what exactly is dengue fever?

also known as 'breakbone fever', dengue fever is an acute fibrile disease spread by mosquitoes. according to the world health organizaition: "some 2.5 billion people, two fifths of the world's population, are now at risk from dengue and estimates that there may be 50 million cases of dengue infection worldwide every year. The disease is now endemic in more than 100 countries".

currently there is no vaccine.

as the world says aloha oe to beloved surf legend andy irons, a native to the island of kauai, hopefully his passing will raise awareness about this disease and its prevalence around the world.
irons after his win at pipe in 2005

irons left behind his wife, who is currently seven months pregnant. please send them your love and prayers.

E pili mau na pomaika'i me 'oe to the irons family.

sweeter words have never been uttered...

"We have finished processing your passport, and it has been mailed to you using Priority Mail.

You should receive your passport on or about 11/06/2010."

thank you department of state. believe me, you did not want to be on the business end of the hissy fit i would have thrown if you didn't get me my passport before the 23rd...

sunday's spiritual thought...

"People do not usually reject the Bible because it contradicts itself but because it contradicts them."

- Anonymous

sunday's spiritual thought...

Never does the human soul appear so strong and noble

as when it forgoes revenge and

dares to forgive an injury.

- E. H. Chapin

sunday's spiritual thought...

"A great attitude does much more than turn on the lights in our worlds;

it seems to magically connect us to all sorts of serendipitous opportunities

that were somehow absent before the change."

Earl Nightingale

sunday's spiritual thought...

"If you have time to whine and complain about something then you have the time to do something about it."

-- Anthony J. D'Angelo

auto post...

lately i've been really busy...
too busy to return text messages and phone calls...
too busy to blog without having to schedule it a month in advance...
too busy to sit down and have a moment to myself....
even on my days off, i feel overwhelmed by the amount of stuff i have to get done before i go back to work the next day.

and if you don't believe me, here's a list of what i've been up to:
learning that you can get up to $1000 to fix your car if it doesn't pass the smog test-the hard way
making 'ghost pops' for the patients at the doctor's office i work at
crocheting a blanket for one of my co-workers
taking care of a very demanding husky and hungry kitty
getting things together for my trip to europe next month
feeling overwhelmed by the 10,000 other things i have 'meant' to do over the past month (i.e. send the cookies i owe stephanie, write my friend jeannie back via snail mail, finally get the data off my hard drive in my old lap top that's been dead since before i left hawaii, etc)

then there's the fact that this year is flying by.

can we slow down for just a minute? cause i know once halloween is over, it's just a landslide into the new year. i just need a day...week...few months to catch up. i swear, i'll make it worth your while....

guess i'll just continue to make good use of the 'auto post' function.

hopefully i'll resurface sometime after the new year.