Obey Zolac!

-All of my secular prayers for the passengers of the Costa Concordia that have yet to be found.

-The biggest news in all of the Hawaiian newspapers recently is in regards to the intentional killings of three Hawaiian monk seals (an endangered species endemic to the Hawaiian chain) since November, and a suspected possible fourth. There's a $30,000 reward being offered for information that leads to the arrest and conviction of the killers. It's suspected that the killings were committed by fishermen, to whom the seals are often considered nuisances that compete with the humans for their catches. Tensions have increased recently, as the monk seal population in the main Hawaiian Islands has continued to grow, and NOAA has proposed expanding monk seal critical habitat from the Northwest Hawaiian Islands to almost the entirety of the shores and waters of the main Hawaiian chain.

...This is just killing me, guys, these sorts of conflicts between humans and wildlife are just horrible.

This face. I ask you.



;_;

*O Lorin Gill, we will cherish our special love for you

Kink's Obit:

~ ~ ~

About 38 years ago, Lorin Tarr Gill took Samuel Gon to the barren summit of Mauna Loa, opening the teenager's eyes to the unique environment of Hawaii.

"He refused to teach me the plants on the way up the mountain because it would be too confusing, so we hiked all the way up to the top," said Gon, senior scientist and cultural adviser for the Nature Conservancy. "He taught me the plants, one by one, as they made their appearance as you're coming down the mountain.

"He was the one who awakened me to a real appreciation of the native plants and animals and ecosystems in Hawaii and the need to conserve them that led me to a career in conservation," said Gon, 54.

Gill, a naturalist, founder of the Hawaii Chapter of the Sierra Club in the 1960s and considered by many as the father of environmental education in Hawaii, died of cancer Friday at his home in Pohai Nani in Kaneohe. He was 82.

As director of environmental education at the Moanalua Gardens Foundation in the '80s and '90s, Gill helped create the curricula and outreach programs to teach geology, natural history and botany to schoolchildren.

As a social worker and director of the Palama Settlement in the 1950s and 1960s, Gill introduced thousands of youngsters to camping and hiking.

Although he had no children of his own, Gill nurtured many Hawaii youth who showed an interested in the environment, some of whom, like Gon, went into the environmental field.

Gill began the local Sierra Club's High School Hikers Program and the Hawaii Service Trip Program, which was initially for college students.

"It was his belief the way you protected the environment was to educate the young and what was in their own back yard, so when they were old enough to understand it, they would protect it," said Ken Kupchak, longtime friend and early Sierra Club leader. "A lot of kids went into protecting the environment."

Gill was also like a second father to brother Tom Gill's six children.

Gary Gill, son of former Lt. Gov. Tom Gill, said, "When my dad was in the heat of politics, my uncle often would take us on trips to the neighbor islands," trekking the Na Pali Coast, Mauna Loa and Haleakala. Their appreciation for native plants and animals and the natural and cultural history of the islands was shaped by their uncle, he said.

Gary Gill attributes his uncle's interest in cultural uses of native plants and Hawaiian history, in part, to Lorin Gill's mother, also named Lorin Tarr Gill, a writer for the Bishop Museum (as well as the Star-Bulletin) whose museum books and periodicals were at his disposal.

Annette Kaohelaulii, 71, a former Sierra Club outings leader, said, "Lorin was an inspiration to me. I think that was Lorin's greatest gift: He could share what he knew. I think he was an inspiration to a lot of people."

His teaching ability was enhanced by his photographic memory, she said.

Rick Barboza, co-owner of Hui Ku Maoli Ola Native Plant Specialists and founder and director of Papahana Kuaola, a nonprofit dedicated to natural history and cultural education of which Gill was a board member, was amazed at his ability to retain knowledge, even of the obscure locations of plants in the wild.

Barboza said Gill was in his 70s when he accompanied Gill to his favorite hiking spot, Wailau Valley, Molokai.

Gill's commitment to protect native plants also led to the conveyance of 4,000 acres of conservation land in the Honouliuli Preserve to the state, Gary Gill said.

Born in Honolulu, Lorin Gill graduated from Roosevelt High School in 1946 and earned his bachelor's and master's degrees in social work from the University of Hawaii.

He is survived by hanai son Harry Lee Kwai and the family of late hanai son Pat Murata.

Memorial services and a celebration of his life will be held 5 p.m. Nov. 20 at Palama Settlement.

Contributions may be made in Gill's name to the Sierra Club Hawaii Chapter, P.O. Box 2577, Honolulu, HI 96803.

~ ~ ~

Source at the Honolulu Star Advertiser has some lovely comments. I got teary-eyed at one of the Palama Boys' wish to Kink for "Fair winds on a following sea", for some reason.

Also, Sierra Club Hawaii has a nice memorial and tribute page. People have written some lovely oli and mele for him.

I need to start making travel arrangements for November.

...In other news, yesterday's big cooking project was grilled tilapia with blackened cajun seasoning and garlic aioli, purple mashed potatoes, steamed kale with lemon juice, and sweet vermouth with mango juice.

My Uncle Kink is dead. I've been reading the family emails over the last two weeks as he succumbed to the cancer that's been eating him for over a year. I found out a few hours ago and I thought it was fine but I've had a couple of glasses of wine and it's just hit me. God I'm gonna miss this man.

...I need to call my mother.

I don't think I'm ever going to be able to ride an airplane without thinking of Margot and The Nuclear So & So's, ever again.

So. I'm back from the thingy. The trip over went really smoothly, all things considered. Mom met me at the airport, and Alex picked us up, and we all drove over to Pauoa Valley. In true Gill Family Style, we arrive and the back patio is crowded with uncles, aunties, and cousins. Darian's grown like a weed, although he says "it's all hair". Jon York was there as well, which was nice... I hadn't seen him in a while. I ate a little Thai food and had a beer and some ice cream and hung out with the family. They all took off and I took a few minutes to watch the DVD of Grandpa's TV news spots before passing the hell out.

I slept a good ten hours, took a shower, then enjoyed a leisurely breakfast. I read the front page spread on Grandpa in the Honolulu Advertiser that I'd missed. That morning's paper had a nice letter that an old colleague of his submitted, which was very nice. A couple friends of Gary & Co. stopped by with a card, a plate of cookies, and their condolences, and we chatted for a while. Kink showed up as I was getting ready, and Gary and I sat and chatted with him until there wasn't really any reason not to leave. So we got in Kink's car and drove to Punchbowl.

I'd never been before. It really is quite pretty. I wish I'd had time to catch more of the view of the city, but the cemetery itself is quite picturesque. As we drove in the American flag stood at half-mast for Grandpa, and beyond it at the far end of the bowl the impressive Memorial with its statue of Columbia and its ten Courts of the Missing (Jon's dad is memorialized there). Everything else was lazily spreading shower trees casting shadows over a lush carpet of green grass dotted with grave markers. It was gloriously sunny, all blue sky and fluffy white clouds, and the trade winds kept things from getting too hot. The Family trickled in slowly, then followed as a soldier escorted Granny to the pavilion. We gathered in a semi-circle, the lofty and numerous Clan Gill: Thomas Gill's wife, brother, hanai son, daughter, five sons, four daughters-in-law, nine grandchildren (plus two boyfriends), and three great-grandchildren, for a total party of 27. And that's with three grandchildren missing.

( Our last, fond farewell. )

I LOVE MY ROOMMATES SO MUCH!! They are the best roommates ever!! TT_TT

So Dar comes in and wakes me up at 4:30 and says they let her off work early, and she'll take me to work so I don't have to take the bus. So I'm like, "YOU'RE AWESOME, THANK YOU!!! T_T", and I reset my alarm for an extra hour of sleep and pass the fuck out again. So then my alarm goes off at 8, and I turn it off, and I roll onto my back... and the next thing I know, Lisa James is waking me up, and it's 8:40. FUCK. ...Except that she's holding a plate of breakfast and a mug of ginger tea that she made for me, and while I'm getting dressed she makes me lunch and a travel-mug of black tea. And I'm like, "YOU'RE EVEN MORE AWESOME, THANK YOU!!! TT_TT" So instead of slightly less than 4 hours of sleep, I got 5 and 1/2, and a ride, and two meals.

BEST. ROOMMATES. EVER. TTT_TTT <3 <3 <3

So yeah, today was much better than yesterday, despite the increased sleep dep. The work-related stress was minimal. Call volume was steady, but manageable. I got my bereavement leave squared away with all concerned parties in my first break, so I didn't have to worry about it for the rest of the day.

Dunno what's gonna happen this weekend. James (she's trying out a new name) decided that she'd rather have a quiet weekend by herself than go have fun on the Coast. Can't really blame her. So I called Lauren and told her that. And then I get a text from Dar: "I barfed." So Dar's feeling sick, and we decided not to go tonight, but maybe we'll go tomorrow if she's feeling better. So I called Lauren again and told her that.

Talked to my Dad on the phone, too, so that was nice.

BUT NOW I'M EFFING EXHAUSTED, so I'm going to comment on a couple of things and then pass. The fuck. Out.

Today at 10:47 a.m. Hawaii Time, Thomas Ponce Gill, my grandfather, passed away in his hospital bed. His wife was with him, and his oldest son, and his youngest son.

So it goes.

These past four or five years have been hard. I remember that first injury that put him in the hospital, and the infection that put him back there, again and again. It never got better after that, only worse. Long stays in the hospital, physical weakness... and then, added to this, the slow loss of his mental faculties. He became confused, forgot his grandchildren, then his children. Eventually he was moved to a hospital, and only brought home for holidays. And he grew weaker and weaker, in body and mind, and we could see how it frustrated him. He slept more and more, and moved less and less.

We always knew this was coming. And it was so hard to watch. So crushing, to see him like that, remembering what he'd been. I did my best to show him I loved him, even if he didn't know who I was.

Now I remember my Grandpa Tom, as I knew him growing up. Sitting in his comfy armchair by the fireplace, next to his shelf of books, his lap somehow big enough to hold all of his grandchildren at once. Lurking in the shadows of family holiday gatherings, filling entire rolls of film with candid shots of the clan eating, talking, opening presents. Outside on a humid, mosquito-bitten day, wearing a banana-stained, worn and holey t-shirt proclaiming Gary Gill for Mayor, mixing cement to build his endless pathways through the jungle of his property, climbing the hillside under the bamboo in his Stairway to Heaven. Making quirky jokes in his acerbic, sarcastic way. Telling stories to us kids about the Cookie Monster eating the moon, making it smaller each night (but never explaining how it got bigger). Making breakfast on Sunday mornings, waffles and Glop, with the jars of Tabasco and Banana Sauce out on the table.

I honor the inestimable Thomas Gill, as I never knew him; I honor with pride his accomplishments and service to the Territory and State of Hawaii, and to the United States of America, in the years before I was born. Declined an officer rank and served as infantryman in WWII, fighting in the Pacific Theater and earning a Bronze Star and a Purple Heart. After the war, a lawyer, then a politician. Helped to bring about the Democratic Revolution of 1954, ousting the Republicans from power in the Territorial government (Hawaii has been fiercely Democratic since then). Served in the Territorial House of Representatives, then the Hawaii State Legislature. Elected U.S. Congressman in 1962; served only one term but staunchly supported liberal causes, authoring Title VI of the Civil Rights Act. Elected Hawaii's Lt. Governor in 1966; ran for Governor twice on a campaign of reform. He has received awards and honors from PFLAG-Oahu and the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr Coalition-Hawaii for his civil rights work.

The news of his passing has spread fast. Within hours I found his Wikipedia page has been updated, and the Honolulu Advertiser had had posted an article commemorating him, to which several people have posted with touching comments. It is comforting to have so many friends, known and unknown, mourning with us.

I loved my Grandpa as soon as I was born, and was fiercely proud of him as soon as I was old enough to comprehend what he has done, and what he has meant to so many people. He has been an example and an inspiration to his children, my mother and her five brothers; he is an inspiration to me, and I can only hope to live up to his legacy.

Grandpa Tom, I respect you, I honor you, I miss you, I love you.