ARRRRRG!

On Halloween we hosted a pirate party. Simon, Clif, and I were pirates.

Everett insisted on being the Avatar instead of a pirate. Silly kid thinks he can make his own decisions - pffft. Being the Avatar and getting the arrow right required a fairly drastic move: a hair cut. He was willing to go completely bald to get it right, but I found some of that spray-in hair dye at the last minute.

I went a little overboard with the pirate party preparations. I wrote a pirate invitation poem and sent it out on International Talk Like a Pirate Day. I spent months collecting pirate accessories, and sometimes those accessories just had to be upgraded when I found better things later on. I spent all kinds of time sewing knickers and waistcoats and old fashioned shirts with lace cuffs. The excellent thing is that this island is absolutely full of crazy fabric. Where else can you find black velvet with gold and silver glitter flowers?

So many pirates showed up to the party!

And to top it all off, Alden brought a Tongan fruit bat. I think it was just a diversion so we wouldn't make him walk the plank for not wearing a costume, but it totally worked. The bat was just a few months old so it couldn't fly yet and spent all evening hanging out on everyone. It was definitely the perfect addition to a Halloween party.

Not enough piratey pictures for you? Find more here and here and here and here.

Tisa's Tattoo Fest 2008

Tisa's Tattoo Fest is an annual October event hosted by Tisa's Barefoot Bar. I'm sure her choice of events has nothing to do with the fact that her brother, Wilson, is a big tattoo artist here. :) Regardless of her reason, it's always fun to get out to Tisa's. The tattoos and entertainment are just an added bonus. I'm fascinated by the traditional tap tap tap of boar tusks. The designs that tattoo artists can create out of those tiny carved combs is pretty amazing.

This is Wilson doing a traditional tattoo. The little piece pointing toward the leg is a tiny comb carved out of boar tusk. It's attached to a stick that he taps with another stick. Two assistants strectch the skin straight. If the skin stretchers don't hold still, the lines are crooked and that's no good!

And, of course, the modern method is also available.

Simon chillin' in the rope swing on Alega beach.

Everett started dancing on the stage as the entertainment calmed down and the stage emptied It took a while (nearly an hour), but eventually others joined him. He was so proud of himself and kept telling everyone he had started a dance party!

gotta love this logic

Simon: You think my mom has make-up?

Friend: Yeah, all moms do.

Simon: Are you sure my mom does?

Friend: She does. Otherwise she wouldn't have a husband.

when I grow up, I'm going to ___________.

Everett and Simon love the Avatar - love, LOVE the Avatar. So I wasn't surprised to hear that Everett had plans for becoming more like the Avatar in the future. I was surprised to hear just how that's going to happen. On the way to school the other day I overheard, "When I grow up, and get all hairy, I'm going to shave my hair into patterns like the Avatar."

Absolutely awesome. It's way better than the goals that I had at that age for when I grew up, which were something along the lines of, "When I grow up, I'm never going to do the dishes again."

In case you're wondering, the dishes thing hasn't worked out too well for me.

and we're back!

Finally! We're connected to the rest of the world at the lightning-fast speed of -oh, I don't even know, it's abysmally slow. I'm just glad to have something. And my first order of business is to attract visitors... so the new house is amazing. It's on a peninsula so we're steps away from the water in any direction - I love it!

Just past the palm trees is a 4 or 5 foot drop-off and then, the beach.

The back of the house has a mangrove forest leading into a lagoon, which will be perfect for kayaking when or if we eventually have kayaks.

And did I mention that it has walls? It does. It's my favorite part of the whole house. I can't even explain how happy I am to have walls again. I didn't realize how much I missed them. The old house only had screens from floor to ceiling. It had interior walls, but it's so nice to know that a strong breeze won't blow the curtains straight out so I flash the neighbors when I'm changing. Walls are pretty cool.

And now I need to get to work on those old Arts Festival posts. It was probably the coolest thing I've ever gone to so I have tons of photos to dig through.