Diogenes

Fuck Plato.

Brain Numb

Work generated no mental activity.  Period.

In the meantime, I found The Resident on the front page of YouTube.  Enjoy!

HAWAII: THE FINAL POST

Let’s hit this point-by-point.

WAIKIKI:  It’s 10:30pm HST when I hit the strip, just a short walk from the hotel.  The strip is a long affair, easily a mile, covered in designer shops.  If you’ve ever seen images of Rodeo Drive, this is what you’re looking at.  It appears flawless.  Along the 4 lane street are stretches of grass alongside the sidewalk (manicured, ala a golf course), sculptures, fountains, and clocks.   Gucci, Coach, Diesel….Club Mermaid?  My second alert to the seedier nature of the strip is a sign, recently put out, directing me to two places: XXX Toy Shop, and Club Mermaid.  Two asian drug dealers are hanging out on the steps down.  I bypass them, check out the door to the Mermaid, and head into the porn shop.

Andy would be proud.  A fabulous mix of asiatic porn, mixed in with european blond porn, along with a large selection of toys, all crammed in to a 20×20 room.  As I browse the bare wooden shelves, the kid at the register chats with the presumed owner over the cost of shipping in porn from other asian countries, as well as the boom in counterfeit $100 bills in Honolulu.  I am greatly entertained.

Jetting out, I get no more than 30 feet before I examine what else is open.  5 shops appear to be open, each one of them some form of gift shop-except for the japanese discount market in front of me.  I drop in, surveying the vast options of Sketchers and Nikes, aloha shirts, hippie skirts, and the same selection of 8 t-shirts for $20.  Notably enough, this store accepts yen.

I drop down the other shops, realizing that they’re all derivations of the Honolulu ABC store.  It’s not like home.  ABC here means tons of crap gifts, overpriced Burt’s Bees and colognes, and a modest selection of alcohol and tobacco.  But damn if people won’t buy it!  I dropped in one and bought a pack of cigars and a bottle of high-powered sake.

I went to Hawaii with few expectations.  I knew that going with family would me a great deal of bullshit to untangle, fighting, and poor logistics.  I knew that, not being an athletic sort, half of the options for entertainment would be closed.  Having no money, I’d be able to do even less.  Nevertheless, after touring the island, I made myself a checklist-I’d try surfing, go to a concert/check out the club scene, walk the strip on my own, have a few good dinners, read Harry Potter, and walk on the beach at night.

Mission accomplished.

When I went out to the strip that night, I had a different checklist-hit a bar, find the irish pub I was looking for, watch some beautiful girls, and explore every nook and cranny off the beaten path.  When I walked home, I wanted to be on the beach, see the moon, commune with the spiritual forces of the world (it’s a long story), see a happy couple on the beach, drink my hooch and smoke my cigar.

Again, mission accomplished.

After spotting a few more XXX shops and strippers (you can spot them by the clear platform shoes they wear, usually russian), I literally tripped over the final pub-Kelly O’Neill’s.  It’s small, but felt just like home, including the whitest people on the island, a really cute punky waitress with striped socks, and an accoustic cover band doing ska versions of the Beastie Boys.

I stumbled out after a couple of drinks and a half hour, making my way to Kailua Beach, where most tourist go to surf/snorkel/kayak–and apparently skinny dip.  3 couples were frolicking in the water, under a full moon and clear sky, while I, 3 homeless guys, and a fellow with a metal detector, tactfully ignored them.  It was cute, to say the least.  Cigar and sake in hand, I strolled barefoot down the shore, in front of the Outrigger and Moana Surfrider, where I saw a couple of couples either making out on the beach or doing more in the shadows.  It was tranquil, and I got to contemplate the beauty of the world and the potential for happiness in humankind.

Heavy stuff.

I realized, after being exposed to a bare taste-test of Asia, why my friends travel. If it’s ever an option, I’ll get off this continent and see some more of the world.  It’s nice to change the perspective, and it’s not as radical as I thought it would be.

I also came to appreciate the joy of doing your own thing.  I used to copy everything and everyone I saw, searching and sorting for what I liked.  Being removed from everything and one I know, I had a chance to probe for the things I liked and qualities I want to broadcast. I like water sports more than I thought (I WILL one day kiteboard), enjoyed the Shins (but it’s not natural to me-rawk), and do much better when I relax-my instincts are better than I give them credit for (but they are not foolproof).

HONOLULU-LA:  I was stuck on a plane with a trucker beside me, a guy from El Salvador who spent most of his life getting out of South Central (“You have a choice-the gangs don’t kidnap you, and drugs don’t, either”), raising his family (“I’m remodeling when we get back, so I can sell the house, and get my kids in a better school district”), and enjoying Duke games.  We laughed it up over Blades of Glory, caught respective naps, and chatted over the woes of domesticity.

LA airport was supposed to be a joy for a 2 hour layover.  It was lame.  The people were boring, the stores minimal, and the restrictions tight (with my license expired for a week, due to a birthday, the waitress at the mexican restaurant wouldn’t serve me alcohol).  Chris, I have a pix of a classic LA woman for you-a tired blonde sitting across from me with many of your favorite assets.  Needless to say, this was a disappointing couple of hours wasted, along with one more on a small, cramped plane, sitting at the gate waiting for a SF flight to connect.

I spent the next 5 hours sleeping, reading light (they have ads for New Bern in the plane magazine), and bracing for an 8AM landing.

After waiting for my luggage, I went to the wrong parking lot to find my car.  Dressed in my work clothes, I toured for an hour in the 9am sun, looking in vain where Richard told me to.  After Jenny showed up to drive me around in the busted Jeep, we talked to RDU Police, who tracked the car down (they inventory at night) and set me up.  And off to work I went!

Pix will be posted sometime this week, when I can find the data cable for the camera.  In the meantime, plan your own vacations.  It’s well worth the time.

It’s Electric!

Ow.

The future of energy?

I know some of you are very scientifically minded.  What do you think?

HAWAII: Coming home

Home at last. The final days of Hawaii turned out much better than the earlier strip. After my mom and I had our heartwrending, brainmelting conversation over our issues, she and Richard went out of their way to make my last days in Hawaii an ideal vacation. As I said before, I had an opportunity to see The Shins at the Pipeline Cafe, which was an aching and awesome event. The concert itself was a great performance in a really fine venue, but after 4 hours of waiting and standing around, I was tempted to leave early on. Good thing I didn’t. I went to my jazz spot, The Dragon Upstairs, afterwards, chilled, and went back to the hotel.

Next day Richard and I made a vain attempt at surfing. After renting boards, I swam a quarter mile out to catch-nothing. Richard swim half a mile out to catch 1 wave. We were both exhausted. Our backs and legs burnt from 1 hour of sun, we went in to rest and pick his sister up from the airport. Insert 4 hours of family time.

After the best restaurant dinner I’ve ever had at a P.F.Changs, and both parents feeling fine, I took off for Waikiki. The Vuitton strip was in the process of closing down, which left open a) Japanese gift shops, b) ABC stores (which are also gift shops), c) porn shops, d) strip clubs, e) Irish Pubs. That’s right. And I went to each (except for the strip club-I didn’t have that kind of cash.

I finished the night off by walking down the beach back to the hotel with a cigar and a high powered form of Sake in hand. Chill.

The next day was hustle to get me to the airport. After a crying mom and much logistical distress, I got on the plane at 12:30 pm, Honolulu time. 12 hours later, I end up in Raleigh, NC, searching for my car in the wrong lot (thanks, Richard) and driving to work.

More later-most of you I’ve already spoken to, so you have an idea of the rest. Tomorrow I fill in more details of the trip home, the walk on the strip, my thoughts on the trip, and the jump back into the grind-and how you can go home again, but do you want to?

HAWAII: THE POST pt5

Please excuse the absence.   Finding internet for free out here is harder than I thought.

As of my last post, we had done the 9 hour trip around Hawaii, which yielded an irate family, and some interesting sites (the Mormon church has a MASSIVE presence here).  We saw more of Richard’s family the next day, after going to the Swap Meet (a massive flea market held outside of Hawaii’s major stadium).  I got Swap Meet Burn-sunburn on the face and collar-but the skin under the shirt is still, of course, lily white.  Fam stuff was relatively painless.  I will note, however, that this entire course of events was unplanned and unwanted-Richard just got in the car and led us to the meet and family, without telling us where we were going.  It’s caused some strife, and some loss of trust.  If things hadn’t been as pleasant as they were, we’d have serious issues right now.

The Next Day (Sunday):

After lunch, we all split our separate ways,  with Mom and Richard hanging out at the pool with some of his family, and me climbing Diamond Head, the major mountain on Honolulu. Good pictures, good times.  It was incredibly serene.

After his family left, we decided to go to downtown Waikiki, home of the Louis Vuitton/Hermes/Gucci strip.  The initial plan was for Richard to drop us off, meet us in the International Marketplace (imagine a home for every kiosk in the mall), then we would find food.  What actually happened was that Mom’s ankle gave out, forcing us to find a place to sit down, while Richard took 3o minutes to park, missed us, left his phone elsewhere, and in all made the night confusing.  While Richard is looking for us, Mom and I are across the street, getting an appetizer at the only restaurant close by, where I get to hear exactly why she feels disconnected from my life and what she thinks is wrong with me.  Pleasant, to say the least.   We all went home and went to bed, after somewhat making the peace.

I should add one more thing:  Since 7am (my time) on Saturday morning, I’ve been reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.   As of 3:40 Monday morning (again, my time), I finished the book.  It was wonderful.  So much more than I expected, and deftly done.

Today (Monday):

After sleeping in and recovering from the Deathly Hallows, I had lunch with the fam, who notified me that they had canceled their plans for a luau for the sake of mom swimming and watching the Sorpanos (what a statement).  In turn, I got the rental for the afternoon, which I promptly took to the Pipeline Cafe (a major concert venue here, like the Cat’s Cradle, but so much better done and 4 times as large), to see The Shins!  Good stuff, although the crowd was nuts and there were waaaaaay too many people inside.  I followed this up with another trip to the jazz club and a snack at Zippy’s (which apparently is the local drunk food), and end up here.

I’ve been doing lots of thinking in the past few days, about family and what we shape ourselves to be.  I won’t go into it here (I’m about to pass out), but it’s been….interesting, to say the least.

In the meantime, I have one more full day out here.  I plan to sleep in, swim, deal with Richard’s family one more time, buy whatever gifts I can afford,  and hang out in Waikiki for the night before I come back home.  There’s a 24 hour coffee shop down the block that serves booze.  You can’t beat it.

Here’s hoping that all is well at home.

On a lighter note…

I have found 2 new joys: Calvinball and HVZ. Bon Apetit!

HAWAII: THE POST pt4

Hell is driving around a 30 mile island for 9 hours.

That’s the long and short of it.  9 hours.  Richard was giddy as a schoolboy, checking out all the sites he hadn’t seen since he left home.  Mom was wilting away in the carseat, and I was tuning out everyone. For 9 hours.

We’re finally back, and I’m trying to figure out ways to get out of this room, the only place with Internet (right now).  Mom’s ranting.  This sucks.

And tomorrow is more family stuff.

Fuck this. I’m leaving.

HAWAII: THE POST pt3

(Just as an FYI, don’t think I don’t know how ridiculous the above titling is.)

So, Richard’s family lives here in Hawaii. Those who I’ve spoken to know that we’re here for a big family reunion. Well, that doesn’t happen for another week, at which point I’ll be gone, so it’s party time, right?

So, in order to fulfill all obligations, we make our way to Ewa Beach to visit with Richard’s mom. We stop at Zippy’s (again, but this time Mom gets to appreciate the glory). It’s actually amazingly like southern cooking. Mom and Richard had eggs, Polish Sausage w/tabasco, and rice. I had chili and chicken. So far, so good.

We get to Ewa Beach, the much more “local oriented” part of Honolulu, and meet up with his mom. It actually reminded me of visiting my grandparents on my dad’s side of the family. We walk in to kisses and hugs-and apparently insults. Richard’s mom whispers into my mom’s ear “You’ve gotten fat.” Mom’s bitter and silent for the rest of the visit.

It actually goes well beyond this. We drive to Pearl City, home of Pearl Harbor. Mom and I have family connections here. My great grandfather and uncle met up and hung out during a troop transfer on December 2nd, 1941. Good times were had by all as my great grandfather left the Missouri and my uncle left the Arizona. So, in honor of this renowned meeting and my uncle’s near-miss, we visited the Arizona.

Mom was still pissed.

In her own words, pissed isn’t the right word. Bitter, angry, hurt, depressed-these are more appropriate. She was silent and sulky for most of the day, including up to the writing of this post (9:11 Hawaii time, 3:11 EST). My mom is a wonderful lady, but she takes offense quickly, and never lets go. Ever.

We went to the PX (Post Xchange) at Pearl Harbor for basic supplies, where my mom proceeded to bitch about her family, Richard’s family, and all things wrong in her life in general.  It’s been a long time since I’ve had to leash my true feelings so completely and display patience.  It beats Jenny’s talks with her brother, Andy’s family gatherings-the whole nine.  I was sainted today, at Pearl Harbor, as I listened to my mother rant.  Why, you may ask?  I understand venting, but not when you have the power to do something about it-especially when we’re talking about managing your own emotions.  It hurt.  It was very disappointing.  It’s galling to have an insult shot directly at you.   Vent, then let it go.  Don’t let it ruin your very expensive vacation in a land you may never see again!

We come back to the hotel (the Hane Koa Hotel), where Richard and I leave Mom to her cigarettes and go swimming.  The ocean is wonderful.  I miss swimming.  The water itself is clean and good for the skin, the exercise is wonderful, and the view is spectacular.  We then jumped into a 90 degree pool and shot the breeze.   Richard is much more sympathetic to my mom these days, but he’s still relatively rational.  We didn’t chat about mom as much as life in general.  Good times.

We ate at the restaurant in the hotel, which was half-garden half-indoor restaurant.  I drank for the first time in front of my mom (who hates alcohol with a passion-I think she’s Puritan).  The waitresses were stunningly beautiful, and almost all native (or Japanese).  Either way, a beautiful view and meal.   And now I’m here.

And I have a copy of Deathly Hallows reserved. ROCK!

I don’t know what’s in store for tomorrow, really.  I don’t care.  I plan on striking out on my own for most of the day.  Mainly chill time, walking the beach and drinking (Richard and I are splitting a 12 pack of beer).  Good times.

How are things at home?