|
8 . 2 2 . 9 9 I've reached the one-week mark of summer. The one-week-left mark of summer to be exact. Kind of a weird realization really, that I'll be a thousand miles away from here in about 7 days, resuming another chapter of a life that has been in many ways put on hold so to speak. Went to a party tonight at Adam's house, it was pretty cool seeing him for the first time since March. Some of us have left already, so it wasn't totally complete, but it was still good to see everyone in one place--probably the last time for a while, at least until Xmas. I fiddled around with the old 486 today, scrapping it for the newer but still obsolete com with the intention of eventually installing and learning how to use red hat linux. So far I've had some trouble with the D drive and getting the com to recognize the CD-ROM. I called "The Wizard" over and he did most of the fiddling, i was kind of surprised how complicated and simple computers are really. A lot of the protocols are complicated and brainy, but at the same time, a lot of the steps in installation and configuration relies on common sense troubleshooting. Hopefullly I'll be able to get a working linux system so i can get it sent up to Madison for me to work on it during the year. Before the party I went to a going away party for a recent graduate on to a California University. It was nostalgic to see the recent graduates chipper and positive about their future college experience, their plans, their aspirations. I wish them the best. College as I see it has been everything but predictable, I'm sure they will all realize. It will be either the very best years of their life, or the very worse. I'm not too sure which I would accredit to my own college experience so far that I am still in the process of living. I ran into Coach and talked to him a bit about old times and new times. He's the same in many ways, but he's got a serious girl now that makes him happy, so that always changes one's outlook on life. I asked him when the wedding was as a joke. I'm feeling kind of old. It'll all make sense when i'm old and grey, I'll look back on my college years and laugh about how worried and paranoid I was about my future, what a big deal I made of everything, and how I overanalyzed everything like a true Psych major. Well its 4AM, I should get some shuteye. 17173-4 7 days to Wisco 8 . 1 8 . 9 9 So my post-summer-session-2-week vacation has started and I've spent it at work. fun fun. At least I only have one week for sure, and it's part-time. Everyone is started to leave back for school in the fall, summer is coming to a close and I feel like it should just be starting. I drove out to Makakilo last night to see Sharon before she heads back up to school. It was kind of a drive, but it was neat since I haven't been out to west Oahu in a while, Kapolei and Kunia have been developing in the more recent years. She was telling me how before she moved into her house up on the hill that there were cows and horses roaming around the area. I'm not used to seeing barren hills and red dirt in your backyard I guess. I think I'd like that better though, sometimes. Minus the traffic I think would be pretty neat....then again its hot as hell. I was thinking a little bit about how confusing this time is for the transplanted college student as far as personal connections and what not. I seem to be meeting a lot of people at this point of life that would've had the strong potential for a meaningful and deep friendship/relationship, but the reality of the distance and choice of schools makes the effort a little futile. I was talking to Hic about this stuff this past saturday, we were talking about how stupid and fake high school was but at the same time it created a stable enough environment to develop strong bonds and connections. College seems to be a little more impersonal in many ways, especially at a big university, everyone on their own agenda, their own time. My roomate Steve already moved into our apartment. He told me we got the room with the shower without a side. I think it was designed for handicapped access, but the downside for us is that water will get all over the place. The construction on the road next door isn't pau yet either, so I guess I'll be spending a lot of time in the library, which isn't much of a change of pace anyway. I'm hoping that the events with the hall as active and more like they claim, I'm planning on designing the website. 11 days to Wisco 8 . 1 3 . 9 9 And so 2nd session at UH is pau. I completed my final week cramming a research paper on Prison Rape, Cemeteries in Honolulu, and a personal synthesis from Hawaii to Wisconsin. Oh and I had a 40% essay final on the concept of sexual abuse as being "Violence against femininity". i'm actually surprised I made it through this week. I've gotten used to the taste of coffee at 2AM a little too much. Anyway, its been a very meaningful summer, like I said before. Dr. Grant gave a closing statement today in class about the changing face of Hawaii's multiculturalism as we move to and past the year 2000. Very powerful, very meaningful, he talked about ethnic identity, and what it means to be Hawaiian, and how culture past the 4th and 5th generations of immigrants starts to cross ethnic lines. It puts into mind the notion of being "Hawaiian at Heart". He is a visionary for the future of Hawaii, one who has become attached to the aina and the culture. I have a longing for home now, even though I still am here, as I know in a couple weeks I'll be in the Mad City, furthering my high education. Summer has gone by so fast. Today I was thinking about how impersonal the world is in a way how impersonal college can be, I said goodbye to some of the people I met in this class in a hurry to take my exam for the next class realizing that I might never see them ever again. Its kind of strange how we all know that the random people that come across your path for a temporary period of time, a semester, a term, a week, a moment, a glance, each with their own story, their own ideas, own experiences. Even with todays technology you can keep in touch with a click of a button, sometimes its either too hard, or too meaningless. So thats that, end of academics for a couple weeks, time to relax and cruz at the beach, catch a surf session or two, hang out with old friends. Time to shift gears again, time to get back into the "Wisconsin mode" Destination Madtowne: 16 days and counting. 8 . 9 . 9 9 August has begun and the 5th week of summer session is pau. I had two papers supposedly due today, one on Wed, and a final on Friday, and then I'm done with summer session. As it turned out the two papers due today got extended until friday. This is a blessing since I've realized now that I have a lot of proofreading to do still yet. Also today I got a call back from the "Graveyard Lady" Ms. Purnell at the Bishop museum who was on vacation and out of town. I had the honor of talking to her and getting some inside information and perspectives on graveyards in Honolulu. Its surprising how fast this term has gone by. The course material has made the work fly, and I've found heart in the research of seeking my cultural roots so to speak. The ghost tour was last week, I ended up bringing Reg with me. I picked her up in boonie land after swinging by Ka'ahumanu and Puea cemetaries in Kalihi, and a quick stop at the Bishop Museum. I had originally planned on stopping at the Aiea plantation cemetary and the Mililani town one, but we ended up wasting time at Fun Factory and winning tickets. I decorated my dad's car with army men and Ti leaves. I have a scary story about this study I've been doing, its a little spooky, when I finish finalizing my paper I'll post on the random rhoughts page. I also ended up pulling an all-nighter last night trying to finish the graveyard study and the personal synthesis, so I had a long nap this afternoon. I never thought i'd pull all-nighters for summer session, but I think its the follies of procastination. Friday there was a guest speaker from the State who works with sex offenders at Halawa prison. i was talking to him afterward about internship possibilities, and it seemed like his department had some very promising offers working in corrections next summer in a criminal justice internship. If I can get it to transfer for my CJ minor in Madison, I might have a reason to come home and enjoy Hawaii for one more summer. We'll see. I don't know if I see myself working in the CJ system though. Saturday morning I got a call from my friend Sara, who was stuck at Honolulu International airport for 12 hours.. I picked up her up and showed her around the place a little, gave her a little tour of Hawaii. It was a really random meeting int he sense that when I said goodbye to her in Madison this past spring I really thought I was saying goodbye forever. Makes me think about the people who cross your paths in this thing called life. I think she had a good time, did you Sara? are you reading this? hehe. The fact that this is an online/public journal is another random concept that comes into play. Oh well. Summer is coming to a close, and by far this has been the most eventful, enlightening, and soulful 3 months I've had ever. Its a little sad that the fall semester is coming up, but life goes on. man I sound old. |