Specimen Suite

Aloha, Namaste, Welcome!

Click on photos to enlarge "A person isn't who they are during the last conversation you had with them - they're who they've been throughout your whole relationship."

Rainer Maria Rilke

"Love consists in this, that two solitudes protect and touch and greet each other."

Rainer Maria Rilke

Dina (http://jerusalemhillsdailyphoto.blogspot.com/) What does this say?"

"Perhaps all the dragons of our lives are princesses who are only waiting to see us once beautiful and brave."

"Perhaps everything terrible is in its deepest being something helpless that wants help from us."

"Spring has returned. The Earth is like a child that knows poems."

Rainer Maria Rilke

A Poet is "a Maker."

Who builds a little machine;

Seasons with surprise

Bringing illumination

a tiny, repeatable form.

Bottled sunrise

Cultured yet direct

Words like precious pebbles

Surface planes and textures,

Angles perfect to the hand

like cherished memories.

This is the golden moment.

"Thank you"

bubbles up

like contentment soup.

This is the Golden

Moment.

Come

let us teach

each other

to live.

Inspired by the poetry of Joe Saling.

A L O H A! Cloudia

MTM: Shangrila Part 2

Aloha! Welcome to Shangrila!

Click on photos to enlargeWhat a view! Yes, that's Diamond Head on the right.

Don't YOU have a waterfall on your lawn?

No one swims here now.


Welcome back to Doris Duke's Hawaii home, Shangrila. It is a treasure chest of Islamic art and culture, now operated by the Honolulu Academy of Arts. You may visit the home if you visit us here in Honolulu. Check their website: www.shangrilahawaii.org

And if you haven't seen it, scroll down to Part 1 below.

Cookies at Shangrila

Aloha! Salaam! Welcome!

Click on photos to enlarge A modest entrance flanked by camels as one might see in Morocco

Is Camel Cigarettes a family brand?


The foyer boasts a cedar ceiling and stained glass by Rene` Martin.
A Jali (stone screen) lets in light & air while maintaining privacy. Photography is forbidden inside the home, so I cannot show you the "Turkish Room" at the foot of the stairs. It contains a historical Mihab, a tiled wall piece showing the direction of Mecca. It cost $100,000 in 1940. Museums couldn't afford it, Doris could. Being a decorative element, it is not aligned to it's religious purpose, as Miss Duke was not a practicing Muslim. (The mihab was de-installed, dismantled, and hidden underground after the Pearl Harbor attack till the end of WWII.)



Outside, one finds this extraordinary tile doorway!

Shangrila's "Play House" stands above a sea wall. Tomorrow: the pool, waterfall & ocean views!



How do you get to Shangrila?

You can't just drive there. Even if you knew the way, there's no parking outside the tall, anonymous iron gate. So us lucky few waited behind Diamond Head in the parking lot of Kapiolani Community College. There a friendly guard checked our names off of a clip board list and told us the bus would be along directly. A magical mystery tour-bus? The Cat Bus?

No, just a normal smallish tour bus.


We drove `round the venerable crater to the choice Makai (ocean) side, and turned into a normal looking street that I've driven past without a glance for twenty years. But that was before I knew that one of the most celebrated women of the 20th Century, Doris Duke, had created the jewel of her world-spanning collection of 5 mansions in this choicest of legendary locations.



Welcome to Shangrila!



Miss Duke, known to tabloid headlines from childhood as The Poor Little Rich Girl, had come by her zillion$ honestly; She was the only child of tobacco baron, James Duke (American Tobacco). Born in 1912, her life was one of unparalleled wealth and access. And during her lifetime she even quadrupled that vast fortune. It was a "pile" so significant that when she re-married with a foreign national during the 1940's (her second and last marriage) the United States government drew up their pre-nuptial agreement! When her husband saw the amounts involved he fainted.



Just before her beloved father died, he had told the 12 year old Doris to "trust no one." Such are the glories of great wealth. He meant well, no doubt. At 14 Doris was forced to sue her own mother over the sale of family assets. Forbidden to attend college, she was instead groomed and presented as a debutante, as the Great Depression gripped the world. The public was more fascinated than ever with the rich, most notably by Miss Duke herself. At 22 Doris married an older man. After their 2 year, world spanning honeymoon they built a home in sweet Hawaii. The year was 1939. They called it Shangrila. It was built with an Islamic aspect, and Miss Duke spent her life collecting art and objects from Muslim cultures to fill it with.



Shangrila is today a treasure box of fine art that is administered by the Honolulu Academy of Arts. We guests had come not only to admire this fine home and it's grounds, but to hear an esteemed scholar present her work about the women of early Islam.



The 1000 square foot living room had a glass wall that lowers into the ground! Quite advanced for 1939 - and it still works, they even showed us. Miss Duke liked it raised only to shoulder height so as to keep out the 20 or so large dogs she kept on the property!



This was always Miss Duke's favourite place - and she could go anywhere!



I was just blown away by the place and by it's very professional staff. Lucky we stay Hawaii.



Tomorrow, more of Shangrila!



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http://www.shangrilahawaii.org/

Why Thank You

Aloha Welcome!

Click on photos to enlargeResidential Kapahulu

"I lift my eyes unto the hills"

Yellow Hibiscus, State Flower of Hawaii

"Famous are the flowers of Hawaii"

Look, I won an award!

“I feel that this award was not made to me as a man, (sic) but to my work -- a life's work in the agony and sweat of the human spirit, not for glory and least of all for profit, but to create out of the materials of the human spirit something which did not exist before. So this award is only mine in trust.”
William Faulkner

The lovely blogger, AKELAMALU of Everything and Nothing has granted me the award above!

Why thank you, Ake.

Though I am honestly rather scrappy, I'll play by the rules by posting ten things about me that you may not know. Then if you remain awake, you can visit my gal pal Ake at:
http://akelamalu.blogspot.com/


And now for our game,

10 things about me that you may not know:

1. I worked overnight for years.
2. Bad aloha wear can make me somewhat nauseated.
3. Though I adore my home, Hawaii, I miss snow, blizzards, and ice storms, and can watch them on the weather channel for hours with the air conditioning on HIGH.
4. As a Medical Reserve Corps volunteer, I will be tapped to assist in any major disaster or pandemic.
5. I left home at age 14 to hitch hike around and experience life for a summer month or so. My parents weren't happy but acquiesced when I explained that I was a writer, and moreover could easily run away.
6. I had an apartment, and a job, while attending secondary school at age 16.
7. I was at Woodstock.
8. My first drivers license (age 16 again) was for motorcycles; I only obtained a car endorsement years later.
9. At first, I hated Hawaii and wanted to leave. 22 years ago.
10. A "near death experience" in 1997 taught me things that influence my life to this day. I don't fear death. . . or life!

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Pau Hana

Da Perfec` Time of Day!

“The primal duties shine aloft, like stars;

The charities that soothe, and heal, and bless

Are scattered at the feet of Man, like flowers.”
William Wordsworth

Cyril Pahinui & Aunty Mo`okini

“It is up to us to live up to the legacy that was left for us, and to leave a legacy that is worthy of our children and of future generations.”
Christine Gregoire

Ben Ka`ili

"We all grow up with the weight of history on us. Our ancestors dwell in the attics of our brains as they do in the spiraling chains of knowledge hidden in every cell of our bodies."
Shirley Abbott

Seniors dancing Hula

"It is not flesh and blood but the heart which makes us fathers and sons."

Johann Schiller

Pau Hana means "after work" time.

Today it mostly means "happy hour" but we still say: "I'll meet you pau hana" and another local person knows what we mean.

Yesterday sure was a day of work, even if most of the heavy lifting was emotional. My Dad was released from Queen's hospital to hospice-at-home care here in Waikiki. My job was to keep my mom from losing it, and to drive multiple errands at inconvenient times. Let's just say that it was hectic and leave it at that, OK?

Secretly, I hoped to make it to Cyril Pahinui's pau hana birthday gig at Kanikapila Grill at the Outrigger Reef Hotel. Gabby, or "Pops" as everyone called him, was Cyril's father and a giant of Hawaiian music. His ki ho`alu (slack key) guitar stylings, and his unique -but deeply Hawaiian- vocal style preserved and inspired to such a degree that it would be impossible to imagine our musical legacy without him. Cyril, a great artist in his own right, has a new Grammy nominated CD He`eia. I know there would be old timers, great music, and tons of authenticity if I could just make it there. I wasn't disappointed!

As the sky mellowed to dusk I happily found myself in a miraculous little remnant of sweeter times. It felt like a back yard jam, and all the Kupuna (seniors) were there; how I love their rare Hawaiian faces!

The Nahe Nahe (sweet, melodious, soft, gentle) sounds of guitar, ukulele, and beguiling lyrics in the Hawiian tongue worked the old healing magic on me as they always do. I was positively oozing well-being by the second song. Surely, this is what the angels listen to at home.

You no need be young or thin to dance Hula. And when da Kupuna get up to dance, everything crystallizes in an exquisite Manawa Kolu, an everlasting "Now" of perfection. Everything shines then with beautifully felt meaning, and gratitude surges like the eternal surf only steps away.

I knew that I was going to hear wonderful music, but discovered an unexpected vein of pure gold when Ben Ka`ili and Bruddah (Brother) Ocean got up to play and sing for the first time in Waikiki. They have a regular weekend gig at the Emerald Orchid on the Big Island and sure brought the "good stuff" here to da city with them! Their guitars rang out filling young and old with delight.

Ho! Good times!

There are links below to take you to a few selected videos of beloved Hawaiian songs and performers. Take a few minutes to just savor

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Dennis Pavao sings Holei about Kalapana on the Big Island of Hawaii. My niece was born there:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_vQX7pX7Dg

Gabby sings da classic Hi`ilawe:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=694_eDShgOg

Dennis Pavao sings Ka Manu ("the bird")

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5r_R3KNN-Uw

Cyril's Website:

http://www.cyrilpahinui.com/

Defiant Green

Aloha, Welcome!

Click on photos to enlargeTubers

"The problem with people who have no vices is that generally you can be pretty sure they're going to have some pretty annoying virtues."
Elizabeth Taylor

Washington Place, Queen Emma's Home

till she died in 1917

“A beautiful lady is an accident of nature. A beautiful old lady is a work of art.”
Louis Nizer


Self Portrait with Fallen Lei

“The most important thing in life is to learn how to give out love, and to let it come in.”

Morrie Schwartz

I find small pleasures where I may. Today my finger nails are painted shiny, greenish, defiant gold.

When I was young and feckless

the mature couples I saw

sitting quietly in a restuarant

seemed sad

and lacking anything

to say.

Now I know

the pleasure

of simply be-ing

together

when nothing

needs

be said.

A L O H A! Cloudia

Play Ball

Aloha, Welcome!

click on photos to enlarge

Morning in Waikiki!

"Modern man thinks he loses something - time - when he does not do things quickly. Yet he does not know what to do with the time he gains except kill it."

Erich Fromm

This young man changed America

"If anyone can figure out a way for me to collect my royalties posthumously, I will hurry up and reincarnate."

Noel Coward

He grew into a leading citizen of his adopted home town

"In the end, people will act more on their personalities than on their politics." Chris Fox

The roots of baseball lie far to the east.

Its legends are enshrined in Cooperstown New York, but every year on April 17, true devotees of "America's pastime" make their way here to Honolulu.

Gathering at historic Oahu Cemetery before a handsome pinkish monument, they oft find baseballs, bats, lei, and even baseball cards, waiting there on the hallowed ground for them. For this is the grave of Alexander Joy Cartwright, the inventor of the game of baseball. This year marked the 189th anniversary of his birth.

He served as trustee of Queen Emma's estate, President of the Honolulu Chamber of Commerce, and was 40 years Chief of the Honolulu Fire Department, dying just a year before the overthrow of the Hawaiian Monarchy. These facts of his life describe the very coming-of-age of our city.

But it is what he accomplished before taking ship for Hawaii that assures his place among the immortals. In 1845 he and some friends founded the Knickerbocker Baseball Club in Hoboken New Jersey where they played at the aptly named Elysian Fields. It was during those Summer afternoons, that AJC formalized the new game's rules, differentiating it from English "Rounders" or any other game. His creation has been by called "The Perfect Game" for over a hundred years.

The influential Spalding family supported the myth that Abner Doubleday, a Civil War general, was the game's inventor. But the Hall of Fame, and scholars of the game agree: Alexander Joy Cartwright is the rightful father.

This year Alexander Joy Cartwright IV was here on the island with us. And his sincere pride was evident.

Not far from Waikiki, in the Makiki neighborhood, recreational leagues play the game at Cartwright Field, a Honolulu City Park. I bet lots of kids (and adults) never give the field's name a second thought. But fanatics of the game are lobbying for a AJC postal stamp, and there is talk of launching a web site. I wish them all the best.

As for why the gentleman made such a momentous move in those days of sailing ships around "The Horn?"

I just think of the crowded 19th century City of New York, and of the sweet smelling trade winds that refresh our town; I think of the lovely character of these islands and her people and one thing becomes abundantly clear.

With the middle name of "Joy" AJC evidently had much in common with the citizens of Honolulu, where joy will always have a home. . .

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