Finding an Animal Companion

A  L  O  H  A !

So many adventures together

 Animal companions

are gifts of unconditional

love.

They have shorter lives than we do.

So, as they teach us

about love,

they also teach us about 

loss,

and coping.

They give us the gift

of grasping

mortality.

Right after they
leave us,
there is a time

that is too full

of emptiness

and memories-

-too full

to try and fill.

Gecko on a wall mirror

 We never saw a gecko 

in the apartment before,

but one appeared

the day after Kitty passed.

The place seemed so

e m p t y

with her gone.

The gecko was like

nature

looking in

to console us-

to make us smile

at irrepressible

L I F E !

 The is a place [ Link ]

where you can go

to find an animal

who is also

looking for a friend.

Even if it is not

easy-

 Any new relationship

 is fraught;  

It's best 

to take it easy

 at first.

This girl

was in kitty jail

for over a month!

 In time, 

curiosity prevails. 

Is that a lightning-bolt

on your head,

friend?

 A loving nature

 instinctively understands

when it has met 

kindred spirits.

No other inmates,

no stream of faces,

no fingers through

 the mesh.
Perhaps my luck
has turned.

No noise,

or smell-

I seem to be

the sole cat in

possession.

Already in charge of the remote!

Meet

Pixie 'Thunderbolt' Charters

=^.^=

Aren't Friends wonderful?

Glad YOU  

have become ours!

'Take away News - Leave Your Comment'

                         Warmly, cloudia

Your Attention

A  L  O  H  A !

Your attention

is valuable,

that's why they call it

"paying attention."

Advertisers spend

good money

for it.

They know

that what comes into 

your attention

can motivate your

buying power.

" Brand Salience is the degree 

to which your brand 

is thought about or noticed 

 when a customer is in a

 buying situation."

 [ Link]

But there is so much more

that your attention can do,

so much more

than selecting purchases.

What captures your attention,

becomes the focus

of your attention -

You start to notice it

everywhere.

Buy a new Toyota

and you will notice

Toyota cars, and adverts

everywhere!

What we focus on

G R O W S.

Today, many of us

are focused on anger,

even rage;

and that attitude

grows

in our minds,

hearts, lives.

We are quick to notice

things that might anger us;

we are ready

to argue

with those who

disagree.

There is a better way

" Finally, brothers and sisters,

 whatever is true,

 whatever is noble, 

whatever is right, 

whatever is pure, 

whatever is lovely, 

whatever is admirable—

if anything is excellent

 or praiseworthy—

think about such things. " 

Philippians 4:8 New International Version (NIV)

 What are YOU

trying to grow?

 Why waste time

kicking someone's

sand castle?

Instead

notice that

which makes life

better

in your own

opinion.

 Think on such things

and they will grow

in your heart,

mind, and in your

life.

Dare to BE

your version,

your vision,

of how life 

can be.

Leave detection,

 correction,

and punishment

for others;

That's not your

job.

Thank Goodness!!

 <(-'.'-)>

Thank YOU

for YOUr

KIND Attention

'Take What YOU like - leave YOUr Comment' 

                                Warmly, cloudia

V. I. Y; Very Important YOU

A  L  O  H  A !

" We are fed

 a steady diet

 of superficiality.
Spruce up

 your character 

instead of your

 wardrobe. "

Jessica Hagy

 “ People often say 

that motivation doesn’t

 last.
Well, neither does 

bathing – 

that’s why we recommend it

 daily. ”

Zig Ziglar

 " There never was 

any heart truly 

great and generous,
that was not also

 tender and 

compassionate. "

Robert Frost

" Habits 

change into 

character. "

Ovid

<>[}:{]<>

The 

things that sound

"nice"

or "positive"

or "inspirational"

(Some Day)

or an "ideal"

(we work towards it)

Actually contain

real power

right now.

Over time,

I have experienced

that these 

'Nice things"

we say

are

profoundly

true

in the 

deepest way:

" Each person

is uniquely

important. "

Sounds merely

nice,

but SO very

real!

Even better,

that includes

YOU &

Me

Dare to believe

in your

significance!

                           Warmly, cloudia

Connoisseur of Decline,

A  L  O  H  A !

 

" All in all,

 I would not have

 missed 

this century 

for the world.  "

Gore Vidal

" As societies grow decadent, 

the language grows decadent,

 too. 

Words are used to 

disguise,

 not to illuminate, 

action: you liberate a city 

by destroying it. 

Words are to confuse, 

so that at election time 

people will solemnly vote 

against their own 

interests. "

 
Gore Vidal

" I never miss a chance 

to have sex 

or appear

 on television. "

 
Gore Vidal

Common Waxbill

" Many writers 

who choose to be 

active in the world 

 lose not virtue 

but time, 

and that

 stillness 

without which 

literature 

cannot be made.  "

Gore Vidal

DickDaniels (http://carolinabirds.org/)

 " One is sorry 

one could not have taken

 both branches

 of the road. 

But we were not allotted 

multiple selves.  "

Gore Vidal

Thank YOU

for looking in!

                            Warmly, Cloudia


" There is no human problem
which could not be solved
if people would simply do
as I advise. "
Gore Vidal

LEVIS Hot Dog Memories

A  L  O  H  A !

Famous twelve-foot high hot dog sign, 

designed by the Philadelphia's own

 Joseph Feldman.

Levis was Established 1895

My Philadelphia childhood 

was a time of the inner city's

 decline, 

including the demise

 of the South Street 

commercial district

 due to massive

 'urban renewal.'

Very few businesses endured, 

like Lester´s Shoes, Krass Brothers

[ Link ]

 and LEVIS HOT DOGS, 

the last hold outs.

Right where that car above

 is parked,

(Sixth St. South Philly)

my father parked

to take me for 

my first 

LEVIS Hot Dog.

I was five,

or six.

  Abe Levis purchased 

this marble soda fountain, 

 used,

 in 1895 for $30.

Still in use in my small kid days,

 Dad said it was the oldest 

Soda Fountain in the world!

It sounds rude,

but that was the day, 

that Dad taught me

how to burp.

Those were 

super carbonated sodas! 

LEVIS was a

 real old place

when I was little.

Pictures of old fashioned men,

with old fashioned names,

were up on the wall:

"The fifty year club."

Hey! 

I think I'm now 

eligible!

Some  say the hot dog

 was created by 

Thomas Francis Xavier Morris,

 a Caribbean immigrant who served them

 in Paterson, NJ 

as early as 1892.

 Others trace the American Classic

 modern hot dog

 to a cartoon 

of a dachshund in a roll

 that was drawn by 

New York Evening Journal

 cartoonist Tad Dorgan 

around 1901. 

Philadelphians believe 

that the sausage-on-a-bun 

 was invented by Abe Levis

 and his wife Anna Solo Levis, 

in their little sandwich shop

 on South Street in 1895. 

Hubba  Hubba !

Ray Kroc invented

 modern fast food.

America became a

 Burger country 

while I was still a kid.

[]

Abe Levis

 came to America

 from Lithuania

 at the age of fourteen. 

 Being a Jew, 

he was about to be drafted

 into the Czar’s army 

for a twenty five year stint

 in the manner of the times. 

He married Anna Solo

 when he was twenty-one

 and they opened their

 little sandwich shop 

in the heart of 

the South Street business district,

thriving

 with immigrant owned

 businesses in those days

Levis served hot dogs, sandwiches,

 fish cakes, ice cream and sodas. 

And what sodas they were / are!

A fishcake and a hotdog 

could be purchased on the same roll, 

but I forget what they called 

that sandwich. 

Abe produced the carbonation

 for his sodas in the basement!

 [ Link ]

My favorite was the 

chocolate soda

 made to order. 

 But LEVIS

most famous drink 

was Created by 

Abe himself:

 Champ Cherry Soda.

Originally he called it

 "Champagne Cherry"

 but Abe was a Phillies fan 

in the manner of immigrants 

like my Grandfather

who took being 

patriotic Americans 

VERY SERIOUSLY.

When Abe's beloved 

Phillies

 won the National League 

 Championship

 in 1950,

Levis celebrated 

by changing the name 

of his popular soda

 to Champ Cherry.

" Today, 

visionary soft drink guru,

 Elliott Hirsh, 

and his Amazing Beverages company 

are bringing back

 this iconic drink 

for fun, refreshment, 

and with the hope that

 the Phillies

 will win yet another championship.

 'Think Champ! Drink Champ!'"

I'm thinking of having some 

CHAMP CHERRY,

and a few Hot Dogs

 mailed to me here in Hawaii !

Amazing Beverages, Inc may be phoned

 @ 215-886-9356  

 [ Link ]

"Old Original Levis" and "Champ Cherry" 

are registered in the US Patent Office 

by Amazing Beverages, Inc

If you are in North America,

you can have a classic dog

at an authentic shrine near you:

HOT DOGS Near YOU!

 [  LINK ]

Thank YOU

for Summer

reminiscing !

'Take Away Heart Burn - Leave your wisecrack'

                               Warmly, cloudia