souvenirs of remembrance

i was once a very shy fellow, and i still am in some ways. but times they have a changed. there is something totally awesome about meeting random people, well, when they are cool.

in the last 24 hours i have meet five people and carried on totally random but real conversations with them. four girls and one guy. ryan is a bit of a ladies man if you did not already know that.

so, i went to eat dinner by myself last night, 'haleiwa eats thai' was the place. i spent about 20 minutes talking with my waitress about my research and her moving from california to hawaii for the laid-back lifestyle. then i struck up a convo with the hostess, all about skateboarding, her new job as a massage therapist, living in hawaii and what it's like to grow up a local. then today, i walked around waikiki with a girl i met on the bus and talked about life, travel, what we hope to be doing in 5 years, and about meeting up in hawaii with some other people to watch the big surf comps in december. tonight, riding the bus back across the island (2 hours) because i left my passport and money there, i offered to help a girl finish her crossword puzzle. she looked really flustered. and then we talked for an hour, some really weird stuff. she is a strange girl. then, finally, standing at the bus stop to come back to town this surfer i had seen the day before on the north shore told me all about this girl her says he loves and how she is so awesome and i told him i was riding buses all over the island for fun.

i am not sure why i felt like you all should know about these encounters. actually, i wanted to challenge you. life is better if you break out every once in a while. practice being random and after a while you will be. these were just short moments with these people, but it made mine and their life better. so, go out and strike up that random conversation. ask them about what their doing. ask them something, or tell them something about yourself. stop being 'respectful' and act like someone who cares about other people.

thats all for now, no more lemon drops of wisdom. but listen to me, i am wise from traveling you know.