i'm in honolulu, hawaii!! i've been here for about a week and a half, and i'm in town singing with the fabulous forbidden world of don tiki.

it feels good to be back home again...hawaii is so special, not only because of its obvious natural geographical beauty, but largely because of the people and their aloha.

last night i had the honor of performing for the juvenile diabetes research foundation fundraiser at the incomparable monarch room of the famous pink hotel, the royal hawaiian. no matter how many times i've been there before, the beauty of the place never fails to take my breath away...it is truly magical.

the night was perfect...balmy and breezy and clear, with an almost full moon softly lighting the ocean and the dense tropical foliage of the royal.

we were all there to support the cause...juvenile diabetes.

after the sound check i went out to "meet and greet" the crowd...by then mostly everyone had already filed into the cocktail area...but the most adorable little hapa girl dressed in a pretty pink muumuu came up to me with the hugest smile on her face.

"i love you!" she said, in the open-hearted, un-guarded and sweet way that children have, and then she hugged me and asked if she could give me her lei. she had been eavesdropping on my sound check...and it turned out that she was one of the children afflicted with juvenile diabetes. her name is rachel, she is only 7 years old, and she already knows how to prick her own finger to administer her own blood tests.

at the end of the concert we played a dance set. a man lifted rachel up onstage and i danced with her, walked her over to the musicians with their instruments, and let her play lopaka's tambourine and congas. it was a great feeling to see her smile and dance and to be in pure bliss...

it's the moments like these that i am so grateful for everything, life, health, love, family, friends, beauty and art.

and...i love you too, rachel!

BERLIN MUSIC FESTIVAL, HERE WE COOOME!!!