Out & About w/Brief #RandomThoughts.....

It has been quite a month--and quite a year!!

In a few hours, I will be joining the City of Laguna Niguel's 30th Anniversary Holiday Parade as I will be leading the Scouting Community's Entry as I gear up to retire from my Community Service as a Scout.   It was so gracious of Council member Geneway to have sent forth the commendation for the efforts of the Scouts of Boy Scout 772:

I look forward to sharing further year-end thoughts later on to close out the year as I close out my thoughts with a classic Minuteman statue: 

#RandomThoughts

The Laguna Niguel Skyline 

It is the eve of Labor Day as I write this.   I took a little time off commitments at the Daily Outsider to reflect and remember while being supportive of My Aunt's Move to her new community.    It has been a odyssey to reflect upon a fabulous life and as she begins a new chapter of an accomplished life of purpose that she has had so far.    Being a symbol of resilience, strength and courage in spite of all the odds has been an inspiration to me, My Sister (a symbol of strength, courage and stoic tenacity in her own right and very much a source of inspiration) , my cousins, our extended family and her vast circle of friends.   As I was reflecting upon such a magnificent life, I caught the image above from my Aunt's  residence late last night as I was taking a break before getting back to work.   

As I am back at my Office, I had a chance to call up a beautiful melody sung by a legend of Iranian Music and Art for almost 60 years--The great Googosh.   She began as a child prodigy, grew up to be one of the most versatile performers with memorable roles in Music and Film.  The revolution derailed her career and she was subject to intimidation and harassment constantly--I believe that she was under arrest on at least a couple of occasions before leaving Iran.     I released this to my Personal Twitter Feed Late Last night to remember:

A late contribution 2 #SundayThoughts on the eve of #LaborDay2019 here in the US as two legends collaborate 2 give voice 2 what the @OrdinaryFaces of #Iran have been thru over the past 40 years--as I note #WeWillReClaimIran #Googoosh Aziz: https://t.co/U7R63GqBKx

— Mike Pouraryan (@mikepouraryan) September 2, 2019

Onward to September with all its' possibilities.... 

#RandomThoughts On the Dawn of a New Week....

It has been quite a weekend that for me began with joining the Cal State Guard Military History Command at the Merage Jewish Center as the Center once again was gracious enough to host the Jewish Medal of Honor Recipients.  I captured this image from the Garden which was extremely moving as I underscored:  #NeverAgain. 

My odyssey  continued as I was at the City of Laguna Niguel 30th Anniversary Carnival.   It was great to be witness to the vibrancy of the Community and the dedication of the City Staff.   It was a pleasure to create grids in support of Donate A Photo.

It has been a distressing week in many respects, though as an Afghan Wedding Party was attacked by the Islamic State and Iran continues to be suffering.    I am trying to understand the writings by a man by the name of Ahmad Al-Ghabanchi which I look forward to helping to feature in the Education Property as I view that Islam is yet to adjust to modernity.     I also had some research/discourse on Social Media on the President as epitomized by the following:

As a new week dawns, I decided to capture some thoughts while on my social media curation initiative which I thought was quite poignant as I look forward to the opportunity to be of continued support for Daily Outsider Projects and on-going initiatives--I remain optimistic ever more in spite of the challenges.

As I note to say Onward to the new week, I close out this weekly #RandomThoughts with the following: 

Remaining Hopeful...

Random Thoughts: While Out & About in @LagunaNiguelCty & Virtually......

It has been an interesting first week of August--and at times challenging.  I decided to do things a little differently for this "Random Thoughts".

First of, I find it extremely interesting about what I saw on Facebook this week while making my "rounds" with friends.   It has been very interesting as I have seen a proflieration of Writing & Writing related resouces to go and check out.    For instance, I just ran across "Vocal" which is a new platform to help writers/bloggers monetize platform--which is borrowing a page from Medium which I have used and enjoyed contributed.    The Daily Outsider team has also done contributions to Medium from the Properties--which I have helped with.    It underscores how Facebook continues to anticipate--and think.     Most of my Engagement, though, has been to advocate for Community Engagement and awareness--but it is still interesting to say the least.

I also had a chance to reflect upon the last number of months.     The City of Laguna Niguel's New Community Engagement Manager was gracious enough to track down this Video clip prepared from the Earth Day 2017 earlier this year: 




It features the now-embattled Mayor of the City along with others who participated.     The Mayor's fate will be decided during a special City Council meeting on August 7.    One highlight of it was one of our Trailmaster Eagle Scouts who was featured--I made it a point of sharing it with his family.   It was very gratifying to see him featured!!!        It was also quite a week as the City celebrated National Night Out which was great to be witness to.

As I was out and about on business commitments, I had the pleasure also to join the Aliso Niguel High School registration drive.   Some 600 students were registered with the support of ASB student volunteers and PTSA volunteers supporting the School Adminstrators--I reflected on it on my Facebook Wall to pay tribute to all who make a difference.

As the week proceeded and I was on the prowl on business commitments, I picked up on the reporting on a new proposal to change the Immigration Laws to make it more in line with what countries like Canada are doing.    Beyond some of the "hype", the challenge remains that the United States will need a lot more immigrants than not--and it also reminded up of the poignant file by the Great Shahkrukh Khan that showcased the challenges of racism.   I picked up this clip I also shared while on Facebook as well--it speaks for itself: :  





Beyond the challenges domestically, there is also a major event happening in Iran.    Hassan Rouhani, the newly re-elected President, will take his oath after having received his "confirmation" from the Supreme Guide on Thursday (that the Daily Outsider Team noted in a special edition of Notations).     I see reports of some 70 countries having sent delegations.     Although the Team at the Daily Outsider will have some thoughts done on it during the week, I found this published by Islamic Republic Broadcasting was poignant on all the Presidents since the 1979 Islamic Revolution: 

Watch video!


As this working weekend is at hand,  I could not help but feel a bit overwhelmed by some of the challenges at the Daily Outsider and some of the other challenges--and then I saw this: 

My proceeds from PayPal were $180m. I put $100m in SpaceX, $70m in Tesla and $10m in Solar City. I had to borrow money for rent.

—Elon Musk pic.twitter.com/zWWByVt2zO

— Vala Afshar (@ValaAfshar) August 3, 2017

It is remarkable that whenever I somehow lose focus, something brings me down to Earth.   

Onward to another working weekend......

Paul Russell in the News

Laguna Niguel News just had an interview with Paul Russell this past week....Here is the link:

http://www.ocregister.com/news/city-emergency-residents-1994023-niguel-training