Me

My photo
para-para-paradise
“So, this is my life. And I want you to know that I am both happy and sad and I'm still trying to figure out how that could be.” ― Stephen Chbosky
We must not expect happiness. It is not something we deserve. When life goes well, it is a sudden gift; it cannot last forever.

4.30.2010

Pieces of Flair






That's it!

4.28.2010

He Mele No Lilo



Lyrics
Courtesy Kamehameha Schools:

Vocal 1 (Overlapping):
Mahalo nui ia ke ali`i wahine
`O Lili`ulani `o ka wo hi ku
Ka pipio mai o ke anuenue na waiho'o
lu'u a halikeole'e
E nana na maka i ke ao malama mai
Hawai`i akea i Kaua`i

Vocal 2 (Overlapping):
Ke Kuini o Hawai`i
Ku i ka moku i ke Kalaunu
Na hana a ke aloha Ma`alo
Ana i ka ua lana malie
I ka lani malama ho`ike
Mai ana la i ka nani

`O Kalakaua he inoa
`O ka pua mae`ole i ka la
Ka pua maila i ka mauna
I ke kuahiwi o Mauna Kea

Ke 'amaila i Kilauea
Malamalama i wahine kapu
A ka luna o Uweka huna
I ka pali kapu o Ka`auea

Ea mai ke ali`i kia manu
Ua wehi ka hulu o kamamo
Ka pua nani a`o Hawai`i
`O Kalakaua he inoa

`O Kalakaua he inoa
`O ka pua mae`ole i ka la
Ka pua maila i ka mauna
I ke kuahiwi o Mauna Kea

Ke`a mai la i Kilauea
Malamalama i Wahinekapu
A ka luna o Uwekahuna
I ka pali kapu o Ka`auea

Vocal 1 (Overlapping):
Mahalo nui ia Ke Ali`i wahine
`O Lili`ulani wo ka `o hi ku

Vocal 2 (Overlapping):
Ke Kuini o Hawai`i
Ku i ka moku i ke Kalaunu

Ea mai ke ali`i kia manu
Ua wehi i ka hulu o ka mamo
Ka pua nani a`o Hawai`i
`O Kalakaua he inoa

He Inoa No Kalani Kalakaua — kulele!


* "He Mele No Lilo" is derived in large part from "Mele Inoa no Kalakaua" (Name Song for Kalakaua), a traditional Hawaiian chant. Independent translation provided without approval or authorization by the song's authors, publishers, or other copyright holders. Do not republish or redistribute.


Lilo e Stitch


Rough Translation*
By Ryan Kawailani Ozawa:

Vocal 1 (Overlapping):
Great thanks to the lady chief
Lili`ulani (Lili`uokalani) [`o ka wo hi ku?]
Captured the rainbow watercolors
Dive until [halikeole'e?]
The eyes look to the nurturing dawn
Hawai`i expands to Kaua`i

Vocal 2 (Overlapping):
The queen of Hawaii
Stands at the island at the Crown
The works of the passing love
[Ana i ka?] gently flowing
In the nurturing sky
From the heavens

Kalakaua is his name
The flower that doesn't wither in the sun
The flower blooms on the mountain
on the high hill of Mauna Kea

Glowing white is Kilauea
Radiant sacred woman
Atop Uweka Huna (Crying Priest Crater)
on the sacred cliff of rising rain

The chief comes to catch the bird
To adorn himself in the feathers of the mamo
The beautiful flower of Hawai'i
Kalakaua is his name

Kalakaua is his name
The flower that doesn't wither in the sun
The flower blooms on the mountain
on the high hill of Mauna Kea

Glowing white is Kilauea
Radiant sacred woman
Atop Uweka Huna (Crying Priest Crater)
on the sacred cliff of rising rain

Vocal 1 (Overlapping):
Great thanks to the lady chief
Lili`ulani (Lili`uokalani) [wo ka `o hi ku?]

Vocal 2 (Overlapping):
The queen of Hawaii
Stands at the island at the Crown

The chief comes to catch the bird
To adorn himself in the feathers of the mamo
The beautiful flower of Hawai'i
Kalakaua is his name

In the heavenly name of Kalakaua — cast forth!

4.26.2010

Parte de tu mundo



Que yo no veo las cosas como él.

No entiendo cómo un mundo que hace cosas tan maravillosas puede ser malo.
Nunca verá lo que hay aquí

Cuántos tesoros que yo descubrí

¿Cuánto nos queda por ver, y soñar, y sentir?

¿Tú crees que yo, alrededor

No veo dones, fortuna, esplendor?

¿Piensas que debo decir, "No necesito más"?

Cosas raras guardamos a miles
Aunque no las sepamos usar

¿Quieres no-sé-qué-bobs? Tengo veinte

Pero, ¿ves? No me sé conformar
Quiero saber si sabré bailar

Yo quiero ver una bella danza

Y caminar con los, ¿cómo se llaman? Ah, pies
Siempre nadar no es original

Quiero tener un par de piernas
Y salir a pasear, ¿cómo dicen? A pié
Saber correr, saber saltar

Saber que el sol me va a acariciar
Sueño sin fin, quiero subir, salir del mar

¿Qué hay que pagar para vivir fuera del agua?
Para dormir sobre la arena, ¿cuánto hay que dar?

Pienso que allá lo entenderán
Puesto que no prohiben nada

¿Por qué habrían de impedirme ir a jugar?
Si ellos estudian lo mismo que yo
Con mis preguntas y sus respuestas

¿Qué es fuego? ¿Qué es quemar? ¿Lo podré ver?
¿Cuándo me iré? Quiero explorar
Sin importarme cuándo volver

El exterior, quiero formar parte de él

Parte de tu mundo

I see your true colors

You with the sad eyes
don't be discouraged
oh I realize
it's hard to take courage
in a world full of people
you can lose sight of it all
and the darkness inside you
can make you fell so small

But I see your true colors
shining through
I see your true colors
and that's why I love you
so don't be afraid to let them show
your true colors
true colors are beautiful
like a rainbow

Show me a smile then
don't be unhappy, can't remember
when I last saw you laughing
if this world makes you crazy
and you've taken all you can bear
you call me up
because you know I'll be there

And I'll see your true colors
shining through
I see your true colors
and that's why I love you
so don't be afraid to let them show
your true colors
true colors are beautiful
like a rainbow


True Color
Cindy Lauper

4.21.2010

Thousands of ladybugs kick off - Earth Day

The ``ladies in waiting'' are waiting no more. A swarm of 6,000 ladybugs tantalized 85 first-grade students at Howard Drive Elementary on Monday as they released them onto the school grounds. The colorful bugs act as a natural pesticide against native plant-eating insects like aphids.
The ladybug release opened a week of events in Palmetto Bay to celebrate Earth Day. A total of 26,000 ladybugs -- representing the number of residents in the village -- will also do their Earth Day duty at six area schools through the week.
On Thursday morning, students at Alexander Montessori School and Winhold Montessori will release more ladybugs.
Bet a few of these natural wonders turn up at Coral Reef Park for the 7:30 p.m. Friday Movie Night screening of Planet 51. Earth Week in Palmetto Bay wraps with bike and nature tours and kayak trips Saturday at Ludovici Park.

HOWARD COHEN

Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/04/21/1589800/thousands-of-ladybugs-kick-off.html#ixzz0ljLoOH3w

Yeah, that's just it


With a little bit of italian...



4.19.2010

In Dreams

A candy-colored clown they call the sandman
Tiptoes to my room every night
And just to sprinkle stardust and to whisper
Go to sleep, everything is all right

I close my eyes, then I drift away
Into the magic night, I softly say
A silent prayer like dreamers do
Then I fall asleep to dream
My dreams of you

In dreams I walk with you
In dreams I talk to you
In dreams you're mine all of the time
We're together in dreams
In dreams

But just before the dawn
I awake and find you gone
I can't help it, I can't help it, if I cry
I remember that you said goodbye

It's too bad that all these things
Can only happen in my dreams
Only in dreams
In beautiful dreams


Roy Orbinson
In Dreams

4.16.2010

President Obama with Emilio, Gloria and Emily Estefan



Introduction to President Obama
By Gloria Estefan

Welcome everyone to our home! Emilio, Emily and I are very happy that you’re here and we hope you very much enjoy this afternoon!

When our parents brought us to the United States as children they never imagined that the country that had opened its arms to them at a time of crisis would eventually become their country and in turn, our country. They came here to raise us in freedom and democracy so that we could thrive and learn. And that we did. We learned how to listen to and respect different ways of thinking, different nationalities, and different political ideologies.
We learned, as we watched our parents give up their homeland, their families, their history and in the case of my father who served proudly in the United States military, his life so that we could live the American Dream.

My father, a refugee from a country that is still in the stranglehold of the same oppressive government from which he rescued his family, my father, who when leaving for war said to my mother not knowing if he would ever see us again, that in a man’s life there has to be “something” that is worth fighting and dying for and for him that cause was freedom! My father, who would have been very proud to know that his little girl, years later, would be hosting in her very own home, the President of the United States, a President who just 21 days before publicly stated, “Today, I join my voice with brave individuals across Cuba and a growing chorus around the world in calling for an end to the repression, for the immediate, unconditional release of all political prisoners in Cuba and for respect for the basic rights of the Cuban people.”, the President that is the very first African-American in history to attain this most honorable office!

Each person believes that they are living in the “best of times” and in the “worst of times”. We look around at the difficulties and challenges that our world is experiencing and we wonder (I know I do) if history has taught us “anything”. We question if there is indeed “something” still worth fighting and dying for.

Then I look at the country where I was born, a place where hope and freedom are a part of their history, not their everyday lives and I see Orlando Zapata Tamayo, a Cuban dissident and now MARTYR who gave his life on a hunger strike for the promise of a free Cuba and Guillermo Fariñas who is poised to give his life at any moment merely asking that his government free 26 other sick and dying prisoners of conscience. I see the bravery of the Damas De Blanco; women who walk peacefully, silently, heroically, yet still get beaten and arrested for simply petitioning for the freedom of their unjustly imprisoned loved ones.
I look at this magnificent country that has molded me and is now my homeland and I hear a choir of voices expressing their wishes, their desires, their demands and even their disdain for our government, freely and without consequence and I smile and quietly thank God that despite whatever problems we may be facing, we truly are a free people!

The beauty of this amazing nation is that anything is possible! Even hosting a very political evening to get the “ear” of my President when I am politically non-affiliated but the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. put it succinctly when he said “We may have all come on different ships but we’re in the same boat now!”

And regardless of where we may have come from, what color we may be, what political party we may or may not belong to I think there are definitely two things that we can all agree on; the first is that we all love this country and the second was beautifully put into words by Dr. Lawrence J. Peter, an American educator and writer, when he said,

“Democracy is a process by which the people are free to choose the man who will get the blame.” And it is my distinct honor to introduce him! Ladies and gentlemen, from one hyphenated American, I present to you, another hyphenated American, The President of the United States, Barack Obama!!

4.13.2010

Shit Happens - A universal religious concept

Taoism: Shit Happens.

Hinduism: This shit happened before.

Islam: If shit happens, take hostages.

Buddhism: If shit happens is it really shit?

Protestantism: Shit happens if you work hard.

Catholicism: Shit Happens, I deserve it.

7th Day Adventist: Shit happens on Saturday.

Mormonism: Knock Knock, Shit Happens.

Judaism: Why does shit happen to me?

Krishnaism: Shit happens, ring a dingy ding.

Jehovah's Witness:People now living will see shit happen.

Paganism: Each shit has its own name.

Atheism: Bullshit!

TV Evangelism: Send more shit.

Rastafarianism: Let's smoke this shit.

Quote




4.07.2010

If I could reeeeeach..Higheeeer...


Alcuni sogni ci accompagnano per tutta la vita
sono quei sogni che vogliamo realizzare ad ogni costo.
Lotterò senza darmi tregua
per adempiere alla promessa che ho fatto;
sarò pronto a prodigarmi senza riserve
ed infine ciò che ho sognato sarà mio.
Se mi potessi spingere più in alto
e per un attimo toccare il cielo
da quel momento e per tutta la vita
sarò davvero molto più forte
certo di avere fatto tutto il mio meglio.
Metterò alla prova l’animo mio
per potermi spingere più in alto.
Alcuni giorni sono proprio indimenticabili
sono quei giorni in cui ci innalziamo fino alle stelle.
Questa volta andrò oltre ogni limite
rendendomi conto mentre ascendo la china
che più credo nel mio sogno
più quel sogno diventerà realtà.

Reach (italian translation)
Destiny
Gloria Estefan

4.06.2010

Disney's Desperate Housewives



Fiori d'Acciao



Fiori d'acciaio (Steel Magnolias) è un film del 1989 diretto da Herbert Ross.

A Chinquapin, una cittadina della Louisiana, in un salone di bellezza si incontrano in varie occasioni la signora M'Lynn Eatenton, la figlia di lei Shelby (che sta per sposarsi con l'amato Jackson Latcherie), l'anziana e litigiosa Ousier Boudreaux (che di mariti ne ha avuti due e ora adora la propria libertà), Clairee Belcker (bizzarra, ma sempre ottimista e gaia), nonché la parrucchiera di tutto il gruppo (la spregiudicata Truvy Jones) che alle sue dipendenze ha assunto una giovane occhialuta Annelle Dupuy Desoto, recentemente abbandonata dal marito e rimasta senza denaro. Sul matrimonio di Shelby si addensano le preoccupazioni di sua madre perché Shelby vuole un figlio, malgrado sia gravemente affetta da diabete. Dopo la nascita di un bambino vispo e sano, poiché si impone un trapianto di rene per Shelby la signora Eatenton fa ben volentieri da donatrice alla figlia la quale, malgrado il soddisfacente esito chirurgico, dopo alcuni mesi muore. Nel dolore e nello sconvolgimento generale, le amiche sono tutte vicine alla madre disperata, che si pone infiniti "perché". Ma quelle donne sono davvero di acciaio e, malgrado differenze di carattere e spigolosità varie, sanno che la natura ha le proprie leggi e che la vita deve pur continuare. Della morte di Shelby restano intatti rimpianto e memoria. M'Lynn Eatenton si occupa con tutto l'amore possibile del biondo nipotino; la parrucchiera riceve in dono dal marito (per una volta fortunato nel proprio lavoro) un magnifico salone di bellezza, l'anziana Ouiser ritrova un vecchio ammiratore tornato nella cittadina e sempre a lei fedele; Annelle, sposatasi nel frattempo con un bravo ragazzo (Sammy), darà alla luce un bambino.


Il titolo originale Steel Magnolias fa riferimento ad un affettuoso modo di chiamare le forti donne del sud. La magnolia è un albero molto diffuso in Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi e altri stati meridionali.