to start
writing about home? How does it feel to now know that writing about life
in the islands is exciting enough to be a movie starring George Clooney?
KHH: The best books Ive read lately: The Mercy Papers by Robin Romm, The
Aderall Diaries by Steven Elliott, Little Bee by Chris Cleave, and This Is Where
I Leave You by Jonathan Tropper.
HWJ: What do you want people to take from your stories?
KHH: I want people who claim to not be big readers to read my stuff and be
engaged and entertained. I want to make all readers laugh, feel emotion,
and ultimately turn the page. v
NOTES
1. www.partywithaninfant.blogspot.com/2009/03/chatting-up-pete-rock.html
2. www.starbulletin.com/features/20091004_no_place_like_home.html
3. www.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/20100214/life/2140330/stepping+out+in+th
e+right+direction
60
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