I went to the "official" premiere of LOST with Cory and Emily at Planet Hollywood across the street from where I live. I was all geared up with camera and camcorder in order to schmooze with celebrities, but alas, only a lone extra showed up. The WGA had boycotted the premiere (which was originally supposed to be on the beach with the cast), so no one famous showed. I still hope to someday bump into J.J. Abrams (uber-cool geeky writer/producer), but that dream was not to be fulfilled tonight. In the end, Planet Hollywood is an awful place to watch TV -- I really haven't a clue about what happened in the episode (other than they still haven't gotten off the island -- sorta).

Someone thought my photo of the lunar eclipse last year was worthy of inclusion in the Wiki Commons. Yay! Such a 21st century honor.

I did it again, I sprained an ankle. Luckily its not too bad, but I did feel that awful burn of a soft tissue tear. I think that makes four (maybe five) times in the last year.

I decided to go for a walk to the Natatorium at the opposite end of Waikiki. It's an old 19th century eyesore; it looks sort of like some Greek or Roman swimming pool, but without the workmanship. It's also been closed for quite some time, but I still wanted to see it up close.

A few minutes into my walk, it started pouring. I found shelter at the Waikiki Police Station on the beach, next to the statue of Duke Kahanamoku. This gave me plenty of time to gaze out at the water and wish I were with the surfers, instead of being stuck next to a bunch of braindead tourists (either only stupid people go on vacation or normal people lose a lot of IQ points when they step off the plane). I don't know, maybe they think I am braindead as well, getting in their slow paced way and expecting them to move faster. The surf on the south shore is beginning to kick up nicely.

Anyway, to make a long, and frankly, not that interesting story short, I started walking again, slipping several times. The sidewalks are paved with slippery flagstones. Walking along the beach was better, but Waikiki has intermittent stretches of beach. With slippas in the rain, it's easy to get water between your foot and the foam, which means you end up slipping against two surfaces, not just one. Still, I kept going. I got to the natatorium and on the way back, through Kapiolani Park, just after view the statue of Queen Kapiolani (who has a blue dress -- only in Hawaii have I seen multi-colored bronze statues) I slipped and sprained my ankle. I gave up, and took my flip-flops off, and walked barefoot to the first bus stop back.

After I got home today, I was watching the punditry surrounding the State of the Union address, when I crashed out (I guess the early-morning construction next door is taking its toll on me). I must have crashed when they were analyzing the statements the President made about terrorism, because I ended up having a really intense lucid dream about terrorism. I apologize in advance for describing a dream again!

I was in a version of Honolulu that looked not much like Honolulu other than being in a confined area and next to the ocean. The buildings were taller, older, and more European. There was a partially subterranean subway system with silver cars. I was a few weeks pregnant (I think this signifies vulnerability -- but then again I dream I'm pregnant when I have an upset stomach, and that was the case today).

Early into the dream, Honolulu was taken over by a militia of thousands of terrorists. These were not middle-eastern cliches, but rather normal Honolulu people that had been recruited and brainwashed by other terrorists from elsewhere (in my dream I compared them to zombies). As they first took over, I had a miscarriage but didn't get help because of the chaos. I had to take what I had on me for belongings (which oddly, included pink nail polish (I never wear nail polish) and not much else). The terrorists had struck a temporary truce with the city to allow the subway trains to evacuate people from the city to the country. They allowed a few days for this. I got on the first train car I could, and just like on theBus, I was stuffed next to other people. There was a long delay, then the car slowly started moving. As we emerged above-ground I was shocked and frightened to see a phalanx of terrorists in green fatigues and with their faces covered. They were walking in the opposite direction, staring at us through the windows. I got the intense feeling that I really didn't belong there. I tried not to look too specifically at any of them. We moved at a walking pace. The imagery was so vivid, I don't think I'll ever forget it.

Several minutes later as the train was going through the city streets, I saw the results of IED style bombs -- body parts -- hands and feet and torn clothing everywhere. It wasn't particularly gory in my dream, but still awful. I couldn't look. Eventually we were dumped outside the city next to a tunnel (a covered road). We took shelter in the tunnel for awhile. Things seemed rather calm, so I decided to go back to the city to try to round up some food and resources.

It took me awhile to get back to the heart of the city -- I saw no terrorists at least, but a lot of people in very dire conditions. Along the way I came across the dog of a friend. She was badly injured. I scooped her up and took her with me, vowing to find first aid supplies to dress her wounds (dogs pop up a lot in my dreams as entities I need to care for and protect).

I came across a cafe that was still open, and serving several rather bedraggled patrons. They had pumpkin pie. I wanted to order a slice but before I could a bomb went off somewhere nearby, and dust rained down on the food. It was unappetizing. I moved along. I got soaked in river of water created by a broken water main. There was no way around it but through.

I came to a pharmacy that was boarded up, but in the office building next door I found a former co-worker (from UAT) in a panic. She was wearing high-heels and was trying to get better footwear (in real life she was a shoe fiend). I tried to get her help with finding first aid supplies. She was too freaked out to help me. I woke up shortly after that.

The company I work for, Blue Lava Technologies, made it into a Honolulu Advertiser article (despite the low class name, the Advertiser is a big paper in Hawaii). Yay! Press!

I had an interesting conversation with Leslee on Friday. We had just seen the movie "Atonement", which is fantastic (but marketed completely wrong as a romance, when it is a literary mystery and will appeal to a wider audience -- why do studios do this?!). The main character in the movie, Briony, is a writer, so of course this generated a lot of discussion between me and Leslee, and our conversation drifted towards the act of being a writer, and whether or not we tell the same story over and over again (Briony was stuck on one story her whole life -- hence her atonement). This worries me greatly.

My main characters are inevitably individuals who feel alone and alienated in the world -- they observe and are aware of things that those around them do not perceive, and they feel trapped and struggle to escape, often unsuccessfully. That's a depressing story to tell -- who wants to read that (other than me)? Leslee felt that she writes about characters (in pairs) who are superficially linked together but do not hold long term hope of being together. In fact, you can take almost any author and find a common thread in all his or her stories. Often, that thread is deeply autobiographical. Frankly, I think my therapist could have learned more about me by reading my fiction than talking with me about my life. A lot of subconscious struggle finds it's way to the page.

The other thing I began to worry about (and almost sent Leslee into a panic because she had never considered it before) was whether or not I am being innovative as a writer. Okay, I have to confess, I am concerned about innovation because I am addicted to the fashion design show "Project Runway" (and the penultimate human being, an icon of grace, composure, and civility, Tim Gunn, the most genuine person on TV, ever). Anyway, Project Runway is all about innovation -- to the point where the word almost becomes a meaningless cliche. But I do think innovation, trying new things, new ideas, is important in any artform.

I've been reading more literary stuff lately (Chabon, Bukowski, Pahlaniuk), and not reading solely for entertainment. I want to understand more advanced methods of constructing story and rendering characters. I've also found that my writers' group is somewhat constraining -- the members (and I do not fault them here, just observing) tend to read in strict genre lines, and don't touch contemporary literature. There is nothing wrong with this as a reading habit (I've done the same in the past sticking almost exclusively to science fiction), but I think as a result, their ideas on how to construct a story, and what is enjoyable to read, is an ossified concept of a linear story. This too is a result of a significant generation gap. Readers growing up in the information age are perfectly fine with non-linear plots (they like Memento and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind for instance), while those born in earlier generations find the same stories confusing and annoying. In my writers' group, when I color outside the lines (on purpose) it ends up being confusing. I just don't know if that would be the same with my target audience (and the members of the group who are in the target audience get it immediately without stumbling or asking me). I want to be able to stretch myself as a writer, and I'm feeling a bit held back in my group.

So, if you are curious and have read this far, jagunda is a word that means "big, gigantic". It was made up by an English teacher Leslee had when she was in high school. She told me the story of it on Friday, and I kind of like it. Her teacher really wanted to have it incorporated into the English language, and tried to promote it among her pupils. I think this is amusing since most English teachers try to discourage you from making up works. It seems it has worked, since it appears in the Urban Dictionary, as of October 2005!

I finally made mochi for the first time - and it's shockingly easy if you have the right tools (a steamer basket and a wok). Mochi is huge in Hawaii, and comes in a wide variety of forms. It originated in Japan, but is utterly transformed here, and it's nothing like the crappy granola mochi you find in refrigerated packs at places like Whole Foods on the mainland.

Mochi is an incredibly versatile desert, you can pretty much make it as any flavor, and wrap things up in it (like fruit and ice cream) to make bite size morsels of gummy goodness. It's flexible and pliant like play-doh when it's cooked, so it's easy to mold and shape. I'd include a photo of my mochi, but this wasn't very photogenic mochi (tasty, flavored and colored only with brown sugar, but brown lumps do not a good photo make). I want to move on to experimenting with candy and chocolate coatings, and hopefully add it to my repertoire of deserts. Also, because it's gluten-free (rice flour based), I'm going to make some for Sam when I see her in February!

I spent the day with Leslee -- it was a nice way to recover from the previous night which was absolutely horrible (I removed a blog post for the first time because it was so depressing and it freaked out my parents).

Leslee wanted to get some practice using her new digital Nikon (D300). I agreed to be her model. I make a pretty bad model by the way. I'm incredibly self-critical (especially about the fat underneath my chin and how much of my gums show when I smile) and I have a lot of opinions about lighting. All said, she put up with me rather well.

I showed her how to get her photos off her camera (on a Mac at least), and showed her iPhoto and a bit of Photoshop. She was particularly impressed with the spot healing tool. I uploaded some of the photos of me to my Flickr page.

I have to say, even though I am a Canon person, I like her Nikon. I think the color sensor is better than on my Rebel. My camera skews a bit blue, hers is more centered a vibrant. Her autofocus seems to be better as well.

Someone is yodeling outside (real bona fide German yodeling). It's really irritating. I just want to go to sleep and forget today.

I was a half hour late for my meeting (my meeting, one I was actually in charge of). I left so that I would be twenty minutes early but traffic was gridlocked all the way. I was cursing the tourists, assuming there had been some sort of seasonal uptick. I was also worried because I had been late for the last meeting (two buses in a row broke down in Waikiki which threw off all the rest).

It turned out that traffic *everywhere* in Honolulu was gridlocked. The reason? Some nutjob threw an infant off a pedestrian overpass and onto the H-1 freeway. The child hit two cars, and obviously, was dead. This was only the second murder I'm aware of on the island (heck, the state) since I moved here. It was shocking to say the least. I wish I had just been late due to poor time management or sleeping through the alarm. This was just sickening.

Finally started to dig into my old stash of stories written with MS Works (yikes!). Here is Valerie.

Okay, I found this on my harddrive - written a couple of years ago as a rant in response to a conservative friend who spammed me with a "humorous" diatribe against actors who were speaking out against the war when it started. I never sent it, but I needed to write it (it doesn't entirely reflect my current views or knowledge, but close). This was awhile ago, and the guy doesn't read my blog, so it's probably safe to post (if I disappear in the next few days, check with the CIA):

Okay, this one bugged me. I know you didn't write this, and that you provided it as food for thought. It just bugged me, and what follows is a rant about it. Please don't get offended by it.

There is a comparison between the formally educated republican administration and not so formally educated actors. There were definitely valid points to be made that the administration is more in the know. However, two of the most intelligent people I know personally have no formal education, my dad who for economic reasons completed only the eighth grade and my brother who barely graduated highschool because it bored him too much. I was a gifted kid in school and I so wanted not to be there from kindergarten on - rote memorization and conformity is not what extremely intelligent people thrive on. I don't know the IQs of these actors, and frankly IQ measurements are pretty skewed towards white protestant culture anyway.

In this issue, it is not really intelligence that matters (intelligence is defined as the aptitude of learning) but wisdom (how you use what you know). I don't think the current administration is particularly wise (then again, I'm a Jimmy Carter fan and he didn't last long). I used to have a beef with dubya, I mean the guy is completely inarticulate and leans far too heavily on the advice of others in his administration to make decisions, but no more. Do some research on a guy named Paul Wolfowitz - he works directly under Donald Rumsfeld, and also worked in the Bush I administration. He essentially is the architect of this administration's current foreign policy. In 1992 after the first gulf war he wrote a document on how the United States should wield it's military power to change the world to be completely democratic. Although I think it would be nice if the world was completely democratic, it is extremely offensive to force your own ideology on the culture and peoples of other states. This even alarmed the Pentagon at the time (stoic and conservative as they are), and they leaked it to the press. Oddly enough, this administration's documented foreign policy post 9/11 is almost identical to the original draft written by Paul Wolfowitz. Quite possibly, this guy is a freakin puppeteer.

The argument can be made that the current administration is veiled facism, and that the current foreign policy is one of world domination. Now, do you think that this would make dictactors say "I give up, how could I possibly think my way was better" or would it just shove them into a corner like a rabid dog ready to bite and scratch for its very survival? Why do you think the US has lost so many of its long time allies? They feel pressured too. Nobody likes to be stepped on by an 8 foot oaf. I still believe in the US, and especially the constitution. It, along with Habius Corpus (sp?) and the UN charter of human rights form the foundation of our modern society.

One of the other things that bugs me about this administration, is that it seems to have forgotten that this is a SECULAR state. -----, I know you are a devout christian, and I'll gladly defend your right to be that way, but I was raised catholic and we were taught that our faith is personal and that you shouldn't spew it at everyone you come across. I'm happily agnostic (even through those catholic years), and I don't understand why dubya has to bless america 12 times in every speech. It's extremely offensive because he is representing all of america to the rest of the world. I don't want to be lumped in with this guy's ideology. He should leave that crap at home or at his church. And another thing, if there is a god, does Bush really think god is on his side? I was taught that god does not take sides, and that it is a really bad idea to assume you know god's opinion.

If liberal actors are speaking out now, it is because the liberal politicians aren't doing enough or are too afraid (I'm glad Clinton and Dole are having debates on 60 Minutes now - but each segment is only a few minutes long). They have the time to do it, and the celebrity status to be heard. They are not the only liberal people in this country, and are not even as liberal as most people in other western democracies (in Canada, the US brand of liberal is merely center politics, and fundamentalist christians are non-existent in Canada, Europe and especially Australia and New Zealand). Why is it that conservatives are so vocal in this country? Why do they look down on those with liberal leanings? Why the f**k are they so self-righteous? Why do they think they know what is right and appropriate for the rest of us?

I suppose you could argue that liberals look down on conservatives. I don't think that is true. Mostly we just look aghast at what comes out of conservative mouths - it's often very shocking, and with the conviction with which it is spoken, it's often very frightening. When the president blesses america, I immediately feel like an outsider, like I don't belong, like I am a lesser being. When the president reduces the safety net in favor of faith-based charities I feel more insecure (where the heck would I go if I need help?). When the president claims it is immoral to clone new stem cell lines I wonder if he really understands what a cell is and what we are as organisms (then again, most people don't know we are immense colonies of 4 types of symbiotic bacteria (plants are 5 or more, fungus 3), but then, most people don't believe humans are animals)).

Why is it that the biggest lessons of the bible are totally lost on these self-professed christian conservatives? That it is important to be humble, compassionate, and caring? Jesus would be screaming at them too if he were alive. Instead, they insist on poking all the rabid dogs of this world with their very big stick, agitating them to the point of desperate action.

If we really wanted the world to become free for all peoples, we would lead by example (and not say, trade arms for hostages, or train foreign terrorists to fight our communist enemies for us). We would use gentle persuasion, sharing resources, and offering humanitarian help without strings. We would respect international law, and take a greater role in shaping it. We would put world freedom center stage both during elections and the normal course of government action. Instead of thrusting one brand of ideology on the world, we would listen, LISTEN, to the concerns of others, even if it means having to listen to a crappy ideology we don't personally care about. We would listen and gently debate and argue our position. We would encourage representation for every human opinion, even if it is just on the internet for now. We would encourage non-violent expression. We would not allow our corporations to exploit other people in a manner that is illegal in our own country. Our policies would respect this world's natural and human resources. We would define social goals in a pluralistic manner and persue them using the tools of science and capitalism (during the oil crisis the administration at that time vowed to end america's dependency on foreign oil, and now we are even more dependent). We would respect the opinions of others, for that is what we'll have to do anyway when the world is completely free.

This is the core of flower wielding liberal philosophy. I'm sorry if the complexities and subtleties of peace offends or confounds the conservatives.

I do not support the reasons for starting this war. It is on very shaky legal ground, though the administration has done a good job of covering their butts. Now that it has started, we absolutely have to follow through, truly liberate the Iraqi people, and give them the resources they need to form their own government, even if it is another brutal dictatorship because it is their choice, not ours, even if we don't like it. I don't agree with starting this war at this time because of the axis of evil speech (one should never flagrantly label something as evil because it is almost always never that simplistic a situation) where dubya lumped in North Korea and Iran - especially since he has not presented damning evidence that these states have any connection to al Qaeda. Yeah they are run by miserable dictators, but you can't just point a finger at them and say "You're evil, I'm comin to git you." The only two countries I can think of that have actively supported terrorists are Libya (why wasn't it part of the axis? They've admitted involvement in the Lockerbie incident) and the US. Yes that's right. The CIA trained and funded terrorists in Afghanistan to help fend off the Soviet invasion of that country in the 70s and 80s. These are the same terrorists that evolved into the Taliban and al Qaeda. And oh gee, let's see who was the head of the CIA at that time - oh my, why it's George Bush I. Now, why on earth is he not being tried for war crimes and treason?

Because the Soviets and the US decided to make Afghanistan their little playground for a good 2 decades (as well as Vietnam, Cambodia, Cuba, Korea, parts of central america, and probably a bunch of other places at other times), these people have endured horrific suffering. There was simply no respect for these people on the part of the US at that time. I remember when the Taliban wheeled into power in Kabul, and thinking, why isn't the US voicing it's concern over this? Non politician liberals were the only people talking about it.

You know, if we want respect, we have got to give it. We have to act with consistency, not just conviction. We can't be colonialists, and we can't act as a polarizing force in this world. We seriously need to chill out. We need to be the gentle giant. Okay, that's the end of my rant. It was very cathartic. If you want to know what my IQ is, it's 172 (on the 200 scale. 100 is average, 80 is mentally disabled, and 130 is genius). That's in the top .5 percentile of the world population. Just an interesting fact, but the top 10th percentile of intelligence correlates almost completely with the 8% of the world population that is naturally agnostic or atheist (it's a lot like being gay, you can't help it, nor would you want to). More important than that, I consider myself well informed on history and world affairs. Take it for what it is worth.

Candent Media that is. My media conglomerate, hehee. The website is just parked with the registrar. I'm looking for a webhost that supports python/django. My current webhost doesn't support django.

I keep filling up my harddrive (80 GB! I remember when a meg seemed infinitely big), mainly with photos. I can't get rid of the photos because I have to keep them to test software I work on. So, I have to scrounge around and see what I can remove. Ideally, I'd love to have offsite backup, but most services are truly just backup, not storage - so if you remove a file from the harddrive, it's gone forever. This is useless to me. I am stuck burning CDs and DVDs, and hoping I won't lose them at some unforeseen point in the future.

I came across this unidentified bit of cruft tucked into a text file -- I can't remember where I got it or why, but here it is:

Katharine, your personality is shaped by your Expressive nature.

Your expressiveness makes it easy for you to explore life's possibilities without feeling too hemmed in by obligations. You probably enjoy sudden bursts of spontaneity and tend to live in the moment. Extremely structured environments, situations, or people are likely to make you feel uncomfortable because you generally gravitate toward flexibility and openness.

Yes, extremely structured environments do annoy the crap out of me.

Yes, an actual, bona fide mountain. I went with a group of friends (who were always waiting for me to catch up). Physically it wasn't too bad, though it was probably one of the hardest hikes I've done. It took us about 3 and a half hours to go up, and 1 and a half hours to come down.

It was extremely muddy. I wore the wrong shoes. My trusty Arizona hiking sandals were no match for Hawaiian mud. I had gotten a few blisters on my feet the day before, and one burst open, and was exposed to the mud, which was more painful than the actual blister was. Also, getting mud inside my sandal, I was slipping on that mud, then my sandal was slipping on the outside mud - so walking became very difficult. I but some bandaids on the opened blister, but they quickly got wet and rubbed away. So I went into McGuyver mode, and made a bandage out of young bamboo leaves (since they were the only plant I could identify and knew for sure it was non-toxic). It worked pretty well - better than the bandaids, but I was still having a problem slipping inside my shoe. Luckily, one of the other hikers (Jessica) gave me one of her socks to wear over the blistered foot, and that helped considerably (there's no way the sock is coming clean, so I need to remember to get her a new pair).


Overall, the hike was pretty darn cool. At the beginning is a gorgeous waterfall - people were swimming in it, which isn't the brightest idea because 1) there are harmful microbes in the water and 2) there are frequent landslides and rocks coming over the falls.

After the falls, up and up we went, over countless muddy switchbacks. In some areas, the path was about 8 inches wide. I got over the fear of looking over the side of the path down the steep slope of the mountain rather quickly by just focusing on moving forward. In one place, a bunch of huge, elderly banyan trees had over taken the trail and we could only progress by carefully threading our way through the roots and holding on. Oddly, there are lots of places that have convenient handholds - root handholds.

Throughout spots on the trail and up at the top, there is bamboo forest. It's probably the most peaceful type of forest there is (probably because birds can't perch in the straight stalks). When there is a bit of wind in the treetops, the bamboo clatter together gently and sound a bit like wind chimes. It is a beautiful sight to look up and see their dark lines ascending to the sky.

The other cool thing about bamboo is that they make a great handhold while hiking. The other trees can be mossy and slippery, but the bamboo stalks are smooth, green, cold, thick, sturdy, and straight. They are extremely reassuring. I leaned against them alot as I climbed, where the path got dicey.

Since I was behind everyone else, and not talking, I let my imagination wonder. There were times I was hiking in China, about to catch a glimpse of panda bear; I was a guerrilla fighter in Central America escaping the army and making ready to camp undetected in the forest; I was on an alien planet discovering new species; I was an ancient Polynesian looking for food; I was a LOST castaway on a dangerous and unknown quest.

At the top of the mountain, where there was thick bamboo forest, we all became 12-year-olds again, pulling down dead stalks, breaking bamboo, wacking bamboo with bamboo, launching bamboo stalk rockets. It was probably a horrible thing to do with the forest, but bamboo grows quickly so none of us felt too terribly guilty. I was able to break off a three segment piece, which I used as a walking stick on the way down. It saved me from an nasty ankle twist or too (less vigorous going down, but more treacherous).

It was a fantastic hike - I think everyone felt exhausted but elated. My legs are in some serious pain, but other than that, the exertion was fine. My foot is currently throbbing because I rinsed the blister with hydrogen peroxide and put some bactine on it). My knees are pretty much locked up at the moment. I'm going to be in some serious pain for several days. However, totally worth it!

My dad recently had surgery on one of his eyes to replace the cornea. He now has a soft plastic implant. This was to eliminate the progress of cataracts. He will get the other one done later as well. I thought what he wrote about it in a email to me was particularly interesting. I asked if I could share it on my blog:

Still recovering from eye surgery. Worst thing; have to wear a hard plastic eye cover to protect eye when I sleep. Have to tape it to my face to prevent slippage/any movement. Hell of a time with trying to hit on a good tape; then remove tape residue after. Olive oil works best.

Removed right eyeglass from glasses frame so that I can focus and function. Vision with no glasses over that eye better than glasses, but some times I can see flash of outline of new lens. They said the brain will learn to ignore it. 6-8 weeks until second eye operation. Difficult time with dealing with curbs, etc because to two different depth perceptions at once. Typing with new eye closed. With it open the computer screen is a blur, only becomes clear if it move back six feet and from that distance my arms are too short to reach the keyboard.

Operation surgery seemed unreal. Operation room freezing. People green blurs.
Head covered looking only through frozen eye being worked on, colors all pastel floating pinks, greens and yellows swirling with occasional dark blue and ripples, or waves resembling water and oil mixture, When old lens destroyed with laser, brief blackness until new folded lens inserted and opens like butterfly wings.

Very shaky afterwards. Your brother had take my elbow to walk me to the jeep. Need a lot of sleep.

I've gone off sugar for awhile, and have dropped my favorite Starbucks drink, the Grande Mocha Latte, all in an attempt to sort out my brain chemistry. I've switched to unsweetened, or lightly sweetened straight up coffee with milk. It's been a couple of weeks mochaless, and now when I have anything with sugar, it just tastes far too sweet. Starbucks has been advertising a new mocha with sugarfree chocolate syrup. I generally have a problem with artificial sweeteners (with the exception of xylitol, made from trees), but I guess I forgot that and decided to give the skinny mocha a whirl.

Oh, god, it was awful. It tasted bad from the get-go, bitter and bit alcoholy, but I still managed to suck half of it down for the caffeine before giving up. Bad move. I quickly developed a splitting headache, which I still have, 12 hours later, and after 4 advil. I can't sleep because of it, which is why I am here now, blogging. Who consumes this crap on a regular basis? Who even thinks artificial sweetener is actually sweet?

---

I went to Denny's after I got off the bus from my writers' group. As usual, the manager decided to hover around me and talk story. Turns out the guy has a) lived an incredibly interesting life, or b) is a fantastically creative liar.

He asked me what I do for fun, and I said I'm a writer (which isn't necessarily what I like to do for fun, but I wanted to remain vague). His eyes lit up and he said that he started to write a book once (who hasn't). His wife threw out the manuscript when they were getting divorced so he gave up (tragic!) She threw it out because she was in it - it was his autobiography of his time living in Zambia, as a millionaire restaurantuer, married to Thai royalty, rubbing elbows with presidents and refugees alike.

Now, as much as I may find the idea of a Denny's manager being a former African millionaire (albeit, of Hawaiian origin, with a thick Pidgin accent) a bit, um, fictional, I have to remind myself of how people treated me when I worked at the bookstore - there really is a class system in American based on what you do for a living at the moment - people often don't see you beyond job function. Also, I believe the guy because of the little details in his story. He described the trays in his restaurants (wooden planks divided into two divots, on one side went the meat, on the other veggies and starches. The meat side had a runnel carved in it leading to a hollowed out area to collect meat juices). He described how he bought his first car in Africa, how he could see the road through the floor, how it didn't have windows or lights. He described his trip to a game reserve his first few months in Africa to dig for diamonds (he didn't find any, but got malaria, and describe that in great detail). He described how the guards at the gate of the entrance to the reserve made kung fu jokes at his expense because of his Chinese ancestry.

Maybe he was just well researched and full of it. But I tend to think that everyone has a story to tell - maybe not as colorful as his, but everyone has done at least one thing that's interesting and different in life. I told him he should write up his stories again.

Apparently, my apartment is invisible to UPS (the title of this post is a reference to a house in the Harry Potter series that is invisible to all potential intruders). I've been ardently waiting at home for my broadband wireless equipment from ClearWire (since my regular wifi has gotten increasingly erratic as the Trump Tower Waikiki gets bigger). UPS was scheduled to deliver the equipment the same day I ordered it (Saturday), and has tried three times to deliver, claiming I've never been home to sign. The fact is, they never came to my door. I've been here each time (wondering what the heck was taking so long). In the past I've gotten a little sticky note on the door, but nothing. I don't know where they were actually trying. I finally got so worried that I called ClearWire and they gave me the tracking number (since they didn't have it on the bill). The tracking info says that they left me a postcard to come pick up the package. Nada. I have no clue where to go, so I'm just going to show up at the nearest UPS store and hope it is there. Rrrrr.

Yay! Truthfully, I hadn't been posting the past few days because I knew this was the 400th post. Sorta silly.

I'm in a lot of pain from yesterday - I had a 3 hour photoshoot with a breakdancer. We were both soaked in sweat afterwards (that sentence, taken out of context doesn't sound quite right). Anyhow. As he was dancing, I was moving all around him, basically crabwalking at times. I didn't notice how much exercise I was getting until later that night when my thighs, calves and feet decided to go stiff and achy.

Interestingly, I had just learned about a new sport developed in France called Parkour. It developed from street culture (like breakdancing) and the point is to move through the urban landscape as quickly and efficiently as possible. It's not so much about running as it is jumping fences and crawling in and around buildings (something my brother liked to do back in the day). Obviously, it's an individual sport, not a team sport (I like individual sports, pretty much hate team sports - with the exception of baseball which is the most valuing of individuals).

Okay, I'm going to combine what should be two posts because I'm lazy and pretty exhausted (pretty much no sleep because the skyscraper construction next door has phased to the loud dumping of debris from large heights).

I picked up a copy of Wired from Borders the other day on a whim - somehow it has become less than essential reading in recent years, but this issue was a particular treat. The internals have gone through a makeover that makes the mag much more readable (and it's easier to tell what is an ad and what is an article). There's a huge focus on green articles, which I find really interesting - I tend to read those most voraciously lately. And finally, to cap it off, there was a nice, if short, article on Michel Gondry and "Be Kind, Rewind". He's hit mainstream media! And he is portrayed correctly as the very American Maverick he is (happily screwing with Hollywood convention).

Onto the second part of the post! The hemi-post! (Yup, I gotcha, less caffeine). On January 2nd I filed the paperwork to form my second company (after the ill-fated Sky River Web Development). It's called Candent Media - a vague enough name to apply to pretty much anything I do or want to do in the future. "Candent" is an obscure English word that means "giving off light". It's related to words like incandescent (giving off light from within). I think it sounds comforting, sophisticated, and vague - the attributes I was looking for, but couldn't get in the first 50 or so words I tried, but were already taken - by media companies no less. Little one-ups just like me, all over the globe. My second choice (after "fierce") was "Mixed Media", but no, that was taken by a company in Honolulu no less. After six hours and a futile tangent into the naming schemes of Greek nymphs, I ended up with candent. I like it, so nah-na-na-nah.