Another Dance Clip

Here is another dance clip I have posted in YouTube. I've been getting a good response, which is pretty cool. I like this clip, but I wish it was longer. I also wish I could integrate some liquid into a routine and post a clip, but there's not too good a chance of that happening any time soon because I have been VERY lazy about practicing. I seriously need a good kick in the ass. I've been spending way too much time doing programming and not enough making music, spinning and dancing!

Falling Stars

As you might have noticed, I've been doing a bit of fiddling with the template for this blog. The falling aqua stars is a tribute to my favorite color of the moment - aqua. It's also a tribute to one of my favorite things to witness - falling stars. I really do believe that seeing them is an opportunity to make a wish come true.

Two days ago my mom helped me paint my bathrrom this color. It looks so awesome! I'll take some photographs soon and post them. Right now I am busy trying to finish making the Flash media player read RSS feeds. More soon (hopefully)...

Freezing Rain

I feel like I should make a post because I haven't in a while. I'm home, reluctant to go outside because of the freezing rain. We were supposed to get snow but the storm ended up going north and missing us. I don't however, think the north needs much more snow. I've read that Upstate New York has gotten around 120 inches so far. Some people's houses are almost completely buried! It's pretty surreal.

Anyway, I'm working on the Flash/XML Media Player and trying to make it read different types of XML documents. The first XML document it reads is one that was formatted by me. Now I am trying to make it detect if it is my document or an RSS feed, and then load the media and other information based on whichever file it is. It's proving to be more difficult than I thought. It's all good though, I need to learn this.

My depression has subsided a bit. My finances are now in the positive, I've been doing yoga and working on music. Yay! Things are looking pretty good.

P.S. Even though I said in my last post that I was going to the dentist, I never did. I am either very lazy or a chicken!

A Day of Toothache and Reentering a Path

Today I woke up with a bit of a headache. By noon, it got pretty bad. I started to realize that the headache was actually coming from a *toothache* that I have let go for a year too long. I got desperate and had to take some Ibuprofen to calm the pain down. I took a nap, woke up and decided to try to overcome my pain. I found a dentist that can see my tomorrow morning at 9AM, who will take my Dental Plan, and won't require full payment up front. (Sweet!). I think I am going to go tomorrow morning and get this taken care of for once and for all. I think this is going to be a big improvement to my life and how I feel on a day to day basis.

After I made the appointment I danced a bit to get my circulation pumping, did a clay mask and decided to take a bath. While I was in the bath I started to have a panic attack. I did what I have mostly have been doing lately when I get a panic attack... I ran and grabbed my new Kabbalah book that Shobha sent me for my birthday titled "72 Names of God". I looked at the usual name that I look at to dispel fear. Then, I called the 1-800 number that listed in the back of the book. It says that I could call the Kabbalah Center for a free 10 minute consultation about how Kabbalah can help me deal with the issues that surround my life at the moment. My panic attacks is probably my NUMBER ONE issue, so I thought I would call. I ended up getting connected with what they called a "Kabbalah Counselor" named Yosef. He said he was in New York City (the Kabbalah Center is in New York City). He asked me how much I know about Kabbalah, and took my name and information. He said that he wanted to help me and told me that he could take me on as a Kabbalah Student. He told me that I can call him whenever I want about any questions that I have about Kabbalah... for free! He recommended some books about how Kabbalah can help me with anxiety (they have actually published some) and told me to call him back after I read them.

He also told me that anxiety attacks do not happen by accident and that in all cases they mean something good. They are trying to tell me something, to make me examine what is causing them (a deep seated fear). The anxiety attack is pushing me to a different place, a new spiritual level, one that I cannot achieve until I uncover the mystery that lies beneath what is causing them.

I have a feeling that today was a good day in making steps towards living a happier and healthier life for me.

Beauty Wisdom from the Ancients

When I was 22 I got a job working at a store in Manayunk (a posh little town outside of Philadelphia) that sold Essential Oils and Natural Skin Care products. While I worked there I had very cheap access to a whole lot of very high quality beauty care products. There was this one line of skin care we carried called "Skin - An Apothecary" that was made by this woman in Colorado. The products were excellent, they contained pure essential oils and had no chemicals or preservatives. They were infused with the wisdom of beauty secrets that were developed by the ancient Egyptians as they used formulas of flower and herbal essences that were used thousands of years ago. Before I worked there, I didn't have very good skin. It was really oily, and I used a lot of chemical-laden products. I also used a lot of make-up to cover up my blemishes (which made my skin worse.)

The woman that owned the store was near 50 years old, yet she had the skin of a 30 year old. She was very much a motherly figure to me while I was far away from my real mother and I was very fortunate that she came into my life. She taught me how to take care of myself, and to age with grace and beauty. She taught me that just because I was growing older, I didn't have to "look" old. There are ways to naturally balance out the aging process to halt it. During the time period that I worked there, my skin became amazing. I started using our products and pretty much stopped having to wear any make up at all (except for red lipstick and black eyeliner). My skin was perfect.

I worked at this store for 2 years, and while I did I learned everything there was to know about natural skin care, what herbs and natural substances were good for different types of problematic skin. I also learned a whole lot about Aromatherapy. I read every book on the subject that we carried in the store, and I memorized what every oil we carried could be used for, be it for skin care, emotional problems, energy boosters, relaxants etc. I learned that Mother Earth provides every medicinal substance we could ever need, and that flowers and herbs exist to help humans achieve balance in our lives.

Over the last few years I have been struggling financially, and have been very limited in the quality of skin care products I have been able to purchase. I have managed to buy for the most part natural cleansers and moisturizers, but not the exact ones my maturing skin needs. Skin care products with ingredients like lavender, calendula, rose etc are very costly. Consequently I have seen a bit of aging happening to the skin on my face.

Last week, I tool my pay check and went to Whole Foods and spent about $50 on facial care products. I was in there for an hour looking at all the ingredinets for every product they have. Even though I wasn't able to afford the exact line that I really wanted (Dr. Hauschka), I did manage to get some good stuff. I bought some Facial Toner, Eye Serum, and Moisturizing Cream by Avalon Organics. It was on sale, which was cool. The important thing about these products is that they don't contain alcohol, no preservatives (methylparabens are a big NO-NO) and they have lots of nice herbs and essential oils like Lavender, Licorice Root, Calendula, White Tea etc.

I've been using them for three days now and I can see a HUGE improvement in my skin. In fact, it's already starting to get back to the way it looked when I was 23. The eye serum I bought has been particulary helpful, as it has completely gotten rid of the dark circles that tend to form under my eyes (an unfortunate trait I inherited from my Dad).

It's so beautiful how plant and flower essences can restore the beauty and youth of our skin and counteract aging.

I personally believe that aging can be all but eliminated if the right herbs and essential oils are used, and with nutrition. Aging is not really so much genetic as it is environmental. Pollution and wear and tear cause our skin to lose it's vitality over the years.... but the natural chemicals in the beautiful flowers of our Earth can restore it in the amount of time it takes for our skin to absorb their life-giving qualities. It really is like magic!