Susan Boyle - ing

Aloha! C'mon in.

Just Duke Kahanamoku dancing with the Queen Mum. He was a poor Hawaiian kid from the Waikiki Neighborhood.

But he grew up to enchant everyone he met.

Consider our friend Susan Boyle

“Normal is in the eye of the beholder.”
Whoopi Goldberg

Can't see these enough, can we?

But where were we. . .

Oh yes, back to average folks. . .

like you and me.

Duke went on to Olympic gold and also introduced the modern world to surfing.

This is his statue, always posing with visitors.

And there are always lei!

And now, let's do talk about our friend Susan, emblem of the moment. She surfed in on the zeitgeist.

At first, she looked like another "meal" for the judges. Someone we the public could pity and feel superior to. (C'mon, this is just you and me being honest. In threatening times like these, it's comforting to realize that we're not QUITE the biggest loser around, isn't it?)

We've all been identifying with the so called "winners" for too long, trying to pass as one of them. But all those formerly "elite" types have been recently un-masked as clue-less haven't they? All those geniuses who broke their glittering toy, the "system" that treated them so very well indeed.

And now, as we're all chastened along with them, and the smoke begins to clear, we look around us with fresh eyes.

And who do we see?

We see Susan Boyle.

We begin, perhaps, to realize the previously unappreciated treasure that resides in the "average" folks all around us. . . in ourselves.

Some spell has been riven. We and our fellow folk are revealed to be the true ground of humanity, the real plot line of the human story.

A bi-racial fellow, raised by a single mom in an apartment, on a tiny island, is now our U.S. President.

Yes, we average losers seem poised and ready to emerge as the "next big thing," changing the game, saving the show.

Just like Susan Boyle

A L O H A! Cloudia

Found: Bush's One Good Thing

Aloha! Come on in.

(click on pictures to enlarge ;-) My house has good lines, eh?

“Every day is a journey, and the journey itself is home.”

Matsuo Basho

This is Diamond Head Road. See the road sign?

It goes all around the crater and is a favorite "cruising" place to see and be seen. Pop star Rhianna has been seen bicycling here recently. Hope she's feeling better!

Never saw these before!


“Let us be grateful to people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom.”
Marcel Proust

the FRESH AIR Fund is a truly worthy effort!

Why not click on the banner?

Tee Hee!

A woman after my own heart;

two words: "Sun Protection."

“They remember me as this shy girl sitting under the table. But they obviously didn't know what was going on in my head.”
Izabella Scorupco

In the final days of his administration, Bush the Younger did something surprising. He declared the pristine Northwestern Hawaiian Islands a Marine National Monument.



This paradise at the far side of our archipelago is called:

Papahanaumokuakea.



Recently NOAA reported that 15 different species of whales, more than expected, frequent the large, watery "park."



80 types of coral, almost half of them found only in Hawaiian waters, also homestead these waters.



Here in Waikiki, with the near shore waters full of cavorting humans, and party boats jostling for sunset views just beyond the reef ,

I like to think of the whales and their buddies

lounging in their own V.I.P. enclave.



Perhaps some day I'll untie from the dock

and sail out to visit them. After all,

I too am found only in Hawaiian waters. . .

Note: My modem self-destructed late Thursday requiring a "swap-out," hence: no Friday post.

Sorry. It's just a tale of two modems, I guess. . . But I'm BACK, Baby!

A L O H A ! Cloudia

Old Days - Old Friends

Aloha

Welcome to Life's Greatest Beach

Walkin' in Waikiki

"Vice is most dangerous when it puts on the garb of virtue."

Danish Proverb

Nephew & Niece

"It does me no injury for my neighbor to say there are 20 gods, or no god. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg."

Thomas Jefferson

Shadow Spiders!

"People only see what they are prepared to see."

Ralph Waldo Emerson

It was normal to us.

Just the way we grew up.

From my earliest days, the world seemed like a place full of friends.

In the fields and woods, the naiads, nymphs, and who-ziss watched us play.

It made me feel safe to know that they were there.

And when we ran back home

the gate god welcomed us;

But kept the wandering hungers outside.

The kitchen god warmed us.

Seemed always so happy to see us,

even when we young neglected

to smear honey

on her mouths.

When we were sick, mama gave us little goddesses to chase the fevers away;

They cuddled in our arms,

and the fairies living in the wreathe above my bed

whispered songs and stories,

watching as I slept.

Then one day they came.

They spoke of love

but with stern faces.

Things we could not see,

or feel,

were the only things that pleased them.

Our simple songs

made them angry.

Our harmless,

homely,

helpful little gods

they treated worse than vermin.

I don't think they liked us very much either,

though they claimed to bring us a gift

from a god.

The way we have always been,

the things that brought us joy

and comfort-

they told us these were

all bad things.

That WE were bad,

but they could make us clean.

I didn't understand.

"Good," they said.

"God's ways are not your ways."

Every pleasant thing they changed.

For our good we must look sad,

and keep quiet now.

But how I miss the singing in the moonlight.

How we all felt one in our song.

And the faces,

friendly, watching over,

are all gone now.

They used to keep

the dreadful and implacable away.

We didn't know then

that it was the

Judgement of God.

So we live with the dread,

the fear,

that they they tell us

is just the beginning

of their wisdom.

But I long to be evil again;

How I miss my friends

the little gods.

Our house,

our village,

feels so empty

now.

Now that we serve big God

so far away in the sky.

Why does he watch us so harshly?

Yes

I miss my ancient

friends.

Amen

A l o h a! Cloudia

RESET

Aloha Everybody!
“Each morning sees some task begin, Each evening sees it close; Something attempted, something done, Has earned a night's repose.”
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow



“If you can speak what you will never hear, if you can write what you will never read, you have done rare things.”
Henry David Thoreau

Thank you, Drum Major, for these lei.
We all appreciated them, though Kitty refused to wear hers long enough for a photo. The rest of us savored them!


“The biggest reward for a thing well done is to have done it.”
Voltaire

Thanks to EACH one of you for your kind comments and your support.

My dad passed last Thursday afternoon, May 21st.

He was 82 years old, a WWII veteran, and a retired small business man.

He always swore that the first thing he had ever seen upon opening his eyes for the first time was a telephone pole outside of the window.

The last image in those eyes was his son and daughter standing by him on either side. It was a good death after a long struggle.

We woke my mom and my sister in law from their well deserved naps so we could all be together in the moment. My niece and nephew returned from a surf session to join the family in some private time before alerting the proper functionaries.

Things have seemed unreal. My mind refuses to focus.

Your comments on this blog really touched me though!

I have to say that our friend Walking Man (see my blog roll) was a standout with his choice words in English AND Hawaiian.

"Drum Major" a VA nurse from Kansas City, and generous fan of my writing, arranged with Cindy's Lei Stand here in Honolulu for an abundance of floral lei for my family; I was surprised and cheered by the bounty of blossoms! Mahalo, Dear.

Yesterday, Honolulu celebrated Memorial Day with OVER 50,000 donated lei adorning the graves at Punchbowl and our other veteran's cemeteries. The whole world seemed to be mourning with us.

I happened to be having my first solitary moment in my parent's apartment (after the passing) yesterday.

Suddenly, the F-16s setting up for the "missing man" salute flew by right outside the window!

Then, last evening, an armada of floating lanterns was launched from the beach park nearby with solemn ceremony. They carried prayers and fond wishes for those who have passed this year.

So you see, the world really has seemed to join us in our grief.

But grief is nevertheless exhausting.

Death hits the "Reset."

Struggles and hurts transubstantiate into warm aloha.

The arguments, heck the WARS that he & I fought are over.

Now, a sad gratitude grows.

Yet, the world appears more beautiful than ever.

Tomorrow,

or the next day,

my muse will return.

Something will catch my eye and my mind.

An opening phrase will emerge

and I will run home to share it all with you.

Till then,

I want you to know that I'm alright.

A L O H A ! Cloudia

Note From Home

Aloha!

Aloha friends!

Regular visitors to Comfort Spiral have probably noticed that I'm posting late (very late!) today.

My dad seems to be in his last hours.

My niece and nephew have come from Maui and the Big Island. My brother and his lovely wife have arrived from their home in Canada.

As I am here with my family, I want you to know that my thoughts also go out to all of YOU. The community that exists among us is a precious and new phenomena, and I am very happy to be among you interesting and accomplished folks.

So if I am remiss in my visits to all of your blogs for a while, you will understand. I DO intend to put up fresh pictures daily. Please forgive thin content for a while though, eh?

Meanwhile, there are still flotillas of small fry and happy visitors all around Waikiki. The newly renovated Duke Kahanamoku Lagoon beside our harbor home holds schools of baby fish. These tiny living treasures, the mesmerizing blue of our skies, the smiles of beautiful people; these are the things you notice when you leave the ipod, the mobile phone, and the mental machinery of thinking in your room and go out for a Waikiki stroll. Just feel the sand, the grass, the stone beneath your feet. Feel the caress of trade winds. Soon you will remember that life is more than just what we think about all day long. There is real beauty & relaxation for your soul, and it's all for free. . . When you're walking in Waikiki. . . Aloha! Cloudia

Want to enjoy more Waikiki "street" life with Cloudia? Check out my Hawaii "Taxi Cab" Novel: "Aloha Where You Like Go?" at Amazon.com!

--
<http://www.amazon.com/ALOHA-Where-You-Like-Satisfaction/dp/1598006495
> <www.waikikinews.com>

Springy Zingy

Aloha friends. Regular visitors to Comfort Spiral have probably noticed that I'm posting late (very late!) today. My dad seems to be in his last hours. My niece and nephew have come from Maui and the Big Island. My brother and his lovely wife have arrived from their home in Canada. As I am here with my family, I want you to know that my thoughts also go out to all of YOU. The community that exists among us is a precious and new phenomena, and I am very happy to be among you interesting and accomplished folks. So if I am remiss in my visits to all of your blogs for a while, you will understand. I DO intend to put up fresh pictures daily. Please forgive thin content for a while though, eh? Meanwhile, there are still flotillas of small fry and happy visitors all around Waikiki. The newly renovated Duke Kahanamoku Lagoon beside our harbor home holds schools of baby fish. These tiny living treasures, the mesmerizing blue of our skies, the smiles of beautiful people; these are the things you notice when you leave the ipod, the mobile phone, and the mental machinery of thinking in your room and go out for a Waikiki stroll. Just feel the sand, the grass, the stone beneath your feet. Feel the caress of trade winds. Soon you will remember that life is more than just what we think about all day long. There is real beauty & relaxation for your soul, and it's all for free. . . When you're walking in Waikiki. . . Aloha! Cloudia Want to enjoy more Waikiki "street" life with Cloudia? Check out my Hawaii "Taxi Cab" Novel: "Aloha Where You Like Go?" at Amazon.com! http://www.amazon.com/ALOHA-Where-You-Like-Satisfaction/dp/1598006495www.waikikinews.com>

Voyaging Again

Aloha & Welcome to Waikiki!

click on photos to enlarge
"The arts are not just a nice thing to have or to do if there is free time or if one can afford it. Rather, paintings and poetry, music and fashion, design and dialogue, they all define who we are as a people and provide an account of our history for the next generation."

Michelle Obama

I wandered lonely as a cloud

“Memories are the treasures that we keep locked deep within the storehouse of our souls, to keep our hearts warm when we are lonely.”
Becky Aligada

“The world is sweet in the heart, and green to the eye-”
Muhammad


The name should come in a dream.

It did, he heard it twice. But he could not remember it.

It was Saturday night, and the blessing and launching were occurring the very next day. So school teacher Milton John Coleman of Halau Lokahi (Unity School) Charter School here on O`ahu, prayed for guidance.

Soon his two year old son said: "Makaiouaua." Then he wouldn't stop repeating it in the way of little kids; "Makaiouaua, Makaiouaua, Makaiouaua."

Ouaua is the area in Kalihi Valley where the tree came from. The tree that they used to form the hull of the open ocean sailing canoe; the canoe that the school's children had helped to build.

Makai (to the sea) Ouaua. Seems proper.

Voyaging in sailing canoes is how the first Hawaiians came to these islands. Navigating by the stars, by the observed sea & sky conditions, was the way they did it.

These skills were long considered lost, until a man named Mau Piailug was found on Satawal island where he lives in Micronesia. It was he who taught the ancient skills to modern Hawaiians. They have been teaching each other, their youth, and the world ever since. The voyaging resumed again back in the 1970's for the first time in centuries, on board the Hokule`a

(post here:http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=3576595805602354327&postID=4391405713998099738)

The children of the charter school launched their own dream of building such a traditional canoe 3 years ago.

They chose to use a non-native species, albizia, for the hull. Thus they helped to restore a native eco-system in the mountains near their school. Instead of hauling the tree to the dump, it was turned into this most Hawaiian of cultural artifacts. Adapting the foreign and making it their own is part of the genius of the Hawaiians. Iolani Palace had electric lights before the White House did!

You can read a local newspaper account of the canoe, as well as enjoy a slide-show of the launching here: http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/20090519/NEWS01/905190322.

Note especially the traditional woven sail, sent by Mau all the way from his Satawal island home.

Imagine the pride these kids feel as they replicate the feats of their ancestors. We are all richer for this renaissance.

A L O H A! Cloudia

A Film That Changed You?

Aloha!

click on photos to enlarge

Photo: Clark Little (c) From the sublime. . .

"Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must be silent."

Ludwig Wittgenstein

. . . to the ridiculous.

"Novelty keeps us spry, and it cleans up after itself by being gone in a minute."

Peter Schjdahl

There are many different kinds of wars, and of veterans

"It was, I think, the fact that I really had participated in death, that I knew what death was, and had almost experienced it. I had what the Christians call a 'beatific vision,' and the Greeks called 'the happy day,' the happy vision just before death. Now if you have had that, and survived it, come back from it, you are no longer like other people, and there's no use deceiving yourself that you are."

Katherine Anne Porter

Every artist tries to share their unique vision of that which we all experience (if we are paying attention). In successful art and literature, these universals meet a particular vision and setting - "particulars" very different from our own. If the work is successful, we willingly suspend our disbelief and BECOME the person in the story we are watching or reading. We lose ourselves and find "knowing" all at the same time.

I did not grow up in an Italian coastal village in the 1930s - but Fellini did. Today his "coming of age" film Amarcord ("I remember") was shown uninterrupted on IFC. With a father in his final hours or days, and a life that has consisted largely of "saying goodbye" for months now, I was primed to be someone very different for a while.

Amarcord provides me with an added dimension, in that I first saw it as a callow youth when it "came out" in the 1970's. Thus, today I could become Italian and also renew acquaintance with the kid who first saw the film. In what ways is there more richness to it than I appreciated back then? What images have stayed in my head all these years? I certainly remembered the grandfather at the family picnic who climbs a tall tree and shouts: "I want a woman" for hours. The image of the angry father taking a bite out of a hat could have been Homer Simpson - or my dad. The dreamy scenes of falling snow, and coastal fogs, made me a dazzled child again.

Lots of folks like "BIG" movies, and BLOCKBUSTER novels with over-the-top goings on. But there is something truly golden about an artist who doesn't trumpet a "MESSAGE" or "ANSWER" but rather provokes our own interior conversations with a work that unfolds like Proust's Madelaine, giving off new flavors & appreciations as our mind's palate matures.

Another version of the universal story that I like is the film Avalon by Barry Levinson. The Trouble With Angel's, starring Hailey Mills also reminds me of the "me" I was growing up, and the world where I came of age.

Now it's YOUR turn. Tell us a film or book that touched your imagination, provoking YOUR yearning and excellence.

As a character in Amarcord says: "Silence is golden; but words are silver."

A L O H A! Cloudia

My Town Monday: Lei of Love

Aloha! Come In! Duke Kahanamoku,

Father of Modern Surfing &

Ambassador of Aloha

(Multi-Olympic Champ)

“A day without Aloha is just another mainland day.”
Buck Buchanan

We Remember You

“If it seems a childish thing to do, do it in remembrance that you are a child.”
Frederick Buechner

Full Flower

“You may chisel a boy into shape, as you would a rock, or hammer him into it, if he be of a better kind, as you would a piece of bronze. But you cannot hammer a girl into anything. She grows as a flower does.”
John Ruskin


Happy Girl

“I don't want to be stinky poo poo girl, I want to be happy flower child.”
Drew Barrymore

A Great Man

A Great Smile

A Loving Remembrance

A loving Friend. . .

ALL wearing lei!

I've always been someone who needs my "space."

Perhaps growing up in tumultuous surroundings (Seinfeld fans think : "The Costanzas") partly explains it. Or maybe it's the natural space of attention that growing creativity & understanding require? We are so steamrollered with input everyday that merely retreating inward seems a truly revolutionary, transgressive act.

But I do love my neighbors - no, not the visitors of Waikiki. I love them too, but today we're talking about my real neighbors: the "Local" Hawaii mix of Hawaiian, Chinese, Filipino, Japanese, Portuguese, Korean, & Pan-European. All this DNA, food, cultures and characteristics percolate together here in da sun, stirred by the trade winds, liberally seasoned with sweat labor. Today it is Samoans, Tongans, Micronesians who daily come. . .

I really should try to take more pictures of us for you, but nevah like boddah no one, eh? ("Never like to bother anyone, eh?"). Besides, the people of Hawaii are the unseen presence in every picture I take. From the fallen lei, to the magnificent sunset with flowers that is a piece of each soul here.

Kaulana Na Pua, "Famous are the flowers" of Hawaii, goes the song. The flowers are our people. Riding the subway in New York in the year 2000 (has it been that long?!) I looked about me at the peoples of the world.

I didn't see our special local blend of humanity.

But Polynesian Power is not just for the NFL anymore. According to the U.S. Census, more Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders are living in the North American Continental States, than in their own homelands. California is the largest home to these transplants with 282,000, gaining 6,000 since July 2008. Las Vegas and Utah are other "new islands." (Mormon missionaries extensively proselytized, er, "missionaried" in the South Pacific - hence the Utah connection.)

Above the fold in Friday's Honolulu Star Bulletin was this headline:

"Cold wet season puts damper on fragrant lei"

Do you know what this story is about? Lei greetings of visitors at the airport?

That's only a small part of it. Every local person knows that this season of Proms & Graduations requires LOTS of lei. The plural is "Lei" by the way, but "Leis" is acceptable if you don't know any better. Now where was I?

Most Hawaii graduates wear multiple lei from family and friends, many even seem to be peering out of a multi-floral "collar" that comes up almost to the eyes! There is an entire genealogy, typology, and history of lei, books have been written! But this is not so much about rules, as it is a generally understood living-language of appropriateness. The Japanese contributed paper folding and so we have (paper)money lei (popular for broke graduates). There are simple, keiki-strung lei that are a child's first gift to mom, usually plumeria from da yard. There are fragrant Maile lei for a Governor, a VIP, or to untie as a ceremonial opening of a new building. A Hapai (pregnant) woman must NEVER wear a closed lei, just perhaps a "boa" of flowers hanging off of her shoulders, lest there be obstruction in birthing!

There are candy lei to give the kids! Haku lei to wear like a headband of rainbows; Hulu (feather) lei of extinct native birds in the Bishop Museum, fragrant green Ti lei, like a green rope around my neck, cure for headache and chaser of bad energies, my favorite & signature lei. (Also favored by Kahuna: priests, or experts in various arts and sciences: healing, navigating, celestial observation, chanting, blog-writing ;-)

There are shell lei. And a Lei Momi is a lei of pearls. You might call it a necklace.

Every birthday boy or girl receives lei, as do guest speakers. Of course, Aloha Friday (post here: http://comfortspiral.blogspot.com/2009/03/aloha-friday.html)

is reason enough to treat yourself, or a friend to a floral gift!

It seems rather fitting to me that in black & white news footage of Dr. King's many marches he is oft seen wearing a lei, a gift from Hawaii people. As were those seen at Ground Zero in the days after 9-11. Boxes and boxes of them where flown across an ocean and a continent, moist and fragrant "hugs" of Aloha that I wept to see worn by firefighters and others as they performed their sad duties. A world away, but part of our Ohana (family). That's what a lei means: Aloha.

Now it's that time of year when the City sends out the call for thousands upon thousands of lei to decorate the vast grave-fields of military veterans (including President Obama's grandpa, Stanley, who raised him a mile from here). School children, scouts, senior clubs, and just plain neighborhood folks will drop off the thousands of blossoms & prepared lei in time for Memorial Day. They never fail those who didn't fail all of us.

Yes, lei mean a lot to us; Love, respect, appreciation, celebration and remembrance.

Now you will understand these things, when you see the multi-colored celluloid lei at the party shop.

How wise we are becoming together!

To see other My Town Monday posts, visit:

http://traviserwin.blogspot.com/

A L O H A! Cloudia

Sunday Muse

Aloha & Welcome to another Waikiki Sunday!

click on photos to enlarge"The most beautiful adventures are not those we go to seek."
Robert Louis Stevenson

"Troubles are often the tools God fashions us for better things."
Henry Ward Beecher

Riddle of the Sphynx

"What walks on four legs at dawn, two legs at noon, and three legs at night?"

I am just like you.

Awakening at 3 a.m. for that dread life-review.

How amazing it's all been (so far!)

yet how different and puny are my accomplishments

viewed side-by-side with youthful dreams and expectations.

And this is where the whispering wise one within

draws back the curtain,

the thinning curtain of our illusions,

and smiling shows

immediate evident abundance of blessings:

technicolor skies, and the real-er

unseen coin of affection.

My child's dreams were just that,

provisional aspirations

that pale in the light

of this vivid and only moment.

So this, at last, is true:

I've lived amidst great beauty

and struggle

coming to focus more

on the former,

a farmer of verities

from the stony

depleted

soil of our late day.

In returning and rest

I have found a lovely song

to sing, surpassing

the obituary

I might have built.

A L O H A Cloudia