Captain’s Log: Part III

• Lori Palminteri
• Uncategorized
• February 28, 2024

Night 10: When I got to the theater to see The Beach Boys, the line was doubled around the corner. Out loud, I said, “fuck this, I’m going to a bar.” There was a half hour until showtime. It’s a 1400 seat theater— and a lot of old people to be seated— so I had plenty of time. The edible I took had me already buzzing, and I had a delicious cocktail at this groovy bar that played records. I joked to the bartender that I hoped the old people had enough energy to dance. Though it wasn’t really a joke. Earlier, I had chatted with my mom, wishing she were with me, because we’re both dancing fools at concerts.

Unbeknownst to me, John Stamos was playing with The Beach Boys, which is an actual thing and not just a random thing. He was a fun addition to the show. Behind The Beach Boys, was a giant screen where they mostly played surf videos. Live surf rock with surf videos? I could do this all night. For the first half of the concert, most people didn’t get up and dance, except this one woman near the aisle. She did the Charlie Brown for an hour straight. I loved this woman. What a legend. She must have been late 40s/early 50s, but she dressed older. Flat hair, glasses, not fat but kind of pear shaped. She was having the time of her life. She occasionally broke from the Charlie Brown to this circular motion with her arms over her head. Her dancing was as bad as the music of the Beach Boys is iconic. But it only made me adore her more.

There were two college girls sitting in front of me, who wanted to dance but at first were too shy until I tapped them on the shoulder and said, “I’ll dance with you guys.” And then we got up and boogied. It was a stellar concert. I was having a blast. One of my favorite parts of the night is when the drummer, a younger guy, did a Mama’s and Papa’s, “California Dreaming” cover in a rock and roll way and I was jamming out. Some of the older people may have been a little jarred by my air guitar dancing and yelling, “let’s fucking gooooo.” But I think they also liked it.

There was an empty seat next me, and I couldn’t help but wishing my mom was in that seat. We’d be dancing the whole time. Sometimes, there was a song I was really into and I’d ask myself, should I dance? And I’d look at the empty seat next to me and think, “I know what Donna would do.” And I’d get up and dance… just like my mom.

Day 11: Thursdays are my busy day, writing for two services. So I write early, get some surfing in and then write again. But for sunset, went to a place called “China Walls.” I love this schedule. Write, surf, repeat.

Day 12: Before the sunrises, I woke up to drive to the North Shore. I was super stoked, I hadn’t yet been to the North Shore this trip. No, I wouldn’t be surfing the heavy swells at Pipeline or Chambers, but the North Shore offers some real waves.

I checked out a couple spots before settling on a place called “Chuns” which has a good right (I prefer rights, even though I’m a goofy footer surfing, I like to drop in backside). It had size to it. We’re talking 5 foot to 8 foot. Some of the sets even bigger. As I’m watching from the shore, an older guy, I’d guess 60s, with long white white hair, too tan, a cataract in one of his blue over exposed to the sun eyes, and little bit of a beer gut, starts chatting me up.

“Were you out here during the big swell?”

“Nah. This is as big as I surf. I’m afraid of big waves.”

“It was big. 20 footers. These are small.”

“Haha. Hawaiians are spoiled with good waves. You’ve forgotten how good you have it.”

“How bout this. How about we catch a few waves and get some beers.”

“Bro, it’s 7:30 in the morning.”

“What? You don’t drink beers?”

“Not in the morning!”

“There’s a turtle Jacuzzi out there. Do you wanna see it?”

“What’s a turtle Jacuzzi.”

“It’s a hole in the reef and all the turtles hang out in it. Ten or more.”

“Cool.”

“We can snorkel out there together.”

“Um…. I’m gonna surf.”

There’s a channel you can paddle out at Chun’s, but if (or should I say when) you get caught on the inside, it is a challenge. The sets are huge, and I’ve no intention of catching the biggest waves. The smaller waves (bigger than me) were just fine. I only caught a handful of waves at Chuns. Mostly, I paddled. But I did get one sick one and tucked into the barrel. It was probably one of the best barrels I’ve ever gotten (especially since I rarely surf waves big enough for nice barrels). I did run into the guy from the shore. He had his snorkel in his rash guard, and he would paddle up to every girl asking if they wanted to see what was under them. The dude rips, and he was always in a good spot for waves, so I started to trail him.

“What do you do for a living.”

“I’m a writer.”

“What are you going to write about?”

“You.”

“What are you going to say about me.”

“Local legends find you on the North shore. You don’t have to seek them out.”

“That’s pretty good.”

Eventually, my arms were shot, and I had to take one in. After some rest and eating some food, I went to a second location, Hale’iwa. This was an easy paddle out, with 3-4 foot waves and occasional five foot sets. I caught a lot more waves here. This spot was excellent, just because the waves are so easy. Catching waves here is smooth andd I’m able to do floaters (a move where you kind of ‘grind’ the top of the wave and then drop back in) on them.

Then, I dashed back to the south shore, because my buddy Lenny Marcus was opening for Leslie Jones at the same theater I saw the Beach Boys. I took my surf bud with me (no, not the old guy) and it was a great show. Lenny crushed and we got to go backstage.

[Lenny Marcus, Leslie Jones, Lori Palminteri, MC & Garrett ]

Day 13: It was going to be a windy and overcast day. So I did some hiking with another local I befriended. We hiked a lighthouse trail and another more unknown trail that was recommended to me by my housemate’s friends. We got lucky, because every time we were heading back from one of our hikes, it started to rain. We seemed to be always just ahead of the rain. The hikes offered great views of the island, and we even found a cave we crawled through from the  beach to the valley. While we didn’t see them breach, we did see whales in the distance, blowing water from their blow holes and some fins, as if they were waving to us at top of the cliff.

Later, I got a much needed massage.

Day 14: Sunday starts my work week. So I kicked off the day reading news stories and editing them, followed by surfing. I could get used to these days. I walked around Waikiki later in the day, looking for souvenirs for my loved ones back home, and getting drinks at bars. I’m always carded because I don’t wear makeup here (not wearing makeup is the best). That night, I worked ahead, unbeknownst to me it was for naught. I didn’t know that night, as I lay my head down to sleep, that in the morning, I’d get a call from my boss. The company was caving in. The second round of layoffs was coming, and I would not make the cut. I did not know any of this Sunday night. All seemed perfect in my world. Write, surf, swim, hike, rinse and repeat. But I guess, brief moments of perfection are all we can hope for.