Hawai'i's 7th Governor

It's easy to forget sometimes just how young Hawaii is as a State (1959).  Today, I remembered when I found out that Neil Abercrombie was sworn in as Hawaii's 7th Governor.  To put that in perspective, Delaware, the First State, is on its 73rd governor.  The inauguration took place at 'Iolani Palace and there were about 5,000 people there.  I didn't walk across the street to watch because I couldn't imagine anything worse than trying to brave the inevitable crowd of confused people walking into each other.  I'm told he spoke for about 9 minutes and focused his speech on meaningless rhetoric improving the economy and promising to bring a "new day" to Hawaii.  You can read his inaugural message if you want, but one of the highlights is that he said, "our first job is to accelerate the economic recovery, restoration of good jobs, create good jobs, capitalize on new opportunities, work smarter, work in partnerships to optimize our jobs."  Are you scratching your head, too?  Yes, that grammatical and rhetorical train wreck is the work of a man who now runs an entire State.  I mean, nevermind the fact that the guy looks like a creepy pedophile.
  

Hawaii's New Governor

The governor didn't talk at all about how he would sustain government services while also fulfilling campaign promises to end government worker furloughs while dealing with rising Medicaid and state laborer health care costs.  I've written about furloughs before and how they suck for my wallet but give me two Fridays off per month.  I even have a label section dedicated to Furlough Fridays on the right side of the blog.  The furloughs that the governor talked about ending, though, don't apply to me.  The judiciary is controlled by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.  As a result, the governor doesn't decide whether we keep our furloughs or not.

Abercrombie is your stereotypical career politician. He first ran for political office in 1970, challenging Republican U.S. Sen. Hiram Fong.  He also graduated from the University of Hawaii with a master's degree in sociology in 1964 and a doctorate in American studies in 1974 (he lost the Senate election in 1970).  His career also includes stints in the state House from 1975-1979, state Senate from 1979-1986 and Honolulu City Council from 1988 to 1990.  After serving a term on the Honolulu City Council, he ran for the U.S. House of Reps from Hawaii's 1st Congressional District.  He held that seat for 20 years before resigning in February to run for governor.

Celebrating Repeal Day

What is Repeal Day?  Although someone told me recently that my blog has too much history and not enough salacious gossip, Repeal Day is worth mentioning.  I have been promoting this holiday for several years now.  There are not a lot of drinking holidays here in the United States, so here's one we can add.  Every year I make it a point to acknowledge the 21st Amendment's repeal of Prohibition.  This year, I found someone else who shares my passion and equally advocates a National Drinking Holiday.  He goes a step further and gives a back story:

Saint Patrick's Day
Saint Patrick's Day (March 17th), a national religious holiday in Ireland, is a feast day that commemorates Saint Patrick, the most recognized of the patron saints of Ireland.  It was originally a Catholic holiday but became a feast day in the 17th century. The Irish Society of Boston organized what was not only the first Saint Patrick's Day Parade in the colonies on March 18, 1737.  It was brought to the United States by Irish immigrants and is now celebrated by Irish and non-Irish alike.  Today, cities with large Irish populations host massive celebrations with parades, where scores of drunken fraternities swallow huge amounts of Guinness Stout, Jameson Irish Whiskey, Bailey's Irish Cream, and Mickey's Malt Liquor. Sometimes corned beef is eaten.

Cinco de Mayo

Cinco de Mayo (May 5th) is a Mexican holiday that celebrates the the victory of Mexican troops over the French occupational army in the Battle of Puebla on May 5th, 1862.  It has been adopted as a commercialized drinking holiday by the United States, where people flock to chain Mexican restaurants to gulp down huge quantities blended margaritas, shots of Jose Cuervo tequila and bottles of Corona beer. Chips and salsa are served.

Halloween
Halloween (October 31st) began as a Celtic Pagan festival, named as the evening (e'en) before All Hallow's Day on November 1st.  Halloween wasn't widely celebrated in the United States until the middle of the 20th century, and is now the sixth most profitable holiday for retailers.  It is celebrated by this country's drinking-age population in the form of dressing up in very slutty costumes and consuming large amounts of alcohol. Any kind.

Repeal Day is not widely celebrated in the U.S., yet its importance cannot be overstated.  It commemorates the anniversary of the day the United States repealed the 18th Amendment and gave Americans the constitutional ability to consume alcohol.  On December 5, 1933 Utah became the final State needed to ratify the 21st Amendment, which thus restored our sanity the American right to have a celebratory drink.  FYI, prohibition began on January 16, 1919 with passage of the 18th Amendment.

So why should we celebrate with a National Drinking Holiday?  First of all, Americans are always bitching about their "rights."  Well, here's your chance to exercise your rights. We have the constitutional right to drink. It's unpatriotic NOT to drink on this day.  Second, Repeal Day doesn't exclude.  Are you an American, or are you located in the United States? Congratulations, you're invited!  Being French on Cinco de Mayo is about as cool as being British on the Fourth of July.  But December Fifth is a day that's open to anyone!  Finally, it's easy!  There are no stupid outfits to buy, costumes to rent, or rivers to dye green.  Simply celebrate the day by stopping by your local bar, tavern, saloon, winery, distillery, or brewhouse to have a drink.  Pick up a six-pack on your way home from work.  Split a bottle of wine with a loved one.  Buy a shot for a stranger.  Just do it because you can.

While I recognize that Repeal Day was a Sunday this year, I spent the evening drinking wine on the beach.  What did you, dearly committed reader, do to celebrate this magical day?  Leave your celebration stories in the comments below!

Christmas in Hawaii

Where I grew up, it was always cold on Christmas.  It may not have always snowed, but the temperature was always around 30-35 degrees.  The days and weeks leading up to Christmas always involved getting bundled up before going outside, driving around looking at Christmas lights, and maybe even playing an occasional game of backyard football with a group of friends.  When I moved to Chicago for law school, it was really no difference. The weather was always freezing by the time the lights went up on Michigan Ave.  So it feels a little weird to see Christmas lights in shorts and a t-shirt, which is exactly what I did on Saturday night.

Christmas Tree outside of City Hall

I wrote before that Thanksgiving is not a big deal here.  Christmas, on the other hand, is a HUGE deal.  I now understand why it was so urgent that the clerks in my office meet to discuss holiday decorations.  Our office looks like Santa and his reindeer came by and threw up Christmas decorations all over the place.  It's awesome.  I love Christmas and all the decorations.  Along the same lines, this weekend was the annual City Lights parade and tree lighting in downtown Honolulu.  All day the city shuts down the streets and there is a Christmas festival with games and rides for kids, booths with food and drinks, and at 6:00 there is a parade followed by the tree lighting.  I didn't make it for the parade, but it's supposedly fun.

Barefoot Santa

The Christmas decorations are a little excessive, but that's what makes them awesome.  First of all, there is a barefoot Santa.  There is also a snowman holding a surfboard.  The pure ridiculousness of a snowman in Hawaii makes it fantastic! Everyone here gets so into Christmas that next weekend a big group of people already have plans to build ginger bread houses and drink mulled cider and mulled wine.  So even though it's 80 degrees and doesn't quite feel like Christmas, I think I can get used to the new warm-weather traditions.

Also, "Mele Kalikimaka" is Hawaiian for Merry Christmas.

You Can't Do This in Chicago

Every once in a while, I have what I like to call "Hawaii Moments."  By this, I mean that I occasionally look around and take notice of the fact that I live in a pretty amazing place.  Maybe it's the 80 degree weather on December 6th.  Maybe it's crystal clear blue ocean on gorgeous white sand beaches.  Maybe it's the towering mountains that dot the background.  I also usually notice these things while holding a drink in my hand at times when I know my lawyer friends back home are stuck at the office, huddled over a desk doing doc review.  These revelations have a way of putting life in perspective.  Yesterday and last night would qualify.  I spent the entire day walking through Waikiki along the strip.  It was 83 degrees, everyone was out milling about, and the sun was shimmering against the unusually calm ocean.  After that, my friends and I grabbed dinner, got a slice of cheesecake from Cheesecake Factory and a bottle of wine from one of the ubiquitous ABC stores and headed the beach at nine o'clock at night.  We sat on the beach where one of the restaurants behind us played live music and we all just hung out on the beach until the wine was gone.  This stuff happens pretty much every weekend.

Headnote of the Week

The label "mayo 7," as applied to an imitation, low calorie mayonnaise, would not create likelihood of confusion with the Mayo Clinic, Mayo Foundation or the Mayo Brothers, either by suggesting the Clinic as the source of the mayonnaise or by suggesting approval of the low calorie product by the Clinic, particularly in light of fact that "mayo" is a recognized slang expression for "mayonnaise."  Frederick Gash, Inc. v. Mayo Clinic, 461 F.2d 1395 (C.C.P.A. 1972)

China Walls

China Walls is another name for an area overlooking Portluck Point on the Southeastern point of O'ahu.  As you're driving toward Hanauma Bay, Sandy's Beach, and Dragon's Nostrils, you'll pass Hawai'i Kai, a fairly affluent area of Honolulu.  When you get to the Foodland, turn right on Lunalilio Rd and then turn right on Portluck Rd.  Park anywhere around there and walk down the hill.  You'll see people hanging down on the rocks/cliff.  This place has one of the best views in the city for sunset and most travel books don't even talk about it.  The sun sets right over Diamond Head.  You won't see signs for it, either, but locals know it as a great place for surfing and cliff jumping.

This is not a beach.  It is just a cliff wall where you can jump into the water, watch surfers, and watch the sunset. China Walls is infamous both for its breathtaking beauty as well as treacherous waters. Due to the numerous fatalities that have taken place over the years, China Walls has gained the reputation of being unpredictable and deadly.  If you hit this spot during the week you’ll probably luck out and find it empty. Stay away during the weekends, it gets crowded.  The locals here are extremely friendly, even if some of them look young and rough, and they love to talk about this place.  Don’t be shy about striking up a conversation with anyone you see there.

When I first moved here, I came here with a few friends and it was a cool place to hang out for a little while.  You wouldn't make this a day activity, but it's something to do if you're in the Hawai'i Kai area for dinner (Roy's - the famous restaurant by James Beard award winner Roy Yamaguchi - is located here) or something.  It's also a good place to stop on your way back from East O'ahu.

Day 100

I have officially been in Hawaii for 100 days.  Although that doesn't sound like much, it has felt ridiculously long.  Someone suggested the other day...again, not in the comments!...that I talk about what the first 100 days has felt like.  To be honest, I'm not sure yet how I feel about the entire experience.  Obviously I am doing a lot and experiencing a lot of the island culture.  That said, I also miss being close to my friends and family.  Turns out, it's pretty impractical to just fly home for a weekend when you live in Hawaii.  Before I left everyone kept telling me what a tremendous opportunity it was to live out here for a couple years.  "When else will you have the time to live in Hawaii," they said.  I also talked to several lawyers who are well into their careers and they all repeated the same thing, "if I could go back and had the chance to clerk in Hawaii, I would definitely do it."  So alas, I took the leap of faith, sold all my stuff and moved out here with 2 suitcases and no place to live (yeah, I stayed in hotels the first 10 days until I found a place).

I think most of my friends would say that, as a general rule, I hate change.  At the same time, I have a tremendous fear of waking up one day and looking back at a life spent doing nothing.  I can't think of anything worse than being stationary.  Consequently, I tend to seek out new opportunities and adventures and (begrudgingly) welcome radical change.  Hawai'i, while I criticize it sometimes for its ass backwards way of doing things, is proving to be an experience and challenge that I am happy I embraced (begrudgingly, of course).  I've always loved to travel, and I regularly try to figure out ways to get someone to pay me for it.  I also have a few bucket list destinations floating around in my head that I insist will come to fruition one day.  One of the toughest things about moving here, though, was that it seemed like so much more than just a "trip."  1) I'll be far away from friends/family for two years, and 2) I just spent the last 8 years in school preparing for a career that, for all intents and purposes, won't start until I get back.  Selling and packing your life away to move to a new place, to a new part of the world, and leaving everything else behind is a pretty daunting feeling.  I wholeheartedly recommend it.

I recently read two blogs by guys I went to middle school and high school with.  One is teaching English in China for 2 years and the other recently got back from teaching English in China for 2 years and is now a radio broadcaster in Alaska.  I don't know why, but reading about their experiences made me feel much better about being isolated in the middle of the pacific ocean.  I mean, the first thing I realized is that things could obviously be much worse: Being in an entire country of Asians? No, thank you.  Being in a place where temperatures can drop to -50 degrees? I'll pass. At least it's warm here and people speak English.  The second thing is that they helped me remember how young we are.  At some point in the process of moving here I think I forgot that.   Almost everyday I hear about people I went to high school with buying houses, getting married, settling into their careers, etc.  I have no interest in that stuff right now and am nowhere near being ready for it.  Nonetheless, hearing it everyday made me think that here I was finishing law school - the point at which your career is supposed to start - and I up and move to Hawai'i.  It was nice to hear about other people tackling new adventures.  It made me much less crazy.

I know what you may be thinking: uhh...are you complaining about living in Hawaii!?  No, I am not.  Just the opposite, in fact.  I am fully embracing the adventure.  That doesn't mean it's always easy.  Overall, I have been pleasantly surprised by the last 100 days.  Having moved from a big city with plenty to do, I was nervous that I would get bored quickly.  Instead, I have been shocked at how much there is to do here and I look forward to doing even more.

Holiday Decorations

Let me just say that I am not a scrooge.  I like Christmas.  I like the tradition, the lights, the presents, and the general feelings of good cheer that envelopes everyone.  Does that mean that I want to brave the mall a week before Christmas? No.  Does that mean I want to sit around and bake holiday cookies with my mother and sister and talk about our feelings? No.  Does that mean I want to spend an afternoon with my colleagues decorating our office? No.  As I think I've written before, there are 12 clerks on our court and we are split between two rooms.  Despite having 6 people in a room, there is very little interaction between us.  The University of Hawaii kids talk to each other and largely ignore anyone else, which is fine with me.  I just sit down, do my work, and hang out with the other non-UH clerk.  Today we all received this email from our "Administrative Clerk."

Hi all,

Apologies for the short notice, but we need to meet tomorrow at 3:00 for two purposes. 

(1) We need to collectively create a hand-made holiday tree ornament, and I figure we could brainstorm for 15-20 minutes on what we'd like to do.  [Redacted] has pulled a few ornaments made by past year's clerks to give us ideas.

(2) After the brainstorm session, we need to decorate the hallways for the holidays.  Please be sure to get your judge's/JA's approval prior to participating in the decorating.

Thanks all, see you tomorrow at 3:00 in the library.

-[Redacted]

First, note the email's matter-of-fact tone.  You can disregard the "ask permission" section of the email.  This "decorating session" is not optional.  You may be wondering, what's the big deal? You don't have anything better to do.  You spend all your time blogging, anyway.  Do I have anything better to do than sitting in a room "brainstorming" about a stupid ass ornament? Yes.  I think the janitor is painting the downstairs hallway...I might go help him watch it dry.  Or maybe I want to just sit with my thumb up my ass.

Second, note the "urgency" of the email.  The email was on short notice.  In other words, this is so urgent that we can't wait until we get regular notice...say...Monday. Or even Friday.  No, "we need to meet tomorrow at 3:00."  When I started reading this I thought perhaps we were going to have to discuss a lack of production among the clerks or a serious case coming up for oral argument in December.  Nooo.  A "holiday tree" ornament.  That's urgent business.  Also, how long does it take to figure out a Christmas...err...sorry...holiday ornament?  No wonder Hawai'i can't figure out its budget issues.  It takes 20 minutes to brainstorm a damn ornament.  They're still brainstorming about whether to tell us we're in a recession.

Third, what the $#*! is a "holiday tree?"  Are we going to have some "holiday candles" for Jews?  No, it's a Christmas Tree and a Menorah.  I recognize that we are not necessarily celebrating the religious components of these holidays, but let's not pretend that they don't exist.  This is just political correctness gone crazy.  We know it's a Christmas tree.  Why hide it?  If you're the type of person to be offended by calling it a Christmas tree, do you feel THAT much better if we change the name but still display it prominently in the conference room?  Does this mean no Santa ornaments?  What about Rudolph?  See what happens when you get politically correct?  Maybe that's why we need to brainstorm for 20 minutes.  We need to discuss what's "appropriate."  With that said, do you now see why I don't want to spend my afternoon in a room with these people?  Just imagine how fun a group of "holiday-tree decorators" are at a party.

Lanikai Triathlon

You may have noticed on the right side of the blog that I have a list of things I want to do before leaving Hawaii. One of my goals is to compete in a triathlon.  Well, I just registered for the Lanikai Sprint Triathlon.  It consists of a 500m swim, 20k bike, and 5k run and takes place on April 17, 2011.  There are a few races that take place earlier in the year, but I wanted to give myself plenty of time to train.  Even though this race isn't particularly long or grueling, I also have not trained for a triathlon before.  If any readers have suggestions for a training schedule (or even a bike), that would be much appreciated.  Right now, I have downloaded a few training schedules I found online and plan to start training seriously after the New Year.  For now, I think I am just going to start swimming as much as possible.  I can already run the 5k without any problems.  It's putting the swim, bike, and run together that presents the challenge.  I'm looking forward to it, though.  It should be fun.  If you're interested, you can click here to see the Race Map.

Also, since I have no idea what a good "time" is for a sprint triathlon, I looked up last year's race results and filtered by my demographic: Individual Male 25-29 (can I just say, btw, that I don't remember entering this age group...what ever happened to 18-24?).  Anyway, the top finisher for this division finished with a time 59:02 (he placed 7th overall).  The person who finished last in this division did so in 1:42:09.  He finished 335th overall. There were 366 total finishers.  You can see the complete list here, if you're so inclined.

What should my goal time be?  If anyone says, "you should win" I will automatically disqualify your opinion as ill-informed and ridiculous.  I would like to finish in the top 10 of my division.  Last year's 10th place finisher for the M25-29 division finished with a time of 1:07:41.  He was 39th overall.  That might be tough.  I was thinking my time would be somewhere around 1:15:00.

Ala Moana Beach

Ala Moana Beach

This is a beautiful 76 acre park located along the south shore just west of Waikiki and on your way to downtown Honolulu and Chinatown. Ala Moana is a 100-acre park that has a wide gold-sand beach over a half-mile long.  There is also a big grassy area, banyans and palm trees that make the park a good place to picnic, barbecue, and play all kinds of games.  A good 2.5 mi. paved path that is good for running encircles the entire park.  There are lifeguards, showers, bathrooms, phones, tennis courts, picnic tables, food concessions, and a music pavilion.  Ala Moana Beach Park is a favorite among Honolulu residents because it offers a large enough space to picnic and barbecue and is away from tourists (for the most part). The beach itself is protected by a reef so the water is insanely calm.  There are none of the waves you'll see at Waikiki or Sandy's (the other nearby beaches on the South Shore).  As a result, it is a great place to bring kids.  It's also really big with plenty of space to run around.  On the weekends, A LOT of people come here with their whole ohana (family) to picnic, swim and hang out.

There are two downsides to this beach, in my opinion.  The first is the crowd.  If you're looking for a quiet, relaxing day at the beach, you can find it here IF you don't mind screaming kids EVERYWHERE.  Obviously I accept that it is a beach and it is a family-friendly beach park.  That doesn't mean I necessarily like hearing kids scream.  With so many of them, though, this is more of a family beach than a place to relax for the day.  The second "downside" is the coarse, rough sand.  The sand at Lanikai, Sandy's, and even Waikiki is much nicer.  There are a lot of small rocks and sticks strewn all over this beach, which makes it less enjoyable.  The advantages, though, are that the water is much calmer (i.e. better than Sandy's) and there are full facilities and a big park (i.e. better than Lanikai).  I'd still pick Lanikai any day of the week, though.  The water at Ala Moana is very nice, to be sure, but some parts have jagged rocks, which make wading in some parts of the water uncomfortable.  As a result, everyone tends to congregate in the same area (i.e. lots of kids).  If you come for the tennis, picnics, barbecues, or running, though, then this spot has everything you need.

Ala Moana Park

There is, however, a cool back story to this beach.  Ala Moana (and Waikiki actually) is an area of Honolulu that used to be a swamp. It was a wetland that the city used as a garbage dump. Wanting to develop the Waikiki area, though, hotel moguls needed to divert the water.  So they hired a dredging company to build the Ala Wai canal.  Then, a boat channel was created to connect the Ala Wai Boat Harbor with Kewalo Basin.  All of the land over by Ala Moana, including the beach park is man-made.  It was created by the owner of the Dillingham Dredging Company, hired to dredge the Ala Wai canal, who was looking for a place to dispose of his dredged earth.  So in the 1950s, sand was dumped at this park, which created the beach. Today, in addition to the beach park, there is a really nice mall, high rise hotels, restaurants, and a fishing village (anyone familiar with Streeterville in Chicago should understand this concept).

Ala Wai Canal