The best job in the world

Well, I did get my application in for "the best job in the world" and it has been accepted. Normally, all we would do is wait at this point. But this application is different. YOU can help. We need you to go view and rate (highly of course) the video. You can see it at http://www.islandreefjob.com/applicants/watch/ozSgvMXEQho.

Something happened during the compression/up-loading that really messed up the middle of the video. I've up-loaded the original file to YouTube - you can see it at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQyFY8zF3ys. That's the way it's SUPPOSED to look! Ah well!

Watch the real one then view it and rate it (highly of course) on the islandreef site.

Then we need you to tell all your friends about it so THEY can view and rate (highly of course) the video. And then they need to tell their friends to tell their friends to tell their friends. It's a viral marketing thing, you know?

You see, the Queensland Tourism people are going to shortlist 50 people (out of nearly 20,000). One of the shortlisted finalists will be a sort of "people's choice." So while we're confident we'll make the cut on the strength of the video alone, a little back up doesn't hurt.

So go watch the video and help us spread the word.

And thank you for your support.

Happy Birthday, Ellery

A little catching up to do. We've been working our application for "The World's Best Job." Yeah, we know - living here and having Ola Lola's IS the world's best job. We absolutely agree. But the tourism folks in Queensland, Australia, seem to think being island caretaker on their island in the Great Barrier Reef is a better gig. Either way, sounds like a wonderful adventure so I'm sending in my application this week.

We had one other birthday last week that we couldn't mention earlier. Happy birthday, Ellery! She celebrated her birthday with a little surprise get-together at Ola Lola's on Friday. Ellery is here living with her mom and sister for a while, enjoying life on a tropical island. What a deal for your last year in high school!


Friday was also the first-ever Ola Lola's Friday the 13th "This could be your lucky night party." We had a lot of fun with drawings for special "get lucky" prizes including a bouquet of flowers from Elaine at Fusion Floral and Art. Congratulations to Zan who won the flowers.


Our friends Bobby and Alex won the grand prize for the night - they got to party for free when the won their tab for the night. Talk about lucky!

This weekend will be Jordan's last weekend at the grill at Ola Lola's. If you want some of the best pinchos on the island or one of his fabulous gourmet sirloin burgers, better get here this weekend. It's hard to believe he's been here nearly three months, but he leaves to back to school on the 27th.

Happy Valentine's Day

To all of our friends and loved ones, Happy Valentine's Day! Hug somebody you love today.

Today is also our son Jason's birthday. Happy birthday, Jason! We love you and miss you. Maybe next year you can spend your birthday here with us. We would love it!

Happy Friday the 13th!

Today is Friday the 13th.

A lot of people think it's an unlucky day but here at Ola Lola's, we don't agree. So tonight we're having a "This Could Be Your Lucky Day" party (or as some people dubbed it, "You could get lucky at Ola Lola's" night). We have drawings for stuff- t-shirts, necklaces, special beer openers, and for the grand prize, on lucky guest will get his or her bar tab paid.

Some quick facts about Friday the 13th:

1. This is one of three Fridays the 13th this year. The next one is March 13th (makes sense if you think about it) and another is November 13th. Such a threesome of Fridays the 13th happens every - wait for it - 11 years (not 13).

2. The British Navy launched a ship named Friday the 13th. It left dock on Friday the 13th and was never heard from again.

3. The Apollo 13 mission was launched at 13:13 CST on April 11, 1970. The sum of the digits of the date (4/11/70 or 4+1+1+7+0) equals 13. The explosion that crippled the spacecraft occurred on April 13 (not a Friday however).

4. Many hospitals do not have a room 13. Many high-rise buildings do not have a 13th floor.

5. Although no one know for sure where it came from, the fear of Friday the 13th is called paraskavedektriaphobia. (I have a fear of ever having to type that again.)

6. Butch Cassidy was born on Friday, April 13, 1866.

7. Fidel Castro was born on Friday, August 13, 1926.

8. Franklin Rossevelt would not travel on the 13th of any month, whether Friday or not. Herbert Hoover and Napoleon were both triskaidekaphobic, with a fear of the number 13.

9. In Paris diners can hire a quatozieme - a profession 14th guest.

10. The seals on the back of a dollar bill include: 13 steps on the pyramid, 13 stars above the eagle's head, 13 war arrows in the eagle's claw and 13 leaves in the olive branch.

Enjoy your Friday the 13th. And for heaven's sake, don't walk under any ladders!

Birthdays birthdays birthdays

Today of course is the 200th anniversary of Abe Lincoln's birthday.

Did you know it's also the 200th anniversary of Charles Darwin's birthday? Two of the most influential men of the 19th Century, men whose contributions to humanity are still felt today, were born on the same day.

Two of our great friends on the island celebrate birthdays this week. Today is Charlie Pasarell's birthday. Yesterday was Charlie's younger brother Stanley's birthday.

On Sunday we celebrated a very special birthday at Ola Lola's. Our friend George's stepfather Alec is here, visiting from Scotland. He celebrated his 80th birthday with us.


On Monday Alec, a life-long lover of horses and horse racing, got his very first horseback ride on Chocolate.

And, if that weren't enough birthdays for one week, Jackie Young, daughter of our friends Trevor and Jen at Villa Tropical, celebrated her 2nd birthday with a beach party.


Happy birthday to all. There are probably a few birthdays being celebrated this week that we missed. Happy birthday to all of you, too.

Yesterday at Surfers Beach

It must have been quite a squall over the ocean. I think this was the widest, brightest, longest lasting rainbow I've ever seen. It was amazing!

We've had a funky week of weather here. Lots of rain (but no floods, knock on wood), huge winds, big, mostly unsurfable waves, and cold - at least for here. Maybe we're all becoming wooses. Maybe our blood in thinning out. Whatever the reason, there have been lots of sweatshirts and jackets pulled out of closets, some for the first time.

I hate to even mention the word "cold" since som many of our friends in the Midwest and Northeast have had one of the worst winters in years. But, hey - everything is relative, right?

Happy birthday, Marti

Today would have been my mother's 82nd birthday.

Happy birthday, Marti. We miss you.

Happy February

It's a new month. Where did January go?

Happy belated birthday to Jen and Andrea. Both celebrated their birthdays yesterday.

Zan had a sorta combined birthday/Super Bowl party last night. That's the second party Zan hosted this week. On Wednesday we had a co-ed baby shower for Jen and Trevor. Their baby is due next month. A lot of the guys grumbled "I don't know what to do at a baby shower!" But a couple of beers or glasses of wine and some great food made it easier.

We got to the Super Bowl party late, after Lola's closed but in time to watch a great 4th quarter. I'm not really a big American football fan; I prefer real football, er... soccer. But that was a fun, exciting end to the "big" game, maybe one of the best quarters in Super Bowl history.

Things have been mostly quiet here on our corner of the island. There hasn't been much surf to speak of and the winds have been mostly pretty calm for the last few days. So, no new KAP photos, not many new kite surf photos, no new surf photos. I'm hoping that's about to change. There is supposed to be a good northwest swell building in this morning so all surfers (and photographers) are headed to the beach. Including me.

We need a new fence

The board fence around our house was pretty much rotted away. Chocolate could push his head through gaps in the fence and eat the hibiscus, which he loves.

This week we put up a new fence.

We (read: Elaine) spent a lot of time researching all kinds of fences, looking for the best combination of cost, environmental friendliness, longevity and privacy. We (read: we) looked at another board fence, this time with treated wood, cyclone fence, even plastic lattice. Then Elaine found this bamboo on the Internet. It was comparable in cost to all the other acceptable possibilities, even with shipping from the mainland. At 8 feet high, it offered the privacy we were looking for. It is cured bamboo of a species insects don't usually like so it should last a long time. And it was pretty easy (albeit time consuming) to install.

So now we have this beautiful new bamboo fence around us. We've gotten tons of wonderful compliments on it. And we're really happy with it. The only problem now is we want redo Ola Lola's in all bamboo.

But that's a project (or projects) for another month.

New Ground - hope & virtue

Today we have a new president, Barack Obama. The world already feels different. After 8 years of hubris, we have humility. After 8 years of fear-mongering, we have hope. There is a sense that the world is moving toward a better place, a place of peace and joy and justice. As President Obama said in his inaugural address, "What the cynics fail to understand is that the ground has shifted beneath them — that the stale political arguments that have consumed us for so long no longer apply."

Many of us are grateful for this shift and eager to see its results. A friend was talking with us the other day about how wonderful it would be if the media started to headline and focus the majority of their attention on stories of hope, stories of success, and stories that illicit gratitude and happiness from people. At the time it was an interesting idea but viewed somewhat cynically, as it seemed so far-fetched.

However, I've been giving that some thought. Maybe if as individuals we each focused on and decided that this is possible - that we can work and play and love and live productive lives without focusing on ideas and stories that are driven by fear, sensationalism, and negativity - we could each start demonstrating it little by little and make the change from the ground up. I've never been much of a believer in "trickle down" effectiveness so I think this is a good place to start. As part of my community service, I intend to focus on positive actions, ideas and stories coming out of our community. I will share these with others. And, I will energize myself by passing on information and stories that focus on hope and virtue, leaving behind those that are negative and propagate fear. It's an exciting idea, easier said than done, but I think well worth the effort.

Congratulations, Celeste and Christian

Our friends Celeste and Christian celebrated part of their wedding weekend with us on Sunday. Their final "get-together"before family and friends headed back to the States was here at Ola Lola's.

Celeste is a finance director for the Democratic Party so they flew out Monday morning for New York and then directly on to Washington for President Barack Obama's inauguration today. We gave 'em a great party at Ola Lola's but I don't know how that compares to the inauguration. Talk about a honeymoon!

Congratulations Celeste and Christian! Thank you for sharing a bit of your special weekend with us. Hopefully, we'll see you for many anniversaries to come.

Happy on the beach

Okay - it's been a little over a week since we've posted anything. Not because there's nothing to write about; there's always something happening to write about. It's just that we've been hearing the weather from just about everywhere in the States and it's almost embarrassing to be here, enjoying our life in paradise. It almost feels like we're rubbing it in.

Almost.

And as one of our frigid frozen friends said, "Keep writing. We need to know there is SOMETHING else."

So here we are, chillin' on the beach, enjoying it, and grateful to be here.

It's been a good week. We've been working with our nephew Jordan to get his "pincho and burger" business going so he can afford to stay here 'til he goes back to college in March. He's really "stoked" to learn to surf while he's here. I gotta say, there are challenges to sharing the house (and the business) with a 20-year-old. But for the most part, it's going well. And he does make a mean pincho (pinchos are meat-on-a-stick, a shish kabob without the veggies).

Happy Three Kings Day

Today is Three Kings Day, also known as Twelfth Night and Epiphany. In the Christmas story, this is the day the three wise men brought gifts to Jesus in the manger.

Here in Puerto Rico, Three Kings Day (Dia de Tres Reyes) is often bigger than Christmas Day itself. It is a holiday, a time for families to gather and celebrate, either instead of Christmas or in addition to Christmas.

On Three Kings Eve, children put hay or grass for the wise men's camels in boxes under their beds (much like their northern cousins leave cookies and milk for Santa). In the morning the boxes are gone and wonderful presents have been left in their place.

The three kings are very popular and common in Puerto Rican art and are represented in many different ways and styles. It is a rare Puerto Rican household that does not have some representation of the three kings.

A special guest

We had a special visitor at Ola Lola's last night. Back sometime in the last century, I had a college roommate who was from, of all places, Puerto Rico. About four years ago we reconnected via e-mail and occasional phone calls. He was on the island for the new governor's inauguration on Friday (Manny now lives in Orlando). Last night he surprised me by showing up at Ola Lola's (Elaine knew he was coming but kept it a surprise - she's good at that).

It was a short (too short!) but wild reunion.

It was really nice to see an friend after so many years. We both hope it won't be anywhere near that long before we see each other again.

Happy New Year!

More than 40 of us gathered on the beach at Shacks last night to toast the last sunset of the year. It was an amazing, beautiful sunset. It was a beautiful end to a not-always-beautiful year but it filled us all with hope for the new year.

From the beach we went to Marisol's for the rest of the evening and a party full of great friends, wonderful food (I think I ate more than I drank and I drank a lot) and good times. We left the party a little early but this morning we heard the party went on 'til 3:00 am.

We're keeping our new year's tradition alive this afternoon with a New Year's Day kite fly (today is the 20th annual New Year's Day festival). Elaine and I have been doing festivals for more than 25 years and we are frequently asked, "What's the weather going to be like?" For years, I've answered, "clear skies, sunshine, about 80 degrees, winds 7-10 mph." Hey - as long as you're wishing, wish for the best, wish for perfection.

But that is EXACTLY the forecast for this afternoon. What an amazing start to the new year! How can we not be filled with hope?

Merry Chistmas!

Our nephew Jordan spells out our message on the dune.

So where ya been? Oh, I guess it's the other way 'round - we haven't been here. We lost Internet early on Christmas Eve and didn't get it back until late last night. So we've been here, just not able to get on line.

For the last two weeks we've had huge winds - 30 mph plus - day and night. It's been overcast much of the time, and rainy. Lousy surf (mostly) and too much wind for kite surfing to be much fun. On Christmas Eve the power was off and on, mostly off. Every time the power went off, the cell phone towers went down. And Internet just went away for a week. Empathy for our friends in the frozen north perhaps?

But all is back on now. The winds are back to more manageable speeds. Skies are blue and the ocean is pretty calm (surfers aren't very happy about that). And we can get back to wishing everyone a very merry Christmas (which we'd planned to do a week ago).

We had a wonderful Christmas. Christmas Eve we had invited some visiting friends from the States over for a quiet dinner. On Christmas Day we went to our friends Mary and George's home for dinner. Mary and her cousin Teresa (visiting from Scotland) made an amazing Christmas dinner: starters with smoked salmon and pate; then ham, two kinds of turkey, roasted potatoes, mashed potatoes, carrots in a honey-dijon glaze, green beans, fresh bread, salad; and all topped off with a Christmas pudding with brandy sauce. Oh my god. I haven seen so much food since...since...since Thanksgiving at Marisol's. It was wonderful!

Last night (Dec. 29) was our holiday party and a celebration of our second anniversary at Ola Lola's (and our fourth wedding anniversary). More than 80 people came to celebrate with us. Sorry if you missed it. It was great time. Lots of people brought a bunch o' yummy dishes to share so there was lots of food. We had a small gift exchange that pleased everyone. And of course, in the true Ola Lola's party spirit, there was lots of fun and great company.

Thank you to everyone who stopped by to celebrate with us. And a huge special thanks to all our friends, both here on the island and all those who have visited Ola Lola's during the past two years, for helping make our lives so rich and so full, and for helping make Ola Lola's a success. Thank you all!

Celebrations

Happy Solstice! To all of our many friends in the northern half of the country, shivering and buried in ice and snow, please know we are thinking of you. We hope you are some place warm and safe.

Today, the shortest day of the year, has been celebrated as a special day for centuries. Even though today is officially the first day of winter (and even though some of you have had winter for weeks), from here on the days get longer. Spring is coming.

And in the sometimes weirdness that is our life, after not posting a blog for four days, we're putting up two on the shortest day of the year. And, we still have not mailed our Christmas cards!

Speaking of celebrations, on January 1 we will celebrate our 20th annual New Year's Day Kite Fly! If you are anywhere in the neighborhood, come join us.

Shh-h-h-h! It's a secret...

Nobody is supposed to know but today is our good friend George's birthday. He has a natural Scottish reticence about being in the spotlight or being fussed over. So if you see George today, just whisper "happy birthday." But don't tell him we told you it's his birthday.

Of course George didn't want a birthday party, but hey - this is Ola Lola's. Far be it from us to let such a moment pass. We knew George had another commitment for tonight so on Friday we threw him a Happy "it's not your" Birthday party. Not-your-birthday cake with candles was served and everyone participated in singing George many not-your-birthday songs with personalized lyrics (some of which Elaine got up in the middle of the night to write) to melodies such as "Auld Lang Syne," "My Favorite Things," and "We Wish You a Merry Christmas". And yes, George was surprised since he didn't know we knew his birthday was even close.

Party season is in full swing here on the island. (I guess that's the third season here in Puerto Rico, along with surf season and snorkel-'n-dive season.) Thursday night we went to Ron and Tina's Christmas party. Ron and Tina live in a beautiful house up on the cliff above Shore Island Beach and the Villa Pescara. They finished the patio in their yard this year so the party was outside.Their party is always a great mix of Puerto Ricans-by-birth and Puerto Ricans-by-choice. Somehow, (mostly at Ron's insistence) the party always ends in a stay-at-home paranda (more about parandas later).

Note to Zan: Someone brought the traditional Hormel party platter in your honor and it was a hit.

new favorite surf photo

This week we've had some good size waves in the 8-10 range around us. The problem for surfers has been the wind: it's been blowing 15-25 mph day and night. Wind like that across the face of the waves makes 'em terrible for surfers. Favorite surf breaks like Middles, Jobos, Surfers and Wilderness have been totally blown out and unsurfable.

Tuesday we went out checkin' out surf sites, just to see if by chance there might be something surfable and somebody might be out. Nobody at the usual spots but...

We stopped at Borinquen beach, just to look at the waves, 'cause it not usually a surf spot. But there, down near the cliff and the rocks, a half a dozen or so surfers were out. Wow!

I set up the camera so I could shoot with the rocks and cliff as a background. What a totally different look! It doesn't even look like a Puerto Rican surf break. There were some great shots from this short session. This is my personal favorite. In fact, it's my new favorite surf photo. I love the contrast between all the moving water and the rocks and the surfer right in the middle of it all.

You can see more from this set on Flickr and on the web site, www.puertoricosurfphoto.com.

You are invited

YOU are invited to the Ola Lola's Holiday Party and our 2nd Anniversary Celebration. I know, it will be hard for some of you to get here but you are invited anyway. If there is anyway you can be here, we'd love to see you.

Think about it. And know even if you're not here, we'll be thinking about you, too.