Anyone else in L.A.?

Max Simon of The selfcentered tour (www.getselfcentered.com) will be leading a PDM on St. Patrick’s Day, Monday March 17, starting at 3 PM at Dorothy and Benjamin Smith Park, 7020 Franklin Avenue, Hollywood.

The PDM is a tool to step away from the endless mind chatter, disconnect from the buzz, and get selfcentered - find our authentic inner space. Even if you’re into meditation, you’ve never had an experience like a PDM.

Participants will be filmed.

Monday March 17

3 PM

Dorothy and Benjamin Smith Park, 7020 Franklin Avenue, Hollywood, CA 90028 (corner of Franklin and Sycamore).

Free/public; RSVP to PDM@getselfcentered.com

My father was found dead in his apartment on Christmas Eve. I'm sitting with my brother drinking wine and going through his papers, and just had this funny thought - and had to share it with my Zaadz crew.

You know what they say, there's two things you can count on, death and taxes.

Here's one I hadn't counted on: doing a dead man's taxes!

New movement aims to inspire one million young people to get ‘selfcentered:’ connect to authentic inner selves

LOS ANGELES, Calif., January 28, 2008 – A new-school movement, launched today, aims to inspire one million young people to get “selfcentered:” become more authentic, grounded, balanced and self-aware by spending time each day connecting to their inner selves.

The selfcentered Tour, a nationwide series of experiential events, teacher training programs, and entertainment, supported by a content-driven web community at www.getselfcentered.com, kicks off in February. At the core of The selfcentered Tour are unique and simple tools to get selfcentered, practices that are easy to understand, live, teach, and love. The techniques include signature meditation, breath styles, and body opening flow that give the mind an opportunity to quiet down, the body an opportunity to relax, and chaos an opportunity to exit.

Founder and chief enlightenment officer Max Simon, who at 22 became the youngest teacher in the history of the world-renowned Chopra Center for Wellbeing in Carlsbad, Calif., has spent the last four years traveling the country teaching meditation and yoga to thousands of people at the Chopra Center’s prestigious workshops and events. Noticing that traditional methods of teaching weren’t attracting a younger demographic, Simon decided to create an alternative approach to show his generation how to step away from the endless mind-chatter, disconnect from the buzz, and settle into a world of authentic inner calm.

“Let’s face it; we live in an intense world. Yet just because the whirlwind exists doesn’t mean that we have to get caught up in it,” said Simon. “The selfcentered Tour is led by the next generation for the next generation. Our movement attracts dynamic, conscious, and creative people who are interested in feeling centered, living with passion, and being authentic.”

In reaching out to a community of younger people, The selfcentered Tour intends to demonstrate that there is more to the next generation than addiction to celebrity gossip, shiny things, and reality TV. While a wealth of scientific evidence validates that meditation is good for body and soul, a smarter, savvier, more engaged population requires a more experiential, hands-on, do-it-yourself form of inner connectivity.

Simon is training a unified team of Awareness Architects, ceritified instructors and consciousness-raisers, many of whom contribute content to the selfcentered web site’s Luminary Blogs (www.getselfcentered.com/blogs) and will develop events and group experiences in many corners of the world. As The selfcentered Tour travels North America, training programs will be held in each location to certify new Awareness Architects who believe, live, and teach the value of selfcenteredness.

The selfcentered Tour begins February 16 in Los Angeles, Calif., with additional events to be announced in San Francisco, Seattle, Austin, Minneapolis, Atlanta, Miami, Washington D.C., Boston and New York City. The movement has already begun collaborating with supportive partners, and welcomes being contacted by people and organizations interested in bringing The selfcentered Tools to their executives, employees, customers, and friends. For complete details, please see www.getselfcentered.com.

About The selfcentered Tour
A movement to bring a fresh spin to meditation, The selfcentered Tour incorporates events, workshops, teacher training programs, and a content-driven web community. Led by new-school leaders of consciousness including chief enlightenment officer Max Simon, the youngest meditation and yoga teacher in the history of the world-renowned Chopra Center for Wellbeing, The selfcentered Tour pursues a vision to inspire one million people within the next generation to get selfcentered by spending some time each day tapping into their authentic inner self. The selfcentered Tour’s home on the web is www.getselfcentered.com.

There's a petition at the bottom of this announcement. I would be thrilled if anyone was inspired to sign it and join the movement. Please pass it along to any friends in the Bay Area.

More Than 10,000 People Rally to Save Dog Sentenced to Death

SUNNYVALE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--In the last 48 hours, since a ‘Petition to Free Lucy’ has been live, more than 10,000 concerned citizens have signed on to save Lucy the Pit Bull, sentenced to death in Sunnyvale, Calif.

Several months ago, Lucy was ordered killed by the Chief of Police in Sunnyvale because she escaped her home and an incident ensued with a smaller dog. Unfortunately, the smaller dog did not make it; however, this has been the only incident with Lucy.

“The smaller dog provoked Lucy. According to the Sunnyvale Municipal Code, this is an exception to a dog being labeled vicious,” said attorney Shannon Keith, who represents Lucy and her guardians.

Lucy has been part of the Young family for more than six years, and has worked closely with many dogs from foster associations around the Bay Area, helping shelter dogs to be socialized. She is a doting mother-dog to the Young’s two-year-old son, Liam, and an integral part of the family.

“Under California law, Lucy would be considered, at most, a ‘potentially dangerous’ dog. Lucy would be free to live, but with restrictions such as having to carry supplemental insurance. There are many other options for Lucy other than death. In fact, under the Sunnyvale Municipal Code, Lucy could have been ordered back home with restrictions or ordered out of the city,” said Keith. Also, various animal sanctuaries have offered Lucy lifetime care and residence.

Even the City's own animal behaviorist stated in her report that Lucy is a very friendly, well-socialized dog. The Young's behaviorist gave Lucy a zero out of 10 for human aggression.

During one of the motions in Superior Court, even the Judge stated, “I would love to keep Lucy alive by ordering her out of the city.” Despite his discretion to do so, he ultimately ordered her death sentence.

Lucy has made an enormous impact on the lives of those around her. She has friends on the Sunnyvale Chamber of Commerce asking for leniency, more than 25 sworn declarations attesting to her good nature, two lawyers representing the case pro-bono, and now a petition with more than 10,000 signatures. Such is the strength of feeling that Lucy has evoked in all who know her.

Ian Young and Desiree Hedberg, guardians of Lucy, will appear today at City Council armed with their Petition with more than 10,000 signatures, asking for Lucy’s release once again.

Address of meeting tonight is: 456 W. Olive Ave., Sunnyvale, CA 94086

Time of hearing tonight: 7:00 p.m.

Petition for Lucy: http://www.petitiononline.com/Lucy/petition.html

Website for Lucy: http://www.freewebs.com/freelucy

Omstream and Zaadz Visionary Music announce benefit album to support developing-world entrepreneurs through Kiva.org Profits from ‘name your price’ album available exclusively at Omstream.com to support the global poor Omstream today announced the availability of The Dream Is Valid, a digital CD compilation of 16 songs from the musicians of Zaadz Visionary Music at GAIA’s social networking site Zaadz.com. All profits from The Dream Is Valid will fund “microloans” through Kiva.org to help developing-world entrepreneurs lift themselves out of poverty. The Dream Is Valid is available only at www.omstream.com, and is sold as a ‘name your price’ album to encourage sales. Zaadz Visionary Music is a community of artists committed to re-imagining the relationship between art, business, and loving effort. The album’s broad range of socially conscious music allows the purchaser’s entertainment money to make a difference to an entrepreneur in the developing world. All profits go directly into Zaadz Visionary Music’s Kiva Lender account, viewable at www.kiva.org/lender/zaadzvisionarymusic, where it will be continuously and repeatedly loaned as microloans are repaid and additional albums are sold. “Everyone involved, including our kind hosts at Omstream, has relinquished their profit from the sale of this album so it can go directly to empowering sustainable business practices in local economies all over the planet,” said Michael Garfield, founder of Zaadz Visionary Music and one of the compilation’s contributing artists. “This CD will generate funds not just once, but over and over; as our microloans are repaid and album sales continue, this compilation will be the center of an ever-expanding wave of global support.” Kiva.org is the world's first person-to-person micro-lending website, enabling individuals to make loans starting at $25 to entrepreneurs such as goat herders in Uganda, carpet weavers in Afghanistan, and rice farmers in Ecuador. Currently Kiva.org connects lenders in more than 50 countries with entrepreneurs in 39 developing countries through 62 microfinance partners. To date more than $14 million has been loaned to more than 20,000 entrepreneurs worldwide. “The support and generosity of this community of musicians, and everyone who purchases the album at Omstream, can make a real difference in the lives of the poor who may not otherwise have access to needed capital to build their businesses so that they can send their children to school, afford medical care, and pull themselves out of the poverty cycle,” said Kiva.org president Premal Shah. Michael Perricone, founder and president of Omstream, was equally honored to offer the services of Omstream.com to make The Dream Is Valid available to the broadest possible audience, opting to introduce the album as a ‘name your price’ product. “Americans spend more than one hundred million dollars on music every day, and if just a small percentage of that can be used to fund the dreams of people around the world, we will be alleviating poverty and building a better future for our world." The Dream Is Valid includes a spectrum of music from ambient to chants, contemporary rhythms and world music. The album features the music of Raymond Powers, Caroline Waters, Rob Costlow and allMeadow, Ric Hordinski, Michael Garfield, Michael Waters, Jaik Miller Band, Phil Castillo, Rane, Chaparral, Andrew Hodges, Willow Pearson, Carl Jacobson and Daniel Abreu, Cari Cole, David Serotkin, Sean Clarke, and Akhentek. The album features cover art by visionary painter David Titterington. Links to more work from each artist can be found at the compilation’s Artist Info page on Omstream.com. About Omstream Omstream.com was created out of a need to locate music that elevates consciousness amid the clutter of more than two million songs available on iTunes and other download services. Omstream sells new and exclusive music from popular artists such as Krishna Das, Deva Premal and Robert Gass. World music takes center stage, including Tibetan, traditional Kirtan, Native American and Pan-African music. Omstream also offers thousands of songs for the practice of massage, relaxation, meditation and yoga, including instructor playlists, as well as nature sounds. Downloads are available in multiple formats for the iPod or other MP3 players, and individual songs cost only 99 cents. The Omstream Preview Channel streams a free playlist of Omstream selections 24 hours a day. For more information, please see www.omstream.com. ###

Gaining credibility. Being able to give advice or opinions, especially in a professional setting, without being questioned or challenged all the time. Being respected for my beliefs instead of kidded about them. Being listened to. And of course, being able to get along well with both teenagers and seniors.

It's frighteningly accurate. Here are just a few Virgo traits that I represent:

Our head rules our heart. We can seem cold and unfeeling, but we're actually very sensitive. 

We're quite intellectual, analytical and logical. We notice details more than any other sign, which makes us natural scientists, doctors, teachers, writers/editors (Mercury rules words), and secretaries.

We're disciplined, organized, perfectionistic, punctual and have an excellent work ethic. We are often at an economic disadvantage early in life, so we become extremely motivated to succeed as a result. We are rarely unemployed.

We're overly critical of ourselves and others. People often think we're condescending to them.

We're not extremely social, and are sometimes shy and aloof. We give the impression of preferring to be alone because we're picky about who we spend our time with.

We're often vegetarians. Virgo rules the digestive system, so we crave a nutritious, high fiber diet.

Our homes are neat and tidy (though not always clean). We keep track of important papers, and keep our belongings orderly. We are most certainly not packrats and are more likely to throw something away and regret it later than keep hold of something past its useful life.

We go out of our way to be of service to others, do favors for people, find just the right gift, etc.

We always instinctively know the correct way to dress for a social function. We don't wear white slacks after Labor Day or mix gold and silver. We match our shoes to our belts. We don't like loud prints and we avoid trends and fads.
 
(Adapted from Astrologyweekly.com)

Strangely, telling the truth has always been more likely to get me into trouble - with my parents and teachers when I was young, with my employers or clients, friends, neighbors. People are usually happier and more comfortable hearing a lie. 

Chasing tumbleweeds. I went to several different elementary schools and one was particularly awful. I hated that school, but during the windy season (SoCal's famed Santa Anas) we would somehow have giant tumbleweeds on the playground.

We used to drag these tumbleweeds against the wind, all the way across the field, and line up along the fence at one end. Some tumbleweeds were as tall as the sixth graders, and it would take a dozen kids or more to move them, perhaps just three or four people for the smaller ones.

Then we would let them all go at the same time and run after them.

It was always incredible, and probably the only time students would play together happily as a large group. Seemingly the entire school got involved in this game. Clothes and hands were always ripped up, little kids were crushed occasionally. We loved it.