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I'm a person who likes to stay at home. I've never particularly enjoyed visiting places and have no desire to travel to foreign countries. I like it at home. Yet, here I am, writing my blog in Hawaii. (Yes, I know that Hawaii is the 50th state and part of the USA - technically. However, in reality, it is the closest to a foreign country, as I want to get).

The reasons are many; I'll list just a few of them. First, the people here don't speak English much, but Hawaiian, or Japanese, or Chinese, or some other language I can't understand. Second, trying to find the way to anywhere touches on the edge of insanity. There are very few things marked, streets and addresses follow no sort of logic. At times, you can see where you want to go, but getting there is next to impossible, especially with the constant parade of traffic and the swarms of pedestrians. Third, asking the locals for information or directions produces a blank stare, followed by a few sentences of useless information totally unrelated to what you needed to know. Or, they might say nothing - just point down the street - which may, or may not be the right direction.

The Hawaiian Islands are supposedly modernized but they aren't quite as advanced, as I'm accustomed to. For instance, the idea of debit cards hasn't quite made it here. Most businesses do not process them as debit, but credit cards. They have trouble with such concepts as time - no one is in a hurry at all, and walking on the right side of the walk – they seem to prefer using the left side. And, while they do have Wi-Fi and the Internet, the connection speed leaves much to be desired - and you have to pay for it. But then, not much is free here. Prices are not only exorbitantly high, they are insanely outrageous. At $10 a gallon for milk, $7.50 for a small box of cereal, or over $8 for ice cream, one quickly realizes it's cheaper to simply starve! Unfortunately, an entire week of starvation is not an option.

To most people, Hawaii is considered a tropical paradise, and in many ways, it is. Temperatures are around 85 degrees, it seldom rains, there are plenty of beaches and resorts with an abundance of water sport activities, the food is generally pretty good - as long as your wife doesn't decide to sample some of the questionable local eating establishments and the unsavory cuisine, that is (we tried the Kalua pulled pork - a word of advice - don't), and the scenery, with the aqua-blue ocean, the pristine beaches, the mountains with the waterfalls and scenic overlooks, is all beautiful. Yet, I have all of this where I live - and a lot cheaper! We could've saved ourselves a few thousand dollars and just stayed home!

Okay, I'll admit it's not as bad as I make it sound. My wife and I both had a great time in Hawaii for our 25th anniversary. We visited many interesting places including, Pearl Harbor, Waikiki Beach, The Dole Plantation, The North Shore, and Diamond Head Crater. The weather was nearly perfect the entire week and we were treated very nice. In short, we enjoyed our vacation. But after surviving an extremely long week on this island, we are ready to go home. And since I'm a person who likes to stay home, I think I'll stay there awhile!

Bruce A. Borders, author and songwriter has over 500 songs and more than a dozen books. Over My Dead Body, The Journey, and Miscarriage Of Justice, his latest books, are available on Apple I-Pad®, Amazon Kindle®, Barnes & Noble Nook® and Sony Reader®, Kobo, Diesel Books, and Smashwords. For more information, visit http://www.bruceaborders.com/. See Bruce’s Amazon Author Page at www.amazon.com/author/bruceaborders or view his Smashwords Profile at www.smashwords.com/profile/view/BruceABorders

Doing My Research

It’s no secret that writers have to do research – lots of research. No one could possibly have all the facts and figures just rolling around in their head waiting for the right moment to be written down – at least it’s not that way for me.

That’s why the Internet is so great and makes writing less complicated and faster than it used to be. Once, research entailed spending hours at the library, sifting through volumes of material. It was definitely a lot of work. Now, the same amount of research can be accomplished in a matter of minutes – online. However, there is a small caveat to this – just because it happens to be on the Internet, doesn’t make it true. But, that just means there are a few rules to follow, things like, use only reputable sites, verify any information with multiple sources, and don’t run with a story until you the information is accurate. (I can think of several well-known reporters who would have done well to take this advice).

So, now the time saved is lost due to double and triple checking everything. Ironic isn’t it, that we never seem to be able to actually get more time. Still the research process is much easier, and far more comfortable. I’d much rather spend my research time relaxing in my easy-chair in my own house than to endure the hassle of sitting in the uncomfortable chairs at the library.

But then, there are all the warnings about spending too much time on the Internet to consider. Somebody’s always telling us what detrimental health effects it can have, no exercise, eye strain, a sore back, carpal-tunnel syndrome, poor blood circulation, etc. They make it sound bad.

So, what’s the point of all this? The point of this blog? Nothing really – except, well, it’s nice to be a writer. I have an excuse. If I happen to spend an excessive amount of time on the Internet – just remember, I’m doing “research.”

Bruce A. Borders, author and songwriter has over 500 songs and more than a dozen books. Over My Dead Body, The Journey, and Miscarriage Of Justice, his latest books, are available on Apple I-Pad®, Amazon Kindle®, Barnes & Noble Nook® and Sony Reader®, Kobo, Diesel Books, and Smashwords. For more information, visit http://www.bruceaborders.com/. See Bruce’s Amazon Author Page at www.amazon.com/author/bruceaborders or view his Smashwords Profile at www.smashwords.com/profile/view/BruceABorders