"Our estimated flight time is just a shade over 5 hours and it looks like it'll be a smooth one. You folks picked a great destination. In Denver it is currently 19 degrees, Chicago is 21, Minneapolis is 11 and even Miami is a chilly 65 degrees. The current temperature in Honolulu is 75 degrees."
They even had a contest where you win a grand prize of a Mauna Loa gift set. Invented words with lots of vowels!!! Yeah!!! only a quarter of the seats on the flight were taken so everybody got an entire row. The flight attendants were all middle aged men who really enjoy being flight attendants. If you flirt with them they give you free drinks.
In the Honolulu airport the men's room icon is wearing a Hawaiian shirt and their "Pardon the Construction" sign was a guy wearing a hardhat, a lei, a tool belt and flip flops. Promise I'll take pictures when I fly out next week.
People always talk about how expensive Hawaii is, but I largely attribute that to them being idiots. Granted, some things are outrageously priced: milk was on sale for $4 a gallon (usually it's $6.80), eggs were $3 a dozen, and a loaf of generic Safeway brand white bread was $3.50. Yet flour is as cheap as it is on the mainland. As are pastas, canned and bottled products, meats, dried beans, and most other things. Ramen noodles are 37 cents (6 for a dollar on sale) and never bought milk or eggs (or produce) at the grocery store in DC. I went to the Korean owned Latino market a few blocks over because everything fresh was half to a quarter of the price. I"ll do some more research and keep everyone posted of developments because I know you are all enthralled with the prospect of dramatically reducing the minimum necessary budget allocation percentage of food purchases in Oahu.
Chose to walk rather than take the bus on day one, but rest assured that a comprehensive report on the state of public transportation on Hawaii's most populous island will be forthcoming.
Wednesday, January 31, 2007
Sunday, January 21, 2007
A New Chapter
Or perhaps merely a segue from the previous to the next. No plans yet, just waiting for opportunity to come a knockin’ or for inspiration to strike.
Been in the US for almost 2 years now, living and working in DC for a non-profit exactly like I wanted. Did all the young American things I had to do: happy hours, craigslist, Jumbo Slice; and took advantage of taxpayer funded stuff to do in the nation’s capital: international film festivals, Smithsonian programs, embassy events. This country is pretty alright, and DC is a nice city full of ambitious do-gooder Lisa Simpson types. ‘Cept for that whole “winter” thing, I really like it here. I’ll definitely be back.
Time to gain a little more perspective though. Once you know all the regulars on the covers of supermarket tabloids and find yourself having strong opinions on matters that are so specific as to be untranslatable, its time to broaden the horizons. When CNN starts sounding like respectable reporting and not jingoistic propaganda, you know you’ve lost your edge. ‘Bout time Stella got her groove back.
Got a buddy in Sydney so I’m gonna start there (after a brief sojourn in Hawaii). Not sure what happens after that. Perhaps a quick SE Asia jaunt. Maybe I’ll be enticed to set up camp for a while somewhere. Might discover a hitherto unknown passion or skill. Figure I’ll wander around ‘til something feels right
Been in the US for almost 2 years now, living and working in DC for a non-profit exactly like I wanted. Did all the young American things I had to do: happy hours, craigslist, Jumbo Slice; and took advantage of taxpayer funded stuff to do in the nation’s capital: international film festivals, Smithsonian programs, embassy events. This country is pretty alright, and DC is a nice city full of ambitious do-gooder Lisa Simpson types. ‘Cept for that whole “winter” thing, I really like it here. I’ll definitely be back.
Time to gain a little more perspective though. Once you know all the regulars on the covers of supermarket tabloids and find yourself having strong opinions on matters that are so specific as to be untranslatable, its time to broaden the horizons. When CNN starts sounding like respectable reporting and not jingoistic propaganda, you know you’ve lost your edge. ‘Bout time Stella got her groove back.
Got a buddy in Sydney so I’m gonna start there (after a brief sojourn in Hawaii). Not sure what happens after that. Perhaps a quick SE Asia jaunt. Maybe I’ll be enticed to set up camp for a while somewhere. Might discover a hitherto unknown passion or skill. Figure I’ll wander around ‘til something feels right
Saturday, January 20, 2007
blogspot.com
Hate is an ugly thing, so here I am.
Just as riding the subway with office drones during rush hour instead of taking the bus with paint bespeckled dudes before dawn hurts my soul, so too does joining the ranks of the pretentious yuppies on the blogspot.com
Dunkin Donuts over Starbucks, Wal-Mart over Whole Foods, and myspace.com over blogspot.com. You can keep your Jeffersonian universal education preceding universal suffrage, 'cause Internet 2.0 is all about Jacksonian democracy, baby. Youtube and idiots like me writing the wikipedia (don’t worry, I haven’t started yet).
I’ll try to wipe my feet and abide by the high standards you classy folks have here at the blogspot, but I feel like Turbo and Ozone at Kelly’s parents’ house. I belong with Kevin Federline and the Monster Trucks over on the myspace
“If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be”. Yeah, well we don’t have slaves no more either TJ.
Just as riding the subway with office drones during rush hour instead of taking the bus with paint bespeckled dudes before dawn hurts my soul, so too does joining the ranks of the pretentious yuppies on the blogspot.com
Dunkin Donuts over Starbucks, Wal-Mart over Whole Foods, and myspace.com over blogspot.com. You can keep your Jeffersonian universal education preceding universal suffrage, 'cause Internet 2.0 is all about Jacksonian democracy, baby. Youtube and idiots like me writing the wikipedia (don’t worry, I haven’t started yet).
I’ll try to wipe my feet and abide by the high standards you classy folks have here at the blogspot, but I feel like Turbo and Ozone at Kelly’s parents’ house. I belong with Kevin Federline and the Monster Trucks over on the myspace
“If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be”. Yeah, well we don’t have slaves no more either TJ.
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