Plain Pillars

I have returned from my vacation in Curaçao, Netherlands Antilles, where I grew up. Curaçao is an island, a former Dutch colony in the Caribbean, just off the coast of Venezuela. Imagine Puerto Rico or Cuba on a map, and then move an imaginary finger down until you almost hit South America.

I love quirkiness, and I couldn't help but document Pillar Adornment Madness. Allow me to set a baseline for what is to come in the near future of this blog. Here are the blissfully bare pillars protecting an ordinary house in a middle-class neighborhood. Now hold on to your hats as we embark on an adventure into the world of pillar ornamentation.

Brazilian Aliens

Whoa! A friend of mine took this photo while studying in Piracicaba, Brazil this summer. Our aliens are cooler, though, I've decided, because they have an entire wardrobe. *very wide grin*

3 Must-Have Items

There's nothing like a 99-cent-store pilgrimage on a Sunday afternoon. There are four of them relatively close together near my home, and a friend and I ventured forth, ready for anything.

Item Number 1
She noticed a very small, long ironing board and we laughed and laughed. I think she irons. I don't even know where my iron is. There were about 10 of them. Two shelves later, there was a pile of them. "Wow! There must be a huge demand for these," she said. "Maybe they're for ironing sleeves." Sure enough. They are sleeve boards! Wow! You can buy them online, but it's a challenge to make sleeve boards sound sexy enough to buy. The sight of a pile of them is something you just have to experience for yourself. Bizarre.

Item Number 2
Laundry bags that are "hand-wash only." What?! Right next to them were dry-clean only laundry bags. Hmmm.

Item Number 3
What looked like a serious case of copyright (or some other serious legal) infringement. Winnie the Pooh and Piglet sitting on a barrel. The barrel lights up, and Winnie moves. The lettering on the barrel said something like "Dongjin," and the box explained the different types of movement, like "Action: Head fluctuating wiggle." I guess Pooh's head moves, eh? We were reading this on International Translation Day.

My friend had a bag of useful stuff at the end of our trip. I came away with a giant plastic compass with sidewalk chalk instead of a pencil, and am hoping fervently for a bit of rain so that my current "garden" (see September 24, 2007 and September 3, 2006 entries: Z's Garden and Instant Garden) will be washed away. Then I can go crazy with perfect chalk circles.

Mo' Spam Jam

It was bizarre to see large Samoan men in what I perceive to be colorful skirts walking around in the fog. The entertainment was great, though. Traditional music involving ukuleles and fabulous percussion as well as the reggae/Hawaiian hybrid. And lots of dancing: graceful ladies and bold warriors. Hot, half-naked, dancing men. What's not to love?!

One of the hosts looked ethnically confusing. He said he was part Filipino and I forget what the other parts were. In LA they think he's Mexican, in New York they think he's Italian. Funny! There were lots of T-shirts for sale that said things like, "I don't speak Spanish. I'm Samoan." Fun day, lots ot learn, lots to enjoy.

Spam Jam

What was I thinking?! Monterey summers can be chilly and foggy, but I wore shorts and sunscreen to the Polynesian Festival aka Spam Jam. I ended up buying a fleece shawl, blue with a hibiscus print, and shivering like everyone else. I got a $5 discount on my admission for bringing a can of Spam to be donated to the Food Bank and I got a code to download an free hour's worth of Hawaiian music, traditional and contemporary, from an Internet radio station. I had a great time. There were booths with the food, services, and art you would expect, and the entertainment was fabulous---more on that later.

I chatted with this man, who had built a ukulele out of a cigar box. Notice the "Uke" sticker on the ukulele case. I pulled away when he started telling me questionable dumb blonde jokes, though.

Aloha!

Biker Aliens

I knew that The Aliens left the window to change clothes. For example, one spring they wore straw hats and large pink ribbons because two of the occupants of that house had breast cancer. I also knew that The Aliens had a following. They have an online photo gallery. Besides, if the window is vacant for too long, people will leave notes in the house's mailbox, inquiring as to the wherabouts of The Aliens.

But I had never seen them *outside* the window. That'll teach me to underestimate my green friends! Apparently, some of their fans were visiting the area and took them out for a ride.

Alien Wedding

For years now I have followed the saga of The Alien. He --- I'm just assuming it's male --- appeared in the window of a house a block away from me, and at first he was naked. Then he began to dress for holidays and various occasions. A sequined Uncle Sam hat for July 4th, a Santa Hat for Christmas, a bandanna and shades when the bikers are in town, etc. One day, a flamingo replaced him in the window. A note explained that The Alien was in Florida and that this was a timeshare situation. Occasionally, a silver dog I call Astro Dog, kept him company.

A few Decembers ago, a juvenile appeared in the window, followed by another full-sized --- again, an assumption, I mean, what do any of us know about aliens, right? --- Alien. Uh-oh! Had the Alien knocked someone up? Regardless, the following Valentine's Day, the Aliens were married. I never saw the juvenile again. What do you think? He was returned to the Mothership because the Aliens were deemed unfit parents? All juveniles are raised by a collective on the Home World?