I showed up at the airport well before my flight, like a good little commuter.

There was no line at the check-in counter. (Or rather, the check in terminals.) There was no line at the security checkpoint. There are only four other people at the gate right now. As travel nightmares go, this isn’t turning out too badly.

Oh, that’s right. I’m going to LAX.

It wasn’t too long ago that I didn’t think I was going on this trip. (It being Spring Break and with ticket prices nearly three times what they were last month.) And I hadn’t even known about the opportunity for all that long in the first place. But despite the fact that I’m catching a red-eye , arriving in Los Angeles three hours before the meeting I’m being sent to attend, I’m glad I’m being sent.

My dad has linked me with a national AJA veterans group, which in turn is collaborating with other AJA groups on a project for the Japanese American National Museum.

Considering how much I’ve benefited from the legacy of my family (and here I’m referring to the sometimes unheralded Japanese side of my family), I figured I’m long overdue in trying to give something back.

I don’t know how much I can contribute. But it feels good to at least try.

Weird. There’s a wireless network somewhere near here: SHAKANET. The signal’s not strong enough to connect to, though. I bet I have to go over to Starbucks.

I’m geeking out, to be sure. I’m posting pictures of this cozy airport gate from my camera phone. I’m listening to my “2002 Travel MP3s” CD. And I’m literally scribbling this entry out on my Tablet PC (a secondhand TC 1000 I picked up last year), giving the handwriting recognition a run for its money. (And of course, it’s a beta build of the Tablet PC engine in Windows XP SP2, due out later this year.)

Pardon my glee. It’s been a long time since my last real geek out session.

It’s been a long time since I’ve been able to sit down and write.

And now my wrist is starting to hurt.

So. There are a few things to report. Big stuff first.

For those who missed my wife’s somewhat panicked web update in January (and my slightly less panicked weblog post soon after), we’re having another baby. Yes, a third, due in late August. Yes, we are insane.

It was a surprise. A big, big surprise. Neither the news of Zac’s pending arrival, nor that of Katie one crazy summer six (six!) years ago, shook us even half as much.

In the end, we figured, the odds were 100:1. If this baby wanted to be that badly, who were we to argue?

We cleaned out Katie’s room. We bought a bunk bed. We pulled out a crate of baby clothes. We’re as ready as we’ll ever be.

There are still worries ahead, to be sure. The improbable conception raised some flags, and after Zac’s ordeal there’s a lot more testing and scrutiny this time. But so far, so good. And Tuesday brings the ultrasound that should tell us if Katie gets the little sister she so badly wants, or if Zac gets another little partner in crime.

Hopefully, the biggest battle left ahead is choosing a name. A boy’s name. If it’s a girl, she’ll be Elizabeth, no question. The “boy” candidates so far? Alexander. Christopher. Nicholas. And, I suppose, since Zac got Zac, lain.

Uh oh. Flight oversold. They’re seeking volunteers to give up their seat for $300. Unfortunately, I don’t think I can cut it any closer.

After much handwringing and second guessing, we pulled Katie out of Lincoln Elementary up in Papakolea, and enrolled her in the Voyager charter school down in Kaka’ako. She’s been there for a few months now, and we’re very happy with how things are going.

They have a very progressive philosophy, a very close knit and involved staff, mixed-age classes and varied teaching methods, and a rotating curriculum that focuses on varied topics (including a few sessions on Mandarin language). Katie loves her uniform (a blue T-shirt). Prove importantly, she’s learning. She’s engaged and challenged and encouraged to think for herself. It was like night and day.

Before, we’d ask what she learned in school that day, and she’d grunt, “J.” As in the letter J. (she reads at a 2nd grade level.) Now when we ask the question, the answer goes on and on and on.

It feels like a private school, but it’s technically just a privately managed public school.

Interestingly, we owe this change to a random Voyager parent, who happened to stumble onto my web journal and read about our concerns about Lincoln. Behold the power of the Internet.

The only downside is the precarious nature of Voyager’s funding. For better or worse. They’re trying to sustain a private-school level program on a less-than-public school budget. There’s a lot of fundraising. A lot of volunteering. And d lot of pleading letters.

Oop. Time to board.

E kala mai! Comments have been disabled due to overwhelming abuse by spammers. Please click through to any of the video hosting services linked above to leave a public response, or feel free to send an e-mail. Mahalo!

© 1997-2008 Ryan Kawailani Ozawa · E-Mail: [email protected] · Created: 13 November 1997 · Last Modified: 14 January 2008