Interesting Lifestyle: www.earthshiftproject.com

I found these images at www.earthshiftproject.com.

The "Standard American Diet" also known as the "SAD die-it" is explained here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_pattern_diet



"Superfoods" are discussed more thoroughly in a book called: "Superfoods: The Food and Medicine of the Future" by David Wolfe. I just recently finished reading this book, and have begun eating the "superfood" smoothies for breakfast. Do I notice a difference? Absolutely! I have endless energy, I have no sugar cravings, I feel genuinely happy, I don't feel hungry, I don't need coffee, I've lost weight, I feel "sharper" and am generally filled with joy. I will continue with my experimentation with "superfood smoothies" and continue posting my results, but I have to share how excited I am about the changes that I have felt and seen.

My Superfood Smoothie:
1. Raw Coconut meat and water.
2. Organic Blueberries
3. Organic Strawberries
4. Organic Maca (a tablespoon)
5. Organic Cacao Nibs
6. Organic dried Goji Berries
7. Organic Shelled Hempseed
8. Organic dried Golden Berries
9. Organic Wheatgrass (juiced)
10. Bee Pollen
11. Organic Spirulina

Medicinal Mushrooms (not the trippy kind...)

http://www.youtube.com/user/feralfoods

Short film about obesity and the food industry.

http://www.youtube.com/user/feralfoods#p/a/BFBDCFDD68828F8B/2/CtLFeH0W1x4

Permaculture!

I've been doing a lot of research lately and have come across a "language" that applies to the lifestyle that I have been looking for. Issues surrounding the health of our environment, bodies and sources of food can be improved through a concept known as Permaculture.

Here is a little history (thank you Wikipedia):

"In the mid 1970s, Australians Bill Mollison and David Holmgren started to develop ideas about stable agricultural systems. This was a result of rapid growth of destructive industrial-agricultural methods. They saw that these methods were poisoning the land and water, reducing biodiversity, and removing billions of tons of topsoil from previously fertile landscapes. They announced their permaculture" approach with the publication of Permaculture One in 1978.

The term permaculture initially meant "permanent agriculture" but was quickly expanded to also stand for "permanent culture" as it was seen that social aspects were integral to a truly sustainable system.

After Permaculture One, Mollison and Holmgren further refined and developed their ideas by designing hundreds of permaculture sites and organizing this information into more detailed books. Mollison lectured in over 80 countries and taught his two-week Design Course to many hundreds of students. By the early 1980s, the concept had broadened from agricultural systems design towards complete, sustainable human habitats.

By the mid 1980s, many of the students had become successful practitioners and had themselves begun teaching the techniques they had learned. In a short period of time permaculture groups, projects, associations, and institutes were established in over one hundred countries. In 1991 a four-part Television documentary by ABC productions called "The Global Gardener" showed permaculture applied to a range of worldwide situations, bringing the concept to a much broader public. Excerpts are available online through YouTube."

I became interested in these issues when I was an undergrad at UC Davis and took a class on Environmental Sustainability. My goal is to someday grow a garden, open a café somewhere and feed people the delicious, organic, sustainable, healthy foods that so many of us are missing out on. Because I'm still in school this won't happen for a while, but until it does, I will be researching, learning and cooking myself a life.

Another great resource for organic shopping...

http://www.nubiusorganics.com/Default.aspx

I recommend these films if you are interested in issues surrounding the food industry, health and environmental sustainability.

Great Resource for Living Eco-Conscious

http://noimpactman.typepad.com/

Goals

My Goals!

1. Spend a month (this July) in Australia or Hawaii. Picking fruit along the coast.
2. Get into the best film school.
3. Finish writing the best screenplay ever.
4. Start a fantastic garden project. Work in an organic garden. Grow my own food. Learn as much as I possibly can about food and growing food.
5. Get an environmental issues internship that facilitates my dream of someday owning my own garden/eden.
6. Help someone find their voice.
7. Get a bus. Go on a road-trip/backpack to Peru, Argentina, Machu Picchu in NOVEMBER.
8. Learn guitar. Write songs. Paint. Jam sessions with musical people. Share more.
9. Love. "I have the best relationship ever with a partner who is beyond my wildest dreams."
10. I experience the best health ever. ("I effervesce with the most radiance, joy and health, and I consistently feel the best ever.")
11. I live sustainably every day, I learn more about the environment always. I Create more and consume only what I need to live.
12. Learn everything about Permaculture.
13. I eat the best food ever.
14. I have the best friends ever. "I surround myself with people who uplift my spirits every time we see each other. I constantly meet people who are bigger than me. People who think bigger, act bigger. (By bigger, I mean individuals of lofty consciousness, language and achievements. People who astonish me with their commitment to love and dedicate their lives to the betterment of themselves and the salvation of the world from ignorance.") *thank you David Wolfe...
15. I drink the best water ever.
16. I eat the best herbs and medicinal plants ever, while learning everything about them.
17. I am consistently inspired and joyful.
18. I experience the best time ever in NYC!
19. Create the best blog "TV" show involving raw foods/spirituality/health/nutrition/interviews with inspired/interesting/passionate/creative/loving people etc... With my sister. Hall Sisters go RAW.
20. I experience the deepest spiritual understanding of our earth and the relationship that we have to nature.
21. I continue to set the best goals ever that continue to fill my life with flow, purpose and meaning.
22. I will own, build, grow and share... or ...become a part of a community spiritual healing center geared to raw foods and the raw food lifestyle, that has a thriving permaculture forest garden in Vilcabamba, Ecuador. The healing center will have raw food/health experts who can help people recover from illnesses and a stable for healing via horse therapy.
23. Complete my CTP 183 internship in June and work for the summer in the gardens at the Tree of Life center in Patagonia AZ.

Snow in the City

Adventures Post 1: The Big Concrete Jungle

(John Butler Trio @ the Bowery Ballroom 2/11/10)

Here I am, 3 weeks into my new life in NYC and I did it. I finally pressed the reset button, I left Davis to find some perspective and refill my cup, to learn a new way of life and find whatever it is I have been looking for. School is going great. The atmosphere at The Natural Gourmet School is fulfilling and inspiring. So far, I’ve met some incredible people, learned about health supportive, organic, sustainable, gourmet vegetarian cooking, and faced some of my fears. But I cannot put my finger on this feeling that has been pulling on my heart lately.

Maybe I miss California, I miss Davis, I miss my friends, and I miss the sunshine. I miss the smell of trees and soil. I miss wearing sweats all the time, lounging on the quad, bikes, running in fields when the sun was setting, talking about changing the world, solar ovens, squirrels and ducks, delta venus, warm nights and pear cider, riding horses early in the morning, nuggles, film classes. Now that these things are not outside my door, I understand how much they meant to me. Living in this concrete jungle has helped me see that I am my own cliché. I really didn’t know what I had until it was gone. I am grateful that I can say this, and I appreciate the fact that it took 3,000 miles and this change to shock my system into seeing it. I feel lucky and want to express my gratitude to all of the people who touched my life in Davis. Also, I am looking forward to returning for the Whole Earth Festival in May. I can’t wait.

On that note, I move forward, onward and upward. I am here and I am going to Carpe fuckin’ Diem. What I’ve been up to: I’ve been to a few concerts (John Butler Trio – my favorite so far), spent time at the great Museums, gone out to unique wine bars, met some bizarre artistic people and moved out of my comfort zone. Lessons NYC has taught me: 1. If you go outside, you must wear a coat, gloves, scarf, you get the idea. 2. People walk really fast here… Keep up or move out of the way. 3. Eye-contact = fun way to mess with people on the subway. 4.Times Square sucks a big one. 5. Live music as often as possible. 6. If you want to meet people, you have to pursue them, like a creeping predator. (New Yorkers are a suspicious breed) 7. Okay, the last one was a little weird, but it’s true. 8. Ipod outside = only when you want to be isolated. 9. Find a spot to write, the people watching is great. 10. Starbucks has literally taken over the city, like a giant tumor. There are not many quaint café’s left, but the ones that are left are full of really great people. 11. Don’t wear black, everyone else wears black. 12. Go to the Farmers Markets (Union Sq. is a good one). 13. If you want to be cool, and you’re a guy, the new “in” thing is Urban Mountain man. Grow a beard, carry a hatchet, wear hiking boots and quote Thoreau. 14. I just threw up in my mouth a little bit. 15. When you feel claustrophobic, go to Central Park, or to the rooftop of some building. 16. Never get on a Subway car if you’re the only girl. 17. Film students are everywhere. (Don’t interrupt them to talk about their projects, they get upset.) 18. If you’re new to the city and you are drinking, take a cab home, it’s easy to get lost. 19. Go to a Friday night burlesque drawing class… 20. EAT in all of the different ethnic “zones” of the city. The food is fantastic. 21. Explore! It really is a jungle out there.

-Peace, Love and Happiness (what could be more important?)

A Stray

It's sunset in the city. Light bends through the cloud licked high rises and New York is burning. The wind screams at me through the creases in the glowing pane and I feel alive again. My silhouetted dream looks back at me through this new landscape. "Do you feel inspired?" She caresses my ear and I feel entitled but I cannot answer. "Can you hear it?" She asks again and this time I close my eyes to open the piece of me that stopped believing in open doors. "You cannot hide from me." She calls again and this time I understand completely. "I see you" I respond and in my voice I hear for the first time a power that was not there before. Truth, beauty and love are my mission, but clichés drown in this city. So I wonder as I wander and me, she, heart and glory wander down into the hunting ground and naked, run from one another in this darkness. The moon is gone, so I follow my fluorescent guide for a week spent stalking infinity. I find myself beyond the birds song, beyond the flesh stretched thin, like a thorn pressing through a cheek, breaking through the peace, through the doors. Splintered, cold, cloaked and masked I get back in line while my beautiful quarry dies in the back of an alleyway. Maybe she'll be unearthed someday.

Review of "Somersault"

Somersault (2004) is an award winning Australian film directed by Cate Shortland. I became curious about it after I saw the impassioned performances by Sam Worthington in Terminator Salvation and Avatar. This film knocked my socks off and Abbie Cornish and Worthington are nothing short of brilliant. Somersault is Shortland’s feature debut as a director and she is remarkably subtle, patient and gentle with the weighty subject matter. The themes in the film deal with solitude, abandonment, growth, sexuality and the pain in and out of relationships. The film is about a young girl named Heidi (Abbie Cornish) who learns the difficult lessons that navigate the roads between love and sex. Cornish portrays Heidi’s fragility, innocence and torment with such quiet finesse it is easy to see why she was awarded Best Actress by the Australian Film Institute in 2004. Worthington also won Best Actor for his portrayal of Joe, the son of a wealthy farm owner whose confusion about where he belongs and desperation in the face of the obligation he feels for his family lead him to a bland, lonely existence. That is, until he meets Heidi who shows him that he is capable of loving, even for just a short time. The sound design, color scheme, costuming, especially the patient rhythm which Shortland wields, are thought provoking and inspirational. This film is a thinkers film and I recommend it to anyone who has a heartbeat. This film showed me that the courage to be vulnerable and the moments that bring us close are worth the pain that we go through to get there. More importantly, these are the moments that teach us what love is and are worth more than the invalidating opinions of the outside world. Do yourself a favor, and see this film.

New York!

Here I am fresh off the boat ready to start my adventure in NYC! Last night I went to a Jazz show at Joe's Pub starring Lauren Ambrose (redhead from 6 feet under) and her band the Leisure Class. WHAT A SHOW! She sounds like a carefree songstress child of Tori Amos, Ruth Etting and Evelyn Knight merged with some banjo strumming, bass slapping, piano playing, clad in 30's attire musician men and what a result. The band was endlessly entertaining and equally impressive as this was only their third performance together. Ambrose clearly brought her acting chops to the stage and in each song created a character, mood and story. From her light jazzy vibrato to the weighty power in her belt, Ambrose carried us to a faraway place where sipping a Manhattan in the dark corners of a speakeasy, chatting with the likes of Nick and Nora doesn't seem so unlikely. "New York I love you but you're bringing me down" was the last song of the night and what a song to end with. She brought the house down. If this is where my journey begins, I can only say that this trip is going to change my life. This city is inspirational and full of artists and I want to see and feel and live it to the fullest.

Review of "Up in the Air"

This film hit me hard and where do I start? Jason Reitman, who wrote and directed the film, gives us the story of a man living in the disconnected and isolated world of the business of firing, travel, convenience and luggage. The heartfelt performances by George Clooney and Anna Kedrick keep this disillusioned adventure captivating and thoughtful. I enjoyed the film as Clooney carried us through his characters journey to discovering connections with his family, lover, and friends. The journey he takes bends and Reitman becomes a bit preachy as Clooney's character learns that the value in his life has been in collecting meaningless "club points" rather than pursuing friendships, commitment and the dream of the American family. Reitman balances the decisions his main characters make with the unveiled truth that there are not easy, one sided answers or solutions to the problems in our lives; People are not always as they seem, the institution of marriage is not for everyone and in the face of the meaninglessness of it all, we must carry on. Oscar worthy? Definitely. See it or skip it? See it, as it seems to capture the struggles all of us are facing in this recession, points us towards the future and although it ends without giving us all of the answers, shows us that the relationships in our lives are worth having, given the alternative.

Resolution part 2

So with more time to think about it. I'm simply going to say that my resolution is to create more.