Mele Kalikimaka

ALOHA
Dear Friends

Welcome
to
TUESDAY in HONOLULU

click on Claus for a hearty Ho Ho Ho!

"If you could imagine the most incredible story ever, it would be less incredible than the story of being here. . .
When your soul awakens, you begin to truly inherit your life.
You leave the kingdom of fake surfaces, repetitive talk, and weary roles
and slip deeper into the true adventure of who you are and who you are called to become.
The greatest friend of the soul is the unknown. Yet we are afraid of the unknown because it lies outside our vision and our control. . ."

The Aloe is in Bloom!



"Now you realize how precious your time here is.
You are no longer willing to squander your essence on undertakings that do not nourish your true self; your patience grows thin with tired talk and dead language. . . On this journey you begin to see how the sides of your heart that seemed awkward, contradictory, and uneven are the places where the treasure lies hidden. . .

Is your "system" working?

"You develop from your own self-compassion a great compassion for others. You are no longer caught in the false game of judgment , comparison and assumption.
More naked now than ever, you begin to feel truly alive."

John O'Donohue
(All quotes today)

Thank You for Your Visit
at this most Busy Time of the Year! cloudia

Just Take a Minute

ALOHA, Friend
Welcome to
MONDAY
in
W A I K I K I

click on the photos and be a winner!

Lot's of people feel like this picture by this time in the holiday season

Stress is nothing more
than a socially acceptable form of mental illness.
Richard Carlson

So here is a tonic guaranteed to make you feel relaxed and happy:

Thanks for stopping by! Aloha, cloudia

Honolulu City Lights

Aloha, Friend!

Welcome to Dusk
in

H O N O L U L U

click on the cliche`

This is probably what you think of when you read today's title.
BUT
One of the things that I love about Honolulu Town
is that it IS a town,
a city really.

A city surrounded by green mountains,
the world's largest ocean,
and the dome of a magnificent
sky.

Play the song below,
then scroll down
and watch the video I made
while you listen to it.
(Be sure to mute the video's sounds)

You will see a cruise ship in Honolulu Harbor,
look out to towards the December sun setting in the Pacific,
then to the right you will see the
Waianae Mountains,
and a smidge of the Big Pineapple
(Notably the cement Kuhio Federal Building).
Sparkling fairy lights
mark the traffic 34 floors below.


I used to sit in my East Coast bay window
and imagine that I was in Hawaii.
It WORKED!

Really believe that you are in the scene
and
You WILL be!











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ALOHA Neighbor, cloudia

Caz Christmas Show

Aloha Friends!
Saturday
Before Christmas
in
H O N O L U L U

Click on Christmas-y Pictures

A Ted Trimmer Photo

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Last week, the Cazimero Brothers had to cancel their Christmas show at the Hawaii Theatre. Everyone is OK, but it was a holiday disappointment nevertheless. So here is LAST year's post about a delightful outing....Hmmmm, it's not half bad! ENJOY

Warmly, Cloudia

click on photos to enlarge!

"Trumpet in a herd of elephants; crow in the company of cocks; bleat in a flock of goats."
- Malaysian Proverb

"Those that can't endure the bad, will not live to see the good."
Jewish Proverb

"Writing is the only profession where no one considers you ridiculous if you earn no money."
- Jules Renard

I have Spring Fever and Christmas spirit today! Last evening, clad in closed shoes AND socks, long black jeans, and my winter coat (a light wind-breaker jacket), I rode in a school bus with a jolly group from Hula’s Bar & Lei Stand, for the ten minute trek from Waikiki to down-town Honolulu. The ride was like being in some mutant adult summer camp. Flasks of good Irish Whisky were allegedly passed around (bad children!) And SOMEONE was filling the air with the sweet smell of burning Da Kine (“the kind!”) Yeah, you in da back! I’m looking at YOU! . . . We de-bussed in front of the venerable Hawaii Theatre as she glimmered in all her golden-age movie-palace splendor. The restored neon, and modern electronic marquee, splashed color all around little Bethel Street, gilding historic buildings, and our happy faces, in red, blue and razzle-dazzle. Many people wore a dear blend of aloha wear with holiday touches. Think of aloha shirts and mu`u mu`u accented with Santa hats and tinsel lei. An expectant crowd was gathering to enjoy a bona fide local institution: The Brothers Cazimero Christmas Show! The two living treasures, along with Robert’s kane (men) of Hula Halau Na Kamalei, the wahine of the Royal Dance Company, and special guests, would once again put on THE iconic Christmas Show of our town and WE lucky folk had actual tickets! As someone who dislikes the press of a crowd I was entirely comfortable among this glittering isle style assemblage. When the curtain rose on a set featuring a lovely Christmas tree, lighted palms, evergreen wreathes, and the usual proscenium for two, Christmas had finally come to our hearts for one more year. Even though they are seen shopping, going movies, or walking in a shop, it brings a strong pavlovian contentment to see the Brothers smiling and performing on stage. And there they were like favorite cousins visiting house: Robert on his trademark stand-up bass, and Roland with his guitar. Something wonderful in the world, something RIGHT, comes into blossom when they sing to us. For the curtain raiser, The Brothers played and sang while the entire company (filling the front of the stage before them) danced and sang along (Heck, WE ALL sang!) a rousing interpretation of the shopworn but beloved cliché: Mele Kalikimaka together. These guys play Carnegie Hall, and Robert just received a prestigious national artistic award & grant from the peer panel of the U.S. Artists organization, so this was like a family sing-along and a world-class cultural performance in one. The evening blended laughs, tears, young and older performers, in a soul satisfying early gift that I, for one, REALLY needed this year! Miss Keiki Hula 2008, Leah Santiago, danced an INCREDIBLE Hawaiian Lullaby! The night was full of excellent hula, but this little girl had such presence & grace that I KNOW we will be seeing her win Miss Aloha Hula in about ten years. (That’ll be about five years before Hawaii Governor Malia Obama proclaims me a Hawaii Treasure for my beloved writing ;-). Young Master Keiki Hula 2008, Lyons Wong of the Big Island filled the place with a rousing, energetic dance of his own. It was a night of wonderful moments pressed down, shaken, and running over. The night flew by, which is not always the case for lil ole short attention span gal – ME! I was so “knocked out” that I slept through the cannon AND booming fireworks that marked the start of today’s Honolulu Marathon. After last nights “wintry” visit downtown to the theatre (wearing shoes, SHOES I tell ya!) I woke to blue tropical skies and balmy breezes today. So Mele Kalikimaka to YOU, and please pass the sun block!

A L O H A! Cloudia

Aloha Wish For YOU

ALOHA!
So glad to see
Y O U
Today is Friday
in

W A I K I K I

click photos for Chanukah/ Christmas cheer

Enjoy our Hawaiian Skies!

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"Only through emotions
can you encounter the force field of your soul."

Here we know that Christmas will be clear & bright & GREEN!

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"If you choose to feel affection or kinship with a person
rather than distance or coldness,
you shift the frequency of your light"

This is my Rapa Nui (Easter Island) Moai, Guy

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"An authentically empowered person is humble. . .
a human being that does not release (their) energy
except in love and trust. . .
It is the inclusiveness of one who responds to the beauty
of each soul. . .
It is the harmlessness of one who treasures & honors & reveres
life in all it's forms. . .
A humble spirit
walks in a familiar world.
People are not strangers to it;
they are it's companions upon the Earth. . .
Humble spirits are free to love
and to be who they are. . .
not drawn to symbols of external power."

Gary Zukav
(All quotes today)

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This is my wish for you:
Peace
in yourself.

Next:
The World.

Be sure to see the feel-good video below!

ALOHA, cloudia

Celebrity Thursday

Aloha, Friend!

Welcome to Celebrity Thursday

in

W A I K I K I

click on the faces

Yes, that's Morgan Freeman

being kind to a complete stranger

in Honolulu's Chinatown at midnight. Long story. . .

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"Happiness comes from the capacity to feel deeply, to enjoy simply, to think freely, to risk life, to be needed." Storm Jameson

"Enjoy the little things for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things."

Robert Brault

"I know everybody dies, but I thought I was an exception."

William Styron

"The essence of immortality

is the tendency to make an exception of one's self."

Jane Addams

"Not what we have but what we enjoy, constitutes our abundance." Epicurus

To a kid
20 years is an unimaginably
long time.


The older we get
the more comprehensible
it becomes.

At 50
we can believe
in 70.

Approaching 60
we begin to believe
in our own
mortality.

So what to think?
What to do?

The other evening
I attended a party
with old friends and colleagues.

Talk was convivial
as it is among friends
turning to wine,
to travel,
to enjoying life.

"After all, how long have I got."
said one
to a murmur of assent
by all.

You may be wondering
why I'm writing on this topic
during the holidays.
It might seem depressing

But my intent
is exactly the opposite,
echoing my friend at the party.

I want to cherish
my hours, my days
and I want the same
for you.

Let's liberate ourselves
from what are really
petty annoyances.

Don't sweat the small stuff,
and it's ALL small stuff
compared to the treasure
we possess.


ALOHA, cloudia

Rambles

It's
ALOHA Wednesday
here in
W A I K I K I

come in, rest your fingers, click on a photo or two; pop open a treat!

"By the river the blue heron stands
and waits, poised in the long patience.
Here the world offers itself, wave after wave
of mountains washing across the miles.
Here the sparrow sings from the sycamore.
I lift my voice
and come down to earth
here."

Jeff Daniel Marion

"A single rose can be my garden... a single friend, my world."
Leo Buscaglia

I remember the temple, this route I've traveled before,
I recall the bridge as I cross it again.
It seems the hills and rivers have been waiting,
The flowers and willows all are selfless now.
The field is sleek and vivid, thin mist shines,
On soft sand, the sunlight's colour shows it's late.
All the traveler's sorrow fades away,
What better place to rest than this?

Tu Fu


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Some days
there is nothing I want to say.
Then it is good
to remain
silent;
Yet
I long to reach out
and say:
"Aloha"
to you
my friends.
And so a picture,
a flower,
a quote.
Will be the token
I leave here for
you.

Thank YOU so much for taking the time to visit today!
ALOHA, cloudia