Howzit?

Due to the well-deserved urgings of certain individuals, I am updating again.

First, let us beam ourselves back to Saturday afternoon, and my journey to the Ala Moana Shopping Center. It was a semi-long walk, but between the walking to the bus stops and general window shopping. . .I've been doing alot of walking lately. Ala Moana really is a city unto itself. . and island of shops surrounded by vast parking complexes. after fording the parking lot, I managed to enter through the food court, which was a rough start indeed. It was a gigantic circle of an area, bordered on all sides with Sbarro's and McDonalds and other foodcourt staples, plus places I have never heard of like "Curry House" and other asian-themed things. If you've ever seen the marketplace in "Blade Runner" it's kindof like that, only perhaps a bit more sanitary. It was completely packed with people swirling around the center stalls. Neon olfactory insanity.

Past the foodcourts, it was more pleasant and familiar. It's an open-air mall which stretches length-wise and has 3 levels of shopping goodness. What struck me most was the "level" of shopping to be had. There I was in backpack and jeans walking amongst Prada and Chanel and a bunch of different stores who's names I cannot recall but noted as expensive. Definitely a window-shopping experience.

A hula festival was being held in the center courtyard--can you believe my luck? I only saw two dances, both of which done by Japanese. I think it sums up the hybrid society of Oahu quite well--there's definitely a huge asian population. The best moment was a little girl with a smile frozen perfectly on her face, with soft mauve flowers in her hair and matching fabric underneath the grass skirt, doing dance after dance for the crowd. Hula is such a soft dance sometimes you forget that dancing is what they're doing, if that makes any sense.

The people watching was pretty decent, as I spotted a woman in a see-through chainmail shirt, a man covered head to toe in tattooes, and also a couple from India crashed upon a bench, the woman reading to the man even though they both looked ready for a nap. I wish I could have taken all their pictures, but I'm not sure they would have cared for that.

I had vowed to spend no money on this outing, and so after seeing every store that was to be seen, I decided to hike back to the Ward shopping center--which is closer to lab--to go see a movie. The Ward Center has one of those gigantamous movie theatres with ampitheatre seating. JOY!!! I decided to see Men In Black II--I figured since I was by myself it would be less pathetic and also still quite enjoyable. It's always a little weird to go see movies alone, but once the lights go down, who cares? I was happily rewarded with BOTH a very fun movie and also previews for the next Lord of the Rings movie. . .I wanted to jump up and down and cheer when I saw THAT. . but I think my excitment would've been lost on most people. After the movie, I walked back to Ala Moana--I'm a walking fiend!--and experimented with catching the bus there. Worked well!

Sunday was rather uneventful, except for the fact I bought two fine books:
"Tales of a Female Nomad" by Rita Golden Gelman
"The Collected Stories of Phillip K. Dick: Volume I"

I bought the Phillip K. Dick collection of short stories because he's the author behind the stories used for "Blade Runner" and "Total Recall" and "AI" and "Minority Report"--all of which were really fascinating. But I haven't cracked into that one yet, because I'm profoundly in love with "Tales of a Female Nomad." It's a true story, a memoir written by a middle-aged woman who just picked herself up from a divorce and began roaming about the globe, through great luck and communication landing herself in different cultures and great people. It's amazing, entertaining, and basically gives you the adventure bug. And since I'm on an adventure, it gives me great inspiration. So, I've had plenty to keep me entertained at the bus stop.

Monday was rather uneventful. Only two things of note: one was looking out the window to see two hooded figures cloaked in black complete with fake knives and "scream" masks chasing after surfers. . .that was pretty random. The other was when the next step in my project was successful--in a long line of lucky successes--and Cheryl turned to me and said "Did you know you were really good at this?"

No, I didn't. Last year at OSU had me thinking I was completely inept. . .I guess I've learned alot. I've still got alot of learning left to do! I've really understood so much of what I've been doing and accomplishing. . .things seem alot less scary these days. . .and I'm beginning to fall in love with my work all over again. And that's a big relief.

Tuesday. . today. .also uneventful. Such is work! wake up, do chores, go to work, come home, eat, sleep. Repeat.


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