CELEBRATING MY 70TH BIRTHDAY!

Illustrious bodypainter, Ferry Zeeman, sent me these images for my 70th birthday last week.  Ferry is an old (and he'll agree that we are now considered really old!) childhood friend.  We both grew up in Balikpapan, Indonesia and attended the Dutch school there.  After an adventurous career in the Merchant Marines, Ferry settled in Oegstgeest, The Netherlands and launched himself into the art form of painting bodies.  Although indigenous peoples the world over have always adorned themselves with paint and other organic matter, at the time this was a new expression of art for the western developed world.  Now bodypainting has developed into one of the most outstanding, outrageous, fantastic, and futuristic art forms with exhibitions and competitions in Europe and South America.  Ferry Zeeman was one of its pioneers, if not THE pioneer in Europe.  Check out his website: http://www.ferryzeeman.nl/bodypaint.htm

So now that I'm 70, I agree with all the good women who have told me that real life begins at 70.  Consider this: the whole month has been one big celebration!  And I expect it to continue.  It started off with a family reunion in Little Rock, Arkansas, where my youngest sister Paulette lives.  Paulette is a marketing and organizational genius.  No kidding.  She sweetly persuaded our humongous family of 80-85 (exact number?) members to travel to Little Rock to celebrate our 50 years in the USA and then single-handedly organized the event.  If you've ever tried to herd an Indo (Dutch-Indonesian) family together without causing hard feelings, you'll know what a feat she accomplished.  I will devote a whole post, "From Batik to Boots," to our incredible family reunion.
 

Reunion T-shirt shows how far the family has spread

Back to my celebrations.  After the reunion, my AWOL circle of art sisters celebrated by going on a Zipline adventure in Kaneohe.  (AWOL stands for Artist Way Of Life, or as someone's husband joked: Artists WithOut a Life.  He's just jealous.)  Not one to enjoy heights or funky carnival rides, I hoped I wasn't going to puke.  But it turned out to be quite a mild zip, lasting 10 to 15 seconds, just enough to get me out of my comfort zone. Filling out release forms, being weighed, suiting up, walking up to the starting point, and then waiting for your turn took way longer than the actual zip.  Still, it was quite a fun thing to do.  I asked the Zip Master if he’d ever had an older group of women zip and he answered no.  There you have it.  We’re his first.  Older women rule!

In addition to the Zipline birthday present, my AWOL sisters deluged me with more presents, most of them handmade (we’re artists after all) from clothes, jewelry, art and art materials, aphrodiacs, personally harvested lavender, screen-printed kitchen towels, and a Ganesha statue (Hindu god of prosperity and remover of obstacles) to a quirky hand-made stuffed rabbit I named Shoo-Shnookie-Shnook II, after Shoo-Shnookie-Shnook I, the beloved 65-year-old stuffed bear of artist Jahn-Peter, one of my Open Studio friends.

I learned that the Honolulu Branch of the National League of American Pen Women planned to present me with a happy birthday lei at our September meeting.  I had signed up and paid for the meeting, but promptly forgot about going.  They gave my lei to someone else.  Oh well, forgetting is one of the inalienable rights of growing older, right?

The Diamond Head Community Garden celebrated my birthday with a fantastic garden clean up.  Two long-time gardeners assured me that it was the best attended, best organized, and most enjoyable community workday ever in the entire history of the garden.  Even if they might have exaggerated (another right of growing older), it made for a wonderful birthday present.  For photos, see http://diamondheadcommunitygarden.blogspot.com

Garden members gifted me with four lei, an orchid plant, a bouquet of flowers, plant food, a home-made organic pain medicine, and a beautiful Buddha statue.  I decorated my plot with a birthday flag.

After the garden clean up, my fellow gardener and neighbor, Marilyn, took me for my birthday lunch to Uncle’s at Pier 38.  They just happened to have freshly-caught halibut.  It melted on my tongue!  What a treat!

That day was for eating and more eating.  My darling daughter and sweetheart son-in-law, brought us a delicious Thai dinner and a beautiful bouquet of flowers.

The day after my birthday, I celebrated by getting up early and walking to Queen’s Beach for the Na Wahine Festival Triathlon.

 The ocean was cold and very rough. You won't see me do any of this.

Power to these women!

Yesterday was another day of festivities.  It started off with Zumba at the bandstand in Kapiolani Park, made more exciting by a sudden downpour. 

Then a party at the Monarch Room of the Royal Hawaiian Hotel in Waikiki, hosted by Harry Kasanow, our financial advisor.  As usual, pre-dinner entertainment was by the incomparable Iona Contemporary Dancers. 

This year Harry feasted us with a spectacular concert by the quintet, “Hot Club of Hulaville,” playing in Django Reinhardt-style.  Breathtaking!  I had to have their CD, “Django Would Go!” www.hotclubofhulaville.com

 Fabulous singer Ginai with Sonny Silva on guitar

The biggest surprise of the night was that the City & County of Honolulu threw me a Waikiki Ho’olaulea Happy Birthday bash!  Kalakaua Avenue was closed off to traffic and became one huge party scene. 

 Kalakaua Avenue at 5:00 PM

A bandstand in front of the Moana Hotel around 9:30 PM.

Phil and I caught more music as we walked back home after Harry’s party.

The trio, “Maunaloa,” gave me chicken skin with their haunting songs in falsetto!

An unknown sixties band had a row of enthusiastic women dancing in front

A evangelical Christian duo singing hymns.

A guy on electric guitar with his girlfriend, singing Elvis’, “Y’ain’t Nothin’ But a Hound Dog.”

To the people of Hawaii and the people of the world:

THANK YOU ALL FOR CELEBRATING MY 70^TH BIRTHDAY!