Sunday, March 25, 2012

Sunday Funnies

A  L   O  H   A  !



My Little Grass Shack (Instrumental) by Hawaii Calls on Grooveshark


Friends meet in Waikiki














Graces Three
(& a helper in the back)













Girl Scouts? We don't need no Girl Scouts!












Yes, it was a nice Sunday;
Hope yours was too!


                        Fondly, cloudia

My Secret - The REAL X-Factor

A   L   O   H   A  !

Song for Peace by Paul Horn on Grooveshark
Click for the 'POW"
" -when you are Black
White People often don't see
YOU-
they look right through you,
at the dark & scary face
that lurks in the open windows
of their vivid
imaginations. "

Leonard Pitts Jr.














" The more theatrical
the story you hear
and the more it divides
the world into
"Goodies" vs. "Baddies,"
the less reliable
that story
is going to be. "

Felix Salmon
 













" There are no hopeless situations;
There are only those
 who have grown
helpless
about them. "

Claire Boothe Luce














" It is one of the most beautiful compensations
of this life,
that no one can sincerely
try to help another
without helping
himself. "

Ralph Waldo Emerson




 >< } } ( ° >




For a few years
 I had the privilege
of facilitating an after-school group
for at risk kids.

If they could feel some belonging,
some caring,
and get some basic information
about protecting themselves
it would all be for the good.

I knew that the activities,
and the food I brought,
didn't matter as much
as being there 
every time,
on time.

In time
the kids blossomed.

When they were home sick,
or skipping class,
they would sneak INTO school
to attend!

In time
they started to talk
about real stuff.
We got beyond
 High School posturing.

Eventually,
 my boss wanted me to write
a 'curriculum'
so we could share
what was evidently
working.

I knew that I could write
everything we did,
but what we did
was not the essence of it.

The secret began
when each kid 
entered the room.

I smiled at them
sincerely
[a big smile]
to show them
that seeing them
made me HAPPY.

They saw that they
mattered;
and in at least one place
they were always celebrated.

It couldn't be artificial.
That smile,
and the heart behind it
had to be
sincere.

How could I write
that?


One time
I met with a school principal (a PhD)
and a psychologist
to conference on one of my kids.

After we talked for a while,
the kid was sent in.

Realizing in that moment
that 3 adults
were sitting in a row
 waiting,

I jumped up 
to take her hand
and pulled up a chair
to sit beside her
FACING the authorities
together.


Together
we accomplished
what had to be done.


Later the Principal told me:
"You are the consummate youth worker!"


Sometimes
on a bad day
when I wonder where all my
promise
went,
I think back on the kids.

No one got AIDS,
though several were subsistence
sex workers.

They ALL Graduated High School.

 
Several went on to college!

One of the 'kids'
is now an on-line editor
for People Magazine!


The real X-Factor
is treating people
( sincerely
and simply )
as if you are
 HAPPY
to see them!


And here's the strange
and wonderful part:

In time
you WILL be happy
to see every person.

They will feel it.
And so will you.

 

Your life will change.


And You will be
[even more of]
an influence
for
GOOD!

What do YOU think?
Join us in comments


                              Warmly, cloudia

Past?

A L O H A!

Pine Apple Rag by Scott Joplin on Grooveshark
























Subime or Ridiculous

Ridicu-Blime

A   L  O   H   A  !
click to enlarge these shots
But Dr. Freud,
Sometimes a tall building
surrounded by miasma
is just a tall building !










You GOTTA click on THIS one
Are you looking at the traffic
or the mountains?
The sky kisses
 Hawaii.










We found him,
or what was left of him,
in that bright, alien world
devoid of live-giving
sea water.

He was 
clutching the strange 
vegetation,
as if to make sense 
of it all.

We couldn't stay long;

This is hard to say,
but I think they
ate him.

Sorry for your loss-

 ><}}(°>

< ° ) } } > <   



YOUR VISIT
is a gift.

Your Comment,
a TREASURE !

                         Warmly, cloudia