Kalauao
About Kalauao - the Real Kalauao
Kalauao is the name of an old Hawaiian district (ahupua‘a) that existed between the districts of ‘Aiea and Waimalu, largely in the area of what is now considered Pearlridge. It is also the name of a stream (and its valley) that runs through the district (as well as a relatively unknown waterfall pretty far up the valley), and the name of the spring over which Sumida Farms now grows watercress near Pearlridge.
The name Kalauao translates roughly to "the multitude of clouds," which probably refers to the many clouds that congregate on the upper part of Kalauao valley.
About Kalauao - My Website
The origins of this website go back to the year 2000. One of my friends, Faye, had just put her own website online through (what was then a free-website service) Homestead. I'm not sure exactly what prompted me to do so, but not long after Faye put her own site online, I followed and put my own site online through Homestead. The site was untitled and it had everything on it, including: several pages on my own interests (mainly volcanoes and the anime Tenchi Muyo), a few pages on my friends, and a couple pages about myself.
By early 2001, I realized that the homepage tried to do too much in too little a space, so I basically split the site into three different websites: an anime website focused on Tenchi Muyo, a science page, and a personal website. The science website dealt mainly with Hawaiian geology and biology, and remained online until 2002. The anime site may still be online somewhere, but I stopped updating it in mid-2003. Finally, there was the third, personal website, which was launched in May 2001 and was named "Kewlies!" So, of the three websites I built out of the old one, only this site remains.
Where did the name "Kewlies!" come from? In short, I need to give credit to Faye (the same Faye I mentioned above) for coining the word. Back in intermediate school when I was first building this website, the word "kewlies" was her catch phrase. I stole it from her to use on this website. Um, I think she's still salty at me for stealing her word.
Kewlies! originally had only three major sections: RPGs, Friends, and ‘Ohana. Only the ‘ohana section is still online today (it can be accessed from the "archives" section). Various sections have come and gone over the years; some of the earlier sections (i.e. questions, chat!, Network) have been retired, while new sections came in and took their place (pictures, the library, and more recently, videos and music). The site slowly changed in focus, and the beginnings of the website you see now emerged in mid-sophomore year when my "Krystal" layout was launched. By this time, "Kewlies" was beginning to take a more specific aim as a site dedicated to nostalgia and friendship.
As high school continued, free time became a rare commodity, and this site became neglected. Over time, the site's focus moved away from friendship and more towards my weird collection of photos, videos, and memories. The neglect and refocus continued into college.
In 2008, I decided to rename my website "Kalauao." By this time, I was also using the name "Kewlies" for my personal business, "Kewlies Communications," a digital media services business. I wanted to separate my personal site name from my business name.
I chose the name "Kalauao" for this website mainly for three reasons. First, I live on the edge of Kalauao valley, and spent much of my childhood there. Secondly, the translation of "Kalauao" matched quite well with the cloud layout that I implemented a couple of years ago. Finally, the clouds in the translation serve a metaphoric purpose as well. When I a student back at ‘Aiea Intermediate School back in the day, my friends and I used to spend a lot of time just staring at the clouds lying a hill near "C" building. We were little preteens; we did not have any worries at all on our mind, so we could afford to just sit around staring at clouds during our lunch hour. I'm sure kids all over the world do the same! I sometimes long for those old, simple days. In fact, I have a hard time thinking of a better metaphor for nostalgia than clouds. So in late 2008, this website was renamed "Kalauao."
There was an attempt in 2001/2002 to build a new layout each month but this attempt quickly failed as the webmaster gained 1) a life, 2) AP level courses, and 3) changing interests.
Click here to see the past layouts this website has gone through.
Click here to view the site credits.
