Ahhhh.... just thought I'd go off to Lanikai Beach today.

And this is probably as close as I'll get to it for a while ... :-( I had the pleasure of living here for six years of my life and made some beautiful friends who are like family to me still. God is very good to me!

Well ... I'm humming along nicely on my raw adventure ... and I'm looking forward to having my very own kitchen soon (not having to share one stealthily so as to avoid running into housemates!) Having my own kitchen will be a turning point in terms of being much more versatile in what I can "uncook" for myself. I'll be making many more lunches to bring to work and saving a ton of $$ doing so ... that's one great benefit. Also, I'll be much more inspired to try new things because the cleanup will be so handy ... as opposed to schlepping up a huge flight of steps to get to a sink (as is the case in the place I'm in the process of moving out of).

So ... good things on the horizon with regard to not only food prep ... but having a bike handy and room for my mini-tramp right outside my door on the patio! I'm in training for a big hiking trip I'll be making in the early Summer of '09. It'll be the biggest physical challenge I've ever taken on -- but it'll probably be one of the best adventures I'll ever experience. I haven't decided yet, but the hike is a toss-up between biking (and hiking) in Ireland (County Mayo, of course) . . .


With Lough Nafooey (Loch na Fuaiche) in the background. (On the borders of counties Galway & Mayo)

. . . or hiking across three English National Parks for a total of about 190 miles from the Irish to the North Sea

North of St. Bees on day 1 of the walk . . . Coast-to-Coast Walk Across
England . . . St. Bees to Robin Hood's Bay

Of course, the perks of this hike would be getting to meet new foks in pubs and B&B's each night! Not to mention some very firmed-up quadriceps! Both adventures are a far cry from Lanikai ... but just for today, I'm ever so thankful I had the chance to live at that beautiful beach town for so many years.

Check out "Go Raw Now" . . . Hokey in parts (especially the winged nymph in final scene!) ... but worth a look and a listen.

The best news I have on the personal home front is that I'm in the process of moving into my very own apartment ... after sharing living space for five years! I cannot tell you how happy I am to have found a lovely little place (living room, bedroom, dining room, kitchen, full bath, a personal storage room and a washer and dryer just steps from my door) at a price I can afford, utilities included! It also has a huge back patio and beautiful yard ... just several minutes' walk to a fresh-water lake and stream! Who's got it better than me?! Added perk: it's just a mile from my good friend's home and the place I lived for the last five years. I got everything I'd prayed for w/ the exception of lots and lots of light. This has some good natural light ... but not LOTS ... Hey, it'll keep me outdoors more this way! The guy who owns the place -- a single dad who lives in the other half of the house -- told me that deer, rabbit, chipmunk and other happy critters love to come visit in the yard. Fine by me.

This weekend is promising to be quite an interesting one I think. I'll be one of about 45 former "Our Lady of Victory" students gathering together after 40 years (!) for our grammar school reunion ... in Mount Vernon, New York. We're actually going to meet at the church for a 5:00 o'clock mass and then hit a restaurant in the next town over and have fun catching up on our lives. My closest cousin, Bernadette, will join me, as she knows a lot of the same people due to our both being in the CYO together. I noticed that about five boys that I had mad crushes on will all be there ... all of us looking quite a bit different, to say the least! :-) We wanted to track down and invite Sr. Mary Godfrey and Father Smith (real names withheld!), two "religious" who left their respective orders and married one another way back when it was even more scandalous that it might be today, but alas, we learned they have divorced. We did, however, invite the present head of the school, who eagerly accepted . . . and is hoping for large donations from us all, no doubt. (The school is in dire straits we hear. Too bad ... I have many fond memories of that place.)

Someone sent me a photo of our Fourth Grade class ... and I actually remembered the full names of about 98 percent of the folks in the photo (a shot taken 44 years ago! Amazing.)

In Less Than 60 Days . . . The Raw Spirit Festival Happens in Sedona, Arizona. Come Join Us!

Our So-Called Representatives Have Sold Us Out. Let's DO Something Now!

Knocked down, but not knocked out ... The Constitutional notion of "WE the People" is hangin' by a thread. We can still DO something though.

A Nation in Need of Blessing - Happy July 4th, 2008

More than any other time in our country's brief history, I think we are greatly in need of Divine blessing.

So may God bless us with: willingness to see the truth; gratitude for all that we have (in a land that began with such a noble vision, we fall far short of it way too many times to note); courage to stand for what is good, not merely expedient or profitable; light to expose and bring down leaders driven by callousness and greed; and humility that leads to renewal and redemption.

I post this song as an entreaty ... Happy 4th of July!

Happy Weekend : )

Cool Speaker for June: Brian Clement - Confirms Insanity of Cell Phone Use; Debunks Supposed Hazard of Drinking Distilled Water

I really like this guy, Brian Clement. He is the director of the Hippocrates Health Institute in Florida (originally founded by Ann Wigmore in Boston). Every time I hear him speak, I learn something simple and helpful. He has finally settled for me two issues: whether distilled water is worth drinking (a debate for years in the raw foods world) and whether cell phones and laptops are worth the health risks. Re: the latter, what I suspected years ago -- when I first used a cell phone driving cross-country while moving to Hawaii -- is that cell phones don't belong in the hands (or against the heads) of humans and that laptops don't belong in their laps (!) ... something I suspected a bit too late for my own good.

Tree house ... log cabin, anyone?