I just returned from Hawai’i, where I presented a paper at the Hawai’i International Conference on Arts & Humanities. The abstract for the paper was originally targeted for another conference in Washington, D.C., but, having failed to make the cut there, I submitted the abstract to, and it was accepted at, this conference on Waikiki Beach: such are the vicissitudes of academic life. Having arrived in late evening, I took an early morning walk along the beach, waiting for the sun to rise.
The conference took place at two hotels on the beach: pictured below is the Marriott, where I stayed. Breakfast was served each morning at the hotel, but for other meals, we were on our own.
My favorite lunch adventure took place at Ono Hawaiian Foods, perhaps 3/4 mile from the hotel. The food there is largely based on one of the many varieties of taro grown on the islands, and uses both the “corns” and leaves.
I took a long Sunday walk to explore the Honolulu area, starting with Diamond Head State Monument, the “most famous volcanic crater in the world.” It is always there in the background, as one walks up the access road, past small homes, gas stations (see image below), and so on.
Once you get there, the hike to the top leads through several tunnels, and up quite a few steps and winding trails.
Leaving Diamond Head, I cut through a low-rise residential area to check out the University of Hawai’i campus at Manoa. Students hadn’t yet returned from their winter break, and it seemed as if most of the campus was still closed. I stopped for a drink at a local University bar where the Giants-Cowboys playoff game was just reaching half-time, with the score tied at 14-14. Resisting the temptation to stay so as to ascertain the outcome, I resumed my walk, looking for the Honolulu Academy of Arts. Once there, I paid my $10, plus another $5 to see a special exhibit on Hawaiian Modern Architecture, featuring Vladimir Ossipoff, Hawai’i’s “most important modern architect” according to the flyer. This guy was born in Vladivostock, raised in Japan, and educated at Berkeley, moving to Hawai’i in 1933.The museum itself has some interesting pieces, not only representing the arts of the Pacific islands, but also including some European 20th-century classics.
Like much of Honolulu, the architecture of the museum itself is placed in an uneasy relationship with its context (see image above), with concrete towers ever-present as backdrop. Back at the hotel, I take a swim in the Pacific. The water is warm and salty.
The conference ends the next day, and I do a bit of reading while waiting for the airport shuttle. 
Then it’s back to Ithaca: three flights are needed, each one in a smaller plane. On the last leg of the journey, I observe a continuous blanket of clouds through the plane’s propeller, with snow falling over much of the northeast.
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