Sunday Funnies

A  L   O  H   A  !

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  !

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!

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