Thursday, April 30, 2009

Deal Breaker


Not if he littered, I wouldn't!

I was flipping through a magazine at a friend's house the other day when I came upon some mini articles showcasing professional climbers, or something of the sort. One of the questions each one was asked regarded pet peeves. 3/4 of the guys said "litterbugs." I heavily agree! Not only is littering a pet peeve of mine, it's also a deal breaker.


I asked my friend what he thought about litterbugs, in the form of this question:

Imagine you are seeing wonderful girl. Everything is going great, and you seem to have the best chemistry together- you just click. You two are walking through a park or on a sidewalk after another great date, and she blatantly throws her trash on the ground. Would you break up with her right then and there?

See, I would. He had to think about it, but I think he would start to reconsider. As adults, there are certain things we do and don't do that our morals and values reflect in. I would never, ever litter. Confession: Yes, I throw apple cores out of car windows into heavily wooded or brushed areas, but that will decompose and provide nourishment to the ground and animals/insects. I would never throw an apple core into a neighbor's yard, or anywhere public. I can hold my trash until I find an appropriate way to deal with it.

Anyway, the littering thing- deal breaker. There's a list of deal breakers, and littering is on the top (right up there with animal abuse or petty theft) . Why do it?

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

I think you do, too.

Friday, April 17, 2009

Yay!!

One of my favorite blogs, The Drishti Blog, added me to their blogroll. I love it! I need to start commenting them from my lifestyle blog, and maybe....they will both be on the list <3

If you're ever in Santa Barbara you have to check out the Drishti store and Sojourners, right next door, for some awesome inspiring yoga stuff (like books or a Manduka black mat) and yummy food!

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Life is Good

I woke up this morning totally happy. Now THAT's what I'm used to. I swear my bad moods have been coming from bad eating over the last two weeks...but this week, things are going to be great. I'm still feeling some stress but overall who isn't? I can't complain too much- and when I do it's few and far between. Right? Ok maybe a little more.


The bottom line is: Life is Good

Taking a Year Off

This is me! I'm definitely white- I like the stuff white people like. Uh oh- I thought I was just a little unique and classy- but oh no, it's in there!


Here's mine. If you have time, copy and paste the list from HERE and delete the one's that don't apply to you.

* #124 Hating People Who Wear Ed Hardy
* #120 Taking a Year Off
* #119 Sea Salt
* #117 Political Prisoners
* #116 Black Music that Black People Don’t Listen to Anymore
* #115 Promising to Learn a New Language
* #114 America
* #112 Hummus
* #109 The Onion
* #108 Appearing to Enjoy Classical Music
* #107 Self Aware Hip Hop References
* #106 Facebook
* #102 Children’s Games as Adults
* #99 Grammar
* #96 New Balance Shoes
* #94 Free Healthcare
* #93 Music Piracy
* #92 Book Deals
* #91 San Francisco
* #90 Dinner Parties
(91 is about token friends. Who cares- I love all my friends)
* #87 Outdoor Performance Clothes
* #85 The Wire
* #83 Bad Memories of High School
* #82 Hating Corporations
* #81 Graduate School
* #78 Multilingual Children
* #72 Study Abroad
* #70 Difficult Breakups
* #69 Mos Def
* #64 Recycling
* #63 Expensive Sandwiches
* #62 Knowing What’s Best for Poor People
* #61 Bicycles
* #59 Natural Medicine
* #55 Apologies
* #54 Kitchen Gadgets
* #51 Living by the Water
* #50 Irony
* #48 Whole Foods and Grocery Co-ops (heck yes!!)
* #47 Arts Degrees
* #46 The Sunday New York Times
* #45 Asian Fusion Food
* #44 Public Radio
* #43 Plays
* #42 Sushi
* #41 Indie Music
* #39 Netflix
* #38 Arrested Development (yes, yes, and yes)
* #37 Renovations
* #35 The Daily Show/Colbert Report
* #33 Marijuana
* #28 Not having a TV (so..you know me, right?)
* #27 Marathons
* #24 Wine
* #23 Microbreweries
* #21 Writers Workshops (righteee oh)
* #20 Being an expert on YOUR culture (yup I think I know everyone else's culture...siiighhhh)
* #19 Traveling
* #18 Awareness
* #15 Yoga (are you laughing yet)
* #13 Tea
* #12 Non-Profit Organizations
* #10 Wes Anderson Movies
* #9 Making you feel bad about not going outside
* #6 Organic Food
* #5 Farmer’s Markets
* #4 Assists
* #3 Film Festivals


I'm totally laughing at myself. I even bought the book. Have fun with this.

Monday, April 13, 2009

Tea Prices?

Going up? Check this out: BBC NEWS

Also..check out the Dristhi Blog for other awesome articles, not just for yogis.


My favorite teas?
Tazo Gunpowder Green
Tazo Awake
Yerba Mate (Yerba...Matey! ok not really. Yerba Mah-tay)
Tazo Refresh

and most black/green teas. No thanks on the floral/herbal stuff.

Something about STASH tea grosses me out. I feel like it's a TAZO knock off. Why do I care? I'm a tea snob. However- I do get tea at Trader Joe's- sooo cheap, too! So when these prices go up...check out TJ's. Check them out anyway.

involuntary

The past few weeks have been amazing and depressing. As August is coming quickly, I have gone into self destruct mode. I think I did this last year before graduation. I may need a lot of attention so that I'm not left to my own devices.

I was involuntarily cast in a play that I perform next week.

I broke a tooth last night. Thankfully, I'm tight with my dentist and she got my in ASAP this morning even though the office was on break all last week. If you need a great dentist in Riverside (Palm/Central), CLICK HERE. She's super sweet, too. So is the staff.

Anyway- I looked like my mouth was paralyzed on one side most of the day. Even the chick at Quiznos in Palm Desert gave me a weird look. So what, what if I was really handicap? People can be so...ugh...insensitive?

Even my own attitude has been pretty bad. I'm having a hard time functioning. I need to write it out.

DAMN CHOCOLATE BUNNIES...DAMN YOU! AND YOUR CADBURY EGGS!

And then...there's guilt.

I'm probably such a pleasure to be around right now :) BUT I needed to vent. What I probably need is a good cry. OH, and I need to write...I said that...but you know, it's kinda like my job I don't get paid for. I need to continue to write.

And kick the chocolate...

Thursday, April 9, 2009

Jen, interrupted.

It's that time- I have to pack up my favorite things (books and photos, duh!) to move up to my Dad's. That makes almost everything else in my room fall into one of three categories:
1. Furniture (to be moved at a later date)
2. Essentials (clothes, sheets, hygiene, some books- to go to Guam or be moved at later date)
3. Sell/donate- "stuff"

I packed all of my books (minus poetry/fiction workshop books that I will be taking with me) and photo albums that I have invested time, money, and thought in. These books are mostly hardbound, huge, and speak to my artistic and cultured side. It's the photo albums that's killer. I ordered an iPod touch so I can store all of my photos and music. That helped me deal with packing the hard copies up. Here's my books and albums:


I managed to fit all of this into one box!



I even packed up my heavy blanket and winter clothes. I am only storing a few things at my dad's; everything else is obsolete. Life is so much better when its simple- but it's human and American to want to hold on to possessions. Everything I need will be provided, and for some amazing reason, I have a sense of relief right now. Time to get moving- August's coming fast.

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Holy Spirit Moving

This morning, I met with Dave, Joyce, and Sam Owen (+2- Titus and Courage) to catch up on Guam fund raising. Dave and Joyce live on Guam and happened to be in town this week, so it was a great opportunity to spend some QT with my new support system. Sam and the babies are just awesome and their presence was definitely sending out good vibes for the day. During breakfast, and all day long, various friends I haven't spoken to in a while text msg'ed and emailed me: Check this out

During breakfast:
1. Stephanie Drew: "Can you send me your email again?" She is the movement behind rock climbing fund raising in Joshua Tree. She had fund raising on her heart-

2. Christina Cordero: "How's everything going with your trip and fund raising?"


After breakfast:
3. Debbie Miller: "Hey you...when do you want to do fund raising dinner and yoga fund raising?"

4. Cassie S: "Hey Jen! We haven't spoken in a while...but let's get together to discuss fund raising party for the 25!"

5. Scott Leadingham: oldest/longest childhood friend "I hear you're going to the Pacific Islands- before you leave you should read...." (a book I read :)



Wow- 5 people? All before 5 p.m.? Has God been putting something on your heart that you should probably share with someone? Knowing that these people were compelled to contact me today, of all days, is just one of the many reasons I have in which I know in my heart that this is God's plan for me.