2009 Highlights from Mel

December 26, 2009

Time’s going by faster as Sandy and I get “finer” like the rest of you reading this! Out of the good blur of this past year many things stand out in my mind:

• Many quiet late evening dinners with Sandy after visiting Aunty Molly at the Hale Nani Convalescent Center. Relaxed weekend lunches with Sandy after her yoga classes in Chinatown.
• Jogging with Lauren around the neighborhood after work and finishing the Great Aloha Fun Run of 8.25 miles with her in 80 minutes on President’s Day.
• Singing in “Carmen” for the Hawaii Opera Theater Chorus with Lauren at the Neal Blaisdell Concert Hall in late 2/09. “La Boheme” is coming up soon!
• A road trip to Hilo with my mom, Charlotte, and brother, Robert, prompted by the funeral of a cousin of my mom’s, but an opportunity to be flexible and have fun as well as support the family. I got to sing and play “Waimanalo Blues” with Randy Lorenzo of Country Comfort backing me up for the waiting passengers at the Hilo Airport. Mom got a kick out of seeing her doctor son able to do that!
• Continuing our family’s good luck by finding a beautiful beach estate on Kahana Bay for celebrating Lauren’s graduation/uniki as kumu hula in 8/09. Also earlier in the year, watching with pride and great pleasure as Lauren became the Lei Day Queen for the City and County of Honolulu.
• Placing first in the Kupuna Kane soloist division for the Hula Oni E at the Hilton Hawaiian Village in late August. Our halau is ending the classes for kane soon so at least I’m going out on top!!
• Training to be a part of the crew and one of the medical doctors for the Polynesian Voyaging Society’s Hokulea around the world voyage in 2012-2015 with Lauren and her boyfriend, Luke. I get a chance to be a risk-taker and adventurous!!
• Finishing the Honolulu Marathon with Elliot in record time for us, despite the nagging calf cramp that slowed me after 15 miles to a run-walk style. Elliot stayed with me but could have kept running and finished much faster than we did together. Thanks son!
• Enjoying slackkey guitar and sharing it with patients, Straub and State Hospital employees, various functions for the John. A. Burns Medical School and its staff, and on the Hokulea.
• Being selected again as one of the Best Doctors in Hawaii despite working primarily as a State employee for the Department of Health and part-time at Straub Clinic.

Here’s a wish for another good year to come for our family and yours as well!!!

Happy Holidays!

Christmas Day 2009

They say a picture is worth 1,000 words so here are a few thousand for you to chew on:

Fall 2009 is the beginning of a new adventure for me as the Choir Director at Sacred Hearts Academy. We pulled off a beautiful Christmas concert, if I do say so myself, and I was honored to have my family and EXTENDED family there to enjoy it with me. Special thanks to Uncle David Takagi (who also happens to be the father of a prior SHA choir director) for the awesome photos.

I've adopted a new family (that's Chad Williams- my good friend - on the left, and his brother Luke - my boyfriend, on the right). As you can tell, we have a terrible time together, and can barely stand to be in the same room...let alone the same Halloween costume ("Rub-a-dub-dub Three Buds in a Tub" made it into the Honolulu Nightlife Column, "Metromix")

I also teach a Hawaiian History course to 10th graders at SHA and I've really been enjoying the challenge. This is a picture of my Period 1 Hawaiian History class on Halloween -- the ladies were most excited to be allowed to dress in costume or "Friday Attire" for the day.

Let me take a moment to brag about Luke Williams, the boyfriend:

• Born November 12, 1982 (7 days after me!)

• Kamehameha c/o '01 (same year as me!)

• Doctor of Architecture

• Watch Captain for Hōkūleʻa

• *New* Director of Technology for the Ceded Lands grant at UH Mānoa

• Broadway musical enthusiast

• Goofball extraordinaire

• My link to the wonderful Williams ʻohana!

Daddy's little girl is all grown up! Dad first got into the Opera scene when he was chaperoning for me - back in the days of the Children's chorus. Now we're both in the adult chorus. Last year was Carmen but I hope you'll all check out our upcoming show, "La Boheme."

I'm not witty, like Elliot, or eloquent, like Mom...but I've got snapshots a plenty. If you'd like to see more, find me on Facebook or shoot me an email. Hope all is well with everyone and wishing you all a Happy Holiday Season!

(Merry Christmas, Mom. I even got the blog done before Christmas! Love you!)

New hobbies... and new bruises.

With my fingers numb from the cold, I gripped my large Coke in one hand and the aluminum handlebars with the other. My pink nose and rosy cheeks are as good a thermometer as any - and they read, "much too cold for shorts and a t-shirt." With my legs approaching a jell-o-esque state, you can imagine my relief in arriving back on campus after a 20-mile ride.

As I cruised by the library, I smiled at fellow students and left a trail of french fry aroma behind me. In the last 100 feet before the door to my warm, cozy dormitory, a challenger presented herself. Riding a beast of a beach-cruiser, she was obviously unsure of herself on the bicycle. Her front wheel twitched side to side nervously in a battle to maintain balance and steer the behemoth. At 50 feet out, I steered to the right of the sidewalk and maintained a steady, decisive coast. At 25 feet, I yelled out of courtesy, "I'm coming on your left. YOUR left."

This is where everything went wrong.

As if the wires were crossed, the steel cruiser veered left - right into my path. She mashed the pedals in attempt to accelerate out of the death trap, but it was too late. Life slowed and I saw visions of a disastrous collision flash before me. As a last ditch effort to minimize casualties, I dove diagonally over my handlebars into the grass.

Still standing over her bike, the girl on the other side of the collision seemed near tears, and I couldn't help but feel bad for her. She apologized over and over, asking if I was alright and if she could somehow make it up to me. A bystander ran up to me to make sure everything was ok - which was nice - but the real concern was the condition of my bike.

Like a car crash between a Kia and a Hummer, her bike looked completely fine, while mine sustained damages from front to back. My front wheel was out of true, the handlebars had somehow rotated 45 degrees sideways and my saddle was tilted at an odd angle.

As I lied to the girl and told her everything was as good as new, the same bystander that came to my aid began clapping. At first I found this embarrassing, until he proclaimed, "Everything is fine, man. Check out your drink!" Almost as if by magic - right between the skid-marks from my bike and hers - my Coke sat upright. Upon closer inspection, not even one drop had been compromised.

Despite the incident, I still enjoy cycling. Fellow riders have told me that this is the first of many crashes - at least I got a good story out of it.

In addition to my new hobby, I am always working on growing my photography business. My company, ecphoto, has had a great start, seen loads of support and will continue to be fueled by my passion for photography and the joy I find in helping to tell the stories of others through pictures.

I have just completed version 2.0 of ecphoto.com, and am beginning to explore different types of social networking such as blogging, Twitter and Facebook.

As far as school goes, I'm still at Santa Clara University, but I am changing my major from Mechanical Engineering to Economics.

It has been a great year, and I hope to hear your stories, too.

If you're interested in keeping up with me throughout the year, here are your options:
Become a fan of ecphoto on Facebook!
Follow me on Twitter!
Check out my blog!
Visit my studio website!

2009 Family Photos

Chang Family's 2009

2009 has been a challenging year and, with that in mind, our family is grateful to be in good health and spirits this holiday season. Much has happened and this will be a quick summary of the Changs’ year.

Melvin continues to perfect his skills on the slack key guitar, providing enjoyment to family, friends and community through his solo performances as well as gigs with his doctors’ group, Na Leo Kauka, and a group of musicians made up of friends and relatives who share his love for music. He continues to perform as a dancer for his halau, Ka Hale I o Kahala, and was proud to win first place as the Kupuna Kane soloist this year at the Hula Oni E competition. He and Lauren sang together in the chorus for the opera Carmen in February. His work at the State Hospital is both challenging and rewarding, but still leaves him with enough free time to enjoy life and do the things he loves.

Elliot began his second year at Santa Clara University this year and is working hard and doing well. He discovered a new passion after mom and dad bought him a new set of wheels (sorry, a bicycle and not a car) to get around in Santa Clara. He enjoys bicycling on campus and around the town and is currently rebuilding his bicycle after an unfortunate vandalism incident (all too common on college campuses). He continues to pursue photography and has shot three weddings so far with his girlfriend, Lindsey, including Paige and Jarred’s this summer. Elliot and Dad ran the Honolulu Marathon again in December, and Elliot’s next goal is to do a triathlon.

Lauren has had the busiest year of all of us, and I will just mention some of the things that have happened in her life. One of the biggest events this year was her ‘uniki as a kumu hula this August under the guidance of her mentor, Aunty Leimomi Maldonado. Lauren also began her career as a high school teacher in September. She is the high school choral director at Sacred Heart’s Academy (mom’s Alma Mater) and also teaches Hawaiian history and after-school hula there. She is very happy to have discovered her calling as she enjoys teaching very much. Other big events in her life this year have been serving as the 2009 Lei Queen for the City & County of Honolulu, traveling to New York for Hawaiian Air to dance at the NASDAQ stock exchange, and beginning her graduate studies in the Master’s program in music at UH Manoa. In a new venture, Lauren and Melvin are training to become crew members of the Hokule`a under the guidance of Lauren’s boyfriend, Luke, who is a watch captain for the canoe.

Sandy continues to be occupied with research, teaching and administration at the UH School of Medicine. She traveled to Washington DC to present her research at a national conference in November. She will be traveling to DC often in the next three years as a regular member of a National Institutes of Health review committee. She has been enjoying visiting Elliot in Santa Clara and also having the opportunity to get together with old friends who live in the area including high school friends Mary (and her husband Frank), Melvia (and Ronald), and Ann Lynn. Sandy has also spent most of her evenings with Aunty Molly who now resides at a nursing home after suffering a stroke in March of this year. Aunty Molly is doing much better and comes home for special holidays to spend time with family and friends.

G’ma Nita is doing well and takes good care of us, having assumed Aunty Molly’s laundry duties and also keeping our house and yard looking good. She still has fun with her bowling buddies and is an avid sports fan, especially of our Rainbow Wahine volleyball and Warrior football teams.

We were sad to bid Aloha to our dear dog, Lady, this year. Most of you have met Lady when you visited our home and we still miss her presence as part of our family. Melvin, Elliot and Lindsey were with Lady when she passed away peacefully.

We are hopeful that the New Year, 2010 – The Year of the Tiger, will bring all of our family and friends courage, good fortune and happiness.

Introduction

We're trying something new this year - a Chang Family Christmas blog. The Changs have had an eventful year and we thought it would be fun for friends and family to read each of our takes on 2009 in our own words. Hopefully, this blog will contain an entry from each family member to update you on our experiences, special events, travels and ideas. It would also be fun to hear from you, our readers, to share your thoughts as you read through our entries. Enjoy reading this blog and Merry Christmas!