Smoothscapes

A  L  O  H  A !

" A moment's insight

is sometimes worth

a life's experiences. "

Oliver Wendell Holmes

" I detest 

the person who hides 

one thing in the depths 

of the heart 

and yet 

speaks forth another. "

Homer

" The main things

 which seem to me important 

on their own account,

 and not merely as means

 to other things,

 are knowledge, art,

 instinctive happiness,

 and relations 

of friendship or affection. "

       

 Bertrand Russell

"Bird?!      Where What?!"

"It is one of the blessings

of old friends

that you can afford

to be 

stupid with them. "

Ralph Waldo Emerson

> < } } (°>

Today,

Allow, accept,

appreciate

Your own Mastery.

Pause the strive

for a minute.

Refresh - Rejuvenate.

My wishes for YOU 

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44 Years From Stonewall

A  L  O  H  A !

Back in the day,

 there was no rainbow flag,

 no signs, no hoopla. 

Gay bars were hidden away from view,

dingy dives (often) operated by criminals

 and regularly raided by the vice squad.

Patrons were arrested, roughed up,

 had their names and sometimes faces,

 published in the local papers.

Then they lost their jobs,

 family support, apartments.

The only place the GLBT people could gather 

and be themselves

 in lives that consisted of prudent hiding

of  the most fundamental personal things,

was the bar.

Being gay was a crime,

 a sin, a moral weakness.

44 years ago this month

 the Stonewall Inn,

a gay bar in New York City 

was raided around 3am.

This time, the patrons had enough! 

Office workers,

shopkeepers, and drag queens

 in full regalia 

battled the cops

for several days.

Yesterday, the US Supreme Court 

declared that

if you are a gay couple, 

legally married by the laws

of the US State you live in,

then the federal government

 will NO LONGER

discriminate against you.

Social Security benefits, survivorship,

 federal taxes,

military benefits,

all will acknowledge

 same sex couples

along with opposite sex couples.

I was 16, and 90 miles away

 when Stonewall happened.

I marched in the first

Gay Liberation March

in Philadelphia

in the early 70's.

Today, I rallied 

with about a 1000 Hawaii friends

at the state capitol,

to celebrate this day. 

The fight for marriage equality

 is not over

in Hawaii, 

or perhaps your state or province.

But determined people,

despised, powerless, abused,

discriminated against,

summarily fired,

beaten and killed,

called mentally ill,

can change all that.

I played a part,

I've seen it happen.

So speak up for what you believe.

I helped to change the world,

You do too, every day.

Make it count!

YOU can read more about 

Stonewall  HERE

 > < } } (°>

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Nobility, Inspiration, and Happiness

A  L  O  H  A !

Royal Hawaiian Hotel

" The only real nobility

 is in being superior 

to your former self. "

Whitney Young

" If you wait for inspiration

 you'll be standing 

on the corner

 after the parade

 is a mile down the street. "

Ben Nicholas 

" Happiness

 is not a station 

you arrive at,

 but a manner 

of traveling. "

Margaret Lee Runbeck

"The dose determines the poison."

Paracelsus, 1537

" If one oversteps

 the bounds of moderation,

 the greatest pleasures

 cease to please. "

Epictetus 

 > < } } (°>

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Glow Cloud Birds Mill

A  L  O  H  A !

“Nobody 

can be uncheered 

with a balloon”

 Winnie the Pooh 

“Like a bird on a wire,

like a drunk in a midnight choir,

I have tried in my way to be free.”

 Leonard Cohen

"Sticks and stones 

will break our bones,

 but words 

will break 

our hearts."

Robert Fulghum 

 > < } } (°>

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Shower Tree Show

A L O H A !
 

How can I show YOU

the amazing experience

of one of Honolulu's

 Rainbow Shower Trees?

“What a strange thing!
to be alive
beneath cherry blossoms.” 


Kobayashi Issa,
 Poems

Showers of Flowers!

“Can words describe

 the fragrance

 of the very breath 

of Spring?” 

 Neltje Blanchan

“Merrily, merrily shall I live now,

Under the blossom 

that hangs on the bough.”

 William Shakespeare 

"I enjoy the Spring

 more than 

the Autumn now. 

One does, I think, 

as one gets older.” 


 Virginia Woolf,

 Jacob's Room

  The Sky Loves Pink Blossoms. . .
 . . . and Answers  

" The sky

 is the daily bread 

of the eyes. "

Ralph Waldo Emerson 

" Excuse me 

while I kiss the sky."

Jimi Hendrix 

 > < } } (°>
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Waikiki Weddings

A  L  O  H  A !

Walking around Waikiki

one is sure to see

Brides & Grooms

trailing photogs,

makeup people,

and entourage.

This is their Lifetime Memory day, and we're part of it!

" I talk about

 very serious human affairs

 but with a lightness of heart. "

Robert Fulghum 

These two reminded me of a song:

"Silly things 

do cease to be silly 

if they are done

 by sensible people

 in an impudent way."

       Jane Austen

I like the solicitous mother

 holding her skirt up, 

and the little girl

in the background

 rinsing her feet.

 > < } } (°>

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Yesterday's Earth Quake

A  L  O  H  A !

I felt it. 

"That's an earthquake" says I,

playing with a certain kitty 

on the floor 

of my 35th floor apartment

 here in Waikiki 

I felt it.

From the 5.5 

that shook my Kona coffee shack

 in the winter of '88

(that was a dance!)

to the one a few years ago

that was strong enough

 to feel 

on our cement/steel boat (!)

and to cut the electricity 

here on Oahu 

all one Sunday,

I am an old hand 

at Hawaii earthquakes.

Friday, June 21, 2013,

  at 12:04 a.m. local time,

 earthquake 

was noted by authorities.

Preliminary magnitude call was  4.0, 

but it was later scored a 4.5 by the USGS.

The epicenter (USGS) as follows:

 52 mi ENE of Kāneʻohe, which is

35 floors down,

13 miles, and 30 minutes drive

 from here

over the Ko`olau Mountains

via Pali Highway, 

52 mile boat ride,

then deep in the sea.

I felt it :)

Lights are on, 

air is conditioned, 

food is cooking;

BLISS!

wishing YOU the same :)

 > < } } (°>

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