Twinkle Twinkle

It's

Aloha Thursday

in

W A I K I K I

Friend!


Please click on photos; They long to please you!

Hello, Heron


“Dreams are real as long as they last.

Can we say more of life?”

Havelock Ellis

This is a stinging centipede that someone has "neutralized."
The head is to the right, and has serious fangs.
Their sting is painful and can even be lethal!

"When the power of love

overcomes the love of power

the world will know peace."

Jimi Hendrix

Pink/Red!


"All this is comfort!

Wherefore weep I then?"


Shakespeare


><>


Have you been watching the Olympics?


The Canadian hosts have been doing an outstanding job,
despite the weather.
Watching Bilodeau, Heil, Robertson,
Ricker, and Groves
win medals
has been inspiring!




And wasn't the honored participation
of the First Nations
as Hosts, and as Dignitaries
colossally righteous?



I find expression of our national identities
and cultures
to be a wonderfully enriching aspect of our shared humanity.
I know something of the nations represented
and celebrate their struggles, glories, and uniqueness
with affection.




Loving our own land
needn't indicate a lack of respect
for the rights and riches
of others.




When our US national anthem plays
I always feel deep emotion.




I think of my grandparents
who came to the New World
as young children
escaping persecution
and limitation.




I thinks of my parents,
the first generation born in America,
of my Dad,
the WWII veteran.




I think of this grand experiment
that a nation
of the people
and for the people
can endure
as a beacon to the world.





Our national shortcomings,
and mistakes
(and every country has made them)
are but the price of our struggling humanity.
God grant that we make amends for them
and grow forward together.





I have noticed something
about our National Anthem
this time around,
though.




When I hear it
part of me
just wants to cry.




We are so disunited,
here in these United States.
We can't seem to work together
anymore.




Instead of shared purpose
we shred into virulent
factions.




We are unable
to take even common sense
steps.
And we are in such a perilous time!




Half our country
would rather see our President fail,
with all this entails for our nation,
in order to be proved somehow
"right."




So when I hear the
Star Spangled Banner
these days part of me cries.



Not because I hate our nation,
but for the exactly opposite reason.




I pray that we remember
all that we have in common,
and cease to reach for reasons
to demonize each other.




Long may we wave!


ALOHA, cloudia

BONUS GIFT:

Walk, Talk, Shoot

Aloha, Friend!
Welcome
to
Wednesday
in
W A I K I K I


Do click on photos, eh?

A reflective shot


"Oh mortal,

what is good

and what does the Lord require of you

but to do justice,

and to love kindness,

and to walk humbly

with your God?"

Micah,

the Biblical Prophet

Wait. Which is the reflection?


"Creativity requires the courage

to let go of certainties."

Erich Fromm

"Power is not revealed by striking hard

or often,

but by striking true."

-Honore de Balzac

"Maybe all one can do

is hope to end up

with the right regrets."

Arthur Miller


><>


We all love to look at other people.
There is even a name for this activity,
we call it
People Watching.


I try to catch pictures
that leave the people in them
their anonymity.


My only hard and fast rule
is to avoid making anyone
uncomfortable.


This is
after all:

Comfort Spiral!





ALOHA, cloudia

Feel good bonus Below!

Stars Come and Go

Aloha, Friends!
Welcome to Tuesday
in
Waikiki


Click on photos to REALLY see them

"Natives who beat drums to drive off evil spirits
are objects of scorn to smart Americans
who blow horns to break up traffic jams."
Mary Ellen Kelly

Your Dream is Calling!



"Normal is not something to aspire to,
it's something to get away from."
Jodie Foster

The Black Pearl, Johnny Depp's pirate ship, has been spotted in Oahu waters!





"Happiness is an Open mind.
Beware of your stereotypes and prejudices,
they can trap you in a box and make you miss what life has to offer you."

Med Yones

><>

There is a special pride that comes with living on a small island in the middle of the world's biggest ocean.


We are proud to be indigenous people of this land,
this `Aina.

And/or we are proud to be born here,
like my niece.

Some of us are proud that we braved more than
oceans to make a new life here.

We are proud of our Ohana
who are born and raised here
when they do great things
in the world out there,
like Dwayne Johnson,
"The Rock"
and our president Obama
who was born, grew up,
and went to school
a couple of miles from here;
He walked the same streets
that I do.
He understands things
that only we island people
know.
Like: we need to live together,
there is no place far away
for us to go
and get away from each other.

For six seasons
LOST
has been "our" show.
Filmed down the block,
by Hubby's workplace,
using our locations
as The Island, as LA,
as Australia.

It's been fun to see them
transform
my harbor,
Chinatown,
Waipahu,
or our corner pub.
And then to see them on
TV.


Seeing Hurley
(Jorge Garcia)
at Whole Foods was fun.
We always act cool,
we ARE Island cool.
Lots of stars
can walk around here
and be left alone,
not just Ann Margaret
who is here all the time.
(No one even recognizes her anymore
though we all love her work.
Don't you?)

The LOST actors
have become
part of the local scene.


Well now LOST will be leaving,
but one cast member may remain.


With our growing Korean
community
(Koreans first came to Hawaii over 100
years ago, and are an important part of
our "Local" culture.
To learn more,
read Alan Brennert's excellent
novel: Honolulu)

Many Korean people continue to immigrate here,
and Korean Soap Operas are HUGE on local TV;
Not to mention all our wonderful Korean restaurants, great and tiny!

And yes,
I do like Kim Chee!

So we are all thrilled
that popular Daniel Dae Kim
(who is partners in a restaurant here)
has been tapped to play
Chin Ho Kelly
(Originated by Kam Fong Chun)
on the new
Hawaii Five-0 pilot!

What's next,
Magnum P.I?

Actually, no.
Next up is the immensely successful
Pirates of the Caribbean
film franchise starring
Johnny Depp!
(Be still my heart).

Keep those film projects coming:

Book`em Danno!


ALOHA from Hollywood West,
cloudia

Scry Me to the Moon

It's

Aloha Monday

Here in

W A I K I K I

please click on photos to enjoy them

"Your friend will argue with you."

Solzhenitsyn

"There are no rules of architecture

for a castle in the clouds."

G. K. Chesterton

Scry me to the moon

"The real object of education

is to have one in the condition

of continually asking questions."

Bishop Creighton

"Crystal sincerity hath found no shelter but in a fool's cap."

Gerard Manley Hopkins

><>

I am the scryer of surf breaks

who reads the entrails of this land,

this`aina.

Lines of hieroglyphic clouds,

and the sounds of Chinatown's

close city streets,

human languages, and trade winds,

all speak to me

in shadings and gradations

of truth.

An "enemy" dead

is revealed a friend

and co-creator;

thus I gratefully battle

my interlocutors with chivalry.

For, after all,

they serve their vision of the good

too.

And if they've taken

the hypocrisy oath

for power, security, or money only

they'll face a harsher Critic

than myself,

empowered to punish

and purify.

I read the entrails of this life:

"All Good."

ALOHA, Friend! cloudia

Gung Hee Fat Choy

Happy Year of the

T I G E R!

Welcome Golden Tiger!
Let's ride the Tiger this year everybody!
GRRRRR!

Lions are making their visits, blessing the town.

Children of all ages are full of happiness.

In fact, they participate in ways
that make the festival-time even more special
for everyone.

Strange creatures are lurking in poorly lit places.


Best wishes to

Y O U!

Thank you for your
visits,
your friendship,
your blog posts. . .
All year long!


ALOHA, clouda

Spiral Saturday

Aloha, Friend!

It's

Saturday

in

W A I K I K I

please click on the photos for soul expansion

"Thinking of you makes my life complete.

You're my golden clouds; you're my smile."

Unknown

"It is fun to be in the same decade as you."

Franklin D. Roosevelt (to Churchill)

"What does reason demand of a man?

A very easy thing--to live in accord with his nature."

Seneca

><>

"WHERE

Where the tree line

breaks at the headlands,

where the plowed soul

meets the unbroken spirit

we build the fires of life

within a ring of stone to warm us."

><>

Above is the opening stanza of a poem

by my friend, the Detroit poet, Mark Durfee.

The specific gravity, the sound, and the meaning in those words

are like the work of a master Stone-cutter,

and they please me very much.

You can read the rest of the poem by visiting the poet's blog HERE.

ALOHA! cloudia

Snow Memories

Aloha, Friend!

It's

Friday

in

W A I K I K I

click on the memories

Living here in Waikiki means lots of sun in February

"I have never seen snow

and do not know what winter means. "

Duke Kahanamoku

But when there is a major winter storm,

my thoughts return to my east coast childhood.

"Genius is an African who dreams up snow."

Nabokov

Snow provokes responses that reach right back to childhood. "

Andy Goldsworthy

><>

The day after big snow

in a great city

is a festival!

Sunny skies

like salvation show

a blinding white,

a crisp blue vast,

of

sky

with celebratory clouds.

Yesterday

there was no horizon

just a suspension of silver confetti flakes.

Today the sky's reopened.

Rivulets of melted snow,

and the squeals of children

in the

awe-hushed town,

promise Spring.

ALOHA, Snow Bunnies! cloudia