Ground Control's New Writeups

January 2, 2003 (idea)

2003-01-02T21:23:13Z

Reflection On My Life So Far

From an e-mail I sent to my mother today:

I mean, I've drank whiskey and shot pool with cowboys and Indians; I've kissed a beautiful girl under a full moon on an iron bridge older than our country; I've seen the sun rise over porpoises in the Atlantic Ocean, fog on the Allegheny Mountains, swamps in Delaware, quiet flower-scented side streets in Waikiki, and the thousand churches of Brooklyn; I've seen it set into the Pacific while I floated in water the temperature and color of blood.

I helped build one company up from a loose collection of hackers and hardware into a world-class Internet player; I also ditched at least three others that weren't going anywhere. I've flirted with girls and women from hippie artists to police sergeants to a pair of…

December 15, 2002 (thing)

2002-12-15T16:25:46Z

Whatever happened to Saturday night?

Woken at 7:30 in the morning by a cat meowing outside my bedroom door for no particular reason. A pot of strong coffee and a good breakfast took care of my hangover and the temptation to drop-kick said cat into the next county.

Looking over an e-mail I sent last night:

hah...I'm a loser...my Saturday night action is drinking gin and tonics and talking to the cats

It would be funnier if it weren't true. My ex-girlfriend (to whom I wrote that e-mail) met Lou Reed this weekend. My roommate was nowhere to be found. Me, I was...well...drinking gin and tonics and talking to the cats.

It could be worse. The cat may actually have…

November 20, 2002 (idea)

2002-11-21T03:04:31Z

Loose Ends

Leaving Florida tomorrow, back to Baltimore. Two days from now, to New York City. Then Baltimore, then Long Island for Thanksgiving, then...dunno. No plans; no job; no pressing obligations; nothing but two bags of posessions and a fair sum of money in my account at First Hawaiian Bank.

Back to Honolulu, sun, my bicycle, my new friends, and the Pacific Ocean all around?

Or go back to Baltimore and see if I can make a new life in my old scene with a new outlook?

Or to some third city somewhere on this earth?

I am open to suggestions. And, if any noders in North America would like to donate a place to sleep temporarily, I make a relatively unobtrusive houseguest. On the one hand, I do shed; but on the other I'm…

Oahu (place)

2002-11-05T11:31:42Z

Some of that-guy's writeup is correct. However, there are at least four universities on Oahu: besides HPU and UH, there is Chaminade University and an extension campus of Brigham Young University (there are a great many Mormons in Hawaii; in fact, there is a suburb of Honolulu near Pearl Harbor named Salt Lake). After the military and tourism, the most important industry is agriculture. Some of the architecture is as bad as he says, bringing to mind Los Angeles, but some is beautiful. As for the low standard of living, it's true that it is expensive to live there; almost everything has to be shipped in and it's common for residents to have two or more jobs. However, the extra money you spend to live there buys you clean air, eternal summer, beaches in every direction, and unspoiled natural beauty fifteen minutes' drive from downtown Honolulu. You pays your money and you takes your chances.

November 5, 2002 (thing)

2002-11-05T10:51:02Z

Rock Fever Strikes

I woke up Friday morning, caught the 19 bus at the corner of Paoakalani and Kuhio, and kept going. Now, four days later, I am 6000 miles away, back in Charm City. Back in the home of slightlymadman and anomaly with the evil kittens crawling on me and a gin and tonic close to hand. It is still an hour short of dawn and I am the only one awake in the house, having let myself in with my spare key.

So why am I back here instead of my new hometown of Honolulu, Hawaii? Several reasons. First, I was in a rut--a pleasant rut, but still a rut--back on Oahu. My latest temp job ended a few weeks ago, leaving me with lots of free time and money in the bank. I missed my old friends in Baltimore and there were a few concerts I wanted to go to. And, another few thousand miles down the coast in Florida, my grandmother is dying.

I haven't been the best grandson in the world; I haven't kept in as close touch as…

April 19, 2002 (idea)

2002-04-20T06:04:54Z

The Continuing Adventures Of A Young Slacker In The Place Where East Meets West And Has Messy Sex

Woke up early in the youth hostel that I currently call home, and managed to spend almost four hours doing two loads of laundry. It's not easy being that inefficient, but I managed. During the laundry debacle I hauled out the pages of want ads that I had secreted about my person the other day and went through the ritual of calling them.

One ad in particular was for convention setup. I called and they asked me to come in for an interview as soon as possible. In fact, they said that if I had a white dress shirt, black dress slacks, black dress shoes, and black socks I could work this very night. Luckily I had all of these items, so I busted ass for downtown and met with a man named Eric at 1:30. He offered me the chance to usher at a banquet honoring insurance agents who had done some monumental feat of foisting Allstate on the populace. Menial work,…