Diana Nyad

A  L  O  H  A !

" Oh God!

The Ocean is SO Vast,

and I am SO small! "

Every Offshore Sailor EVER

myself included

"  The sea

 - this truth must be confessed - 

has no generosity. 

No display of (hu)manly qualities - 

courage, hardihood, endurance, 

faithfulness - has ever 

been known to touch

 its irresponsible consciousness

 of power. "


Joseph Conrad 

" Heroism

 is endurance

 for one moment 

more. "



George F. Kennan 

" Endurance 

is patience 

concentrated. "



Thomas Carlyle 

" Endurance is nobler 

than strength, 

and patience

 than beauty. "


John Ruskin 

Arriving in Key West
is always an occasion,
but especially so
when you are Diana Nyad
completing
what you have attempted,
and failed,
for 35 years.

5 Failures;
Now Preparatory
Efforts.

Most of us
feel wise
for accepting
our limitations
and uncompleted
dreams.

That is the hallmark
of maturity
we assure ourselves.

But Diana
(a goddess's name)
at age 64
became the 
First Human
to swim the Florida Straits
from Cuba.

110 Miles.

53 Hours.

Swimming.

She also set a
New Record:
Longest ocean swim
 without a shark cage
 or flippers.

The only other person,
(also a woman)
to  "swim" the straits:

Australian Susie Maroney,

in 1997 at age 22
in a shark cage.

"The cage glided on ocean currents
 and enabled Maroney
 to make the journey
 in just 25 hours."

Chicago Tribune
LINK.


Diana's first attempt
was in 1978
at age 28.

It was the agonizing stings
of Jellyfish,
not sheer distance
that defeated her before.
This time she wore
protective (constricting?)
gear.

" Endure and persist;

 this pain will turn

 to good

 by and by. "

Ovid 

This has been SO true

in my life.

Wishing YOU

all that is Good,

by and by.

"If it's not right,

it's not over."

                                     Fondly, cloudia

Angels, Dogs, Babies

A  L  O  H  A !

Angels nurture dogs and babies.

As we grow up - they let us be,

watching like anxious parents,

while we learn, act,
 and Be

in this world.

Later in life,

when we grow 

reflective,

sadder and gladder

and wiser in so many

inexpressible ways

the Angels return;

Suggestions, Hunches,

Insights, and the rest:

Progressively,

our Angels,

grasping our hand

as it weakens.

Angels nurture babies 

and dogs,

then walk us back home

babes once more.


=^..^=

Thanks,
Dear Friend.

Can't tell YOU
how very much
our friendship
means to me.
                                                 cloudia

SPORTS Quotes?

A  L  O  H  A !

Oh click on this picture!

" No person 

was ever honored

 for what he received. 

Honor has been the reward

 for what he gave. "

John Calvin Coolidge

Working People Play Every Day

They deserve a little respect;

Not to mention a living wage!

" Somewhere behind 

the athlete you've become 

and the hours of practice 

and the coaches 

who have pushed you

 is a little girl 

who fell in love with the game 

and never looked back... 

play for her. "

Mia Hamm

" Just play. Have fun. 

Enjoy the game. "

Michael Jordan 

"  Half the lies they tell about me

 aren't true. "

Yogi Berra 

" Most people never

 run far enough

 on their first wind 

to find out 

they've got

 a second. "

William James 

(-'.'-)>

Have a Sweet Day,

F R I E N D

                                                           cloudia

Saturday Morning Waikiki

A  L  O  H  A !

F E A R

Shrinks from everything

 G R A T I T U D E

Grows

Everything Good.

" Too many people 

overvalue what they are not 

and undervalue 

what they are. "

Malcolm S. Forbes

> < } } (°>

' Take Peace & Smiles - Leave Your Comment '

Thanks for visiting!

                                Warmly, cloudia

Money Song

A  L  O  H  A !

 “ Pilgrimage to 

the place of the wise 

is to find escape 

from the flame of 

separateness.” 


Rumi

" Your task is not

 to seek for Love,

 but merely to seek 

and find 

all the barriers 

within yourself that 

you have built 

against it. "

Rumi

“ To praise the sun 

is to praise 

your own eyes. ” 

Rumi


 ><}}(°> ~


Today's song,

"Love Bites"
by Def Leopard,

came on 
the radio
this morning.

I knew it in 4 notes.

The flashbacks began
soon after.

Imperceptibly
my body rocked;
Sinuously.

Some things
you never forget.

New in Honolulu,
late 1980's,
parting that curtain
separating noon sun
from dank
strip club. . . .

Wasn't THIS
ALWAYS the song
playing? Look,
Savanna is on stage
not awake yet.

I flew in from Kona,
danced noon
to midnight
Friday & Saturday.

Had adventures
after hours
till early Sunday's
morning flight.

Made a lot 
of Kala
(money)
with that song!

Long may it
make me
wave!

If today's topic
"Cloudia stripping for money"
is news to you,
click on the book 
at the top of this blog
and read my whole,
very cool,
Hawaii story.

[ Hope I haven't
lost anyone!
But hey,
gotta speak my truth,
and at this age
I like to reminisce
about show biz dayz. ]

We just got to 
the illusive
500 Friends' Faces
in the sidebar.
!!!HooRaY!!!

Just in time
to  learn some truth
all from a song;

Thanks friends.
Please DO come back
tomorrow
when normal
uplifting
programing
continues.

Warmly, Desiree
er, I mean Cloudia
(heh heh)

Fifty Years On

A  L  O  H  A !

Fifty years ago 

yesterday, 

over 250,000 civil-rights 

marchers came to Washington DC.

To march for jobs, voting rights,

 and social equality.

The marchers, from all over America, 

heard Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s

 “I Have a Dream” speech that day.

But the TV news cameras

 had already left.

 Those famous words were NOT 

in the written speech,

or prominently reported. 

Majorities of white Americans

 around that time told pollsters

 they thought that

 Dr. King 

was a troublemaker. 

"  - We would do well to recall

 that day itself also belonged 

to those ordinary people 

whose names never appeared

 in the history books,

 never got on TV.

Many had gone to segregated schools

 and sat at segregated lunch counters,

 had lived in towns where they couldn't vote,

 in cities where their votes didn't matter.

 There were couples in love who couldn't marry, 

soldiers who fought for freedom abroad 

that they found denied to them at home. 

They had seen loved ones beaten 

and children fire- hosed. 

And they had every reason 

to lash out in anger 

or resign themselves to a bitter fate.

And yet they chose a different path. 

In the face of hatred, 

they prayed for their tormentors. 

In the face of violence, 

they stood up and sat in 

with the moral force of nonviolence.

 Because they marched, 

America became more free 

and more fair, 

not just for African-Americans 

but for women and Latinos, 

Asians and Native Americans, 

for Catholics, Jews 

and Muslims, 

for gays, 

for Americans with disabilities.

America changed 

for you and for me.

And the entire world 

drew strength from that example, "

President Obama

Yesterday,

 50th anniversary 

of the March on Washington

50 years. Half a Century.

It has been a long road.

I was glad to be a child,

too young to face the terrors

of a ride a bus through angry counties,

to register voters, to face police dogs,

spittle, shouts, shots, fire, explosion,

like Goodman, Schwerner and Chaney

had. Link

Thank You for sharing my memories,
for listening to my experience
of history;
and thanks for 
sharing Your Own!

Your Friend, cloudia