Pirate Gardening

This is an incredible TED talk by Ron Finley, a guerilla gardener in South Central L.A.  His mission is to turn vacant lots and strips of land in the 'food desert' of South Central into bountiful food gardens that are available to everyone.  Similar to the mission of the Durham worker owned collective, 'Bountiful Backyards'.  I love when he says 'growing your own food is like printing your own money'.  It's so true!  Food prices are incredibly high, mostly because we are shipping our food everywhere.  In places like South Central there are almost no healthy food options.  We are passionate about this issue, please take a moment to watch the video. Enjoy! 

Upgrading our Gray Matter

The world of education is changing and we are so excited! This month we have been diving in to free online classes.  There are some great options popping up, one of our favorites being Coursera.   Their mission is to bring top-notch education to everyone by making it accessible and free online.  I love being able to follow my interests and learn about areas of life that fascinate me, for my enjoyment and fulfillment.  I feel most alive when I am learning something new.

I decided to begin my Coursera journey with one class, 'Developing innovative ideas for New Companies'.  This course is offered by the University of Maryland and there are over 85,000 people enrolled in the class!   Obviously this idea is exciting to many people around the world.  The format for most Coursera courses is video lectures, which include quizzes embedded in the videos, and larger tests at the end of each section.  The time commitment is listed in the description of each course.

The other new education opportunity we've been adding to our arsenal is Codeacademy.  It is a free online coding 'school'.  They offer interactive courses in web fundamentals, jQuery, JavaScript, Python, Ruby, and API's.  I am currently learning JavaScript.  These are not time structured so I log on whenever I have a moment and learn a little more coding.

There are other online class hubs like Canvas.  I am currently taking a Digital Media course through Peninsula college on Canvas.  I'm sure there are other options as well.  If you are a life long learner, I recommend following your passions through any of these learning opportunities. 

Beautiful 'Wounded Bird' Re-work by Adisa McKenzie!

Another shout out to the cult classic 'True Romance'. The song 'wounded bird' by Charles and Eddie was a perfect match to the soundtrack of the movie. Adisa McKenzie produced the music behind this new take on the song.  I love re-mixes and covers that approach songs in very different ways from the original, while maintaining the feeling behind it.  This version does just that.  Here's to quiet loving moments, as well as hot, steamy and passionate love making, enjoy!