Saturday, November 24, 2012

St. Lazaros Shelter



I had the honor of being invited to the St. Lazaros Shelter (a safe haven for the homeless in Downtown L.A.) yesterday for a post-Thanksgiving donation drive sponsored by UNFUCK THE WORLD. 

The invitation: "With winter just around the corner, they desperately need warm clothes, shoes, blankets, non perishable food, bottled water, feminine hygiene products, condoms, underwear (women's and men's), towels, sheets, toilet paper - anything will help and will be greatly appreciated. Of course you are also welcome to write a check ... :-)

You can stop by anytime, any day; Rey's store at the corner of 7th Street & San Julian is open 24/7."

Please consider donating to this worthy cause.

Thank you.

People...

Tuesday, September 25, 2012

The first to apologize is the bravest...

The first to apologize is the bravest, the first to forgive is the strongest, and the first to forget is the happiest. So true! Thanks ThatOneRule.com.

The Morning Music Playlist

September 25, 2012 - The Morning Music Playlist... Oh yeah! Enjoy. :D

1. U2 – All Because Of You – How to Dismantle An Atomic Bomb
2. Matt Nathanson – Come On Get Higher – Some Mad Hope
3. Bob Marley – Three Little Birds – Exodus (Deluxe Edition)
4. Cream – Sunshine of your Love – Disreali Gears
5. U2 – Stay – Zooropa
6. Credence Clearwater Revival – Fortunate Son – Chronicle
7. Coldplay – Lovers in Japan (Osaka Sun) – Prospekt’s March
8. Five For Fighting – 100 years – Back Country Live
9. The Postal Service – Such Great Heights – Give up
10. U2 – Bullet The Blue Sky – The Joshua Tree
11. Kris Allen – Apologize – Apologize (American Idol)
12. Enya – Only Time – A Day Without Rain
13. Franz Ferdinand – Take Me Out – Franz Ferdinand
14. U2 – City of Blinding Lights – How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb
15. Radiohead – Creep – Pablo Honey
16. Neon Trees – Animal – Habits
17. Carolina Liar – Show Me What I’m Looking For – Coming To Terms
18. The Bravery – Believe (Alt. Version) – The Sun And The Moon
19. The Rolling Stones – You Can’t Always Get What You Want – Singles Collection
20. Matchbox Twenty – Real World – Yourself Or Someone Like You
21. Aerosmith – Dream On – O. Yeah! Ultimate Aerosmith
22. The Strokes – Last Nite – Is This It
23. Kings of Leon – Sex On Fire – Only By The Night
24. Counting Crows – Sullivan Street – August And Everything After
25. Five For Fighting – Chances – Slice
26. Candlebox – Far Behind – Love Stories & Other Musings
27. Jimmy Eat World – The Middle – Bleed American
28. Matchbox Twenty – 3 AM – Yourself Of Someone Like You
29. Lost Lonely Boys – Heaven – Lost Lonely Boys (Dual Disc)
30. Dave Matthews Band – Jimi Thing (Live 2003) – Some Devil (Bonus Disc)
31. Dave Matthews Band – Tripping Billies – Crash
32. Queen – Under Pressure – Classic Queen
33. Coldplay – Sparks – Parachutes
34. Parachute – She Is Love – Losing Sleep
35. The Bravery – Fistful Of Sand (Alt. Version) – The Sun And The Moon
36. Anna Nalick – Breathe (2 AM) (Acoustic) – Shine
37. Nickelback – Rockstar – All The Right Reasons
38. INXS – Devil Inside – Kick
39. Dave Matthews Band – Crash Into Me (Live) – Life At Folsom Field Boulder
40. 3 Doors Down – When I’m Gone – Away From The Sun

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Health and Fitness Goals

After setting my new health and fitness goals and losing 2 pounds last week, I'm on a mission to lose 10-12 more pounds in the next 6 weeks, which would put me back to my ideal healthy weight. I read recently that posting my goals online is one good way to keep myself accountable and focused so here we are. :)

A few great sources of fitness information, I've been doing the cardio workouts from the Self Drop 10 Challenge and using Calorie Counter to track the calories of recipes I create. Although, I do read the recipe recommendations of both sites and have tried a few of their recipes with modifications, I tend to cook using my own recipes given I have strict personal dietary requirements/restrictions that their recipes don't always accommodate for. Also, after the last five years of practicing, I've actually become great at creating and making healthy recipes that taste amazing! :)

As part of the process, I created a Health and Fitness page on Pinterest. I've been especially enjoying the workouts labeled Monday - Friday (pictured below) & am pleased with the results so far. I have yet to find/make time each week to do five 1-hour workouts. I am getting in four good 1-hour workouts each week and lengthening the cardio beyond 20 minutes at least twice a week to get more miles in.

Before I started this new routine, I was hiking Runyon Canyon regularly but wasn't weight training and had hit a plateau, not seeing any weight loss results and actually gained a few pounds over the winter. Although I was eating healthy & exercising regularly, I wasn't counting my calorie intake. So as I was discussing this frustration with my lack of results with my good friend (who's in fabulous shape BTW), he suggested added interval running for 20 minutes a day, 5 days per week and weight training to my routine. I agreed to try and see what happened.

When I decided to start incorporating running into my workout routine, I began with interval "jogging" on the treadmill for 20 minutes. I decided to improve and increase my speed each week to build strength without causing self-injury or strain from over-doing it. It has been years since I've been a "runner" and I wasn't sure how my body would react to be honest. I'm now interval jogging/walking between a 20 min mile pace and 11.2 min mile pace for 20 - 30 minutes + doing the weight training routines below and ending with a 10 - 15 minute stretch & yoga session. Last week, I cut my daily calorie intake to 1600 per day and am finally seeing results on the scale. 5.5 weeks to go...

Be Good To You!

~Author Unknown

Sunday, June 24, 2012

One Day On Earth - 10/10/10 a.k.a. The Day I Almost Disappeared





Where were you on October 10, 2010?  That was the question I was asked prior to attending an LA Idea Project dinner series that hosted speakers Kyle Ruddick and Cari Ann Shim Sham, the team of One Day On Earth on February 12, 2011. This will be easy to figure out was my immediate thought. After all, among other things, I am a planner, a journalist and a photographer. I document and highlight key life moments daily, taking notes and pictures constantly of anything that intrigues, inspires or interests me. Or so I thought...

The day of the dinner, I searched high and low for evidence of my whereabouts on that day and came up blank. No notes or agenda written on my calendar, no pictures on my camera from that day, no emails written or received, no purchases made on my bank statements. The day was blank.  How was this possible? I wondered... What did I do that day?  I know I existed for here I still am. I didn't disappear. I must have done something?! Dig deeper, I thought.  I must have some record of that day.

As it turns out, in order to detox, remove and release some of the stress and pressure of
 an incredibly full & productive life in the big bustling city that is Los Angeles and to truly relax, maintain balance, stay healthy, focused and grounded, sometimes I decide to simply slow things down and take a day for myself  to just be quiet, rest and reflect.  As I researched further, I realized that Sunday, October 10, 2010 was one of those days. Not yet having discovered One Day On Earth's cause, I thought it was a perfectly auspicious day to do so given it was a Sunday and the date was numerically aligned & significant, a perfect day for silence and reflection.  I did receive two phone calls according to my phone records but other than that, I had nothing physical to contribute to the project.  Still wanting to participate, I submitted a postcard with a 24-hour circular timeline with two small pie pieces marking the time of those phone calls as my contribution to the evening, "The Day I Almost Disappeared".

That evening, I discovered and was in complete awe of clips of this incredible crowd sourced documentary of everything that had been transpiring around me in the universe while I had essentially disconnected. While I was taking a brief and rare moment of silence and reflection, people from every country in the world were participating in the global film experience that is now the film documentary One Day On Earth.

The film is currently screening until June 28th at the Laemmle Music Hall 3 in Beverly Hills. After much excitement and anticipation to see the finished film, yesterday I finally experienced the final incredible connected documented journey of that One Day On Earth and highly recommend you experience the beauty of it for yourself. People from every country in the world documented and submitted footage on a variety of beautifully passionate topics from life to death including children, animals, nature, the environment, love, health, war, famine, politics, the economy, music, passion, and more. The film's Director, Kyle Ruddick was at the screening I attended yesterday for a question and answer session.  For more information and to participate in future events, please visit http://www.onedayonearth.org/

So do you know what were you doing on October 10, 2010?  Do your homework to figure it out and then go witness the film and experience all that was simultaneously connecting to you to life on Earth on that one day. It's perspective is collaborative, participatory and inspiring all in one moment.

I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. Please also show your support by sharing this information with others. Thank you. :)

Native American Code of Ethics

1. Rise with the sun to pray. Pray alone. Pray often. The Great Spirit will listen, if you only speak.

2. Be tolerant of those who are lost on their path. Ignorance, conceit, anger, jealousy and greed stem from a lost soul. Pray that they will find guidance.

3. Search for yourself, by yourself. Do not allow others to make your path for you. It is your road, and yours alone. Others may walk it with you, but no one can walk it for you.

4. Treat the guests in your home with much consideration. Serve them the best food, give them the best bed and treat them with respect and honor.

5. Do not take what is not yours whether from a person, a community, the wilderness or from a culture. It was not earned nor given. It is not yours.

6. Respect all things that are placed upon this earth - whether it be people or plant.

7. Honor other people's thoughts, wishes and words. Never interrupt another or mock or rudely mimic them. Allow each person the right to personal expression.

8. Never speak of others in a bad way. The negative energy that you put out into the universe will multiply when it returns to you.

9. All persons make mistakes. And all mistakes can be forgiven.

10. Bad thoughts cause illness of the mind, body and spirit. Practice optimism.

11. Nature is not FOR us, it is a PART of us. They are part of your worldly family.

12. Children are the seeds of our future. Plant love in their hearts and water them with wisdom and life's lessons. When they are grown, give them space to grow.

13. Avoid hurting the hearts of others. The poison of your pain will return to you.

14. Be truthful at all times. Honesty is the test of ones will within this universe.

15. Keep yourself balanced. Your Mental self, Spiritual self, Emotional self, and Physical self - all need to be strong, pure and healthy. Work out the body to strengthen the mind. Grow rich in spirit to cure emotional ails.

16. Make conscious decisions as to who you will be and how you will react. Be responsible for your own actions.

17. Respect the privacy and personal space of others. Do not touch the personal property of others - especially sacred and religious objects. This is forbidden.

18. Be true to yourself first. You cannot nurture and help others if you cannot nurture and help yourself first. 

19. Respect others religious beliefs. Do not force your belief on others.

20. Share your good fortune with others. Participate in charity.


This originally appeared in the "Inter-Tribal Times," October, 1994

The Purpose of A World Butterfly ~ My Inspiration

I am documenting this journey with a purpose in mind.

My personal and professional experiences can be described as similar to the metamorphosis of a butterfly: growing, learning, expanding knowledge, gaining insight and evolving in the quest for love, peace, health & prosperity.

I trust my internal compass as strong and thriving, keeping me on track to pursue challenging and rewarding life goals.

NOW is always the time to make a difference and create positive impact.

My intention is to step-by-step create change through action that can benefit many worldwide.

About Me

MY NAME IS VANESSA. WORLD IS A COMMON NAME FOR THE PLANET EARTH BUT IS ALSO OFTEN USED TO MEAN THE SUM OF HUMAN CIVILIZATION LIVING ON IT, SPECIFICALLY HUMAN EXPERIENCE, HISTORY, OR THE 'HUMAN CONDITION' IN GENERAL.[1] IN A METAPHYSICAL CONTEXT, WORLD MAY REFER TO THE UNIVERSE, EVERYTHING THAT CONSTITUTES REALITY. VANESSA HAS BEEN ADOPTED AS THE NAME OF A GENUS OF BUTTERFLY. THE ANCIENT GREEK WORD FOR "BUTTERFLY" IS ΨΥΧΉ (PSȲCHĒ), WHICH PRIMARILY MEANS "SOUL", "MIND". A BUTTERFLY IS SEEN AS THE PERSONIFICATION OF A PERSON'S SOUL; WHETHER THEY BE LIVING, DYING, OR ALREADY DEAD. IN CHINESE CULTURE TWO BUTTERFLIES FLYING TOGETHER ARE A SYMBOL OF LOVE. IN SOME OLD CULTURES, BUTTERFLIES ALSO SYMBOLIZE REBIRTH INTO A NEW LIFE AFTER BEING INSIDE A COCOON FOR A PERIOD OF TIME. THIS IS MY STORY...