Marmalade Daydreams

At some point during my involuntary sequestration (i.e. writing final papers and grading final exams, which happily ended at 5 A.M. Saturday), much of Honolulu has caught Kalikimaka fever. No, Mom, no need to worry; though this is a tropical disease of sorts, it's no cause for alarm. As I'm sure you've figured out by the surrounding images, Mele Kalikimaka is the traditional Hawaiian Christmas greeting (hooray for invented traditions). On an exploratory foray down to the Ala Moana mall (former the world's largest) that ended in being adrift in a sea of teenage girls (more frightening than it sounds), I came across this giant barefoot Santa throwing the shaka (known on the mainland as the "hang loose" sign), and I knew I had to come back with my camera before hitting the road. Roadsideamerica.com had to hear of this one!


It wasn't until returning to this bizarre land of giant tropically themed Christmas decorations (interspersed with a nativity scene composed of strings of lights and the somewhat bizarre Jesus Bless America display pictured on the right) that I was told (by a guy working security) that inside the major building behind shaka Santa, there were more lights. Despite my recent discovery that I can upload videos to this blog, I do not feel the video of the interior of this building would be a suitable subject to portray here, dear readers. City Hall is filled with Christmas trees (and a rotating palm tree made from blue lights) sponsored by local government departments, local businesses, and mainland corporations. Christmas music blares. Groups of people, from multi-generational families to thug types with their skanky girlfriends, stumble through this simulated winter wonderland, photographing each other posing in the simulacrum of an illuminated pine forest in a government building in downtown Honolulu. A church group attempted to get me to attend Sunday services at their place of worship. Needless to say, the place bugged me out a bit.

[12/29 Postscript:] As I prepared to leave Hawaii for the first time since my arrival, I was worried about slipping immediately from tropical balminess to the arctic chill of a reportedly severe New York December, but I was pleased that the few days I spent in San Francisco en route served as a brief autumn. I felt the chill of night air, scuffled through the dead leaves lining the ground of the deciduous forest, and even saw some reddened maples stubbornly retaining their foliage through the solstice. With some semi-humorous misadventures, to be chronicled shortly, I've been very happy so far to be back East. Skiing and meals with family, spending time with old friends -- just being "home" -- has been really nice. I'm excited for the New Year's that I'm going to be spending with dear friends whom I do not see often enough. I feel blessed in this season. By the way, that reggae festival on the North Shore was incredible. It stopped raining the night before, and the sun dried up all of the mud into the perfect dancing surface. It was sunshiney all day, and the spot itself was incredibly beautiful and vivid. I'll relate anecdotes when I get the pictures from a friend.

After losing my voice at the greatest football game I've ever seen (check out the highlights -- unbelievable!) last Saturday, an unbelievable end to an undefeated season for the Warriors (somewhat marred by some excessive force against an exuberant fan who rushed the field one play too early), I've buckled down and been cranking out final papers like it's my job. I basically have to finish up a smaller assignment, take my Japanese final, and I've got one big paper until I'm done with my first semester at UH!



So I took the day off and made some chili for the department chili cook-off tomorrow night... It's funny, I worked really hard on this chili, using four types of hot peppers, a number of roasted ingredients (my homemade stout, dark chocolate, & some espresso), and it basically tastes like I threw a bunch of adobo-soaked chipotle peppers in there. Not that I'm complaining, it's a great taste, but I know for next time: just spend the $2.50 for a can of chipotle peppers. We'll see how it stacks up against the competition...



But, before the cookoff, I'm heading up to Kualoa Ranch, 4000 acres of beautiful land outside of Kaneohe, for a roots reggae fest featuring most of the state's best bands with Ziggy Marley headlining -- here's hoping the sky looks something like this picture, as it's been pouring rain every day this week (with gale-force winds Monday night) due to a weird system parked off what's typically the leeward side of the islands. Well, flash flood warnings notwithstanding, the good news is that Kaneohe is on the "windward" side of the island, away from the storm, so I'm glad meteorology is an inexact science, and here's hoping trade winds kick in before tomorrow morning!

I'm preparing to descend into a work-filled weekend in a push to be done with the East Asian Buddhism seminar whose professor, a polyglot Korean monk (who has academic mastery of 9 or 10 languages, regardless of his ability to express himself grammatically in spoken English). The visiting Venerable Dr. Mun has made my first semester much easier by being completely unprepared for lecture, assigning minimal reading, and largely disregarding the assignments that he gave on the syllabus. But now it is the time of reckoning for my first semester: four papers, two presentations, two exams -- one oral and one written -- and I'll be on the other side, that blissful state beloved to educators and educatees: winter vacation. I get excited thinking about going back to Brooklyn, about Vermont with the family, New Years with old friends.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. Before I return to the present, where many assignments are pressing (especially as tonight I'm going to my first college football game in ten years, the last game of UH's historic WAC-championship season. I hope it goes better than the last game I attended, Hamilton's 1997 season opener, where the D-III Continentals were mentioned as a note in Sports Illustrated after being shutout by Amherst's Lord Jeffs with a final score of something like 67-0.), I figured I'd take a minute to post about Thanksgiving, perhaps in bullet format:

- I'm thankful that my grandfather bought me a ticket to Arizona, so we could have that whole side of the family present for Thanksgiving.

- I'm thankful for the continued health and success of my my family, especially in light of a scare we had over the weekend.

- I'm thankful for my family's continual support and love (despite my grandfather busting my balls for being under poverty line -- on a similar note, any thoughts on the morality of my potential application for food stamps?).


- I'm thankful for all of the Chanukkah presents.

- I'm thankful that my aunt and uncle are active people so that every Thanksgiving we hike during the day, go for long walks under the desert stars after dinner, and go dancing at night (probably wouldn't get done without them).

- I'm thankful that the UH Warriors, with their definitive win Thanksgiving weekend over their biggest rival (the Boise State Broncos), seem destined for the Sugar Bowl (you have no idea how happy this makes people out here -- it's fun to be along for the ride).

- I'm thankful to the Universal Life Church for providing free ordinations (yes, you can now call me Reverend without irony), so that I can marry two of my closest friends next fall (I welcome any and all suggestions for the theme of the service -- so far the leaders are "Under the Sea" and the "St. Valentine's Day Massacre").

- I'm thankful to be out here, on a beautiful tropical island, with lots of new friends, undergoing research that interests me towards a degree that's challenging and stimulating (as opposed to my joke of a Masters in Education) at an institution with good faculty and resources. Hooray for Interlibrary Services!

- I'm thankful to Andrew of songstowearpantsto.com for thoroughly entertaining me this week with his hilarity. A one man They Might Be Giants who composes by request -- a talented musician who has hit on a goldmine of ridiculous ideas for funny songs.

- I'm thankful to be getting paid to hang out with kids again (as a "tutor" in an after-school program, where I'm even more of a babysitter than I was in Brooklyn). There's something about 12 and 13 year olds that makes me laugh whenever I'm not getting aggravated.

Alright, enough thanks-giving. It's December. Must get the rent check in the mail, stock up on some comestibles, and buckle down for the day. If I can write 8 more pages (already done the research) before the game, I'll be right pleased with myself.

Go Warriors!