Midaregami

This site has revolutionized my world.

• Shortly after my post about the then-unnamed narcoleptic hypochondriac PowerBook, I found myself with a plethora of excellent names, most of them appropriately heat- or flame-related. Suddenly I wish I had more computers to name, because y’all came up with some good ones. I’m going to have to go with “Calcifer”; it strikes the right note of power, magic, and cantankerousness. (Thanks, Gabe.)
  
• Apropos of that, I got my computer back. I sure hope it doesn’t break again, both because I love it, and because losing it mid-semester would be a crippling blow to my academic sangfroid.
  
• I made Fluffy’s Chicken Andouille Gumbo, and goddamn was it good. Another entry in my slowly-growing general cooking repertoire. (Thanks, Fluffy.)
  
• In what I hope is not indicative of things to come, I talked to Ms. Nakanishi, the administrator (of pain and suffering) and she sounded somewhat panicked that I hadn’t yet registered for classes. I explained that I was precluded from doing so until I had taken the literature evaluation and stood before a panel of faculty, a shadowy tribunal that would pass judgement on my worth as a scholar and as a human. This mollified her somewhat, but just to be safe, I stopped by a relevant faculty member’s office to confirm things. It’s hard to say, but I think I’m going to have to to take a graduate reading class this semester—we’re starting off by reading Soseki’s “Sorekara.” In Japanese. I don’t know whether to feel awesome and hardcore or start the humiliating breakdowns now, just to get a head start.
  
• We finished watching the first season of “Lost” with Jake. I love it. I love it so much. I’m still holding out for dinosaurs or UFO technology, though—or dinosaurs with UFO technology. My season 2 theory, which is so obvious it barely counts as a theory: Tail section.
  
• Life in Hawai’i is still weird. We’ve spotted several of the ubiquitous geckos around the apartment, some less than an inch long. They are so cute. Yesterday Miss J pointed out wild parrots (or some other kind of psittacine) flying around the palm trees across the street.
  

…if only it hadn’t been a CCG. I can’t afford CCGs, but I can afford the odd custom card game, if I know I’m getting the whole set, the complete enchilada, in one fell swoop. Nonetheless, I might make an exception, simply because a Penny Arcade Card Game is a great idea.

The day before yesterday I got on the bike (which has been christened the “EALL Short Bus”) and rode out to Waikiki Beach, then looped around Diamond Head. Seriously, that’s what I did. I just rode my bicycle to Waikiki Beach, then continued on around a huge volcanic crater, on a loop that covered, oh, 13 miles or so. Very satisfying. Also freaking gorgeous. Did you guys know how big the ocean is? It’s huge, and blue.

This Hawai’i thing is going to take some getting used to.

The Short Bus is performing admirably, the few hiccups in its operation due almost entirely to my lack of facility with various tricksy pieces of overgrown clockwork. I note with some satisfaction that I can keep up with downtown traffic, and my confidence while riding in that traffic only increases, as does my wariness. Years of motorcycle riding have instilled in me the knowledge that I am essentially invisible to motorists—not cool invisible, Invisible Girl invisible, but rather oh-crap-he’s-turning-left-right-into-me invisible.

Finally, I have purposed to circumnavigate the island of O’ahu before I leave here.

It’s pretty weird here. It’s starting to gradually sink in: I moved to freaking Hawai’i. You know all those pictures you see? The tropical paradise kind? Yeah, they’re all totally true. From the living room of our 9th-floor penthouse apartment (seriously) I can see Manoa Valley, this ridiculously verdant landform that gets misty rainbows in it like every day. When J and I walked across campus, we enjoyed shade provided by huge jungle trees, with the calls of tropical birds echoing through the canopy. Seriously, it’s weird.

Miss J tells a more complete story over at her journal, but to summarize: The post-long-distance-move anxiety is back, nearly at Japan levels. Experience tells me that this will pass over the course of weeks or, at worst, a few months, but it’s unpleasant in the meantime. Also, I expect that once the semester starts I will have little time or energy for culture shock. I expect that even my vast, inscrutable intellect will be well-occupied for the foreseeable future.

Other, less-easily paragraphed points:

• I’ve had a raging caffeine headache since a couple of days ago. Coffee, why have you forsaken me?

• Jake is showing us “Lost,” which is supposed to be awesome. I can say with confidence that I am glad we (by which I mean, J) did not watch it prior to our transoceanic flight. The first episode was good. What was that thing?

• There’s an EALL grad student lounge that only grad students are allowed in. Miss J found this way more exciting than I did, but admittedly, the ability to ruthlessly discriminate against my inferiors (i.e., undergrads) does have a certain appeal.

Plans for tomorrow: hit up the bike shop for a lock and a helmet, then lay siege to visit the EALL department.