the underwear drawer

aloha redux

OK, so I have to take back all of the smack-talking I was doing about ATA for the past year. Every flight left on time, some even arriving early, and there were no problems with any of our layovers or connections. Which is no mean feat, considering we had two layovers on the way to Hawaii and three on the way back. Three cheers for ATA! Hip hip...oh, you get the picture.

So, needless to say, we're back from Hawaii. A state so exotic and foreign I forgot I was even in the United States half the time. That is until the last day, when killing time before our flight, we stopped by a strip mall and 1.) ate at Taco Bell 2.) Got Jamba Juice 3.) Went to K-Mart to get some photos developed, and 4.) hid out in Borders reading free magazines until our time was up. So I guess were are in the States after all.

And speaking of the States, not only did we miss Halloween while we were away, we also missed Election Day. Don't give me that look, we're from New York, it's not exactly a swing state. So, Bush again, huh? Thanks a lot, Ohio. First, you cause that blackout last year, and now this. I'm trying to temper my feelings a little bit though, and not see things in such black at white (the old Bush-is-the-right-hand-of-the-devil rhetoric), because it really doesn't help much at this point. And the thing that gives me some satisfaction is that the country is so vituperously divided right now that I don't envy the president in his job at all. There's some sense of justice in the responsibility they now have to clean up their own mess. Though I guess it's hard to fix things when you can't acknowledge any mistakes have been made.

Breathe in, hold, breath out.

Well, anyway. Next time.

So, funny vacation pictures with full narrative to follow shortly. But until then, why not check out the first batch of artsy fartsy shots that I slapped on up at the photo project? There are not so many pictures of me and Joe, but lots of pictures of lovely, lovely Hawaii. Go look and imagine yourself there. It's like travel porn.

New on the photo project: Oahu, and Kauai parts 1, 2 and 3.

Currently reading: "The Corrections." I am really enjoying this book so far, even though I'm only about a fifth of the way into it. I think I was overambitious in the number of books I brought on vacation. I did, however, finish "Magical Thinking" and "Memoirs of a Geisha," which were each entertaining in their own way. "Memoirs of a Geisha" was very much like a History Channel of PBS documentary about Japan, which was fascinating and unlike what I thought I'd be reading--which was basically a book about a whorehouse. I think I misunderstood about the whole "geisha" thing. "Magical Thinking" was entertaining, of course, but only solidifies my feeling that Augusten Burroughs is turning into David Sedaris. Maybe deliberately. What, Burroughs is on NPR too? Get your own gig, man.