Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Water Song

Aloha!



Play today's song (above) if you care to.

When you live on a boat, the sound of flowing water is never good.





A sailor's ear becomes exquisitely attuned

to all the subtle sounds

that water makes when it is moving.

It could even wake you up!




If water is finding it's way inside,
a trip to the dry dock is indicated-
Or you might sink!

Of course it took no special skills to notice the flowing river
in our engine room yesterday.

Were pumps and panic in my immediate future?

I'm happy to tell you that we had a plumbing issue.

YaY!

In fact I've never been so happy to have a
"mere"
plumbing issue!

So our life afloat is going swimmingly. . .

er, that is: I won't need to swim for now.

And next time you have some maintenance issue at YOUR place
just remember, it could always be worse.
At least you probably won't sink


For past posts about our boat life, you can click HERE , HERE or HERE .


and if you REALLY loved the song, here is a video of same:

Monday, August 30, 2010

Monday Shmonday

Aloha
& Thank You
for

ViSiting ToDay!


"The worst sorrows in life

are not in it's losses

and misfortunes,

but in it's fears."


Christoper Benson







"All that makes earlier times seem simpler

is our ignorance

of their complexities."


Thomas Sowell





"It's awfully important to know

what is

and what isn't

your business."


Gertrude Stein






“Don't Keep reaching for the stars

because you'll just look like an idiot

stretching that way for no reason”


Jimmy Fallon





I like the way the crane and yellow leaf converse visually.


"Follow the yellow brick road."


E. Y. Harburg



><>


Hope you had a great weekend!

I'm still recovering, and can't wait to share

as soon as I know which end is

up. . .

Saturday, August 28, 2010

Guest Post

ALOHA DAZE

Welcome :)



View of urban Honolulu's Makiki neighborhood.

That "hill" at top is Punchbowl,
home of the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific
where President Obama's Grandfather
(in whose home the boy lived for years)
a WWII veteran, lies among generations of warriors.

The Hawaiians call it Puowaina, "the place of sacrifice,"
which it was once - the human kind.




That's MY view!

I'm Priscilla;
I'm happy that many of you asked about me.
No, Cloudia is just a friend of a friend
(my human Mykal).

That view above is MINE.
You see:
I'm an aristocrat.

My hay is always kept fresh,
here in my Makiki penthouse.



Wanna see Mykal's room?




Look at the rare Seattle Sea-Hawks headgear.
I like when he wears his wing helmet though.
We look like gods together then!



But I haven't forgotten my roots. . .
At my direction
Cloudia has posted a slide show she made
of some country bumpkins

here:




Thursday, August 26, 2010

Priscilla

Aloha Friend!


“The three great elemental sounds in nature

are the sound of rain,

the sound of wind in a primeval wood,

and the sound of outer ocean on a beach.”


-Henry Beston







Random look.



“Look deep into nature,

and then you will understand everything better.”



Albert Einstein




I'm Priscilla.
I sleep on hay in a penthouse apartment overlooking the mountains.



“Well-being and happiness

never appeared to me as an absolute aim.

I am even inclined to compare such moral aims

to the ambitions of a pig.”


Albert Einstein

<>:<>

“I like pigs.

Dogs look up to us.

Cats look down on us.

Pigs treat us as equals.”


Winston Churchill




><>

Some days you have a great insight;

Some days you have a great sandwich.

Isn't life

GREAT!


thanks for visiting
cloudia

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

The Rabbi's Story

Aloha Welcome to You

Mountain, Water, Fire & Air
at Haiku Gardens




"Imagination is the highest kite one can fly."

Lauren Bacall






The "Big Store" is humbled by these epic skies,

by their tales & memories





"Throw your dreams into space like a kite,

and you do not know what it will bring back,

a new life, a new friend, a new love, a new country"


Anais Nin






Meanwhile, back in Honolulu Town, life goes on.

'WoOF!'


>>


What was it he said that stuck in my mind all these years,

these decades,

these ages of life?


About enjoying his child times, playing with his friends;

'This must be the best time of life?' He thought.



Playing basketball in college, his yarmulke bobby-pinned to his

curls,


about winning with the team;

'This has to be the best time of life.'




Of courting & marriage,

'The best moments of life' He thought

until his first child was born.



Turning to his own father as they looked at the newborn,

an ancient Rabbi with an ancient beard,

'Pop,' he said 'This is the greatest moment of my life!'




His father only smiled wider and said

'Wait till your first grand child is born;

THAT is life's sweetest moment!'

L'Chaim! To Life!

It sure beats the alternative!



Just for today,

let's not get angry,

let's not be afraid.



A wonderful post is HERE at Writing in Faith.

And thanks to Pagan Sphinx
for the smashing shot of fire on the beach that
inspired me to post my top shot today.


Hers is better. HERE

toodles, cloudia

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Morning in Chinatown

Aloha;

Let's stroll through Honolulu's Chinatown -

the oldest Chinatown in what is now the USA-


Hawaiian Skies Above-



"The air up there in the clouds is very pure and fine,

bracing and delicious.

And why shouldn't it be? -

it is the same the angels breathe."


Mark Twain


Urban street scenes below-


"With true friends . . .

even water drunk together is sweet enough."


- Chinese proverb







See those Manapua in the basket?

More HERE



Campaign season must pass through Chinatown!


"To be uncertain is to be uncomfortable,

but to be certain is to be ridiculous."


- Chinese proverb





"Happiness is not a horse, you cannot harness it."

- Chinese proverb



A Shinto priest prepares for the service.



"Think not that dreams appear to the dreamer only at night:

the dream of this world of pain appears to us even by day."

JAPANESE POEM.


The Temple stands ready.


"Wafted into my room, the scent of the flowers of the plum-tree

Changes my broken window into a source of delight."

Japanese Poem



Lion Dancers are ready.



"A man's fortune must first be changed from within."
- Chinese proverb

Monday, August 23, 2010

The 200

ALOHA TO YOU!

Welcome



All the visitors
seemed to be enjoying Waikiki this weekend. . .




"I want to express my feelings,

not illustrate them."

Jackson Pollock




If you like more solitude,
you can learn how to
Windsurf. . .



"Our lives

teach us who we are."

Salman Rushdie





But as I ALWAYS say,

we are so much more than a beach. . .







It's BON Season.

Time to dance with the ancestors again. . .







Looks like the Soto Mission is going off this weekend.






Had to go back Saturday night and enjoy it!


><>



What a burst of happiness this morning
when I saw that the 200th person,
heck! that Two Hundred and TWO
Dears
have joined this blog!

MAHALO NUI

Means a BIG THANK YOU!


When I was little,
my brother and I had a cheap little reel-to-reel tape recorder.

We used to record a play "radio show" on it.

My little brother didn't like the fact that it was MY show
and that he was my side kick.

But I was older and had a bigger mouth.

The idea of actually having a real audience
was a kids pipe dream back then.

Back then, even parents didn't pretend to be interested
in their kids' activities
beyond saying stuff like:
"Turn that off!"


When I was a little older
a neighbor boy had a tiny pirate radio station in his basement
and we used to broadcast in a one block radius
fearing
that the FCC trucks would roll up on us
and take us to federal prison.


Later, I got to play around in college and public radio.


Then THIS, this blog thing!


Warhol said that everyone will be famous for 15 minutes.


And today I really do "broadcast" to the world!


I'm no Arianna Huffington

but 2o2 of you have joined!

A bunch more look in daily!

And just as exciting,

I have met YOU,

lots of other FAMOUS people

in far flung places.

You share your world

better than any mass media could

and together we are building the future,

you, me, and all those cool folks in my blog roll

(please visit them).


Thank you.

Thank you for letting me in your club,

our club.


You are more appreciated

than you probably realize.


Yeah...


YOU!



"Happiness itself does not stay -

only moments of happiness do."

- Spanish Proverb