It’s the end of January and while I got off to a slow start now things are taking off. I’m planning a big trip to India in December. I know it’s a long way off but I am so excited. I’m going with a friend of mine who I met at the lame Soft Addictions seminar. This is a big dream come true and to have someone hold my hand through it is amazing. We are still working on our plans but the trip will probably be about two weeks. We may spend one week in an ashram you know doing hippy things I like doing like yoga, meditation, taking funky herbs or fasting and then one week of sightseeing. I wish I were going like tomorrow!

I finished up my fourth round of Art-O-Mats. I went with a design from my Anatomy Angel series. My studio was a little painted wood block factory. It's always such a relief when its over. In other news, my rough drafts were OKed by the Artist Committee for the Cool Globes Project, now they are trying to find a sponsor. Surprisingly they chose my most controversial design—“Eat Less Meat”. If there is no sponsor then I won’t get to paint the globe. If they find one then I will be spending lots of my time in the “Cool Camp” painting it. Then it will be displayed near the Field Museum. I’m crossing my fingers and toes although I feel a bit envious, there were honestly a lot of better designs.

One of my New Year's resolutions was to write something and I still haven't done that. It’s so hard to figure out what to start, a book, article, screenplay with my love of TV, I should write a pilot or something. I still have those mid-life crisis moments where I feel like my life is kind of like the 18” Stonehenge from Spinal Tap. I’ll explain . . . It’s like I intended for my life to be like this huge monument and it’s ending up this little tiny thing. Thankfully no trolls are in my life.

Chicago is all a-buzz with SuperBowl excitement. It think it's great for the city but I'm just not a sports fan. Unless you consider Pilates a sport. I have to say I'm really in awe of the passion sports fans have—they party hard, paint their faces, scream really loud. The art community is just a much more subdued bunch. You don't clap in front of a painting. I never see anyone at the Art Institute jumping up and down and yelling, "Oh Yeah Man! Monet's Haystacks. F*ckin' A!!! But hey good for you passionate fans, celebrating something you love is a great part of life. I salute you with my air light and glass of hard cider (wheat free but of course).

2007 - It Will Make Your Colon Pretty and Other Testimonials

The holidays are over and it always bums me out a bit to take down the tree and the decorations. Back to the everyday gray. Blah. I had a great holiday season filled with lots of partying right on from Dec 1 to NYE—it was all a lot of fun (too much actually). With my well-earned bonus I paid off my visa debt and bought myself a dehydrator!!! It’s my big X-mas toy cause I’ve been so good all year. I got the mac-Daddy nine tray Excalibur. So far I have made kale chips, flax crackers and “onion bread”. I’m trying to go with healthy recipes as it’s easy to get carried away with using a lot of fat, salt, sugar and oil in some of these raw food recipes. I like experimenting. Last night I took some greens and marinated them in coconut water and added a bit of sea salt and chili powder and put them in the dehydrator overnight. I like the idea of using my veggie juice and nut milk pulps and making crackers out of those. I’m looking forward to doing some advanced raw gourmet dishes from the book Raw Food, Real World.

My Dad got me a book called Wild Fermentation. Fermented foods have been, as Auntie Mame, would say my latest enthusiasm. Basically, fermented foods make your colon pretty. I’m also reading the Body Ecology Diet and I’ve been making fermented veggies and coconut kefir. Over the past month, I started brewing Kombucha Tea and I love it. I don’t know if I will ever bottle it and sell it like GT’s but I’m enjoying it. Out of all the kooky health shit I have tried over the past few years nothing has helped me like this. There are so many testimonials for things that cured Aunt Ida’s Cancer etc. A testimonial would be a bore without BOLD CAPS!!! and MAY I add many many exclamation marks!! I have been reading about Kombucha for years and decided to try some products from Sea Chi Organics which happens to use Kombucha. I struggled with hair loss due to thyroid for years and went to doctors, healers, tarot readers, acupuncturists, nutritionists, experts, etc. etc. I put some of the sea chi face creme near my hairline and noticed my hair growing back so I thought why not start using it on my scalp? I started drinking the tea and using their hair products and my hair has really thickened and darkened. And of course what do I go and do . . . get honey colored highlights to celebrate. I’m a glamorous hippy what can I say.

I just became a fan of Dr. Seuss’s Oh The Places You Will Go. It was a subject of a recent church service. I’ve always love the Seuss but never heard this book. I was really caught by it’s surprising depth. I actually bought myself a copy. I’m curious what places I will go in 2007. Here’s to moving Mountains!