Cinnamon Girl

A year ago today I watched the sun set from an authentic Hawaiian luau in Maui. From what I've heard the Old Lahaina Luau is the best luau around. Rather than just a bunch of hula dancers performing randomly, this luau told the history of Hawaii. The food and drink was only so-so but there was a pig roasted in an underground oven so I guess that was enough to make up for it.

Of course the reason I was in Hawaii in the first place was because I was one of T-Mobile's PEAK Achievement winners for 2006. The prize was a trip for two—a no-brainer for anyone in even a semi-serious relationship, but for me it could have been a problem. Fortunately I had a friend who was single at the time and whose birthday happened to fall on the day of the luau. Tammi accompanied me to all of the T-Mobile events and at each one did a great job compensating for my social ineptitude. In fact, she did well enough that T-Mobile's CIO remembered her name even though he couldn't remember mine when I spoke with him several months later.

It turned out to be tougher than I expected to explain who went with me to Hawaii after I returned. It is really unfortunate how difficult it is for most people to understand how two friends of the opposite sex can go on a vacation and not be romantically connected. Granted that isn't the norm but it isn't impossible. Obviously those are people who don't know me well—I am kind of an enigma when it comes to being a member of the human race, you know? The sad thing is that it became easier for me to say I took my attorney than to say I took my friend :(

I enjoyed the trip and I think it was a good for Tammi, too. She's really amazing and a great friend for being my partner on that week long tropical adventure... Happy Birthday, TK!