candles and sparklers light up the sky.

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last seen: dissolving

31 december 1996 4:27 p.m.

Well, we rockbugs are pretty much going to be the last souls to be dragged into 1997. I figure a good 90 percent of the world's population is already there, taking the best seats... Fireworks, by the by, are banned in Waikiki. But that apparently doesn't stop a good number of my neighbors. Thankfully, I'm going out tonight... I've heard enough horror stories from my civil engineering friends 'bout exactly how not fire-safety compliant a good portion of the buildings in this cramped city are. (Not like I'm much better in that department -- I still haven't fed my ceiling-mounted friend...) Apart from scattered outbursts of Chinese firecrackers and sporadic honkings, though, the suddenly gray skies and rainburst earlier this afternoon seems to have calmed a lot of the chaos I was expecting in my 'hood tonight. Word of the Day: "hope" mana`olana (ma- na- `o- la- na) He wahine hawawa au, aka he mana`olana ka`u. "I am a foolish woman, but I have hope." ([He] woman foolish I, but [he] hope have-I.) I was let out early today, a blessing that allowed me to finish turning my apartment upside down and finding a boxful of household goods I didn't know I had and bought replacements for in the meantime. (I think I'm going to give my neighbor a toilet plunger as a late Christmas gift.) Though I've got one last load of laundry in the drier right now, I'm saying I made the traditional deadline for the New Year's cleaning. I'm not sure when low tide was (when, supposedly, bad energies are carried out so fresh, happy energies can be brought in with high tide), but as far as I'm concerned, midnight was the only real "be done or else" cutoff. I couldn't end the year without doing something stupid, though. In my impatience in bringing my tub somewhat closer to white -- or at least eggshell -- I opted for the overkill cleaning power of bleach. In short, my fingertips are mighty raw right now, and I think I stopped scrubbing mere seconds from turning the not-porcelain an entirely different color. Why, is the hand in the picture on the bottle gloved? I'll have to try that some time. It's never too late to squeeze one more lesson into a year. Heck, typing is no picnic, but we all need a last trial to overcome -- no matter how ridiculous. I do hope, however, that I won't have to bind myself in ten Band-Aids... Seen in a store window: "It's not too early to be thinking about Valentine's Day!" Dammit, yes it is! What's it going to be tonight? Derek and I still haven't decided. I've got a standing invitation to my aunt's, but they're likely hoping to do the whole Buddhist temple thing. Being halfway through chanting a Zen mantra as the clock strikes twelve is not how I want to kick off my karma pool for the new year. Meanwhile, Greg, Jen and a handful of other people I haven't seen for ages are heading for "First Night" downtown. Derek's old UH buds will be around too, if not across the street at Aloha Tower Marketplace trying to suffocate themselves in a crowd at an overpriced bar... Despite the heavy skies and slim likelihood of actually finding anyone, downtown revelry seems to be the most attractive choice. Besides, I haven't been to one of these multi-block party things for three years, at least. I don't remember much about the last time, either, since the "alcohol free" theme prompted most of us to cram that aspect of the New Year's tradition in early. What the... one of my neighbors is blasting "Reunited" -- now I'm definitely getting out of here. See you on the other side!