When stripped down to its most organic state, surfing is never about money. Multi-national surf corporations spend millions of dollars on advertising in an attempt to convince the surfing and non-surfing masses that the lineups are populated by pre- and barely post-pubescent young men who bust massive airs in boardshorts that cost a small, but worthwhile fortune worthwhile for their ability to make a surfer look cool among his peers and sexy to the opposite sex. That representation of the sport is surfing at its least organic: one-dimensional and exclusive, designed to keep surf corporations in the black, and simultaneously dismissive of surfing’s storied past while being indifferent to its unpredictable future. Money, not the leash, ruined surfing.

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This weekend it’s all happening on Beverly Drive in Beverly Hills. Just think, you can play the parking game in that crazy Rite Aid parking garage for half an hour, finally give up on finding a space, go park in an expensive lot and then head out into the crowds to spend more money. Hooray for LA!

If you’re pregnant or know someone who is pregnant, or maybe if you’re planning on getting pregnant, you should check out the awesome sale at the flagship Liz Lange Maternity Store. For some reason, they’re closing shop for awhile and getting rid of everything. We’re talking $20 an item, folks. That’s just crazy. Maybe you should get pregnant because of the sale. That’s not crazy at all. You should do that.

346 N. Beverly Drive
Beverly Hills, CA 90210 (Map)
(310) 273-0099

Mon-Sat 10am-6pm
Sun 12pm-5pm

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Ever wanted to start your own compost pile, but worried about the smell and the mess? Well worry no longer. It turns out the City of LA Sanitation department offers home-composting bins. But not only that, every 4th Saturday of the month they also offer a workshop to teach you how to use it.

Think about it: all your organic trash could be used to fertilize your lawn / plants / illegal grow operation in your closet. It’s good for your plants, good for the city and good for the environment!

So do yourself a favor and start your own compost!

Special thanks to The Ideal Bite’s local daily email green tip for the heads-up.

City of LA Sanitation Dept
Saturday March 22nd
10AM-Noon
5400 Griffith Park Dr
(213)485-2260

Photo by wisemandarine via Flickr

This week is LA fashion week, people. If you feel excited and are not sure why, that’s probably it. Because I’m excited and I just can’t hide it, on Sunday morning, I downed some coffee and journeyed down 3rd street to see the new Maxine Dillon collection at Aero & Co.

Maxine Dillon is only 26. Her clothes reflect her age in that they’re young and fresh but not so young and fresh that a normal 30-something Angeleno chic (yours truly) wouldn’t sport them. In fact, they are infinitely wearable. Surprisingly so. Casual, hip and easy. Her floaty tops, jersey dresses and jaunty shorts work with the clothes you already own but are easily mixed with other pieces from the collection. The palate is cool; all blue, tan and gray separates. This stuff is actually cute, like ‘I’d really wear that in LA’ cute, not ‘that’s great but I wouldn’t wear it to Coffee Bean’ cute. [ Read The Full Story -> ]

When I was much younger, I would follow my mother around the supermarket produce aisle while she picked out fruits and vegetables for the family. She’d rip the husks off of corn to make sure it didn’t have worms, shake cantaloupes to check for loose seeds and manhandle apples to ensure firm flesh. And yet, our fruit and vegetables were no more superior to that of our neighbors. Why not?

There are a lot of reasons, but I’ll give you the two that matter most: 1) Produce harvested prior to ripeness will never have the same flavor as that of fresh-picked, and 2) bashing your fruit around is not a way to determine its freshness. So if all that poking and prodding won’t give you the results you crave, why waste your time? Why not have fresh, organic produce delivered straight to your door?

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LA is perhaps only second to New York in number and quality of hair salons. As someone with unruly, frizzy curls, I am constantly on the search for someone who can trim my freakish hair into a masterpiece.

The first salon I visited in LA was the ultra-indie Sit Still in Venice. My friend had made the appointment for the two of us, and that was the beginning of the end. The receptionist had misunderstood her, and thought my 22 year old buddy was bringing her son instead of her companion. The stylist was expecting to cut the hair of a stylish 4 year old, and instead got me. Whoops.

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In light of the last recall I have to say…I HAVE HAD ENOUGH! What is wrong with people these days?! The main reason for the recall was due to the torture of downed cows…making for questionable meat. The problem lies however, not so much in the publics lack of investing time and thought into a proper solution for a problem that has plagued us since the mad cow epidemic, in so much that an apparent ‘laziness’ is what is keeping us from protecting the very animals we depend on. We use animals for company, clothing, labor and the obvious…food and yet we have absolutely no respect for their importance and vital contribution to our lives.

As of today I have, along with my family and most of my friends decided to go vegetarian. I love meat mind you…but I love animals more. And because of that love, have spent hours researching the internet for meat alternatives to keep the body and mind healthy and sound. Aside from the obvious fish, tofu and vegetable alternatives, I came across a very interesting Peruvian dish EXTREMELY high in protein that actually tastes delicious!

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Inspired this week by the people I keep meeting downtown near the fashion district with great alternative fashion sense. I’m really interested in alternative clothes and people with their own styles. Tokyo is the one place to see such people, but LA has it’s fair share too!

Illustration and Photography by Klara Piechocki

“I’m No Saint” - Story by Guest Writer Sharon Jensen Zlotnik

Homeless people are a fixture of life in a big city. Los Angles has been given the shameful honor of being Homeless Capital of USA, with about 73,000 homeless people in the larger metropolitan area, 10,000 of those are minors.

Two encounters I had with two people this year - who may or may not have been counted in the “homeless stats” - stand out in my memory.

I got off the bus at Westwood Village and walked towards the beautiful UCLA campus. A woman was standing on the sidewalk, holding a sign, and crying. Everyone passed her by. I kept walking at first, then turned around and observed her. A white lady, maybe 50, maybe 40, blonde ponytail, sun burned face. I went into a cafe and bought a juice, a yogurt and a bread item. When I handed her the lunch bag, she stopped crying, like a child whose parent has picked her up with a soothing “there, there now, it’s all right”. She thanked me and looked at me as if I were Mother Theresa. I said “you’re welcome – enjoy the food” and continued on my way. I never saw her again.

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If being an English major in college has taught me anything it’s this: analyze, analyze, analyze. Dive as far into the text as you possibly can; and then go further. Lately, my favorite topic of analysis has been Shakespeare. At the beginning of this quarter my Shakespeare professor introduced us to the idea of the problem play. These problem plays are comedies that deal with contemporary social and moral issues. They mix the heavy with the light, using comedic situations and characters to deal with serious issues. The plays classified as problem plays are Measure for Measure, Troilus and Cressida, and All’s Well That Ends Well. Well Shakespeare, I’ve got another one for you: The Problem Poop.

Yes, that’s right, I said poop. Allow me to explain.

This past Monday, I was sitting in class at UCLA when poop was discovered in my classroom. Our professor had given us a ten-minute break when I heard a chorus of voices murmuring something about poop. My classmates had discovered a pile of fecal matter on the floor in the back row. There was a mass exodus of students from the back of the classroom to the front. The general consensus of the class was that it was, in fact, human feces. Class proceeded as scheduled, and the door was opened for air, but the poop was not removed. On my way out of class that day, I took a peek, just to see for myself.

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Nature Mart
2080 Hillhurst Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90027
(323) 660-0052

I have a secret weapon against my 7-11 addiction. I go to Nature Mart on Hillhurst instead. I know that I can walk in there and pick whatever snack my heart desires and it won’t be bad for me. The food at Nature Mart is organic and free of icky stuff like preservatives, white sugar and pesticides. I figure I’m doing my body a favor by choosing a Synergy kombucha drink and some dried ginger trail mix instead of a Big Gulp and Oreos. Actually, after re-reading that sentence, I realize it’s pretty much a no-brainer, my love for Big Gulps notwithstanding.

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