Monday, May 7, 2012

I'm just here for a good lei

As I type this, I'm sitting barefoot at a table in Kauai with a mai tai beside me and sand in a few crevices not easily accessible in a public beachfront shower.

That combination of elements may be the reason I'm a little fuzzy on who won last week's fake word short story contest. I tallied a few times, but kept getting distracted by the gecko slurping juice from a scooped out papaya peel on the fence, and the sound of my parents' neighbor playing his ukulele on the porch.

Nevertheless, I'm pretty sure it came down to a tie between entry #2 by Joy Keeney and entry #6 by Phillip Doyle. A slight sunburn has made me too lazy to come up with anything creative for a tiebreaker, so how about if I just award both contestants a signed copy of Believe it or Not?

Congratulations to both Joy and Phillip (email me your snail mail addresses at tawnafenske at yahoo dot com) and thank you so much to everyone who wrote, voted, or giggled!

As you might imagine, spending the week in Hawaii with my parents and my gentleman friend is giving me a lot to smile about. Besides the fact that I'm here to relax and hang out with loved ones, there's a legitimate author-related reason for my journey to the island of Kauai.

The new romantic comedy I began writing two weeks ago is set here on this gorgeous island where my parents reside part-time. Though I'm awaiting my editor's feedback on the first three chapters to know if I'll finish the story, I figure it can't hurt to spent a little time researching.

Sometimes my job sucks so much I can't stand it.

I've been here just over 24 hours and have already seen several things that inspired me with  hearthrobs, laughter, or some combination of both. Allow me to share:
The honeymooners seated next to us on the flight from San Francisco to Hawaii. Both were in their late 80s. I'm pretty sure I saw him cop a feel at least twice.
A bumper sticker tacked to the guardrail at the entrance of a beach where I set one of the first scenes in the new book. It made me giggle on my last visit here, and still has me smiling on this trip.

Strolling in the orchid gardens with my mommy.

You probably need a dirty mind to see why this shell is funny. That means pretty much every blog reader is giggling right now.

My gentleman friend. 'Nough said.


What's making YOU smile right now? Please share!

5 comments :

Sarah Allen said...

Oh my freak I'm jealous! But lets see, what's making me smile...new brother in law who's hilarious (and who's parents look like uncle vernon and aunt petunia :) :), road trip to Washington this weekend, and my Disney pandora station.

Sarah Allen
(my creative writing blog)

Unknown said...

I've started up bird watching (birds of prey are my new favourite thing) and went out for the first time today. Saw up to three of them play during the sunny hour I spent out by a field. Fantastic feeling.

Sierra Godfrey said...

That seashell made me smile, as did your comment that you knew I'd be smiling.

Also: that it's a beautiful spring day. The baby is napping. I don't have to work in a coal mine. I have a house. So many things.

Neurotic Workaholic said...

I wish I could get a bunch of those bumper stickers and attach them to the faces of all the smokers in my neighborhood.
Your trip sounds wonderful. Sometimes it's good just to get away from everything and take time to breathe.

said...

This is an interesting post, I'm following your blog for quite some time now, I like your writings, it's great, and therefor I am passing the Kreativ Blogger award on to you! Please read about it on my blog!

http://jannldwk.blogspot.com/2012/05/kreativ-blogger-award-this-is-great-im.html

Have a pleasant weekend.