IMR: 1997: December: 14

IMR: 1997: December: 14 -- Sunday, 10:45 p.m.
Our Apartment, Waikiki, Hawai`i

"I'm very scared of those boys."
-- Marilyn Manson on Hanson

Just watched MTV's "The Year in Rock" special. It was fascinating to see Marilyn Manson attacked by a parade of equally pretentious, attention-mongering acts for grandstanding.
Jen's definition of irony? The Sneaker Pimps calling Manson "talentless."
It did a number on the Spice Girls, pointing out that for all the hype the "group" is still barely a year old. I'd forgotten that. After all the indigestion their music gave me, it felt like they'd been a boil on the butt of society for much longer.
I wouldn't even know how much I disliked their stuff if it wasn't for Greg, who actually went out and bought their debut album and further subjected the entire Ka Leo staff to "Wannabe" on a near-daily basis.
Said he: "It just makes me feel like such a fag!"
(On a related note, Jen is currently giggling madly as she slaps a spice girl.)
Now we're watching "120 Minutes" waiting for the "controversial" Prodigy video for "Smack my Bitch Up." It's just morbid curiosity, really.

Jen wasn't feeling very good this morning, so she called in sick to work. Her boss, Mega (yes, her real name), wasn't terribly happy. To make up for it, Jen will probably work Wednesday -- a day I work anyway.
After a little more sleep, though, she felt well enough to get a bite to eat. I proposed a trip to Arby's at Pearlridge... with a brief detour over the H-3.
"Pinch me," she said, groggily.
I did.
"Ow!" she said. "I meant, 'twist my arm.'"
Today's drive was unusual in that we encountered quite a bit of traffic. Kane`ohe bound it was stop and go, bumper-to-bumper most of the way to the tunnels. Was it a historic moment? The first of probably many traffic jams on the H-3?
I couldn't figure out what the problem was until we were coming the other way. A handful of cars had pulled over, and there were whole families walking up and down the viaduct taking in the scenery. Kind of disconcerting on a highway where the minimum speed is 40 mph.
I imagine the H-3 is months from seeing its first fatality, but when it happens I sure hope it isn't because of sightseeing.
Jen enjoyed the drive and, in particular, the Kane`ohe-side view. On the other hand she loves any pointless drive.
(Sometimes, suffering from cabin fever, we would head out to burn some gas. Our regular route took us over the Pali, through Kailua and back into town via Likelike. We'd leave chatty and come back silent and thoughtful... ready for bed.)
"It's just a road," she said later. And she's right. A long concrete highway connecting two neighborhoods we don't often visit.
For me, I guess, the H-3 is larger than life because it has been in Hawaii's collective unconscious for so long. Back in grade school, when I was only beginning to discover the joy that was reading, I remember the teacher telling us to have our parents buy a newspaper.
One of the first articles I tried to tackle was about the H-3; this must've been in the late 70s. I don't remember what the story said, but it was probably something like, "now scheduled for completion in 1985."
I didn't know where Kane`ohe was, and I only knew Pearl Harbor because we had a great view of the Arizona Memorial from our house. At that age, anything outside of Pearlridge or the four-block radius around Lunalilo Elementary in McCully might as well have been another planet. My universe ended at "Dong's Market" near the gym.
Jen and I never got our roast beef. The mall was crowded and the line at the recently coverted ASB money machine stretched for yards. We settled for burritos and tacos at the Kapahulu Taco Bell.

Finals Week starts tomorrow. Thanks to Keever and Strobel, I've only got two to worry about.
One, the jargon-filled leadership class now dubbed "Intellectional Masturbation 360," isn't much of a worry. Since I know Harry wrote the final, I know the rare study tool known as "common sense" will guarantee a high B at worst. A sample question would be something like:
36. The leadership tool known as "group processing" is:
A. A small, grain-eating marsupial.
B. Regular evaluations of group performance.
C. A ska band from Pocatello, Id.
D. Curable.

Hawaiian is the other one. I know it will be brutal. Academically, I only want a passing grade so I can get to 202 and finish my language requirement. But personally, I feel as if I've learned a lot... and that's what really matters.
Actually, I thought for a harrowing moment that the final was tomorrow, but I remembered that my classmates scheduled a study group at Hamilton for Wednesday night. With the kind of things I'm forgetting these days, I better go.

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