July 2011 ~ alicka promise

I was finally able to upload a few of my photos from my visit to the Maui Ocean Center. I went last week with the Hamms, family friends that have known me since I was a year old. I haven't seen them for years, and it was wonderful to catch up.

They were in Ka'anapali for a few days before heading to Wailea. Last week, I suggested that we meet at Ma'alaea and check out the aquarium.

I brought my fancy camera, which is an exact copy of the one Elaine owns, but was unable to use it to take photos since the batteries were dead on arrival with no hope of resuscitation. The fact that there is no way to check on the battery status on the camera seems to be a major flaw in my humble opinion.

However, I feel I was able to capture a few good photos with my cameraphone. I'm falling more and more in love with my Samsung Fascinate by the day.

The first exhibit is outside and features reef fish that remain protected by the pounding waves and surrounding rock that keep them safe from larger predators.

Then you start heading down into deeper waters.

The jellyfish exhibit pales in comparison to the amazing spectacle at the Monterrey Bay Aquarium, but the upside down jellyfish won me over here.

The big fish! Those rays were as big as me.

Another successful adventure in Maui!

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I've been losing a battle with a no-good, rotten, could-possibly-be-a-flu kind of cold.

Last week I had felt a little over-tired, but wasn't concerned since I thought I was just getting used to more serious workouts (ie: walking/running up the hill of death also-known-as Lahainaluna Street) and not following up those serious workouts with serious sleep.

But when I woke up on Monday morning to go to work, I instantly knew that something was wrong. I biked into work for my lunch shift, but bowed out before even hitting the floor. I took myself home and rested up. Then rested up through my "weekend" from Tuesday to Wednesday.

I woke up Thursday morning and knew that there was no way I was going to be able to work dinner that night as my body could not decide if it was freezing cold or burning hot. I took many showers that day which alternated between being briskly cold or piping hot.

After four days of doing nothing, combined with two days of not working, I knew I had no choice but to go into work--regardless if I was coughing up little pieces of my lungs.

I pounded down some chicken noodle soup for breakfast, carefully applied makeup to my face so I looked less like the undead in my favorite zombie movies, and slowly biked into work.

I worked from 10:30 until 2...I managed to hang in there until I was able to serve and say goodbye to a group of family friends that I haven't seen for over ten years. But after they were gone, I was too.

The lunch shift is regularly from 10:30 am until 4 pm, so I figure that going in on time and leaving 2 hours short isn't a bad way to reintroduce myself to work.

After a successful doctor's appointment at Kaiser today, I feel much more optimistic that I can power through my work day tomorrow with antibiotics and codeine under my belt.

Here is a list of a few things that brightened my week of illness:

1. My roommate who is a chef extraordinaire made some amazing homemade lasagna yesterday. It was still good even as I was sweating through my fever.

2. Instant Netflix. I watched a documentary on Pixar (highly recommended) and a Katherine Heigl movie (highly disliked). You know I'm on the verge of death if I'm voluntarily watching anything with her in it. I'm not a fan.

3. Books. Many, many books. I've gone a little insane with the book buying and borrowing lately, and now I'm not quite sure where to begin, so I'm now reading little pieces here and there of several books at once. I've got:

Infinite Jest and Consider the Lobster from David Foster Wallace. Jest is a very challenging novel so far, and it feels best to take mini breaks from it with other books and writers, but I highly recommend Wallace's Lobster, which is a collection of original and rather zany essays. I've just started reading it myself, but I read the title essay first since it came so highly recommended by B. The essay was written for Gourmet magazine, and Wallace was supposed to cover a lobster festival that takes place annually in Maine. Wallace goes a little off topic and begins to explore the moral dilemma of eating lobster since lobster is something that most home cooks have to kill themselves. It makes for very interesting reading.
The complete collection of short stories by John Cheever.
Shopgirl from Steve Martin (yes, the white-haired comedian who also strums a banjo) that was given to me by a friend.
A collection of 40 retellings of classic fairy tales called My Mother She Killed Me, My Father He Ate Me.
Neil Gaiman's Anansi Boys. I just re-read Gaiman's American Gods, and really enjoyed the story, although I think some of my favorite writing he's done is for children along with all of his short fictions.

My stack of books is a little overwhelming, but I wouldn't have it any other way.

4. An amazing roommate who worked my shift last night at the restaurant when I was burning and freezing my way through fever. Buying her a gallon of white grapefruit juice seemed like a fantastic trade-off, and I'm well aware that I owe her much more than that for stepping in for me on my day of death.

5. Another amazing roommate who drove me to Taco Bell tonight when I was craving something that wasn't soup or anything else that was healthy. I haven't had Taco Bell since Halloween, but it's been sounding so good ever since I got sick, that I decided if this cold was really going to be the end of me, I was going to get my fast food fix! The Fresco Chicken Burrito (advertised as a healthy fast food choice); however, was gravely disappointing--which makes sense since nothing healthy from a fast food joint is ever going to be especially delicious, but I was saddened all the same, but greatly pleased with myself that I had paired it with my favorite Crunchwrap Supreme, which is really just the best bad thing for you.

6. Redbox movie machines: I rented the amazingly wonderful Never Let Me Go. I've been excited to see it ever since I heard they were adapting the Ishiguro novel of the same name. It's a very faithful adaptation, and I highly recommend it. It's best not knowing anything about the story, I think, but to be honest, I only ever picked up the novel after someone told me it was about clones because the summary "Ruth, Kathy and Tommy spend their childhood at a seemingly idyllic English boarding school. As they grow into young adults, they find that they have to come to terms with the strength of the love they feel for each other, while preparing for the haunting reality that awaits them" is not really going to put butts into seats or books into hands. Clones is going to be a high selling point. And I feel that me telling you about the whole clone bit doesn't really ruin any surprises. At least, I hope not. If so, feel free to shamelessly blame me after you view the movie or read the book.

I now feel that you are sufficiently caught up on my mundane goings-on, and I certainly feel sufficiently tired to pass out and hopefully sleep through the whole night without any serious coughing. I think it would be nice to not lose any more lung.

Wish me luck and a speedy recovery, because being sick in Maui is really, truly depressing. It's hard to stay inside and be ill when it's so beautiful outside!