We’d be happier if we weren’t always so sleepy

Only a few days apart, Hawaii has been recognized as both the happiest and the most sleepless state in the country. Are residents so blissful that they’re reluctant to call it a day?

Unfortunately, that is not the case. A national survey by the Centers for Disease Control indicated that many Hawaii residents get less than seven hours of sleep a day, but sleep doctor Ford Shippey of Queen’s Medical Center says many islanders are too busy with two or more jobs to find time to close their eyes.

Could it be that the grumpy, sleep-deprived folks may have just been too busy to come to the phone to be part of a Gallup survey that rated Hawaii the nation’s happiest state?

A malasada by any other name is still a malasada

There’s something about sugared, fried nuggets of dough that must be sinful, because they’re big sellers around the world on the day before the Lenten season starts. Mardi Gras means beignets in New Orleans, paczki in Poland, fastnachts among the Pennsylvania Dutch and malasadas here.

A word to the avid travelers on this morning after Malasada Day: Your search for them in their native Portugal may be frustrated if you don’t know the right word. It’s malasada only on Sao Miguel, home to most of Hawaii’s Portuguese. On the other Azores islands and on the Portuguese mainland (where they’re more traditional at Christmas) call them filhos. A global holiday tradition, with a world of different names.