Happy Anniversary, Honey! Thanks for the years together!
. . . and the kou tree said, “Your Darling Husband has been good and kind to you and me. I will provide the flowers from which you can string a lei for him on this, your wedding anniversary, day.”
Me and DH, who is my easel, at Kāhua Ranch in Kohala earlier this month.
Just released! In time for my family reunion: The Chong Family in A New Millennium, by James H. Kim On Chong-Gossard and edited by yours truly (Chong Hee Books, 2012). This is the project that kept me busy in the studio for the past several months!
Author Chong-Gossard is my first cousin once removed and the family genealogist, the keeper of the family tree. He wrote the main text that tells the family story beginning with my maternal grandparents emigrating from China to Kohala on Hawai‘i island and how they reared 15 children. Other articles, anecdotes, essays, family photos, genealogy charts, and a memorial section round out the story to bring the reader up to the present day.
I’d like to share the book with you. To read an electronic version, head over to chongfamily.wordpress.com. The printed book is available at blurb.com/bookstore/detail/3506522.
PUBLISHING NOTES, OR THE MAKING OF . . .
A family reunion and another book seemed right for 2012, Jim Chong-Gossard and I agreed. We would plan both for the 20th anniversary of The Chong Family History that he authored and that launched Chong Hee Books in 1992. (Chong Hee means long-winded in Chinese. ;-))
Cousin Jim was and still is the most literate person in publishing I’ve had the pleasure to work with in my career. We simply speak the same “language,” and he can read my mind or even answer my next question before I ask it. I don’t have to blue-pencil his manuscripts much.
We started by discussing what we wanted our book to accomplish. I had some concepts and visions swirling in my mind that Jim was able to merge with his own insights, giving them focus. As author he’s quick to grasp the ideas and articulate them. We spent two long weekend evenings during Jim’s faculty leave, separated by about six weeks, working together at the studio to set up the direction of the book. We had lunch with a few other relatives to test our method.
I was looking for a story that was fresh, candid, current, spontaneous and loving. Then Jim went back to Australia to teach at the University of Melbourne, and I began to scour my cousins’ Facebook albums for images and postings that told a story.
The technology of Facebook and blurb.com have changed publishing, and The Chong Family in A New Millennium is an example of how. I wanted to try an e-book as well as the usual ink-on-paper. I did enough research to decide the book did not have to be an e-book per se; I just wanted readers to have access to it from the internet. If I could create Rebekah’s Studio using wordpress.com, then I could use the same free blog service and software — something I was already familiar with — for the new book.
I created the genealogy charts on Excel with the data Jim collected from family. No need for fancier software. To have a family tree appear as a chart on the screen and not a link that viewers would have to click on and then leave the site, I converted it to a pdf and then used scribd.com — a tip from the wonderful volunteer techie on the wordpress.com Forum (quick help when you need it).
I picked a simple theme (layout) for the electronic version because I wanted the text and photos to translate easily to print. Somewhere I had read about “blog to book” and I began to research the possibilities. I settled on the book service of blurb.com, mainly because blurb has been around for awhile, and the description of the service was comparatively easy to understand.
I read the entire site before taking a leap of faith and downloading the free software application called BookSmart, one of several to choose from. The software one picks depends on the original format that the book is in. In my case, it was a blog that BookSmart would “slurp” (new vocabulary word) into a layout template that I chose.
The advantage of going this route and not supporting my local printer was the time I saved, especially as I had a hard deadline. I wanted the books available at our family reunion. Once I thought every page was perfect, I clicked the Order button for one single copy—you can order one or more than one—and the book immediately was on the printing press and delivered in about 10 days. This is called “print on demand” for small runs. The single copy served as my proof copy that I gave to my detail-oriented friend Rosemary to read before I made final corrections and placed a larger order.
Understand that there is a learning curve. BookSmart is just an editing and publishing tool, after all, and I was fortunate to be from the old school of cut and paste with rubber cement. But what a tool! The technology is exciting! If the resolution of a photo is not correct, for example, it will suggest that you fix it. Just click on the Fix button and voilà! If it is totally unusable, it will say so as well. The application allows you to drag and drop into your layout, and you can even edit the layout (though I did not take the time to learn how to do that; the choices of existing layouts worked fine for my needs). I am very happy with the results.
Here’s the best part. Blurb.com has an online bookstore and will take care of everything, right down to depositing money into your PayPal account. Now, how cool is that?!
Things aren’t so bad that I have to make bubble charts. That was last week. Now I’m down to making lists, a lot of lists. Before I know it, summer will be over, and I’ll be off to Italy to see Miss Marvelous. I always seem to have a project going. I’m just wired that way.
The two or three major items are heading up the making of the boat lei for the Pacific Cup yacht race arrivals from San Francisco that tie up at Kaneohe Yacht Club at the end of July, my family reunion in August, and publishing The Chong Family Reunion in a New Millennium (working title) to coincide with the Chong reunion.
Thankfully, I’ve learned to delegate tasks and design activities for a fun time.
The lei-making project is under control as I’ve alerted my crew to the ETAs of the boats. I’m never really sure about the ti leaf supply and the volunteer labor pool until they show up. It’s touch and go, but very exciting and very enjoyable to welcome these boats. Every two years within a week-long period we make about 50 huge leis, 12 feet long each, and the net proceeds go to the Koolauloa Hawaiian Civic Club scholarship fund.
For some reason I thought 2012 would be a good year to have a family reunion, and started the ball rolling more than a year ago. It’s been five years since all of my mother’s side of the family got together. She was the youngest of 15 children, all born in North Kohala, Hawai‘i. We’re going back to the land of our roots, as well as having some activities on Oahu. Today I just need to hear back from a committee to confirm a venue before sending out another packet of information to my cousins.
The launching point for this year’s Chong Family Reunion was the 20th anniversary of the publishing of The Chong Family History authored by my cousin James H. Kim On Chong-Gossard. It was time for a sequel. So The Chong Family Reunion in a New Millennium is the current work in progress published by my Chong Hee Books. It has evolved into an e-publication that can be viewed on the iPads everyone is getting.
I’ve discovered the main difference of an e-pub versus print on paper, in my case, is the time savings. I’ve chosen the blog software of wordpress.com and the blog-to-book service called Book Smart offered on blurb.com. I’ll be able to format the publication up until the last minute before “delivery,” and because it is a blog, I can make corrections, additions, and other changes any time. Then, anyone who would like a hard copy can order it.
It’s just as much work, however, as a printed publication, if not more, especially during the learning curve. I’ve experience that challenge already, and now I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.
Meanwhile, I continue to check off items on those lists!
Today is Fathers Day in America. Our son-in-law Travis is in Italy, so we sent him this card from Pua, his dog, who we are caring for until he, Miss Marvelous and family return.
Me, Alice Brown, DH, and Pua
Happy Fathers Day, everyone, from all of us at Rebekah’s Studio!
“Honor your parents, teachers, and elders.” — from the Usui System of Reiki Healing Precepts
Mechanic, DH, and the tow truck driver figuring the Toyota’s fate
Starting Sunday we will be a one-car family. DH has found a buyer for his pickup. He sold it to Joe, the first of eight people who replied in the first 15 minutes to his Craigslist ad for parts.
We’ll try to make it work. It can’t be too bad. We’re just two people, two dogs, and sometimes a complaining cat.
The truck doesn’t run anymore. The mechanic pronounced it unsafe if proper repairs weren’t made, and after much thought DH has decided to give it up. He drove it to take the dogs to the beach, haul stuff to the dump, and drive to the museum where he’s a docent once a week. But lately he’s been driving the Prius there to save on gas. Sometimes he took TheBus.
Recently I took TheBus from the studio to glee club practice. It was easy. I went online and entered my address, destination, and arrival time for a list of several routes to choose from.
TheBus was on time, and the transfer connection was great. The ride took an hour and 50 minutes — an hour longer than in a car — but I didn’t have to drive, got to look at the scenery, and the fare was $2.50.
A few days ago DH went to TheBus Pass Office on Middle street to buy a senior annual pass. Only $30 for the whole year! Seniority has its privileges! As a newish iPhone user, he also discovered the bus information on the map app. With a little planning, and because he has time, this could work.
So we’re going to give it a try, this one-car family bit. DH is thinking of the money he’ll save to put toward a trip to Italy to see Miss Marvelous and family. My friends say I’ll be giving up my independence. I’m thinking less is more. We shall see.
Our son-in-law Travis landed a job rotation in Naples, Italy. Yes, it’s true: in less than two weeks he and DH’s only child Ari and their children Miss Marvelous and three-month-old Perrin leave Oahu for three years. Our family and close friends have got used to the idea and the many advantages of moving half way around the world from Hawaii.
Travis is a civilian who will be working for the U.S. Navy that has a large base in Naples. His expertise is in water engineering. There will be better pay, proximity to all of Europe, international school for Miss Marvelous, and many other benefits, including a generous housing allowance, for this young family.
What they leave behind will likely still be here when they return. Culture shock, most likely. And their dog Pua, who will not make the trip but will move in to live with us instead. Poor Ula!
Aloha, ciao, hello, good-bye, but mostly good luck and see you again soon!
DH and I hosted a going-away party on Saturday at our house and invited some old friends, neighbors, and people in our rural Kaaawa town who Ari grew up with. The guest list included our little friend Oliver, a playmate for Miss Marvelous.
Flooding and road closures of the severe weather storm the previous five to six days—with chilly air, a tornado, thunder, lightning, and hail stones— were not a problem anymore, thankfully, and all the folks, almost 40 of them, arrived and stayed ’til the end. It’s not uncommon for us to schedule a party, only to have stormy weather on the day of the event. Go figure.
I planned three food stations (hot food, cold food, and beverages) and a simple-to-prepare, mostly Italian menu. The only item I had to actually cook was the mushroom risotto that I precooked the day before following instructions from Queer Eye for the Straight Guy (Clarkson Potter/Publishers, 2004; ISBN 1-4000-5446-X).
The rest involved finding space in the refrigerator and freezer, and washing the produce: Palermo’s ultra-thin crust Margherita pizza (frozen, three to a box from Costco), sushi (1 big platter made to order at the last minute from the Ninja Sushi store), fresh romaine, bocconcini (small, marinated mozzarella balls, 40 to a tub from Costco), fresh tomatoes (found some cute, flavorful, 1-1/2″ ones that I sliced in half and drizzled with bocconcini marinade), steak (broiled to rare and sliced for serving so diners didn’t need a knife; the meat continued to cook on a steam table), roasted asparagus (with a little olive oil, salt, pepper, 500 degrees F. for 5 minutes), and brownies (baked in the morning from a Ghirardelli mix).
I brought out the nice stem glasses for the Italian wine—hey, what better occasion?!—and, although we didn’t request that people bring anything, they did. No one got thirsty. Ari brought Bubbie’s mochi ice cream from Miss Marvelous’s school fundraising event. Ari loves mochi. I wonder if they have mochi in Italy?
Of course, we have to visit the kids in Italy! They announced they will come back home to Hawaii in November for Perrin’s first birthday luau. Kalua pig from the imu and the works. Hearing that, this big change in our family is easier for Papa (DH) and Popo (me) to take. Ciao, baby! See you on Skype!
All of a sudden, things are starting to move around here, and everyone is tuning in to the new energy. Even Alice Brown and Ula feel the change. But first, an announcement:
Rebekah Luke is the solo guest artist starting Sunday, Feb. 26, at the residence at 914 Kainui Drive in Kailua! I’m thrilled! My sister Ruth and her colleague Karyn have staged the home for sale with my oil paintings, and I must say, both the house and my paintings look great! Instead of seeing my work in my virtual gallery, people can now see what the paintings look like hanging in their frames and imagine what they will look like in their own home or office. There is really no substitute for seeing the original.
Ruth phoned and asked if they could borrow an easel to set up an area as an artist’s studio. Sure, I said. Then she asked if I had any paintings they could use to decorate the freshly painted walls. Indeed, I’m always looking for opportunities to show my art, and, really, no problem. Ruth, an equestrian, did help me out once by providing a horse I needed for a photo shoot.
DH and I loaded the paintings — nearly all my available inventory — into the car. I wanted a large enough choice from which Ruth and Karyn could select. I also packed up other props, like a palette, some paint tubes, some brushes, even some “leaners” (unfinished or unsaleable canvases).
When I reached the venue I could do whatever I wanted, in any of the rooms, to install an art show! The public would come to see the property, and at the same time they would view the art. The realtor associates needed interior decor, and I welcomed gallery space! “It’s a win win,” Ruth said, quite pleased with herself. I’m loving it too.
I arranged the paintings on the floor in front of the wall they would hang on, and the three of us concurred as to their placement. Naturally, I deferred to my hosts, and I’m so glad I did! All of the paintings are on display!
About the property: Conveniently located at the edge of Kailua, on an avenue lined with coconut palms. Renovated 3BR, 2B, single story, large back yard, new landscaping. The current owner is our mom Ivalee, and the home has been in the family since the 1960s (or earlier) when Grandpa and Grandma Haus lived in it. Ruth can give you the asking price.
About the paintings: My original Hawaiian landscapes and still life in oil. $125 to $800.
If you are on Oahu, I hope you’ll take the opportunity to meet us and see our work.
The Special Showings and Open House dates and times are:
Sunday, Feb. 26, 2-5 p.m.
Thursday, Mar. 1, 9:30 to 11:30 a.m.
Sunday, Mar., 4, noon to 5 p.m.
Thursday, Mar. 8, 9:30-11:30 a.m.
Sunday, Mar. 11, 2 to 5 p.m.
Sunday, Mar. 18, 2 to 5 p.m.
Thanks, Ruth and Karyn!
In the next post I’ll give an update on my teaching adventures, travel adventures, new energy, etc., Meanwhile, here are today’s snaps of the studio animals.
Alice Brown, our adorable puppy, keeps me company in the studio.
Ula, the bossy cat. Look out! She's old now.
Rebekah’s Studio 
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