The Fondest Aloha

The time has come to bid a fond Aloha to the sandwich isles of Hawaii.

Aloooha.

I moved here with a backpack and a computer and am leaving with ten wine boxes filled with god knows what, a duffel bag the size of a modern-day couch and a travel golf bag that could comfortably fit a person of my exact size and stature. But that all will fit into a rental car and an airplane so that's still what I plan to do – fly, fly away.

Yeah I'm ready. It was sitting at Ruth's Chris recently when someone got it right: We're too young to be semi-retired. Yes. Retirement comes with two shades, the first is that you have the money you need and the second is that you are now going to live someplace sunny until you die. That second part, by modern medicine standards, means I'll eat at that same Ruth Chris for sixty more years. No. it's time to get out for a while and I will not say out loud that I'll never return – I may. Lots of people do. It won't be soon, but I may return.

Also, in the vein of updates and things, I have added a Polynesian manu (or shark) to the top of my left foot. I will include pictures of this newest tattoo when it ceases to be gross looking and starts to be good-looking. It has a story behind it that is long and vivid and that doesn't appear here quite yet. Perhaps in some fiction somewhere.

To all the kids on and around Front Street, don't be a stranger. Come over anytime you want. Come visit when you need a highway with more than one lane or a little bit of cold weather. (Chicago!) And don't forget that through the miracles of the world wide web, we'll likely get closer now that we're farther away.

And finally, something I never knew I'd be saying:

I'm going to Ohio. I'll talk to you later.