6. goon or gun? pay or pee?

My mommy enjoyed our conversation about my new blog.  She was kind enough to answer the exact year her mommy, daddy and brother moved to Hawthorne; 1951.

"Wow!" I exclaimed.  Hathorne was legally less than 30 years old then.  I couldn't imagine.  Okay, maybe I could.  I won't.

She also had some great memories to share and backed up my memory of not being allowed to be in her brother's wedding party because she isn't Catholic.  Her duty: guest book monitor.  I think she is still a little bitter.

My mommy was also kind enough to let me know my sister, Patty, will be running in the Long Beach Marathon this Sunday, October 11th.  Thank you, very much.  I now know what to write about next couple of CaliforniVacation: SoCal Style blog posts.

As I write this I am very close to turning 50 in this life's physical years.  Patty is my "Irish twin".  Did you know (DYK) Irish twins are siblings who are less than a year apart in age?  I didn't until recently.  Don't know why.  Maybe 'cuz I'm not Irish.  Anyway, Patty and I make that by three days.  For three days we are the same age and then I am older again.

Before I really get on with it, I hope you enjoy today's little blast from the past video.  The video contains footage of Patty and I visiting SoCal in 1967.  You'll love our sense of style or you'll laugh your BLEEP off.  Some is of us at Marineland, which no longer exists.  Some is of us at Ports o' Call  in San Pedro, which is where I plan to go tomorrow to give you the new millennium skinny compared to today's vintage view.

Here's what I feel makes a great Tour Guide Goddess (okay, maybe I should look in the mirror) from my experience in Hawaii.  I feel a great Tour Guide gives you interesting little tidbits of info you never knew you would love to know.

For instance, did you know before spam was something in cyberworld you don't want, it is something first created in Austin, Minnesota in 1937?  DYN Hawaiians love it?  Okay, probably not EVERY Hawaiian, but so much so that you can get Spam and eggs at Burger King in Waikiki?  DYN Waikiki has an annual weekend Spam festival with over 150 different ways to enjoy Spam?  What's that?  Do I hear some of you thinking, "Who gives a BLEEP (WGAB)?"

One of the things we learned from one of our Hawaiian Tour Guide Gods is to not be afraid to pronounce Hawaiian words.  It's easy when you now how.  Then he told us.  Now I am going to share with you.
a is pronounced like the way you say it when saying " Hawaii".
e is pronounced like an "a" in words like plate and case, in other words what Americans consider a long "a".
i is pronounced like a long e or saying the letter "e" in English.
o is pronounced like saying the letter "o" in English.
u is pronounced like "oo" or think of the sound you make after the y in the word "you"
Every vowel is pronounced.

For example:  I have a Facebook friend with a Hawaiian name, Kahealani.
To pronounce her name: Kah  A  ah  lah  nee.  Each vowel is pronounced with the "e" sounding like an A and the "i" sounding like an E.  See?  Easy.

Once I knew (after the initial gratitude), I admit, I felt like why didn't someone tell me sooner.

Well, today I'm going to give you some inside skinny on SoCal.

There is a main street, El Segundo Boulevard, and also one of South Bay's cities is El Segundo.  It is where the Lakers practice (WGAB?).

Now if you have no idea and you think the correct pronunciation is how you pronounce any English word, (okay, if you are me, you pronounce it wrong...usually) you pronounce the "gun" in segundo like the English word, gun.  The correct way to pronounce that portion of the word is the same as the word "goon".  say-goon-doe.  DYN en espanol, segundo means "second"?  You know, as in after first.

Then we come to San Pedro (remember: where Ports O' Call is located).  I still say it wrong, which should be my clue how to say it correctly.  And I admit, I do get a bit embarrassed when my 8-year old nephew corrects me.  I see the "e" in Pedro, and I say "pee-dro".  Wrong! Wrong!  Wrong!  Every self-respecting SoCallian knows right! right! right! is "pay-dro".  Now you know.

Enjoy the video.