The voice for this column wasn't hard to find. After all, I wrote Joyride Through Cyberspace for three years, always with a sense of wonder for the extraordinary cultures that have developed in the rarified air of the Internet. Sometimes I imagined myself as the Web's Margaret Mead, wandering through these virtual islands in a pith helmet and a billowing chiffon scarf, exploring all that I saw with enthusiasm, tolerance, and amazement. (Okay, it's a little goofy, but you get the idea.)

That sense of wonder, I felt, would serve me well as I sat down to write the first installment of my first column for the first issue of Island Server, Hawaii's new entertainment newsmagazine.

Deciding on a name for the column was the biggest challenge. I felt strongly that it had to be Hawaiian, to honor the spirit of the venue. For hours I pored over every Hawaiian dictionary I could find, seeking the word or phrase that best conveyed what I wanted to do with my column.

I finally settled on a single, melodic word: ki`ihele. In Hawaiian, it means "wander".

Ki`ihele update: In the fall of 2000, the focus of IS Magazine shifted from online Hawai`i to the islands' arts and entertainment scene. Therefore, the August 2000 installment of Ki`ihele was the last. I began writing my new column, Niele, in early 2001 - you can check that out here.

KI`IHELE INSTALLMENTS:

Halau Away From Home, August 2000
In which I discover that the world is wearing a grass skirt.

Virtual Aloha Revisited, September 2000
In which I find that Paradise online just ain't what it used to be.

Dressing Up That Chicken Skin, October 2000
In which I pursue my Halloween dreams.

Paradise Envy, November 2000
In which I remember why I love Hawaii.

Pinning The Stars To The Sky, December 2000
In which I chat with a few stars about their quests for Internet fame.

Auld Lang Signs, January 2001
In which I reflect on my two happiest moments of the, er, millennium.