Obama Presidency

(This was supposed to be written when Barack  Obama initially became President...however it is now almost 5 months later...)

Where to start...me and politics DON'T go together...AT ALL! This Presidential election was one that will be remembered forever. It's one of those "you'll always remember where you were when you found out." Just like the Columbine shooting, or the September 11th attack, as clear as day I can remember where I was when I heard the news. And just like the shooting, and the terrorist attacks, when news of Obama winning the election hit, I was in a classroom. In fact, my professor was in the middle of a lecture in my night class and a few students started receiving text messages, "OBAMA WON!" Next thing you know, I'm being told to take the rest of the night off and go celebrate. My 3 hour night class was over in 50 minutes. But wait a minute, what if I'm not excited about this, what if I'm not a Democrat, what if I didn't want Barack Obama to take office??? I found myself walking home that night, I just wanted to be alone and think. What did this mean for our country? Was it as great as everyone thought it would be? I mean wow, I can't believe that I was able to witness the 1st African American become President of the United States, that IS awesome, no doubt about that! Maybe not everyone has broken down those racial barriers, but as a nation we have. 

It's okay Davina, he's going to do great. Everyone loves him and they're excited about what he's doing, and plans that he has. So why is it that I can't join in the celebration with everyone else? What's wrong with me? Then I realized it's so much deeper than all they hype, deeper than him becoming the first African American President, because why should that matter? Aren't we all human, made in one image? I realized that no matter what, I can't sway when it comes to MY morals, MY beliefs, and MY values. There are some issues that Mr. Obama and I don't see eye to eye on. I'll leave out details for the sake of unnecessary debate, but bottom line, I'm not the biggest Obama fan, and I didn't have a smile on my face the night that I got out of class early. 

HAPPY CINCO DE MAYO!?!?

"Happy Cinco de Mayo"! What the heck is that supposed to mean? Well, then again, people say Happy St. Patricks. I still don't quite understand why it is that the United States celebrates Cinco de Mayo...or at least the non Hispanic folks. Is it just an excuse to get wasted off of Mexican beer and Tequilla shots? Please, somebody tell me, I really am curious! It's amusing because people in Mexico don't even recognize Cinco de Mayo as a holiday, actually, it's not even that big of a deal to even celebrate. Many people believe that Cinco de Mayo is Mexican Independence Day...well, amigos sorry to disappoint you, but THAT is September 16th. That is 4th of July for Mexico. Here is a little history for you to share next time someone says, "Oh yeah, isn't today like Mexican Independence Day?" on May 5th...

http://clnet.ucla.edu/cinco.html

http://www.vivacincodemayo.org/history.htm

Mexican Flu

Yep, that's what they're calling it. The Swine Flu is commonly found in pigs in the midwest U.S., Mexico, Canada, South America, and a few other countries in Europe, Africa and Asia. It's uncommon that such an influenza would pass from pig to human, but, it has happened before. It's been nearly 90 years since such a thing has happened. 

This year's Swine Flu epidemic has people scared, mainly because we have no idea of the origin. Claiming almost 50 lives, and over 1,000 infected, how do we stop it, what should we do in the meantime? It's slowly beginning to make it's way around the world, starting in Mexico, and making it's way to the southern parts of the U.S. including Texas and California, spreading throughout the states, and spilling over into other countries. (So far no confirmed in Hawaii). People are being asked not to travel into Mexico, and with summer just around the corner, Mexico will lose a lot of business to it's tourist hot spots. 

Spam Jam

I've lived here in Hawaii on the island of Oahu for 3 years now, why is it that I have never heard of Spam Jam?! Today was the 4th annual Spam Jam down in Waikiki. If you noticed a bit of a traffic jam near the Ala moana area all the way into Waikiki, well that's why. Kalakaua was closed off from 2-11pm. I'm not big on spam, in fact I hate it, but I had to go to the festival and check out what was going on. I was surprised to see that it wasn't as big of an event that I thought it would be. Thanks to Happy Madison production 50 First Dates, a lot of people associate Spam with Hawaii, I was shocked to see that nothing spectacular was going on. There were a few restaurants like Dukes, Margaritaville, and Gordon Biersch who had booths up selling dishes with spam mixed in one way or another, and there was also live entertainment on two stages. It was fun for 10 minutes, then I was over it.

ZUMBA!!!

ZUMBA

It's the new craze that's taking over the fitness world! Not only is this spicy, aerobics based Latin dance class great for BOTH men and women getting into shape, it's also fun! If you're not the type to get excited about going to the gym to workout, and step aerobics just isn't doing it for you anymore, I encourage to try something new. If you don't like it, you can go back to running on the treadmill and lifting free weights at the gym. 

Zumba is a fusion of the Latin dance and music world. On any given day you can find yourself learning Salsa, Merengue, Cumbia, Bachata, Cha-Cha or the Samba. Slow and fast easy moves that work your entire body that sculpt and tone your body all while burning fat. 

History: http://www.zumba.com/us/about/

Celebrity fitness trainer, "Beto" Perez, stumbled upon the concept of Latin inspired fitness in his native country of Colombia (South America) in the mid 1990's. One day, he walked into his class and realized that he had forgotten his aerobics music, and his only option was to grab whatever tapes he had in his car. Beto's tapes were comprised of the songs that he loved, the traditional Latin salsa and merengue music with which he had been raised. But it was a challenge to improvise a whole class on the spot using non-traditional aerobics music. Beto rose to the challenge and from this last-minute improvisation was born a revolutionary fitness program – Zumba®! The class soon became the most popular class at his fitness facility.

Now 10 years later, it's stronger than ever with over 30,000 trained instructors all over the world. The best part about that is there are 12 locations right here on the island of Oahu. 

The closest to the downtown campus is located:

Fit for a Goddess Studio

320 Ward Ave. Suite 201

Honolulu, HI 

And the closest to the Windward Campus is located:

Kailua Movement Studio

776 Kailua Rd.

Kailua, HI

Here's a glimpse of what you can expect!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vf0q6qtThF4

or just visit youtube and find Zumba

Sinking Ball of Rust!

Ahhh, The Navy...a wonderful branch of military. Of course, don't say that to a Marine! I don't know what the big deal is between all the branches, each one plays a very important role. Anyways, I must say, I have a great deal of respect for men in the Navy, and specifically those on submarines. I have a few friends in the Navy, friends that I met here in Hawaii, and it wasn't until I actually knew men in the military that I actually became interested in what they do. Naturally, they can't say what it is that they exactly do...quite frustrating when they're grumpy and complaining about what a long and hard day they had at work. When you ask them, "well what did you do?" You never get the answer. 

I recently had the opportunity to tour an active submarine here in Pearl Harbor. All I can say is WOW! Talk about getting comfortable with a person, so much for personal space! I can't see how these men get any sleep! And I can't even begin to imagine what it's like when they go underway. 2 months at a time, 6 months at a time, you are completely shut off from the world, you see no sunlight, you have to talk to and see the same hundred and something guys...how can you NOT go crazy! I applaud all submariners who have to endure this kind of suffering. I say suffering because I have not heard 1 person say that they enjoy that journey. As my friend once put it, "it's hell in that sinking ball of rust!"

Thank you gentlemen, officers and sailors.

Feet, Big Deal!

As I was sitting and waiting for the bus today, I happened to look down at my feet. Now I'm not big on doing the whole pedicure thing, but I'd like to think that I take pretty good care of my feet. Here in Hawaii, the majority of people where slippahz (slippers), or more commonly known in the mainland, flip flops. And then, I started to notice everyone else's feet. People waiting for the bus, people walking by, people on the bus, people on Fort Street... EVERYONE was wearing slippahz. I don't know why I never thought about before, but golly! This can't be good for our feet! I realized that over 90% of the shoes sitting outside my front door are slippahz. There is no support for our feet, and my feet are so flat that it's not that comfortable to shove my foot into heels anymore (not that it ever was before). Take a look at your slippahz, do you see the imprint of your foot? We wear them so often that there is a permanent indentation of our foot, not to mention there's probably no sole left on the darn things! 

Okay, so enough about the support, what about the protection? Slippahz provide no protection for our feet at all. Our feet are left uncovered to gather dirt, or just begging to be stepped on, stub a toe and split it open, or in my case, mosquitos have a field day on the tops of my feet.  We leave them open for bacteria, and we all know that Fort Street isn't the cleanest place in the world...I mean imagine standing on the corner waiting to cross the street, or simply walking down the street and someone close by happens to spit. That nice ocean breeze we love so much picks a little bit of that spit up, and next thing you know...you've got someone's saliva all over your uncovered foot. Uhhhh can you say GROSS! I suppose that's the risk we take when the island wear is shorts and slippahz...

Detox: Day 3

It's day 3 of this horrible detox. Needless to say...I'm a cheater. 

You don't understand though! Not being able to chew is a crime! My fridge is stocked with nothing but vegetables, some in which I've never eaten before this diet. Surprisingly though, I have noticed a difference, no joke! My stomach is a lot flatter, I wake up energized, and my skin has cleared up. I'm allowing myself to at least eat dinner, and if anything has come from this thus far, I've noticed myself eating a lot healthier. I guess that's really what my goal was all along. We'll see what happens at the end of the week, let's see if I can stick it out!

Detox means you can't eat in another language

So the Submarine Birthday Ball is coming up this Friday. It's basically prom all over again. I get to buy a nice gown and get all done up for one night. Course, I'm a girl, you know how we can be...concerned about losing a few pounds before a big event like this. Yeah, well my roommate and I decided to do this Detox diet. Basically you can't eat/chew, everything has to be liquified. Yuuuummm....NOT! Today is day 1, so far so good. I drank some Berry Green powder stuff (2x), and a cup of tea afterwards. I can drink tea all day if I want. For lunch, I juiced 10 vegetables, made my own V8 per se, more tea...and well, I'm starving! I think since it's the first day and I'm not all that prepared for this detox, I should probably get some protein in me...I don't think some greasy pizza will hurt...just one slice... 

DO NOT EAT, DAVINA'S ONLY!!!

Forgive me if this blog makes absolutely NO sense to you...this specific blog is for ventilation purposes only. 

If you've attended college, and God forbid had to live in the dorms, maybe you'll be able to relate to me. Dorm rooms are small, you're allowed a small microwave and a small fridge. Basically you don't have much to work with when it comes to food. Sure in the beginning everyone is buying food and you're all about sharing, but as time goes on you realize you're the only one buying food and everyone is still eating it. Eventually you get to the point where you start labeling your food with your name along with "DO NOT EAT! so and so's ONLY!". It's understandable, I guess. The mature thing to do would be to flat out say, "hey, if you're gonna eat the food, cough up some ends to help pay for it." Maybe that's just me...

Regardless, it's cute in the dorm rooms. Eventually you take the next step and move out with people you trust and know (hopefully). You're in a house, with a kitchen, with a regular sized fridge, with cabinets, and a pantry. Praise the Lord you have an oven! I would think that financially it would make more sense to go as a group, buy groceries and split the price...right? Or does it seem a little more logical to go out and spend a nice chunk of money on a lot of groceries, come home and label everything, then a few weeks later end up throwing out over half of what you bought because you couldn't eat everything by yourself, all because you didn't want anyone touching YOUR food. Sorry to say this, but if you're 21 years old, living in a household of at least 4 people and you're still labeling your food...something is wrong.

Vampires and Werewolves

Alright, for those of you Twilight fanatics here's a little inside info. So shooting for New Moon started in Vancouver Canada a few weeks ago, needless to say a little behind schedule due to the fact that they finally casted the wolf pack...which if you're a fanatic, you would know that this next movie is all about the wolves. If being behind schedule isn't enough already, there have been some minor injuries on set that will now push back production even further. That's the latest info I have...we'll see what comes up next!

What a Life!

Man, it must be nice being able to be a movie star...

I USED to have a lot of respect for actors, well that was BEFORE I realized that the word actor can have a few different meanings. Here I am, this amateur actor who has done a few plays here and there. Plays that I'm really proud of, plays where I've performed before an audience of 5,000 people. You better believe that I worked my butt off to memorize lines, blocking, even doing some method acting to get into character a little more. I mean I went all out, gave it my all, because in theater you only have one shot. If you mess up, forget your lines, that's it. You feel like you've screwed up the entire play, and chances are... you might've.

Then you've got acting for film. I don't know much about it, but I do know that you can mess up, forget your lines, WHATEVER, and still get another shot. You can go through infinite amounts of takes (of course directors don't like that, but still...you get my point). I understand a lot of time goes into making movies, there's the script read through, preparation for a character whether it's gaining or losing weight, interviews, paparazzi, etc. AHHHH OMG it can get sooooo frustrating! 

Seriously though, I'm taking a video production class and I'm really starting to see who does the most work. And quite frankly the talent has it the easiest. All they have to do is take direction, stand where they're told to stand for the .5 second shot, reposition themselves, make a different facial expression, then repeat. 

I'm only knocking professional actors because I have a really good friend who just signed a contract for a pretty good part in a pretty big movie sequel for Xmillion dollars. I'm complaining about the stress that I'm going through because of school, and he's complaining about having to go to Hollywood parties with bodyguards, or having too many interviews in a day, or having to workout, or my favorite, "having to meet the other super famous cast members".  I sit here rolling my eyes, thinking, "man, what a life!"

Mexico: Murder Waiting to Happen

I was really bummed when my mother told me that I couldn't go to Mexico to visit my grandparents last summer. I know what you're thinking, why do I need my mother's permission right? I'm 21 I can do what I want. Well, it was even worse when my grandparents told me they didn't want me to visit them. 

Mexico is a very dangerous place right now. A vast majority of policemen have quit their job and have went in to hiding with their families. Not long ago Mexico's President declared war on the Mexican drug cartels, only to fuel the fire. Mexico is now a place of assault, kidnappings, torture, brutal beatings and even beheadings. As of right now, there are a reported 60,000 Mexican military forces and police fighting this war against the cartel, but family members have told me that there is not a single policeman come twilight. No one goes out at night, and no one goes anywhere alone in the day. 

Ten military soldiers were found beheaded in December with a threat from the cartel saying, "for every one of ours you kill, we will kill ten of yours." Within the past weeks, the government has received even more threats, and the cartel are beginning to take over. Last week, the cartels threatened to kill 1 policeman every 48 hours until the chief in Juarez resigned. After two deaths, he did and moved to Texas with his family. 

Kidnappings have also picked up. The cartels are taking anyone for ransom, not just the rich, but children from marketplaces. What's next? Is the U.S. in danger, the bordering states, cities El Paso and San Diego? This is serious stuff, it's scary. We hear about this happening overseas, but now it's right next door. I fear for the lives of my grandparents and family members, I wonder when I'll ever see them again...

Hello everyone! My name is Davina, I'm originally from 

Denver Colorado, a beautiful, yet freezing state. Blessed with the Rocky Mountains in my back yard was wonderful, however, having the ocean in my front yard isn't half bad! I do miss the seasons though, watching the colors of the leaves changing in the fall, and watching new life blossom in the spring, but I do NOT miss the snow.

I've been in Hawaii for just about 3 years, I'm a Junior here at HPU, studying Visual Communication. I came to Hawaii alone, had never been here before, and I was the first in my family to attend college, so I had absolutely no idea what to expect. It's definitely been a challenge, but an amazing adventure and experience all the way. I was awarded a full ride scholarship to attend the college of my choice, all expenses paid.  I chose Hawaii, and specifically HPU because the diversity of the school amazed me. I also wanted small classes where I would be able to get that hands-on-experience and have my professors know my name. I really like HPU. We may not have all the amenities that other colleges have, like a home gym for our basketball and volleyball teams, or baseball field, or even a football team, but I feel that the students here are a lot more focused on their studies because we're not a school so focused on our sports.  

I chose to study Visual Communication because my last few years of high school were dedicated to my theatre department. I fell in love with the performing arts. Since the age of 10 I have been on stage either singing, dancing or acting. I know how to do that, I figured it was time for me to learn the production side of it, become well rounded in all aspects of it. I still have no idea what I'm doing, but I'm having fun doing just that. 

Kara Jordan, Hoping for the Best

You never know what you're gonna get when you sit down to interview someone...This past week, I was privileged to get to know a classmate by way of an on-camera interview. Kara Jordan is a 22 year old Visual Communication major in her last year of school. As she prepares to make her way out into "the real world", I asked her to reflect on her life a little bit...

Kara has lived in Texas, Oklahoma, California (where she lived before heading to college), and now Hawaii. By the time she was in 5th grade, she had been to 6 different schools. I can't imagine it being easy to make friends that way. For the most part, Kara grew up in California. This is where she learned to surf, and fell in love with the ocean. When asked why Hawaii for school she said, "I was still into surfing, and after vacationing in Kaui, I knew I wanted to come back, school opened up that opportunity." 

When it came down to picking a major, like schools, Kara jumped around a bit. She knew she loved to travel, so felt that the Travel Management Industry (TIM Program) was the right path, but that wasn't as exciting as she thought it was going to be. Next she tried International Business, still sticking with traveling in the back of her mind. She quickly realized, that she's not that into business. Then she tried Visual Communication, and loves it! When she's not spending time in the edit bay editing videos, you can find her working at O'Tooles, an Irish Pub, as a cocktail waitress. And when she's not there, she putting time into her internship with Tom Moffat, a concert promotions company. 

As graduation approaches, Kara finds herself ready to leave the island, but not for at least 6 months. Tom Moffat Productions has offered her a paid position over the summer. She says she'll stick it out, and go from there! 

That sounds like a good plan to me! Good luck Kara, and congratulations!