Sorry.

Still here, just busy. Went to Boston for work and met up with friends and took in a Bruins game. I will post about that soon, and also about our Florida trip. No more traveling for me until Christmas!

“Criss, someone hit the World Trade Center.”

“Uhhh, yeah, that was like 8 years ago.” I thought he was talking about the time someone tried to fertilizer truck bomb the WTC in 1993. (You gotta admit, it’s pretty impressive that I got the number of years right at 5 a.m.)

“No, just now,” he insisted. “The buildings are gone.”

I probably shouldn’t repeat the next words that came out of my mouth, but needless to say, I was horrified. It was barely 5 a.m. Hawai‘i time, but it was already past 11 on the east coast, and much of what would be known of that day was known by the time most of us in the Pacific woke up: Two planes had been flown into the North and South towers of the World Trade Center, and both buildings had collapsed. Another plane had purposely crashed into the Pentagon, knocking out a large portion of that facility. Another plane had crashed in a field in a little city in Pennsylvania that none of us had heard of until that morning — Shanksville — and word was that it had been intended for a D.C. target, possibly the White House. All passenger airliners were being ordered to the ground. Of course, some would not be able to land for hours, as they were somewhere over the ocean, partway between the west coast and Honolulu.

But no one could tell us whether it was over yet, whether more hijackers were out there, just waiting to strike, whether bombs had been planted anywhere and were ticking away, ready to destroy strategic targets — and Honolulu was far from being a random city: We have the strategic military sites in the Pacific, including the last domestic site to come under foreign attack, Pearl Harbor. So while unthinkable tragedy had already occurred, perhaps the worst was yet to come, and we just didn’t know. We couldn’t imagine what might happen . . . but then, up until a few hours ago, who in their right minds would have imagined flying an airplane loaded with jet fuel and people into a skyscraper? It was completely crazy. What would “they” think of next?

As the next few days went by and it became clearer that all immediate danger had passed, further uncertainty set in. Commercial flights were grounded for days. This seemed like an eternity: I never realized how much ambient noise was created by airplanes until they no longer flew, until the skies were completely quiet. The silence was eerie. Would we ever fly again? It seems so silly to think that now, but at the time, it was all together possible that the answer might be no. Maybe the terrorists would “win” that one. After all, we had taken precautions after Oklahoma City: Even though that was not flight-related, I remembered airport security becoming tighter. We had done all we thought we could, and the terrorists had still slipped through our fingers — because why would we ever think that flight lessons would be a threat? Why would we think that a box cutter — a tool my dad uses probably every day — would be used to take someone else’s life in mid-air? But now, knowing this and knowing there was so much out there in the minds of criminals that we could never comprehend, how could we ever fly again with any sense of security? And yet, how could we not fly again? I live on an island. The only way I’m getting off this thing is on something with wings. Sure, boats can get you places, but they take a really, really long time.

Of course we took to the air once again within a matter of days. The rules of the game changed a bit, but a plane could still take you from Point A to Point B. People went back to work. Sports and prime time TV started up again, and politicians remembered that Republicans and Democrats don’t agree on everything. Our lives were changed, but everyday life eventually kind of came back — which we could not have been so sure of 10 years ago. Nonetheless, we must continue to pray for those who lost loved ones that day and for those who continue to sacrifice their lives to protect our freedom. That should truly be what we mean when we say never forget.

These little critters are called ‘ōpae ‘ula, or Hawaiian volcano shrimp (Halocaridina rubra). Being the scientist that I am, I call them shrimpies.

For the life of me, I cannot figure out how you’re actually supposed to care for these guys. Little information cards where I bought them (Shirokiya, a Japanese store in Honolulu) say you don’t have to feed them at all; one of my friends insists they can’t live on water and waste alone and need to be fed fish flakes once in a while. I gave feeding them a try, but they just ended up dirtying the water, and having access to actual food didn’t stop them from going all Hannibal the Cannibal on each other, as their kind are sometimes apt to do. One website I visited insists you can’t not feed these guys because they will essentially starve to a very slow (i.e., 1- to 3-year) death, but really, that sounds about as scientifically determined as the nickname shrimpies.

What really boggles me, though, is algae. It’s not a consistent problem, but once in a while, algae will start to form on the walls of the glass container . . . and then it spreads like crazy until the glass is completely covered in a light green haze. The shrimp eat it a little bit of it, but not nearly enough to make a dent in the greenery. It doesn’t really bother me that much, but once things start to get bad, my co-workers start making comments, and then I get self-conscious. And then I have to buy more brackish water at Shirokiya and clean out the “tank.”

The past couple of times, I’ve poured most of the water out of the tank and poured the shrimp, gravel and accessory plant into a small vase that has some of the brackish water in it. This has, admittedly, ended in a “Finding Nemo”-ish “escape to sea” for at least one unfortunate creature. Oops. Anyway, then I get to scrubbing. Scrub, scrub, scrub. This is super hard because I have to use a lot of elbow grease and a few napkins to clean a small space through a narrow opening. I sometimes resort to using (gasp) soap. (Yeah, yeah, they’re still alive, give me a break.) Once everything’s set, I pour the shrimp and their accessories back in. The shrimp seem stressed for a little while and “protest” by changing from red to clear (nah, I don’t really know whether that’s why they change color — sometimes, when I was feeding them, they would change color after they ate, too), but eventually, things settle down, and everybody is happy again.

There has to be a better way to either (a) prevent so much algae from forming or (b) clean it off once it does. I guess if I use a small strainer, I can get the shrimp out without risking anyone falling into the drain again (oops), but I’m all in favor of primary algae prevention, if possible. Any ideas?

Heaven and earth will disappear, but my words will never disappear. However, no one knows the day or hour when these things will happen, not even the angels in heaven or the Son himself. Only the Father knows.

- Matthew 24:35-36 (NLT) (Read the whole chapter here.)

Maybe I should’ve posted that before today. Hmm, oh, well.

Things have been going relatively OK lately. The most horrendous thing that has happened as of late is a humongous roach somehow drowning in 2mm of water in my Starbucks Chicago coffee mug. [Click here if you want to see a pic of the "victim."] Several friends insisted that I can the autoclave idea (which, while I probably could have gotten it done, was not really going to happen anyway) and let the mug live the rest of its unnatural life in a landfill. But I grew up in Palolo Valley, dagnabbit, and heck if I’m gonna let one roach do me in. It’s called dishwashing soap and hot water, people.

See? Still using it, and I’m not dead yet.

But mostly, things have been really good. Thank you, God, for giving me a break. We’ve started going to Friday night services at church, which not only gives us an opportunity to sleep in on Sunday, it also means we get to hang out with Keao and Casey! Since Keao went back to work, we hadn’t been able to see the two of them at Sunday morning services.

Look how big Miss Casey is getting! Hard to believe she’s 9.5 months old already. I took this pic yesterday. We love Casey! She smiles and laughs all the time but is usually moving around so much, it’s hard to shoot in low light. Good thing she was kinda zonked last night. Random people ask me about Casey all the time, so I figure some of you must be wondering how she is doing. As you can see, she is awesome.

Oh, and I got new art for my office:

Sure, it’s stuck up on the frame between windows by six pieces of blue painter’s tape . . . but whatever. Hockey season may be over for the Blackhawks, but, like baseball season, it never has to end in my head.

So, what kind of questions do people like my parents ask me all the time, you must wonder. Well, wonder no more.

“How come Melina Kanakaredes isn’t on ‘CSI:NY’ anymore?”

…

If nothing else, it’s humbling. Thanks for reminding me I don’t live in some kind of ivory tower, Mom. ;o)

“Should we continue to look upwards? Is the light we can see in the sky one of those which will presently be extinguished? The ideal is terrifying to behold… brilliant but threatened on all sides by the dark forces that surround it: nevertheless, no more in danger than a star in the jaws of the clouds.”
- Victor Hugo, “Les Misérables”

I am SUPER tired, so this blog entry is going to be riddled with sentence fragments and other exemplars of bad grammar, but I just wanted to say that after the weeks from hell, things are finally starting to look up. Thus, I bring you the above quote, which has been a favorite of mine for decades (gulp) now, and the following bits of good news:

1. The work situation changed dramatically today. Dra. Matically. I know we are not completely out of the woods yet – in fact, now an entirely new set of challenges lies ahead – but as far as I’m concerned, things could not have gotten better without the recent strategic changes that have taken place. Sorry to be vague. There’s really no reason you need to know any details about this, especially now that things will be better, but I would be remiss if I didn’t mention it at all, especially since work has been the cause of many a nightmare in recent months. Monday was a terrible day, and I drove home in silence. Today, I sang along to Switchfoot and even stopped to browse the farmer’s market in the rain. I’m still a little shaken up, but at least now I’m fairly confident that we’ll all come out of this alive.

2. We finally booked our trip to Japan for Thanksgiving. You have no idea how every force in the travel world was working against us on this one. I seriously had an entirely different itinerary planned that would’ve taken us to Tokyo and Fukuoka and even on the shinkansen with a rail pass, and I was right up to the point where I had entered my credit card number and clicked the Pay Now button, and right then, the fallout from the Japan Airlines bankruptcy hit us smack in the face for at least the second time. And we weren’t even going to fly JAL! And that’s not even all the drama. I was about ready to give up and just to go to NU Homecoming for our 10-year reunion instead (although, seriously, Noreen, how could I go without you?). But now I’ve got us booked roundtrip to Tokyo Narita, and we’re staying at the Hilton Tokyo Bay, right outside Tokyo Disney. If things continue to look up, the dollar-yen ratio will also improve now. I don’t think it’s unreasonable to pray for that.

3. “Les Misérables” the musical turns 25 this fall, and some really cool video has been added to the show’s website. Since “Les Mis” is no longer playing on Broadway, I had no idea that they had made some really neat changes to the show in celebration of the anniversary, until I saw the videos. Wow, super cool. “Les Mis” was my first stage love. I have a huge framed poster hanging on my office wall. Todd practically has it memorized because I listen to my cast albums (I have it in at least three foreign languages and like four versions in English) all the time. I am geeking out RIGHT NOW. While I am typing this. It is a bit ridic, I know, but you have no idea how geeked out I am. OK, well, this paragraph probably gives you a pretty good idea.

My office. No joke. And that “Les Mis” poster is super heavy.

4. The Cubs swept a series this week. Seriously. Talk about ridic. I miss Sweet Lou and Derrek Lee, but wow, three wins, that’s practically a record this season. Now if only they would hire Greg Maddux as the next club manager. Yes, I said Maddux. I know I have said bad things about Maddux in the past, but that was out of anger and frustration. And you cannot hold baseball season anger against me.

5. Kona next weekend for a work thing! Todd and I are staying an extra day. We’re (ha ha) I’m hoping we’ll get to see the lava flow. Not entirely optimistic about that one, but you know how crazy I am. I will try any means possible. If you have any suggestions, send them this way! I’m not sure whether they’ve re-opened the air space, so I have no idea whether helicopter is a possibility at this point.

6. I didn’t need to take a Relpax today! At work, May Rose jokingly referred to this as “drug-free Hawai‘i.” Not exactly, MR. Don’t be j just because I hoard my six pills a month.

I should probably get to bed before Todd wakes up and notices that (a) I am still up (he tried to get me to go to sleep a half-hour ago, and I told him that I was writing and that he should stop judging, whatever the heck I meant by that) and (b) I am still listening to “Les Mis.” Things are looking up, friends! And the weekend is near . . .

One really cool thing did happen this week, and that was that my friend Aarti – a dormmate from freshman year at Northwestern – became The Next Food Network Star! Aarti is truly one of the sweetest and coolest people you will ever meet, and all of us who know her are super proud of her for winning the competition. Her new show on the Food Network, “Aarti Party,” debuts Sunday, so be on the lookout for it.

Other than that, though, I have to say, the past week has been less than good. While we were watching Aarti coast her way to victory on TNFNS, I got a text from Scott saying that little Allie was being rushed into surgery. If you read my previous entry, y0u know how things eventually turned out. How badly I feel is nothing, of course, compared to how parents Scott and Keao must feel, but somehow I’m feeling the sadness about their situation a lot more deeply than I thought I could. I could barely sleep Sunday night while I worried about Allison, which of course made for a pretty difficult Monday.

Monday. Ugh. I have never been one of those people who totally dreads Mondays, but work has been ridiculous lately. I like my job itself, but let’s just say there are certain personalities I could do without. OK, mostly one personality, but there are certain things I’m actually not allowed to talk about, as ridiculous as that sounds. Yesterday, I was so frustrated, I almost snapped a pen in half while writing with it . . . which would’ve been sad, because it’s a pen a really like. On the up side, I did make people laugh during staff meeting. Back to the down side, however, I wasn’t making that stuff up.

Oh, yeah, and the Cubs (now minus D-Lee) suck. And while I did get Blackhawks tickets for March, they are standing room only because the scalpers (industry-sanctioned StubHub bastards) swallowed up a lot of the regular seats for a game vs. (are you kidding me?!) the Carolina Hurricanes within the first 20 minutes.

My problems sound pretty petty compared to other people’s, but I try to be a pretty mellow person (shut up, you guys), so all this has upset my equilibrium – so, you know, if you run into me and I’m grumpy, that would be why. On that note, how are things in your neck of the woods?

Friday, we obtained the new digital cable box from Oceanic Time-Warner, and I promptly hooked it up to the MacPro. Showtime HD worked just fine, much to my delight. Then I switched to the programming I was most excited for in HD: sports. ESPN HD was, I knew (from watching it at my cousin’s house), on channel 1222. But Oceanic’s blue screen told me I wasn’t authorized to view this channel. Hmm, odd. How about 1321 (Food Network HD)? Same thing. Grrrr! What is the point of HD if I can’t view sports or food?

So what did I have access to? I decided to keep hitting the channel-up button on the remote to find out. As it turned out, plenty: HBO, Cinemax, Starz, the Big Ten Network (!!!) . . . and at least two channels of, shall we say, programming for mature audiences . . . Yeah, that’s right. I couldn’t get ESPN or Food Network, but I had a couple free p**n channels. Huh?!

By the next afternoon, I was pretty frustrated. I needed my ESPN and Food Network fix. I called Oceanic, and the tech confirmed that I should be receiving these two channels. He pinged my box, and Food Network HD popped up on the screen. So did ESPN HD. Since that covered my basic concerns, I thanked him, politely declined the opportunity to sign up for their phone service (because, seriously, no service in a blackout = fail) and hung up.

A while later, I discovered that I seem to have lost a lot of the, errr, interesting freebies I was getting when I couldn’t see Neil Everett’s face in high-def. Apparently, I wasn’t supposed to get those. Including the Big Ten Network. Or NHL Network. Seriously, those don’t come with the package, but I get ImaginAsian TV and Disney XD HD (in which “The Suite Life of Zac and Cody” is currently on but not in HD)? I’m sorry, did I subscribe to the secret HD Clown Package?!

Clearly, this is just a conspiracy to siphon more money out of my Starbucks fund and into my sports addiction. If that isn’t un-American, I don’t know what is. Also, I don’t know the proper spelling of un-American. :oP

Haha, notice that no one is answering the gym question. Also, notice that if this poll were representative of my department as a whole, it would mean that the vast majority of the staff just must have terrible hygiene.