Andy Baio’s Neighborhood

Eliot's story:

once there was a little baby monster going out for a walk with his brothers. then they go out for another walk to go to the toy store. then there was a butterfly going to the monster and the monster ate it all up. the monster likes to eat butterflies all up. the monster made a circle with his paws. (i'm coloring a circle in for the story). then he goes to the airport and then to the park on an airplane. he figured out that idea. then he went for a walk to the airport. he built a tiny little circle.  and then he saw a mysterious mouse eating strawberry cheese and then we went in the water to swim with the mermaid so they can be friends together and mix up the colors of their uniforms so they can play play-doh together. then they saw a cute tiny dinosaur and they went out to the ocean to swim with him. then they saw another mermaid with cherry cheese. and they went for another walk together, eating cherry cheese, making friends together and they saw a robot and caught it in a tube and played in the sand. they saw a spot of color on the rock. then they saw some paper to draw on, a remote control color crayon, and a sheep, they went across the ocean. across on a boat, an airplane and a taxi cab to go to the park. they made stickers with smiley faces on them to put in their sticker book. they found a piece of paper and they saw the robot in bed all night for 68 hours! then they ate some m&m's. they put stickers over their bed and saw another remote control crayon, letters, and the a car driving down a street. then 20 cars then 9 cars then there were so many cars and that's the end of my story.

http://rawfoodsuccess.blogspot.com/2008/08/raw-food-lessons-by-and-for-kids-little.html

This is one of the cutest best videos ever!! Props to the raw food success blog! Smooch!

Please please please watch this. Adorable.

"If you're not living on the edge, you are taking up too much room."
~African proverb

Yesterday I completed a 30 day trial membership with a local yoga studio. It was life changing for me. In less then two weeks I was doing back bends which I haven't had the courage or flexibility to attempt since I was a kid. Also, as of yesterdays class I was able to go into full plow pose and another tricky one for me: hold myself with my hands, head up, and legs up, hovering my bootie above the mat- and stay there! I felt like a magician/wonder woman. And you know what I realized is kind of fun? Trying something and then literally falling right over. Ha! Then you get back in and try again!

I'm converted and hooked! So happy I realized what a strong training component yoga is to all the stress of marathon training.

Any yoga people here?

I am so delighted to say I have a guest blog post today over at rozsavage.com. Please check it out! So exciting to be a small part in Roz's big history making journey.

I decided to post my rough draft from the article I sent to Roz just in case there are more details that might interest readers here. Remember to check out Roz's site, she's endless in inspiration and amazes me!

I love food! I love to talk about food, eat food, and for the first time in my life, I love making food.  My newest passion is raw, or "live," food -- a radically simple and healthy way to eat.  Over a year ago, I met Roz as one of her personal trainers in Northern California, and she recently became interested in raw food after reading my blog.  Roz is incorporating it into her diet, so she's asked me to write a little about my lifestyle and how to get started with raw foodism.

My introduction to raw food came several years ago, with the opening of Juliano's Raw in Santa Monica. I was amazed at the potential of raw vegan food and the surge of energy and happiness that came with every meal. I was raised a meat-eater, but switched to vegetarianism 15 years ago, before becoming vegan last year. In the process of my own journey, I've read countless books, taken classes, and paid for nutritional advice -- all to find what would give me loads of energy, lose body fat and increase lean muscle. But it wasn't until earlier this year that I really dove into raw food.

Raw food is nutritious, available and easy. As a rule of thumb, stick to local, organic and in-season ingredients, with a staple diet of greens, green juice, green smoothies, salads, fruit, fruit smoothies, nuts, seeds and sprouts.  Sprouts are very easy to grow, even in the middle of the Pacific Ocean!  During her row, Roz is growing her own fresh sprouts, providing instant access to a great source of vitamins A, C, E, and B.  Raw chef and instructor Kristin Suzanne writes, "There is no doubt that sprouts are one of the healthiest foods you can consume because they're considered a “pre-digested” food, making them more easily assimilated by your body."
 
Recommended, but not required, are some fun kitchen gadgets -- a powerful blender, a food processor, dehydrator and juicer. I only own the first two and get by famously. Almost every day, I make fresh, green juices by using my BlendTec blender, then straining through a cheesecloth-like bag. It's so easy and feels like instant energy! If you do have a juicer and dehydrator, your big bonus is the ability to create flax crackers with extraordinary flavors and densely-packed nutrition until your heart and belly are content.

More and more, ready-made raw food products are being offered because of growing demand from raw-curious consumers. Larabar and Lydia's Organics make it easy to not own a dehydrator for this aspiring raw foodist.  Roz wrote about her supply of Larabars' "yummy fruit and nut bars" on day 32, writing, "My favourite flavours are Apple Pie, Banana Cookie, Ginger Snap, Chocolate and Chocolate Coffee."  Lydia's Organics makes delicious bars, cereals, crackers, breads and trail mix.

But where do you get your protein? Sprouts, seeds, nuts, goji berries, spirulina, quinoa, collards, coconuts and more.  Carbohydrates come from vegetables, fruit, nut butters.  Healthy fats are only available in flaxseed, hemp seed, olive oil, avocados, nuts, and more seeds. And like Roz, I'm one of those people that believes a day without chocolate is like a day without sunshine. So yes, I eat chocolate every single day!

"Superfoods" is a buzzy word in the raw and health food worlds, short for highly-nutritious foods packed with anti-oxidants. Things like cacao, goji berries, spirulina, acai, hemp seeds, and bee pollen (not strictly vegan, so you'll have to decide for yourself).  These shining superstar foods really pack a lot of nutrition, and they're easy to add to cereals, smoothies and, in some cases, even homemade ice cream.  Yum!

I've found eating this way has given me energy, quicker recovery from physical training, sleep improvements, and beautiful skin, which I've struggled with most of my life having some minor rosacea and acne. Plus, less processed foods mean less waste in the trash can and around the waist!

To get started with making your own raw foods, start with some simple Green Smoothies.   Blend up a couple of your favorite fruits like a banana and a handful of frozen blueberries, a cucumber and a few spinach leaves. Slowly add more spinach each day, or try some kale. If you still taste the greens, try squeezing in some lemon to cut it.

For Green Juice, try a mix of kale, celery, cucumber and a whole lemon. Blend it up and strain thoroughly. Put in on ice, and you have green lemonade!

For dessert, blend up a few bananas, cacao powder, mesquite, vanilla, pitted dates, a little chocolate liquid stevia, ice cubes, and a little water to get it all moving. Set this mixture in the freezer and you have healthy ice cream!  Seriously!

The raw food community is also abundant. Lovely people at Gone Raw and We Like It Raw post recipes and inspiring stories from all points of view.

So, there you have it. A little crash course in raw food fun. Lots of people tend to be turned off by the term raw food and prefer to say live food.  But I say, how about just "food"? Sometimes, I think we need to relearn what real food is. For myself I've found that there are incredible benefits to adding more greens, fruits, and veggies to my diet. How new and revolutionary is that? Ha!

Thank you, Roz!
 Have a beautiful day everyone!

This disturbs me:

http://www.boingboing.net/2008/08/06/scientists-invent-me.html

Meat spaghetti? What?

This disturbs me:

http://www.boingboing.net/2008/08/06/scientists-invent-me.html

Meat spaghetti? What?

http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2008/08/raw-food-diet-and-energy-gains/

This is a well thought out and interesting article about one persons experience with eating a 100% raw vegan diet. I had to share!

xoxo

I feel the need to flirt a little when I start writing about raw food again. Can't help myself.

This is going to be a big raw food nutrition post, hold on to your hats and blenders because this is high raw vegan information!

Get your healthy on! And get ready for lists lists lists. I've researched away and these are the yummy foods to get what your body needs for beauty and radiance. Enjoy!

Fats: coconuts, acai, durian, flax, hemp, olive oil, olives, avocados, nuts, seeds

Protein: seeds, nuts, sprouts, goji berries, quinoa, collards, coconut

Carbohydrates: nut butters, vegetables, fruit, goji berries, noni, coconuts, chia seeds

Vitamin A: carrots, spinach, red peppers, yellow peppers, watercress, tomatoes, green leafy vegetables- like kale, arugula, chards and collards, dried apricot, mango, sweet potatoes, pumpkin, cantaloupe, peaches, zucchini, asparagus, beet greens, winter squash, sprouts

Vitamin B: avocado, mushrooms, bananas, oranges, green leafy vegetables, acai, potatoes, sunflower seeds, artichokes, ginger root, bee pollen, nutritional yeast, spirulina, raspberries, sprouts

Vitamin C: green leafy vegetables, broccoli, parsley, potatoes, peas, oranges, kiwi, mango, guava, papaya, cantaloupe, strawberries, chili peppers. yellow peppers, watermelon, pink grapefruit, blueberries, raspberries, watercress, tomatoes, celery, beet root, cranberries, coconuts, durian, acai, sprouts

Vitamin D: Sunlight on your skin

Vitamin E: olive oil, tomatoes, avocados, apples, carrots, nuts and seeds, peaches, mustard greens, spinach, pumpkin, broccoli, blueberries, acai, sprouts

Folic Acid: asparagus, artichokes, spinach, avocados, papaya, raspberries, watercress, beet root

Vitamin K: green leafy vegetables, kelp, lettuce, broccoli, peas, onion

Minerals:
Calcium: almonds, green leafy vegetables, broccoli, turnip greens, oranges, rhubarb, figs, artichokes, okra, papaya, sesame seeds, honey, spirulina, cacao, chia seeds

Iodine: green leafy vegetables, asparagus, seaweeds

Iron: green leafy vegetables, pumpkin seeds, dried apricots, figs, dates, potato skin, artichokes, spirulina, dried peaches, almonds, peanuts, sunflower seeds, raspberries, coconuts, cacao

Magnesium: green leafies! avocados, bananas, apricots, apples, cashews, almonds, spirulina, quinoa, cacao

Potassium, Phosphates and Selenium: brazil nuts, pumpkin seeds, strawberries, bananas, tomatoes, spirulina, broccoli, collards

Zinc: green leafies! pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, almonds, artichokes, spirulina

Trace elements- Chromium, Cobalt, Copper, Flourine, Manganese, Molylodenum: green leafies! almonds, bananas, seaweeds

Fiber: fruits and veggies, nuts and seeds.

Superfoods: cacao, maca, goji berries, spirulina, bee pollen, acai, hemp seeds and more!

Phytonutrients:  yellow and orange fruits and vegetables: carrots, cantaloupe, papaya, pumpkin, squash, sweet potatoes, dried apricots, guava, pink grapefruit, watermelon, tangerines, oranges, peaches, mangoes, nectarines, strawberries and broccoli, nuts, seeds, cucumbers, eggplants, blackberries, green leafies, blueberries...

Sulphur: raspberries, brussel sprouts, cabbage, onions, carrots, parsley, celery, radishes, dandelion, garlic, string beans, sprouts

Sweeteners: stevia, yacon root, dates, honey

Sleepy foods: sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, hazelnuts, peanuts

Supplements: maca, msm, spirulina, and more. One of my favorites is The Ultimate Meal. I blend it with a banana and some chocolate liquid stevia. Bam!

Beautiful Skin foods: figs, burdock root, coconut oil, durian, papaya, msm, argula, aloe vera, cucumber, macadamia nuts, hemp seeds, onion, nettles, olive oil, turmeric, radishes, pumpkin seeds, watercress

There are so much for of course but this is a good start. Leafy greens anyone?

It's time for a rest little boy
The rainbow is out of power
Time for sleep little boy
Eliot falls asleep

Our boy is so lovely. He sang this song to me before his nap today. He made it up all by himself!

I took a long run today and it was lovely and long.

I was about one mile away from home, feeling accomplished with a good pace when I noticed a woman across the street from me. Arms flailing, belongings strewn across the lawn of a church she paced and yelled until she caught me in her sight. She ran in between oncoming cars to get to me. To throw her anger and crazy in my face. As she got closer I saw her dark eye makeup stained her cheeks black and she was raging. I stopped and asked if she was ok. She screamed, "No."  And then she said, "I'm going to fucking cut you and punch you." She said more but as she raised her fist in the air above me I turned and ran as fast as I could. I had head phones on that muffled her continued cursing and incoherent rant. I turned to see where she was when I felt I was possibly out of sight and luckily she didn't follow me. I then took out my phone and dialed 911 as I walked briskly backwards down the sidewalk, just in case. I gave my location, description and story and ran home with a bit of unwelcome adrenaline.

What happened to her, I don't know. I drove by later and all signs of her were gone. That's the first time in my life someone has raised their hand to me and it was so very very frightening. I can't get her out of my head and I don't want to think about what drove her to that moment in her life when our moments met.