waikiki

last night, we (lynn and i, and the kids) went to waikiki to congratulate taryn (one of lynn's workers) on her graduation from hpu. the graduation took place at the waikiki shell. apparently, they had a graduating class of about 700, and if you calculate 10 seconds per person (calling up, accepting diploma), then that still comes out to over 2 hours or so. so basically, we had some time to kill.

haven't been to waikiki in a while. a lot's changed. i noticed the trump tower was all finished. lynn also pointed out all the places that were closed (out-of-business), or closing (nike town, etc.). kind of depressing. we parked in the old waikiki theatres parking lot. back in the day, i think the waikiki theatres were probably one of the biggest draws for kama'aina to even be in the waikiki neighborhood. and the theatre parking structure (back then) had few open stalls, if any. last night, there were a lot of open stalls, and pretty much all the people that parked there looked like they were working in waikiki (dressed as waiters, hotel employees, etc.). the theatre parking lot has a $7 flat rate, which in waikiki is a great deal.

we walked out of the parking lot, and one of the first things we saw, in the alleyway leading out to kalakaua, was this skinny guy putting white powder all over his face and body. i think he was one of those stay-perfectly-still silver or gold guys, and the powder was a kind of foundation or primer for the paint...

walking through the international marketplace was pretty depressing. i always find little shops like that depressing; there's no innovation in those places, and if i were a tourist, i don't think i'd very much have reason to buy any of the things that they offered... t-shirts (that you could probably buy anywhere), keychains, other trinkets...

kalakaua was also depressing, but in a slightly different way. there were a lot of street performers out, and most of them weren't all that great. i think the best were the artists. willow, in particular, seemed fascinated to see the drawing techniques of one street artist. but most of the other street performers seemed to be poor and homeless transplants from somewhere else, struggling to make a buck. there was a guy who dressed in a big elmo suit... and that's it. i suppose he wanted people to pay to have their kids take pictures with him or something. there was a steel drum performer, and a group of hippies playing liberation music (not very good), and people doing hand or foot or shoulder massages, and a group of young goths who were painting henna tattoos. i feel somewhat sad when i see people in desperation.

we bought a pair of crocs for willow, got dinner (overpriced) over at this food court within the royal hawaiian shopping center, spent some time in the borders express book store (which, lynn noted, is filing for chapter 11 bankruptcy; or maybe it's just the mega-stores)... eventually, we started to walk down to the far edge of waikiki. since it was such a trek, at certain points i had to carry aiden. eventually, we got to the shell, which was really crowded. miraculously, we managed to find taryn (buried beneath a mountain of leis), and gave our brief congrats. then, the long trek back.

i used to think waikiki was so great, even when i did a couple of unglamorous jobs there (i was a busboy for restaurant furusato [which has been replaced by a red lion], and a bellman for waikiki joy hotel). i used to wish i could just hang out in waikiki, and watch all the people go by. and perhaps be watched myself. but i've come to see places like waikiki as very lonely. reminiscent of santa monica, at least for me...

i had a thought. people are all so very alone. places like waikiki have the illusion of life and motion, in that you have an aggregate of atoms bouncing around- not unlike air molecules in an inflated balloon... but there is no significance or pattern to the spectacle. some people like this sort of environment, but i suppose as i get older, i get a bit more cantankerous and selfish. i think about the "end of the day," and "what's in it for me?" i think the only thing that makes a place like waikiki redeeming for me now (and last night) is the fact that i'm no longer viewing it alone. i find it interesting to see how my kids react to things, or to bouncing comments back and forth with my wife.

the world is always a lonely place. but it is made tolerable if you are with people you love...