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Writer's pictureArt of the Prose

Convention of the Century

I've had a couple of you check in and ask if I'm up to anything artistically. Shock of shocks I'm attempting to nestle things amongst many adult tasks and events. This year continues to barrel forward like a roller coaster. I keep wondering why when I rest I crash, then I look at everything we've done this year and it suddenly make sense.



From the joy of having multiple jujitsu 'ohana visits, to helping out a horseman in need of a good marketing poster to camp design (see previous entry) to custom awards with lei instead of lanyards to utter chaos at work since November to traveling home for my last grandpa's funeral and see more of Dad's side of the family in a room since... basically ever. Dad made a valiant effort to sign to Grandpa's Deaf community, and they were very forgiving as those of us who knew sign attempted to dust the rust off to say 'hello'. I forgot how much fun my cousins are and it's fun to see everyone married. Jacob definitely won the distance award coming all the way from Australia for a little over 24hrs of interaction. Many songs were sung, photos and memories were made and shared and spouses pointing at the Erickson clan going "Ooooohhhhh is ______ a family thing?" Yes. Yes it is.



After seeing family I had the opportunity to show my husband where I grew up and reconnected to a childhood friend in the Seattle area who was there when I first discovered my love of Hawai'i nei.



After driving back from Seattle we flew straight to Convention. Shock of shocks I was often found in the healing room where I had the honor or working on Jan Ball and Prof Cross along with the always delightful Carol Drew. I was so proud, she took command of the healing room and for the first time in memory they ran out of massage sheets since so many were giving and receiving.



It's also worth noting I also brought 2 art pieces to the event, one as a commission piece for a dear instructor friend and another to enter into the auction and it went to another dear instructor friend. This caught enough attention that I was asked to try calligraphy for the first time on 6th degree blackbelt certificates. I hereby formally apologize to the rooms around me as I spent hours cramming a new skill in my head and loudly expressing my struggle at the paper. There was only one that had a true "mess-up" and it was because I didn't KNOW the process, and that I was getting a Senior Instructor list and then later a separate Professor list. One such individual happened to be the coordinator of said awards, which made for a very fascinating and amusing exchange in the hotel lobby with another beloved professor. So there's definitely one that -in full calligraphy- says "Senior Instructor... -wait- Professor". And since he stated that sometimes the "misprints" are more valuable than the perfect ones it was equal parts relieving and amusing to see him show it off like a treasure to the other professors, telling me point blank "Oh no, I'm KEEPING this one!" while holding it to his chest. Also among the award ceremony my husband walked the stage for his 4th degree and members of our dojo got recognized for those who completed Mod 1 on the healing side, better part of a decade in the making.


It is always a joy to see the professors (many sporting my camp shirts from over the years) introduced me to next year's convention head and we began the several month journey of designing the 2025 Convention apparel - oh and by the way we are celebrating 100 years of our martial art! (No PRESSURE - omg). Shock of shocks I went all out for the celebration and not only did an all-over-print shirt rather than a screenprint but I also designed 20+ other items for them to sell print-on-demand. We are still beta testing and wrapping up the pricing for them to utilize Printful as I do for my apparel. I hope it raises a bunch of money to support the AJJF without having to hold inventory in a dedicated volunteer's garage.



sucks in deep breath In the few weeks between convention and our event I did my first artwork for a card game coming out where I made a hawaiian druid whose tatau reacts to the creatures she's interacting with. She will be featured in the Mystic Vale release: https://www.alderac.com/mystic-vale/



Got to play with some of my favorite people at camp, which is always an immense joy! So proud of our lone white belt who jumped in the DEEP end with the next rank being well-established brown and mostly dan ranks. Sakina did outstanding and -like fall of 2023- I'm so glad she got to play with us but melancholic about her departure as yet another exchange student. I hope Montana is ready for her, 'cause she's coming and she's hungry for more DZR. I'm also very proud of our first student who IS sticking around since we've come back from Covid, Caden. Here's hoping we get a bunch of students in fall, and maybe a few that aren't National Student Exchange. Don't get me wrong, they've been a DELIGHT, and a joy to teach, I'd just like to say "see ya soon" rather than "goodbye" with a few students. Also worth mentioning Dustin is now a 3rd degree blackbelt and Spencer moved one step closer towards testing for his shodan. And thanks to some local rumors we had some of the BEST running jokes through the weekend.



Returning to the Convention 2025 design we went through 3 different renditions of "completion of character" because it's beyond our comprehension, unseeable and how am I supposed to depict that again? Thank you Okazaki for leaving some visuals among your esoteric principles. Learned that what I THOUGHT were lotus were really waterlilies, so made sure to depict THAT correctly.



Began designing centerpieces for next years convention and flew to Oahu for husbands surgery. (Mahalo nui Lyle for being a super star! Your care and hospitality was MUCH appreciated.) And for the questions I see coming, he's going GREAT with his PT and recovery.



Got home, more chaos at work, attempting shoji doors for the first time so we can have some AC trapped in a common area. Got to learn how to make haku lei a couple weekends ago and couldn't help having some fun with the extra ti leaves. Kailani in particular got quite jealous when Jack's was done first and put her best paw forward once she got hers. She may be a cockapoo but it's clear she was born in Hawi and raised in Hilo. The Hilo Orchid show is happening this weekend and Marcia scored some tickets for us so I'm excited about that. At SOME point I'll get back to the outside of the house to do more than shore up the lilikoi arch in our backyard, discovered those are throwing their first fruit today and ADHDed some extra structure for them to climb on. However I need to finish the painting the exterior which I started painting LAST summer, may need to do some siding/window repairs before painting through. facepalm


Also debating our camp shirt for next year and maybe getting around some more dojo apparel since my last DOJO shirt was made... (lots of camp shirts, no dojo apparel) while I was still in college? I feel like the in-depth dive of Printful has encouraged me to explore apparel more. I'm also looking to do a revamp on the store portion of the website as I have enough products now that I feel like I shouldn't make you scroll forever to find what you want.


MEANWHILE I'm heading to a family reunion for my mom's side in August (also haven't been in the same space in... decades?) and chaos at work SHOULD die down Sept/Oct. Just in time to take Marcia on her first (and hopefully not last but queen pushin 80) international trip to Japan, come back and maybe do a craft fair in Dec., maybe have a visit from extended Prose family at Christmas and take a deep breath before next year's chaos.

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