Camille at Kurotel

It is my last evening at Kurotel Longevity Center in Brazil and I am so sorry to be leaving. This past week has been a wonderful experience - in experiencing the Kurotel philosophy of health, of meeting members of the Silveria family, of making new friends, in siteseeing Gramado and last but not least, in re-evaluating health, what it means to me and reignitiating a sincere interest in changing habits to lead a healthier, more productive lifestyle.

It's well past midnight and sadly, I must pack my bags. More on this subject tomorrow.

Medical Student Receives William Carlos Williams Poetry Award

I discovered this award and poem today and found it so inspiring, I posted it to two of my blogs. For those of you who follow this blog, William Carlos William was my paternal grandfather's cousin. Both were physicians.

Congratulations to Ms. Wlodarski.....here's a bit from the press release found on the University of Vermont website.

Jennifer Wlodarski has received an Honorable Mention in the 27th annual William Carlos Williams Poetry Competition for her poem "Slow Horse". Open to medical students attending schools of medicine or osteopathy in the United States and Canada, the competition is named in memory of William Carlos Williams, a physician-poet born in 1883 who practiced medicine in his hometown of Rutherford, N.J., while writing and publishing poetry with peers including Ezra Pound.

Slow Horse
Come back and outlast,
Like the slow horse.
All bets are in.
And I've got all my money on myself,
Because someone should.
— Jennifer Wlodarski

In Praise of Daffodils

Last year I blogged about the daffodils at Trader Joe's. Two weeks ago, while standing in the check out line I spotted a shopper with the rubber-banded flowers in hand.

Fast forward to shopping at Fresh and Easy. $1.99 Viola. Instand spring. I love daffodils - I love the way they open up like a fresh new sunshiney day. I love the way there are so streamlined with lovely glossy green stalks.

Halleluljah to daffodils.

Weekly Updates

A few things...
Whales - yesterday I volunteered for a couple of hours in the Gray Whale Census Project - their were 2 spotting before 8:30 amd and then another 8 after 1 pm. Again, I delighted in spotting the dolphins cavorting and sea lions flipping around the kelp.

PV Art Center
The PV Art Associates co-hosted the art reception last night and gave $60,000 to the PV Art Center as a result of their chef's dinner fundraising event(s) last summer. The reception was very well attended and I thoroughly enjoyed the Japanese drum performance which added another interesting dimension to opening which focused on Japanese internment during WWII.

Dine L.A. Restaurant Week

Reading the LA Times was a breeze today. Since I didn't see much good news - I bypassed all the articles on the economic slow down, store closures, rising unemployment, crime, war and a smattering of pretty unappealing articles. What caught my eye however, was Dine LA 2009. Oh goodie! Something I coule sink my teeth into and enjoy! (pun intended)!!!

Here's the low down: Jan 25-30 & Feb 1-6, many hot restaurant are offering 3 course meals at lunch and dinner at reduced fixed prices. There are some very good restaurants particpating such at Trump National Golf Course (one of my personal favorites) and Flemings. Lunch prices are $16, $22 and $28 while dinners run $26, $34 and $44. (Excluding tax and tip of course)

This is an opportunity to sit back, forget your troubles and enjoy a first class meal at a decent price. Escapism by dining. Sounds good to me!

Bonapetite! Dig In. Enjoy. Life is short.

For more info go to dinela.com/restaurantweek

Bottlenose Dolphins off of Palos Verdes

This week after reading "Dolphin birth a magical reward for volunteer spotters off Palos Verdes", and watching the dolphins cavort off Redondo Beach shores while walking the Esplanade, I thought it was a great time to volunteer and help these wonderful creatures.

At 9 am this morning, I showed up at the Point Vicente Interpretive Center, borrowed a powerful pair of bincolulars and met 2 women who have volunteered in the ACS-LA Gray Whale Census and Behavior Project for 20 years. Although I did not spot whales, for a good 10 minutes I followed a large pod of bottlenose dolphins headed south along the coastline, near the kelp beds. And I did see one sea lion jump out of the water and plop back in.

The rain came at 10:30 and cut the visabilty down..and it was cold! So I headed home, with feeling that somehow, I had contributed even in a small way to my neighborhood under the sea.

Here's a blurb from the LA Times Outpost: The volunteers see things both mundane and miraculous as they monitor goings-on in the San Pedro Channel daily from sunup to sunset. If you'd like to volunteer, call Alisa Schulman-Janiger at (310) 519-8963 or e-mail janiger@bcf.usc.edu. Or simply show up and ask how you can become involved.

Inaguaration Day - Today - Streaming Live!

Yes, I am one of the West Coasters who started their day a few hours early to watch the Inauguration. I looked out my bedroom window to see the sweeping bands of blue and peach colored sky, and pulled back the covers. Time to see what is happening on the other side of the country.

I am one of millions of Americans who have optimism for the future. It feels like the New Year is starting today. (Adios and good-bye to 2008 fa-la-la!) I was hopeful that the stock market would improve as I logged onto www.bigcharts.com. I was hoping the economy had magically rallied along side of the collective positive mood of millions of my fellow Americans . Ok, well, time to turn on the TV.

You can't help but have a sense of excitement as the motorcade makes it's way past millions of Americans cheering Obama. History! Streaming live!

This is one of those "I remember when" moments when 30 years from now, I will be able to describe this event to my niece and nephews.