If I could do it all over again...

I often have little moments of regret.  Maybe not 'regret' in the purest sense, but more in the "here's what I would do differently if I could start over again" sense.  So on this day, for no specific reason (even though this very day, the sixth of June, has rightfully earned reasons for me to want to look back and reassess), I present a list of things I would do differently if I had to start the whole Hawaii thing from scratch.

• Don't ship all of my books to Hawaii.  I mean, I would have taken some books (how could I survive without a copy of East of Eden at my side?), but not all of my enormous heavy ones.  I thought, "oh, I'll need all these textbooks!" but I didn't realize that the lab would include a giant library that would have all of the same books and I wouldn't need to touch the ones in my personal library.  I could have stored them and saved the hassle of shipping them back and forth.
• Live somewhere different.  Like in my current building which is so much more awesome than my old building.  Maybe this one couldn't have been helped, as I moved out here the weekend before starting my job and I just took the first place that was offered me.
• Buy a pedometer.  I walked so freaking much this year; it would have been nice to keep track of exactly how much.  I'll walk a lot in Boston, though, so maybe I'll get one there.
• Become friends with this awesome couple in my branch sooner.  Normally I don't hang out with couples because most couples are lame, but then quite recently I spent time with these two, both separately and together, and I was like, why haven't I been hanging out with you guys this whole time?  They're really cool, and, unlike 99% of people in Hawaii, they like some of the same music that I do!
• Go kayaking earlier, because I like kayaking!  Actually, I'm okay with just going kayaking the one time.  I got a pretty bad sunburn from the kayaking trip, but it's only the second bad burn I've had here.  More kayaking would have probably meant more sunburns and a higher risk of melanoma.  So never mind on this one.  And there's a river in Boston; I can totally kayak there maybe.

I know I could think of more things, but I'm pretty sure that they're little things, like knowing where to buy the good curry paste and stuff.  But did you notice how not one of these things was "don't move to Hawaii"? Even though I shattered various aspects of my world by moving here, and even though there was much about this year that sucked beyond the telling of it, if I had to do it all again, I would.  This year has been very good for me.

Cat Lady

"Kirk's always been a cat person; he's just never had a cat"
-Rory Gilmore (Gilmore Girls, "A Deep-Fried Korean Thanksgiving")

I live with a cat now.  His name is S.J., short for Simba Jack.  I'm fighting my horrible habit of renaming other people's pets, but I kind of want to call him Darwin.  He used to be wary of me, but we've bonded now.  See?

Not the most flattering picture of either of us, but it's hard to tell a cat to hold still so I can take a webcam picture.

He likes to snuggle.  And also use my arm as a scratching post.  And lick my feet.  Maybe it's not bonding so much as him biding his time until he tries to kill and eat me in my sleep.

Tolerable Cruelty

"There's a breeze off the Hudson, and just when you think you're sick of living here the memory floods in..."

("Finale," In the Heights)

I have two weeks left in Hawaii, so obviously things have stopped sucking so much.  I daresay, in the past few weeks I've been liking things, having almost-fun, socializing, hugging (men!), and even wishing I had more time!  Life is cruel.  But I wonder, are things going well because I know that I'm leaving soon, or is this just how long it takes me to adjust to a place well enough to actually enjoy things?  I remember that I lived in Boston for over a year before I really decided that I wanted to stay there.*

The quote above is from In the Heights, which has kind of been my 'theme musical' for the past year (I saw it for the first time a few months ago), although my favorite line used to be Vanessa's from It Won't Be Long Now:

As I sweep the curb, I can hear those turbo engines blazing a trail through the sky

I look up and think about the years gone by

And one day, I'm walking to JFK

And I'm going to fly!

Kind of funny how things change like that, huh?  I guess I can be a little bit sad to leave Hawaii, but only a little bit, because I'm going back to my favorite place ever.

*It was actually the ward campout that made me realize I wasn't ready to leave Boston, which is strange, because I find camping dreadful.

On the Rocks

This is a post where I let my willingness to prove something overpower my self-consciousness about my body.  Behold, a picture of me and my pasty, not-as-toned-as-I-might-like legs in a bathing suit in front of a bunch of really sharp and dangerous lava rocks.

Look how precarious those rocks look!

I went kayaking with a bunch of people last Monday.  It was pretty fun--I saw a turtle!  But we kayaked out to this island that was kind of a "bird sanctuary" with a really tiny trail and then all of a sudden, it turned into rock climbing.  Thank goodness for my Tevas as my poor feet wouldn't have survived otherwise!  I was so scared and I wanted to turn back so many times, and there were definitely a few "Jesus, take the wheel" moments, but I did it!  I climbed on the rocks and didn't fall off of any cliffs.  I'd say that this was definitely a good life experience.

Missionary Moments in the Middle Seat

I rode to work with some co-workers today.  The evidence coordinator at work is Mormon, and he was driving, and with two Mormons and three non-Mormons in a car, of course there's going to be some Mormon talk.

Because I'm the tiniest person, I always take the middle seat.  This was the conversation I had with the guy on my left (I'll call him "J"):

J:  There's a Mormon palace in San Diego!
Me (skeptically):  Was it the temple?
J:  No!  It's a palace!
Me:  Was it big and white and marble with a golden guy with a trumpet on top?
J:  Yeah!
Me:  Yeah, that's the temple.
J:  But it was so ornate.
Me:  They're all like that.

The San Diego Temple.  It is pretty fancy.

This was the conversation I had with the lady on my left (I'll call her "H"):

H:  Are Mormons the same as Jehovah's Witnesses?
Me:  No.  We both like going door-to-door and passing out literature, though.

I'm not thinking that either of these two will be joining up any time soon, but hey, any bit of dialogue helps!

A House a Home

In the next three months I will be moving three times.  It's crazy, but kind of necessary.  I realized today that my current apartment in Honolulu is pretty pathetic.  I have no furniture so I sleep on an air mattress and use an ironing board as a computer desk.  Other than two refrigerator magnets, there's nothing personalized about my place.  I chalk this up to the fact that I knew this would be temporary the second I moved in.  My next move will be to another apartment in Honolulu which has a current tenant and therefore might look a little more homey.  Then I will be subletting a place in Medford, MA, until August first when I can move into...wait for it...my permanent* place!

I haven't published the story of my Boston housing drama, but the short of it is that I was going to live in Jamaica Plain with my friend Judy and another lady named Sarah, but then we couldn't (this guy got murdered; it was a whole big thing).  Thankfully, Judy is a superhero and was able to find an amazing place for us to move into in the fall.  Incidentally, it will be the most I've ever paid for rent in Boston.  While the place is at the tip-top of my housing budget, here's why I don't mind:

1. The place is big and beautiful.  Hardwood floors, wainscoting, a balcony!  Also, my bedroom in this place is so much bigger than my last bedroom in Boston, which probably originally started out as the apartment Chokey. 
2. Heat and hot water are included in the rent.  Anyone who's lived in Boston will know that heat is the most expensive utility.  And it gets COLD in Boston.  Being able to maintain a 68-degree apartment and not having to pay out the ears for it is a definite plus.
3. It's in an awesome location.  Coolidge Corner is probably the hippest, most happening part of Brookline.  It's close to lots of things, including multiple forms of Public Transportation.  Also, there's a Trader Joe's RIGHT THERE.  I freaking love Trader Joe's.
4. It's in a safe location.  There were places that were cheaper, to be sure, but those places were either disgusting or right down the road from where three people got shot.  In the three years that I've lived in Boston, nobody has ever told me "don't be alone in Coolidge Corner at night."  In addition to that, despite its hip-ness, it's not going to be overrun with drunken noisy BU undergrads all the time.
5. It's in LP1 (the Longfellow Park 1st Ward Boundaries).  For the three years I was in Boston, I was in LP2, which was really a great ward, but for multiple reasons that can go on a different blog post, I'm definitely ready for a change.  Don't worry, I'm not going to forget about my LP2 friends, but I'm really excited about the idea of meeting new people and redefining myself by a different side of the Charles River.

At any rate, I am so excited to move in there.  Even though I'm not planning to live there eternally, I'm going to go out of my way to make it a home, to make it a sanctuary and a place that when someone enters, they will think, "wow, Alex must live here."  

*And by "permanent" I mean until I get married or the rent increases to the point where I'm forced out because I'm kind of cheap.

My D.C. Trip

What a bad blogger I am!  Here I've been back from my D.C. trip for four days now, and I haven't blogged about it yet.  For those who don't subscribe to my Facebook status updates, the short of it is that I was in the Greater D.C. Area for the past two weeks.

The long of it was that I was on assignment assisting the historians at work collect records at the National Archives.  Not at the famous National Archives from whence Nicholas Cage stole the Declaration of Independence,* but at NARA II, in College Park, MD, where records from WWII and later are housed.  Essentially my duties were to request records from a particular battle and photograph them until my shutter-release thumb doubled in size.**

That was the work part, which was pretty cool (for one thing, the research room has a spectacular view of deciduous trees).  The not-work part, however, was freaking awesome.  Traveling on the government's dime is a nice way to travel, and I'm definitely a fan of advance per diem.  It's great; it's like the government is like, "here's enough money to feed a family of three for a month; spend it on food for two weeks."  Thanks to Marriott Rewards and government rate perks, the money stayed safely nestled in my savings account while I dined on free hotel cheesecake.***  The hotel room was also fantastic; I had a king-sized bed all to myself (biggest bed-to-person ratio ever, I'll bet) and it was so comfortable.  I almost wanted to steal one of the pillows, but I settled for stealing tiny lotion bottles instead.

On the weekend I took the Metro into actual D.C. to do the touristy stuff.  My favorite thing that I saw was the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History.  I geeked out at so many things; it made me want to go into museum curation a little bit (it's a valid career choice for someone in my field!).  After that I went to all of the monuments and memorials.  When I was in first grade we learned about the geography of D.C., but it was never put to scale, so I had no idea how far apart everything was.  Thankfully, I had my walking shoes on.  Despite everything being crowded with schoolchildren (on a Saturday? really?) and European tourists, I had fun sightseeing.  I have this idea that if I don't meet the love of my life in Boston, I will meet him on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial (I might have to start making more trips to D.C.).  It didn't happen on this trip, but I was kind of sweaty, so just as well.

Me and Abe.  See how sweaty I am?  No way am I meeting any menfolk like this.
I will also add that it's hard to take pictures of oneself in front of national monuments.

Also on the trip I was able to meet up with Laura, who traveled down from Baltimore.  We went to a bakery called PAUL and I ate the most delicious lemon meringue tart that has ever existed, probably.  Then we saw the American History Museum (the place that has Archie Bunker's chair) and the National Gallery of Art.  I think I felt the most fulfilled at the National Gallery.  I wouldn't describe myself as an "art-gallery person," but being able to stand two feet away from van Gogh's "Self-Portrait" or from Monet's "Waterloo Bridge, London, at Sunset" was surreal.  I can't describe why exactly, but I think that was an important life experience for me.

Stopping to take a picture before detaching my jaw to devour this tart was the
greatest display of willpower I've ever shown.

I spent Saturday night at Laura's place where I met President Nixon.  He drools a ton, but other than that, he liked me.  I would have taken a picture of him but he's afraid of the camera.  He's a quirky dog.  But the faux-slumber party was fun.  We ate Nepalese food and watched a movie about arranged marriages (it's much better than it sounds), and then I slept in the Tauntaun sleeping bag (it smelled as good as it sounds).  Then I went to church in Baltimore and I felt a little better about not getting into Johns Hopkins because there are absolutely no cute men in that ward.

Overall it was a fantastic trip, and I was sad to leave.  The only perk of being back is that I'm still on Eastern time which means I get up super early so I can go into work super early and, in turn, go home super early.  As I close, I will leave you with a picture of me with a giant Albert Einstein.

Big Al and Little Al, I like to call it.

*Now that I've been to the Archives, I can tell you, that whole thing would never have happened.  Mr. Cage would have been attacked by at least a dozen angry staff members if he even looked at the Declaration funny.  Boy, was that staff angry all the time.
**There's no good way to take a picture of both of my thumbs to prove it.
***I also ate real, nutritious food, because I'm a responsible, fiber-loving adult that way.  The cheesecake wasn't actually that good, come to think of it, but it was free and it was there, which gives it a lot of up-front credit.