Friday, July 11, 2008 - Passing of the Torch

My father passed away Tuesday after a six month struggle following a major heart attack and open heart surgery. He was seventy nine years old. My dad was the greatest waterman to live and my biggest inspiration. He lived on and in the ocean, enjoying the recreation and reaping the sustenance from it. He was an avid free-dive spear fisher, surf caster, and lay and throw net. He made his own Hawaiian slings, wound his poles, sewed his own nets. Although he smoked like a chimney, he could outdive me every time at least two to one (I'd have to surface twice for air to his one dive). And he would almost always come up with a tako or lobster. I was the stringer boy with a catch bag at my waist. We would never take more from the ocean than we needed - there was always more to be had but my dad always stressed on me the importance of respect and conservation for the land and ocean and its resources. My father taught me to swim and surf when I was a small boy. He helped me train when I was on the school swim team, and taught me how to read the ocean, the swells and movement of water and how to negotiate rip currents. That knowledge and those skills saved my life on many occasions in big surf on Oahu's North Shore during my younger days. Its interesting how many of us don't recognize the value of our parents during our upbringing ("you guys never let me do anything", "you mean I need to work and save my money to buy what I want?!", etc). For me it took a lifetime to understand how much my mom and dad love me and all the discipline and responsibilities imposed upon me were for my benefit. Dad was not an easy person to live with - he was very opinionated, stubborn, and you had to do things his way or hit the highway. We fought constantly over minutiae. He didn't approve of my career choices (music, graphic and fine art). But recently dad had approved of me and my life, my individuality, career and lifestyle. Although he never told me, I am sure he was proud of my accomplishments and the awards I had received. I am now passed the torch to become a father to my son - a daunting task but one I must meet. I've taught Kaipo about the ocean, how to swim and take him standup paddle surfing in the manner in which my father taught me - I've come full circle. And although I'll miss him terribly, I know that Dad's spirit lives within me and will guide me to become the best person I can be. Aloha no Pop - I love you!

Thursday, July 3, 2008 - Last Day of Robotics

It seems the summer season just got underway, and in the blink of an eye we're halfway through it. We are finishing up the second session of our Hawaii Youth Robotics summer enrichment camp today with a special show and tell session for parents. I would like to say that we were almost not going to run the camp this year due to funding that never materialized. This in turn meant we couldn't bring in our friends from the Rensellaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) Center for Initiatives in Precollege Education, who had been our lead instructors over the previous two years. Of course we did run our camps, with the support of our robotic educator cadre: Kurt Jarrett of Connections PCS, Steve Wilhelm of Waters of Life PCS and Loke Roseguo of Nawahi. Additional support came from our student assistants Noa Flaherty, Reyn Yoshioka, Agyei Marshall, Jade Miyashiro, Matthew Takemoto, Shay Ma-e, Megan DeCoito, Kylie Umeda. I am very proud of our lead instructional team as they were able to take charge and create a very engaging program for our students.