Lisa P Writes

I think this vegan cleanse has affected me more than I realize. Last night I had a dream that I was swimming in deep, turbulent water and then reached a dock. The sky was dark and stormy. After trying to pull myself up a few times, I finally succeeded. But then all of a sudden I was lying on a metal thing (kind of looked like a big cheese grater – had big holes in it) that had a base attached to the dock. It was spinning fast and I held on tight so it wouldn’t fling me off. I attempted to pull myself to the edge to jump off, my legs flying about. Then I fell on to the dock and thought, jeez that was ridiculous. I walked over to a cafe on the dock and saw an old classmate of Stacy’s, sitting with an older man. I had a fried dough-shaped ice cream cone and had started to eat it. She was eating one, too, and told me that they also come in a larger size. I looked at the cone and thought, why am I eating this? I don’t even really like fried dough!

I’ve been doing a vegan cleanse for over two weeks and I’m almost done – I’ll be done this weekend! I can actually feel my own energy vibrating through my body. The cleanse has given me clarity and I’m not talking about goals, etc. (I already know what I want) but everything looks brighter, more colorful and clear. Especially when I’m outside. I have a natural high . . . not clouded by a caffeine buzz. But I really can’t wait to have a cup of coffee . . . yes, I’ll go back to it but not by the gallons this time.

The first couple of days were the hardest . . .

This photo represents me, for the past five months . . . but with more luggage. Oh, yeah, and a car. This guy was walking along the road, somewhere in New Mexico.

Last fall when I left, I really thought I wouldn’t come back. I came back. I had the freedom to move anywhere, but when it came down to it, I really missed Chicago. It was the best thing for me to get away and to skip winter! Well, I had winter in Seattle, but it was a very rough winter in Chicago. I talk to people now and they say – “I can’t deal with it anymore, I want to move somewhere warm!” I smile sheepishly . . believe me, I get it! My goal is to get out more in the winter for some time in the sunshine.

I learned a lot about myself, from my journey. For instance, that I’ve lived in Chicago so many years that I stopped taking advantage of all the things it had to offer. I also realized that I need to take every day as it comes instead of jumping into the future. I have a fresh perspective.

With my return home, I’ve decided to mix up my blog postings – to add in some creative writing based on funny things going on in our world. It gives me a chance to work my fiction muscle.

A vampire walked into a coffee shop and ordered a no-frills, straight black coffee. Room for cream? No. He turned, looking around the room. It was packed and the pop rock songs were barely audible above the voices. He sat at a small table in a tight corner by the window and picked up the re-folded newspaper in front of him. As he leaned into it, sipping his black coffee, his wild, foppy hair fell forward. Sunshine warmed the small coffee shop. Was he waiting for someone? Why is he out, it’s sunny today? I didn’t think that he ate or drank anything but, eh-hem, you know what. He is so freakn’ hot. These thoughts passed through Lydia’s head. Cindy had stopped chattering, ready to chide her friend for not listening but then followed Lydia’s gaze. That’s the guy from that movie. Hah, I wonder what he’s doing here. Well, besides drinking coffee. Very good looking. She found it nearly impossible to remove her gaze.

“You know who that is?” Lydia whispered. Her eyes were devious.

“Why are you whispering, of course I know who that is,” Cindy slapped Lydia on her arm.

“I want him to suck my blood,” Lydia stared at Cindy.

“Don’t do this, are you crazy? Yes, he’s hot, but it was a movie. He played a sexy character,” Cindy smirked. “Look at him now, kind of dopey.” She continued on with her conversation, hoping to sway Lydia back to reality. But Lydia’s reality was different than Cindy’s . . .

Day three of my vegan cleanse and I think that today I will just eat my fingernails. I’m confused and don’t know what to eat. This vegan cleanse says to not only eliminate animal products but also sugar, gluten, caffeine and alcohol for up to three weeks. Did you know that almost everything (even vegetarian-fake meats) contains gluten? I thought it would be easier because I read Quantum Wellness and it told me what to eat but I went shopping on Monday and just stood and stared at the food. I had to start with the basics such as vegan mayo, butter and cream cheese, agave (sweetener), soy yogurt and rice milk. My list of food items was as long as my list to Santa and I actually had to read the ingredients on all the packages. All sorts of shoppers were buzzing around me, cutting me off and huffing when my cart was in front of their tuna cans. I was in a daze . . . but I do have to place part of the blame on no caffeine. I was fine the first day until that evening when my caffeine headache kicked in . . . it lasted for about 24 hrs. It was tough yesterday because it was a rainy, chilly Seattle day and all I wanted to do was to sip coffee. I haven’t been starving myself because when in doubt go for fruit and nuts. It’s just a completely different way of eating. Last night when Stacy came home, she said that she was in a bit of a daze also and drove down a one-way the wrong way. She said that driving vegan was almost as bad as driving drunk.

This lady cracked me up – she has little light bulbs for her ta tas. It’s so ridiculous it made me laugh. Tanya and I came across her in a Tiki shop in Santa Barbara. I snapped a photo of her when she wasn’t looking . . . a little blurry . . . more California photos.

This was yesterday in Encinitas . . . woweewowee! It was amazing and so cool to be there because there were a group of locals hanging out with their wine . . . watching the view. It would never get old and interesting to see that these people don’t take it for granted. I have to confess, I did go for the view but more so to see if I could witness a green flash. A green flash is when as the sun sets, a green hue can be seen for a few seconds at the horizon because of the way the light interacts with the atmosphere . . . or something like that. Maybe I’ll see it tonight. I posted more photos of the sunset on flickr.

I went to Venice Beach last week to meet up with a friend who used to live in Chicago. We had a nice lunch and then I decided to cruise the pier. It was a gorgeous day and I took beautiful photos of the beach. I walked by this old man and would have thought he was dead but I heard him snoring, loudly. This guy snoozing on the pier is funny to me because that’s what I think of when I think of fishing . . . a bit like watching a mediocre film with my eyes half shut. I grew up fishing, every summer when we went camping and I put everything on a hook from worms to leeches . . I even gutted fish so we could grill them up. It was a lot of fun then . . . but now . . . umm, maybe.

It also reminded me of traveling Europe in my early 20s . . . I could fall asleep anywhere as we traveled by boat and train at all hours of the day and night. That orange cooler looks comfy.

I’m in Encinitas this week, staying with Luann and Chi. I went running on the beach yesterday and plan to do that this whole week – if anything will get me motivated, it’s this! When I wake up in the morning, still in bed, I listen to the birds chirping outside my window . . . I feel like I’m in a jungle! It will be mid-60s to low 70s and sunny all week. I’m soaking it up . . . I head back to Chicago in about a week and half.

So I haven’t seen any superstars or models or sports idols, but I did get to sit on a commercial shoot a couple of weeks ago. My opinion . . . it looks kind of boring but I could also see the allure of the focus on the actor, zoning into character. Theater acting seems more exciting because of the flow . . . commercial consists of repeated takes. I’ve been on a film set before, but only for a brief period of time. This shoot I was there all day. My cousin’s daughter, Lily won the role of the adorable girl in a lawn care commercial. It was a perfect family . . .