Lifetime Friend

A  L  O  H  A  !

"Keep true

 to the dreams 

of your youth. "

Friedrich von Schiller

Farewell Noodle  (what it is here: LINK )

" A loving person 

lives in a loving world.

 A hostile person

 lives in a hostile world. 

Everyone you meet 

is your mirror."

Ken Keyes

" You can't build joy

 on a feeling 

of self-loathing. "

Ram Dass

Every August I post a tribute 

to a great friend,

a lifetime friend,

 that I lost a long time ago.

I never fail to think of him during his birth month,

 and smile at his "issues" about sharing it

 with National Clown Month!

You were no clown Carl.

I'll never forget you.

I was 15 in a new neighborhood.

The High School I attended was a big, modern red brick factory, a "good" school. But I found it rather dehumanizing.

While the Beatles sang, and I attended the first Earth Day in Philadelphia's Fairmount Park, my school was run by crew-cutted, career educators who believed in instilling certain values in the boys and girls in order to stem the tide of psychedelic social rebellion that they abhorred.

Criticism had not yet been supplanted by "self esteem."

Then I met a boy 

who lived a couple of miles away

 and attended another school,

 where he was the butt of abuse

 for being dark and quiet 

with amazingly expressive brown eyes.

Carl's House, Google Street View

The bullys loved to see

 pain register

 in those eyes

and they called him 

The Mexican.

He was actually Jewish,

 with a grandfather who had escaped

 poverty, sanctioned abuse, 

and a forced 20 year stretch 

in the Russian Army,

 by leaving Russia on horse back;

 and who had a picture of himself 

smoking a hookah with some sepia 

Turkoman traders. 

"Fuck the Czar" he always began

 when asked about those days.

 I cannot hear anything about the Czar 

on the History Channel or anywhere else 

without muttering "Fuck the Czar" 

under my breath in tribute to the old man.

One time, Carl (my friend)

 tried to shock grandpa

 by inviting him to smoke 

some hash with us.

"Hashish?! He asked incredulously.

"You want to smoke hashish!? - 

Hashish you EAT!!!!!"

We laughed about that for years.

Heck, I still do!

We were both carrying some baggage, OK, 

full baggage-cars FULL of baggage.

We hid out together in his bedroom 

and he taught me everything 

about classic films, though people called them

 "old movies" then, 

and they papered late night TV 

clotted with commercials.

He showed me the classic movie goddesses and heroes.

We learned about history, sociology, and culture.

Together we gasped at Busby Berkley's choreography,

and Cagney's style.

We especially loved the film noir of the 50's

 which spoke well to the lingering, sooty

 Philadelphia that we lived in.

Our lives entwined.

Sometimes we'd drive to Chinatown

 in his mom's Mercury at 3 am for Wor Shu Op

 (Pressed Duck) at the old South China on 10th street.

 One night, Jerry Stiller (Frank Costanza LINK) walked in

 to get take out; he was performing in town 

with his wife: Stiller & Meara. 

Their kid, Ben, was in footsie pajamas - 

not comedy movies - back then.

Carl and I learned about life together. 
We grew up
 a bit.

"Your boyfriend's gay" 
my helpful parents pointed out. 

Eventually, Carl graduated, went to college,

 and moved to New York City

 as he had always dreamed. 

He was a professional sign language interpreter

 in the courts - learning everything

 about a fascinating reality.

He was free of his abusers,

 had respect, 

and had learned to respect

 himself.

It was the best time ever

 to be a gay man:

The 1970's in Manhattan!

He was so excited 

when they asked him to be

 one of the first sign language interpreters

 to perform on the front 

of the Broadway Stage.

There he was in the playbill!

Chopinsky had been shortened to Chopin.

He was beautiful, sought after, 

and sharing the stage with Tommy Tune,

 Honey Coles and

 Twiggy 

in "My One and Only."

Just one of many productions

 that featured him.

During intermission,

 the hearing audience 

was buzzing about how they

 couldn't take their eyes off

 the guy signing.

And Tommy Tune 

was dancing at his peak then!

Then lots of guys started to get sick.

Carl's kidneys failed and he went on relief

 and on dialysis.

His outer beauty (so important to us then)

 dimmed - but his soulful eyes

 grew only richer and deeper.

I can close my eyes 

and look into them still.

I visited him before moving to Hawaii.

But we would always stay close.

So much of each other, 

so many memories and landmarks 

shared. . . .

Carl died in the AIDS epidemic.

A famed psychic 

once told me that two friends 

who have passed 

accompany me through life.

Perhaps I'll tell you about 

the other friend on another occasion.

But I know the one of them

is Carl.

We used to say:

 "If I close my eyes, you are still there.

There is more to our friendship

 than what can be touched or heard."

So true.

I often wonder how middle-aged me 

looks to forever young 

and handsome Carl. 

Some day we'll laugh about it.

If your friend(s) of adolescence 

are still in this world,

 call them today. 

Tell them Carl and I 

say "Aloha."

You can read more about our times here: LINK

A L O H A, True Friend

                                                cloudia

Eye on Honolulu Dining

A  L  O  H  A !

" Opportunities 

are like windows

 in time. 

You can choose to

 ignore them. But, 

they don't come back. 

Or, you can choose

 to jump into them, 

and you never know

 what you may find. "

 Mark Banschick

Korean

가는 말이 고와야 오는 말이 곱다: 

" If you speak beautiful words,

 then people will speak

 beautifully to you. 

You get what you sow. "

Korean Wisdom

Vietnamese Vegetarian, Shabu Shabu,

 Japanese Musubi & Bento

:腹八分に医者いらず。

 " Who has his stomach full 

only 80%

 will not need a doctor."

Japanese Wisdom

" You eat slowly,

 that is good for stomach; 

you plough deeply, 

that is good for fields. "

Vietnamese Saying

" Our minds

 are like our stomachs;

 they are whetted by

 the change of their food, 

and variety supplies

 both with fresh appetite. "

Quintilian 

So where do you want to eat?

" Most of the shadows

 of this life 

are caused by 

standing in one's own 

sunshine. "

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Thanks for looking in, Friend!

                                      Fondly, cloudia

Cat Laughs

A L O H A !
 

This cracks me up!

Thanks for looking in,
                                                            cloudia

Best of Times

A  L  O  H  A !

" Music is a moral law.

 It gives soul

 to the universe,

 wings to the mind,

 flight to the imagination, 

and charm and 

gaiety to life

 and to everything. "

Plato 

"Hell is full

of musical amateurs. "

G. B. Shaw

" Everything worth having

 costs something, 

and the price of true love

 is self-knowledge.

Becoming acquainted

 with yourself 

is a price well worth paying

 for the love that will really

 address your needs."

Daphne Rose Kingma

I promised to respect the anonymity

 of this lady;

so she doesn't mind me telling You

that she is 60.

Yes, that is a real tattoo;

No, it is not her first;

Yes, the rest of her

also looks decidedly

un-Sixty!

Manu O Ku  LINK

" The rest of Your life

is the BEST of Your life! "

J. Olsteen

That is my wish

for YOU today.

Now LIVE

that reality!

                           Fondly, cloudia

Morning Portraits

A  L  O  H  A !

" Every man sees 

his second mother

 in his wife 

but every woman 

sees her first child 

in her husband. "

 Ritu Ghatourey

" It ain't what they call you,

 it's what you answer to. "

W.C. Fields

" It is our privilege 

and our adventure 

to discover

 our own special light. "

Mary Dunbar

 > < } } (°>

' Take Peace & Smiles - Leave Your Comment '

Thanks for visiting!

                            Warmly, cloudia

Number Friends

A  L  O  H  A !

" Above 

the cloud with its shadow

 is the star 

with its light. 

Above all things 

reverence thyself. "  *

Pythagoras 

*Sociopaths Excepted PLEASE

" There is geometry

 in the humming of the strings,

 there is music 

in the spacing of the spheres. "

Pythagoras 

Oh yeah, the "Music of the Spheres" guy

" The dictum of the Pythagorean school was 

"All is number."

What this meant was that 

all things of the universe 

had a numerical attribute 

that uniquely described them. 

For example,

• The number one : the number of reason.
• The number two: the first even or female number, the number of opinion.
• The number three: the first true male number, the number of harmony.
• The number four: the number of justice or retribution.
• The number five: marriage.
• The number six: creation
• 
• The number ten: the tetractys, the number of the universe."

Link

When I was very little

I had insight

into the nature

of the first ten numbers.

I can barely remember

but it was plain to me then:

1 the Ancient Grandmother

2 Her Husband Companion

3 & 4, Aunt and Uncle

5 & 6 Parents

7, 8, 9

obviously the kids.

The mystery of 10

is lost to me.

When I drove taxi

numbers were co-workers.

All had colorful nicknames

I still use today:

One

Duce

Triple

Fo

Fie, or (nickel)

then Sick;

Set,

Ate,

Nie,

and Ten.

Dispatcher say:

"Double Nickel!

Where you stay?"

"Fie Fie - 

you check me

Airport!"

In Hawaiian

a hole

is a puka,

so Zero

is Puka.

(Or Zero,

depending on the music

of the words)

When I started driving,

I was Puka Nie.

the taxi's number

became my name.

Even today,

the nicknames help me

to remember numbers:

20222 = "Du Zero Triple Duce"


See?

I'm SILLY!

But YOU knew
or suspected that :)

Comment? Yes Please!
                                            warmly, cloudia

World's Biggest Saxophone

 " Antoine-Joseph "Adolphe" Sax 
was a Belgian musical instrument designer and musician 
who played the flute and clarinet, 
and is best known for having invented 
the saxophone. Born: November 6, 1814 "
Wikipedia

=^..^=

' Take Peace & Smiles - Leave Your Comment '

Thanks for visiting!

Warmly, cloudia