a TED talk on creativity

This made me cry....I feel inspired and joyous and encouraged to keep doing my art (not that stopping is an option!). Elizabeth Gilbert, author of "Eat, Pray, Love" discusses the fears and insecurities that arise in artists when faced with the daunting task of having to express genius...every time they make something. She suggests that it is the perspective that creative genius is personal, a characteristic of the individual rather than an external godly force that strikes or flows through the artist, that hinders us to feel free in our creating. Our job is to "show up for work" and allow for inspiration to join us.

i love new york

This vid made me smile, which means that it's blog-worthy.
Check it.



In total, this improv group has created 80 scenes of "chaos and joy". Click here for more info about the above stunt and all the others.

it's all going according to plan....

hahahaha. made me laugh....

gigs gigs gigs

It has been a while since I've written- 'scuse me, "blogged"; not because I haven't been living, but because I have!

I feel so much in the flow of things, like I'm streaming down a river towards all that I have ever wanted, and man o man, is it a great feeling!

I played two fun shows last week and am looking forward to yet another...NOTHING makes me feel more fulfilled and purposeful than getting up on a stage and singing my songs to people who care to listen.

And speaking of songs, I wrote a new one a week ago that is still compelling me to play it several times a day. It was one of those miraculous moments that had me feeling like I was less the creator and more the mid-wife to it's delivery. Instinctively, I matched some lyrics from a month-old page in my journal to a few chords on my guitar and ten minutes later it was born, alive and well, with all of it's necessary parts to ensure it a good life.

So basically, life is tasting sweet and I am enjoying being hungry.

What a perfect combination...!

(gotta go play my song!)

doin' the monk-walk

yummy minestrone

I looooooooooooove making soup.

Unless you are REALLY stunted in the kitchen, it's virtually a fool-proof meal to make, as you cannot possibly get it wrong! Not only is the ancient art of mixing an assortment of ingredients into a pot of seasoned water fun & super easy, I always end up with a tasty surprise.

Here is a lovely minestrone I threw together last night, and I'm gonna tell you what I did:

First, I heated up some grapeseed oil in a soup pot and threw in bay leaves, coriander seeds, thyme, basil, rosemary, chili pepper, garlic and onions. As the spices simmered together, I prepared mybroccoli, green pepper, carrots, zucchini, potato, red onion, spring onion, cabbage, mushrooms, and then threw them into the pot along with some more water and Bragg's liquid soy.

After a couple of minutes of stirring the mix, I filled the pot with water, turned the burner on MAX and added a can of pureed tomatoes, chickpeas, a few split green peas and some rice pasta (for the authentic minestrone feel!)

Once the water was boiling I added some apple cider vinegar, pepper and sea salt. I turned the heat down to MIN, placed on the lid and sat back and excitedly awaited my yummy dinner!!!

I garnished the soup with some nutritional yeast and some pretty dried thyme that my sweet friend, Alex D, gave to me from his garden...!

my first coleslaw!

I find it really easy to go the grocery store and buy the same things over and over...(and over and over and over...!). Well, today I decided to challenge my little food rut, and dared to buy a head of cabbage. As a child, I loved eating the bits and pieces my mom would feed to me as she was preparing the cabbage for a soup. And, (I can admit it) I LOOOOOOVED the coleslaw that accompanied my Kentucky Fried Chicken. mmmmmmm......damn it was good!

So, given how much I love raw cabbage, I chose today to prepare my very own version of a vegan coleslaw. And I have to say, I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. Here's what I did:

I thinly sliced half a head of green cabbage (as there is only one of me :), leaving the pieces nice and long. Then, using a peeler, I sliced thin strips of carrot right into the bowl. I like using the peeler to grate because you end up with lovely pale, almost translucent, strips of carrot which match the light green of the cabbage nicely. Next up on the chopping block was one granny smith apple, and then half a small red onion...both as thinly sliced as possible.

For the dressing, I simply KNEW that sesame oil was the way to go. So i mixed some of that in a bowl with some lemon juice, apple cider vinegar, brown sugar, seeded mustard, and good ol' salt and pepper. As I tossed that around with the salad, I threw in some organic raisins for good measure!

And now I am eating a really nice, well-balanced crunchy salad for lunch, with LOTS leftover to eat later!