“Cheesecake Factory at 6:30” was what I was told.

We arrived at 6:30, though our friends got there at 6 to get in line for a table. I’ve heard that the fare at Cheesecake Factory is similar to that at TGI Friday’s, which is a little heavy for my taste, but I figured I could get a salad. And I was going for the company, anyway.

It took about an hour & a half to get seated. I think I destroyed a few brain cells trying to remember everyone I knew who had said they worked at this place. Rylen moved to Vegas. I lost Joylani’s number. I had deleted Patti’s number. Oh well. At least I was really, really hungry by the time we got our menus.

Service was great. Our server was not only good-looking (hey, it counts!) but also knowledgeable about the menu & specials. Keeping company was a little more complicated, & trying to hear what the person sitting next to me was saying became tedious enough after awhile that I resorted to people watching, which one can get in abundance in Waikiki.

Outside I had heard a guy in a blue aloha shirt saying very loudly to his party, “No gratuity. No gratuity required.” That bothered me a lot. Waikiki’s a great place to stiff your server if you’re from out of town, because you’re probably never coming back to this restaurant any time soon (& in the case of this particular restaurant, the wait alone guarantees that). I despise people like that. Sometimes Japanese can hide behind the excuse that they don’t know about tipping, but these folks were Americans.

Those people ended up seated on the table next to ours.
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We had a good-bye party for my friend Cathy today at Kailua Beach. I heard one of my friends, upon arriving, say to Cathy, “The last time I was at this beach, I was with you.” Hey, me too.

You know why that is? Because Kailua Beach sucks. There are only three kinds of people who love Kailua Beach: People who move to Hawaii from somewhere else, people who have grown up in Kailua, and people who own dogs who love the water.
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My name is Lauren & I’m a World of Warcraft addict.

I’ve been a gamer since 1999. I’ve given up what used to be regular haunts – Hunakai beach, Kahala Mall, Karaoke Hut, real life – to be an Undead Mage in a virtual world. Prior to World of Warcraft, I was a Dark Elf Enchantress, Wood Elf Bard, Dark Elf Mage, & TaruTaru Mage. Yep, I’m a geek.

I have one day off a week, generally spent at home in my wifebeater & boxers glued to my computer with a can of Red Bull. Unlike previous MMORPGs, I get to play with a ton of Hawaii-based players. WoW offered players choices of servers based on time zone, & all my friends seem to have signed up for the same place.

Since then I have brought my sister, her boss, several of my friends & some co-workers over to the dark side. I was in Amway once. But Amway wasn’t as fun.
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You know what I hate? I hate it that whenever I bring up Michelle Wie, there is a 36.68475% chance that the guy I’m talking to will respond with something like “Michelle Wie? I’d do her!” Maybe it’s the people I meet since I’m taking some college classes on the side, but that is wrong on so many levels. It makes me want to leap out of my skin and start choking people screaming “she’s 15! 15!” God forbid she starts sprouting enormous breasts.

In any event, I hope Wie doesn’t turn pro yet. I dunno, that kind of money would probably mess with her head. Then again, she goes to Punahou, so whose to say she isn’t loaded already? I know, people will say that I’m being stereotypical by implying that all kids who go to Punahou are rich, but you know what? I’ve dated a couple of them, and let me tell you, the Hawaii Loa Ridge poolside cocktail bar was a nice touch.

But stop with the Michelle Wie pedophilia people, please. Pull your mind out of the gutter; go directly to jail and do not pass “go.”

[/rant]

Yes. I was there at nine in the evening on Friday the 15th for the festivities leading up to the midnight release of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. I don’t care if it’s lame. If you think it’s lame, you either haven’t read any of the Harry Potter books or you do not know what it’s like to get completely, totally, utterly, hopelessly lost in a book and in the world its author creates. Well, I majored in that in college, and so there I was.

There were tables set up for kids’ activities, including this one, but besides the Bertie Botts’ Everyflavor Beans, this table looked more like a promo booth for the new Johnny Depp movie, which happened to have opened that day. I felt ripped.
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Went to see an advanced screening of Stealth at Ward Theaters tonight. Without getting into it, no, I didn’t like the movie. It was just really…bad. Almost universally bad. There is a bright spot, however! I noticed that in the future, aircraft carriers come furnished with Herman Miller Aeron chairs! That’s right – Aeron chairs! I guess after a long, hard day of bombing terrorists, Navy personel can now look forward to a game of office hockey around the command deck. Well, that’s what I was thinking anyway.

Yeah, I know – I geeked out in the middle of a movie. What the hell; I’ve always wanted an Aeron. Thinking about it helped me blot out the other 95% of the movie that was utter crap. I know in Hawaii, you’re supposed to be able to buy Herman Miller from Office Pavilion in the Pan Am building on Kapiolani. I’ve never actually been there, however. A couple of years ago, I called them because I wanted to buy an Aeron. I changed my mind after the woman who answered told me she didn’t have a demo she could show me. Back then, I wasn’t about to drop $800 on a chair without being able to sit on it first. Seeing Stealth makes me want to buy an Aeron again. I wonder if it comes in flat black? (That was a stealth joke, now laugh you monkeys!)

On a side note, howcome in Hawaii, no one I know has ever heard of Aeron chairs? Is that just a mainland thing? Everyone I knew in S.F. wanted one.

A new fine dining offering is opening July 29th at Honolulu’s cultural, historical and nostalgic marker – The Willows – the “J” Restaurant featuring an eclectic menu of French and Asian cuisine crafted by Executive Chef Jay Matsukawa. Housed on the second floor overlooking the duck ponds. It’s sure to be a fine contrast to the local flare and faves on the regular buffet line.
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The Honolulu Star-Bulletin had an article today about a guy who is trying to revive he’e holua, otherwise known as the Hawaiian sport of lava sledding. Yes, lava sledding. Now, obviously, it’s not on hot, molten lava. No, that would be dangerous. Instead he’s sledding on solid rock. *cough*

Has anyone ever seen lava rock? I assume he means the pahoehoe type of lava because anything else would be insane. Even though pahoehoe is the “smooth” lava, it still looks like a pain sundae topped off with a broken jaw. The lava sledding advocate, Tom “Pohaku” Stone, is trying to start a he’e holua tournament. Apparently, the biggest difficulty is finding someone to insure the event. That shouldn’t be a problem; I mean after all, Tom’s only broken his neck sledding.

Ahh, I can’t really get down on the idea though, because honestly, I would watch the event. It’s no more crazy than free diving, and gauranteed to be cooler to watch. Bottom line – you have to give some respect to any sport that will be judged on “style, length of ride, and survival ability.” Way to go, Tom!

Does anyone else think it’s weird that local high schools have sports teams such as Hilo Vikings, Maryknoll Spartans, Mililani Trojans, and Kahuku Red Raiders? I know that teams across the country have the same names, but the percentage of students at Hilo High who have Norse blood must be miniscule.
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Just got home from work. I almost forgot that tonight is the Grand Prix of Germany! I run to the TV, turn it on…and discover that the German GP is one of four races that aren’t being shown live on Speed Channel, but is instead going to be shown on CBS, tape-delayed tomorrow morning. So, I did the only thing I could do – I went to Formula1.com and opened up the live timing applet. So here I sit, by myself, watching little numbers blink. Kimi Raikkonen is in first. My man Takuma Sato is way down in 13th after he (sigh) crashed again. Bah.

When I was in California, the guys from Sears Point would all hang out and watch F1 together. When I was in Vegas, there were bars that had all-night F1 parties! There was the miracle of satellite TV – the race would always be on! But back in Hawaii, I get to watch the race as a constantly updating spreadsheet of lap times and numbers. Blink. Blink. It’s a little less exciting. Just a little.