being vegan ain't so bad...

Okay so after doing 3 days on the master cleanse, i was done with it. The taste in my mouth was so horrific, i couldn't even stand to smell my own morning breath...I thought i was going to go nuts, because no amount of toothpaste or listerine could fix this problem. Toxins, ewwy white toxins were coming out of my tongue...and was not prepared to deal with that...so off the cleanse I went....and the first thing I ate was vegan chili at Chili my Soul in Encino....maybe not the best thing to eat after three days of fasting...but when battling the nastiest taste in one's mouth...ever...its not a bad place to start.

So now I'm full into the Vegan diet thing...which is actually not that difficult. I found an awesome recipe site: www.theppk.com that pretty much has recipes for anything and everything that I thought I would be missing....And over the weekend I went out to a couple of parties (one being a BBQ) and other then having to cook tofu steak instead of a burger, there wasn't really any hassles to changing my diet....I guess the main thing i was worried about was that i would be annoying people by having to special order everything...but it turns out most of the places where I go to meet my friends, actually have vegan stuff on their menu....and if i have any doubts, I just cook something for myself before going out...

So yeah, I guess being Vegan isn't as challenging as I thought it would be...but maybe that's because I live in LA and not in Wisconsin...just a thought.

Master Cleanse

I am in the midst of doing the Master Cleanse. After a long weekend of birthday parties and drinking, I decided that the best thing for my aging body would be to do a detox. So here I am, Day 2, of the lemonade diet and cleanse. Surprisingly, i am not that hungry, although i did wake up to the most obnoxious sounds coming from my stomach....but a bit of lemonade quickly made the angry, noisy stomach quiet.

When I finish the cleanse, I am planning on going full on Vegan. I figure, my diet is already pretty Vegan, as i don't eat any meat, rarely drink milk or eat cheese, and as it stands almost solely eat tofu and veggies. So for now, I am going to explore the effects on my health of being a vegan.

Chinese New Year

I decided to head down to Chinatown for the Lunar New Year. It definately was not my first Chinese New Year spent in Chinatown (I have made it to the celebrations in Chicago, London, and LA before) but this year was the first time that I got to stand at the head of the parade and witness first hand the massive amounts of firecrackers that were being let off to celebrate the start of the parade. Somehow, by sheer dumb luck, I got front row seats for this fiasco. As I watch pyrotechnicians and LAFD workers set up a stand with over 100,000 firecrackers attached, it never really occured to me how loud the whole thing was going to be. I only thought of how cool it would be to see it...so I stopped, stood, and watched. Two groups of men prepared themselves for the dragon dance, news photographers got their cameras ready, and suddenly the firecrackers ignited and HOLY COW WAS IT LOUD!!! I got hit by a bunch of random firecrackers, but barely even noticed because of the sheer chaos of the moment. It was awesome! The dragons danced, smoke was everywhere, babies cried, and I thought, "what an awesome way to celebrate the new year."

Happy Year of the Dog everyone.

cherry blossoms in LA

The flowering trees have been blossoming over the past few weeks. Its beautiful. But something, I would never have taken the time to really notice if I had not spent my last year in Japan. Hanami season in Japan is truly a sight to behold. The winter has ended, and suddenly there are pink and white trees popping up all over the hillsides. People string up lanterns in the trees and host picnics late into the night: Drinking and musing over the beauty of nature.

I miss little things, here and there, about my time in Japan. Usually, I am struck by nostalgia at the most random of moments. Like when I find a beautiful flowering tree in the parking lot of the Japanese gardens...I wonder why the tree isn't actually inside the gardens...or why there aren't any flowering trees inside the gardens....Then I miss Sakura Chu-hi...something that you just can't get anywhere in America.

#6/52 Visiting the Watts Towers

When I first moved to LA, I lived in Gardena (one of the South Bay suburbs). Everyday, as I drove the 1 hour commute to the studios, I would pass a sign for the Watts Towers. I had no idea what the towers were, only that Watts was the sight of a major race riot during the 1970s. So although, I was curious, I was never curious enough to get off the freeway in the middle of Watts and check out these towers. Recently, somebody asked me if I had every managed to check them out. He said, they really are fantastic and worth the time to take a look. So, last Sunday, on my way to visit family in Gardena, I took the detour through Watts to the towers. My friend was right, they are amazing...and definately worth the detour.

Although the neighborhood doesn't exactly feel safe (I watched 2 blond tourists slowly roll past the sight, too afraid to actually leave the sanctity of their Honda) the fact that one man had a vision to create these massive structures, then proceeded to complete the task, is almost unfathomable. It is trully a testament to the human spirit...and that is what makes it so worth visiting.

#5/52 Tea at the Brown Palace

Before leaving Colorado, I had one last thing to do: have afternoon tea with my Aunts in downtown Denver. We had the absolute best time together. I feel that I was so lucky to have had the opportunity to spend so much time, while in Colorado, getting to really know my family. Both of my aunts have lived amazing lives, all over the world. So spending time with them, meant that i would get to hear fantastic stories about their lives. Whether it be sailing in regattas in Penang, or watching the Berlin wall come down, or simply stories of performing on Broadway...My aunts are two of the most incredible women that I know. And my afternoon with them was as unforgettable as they are.

I moved back home

I haven't written a post for awhile because I was in the process of moving from Colorado back to LA. I've now been in town for a little over a week, and finally I am able to allow myself to settle in. To say the least, it is a bit strange to be home. Not much has changed since I left, and yet everything is different. When I left LA, I had a great little apartment to myself near Los Feliz, a job that drove me insane (but paid the bills and left me enough money to buy the designer stuff I loved), and a huge community of friends and family that proved to be the greatest reason for my return. Now that I am back, I have roomate (who has a great house and has been so kind to let me stay), no job (but lots of opportunities, I am setting up meetings on a daily basis), but I still have my family and friends. Somedays, (like when i got a cracked windshield or when a guy drove into my car, leaving a nasty scuff) I wonder, "what the fuck am I doing back here?" But most days (like today, when i wandered the Japanese gardens for free, and enjoyed the 70 degree weather) I realize, this is where I belong.

As of now, I am unsure as to what my time in LA is leading to...but career-wise, If I am unable to find a job I like in the coming weeks, I may have to take a job at the local Church of Scientology...I mean, I worked at a Deli, how hard can scientologists be??