The movement was founded by a sixty-six-year-old Virginia-based psychotherapist named Brad Blanton. He says everybody would be happier if we just stopped lying. Tell the truth, all the time. This would be radical enough -- a world without fibs -- but Blanton goes further. He says we should toss out the filters between our brains and our mouths. If you think it, say it. Confess to your boss your secret plans to start your own company. If you're having fantasies about your wife's sister, Blanton says to tell your wife and tell her sister. It's the only path to authentic relationships. It's the only way to smash through modernity's soul-deadening alienation. Oversharing? No such thing.
I started out reading the article by recoiling in horror - how could he be so brazenly honest? I consider myself to be mostly honest, except when trying to play nice. Is it more important to be right than nice? Being honest isn't always nice and it often complicates things. But being honest makes you - well be honest. And with that honesty, comes a lot of good things, like communication and being real and a sigh of relief.
In fact, all my relationships can take a whole lot more truth than I expected. Consider this one: For years, I've had a chronic problem where I refer to my wife, Julie, by my sister's name, Beryl. I always catch myself midway through and pretend it didn't happen. I've never confessed to Julie. Why should I? It either means that I'm sexually attracted to my sister, which is not good. Or that I think of my wife as my sister, also not good.
But today, in the kitchen, when I have my standard mental sister-wife mix-up, I decide to tell Julie about it.
"That's strange," she says.
We talk about it. I feel unburdened, closer to my wife now that we share this quirky, slightly disturbing knowledge. I realize that by keeping it secret, I had given it way too much weight.
Honesty helps us grow and become better people. I'm not convinced people have the guts to be radically honest. But then, that's kind of a radical idea.
Rocker Pete Doherty has poured his heart out to UK tabloid The Mirror in a desperate attempt to win back model Kate Moss. The duo split earlier this month when Kate dumped Doherty after reports of the rocker’s infidelity surfaced.
"There's been this lockdown and I can't get hold of her. This is the only way I can get through,” Doherty, who recently left rehab, explains to Mirror readers. "I can't properly describe my feelings for Kate they are too strong. It's why I write songs."
It seems Moss can’t let go either, since Doherty claims the Rimmel cosmetics model drunk-dialed him just two days ago and crooned Moon River down the phone. But despite their obvious love connection, would getting back together be the best thing for the troubled couple? I asked my psychic pal, Stargazing celeb watcher Tanya for her thoughts.
“I believe that Pete loves Kate to death, and vice versa,” says Tanya. “I feel like this is a good match, but Kate can't lose her life while trying to stop Pete from giving away his. Pete needs to look at losing Kate for what it is: the loss of life. Indulging in drugs and promiscuity is his non-way of dealing with his issues. He doesn't equate these 'outlets' with life endangerment. However, when Kate pulled away, he now sees his own mortality. In a sense, I feel, as strange it may sound, that with Kate in his life, he'll actually live longer. Without Kate, I don't feel he'll survive for more than 2 years from now, if that long.”
New research has found that a low to moderate intake of caffeine beverages along with exercise may help prevent sun damage and skin cancer. In a study conducted at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, UVB-exposed mice that ran on a running wheel and drank caffeinated water showed a 400% increase in apoptosis, a mechanism in which UVB-damaged cells commit suicide rather than progressing to possible pre-cancerous stages. Control groups of caffeine drinking-only and exercise-only mice showed an increase in apoptosis of 95% and 120% respectively.
An earlier study at the same university, published in 2002, found that when caffeine was applied topically to the skin of mice it had similar cancer fighting properties. Cancerous tumors were reduced by a dramatic 72%, while benign tumors decreased by 44%. It should be noted the study only related to squamous-cell carcinomas and not the more deadly melanoma.
While more research is needed to see whether these results will translate from mice to humans, caffeine is the new it ingredient in beauty products such as Bliss Spa’s Love Handler. Though the caffeine-rich formula wasn’t tested for any cancer fighting properties, in clinical studies it did have other benefits. It was shown to reduce the appearance of cellulite, and bloating in the abdominal area, in a significant proportion of those tested. So drink up, slap it on, and don’t forget to exercise too.
Love Handler costs $36 for an 8 oz bottle and can be found at your nearest Bliss Spa or online at Blissworld.
Jude Law is reportedly crossing the Atlantic to wine and dine co-star Cameron Diaz. “Jude plans to take her on a series of dinner dates this week and just spend some time hanging out," a source told the UK’s News of The World. It seems life is imitating art for the pair who reportedly fell for each other on the set of the romantic comedy Holiday, which also starred Kate Winslet and Jack Black.
“He's charismatic, fun, open and charming. It's very easy to fall in love with him,” Diaz is quoted as saying on the subject of Law during junkets to promote the film, which hit theatres in December of last year. Since then, Diaz has split with longtime boyfriend Justin Timberlake, and Law has put his on/off relationship with actress Sienna Miller firmly in the off position.
But with Diaz and Law both still getting over long term romances, I asked Daily Mantra’s resident psychic Tanya what she thought of the couple’s prospects. “I don't feel longevity here. I'm feeling a mutual attraction and some fun times,” says Tanya. “I am not feeling a long-lived, happily-ever-after relationship between these two – nor am I feeling that they want that.”
A zoo in the UK has found an ingenious solution to stop war from breaking out amongst its population of meerkats: It hides their scent with Vicks VapoRub.
Staff at Paultons Park Zoo in Yorkshire, England, were concerned that fights may break out when it introduced three new animals to the pair they already had in residence.
"It is normally extremely difficult to integrate new meerkats into an existing group - their usual instinct is to try to attack any newcomers,” livestock manager Geoff Masson explained to the UK’s Daily Mail. Thanks to Vicks VapoRub, the animals are living in peace and harmony. If only it had the same effect on humans
Pilates - it's popular and it kicks your ass. But I find it really hard and it's not so entertaining. Well, enter Bur-lates.
We have meshed two of our favorite pastimes to give you a more entertaining and fun way to work out. We have the old style of Burlesque and vaudeville, mixed with the tried and true methods developed by Joseph Pilates, along with our own style of vaudeville, just to keep you entertained while you work!
Wowee! That sounds like fun. Burlates sure appealed to me. So I ordered me a copy.
The other night when I was not feeling so motivated I put in the DVD and plopped down on the couch. My butt stayed on the couch a whole 5 minutes before I got out my yoga mat and started following along. Between serious instruction explaining the (difficult!!) exercises are sexy demonstrations in the form of mermaids, cowgirls and fish net clad lovelies. I was inspired to build my strength and got ideas for costumes at the same time. It's true - Burlates made me forget I was exercising!
Production quality is good (but it's not Hollywood slick) and I liked that the women demonstrating (and wearing the costumes) had real-world bodies (that looked fantastic!). It's a great gift for a one off viewing or if to seriously have fun exercising. If you only watch it once, it's totally worth the $20. It might even get you on the floor exercising, like it did for me. You might want to think twice about wearing high heels while practicing though. ;)
According to a Reuters story, teen girls who spend lots of time blabbering on and on with their little friends about their silly adolescent problems are more likely to experience depression and anxiety, researchers said.
"Researchers suspect that such “co-rumination” causes some girls to dwell on fleeting problems like boy trouble and party snubs, leading to persistent feelings of sadness, hopelessness or worry."
You hear that, girls? The scientific researchers said your problems are silly and they're going to go away on their own, so you should get off the damn phone and start making something out of your life! Stop talking about your little boy troubles and parties and get on with it!
"In contrast, boys who discussed problems with their friends reported more positive friendships and had no increased risk of developing emotional difficulties," the study said.
In other words, why can't you be more like your brother?! He's doing just fine!
The researchers didn't mention anything about the fact that maybe the girls who spend more time talking about their problems might be doing so because they have more problems, and that they might be subject to more depression because of greater life difficulties. No! It's all that time on the phone!!
But are they putting the cart before the horse? No! They're scientists, and you're teenage girls. So suck it up, teenyboppers.
Details of the 11th Star Trek movie were announced yesterday by producer / director J.J. Abrams (whose credits include Armageddon and Mission Impossible III) in a presentation at Comic-Con in San Diego, CA. The film, to be released in Dec 2008, will star Zachary Quinto (Heroes) as the young Spock in this Star Wars-style prequel. Leonard Nimoy has also signed on to reprise his role.
One can only speculate if the fledgling Star Trek Federation, as featured in the new film, will allow their astronauts to fly drunk like NASA appears to have. In a recently released report, NASA confirmed it allowed un-named astronauts to fly under the influence of alcohol on two separate occasions, despite the fact that safety concerns were raised by fellow crew and medical experts.
"Every night I look at the stars and watch it rain over and over again. So this is it. Not much to it," says Dee. And that's the point. Not much to it. Simple. Small. A dream house tinier than a parking spot.
There is something to be said for living in a small space. It's small and cozy and if you're not a pack rat, you might enjoy having fewer objects. Like Mike Tyson once said, "At one point, I thought life was about acquiring things. Life is totally about losing everything."
Once you make room, something very cool often comes in.
An obesity study, which looked at data from more than 12,000 individuals who were observed repeatedly between 1971 and 2003, has come up with some rather puzzling results. Researchers at the Harvard Medical School and the University of California, San Diego, found that having overweight friends and family increases an individual’s risk of becoming overweight too, making obesity, in effect, socially contagious.
The risk of becoming obese increased by a massive 57% if a friend was obese, but interestingly only increased by 37% if a spouse was. In cases of siblings, the rate of increase was 40%. According to scientists, these results could not be solely attributed to similarities in lifestyle, since the effect occurred even in friends who weren’t geographically close.
They speculate that perhaps peoples' ideas of what they deem acceptable for their own body image change as their friends and family get larger. "People come to think that it is OK to be bigger since those around them are bigger, and this sensibility spreads," co-author Professor Nicholas Christakis, explained to the BBC. Perhaps we should all consider eating more healthily, not just for selfish reasons but for the sake of our friends.
Oscar the 2-year old cat has an uncanny ability to predict death. The feline has forecast the final hours at least 25 patients at the dementia unit of the Steere House Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Providence, Rhode Island, where he resides. Not known as a friendly cat, Oscar will pace the wards looking for patients whose time is near, curling up beside them and providing comfort as they die.
Staff at the dementia unit, who adopted Oscar as a kitten, soon noticed the cat’s remarkable predictive abilities, calling families and priests when Oscar settled next to the patients in order to administer his own kind of last rites.
"He doesn't make too many mistakes. He seems to understand when patients are about to die," said Dr. David Dosa, who works at the hospital and wrote a story in the New England Journal of Medicine profiling a day in the life of Oscar. "Many family members take some solace from it. They appreciate the companionship that the cat provides for their dying loved one."
The latest internet sensation doesn’t even have a computer. He’s a homeless man called Gordon who resides on the streets of Bournemouth, England. The 78-year old’s uncanny ability to pluck the correct time out of thin air, without any mechanical or digital aid, has made him a hit with locals. Now the white bearded elder has found international stardom, thanks to a Facebook appreciation group set up by Gordon’s number one fan Chris Kimber, a 24 year-old student.
"He can tell the time even though he doesn't have a watch,” Chris told the UK’s Daily Mail. "Some people think it's because he always listens to the football on a portable radio - other's joke that he's got superpowers."
The football-mad, time-telling elder, who wanders the streets sporting a parka jacket and multiple football scarves, is such a legend in his home town that his local soccer club AFC Bournmouth let him in for free. Now, thanks to the Facebook site, he has over 9,000 friends from all over the globe who swap photos and tales, raising the modest man and his mysterious talent to mythological proportions.
All I can say is I’d much rather bump into Gordon, than his fellow internet star Paris Hilton. At least Gordon’s famous for doing something useful – and being a friendly, lovable character to boot.
Princess Märtha Louise of Norway has revealed she has psychic powers on the website for a new alternative therapy centre she co-founded with business partner Elisabeth Samnoy. The Astarte Education center (named after an ancient Middle Eastern goddess) aims to teach students to “create miracles” by communicating with angels, which their website explains are “forces that surround us and who are a resource and help in all aspects of our lives.”
“I’ve always been interested in alternative forms of treatment,” says Martha in a statement. The Princess says she first realized she had clairvoyant powers while working with horses as a child. “I later came to understand the value of this enormous gift and would like to share it with others."
A certified physiotherapist, Märtha dropped Her Royal Highness title in 2002, choosing to lead a normal life and pay taxes. She moved to New York with her husband in 2004 and published a children’s book. In 2005, she caused further controversy, when she chose a home birth for her second child. After redefining her royal duties again in 2006, she retains patronage roles with six health related foundations.
Risqué comedienne Margaret Cho has announced plans to take her Sensuous Women burlesque show to New York for a limited four week, off-Broadway run, which begins on October 6th. The always outspoken funnywomen, who began her career at 16 supporting Jerry Seinfeld, hopes the evening of song, dance and laughs will raise awareness and understanding for the numerous body issues that haunted her past.
“I have suffered from eating disorders and a horrendously distorted body image for my entire life, and I think the biggest reason is a lack of images of real women’s bodies,” explains Cho. “We are force-fed a steady diet of unattainable ideals, a tyranny of slenderness and youth, goals we can’t even aspire to, they are so far out of reach. When we see dancers who enjoy their bodies, who are sexy and having fun, it gives us permission to enjoy our bodies and to enjoy ourselves in the process. We are presented with a new ideal, not one that is about dieting ourselves down to a smaller size, but expanding our notion of what is beautiful and to allow ourselves to be included there too.”
Tickets for the show can be purchased in advance at: The Zipper Factory
If you or someone you know suffers from an eating disorder, help can be found at the NEDA website.
Top: Margaret photographed by Austin Young; Right: Nicole backstage with Margaret at The Greek Theatre, June 2007
Rob Brezsney used to do my favorite horoscope (I don't really believe in them anyway), that is, until a friend introduced me to stand-up astrologer Christopher Witecki of SoulGarden. Now, I still don't know what I think about Astrology, I mean, how can a bunch of stars in the sky affect my life? I mean, I'm in control - right?! But Chris always has me cracking up - and sometimes, he's telling me about my moody behavior just as I'm feeling it. Tooooo weird!
Well, what I find the most hilarious is the way Chris does a daily, astrology weather report. Want to know if your sign has showers, will be sunny and cool or if you're cloudy with a chance of storms? Well, wonder no more, here's the lowdown for today.
Find it as amusing as I did? Well you're in luck, because Chris does astro-weather for every week day.
When news broke of Lindsay Lohan’s arrest in the early hours of this morning (her second detention for DUI in three months), and subsequent return to rehab (a “usable amount” of cocaine was also allegedly found in her pocket), I thought I’d ask my psychic pal Tanya for some predictions and advice for the troubled young actress.
Will Lindsay get over her addictions?
Tanya: “I don't feel that LiLo will get over her addictions this year, unfortunately. This next stint in rehab is useless as well. I don't feel that she will stay the required amount of time and there may be some news/gossip of 'someone sneaking items' to her (illegal substances).”
Will she go to jail?
Tanya: “I feel she will. However, it won't be for too long.”
Any advice you can give her?
Tanya: “Yes. I'd ask for Lindsay to let go of the emotions she keeps bottled up and at times, numbed, so that she may heal and be the great actress she can be. She is truly a little girl lost who felt she needed to become the 'savior' in the family because her parents weren't equipped to handle their respective roles. I'd ask Lindsay to release the pain she has from her father's shortcomings and her mothers controlling yet weak nature. I am hearing the mother bad-mouthing the father to the kids, which in turn could've been the catalyst that made Lindsay choose sides, which she shouldn't have had to do. Lindsay needs to yell. She needs to say some things to both parents. She does have matters to take up with her mom (and her mom knows this, keeping silent, passive and still so as to not lose her own financial support). I feel she numbs herself with drugs in order to not feel what she needs to feel in order to heal from her past. However, I don't see her doing that any time soon. With no one encouraging growth, healing and acceptance, the drugs, alcohol and sex are the 'friends' who help her to not remember and to deal with life.”
Tanya is currently co-hosting a spot on Karma Air's celeb show Stargazing.
UFOs were sighted by over 100 people in the sky above William Shakespeare’s hometown of Stratford-upon-Avon in Warwickshire, England on Saturday July 21st. A total of five bright objects were spotted in the sky at approximately 10 pm. Multiple witnesses at a local bar claimed they hovered for about 15 minutes before disappearing.
Tom Hawkes recounted the incident to his local paper, The Herald. “I just saw this light appear, then three others. Everyone said, ‘What’s that?’ Then a fifth one moved in, quite fast. I have no idea what they could have been. Maybe someone else can offer an explanation. There were so many people around who must have all seen it, most people near us were watching them.” Hawkes, along with numerous other customers at the Stratford pub the One Elm, caught the phenomenon on his video camera phone.
The local Birmingham Air Traffic Control office reported no unusual activity that night. Meanwhile a spokesman for Britain’s Ministry of Defense told the Daily Mail, “We believe that rational explanations such as aircraft lights or natural phenomena could be found if resources were diverted for this purpose but its not the function of the MoD to provide this kind of aerial identification service." Perhaps the aliens just came to pay homage to the visionary behind the Forbidden Planet sci-fi flick, which was based on Shakespeare’s play The Tempest.
Following the commerce with a conscience example of their mother, Body Shop founder Anita Roddick, daughters Sam and Justine started their own two-store empire of luxury erotic emporiums called Coco de Mer. The siblings keenly follow their mom’s philosophy, trying to ethically source as many of their wares as possible for their London and Los Angeles boutiques. Products, such as their trademark silk blindfold embroidered with the provocative mantra “Freedom is deciding whose slave you want to be,” are dedicated to the celebration of sexual pleasure, empowerment, dignity and discovery.
One of the store's hottest products is a pheromone enhancer by Escentric Molecules, which they exclusively distribute in the US. It comes in two blends. The first, Molecule 01, is an almost aroma-free “aura” entirely based on a perfumers ingredient called Iso E Super. The synthetic liquid is said to work with your body’s heat and unique natural chemistry to bring out a subtle yet powerful scent about 15 minutes after it is first applied. The second concoction, Escentric 01, is a 65% blend of Iso E Super mixed with pink pepper, lime and incense for a hybrid experience.
Fans of the fragrance include Elton John, Dita von Teese and Kate Moss. According to Andrea Ferrante, the supervisor of the West Hollywood store, the product definitely works. “People never approach me in bars,” say Andrea, “but people have followed me when I wear this.”
Hollywood’s elite turned out on Sunday night to greet David and Victoria Beckham at a swish party thrown by fellow power couples Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes, and Will Smith and spouse Jada Pinkett-Smith. The event took place at the Museum of Contemporary Art's Geffen Contemporary Gallery in Downtown Los Angeles where the exhibition Wack! Art and The Feminist Revolution, which officially closed on July 16th, was still on display. According to the UK’s Daily Mail, Victoria Beckham, who championed her own brand of girl-powered feminism with fellow suffragettes The Spice Girls, toured the exhibition with her husband, paying particular attention to a video installation by Yoko Ono.
The exhibition brings together work from 119 artists from 21 countries and aims to give viewers an understanding of how the feminist movement fundamentally changed the way we see and understand art. For those of us unable to catch a private viewing à la the Beckhams, the exhibition will be touring, stopping off at the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington, D.C. (September 21–December 16, 2007) and P.S.1 MOMA in Long Island City, NY (Winter 2008), heading North of the border for the intervening summer of 2008, where it’ll be residing at the Vancouver Art Gallery in British Columbia.
Image: Magdalena Abakanowicz’s Abakan Red, 1969, sisal and mixed media, courtesy of the National Museum in Wroclaw. Photo courtesy of Magdalena Abakanowicz.
America’s favorite underachiever Homer J. Simpson has incurred the wrath of Pagans with his latest publicity stunt to promote his upcoming movie, which hits theaters on Friday. A donut-wielding likeness of Homer has been painted on a hillside in Dorset, England, next to the sacred site of the Cerne Abbas Giant, a 17th century fertility symbol. The 180 foot ancient earthwork, which was created by cutting a twelve-inch wide trench in the hillside to expose the chalk beneath, features a prominent phallus, inside the boundaries of which, according to tradition, childless couples would make love in the hopes of boosting their chances of conceiving. The less well-endowed hillside image of Homer more modestly sports Y-fronts; one can only speculate as to what might befall couples that copulate in that specific region of the British countryside.
However this is no laughing matter according to local Pagans, who have been wishing for rain since the biodegradable painted image appeared. Indeed speculation of rain rituals caused the Pagan Federation to issue a denial on their website. “There are particularly no plans for a rain dance,” a spokesperson stated, blaming “a spectacular piece of misquoting by the tabloids” for the speculation. “That is not to say that we condone the use of scheduled ancient monuments and SSSIs for such stunts.” Fortunately such rituals, involving heather, fern, broom (a gorse-type plant) and rice, will most likely not be needed since Britain is currently experiencing one of the wettest summers on record.
I can't imagine anything more fun that having my partner says to me at 3AM, "Did You Feel That?" while standing in an abandoned prison. I don't know if I'd get the chills, a few stains in my paints or a feeling of excitement, but what ever it is, the idea of ghosts is cool.
As our scientific knowledge expands so do our technological capabilities so at some point in the future we may actually know whether or not a ghost is a dead person's spirit, spiritual imprint, a magnetic shift, or something else. As one such hobbyist named Leong states, "We'll probably seem medieval to people in the future, running around with our cameras, but you've got to start somewhere." Something is causing these instruments to go cuckoo, but we're not sure what or why."
If you ever care to give ghost hunting a try, here's a pretty good article that clues you in on the current state of practices: The New and Improved Ghost Hunting
Werner Herzog is a master of the filmmaking rule, "Show, don't tell." In "Wheel of Time," his documentary about a Buddhist gathering in India, we see the action unfold as a Western outsider would -- in chaos, confusion, and beauty. Herzog doesn't explain much of the action on the screen, and we experience it as a foreign traveler would: not always understanding what is being said or what is taking place. This lack of plentiful explanatory narration, rather than causing frustration, causes a sense of wonderment as we observe rituals simply as visual spectacle.
Herzog does give some brief explanation of the significance of the sand mandala the monks create at the gathering and has interview footage with the Dalai Lama, but he mostly lets us wander with him, learning from looking. Some reviewers find Herzog's lack of PBS-style educational narration frustrating, but Herzog makes it plain that what we are seeing on the screen can't be explained simply, so he doesn't try; he understands how absurd it would be for the limited medium of film to explain the vast significance of spiritual belief, so he just allows us into the role of observer -- which is what film does best.
Making time for the important is a commitment you must make for yourself. No one will do it for you. The natural tendency is for your time to be flooded with to-dos from others. Very little of it matters. Be ever vigilant to question where your time is going and what difference your efforts are making in the long run. It’s not always easy to do this, and it may sometimes feel like you’re swimming against the current, but with practice you’ll realize that the habit of dedicating time for the important aligns you with a more subtle current, one that flows in the direction of greater purpose, meaning, and contribution instead of just greater activity.
It's worth your time to read his article right now, instead of attending to that seemingly urgent item.
So you want to be a magician? Well soon, you'll be able to get your own degree!
A top Indian magician is set to open a version of Harry Potter's fictional Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, hoping that a master's degree in magic will help keep the ancient art form alive.
Sorcar Jr. said he and his daughter Maneka, who is also a magician, had initially planned an illusion to ride a bicycle across the Red Sea, but later abandoned the plan fearing it could hurt religious sentiments.
This article recently found collaboration in the form of a stone tablet.
The cuneiform inscription records how Nebo-Sarsekim lavished a gift of gold on the Temple of Esangila in the fabled city of Babylon, where, at least in folk tradition, Nebuchadnezzar is credited with building the Hanging Gardens, one of the Seven Wonders of the World. British Museum staff are excited by the discovery. Irving Finkel, assistant keeper in the Department of the Middle East, said: “A mundane commercial transaction takes its place as a primary witness to one of the turning points in Old Testament history. This is a tablet that deserves to be famous.”
I love one of the comments to the article:
it is great to have the authenticity of the bible narrative confirmed like this - but hey! we shouldn't be surprised ... there is no more truthful book written than the Bible - it is Gods revelation to mankind!
Ah - uh-huh. I just can't get on board with that one. Does this mean that because this items was corroborated, that everything in the Bible is true? And if it were all true, would everything be relevant? I mean, it's like, more than 2000 years old. Where's our modern messiah? Our electric warrior? Our PDF of faith?
Butterflies are easy-to-love insects; they don't buzz, sting, or invade your Cheerios. What's more, they're really pretty, especially compared to, say, the Madagascar Hissing Cockroach.
So even the most "eh" of environmentalists will be pleased to hear that the once-endangered El Segundo Blue, a butterfly native to the Los Angeles International Airport area (!) and surrounding beaches is beginning to make a comeback.
Development of the Blue's habitat, and replacement of native plants like the buckwheat the butterfly thrives on in favor of erosion-controlling iceplant threatened the fluttering lovelies, but with the help of extensive native plant restoration, their numbers are rebounding. But if the native plant restoration project doesn't continue to expand, the El Segundo Blue will stay on the endangered list.
Local homeowners are less than enthralled with the relandscaping of the area, however -- some have complained about the less green appearance of the native plants that have been restored and the increased sand erosion. But if the butterflies could retort, I'm sure they'd complain right back -- about the ridiculousness of insisting that native plants be eradicated from their habitat. For the humans, it's a matter of aesthetics, but for the butterflies, it's a matter of life and death.
We take quarter-sized bites to remain in Conscious as we eat, to pay attention. Consciously eating in small bites brings us to a state of mindfulness. This is essential to staying in the present moment. I am Conscious of cutting my food, of placing it in my mouth, of chewing it fully, of savoring the wonderful flavors which are offered to me, of swallowing it, and of it descending down into my stomach and intestines. Consciousness of the full act of eating raises the vibration of the seeming mundane into the sacred. We become aware of the sweet fragrance of the food, have the experience of our taste buds coming alive. We have a sensual experience that is one of the myriad gifts of Being present in the moment. The act of eating, which we paid no attention to the previous day, is now an exquisite act of Grace. Eating mindfully opens our Consciousness to the gift of abundance which is ever-present within us.
I love to eat in silence because eating Consciously is like a prayer for me. Once I went to a silent retreat. It took me a long time to eat my meals because I ate my food Consciously, in quarter-sized bites. Once I released any feelings of urgency around eating and could surrender to the experience, I felt such a high vibration at these meals. I was filled up and the vibration lasted throughout the day. Previously at meals, my mind would have been somewhere else, thinking about something else, and I would have missed this sacred experience. I can go to church or the synagogue once a week or I can experience God within me three times a day in this simple act of eating Consciously.
$20 for a bottle of water? Sounds crazy? Not if it's for a good cause. Check out Charity Water pimped here by Ford model Galila.
Unsafe water and lack of basic sanitation causes 80% of all sickness and disease, and kills more people every year than all forms of violence, including war.
There's no better evidence of the trickle-down effect of environmental chic from the cutting edge to the teeming masses than its presence on television.
The Live Earth anti-global waming, seven-continent benefit concert is airing today on nearly a dozen channels. The Sci-Fi Channel series "Eureka" will deal with environmental issues in its new season. The Sundance Channel has devoted a chunk of prime time to "The Green," and The Discovery Channel will begin a 24-hour environmental channel next year. The DIY Network will air a show about families who compete to cut their energy use. The CW network plans to include environmental storylines in several of its shows, and MTV Switch is doing enviro programming and public service announcements as well.
"Kosmos" is an old Pythagorean term, which means the entire universe in all its many dimensions-physical, emotional, mental and spiritual. "Cosmos" today usually means just the physical universe or physical dimension. So we might say the Kosmos includes the physiosphere, or cosmos; the biosphere, or life; the noosphere, or mind, all of which are radiant manifestations of pure Emptiness, and are not other to that Emptiness.
One of the catastrophes of modernity is that the Kosmos is no longer a fundamental reality to us; only the cosmos is. In other words, what is "real" is just the world of scientific materialism, the world of "flatland," the flat and faded view of the modern and postmodern world, where the cosmos alone is real. And one of the things these two books try to do is rehabilitate the Kosmos as a believable concept.
Pilates - it's popular and it kicks your ass. But I find it really hard and it's not so entertaining. Well, enter 
I can't imagine anything more fun that having my partner says to me at 3AM, "Did You Feel That?" while standing in an abandoned prison. I don't know if I'd get the chills, a few stains in my paints or a feeling of excitement, but what ever it is, the idea of ghosts is cool.
From an