Tag Archives: Honolulu

My So Called Zombie Life

 Every once in while events conspire to make one question the nature of our daily existence. Although we have all been told that we should make every day count, I suspect that many of us have lost at least a few days to the mundane minutia that often  accompanies modern life. Get up in the morning, curse the alarm clock, eat breakfast, go to work, come home, eat dinner, watch some TV, maybe read a book, go to bed. Wash, rinse, repeat. Although works of literature like Our Town or movies like It’s a Wonderful Life rightfully press us to enjoy every day, it is nearly impossible not to have at a couple of throw away Mondays every now and then. Many of us get lost in our comfortable patterns and forget how transient and fleeting our lives our. We assume that some greater force has ordained our personal worlds to exist as they do and we can expect things to remain both neat and orderly for the foreseeable future. Deep down many of us believe that our routine is both good and just and thus will remain.

I live in Honolulu, Hawaii (insert clichéd statement about paradise here.) Honolulu is amazing. It is a cornucopia of people, cultures, and beliefs that have all come together to form an amazing society and culture. The people are nice. The city is fun. The island of Oahu is beautiful. I generally spend my weekdays working and my weekends enjoying Hawaii. It’s a wonderful pattern that I’ve grown accustomed to and one that I regard as both natural and necessary. It is how I want my life to be, so I assume that it will be that way. I rarely give a thought to what could change my plans and designs. I view myself as in control and do not consider what forces or nature of chaos could thwart my efforts. Last Saturday, an alarm woke me up at 6 o’clock in the morning and I soon discovered that a tsunami was headed for Hawaii. Roads were closed, beaches and parks emptied, shops and businesses shuttered, groceries stories overrun, and the authorities told citizens to get to high ground and wait. I had planned to go hiking and maybe catch a movie but instead I was forced to stock up on food and then stay in my apartment and watch televised tsunami reports. (As I read the last sentence I understand its inherent whininess. Many people in this world would love to buy all the food they want and then watch television in their downtown apartment. In Hawaii nonetheless. My point is about loss of control and the how quickly our lives change.) A giant tidal wave was rushing towards Hawaii and there was nothing that anyone could do except hope and pray. Luckily, we were spared and the wave never came but the event did showcase how quickly things can change. Our lives are much more breakable than we realize and our society and culture are as fragile as gossamer wings. We feign control but in reality we have none.

Strangely last week, I also read the first volume of Robert Kirkman’s comic book series The Walking Dead. This is a comic book that I have been meaning to read for a long time because it seems to receive nothing but praises from multiple sources. In the book Kirkman creates a world overrun by zombies and showcases the lives of a few remaining humans. Zombie are incredibly popular at the moment and there have been some wonderful stories on the subject lately (World War Z, Marvel Zombies, Zombieland, etc.) The Walking Dead is exceptional though because it uses the zombie apocalypse to investigate what happens to people when society crumbles and ceases to function. It questions how people act when life is no longer routine and the safety net is gone. The first volume is a fascinating read and I will beginning reading the next nine volumes soon. I would highly recommend this series to anyone that is interesting in what happens when things fall apart. Pick this up if you get a chance and think about your own life. What you take for granted and what could change in a heartbeat.

Gecko Books & Comics- Honolulu, HI

My job requires me to travel a lot and I try to go to at least one comic shop in every city I visit. Last year alone, I went to comic book stores in Germany, France, the Netherlands, Austria, Michigan, and Seattle. I thought I would start taking some pictures and chronicle the cool comic stores that I get to see. Each comic book shop has its own unique feel and I hope everyone enjoys checking them out. I’m starting with my local comic book store, Gecko Books & Comics at 1151 12th Avenue, Honolulu, HI. Ted Mays, who owns and operates Gecko, possesses a vast knowledge of comic books and popular culture and always seems ready to talk about a number of geek topics. During a recent visit, Ted and I discussed Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, Warren Ellis, Kevin Smith, and writers and artists that are constantly late with their work. Gecko is a great comic book store and it is always a pleasure to go inside. Ted has a great selection and I always wind up buying more than I intended to. If you are ever in Honolulu check it out. I don’t think you will be disappointed. Here’s a link to an article about the shop.  And here are some pictures of the store itself.

Honolulu City Lights at Christmas

I live in Honolulu and currently the downtown is decorated for Christmas. The decorations make so many popular culture references that I had to post them. Enjoy.