Heavenly Honolulu!

I know this is going to sound crazy, but I think Oahu as a whole, Honolulu and especially Waikiki are somewhat underrated these days! Maybe it's because I spend all my time on Maui, which seems to have grown progressively quieter since I moved there in '02, but coming over to the big city is so much fun!



Let's remove the two obvious major drawbacks of snarled and persistent traffic, and inevitable crime, and look at how cool it is to be in a major U.S. city where you can sit on a park bench next to a dozing "camper" (homeless here in the islands), watching surfers paddle out into the numerous shore breaks, drinking your Starbucks as runners pant past you, girls in bikinis carry their surfboards past Gucci and Chanel, petite Asian girls tiptoe by in glittery heels huge sunglasses and miniature dogs on rhinestone-studded leashes, barges the size of city blocks glide into the harbor to unload pretty much everything that built pretty much everything around you, sunburned tourists from Ohio lumber onto the sand with spray-on sunscreen and--here is the clincher--this is all done, all day, every day with a climate that is remarkable consistent and perfectly delightful: clear and sunny with light trade winds and temperatures around 85 degrees. I love Waikiki!!

I am here at the Waikiki Beach Marriott:

and that is the view from my room, looking west. I am going to take a few lines here to expres just how much I have loved working for this company! Not only do they give us the best room rates, they actually ENCOURAGE it, even for our friends and family. And in the few short years I have worked for Marriott, I have to admit I have grown quite fond of staying in really nice rooms at really nice resorts for really small amounts of money. Equally as nice is staying in some really inexpensive Marriotts, for really really small amounts of money. Leaving the Marriott may have been the most difficult aspect of leaving Maui. I have a fantastic job and I work for a fantastic company. The people are unrivalled, even our bosses are cool! But that's enough about that.

I came here for SURGERY. It all went quite well, actually. I have had some hideous and painful varicose veins in my leg that I finally decided to eliminate. I figured if I was going to be on Oahu, why not use the benefits Marriott extends to me and relax around some luxurious pools for a few days while I recover? My leg is in a gigantic bandage that has draws more attention from men in the past 24 hours than I have received in the past 24 months. No kidding. Now I understand why Ted Bundy was so successful in luring women into his handcuff-equipped VW bug. Is this all it takes? All I have to do is appear to be in pain, helpless, pitiful and needy? Are you fucking kidding me? Wow.

This is it:

That is my left leg, propped up on a pillow, toes blissfully floating in a cloud of morphine and darvoset! It ain't all that bad after all...