Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream is at it again.

They are declaring “Random Acts of Cone-ness” in three American cities in the next month.

New York, week of May 22nd (that’s right now!)
Chicago, week of June 5th
San Francisco, week of June 19th

Ben & Jerry’s will be giving out 50,000 free samples of their new novelty cones through what they are calling their Cone Samaritans. If you live in one of these three cities, check out benjerry.com now.

For those living elsewhere, you can enter the Random Acts of Cone-ness Contest by nominating your favorite Benn & Jerry’s fan to be “coned” (i.e. receive a free cone). With your nomination you include a note, in 100 words or less, explaining why this person deserves to be coned. I just entered my best friend. I did a poem which I will post after the contest ends on July 31.

One last pet story…for now.

Rachel Smoller, an eight-year old parakeet owner from Poughkeepsie, NY, had lost her two birds, Bananas and Blueberry, after they had been left out on the porch several weeks ago. Riddled with guilt for having put the birds out to “sun” for the afternoon, Smoller’s father, Andy, searched hi and lo for the dynamic duo. Thankfully, Bananas was found in the nearby woods, but Blueberry was nowhere to be found.

Luckily, Blueberry found a safe haven with a family located two miles away. The Dragos family new they had a lost pet in hand and searched hi and lo for its owner. Meanwhile, they took good care of the bird, providing him shelter and food.

Some two weeks later, Blueberry was returned to Smoller after a friend had come across one of the fliers put out by the Dragos family. Smoller, so thankful for the miracle that is Blueberry, showered the Dragos with a carefully picked collection of stuffed animals and a lot of thank yous. Very nice…

Read the story in the Poughkeepsie Journal.

From WGRZ.com, Buffalo’s NBC affiliate, another story about people going the extra mile for a brave pet.

Cody, the trusty dog of Rich Walters, had been hit by a car while on a local highway two weekends ago (May 6). Afflicted with a bad hip, Walters had a hard time getting to his ailing dog. Then, out of nowhere, total strangers driving by decided to help the two beings in need by blocking off the highway with their cars, allowing Walters to retrieve Cody. Pretty cool.

Reportedly, Cody is recovering and Walters is no doubt glad to have him back. Just another great human(e) story.

This from a correspondent in Hawai’i, read about Daddy Boy, the gray and white tabby cat that did everything in his battered body’s power to make it home after being swept away in flood waters. Doctors estimate that Daddy — who sustained breaks to his pelvis and ankle bones — had crawled for nearly two weeks with his injuries before arriving on the doorstep of the Heininger family. This little guy was determined to get home and we’re glad that he did so. The Heininger’s, several thousand dollars later, say that Daddy is on his way to full recovery. Good on you all…

We found this on the pages of the Fort Worth Star Telegram, TX:

Ring of honor, really!

“When you give a blessing,” said the 11-year NBA vet, “you get a blessing in return.”

Could you imagine finding a 3.5-carat diamond ring in a parking lot? Holy cow. It really is amazing nowadays to know that something so valuable and so easily pocketed gets returned to its rightful owner.

This from the The Register-Guard in Eugene,Oregon, a story about two senior prom goers, Scott Ota and Nicole Shaw, encountered a series of kind acts and nice people on their special night.

Two Saturdays ago, on May 6, Ota’s florist saved him from forgetting Shaw’s corsage by bringing it by house, after hours. Then a nice couple let them take their place in line at the restaurant so that they could make the limo. Finally, that same mystery couple ended up paying for Ota and Shaw’s dinner.

It’s the same old theme of strangers buying other people’s meals out of the kindness of their hearts. It’s so very cool to know that this happens daily, all over the country.

D. Robert-

Happy birthday to the man who made NICE! Hope you have a good one buddy….

Ted Banucci — San Jose, CA

On Thursday, Floyd Patterson, youngest ever heavyweight boxing champion and Olympic gold medalist, died at the age of 71. He lived in New Paltz, New York.

Patterson was known as one of the nicest guys in boxing circles. He was underweight all of his career but battled through this adverse position to attain boxing’s crown jewel – the title of undisputed world heavyweight champion.

Perhaps one moment best illustrated Patterson’s humanity. In the second of a trilogy of boxing matches against Swedish boxer, Ingemar Johansson, Patterson stunned the world as he cradled his fallen opponent after knocking him out for the count in the fifth round. It was said that at that moment Patterson promised Johansson a rematch. Now, that’s crazy nice, the sign of a great person.

Holding the record for the youngest person to win a heavyweight title, Patterson is also known for having been knocked more than any other champion. Of course, Patterson has been known to point out that this record also means that he has gotten back up more than any of his peers. That’s the kind of forward looking, positive vibe Patterson put forth. The world will miss him. I for one am saddened for his loss and for the fact that I only until now knew what a great and good guy he was.

Campaign Start: Dec. 5, 2005
Campaign End: When goal is reached
Campaign Goal: $7,000.00

Aura’s House is a non-profit affiliated with the 501(c)(3) child sponsorship organization, Children International. Since our inception in 2004, we have raised more than $22,000 for various projects to better the lives of underprivileged children and their families throughout the developing world. Past projects have included:

-Building and furnishing homes for families in Guatemala and Honduras
-Sending Zambian children to school
-Drilling a well for a village in India
-Raising $500 for badly needed supplies and furniture for 4 different families

This time we’re aiming to build a badly-needed classroom structure for 4,611 students in a cramped schoolhouse in Manila. Eight year old Christian attends the overcrowded school and is hoping for a new classroom. There are pictures of him and his friends on our website, www.aurashouse.com. All donors can receive a tax receipt from Children International.

Thank you for your support!

Anastasia Yecke / Aura’s House — Miami, FL and Englewood, NJ
(305) 321-8253

Last summer, the Smithsonian National Zoological Park in Washington, DC welcomed little Tai Shan, the baby boy off-spring of Mei Xiang and Tian Tian.

You can get some Panda wallpaper for your desktop here. Also check out the Panda Cam day and night to see what’s up in T-Shan’s world.

I was lucky enough to catch the little black and white fuzz ball over Easter weekend during a family trip. The picture for the May 10 – 17 masthead is of Tai Shan curling up into a ball to roll around and avoid the zookeeper trying to take him back into his hut. You really can’t believe these kinds of things happen until you see it in the flesh. Yes, I now know that Pandas are incredibly cute and little ones like Tai Shan are just beyond words. Go check out the National Zoo…tip: Tai Shan comes out around 4:00 p.m. for one last feeding before the park closes.