Thursday, April 15, 1999

Movement on the Manhattan Bridge

No, Shayna's not a supermodel. That was an April Fool's joke.

Shayna met her first novellist last Saturday. I transported her to NYU for a panel discussion entitled "Representation Blues: An Artist's Accountibility or Poetic License?" as part of the Asian/Pacific/American Studies Program and Institute's 5th Annual Asians In America Conference entitled "Is Charlie Chan Really Dead? - Representations and Beyond". There she met Lois-Ann Yamanaka, renowned "Pidgin" author from Hawai'i. The discussion was over her head, but she enjoyed riding on the subway, going to her first book store (Posman Books), and visiting Washington Square Park. She even challenged Daddy to a diaper changing contest on the way home, seeing if he could change an explosively messy diaper on a moving subway car before he would have to get off the train and transfer to another one, or risk a surprise visit to Coney Island. He succeeded and she proved the old theorem If a baby cries loudly on a subway car, and there are people around to hear it, they are happy to see you get off the train.

Grandma Diane responded:

Wow! This NY girl is ahead of Grandma Diane in her NYC experiences! Wish I
could check with Pop-Pop on this one, but don't think I rode the subway
before I was one year old...maybe the SI Ferry, though....

Leave after my CW class today for HNL and two days of meetings...the 35th
Community College Anniversary bash is at the Waikiki Sheraton tomorrow
night; they even brought back John Prihoda, one of Leeward's provosts from
the seventies...should be lots of deja vu....

I am writing this from HOME and it is great having my email and the net
here...BTW, if Nancy Higa hasn't told you, she LOVES getting the emails
from you.

Love, Mom

P.S. Poppa John called me at work yesterday to describe birth of calf in
upper pasture as he stood in entryway, watching. "Big Red" is first of
cows to deliver; we're expecting five more spring babies.

Nancy Higa responded:

Hi Kids:

Your E-mails have wonderfully hilarious subjects. Your words, Bill, painted
a very vivid picture of you and Shayna on the subway. In addition, exposing
Shayna to book stores and our local writers is an impressive first step in
her literary education. But I have to say, you're a brave daddy.

Sounds like all is going well for the four of you. I got my taxes done
finally. However, with each passing year, I am more and more paranoid with
the whole operation. I've got to be better organized on a month-to month
basis and then, maybe, it won't take a week out of my
life.

I talked to your mother last Sunday on her return from Florida. She is
looking forward to Shayna's baby naming gathering and seeing all of you in
June.

I'm going to a reception this afternoon for LCC's first Dean of Instruction,
John Prihoda. He left us to open Windward CC and then moved to Iowa to head
the community college system there. The CC's are celebrating their 35th
anniversary of joining the university system.

Love to all, Nancy

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