Best Day

Alo - H A A A A A A A A !

Yesterday I was nervous as a cat about the election, especially for our next Hawaii Governor.

But gal pal Judy took me for a drive

 around the east side of the island.

Can you see the isles of Molokai, Lani and Maui's Mt. Haleakala on the horizon?

In 20+ years I've never seen them so clearly!

That sight is what the earliest Polynesian navigators

 first saw of Hawaii

when they "raised the islands."

Above you can see the Makapu`u  Lighthouse,

 and hang gliders making the most of the day.

That hillside is hung with steel curtain

 to prevent rock-falls onto the narrow road

 which would necessitate going back

 around the other way

 to reach this side of Oahu:

 over the Ko`olau Mountains

 through the Pali.

What a day!

I almost forgot about the election.

 But we all had worked so hard;

 so much was at stake for our future.

My Man Won!!!!

He came home from Washington where he could have easily won reelection to the US Congress.

And Now Neil Abercrombie will be sworn in as our executive next month!

Colleen Hanabusa defeated temporary Representative, Republican Charles Djou for Neil's former seat.

I never voted for all winners before!

Especially sweet this time because the other side was all about denying equal rights to Gay citizens

and claimed that they were God's choice!

In the middle of challenging times, they chose to appeal to the worst in people. AUWE! (" – Hawaiian expression of lament. 'Auwe! I lost my car keys!'")

I wish Duke & Lynn well, but THANK GOD we will NOT have them in the executive offices.

When Duke cried during his concession speech, I must admit I felt a satisfaction that I'm not proud of.

But as Alan Spector, who has worked SO hard for equal rights in Hawaii told me:

"They have made our people cry for generations.

Now it's their turn to feel some hurt."

Senator Akaka looks very happy

As Neil was swamped by the press, surrounded by security, and soon heading for Washington Place (our Governor's residence; originally Queen Liliuokalani's home) I thought of all the smiles and hugs and inspiration we all shared in this grassroots campaign.

I was just overcome thinking about all that we volunteers and supporters had been through.

Good Luck, Uncle!

(In Hawaii an older respected person can affectionately be called Uncle or Aunty)

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I'm rarely out at night anymore,

though it used to be my home country.  Those of you who have read my little novel know all about
 the Honolulu night.

(bottom of this page - check it out all the way below)

Riding my scooter through the delightfully cool darkness (not cool to you, to us. It was about 70F :)
 I saw others walking home in their campaign gear 
and we shouted happy greetings.

At a red light I saw Aaron Mahi, former leader of the Royal Hawaiian band who had sung at headquarters earlier.

We exchanged pleasantries
 and I got a magnificent smile from him!

My former job was as outreach worker
 to the sex workers in downtown Honolulu.

HBO made a documentary about the girls a few years ago and it had been interesting
 seeing some of them again on TV.

So I went down to the "stroll."

"April!" (my nick-name)

We had a nice reunion, they all looked healthy.


Has it really been YEARS since I've seen them?!

A girl who had been a 14 year old in my after-school support group was there socializing and seeking referrals from her friends for a (non-criminal) legal matter. She was no longer working the street, had married, settled. 


But she missed the girls as I had.
 Returning to socialize is not unusual.

I was blessed to see them;

passed out a few cards to stay in touch.

What a night!
Oh! and after months of trying, I got my Mom a parking space near her new building just in time!


I'm ON!

I'm beat. . .


HOORAY!

Finally Here

E l e c t i o n    D a y

Aloha!

After eight years our beloved islands will soon have a new governor.

“The vote is the most powerful instrument  ever devised by man  for breaking down injustice  and destroying the terrible walls  which imprison men  because they are different from other men.”

Lyndon B. Johnson

In a few short hours voting will end.

Tonight we will know.

“Individual rights are not subject to a public vote;  a majority has no right to vote away the rights  of a minority;  the political function of rights is precisely  to protect minorities  from oppression by majorities  (and the smallest minority on earth is the individual).”

Ayn Rand

We need a new day

a fresh start.

Have YOU voted, American friends?

After all the attack ads based on a morsel of truth

shouting every moment

 on all media,

after the high passions,

there will be

Quiet.

And we come together, fellow citizens all.

Yeah, RIGHT!

The battle for what is Pono (right) will continue. . . 

"One of the greatest blessings that the United States could receive. . .

a great pause in her world of affairs. . .

We should be hushed and silent,

and we should have the opportunity to learn

what other people think."

John Cage

All Souls

Aloha. . . .

The Morning After. . .

The very stones & soil of Hawaii are animated with spirit.

"The lawn

Is pressed by unseen feet, and ghosts return

Gently at twilight, gently go at dawn,

The sad intangible who grieve and yearn...."

T.S. ELIOT, To Walter de la Mare

We look like a modern city. . . .

But vestiges of the past remain silent sentinel.

"Now it is the time of night

That the graves, all gaping wide,

Every one lets forth his sprite

In the church-way paths to glide."

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE,

 A Midsummer Night's Dream

No one wants to leave Hawaii - 

so they stick around.

"In culture after culture,
 people believe that the soul lives on after death,
 that rituals can change the physical world and divine the truth, 
 and that illness and misfortune are caused and alleviated by spirits,
 ghosts, saints ...
 and gods."

STEVEN PINKER, How the Mind Works

"The first thing you will hear is drums in the distance, then you will smell a foul and musky odor, and you will hear a conch shell being blown, for fair warning to get out of the way, and you will see torches getting brighter and brighter as they get closer. Your best chance is to have an ancestor that recognizes you, they will call out,"Na'u!" which means mine. If you are in the night marchers' bloodline no one in the procession can harm you. No matter what you build in their path they go straight through it. The night marchers are the vanguard for a sacred chief or chiefess who unusually have a high station in life."  - Po Kane. Haunted Hawaiian Nights,  by Lopaka Kapanu

        Thanks for YOUR visit! cloudia

Weekend Wanders

Aloha Friend!

Hey! Click on the photos, eh?

Looks like Saturday skies are clearing

 in time for some adventures around Honolulu Town!

“A Picture of many colors

 proclaims images of many Thoughts.”

 Donna A. Favors

So much to see.

Every day I spot new sights,

even on this small island.

"The only thing I knew how to do 

 Was to keep on keepin' on

 like a bird that flew ..."

 BOB DYLAN

Anywhere the wind takes me on two wheels. . .

"All my life through,

 the new sights of Nature

 made me rejoice like a child. " 

 Madame Marie Curie

The soul always

has an appetite 

for love.

There's always room for more.

Love's aroma

arouses pleasantness

every time-

even if the soul just

had some.

This is a reliable principle 

in human relations.

Use it

with others

and

yourself.

        warmly, cloudia

Political Ant Hill

"If you are seeking creative ideas,

 go out walking ...

 Angels whisper to a man (sic)

when he goes for a walk ..."

 RAYMOND INMON

 "To live is so startling

 it leaves little time for anything else." 

Emily Dickinson

"The longest journey

 is the journey inward ... "

DAG HAMMARSKJOLD

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Researcher David Matsumoto at San Francisco State

University is studying facial expressions

and emotions.  His work is funded by the

Defense Department:

"Contempt...

is an emotion of moral superiority,

and disgust is an emotion of

contamination,

and people want to

eliminate a contaminated object.

When leaders of 

ideologically motivated groups

talk with a combination of

anger, contempt, and disgust,

they're showing their motivation

to eliminate others

by exhibiting their moral superiority.

This can lead directly to

genocide."

Think of this as you listen to politicians.

Whatever "values" they claim,

you may know them by their words

and actions.

"I'm heartbroken

by the mean tone enveloping

America."

Elton John

This has been a test,

If you discount the 

research

is it because it was conducted in

San Francisco?

By an Asian person?

Did you laugh at Elton John's comment

because he is a gay man? 

CNN Today-

  A school board district member in Arkansas who came under fire for an anti-gay post on a social networking site regrets the comments and will resign his seat, he told CNN's Anderson Cooper on Thursday.

"I'm sorry I've hurt people with my comments," Clint McCance, vice-president of the Midland School District in Pleasant Plains, Arkansas said. "I'm sorry I made those ignorant comments and hurt people on a broad spectrum."

McCance wrote on his personal Facebook page that he wanted gay people to commit suicide, according to The Advocate, a newspaper focusing on gay news.

McCance used the terms "queer" and "fag" repeatedly, promised to disown his own children if they are gay and stated that he enjoys "the fact that [gay people] give each other AIDS and die."

"I would never support suicide for any kids," he said. "I don't support bullying of any kids."

"I'd like to extend apologies to those families that have lost children, for all those children who feel that suicide is the only way out, especially for the five families who have already lost children," he said, referring to a rash of recent suicides by gay teens. "I brought more hurt on them... they didn't deserve that and I do feel genuinely bad for them."

I'm reaping what I've sown," he told CNN. "I've had a lot of hate speech thrown at me and my family on every level."

What are We Reaping, America?

The good news is

that is in YOUR power,

right now,

to repent ("turn back").

This does not mean

approving,

or agreeing,

with everything.

It means thinking before you speak.

Owning your motivation.

Accepting responsibility.

You don't know what is in the heart

of another person-

But you can be sure of one thing:

They DO have a heart

just like YOU.

Act like it;

Let's call it

"The Golden Rule"

           Thanks for your visit today, cloudia