Raw Food

Alright so I told everyone that I was going to write a blog about raw food. I have decided to try going on a permanent raw food diet. This is very difficult. Some of my favorite things in the world are considered cooked. Such as coffee. I succeeded in the raw food diet for a total of 2.5-days.

I then saw my pasteurized dairy sitting in the fridge and was like, I need to eat that before it goes bad. After-all I did spend hard working income on these products. There are many things that the pure raw food diet would not allow me to have. Not just coffee, pasteurized dairy but I also would have to say good bye to most other beverages.

Essentially I have decided that I will be more of a faux raw foodie by adding more raw veggies into my vegetarian diet. Instead of sautéing veggies for my pasta dishes I will add them in raw. I decided that it is my own personal diet and that I don't need to live by other peoples standards or guidelines. I will continue drinking my coffee and doing my own thing.

For those who don't know much about the idea of eating raw food it comes from science that you get more and better nutrients from food that is raw. In broccoli you get the amino acids that help prevent cancer but once the broccoli is cooked past 117 degrees F those amino acids have been cooked out. Each food raw has something along those lines. Part of the philosophy also discusses by eating life you allow life to flow through you.

One restriction I am putting on myself though is to eat purely raw for 3 days in a row each month for a cleansing. I also told myself to be creative with pure raw food meals. One of the meals that I have already created and was so tasty is a spinach salad with mashed up berries for the dressing and sliced almonds. The more creative I can get by cooking raw the easier it will be.

Wish me luck on this new endeavor.

Routines

I am finally starting to get myself into a new routine and feeling more settled-in in Austin now. I have been finding my new local hangouts where I can be myself. Hammer out a poem or a short-story and write my blogs. I also feel comfortable just reading. Depending on my mood and my location in town also has been determining where I will be going for coffee or a glass of wine.

Not only in that aspect of settling-in I have been starting a routine of days that I will ride my bike to work and days I will take the bus. On the days I take the bus I typically go on a long bike ride after work. I have always enjoyed cycling and did it quite a bit at home but it is now becoming a part of my regular routine. If I don't get to go cycling I feel like I am having an off day.

That is how the last few days have been feeling because I popped my or according to what Olivia (@goberthicks) read on twitter I "pooped" my tire on Sunday. I will be fixing my bike today so it will all be better. I am really enjoying the routine I am starting to master. I go out on Monday nights (it is my Friday night). Then Tuesday's I find myself sleepinging going to a coffee shop and reading/writing or I will hang out with Zach. Last week we went on a pretty sweet hike through Barton Springs well I should say nature walk because I hike has a huge

elevation change in a mile. We did come across the emphasis rock tower though. Which is always fun.

Then on Sunday when I popped my tire we headed to Zilker park to watch Shakespeare's "Love's Labour's Lost". That performance was amazing. It made me miss being a part of a theatre. I kept thinking, I need to get involved with a community theatre. I tried to do a search for community theatre auditions in Austin and for the summer they either require singing (which I will not attempt to do ever again). Or the schedule doesn't work with my work schedule which is a major bummer. I figured I could keep looking until something comes up. I was also thinking I could volunteer on the tech side. I do have some worries about getting involved in theatre again though. Well not about the involvement but the fact that I haven't been involved in any type of theatre since I was in high school. Unless you consider my theatre 101 class as involvement.

Another routine I am also getting settled into or will be is that I finally got a gym membership in Austin. I decided to go with Gold's Gym because it is close to my house and I also know when I move again from Austin to my next location, where ever that maybe, I am sure I will have a friend who is a Gold's Gym member.

Essentially my life is becoming reading, writing, coffee shops, cycling, a few bars, philosophical discussions while drinking, cooking dinner (which means grocery shopping on Wednesdays), Poetry slam, live music and not having enough money to do all I want to do, oh and 1990s television (don't ask).

Rediscovering the Old and/or Finding the New, and other random thought because of my wine

I sit here at Cork and Co. enjoying a wine flight that includes Primarious Pinot Noir from Oregon, Kali Heart Pinot Noir from Santa Lucia, California and Lamelson Pinot Noir from Williamette, Oregon. As I sip down these different wines I can't help but let my mind wander. I have been in Austin for about a month-and-a-half now and already I am seeing changes in my life I wouldn't have dreamed about having. During my time here so far I have been reminding myself of pleasures that I have long forgotten in the present, such as some of the music I listened to in high school (like "The Dead Kennedy's"). I am also learning that I do miss the talent of film I have. The culture in Austin is quite amazing. I can always find something going on in the city (with the exception of Monday nights, they are a drag I must say). In someways there is to much going on in this city I can't handle it.

What I am learning new about myself is to do things alone. My entire life I always have had someone with me. I know it is not co-dependency it is more the fact that I am a very extrovert type of person. I love to surround myself around people. I have always known that fact. What I didn't know is that I don't have to have someone with me to go do stuff. The alone factor is what I am talking about. The things I am accomplishing and struggling with I am doing alone. I am looking at society and saying, "who cares if I go to a concert by myself, I am here for the music not the company." This is the same with movies as well. It felt awkward going to a movie by myself but I hate those who talk during a movie, going by oneself you are less likely to talk.

Don't worry though I am not alone in this city. I am not as surrounded by as many friends that I had been surrounding myself with in the past (which is not a bad thing either, I do miss all of my friends from Reno). Instead I am surrounding myself with a very few and learning a deeper philosophical view about the world. My conversations I have are by far the most intellectual conversations I have had yet. These conversations are so deep and meaningful that it does make questioning a more constant theme in my life. Although I go back to my intellectual roots and stick to my beliefs but it is opening up my mind even more and giving myself different insights and perspectives.

Overall this city is full of so many different surprises that almost anything I do or go to I think of someone who would fall in love with it. Whether it is live music at one of the many music venues or a rare video showing at the Alamo Draft House to some bizarre, or in Austin's words, weird event going on. To hearing about the homeless transvestite mayor candidate Leslie stories. I also learned that you are considered an Austin local once you have a Leslie story of your own.

At the same time I am reminded that I am from the desert. In fact I read a blog from a teacher I had a few years back in college and it spoke so true. He talked about how those few of us in the world that grow-up in the Nevada desert, specifically Reno are able to go on and do great things, that Reno breeds talent. While I am sitting here at this bar I can't help but reflect on this blog posting and think that he is ever so correct. People in Austin ask me all the time where my accent is from and I am never more proud to say that I am from Reno.

That is another thing I have learned about myself. After living in Reno for pretty much half of my life (but Nevada my entire life), that is where my roots are and will remain. I love that little city more than words can describe. I am a desert rat, I love the smell of the sage and I am damn proud to be from what some people described here as "that shit hole town." I can't help but smile and say "yes that 'shit hole town' that you apparently didn't visit the correct way." I always ask what they did when they where in Reno and they say something along the lines of "Circus Circus, Nugget" and I respond "Oh the the casinos, no wonder why you think it is a shit hole." I then tell them about the other side of Reno, my side of Reno, the outdoors, Lake Tahoe, the desert. I tell them if Reno is such a shit hole but you like me as a person (most of them do) I explain that Reno is a part of my personality. All of those classy things you love that I do is RenoClassy. I make them reflect on the shit hole and tell them to give it another chance. To understand Reno and see Reno the way I do, not the way of the casino that a lot of our parents work at. To see it for the individuals that Reno produces. I am damn proud of my hometown but as I have learned from my teacher I can be proud but I must let my talent explore the world and do something greater but also when or if I fail I know that that desert will be calling my name where I can shine.