Books are something sacred to me. Whether bad or good they hold a record of our culture and history. For me, personally, they were always a means of escape and entertainment. My little book obsession is precisely why it was not a good idea for me to sign up to volunteer for the last shift of the Venice Library Book Sale. When I arrived to start my shift at 3 pm people were making their final selections. I found the volunteer coordinator, Carol, and she put me to work stacking and organizing the... [Read more]

Reading through my local paper one weekend I came across an ad requesting volunteers for Stitchesfromtheheart.org. I looked the group up online and discovered that they knitted blankets and clothing items for premature babies. Wonderful! I had no idea how to knit. Had never even held knitting needles, but this was a must do. Right away I started fanaticizing about the lovely pieces I would make with all organic cotton and fair-trade-humanely-harvested-vegetable-dyed-alpaca-wool-from-the-farthest-nether-regions-of-the-Andes.... [Read more]

“How long have you been like that?”, “You don’t look like a vegetarian.”, “Don’t you get hungry?” As a vegetarian it’s almost guaranteed that you will hear the above phrases at least one thousand times during your lifespan.  An entire article could be written about how to answer these questions and why vegetarians are forced to endure them, but right now I want to focus on the most frequently asked question; the question that refuses to go away:“But you eat fish right?” “No.... [Read more]

I started this volunteer project with a list of organization I had to help and activities I wanted to do. Volunteering at a school garden was at the top (for reasons I will explain later). But after months of contacting gardening non-profits without a single phone call or email returned I began to believe that school gardens and even community gardens were mythical creatures like unicorns. Oh, everyone had seen one and “it was beautiful” and “it had performed miracles” in various communities,... [Read more]

I don’t relish the idea of speaking in front of people. This might sound strange coming from an actor, but when I act I’m reading lines, and I’m a character, not myself. Irrational?  Yes, but that’s how I’ve managed to perform over and over again in front of thousands of people. When Heal the Bay contacted me to join them at a public hearing, and speak in support Marine Protection Areas (MPAs)* in Southern California, I thought they were joking. I’m not a scientist, certainly not an... [Read more]

The Venice Arts program introduces the arts, particularly photography, to underprivileged populations through accessible media-based arts education programs. After reading about the Venice Arts program and an upcoming show entitled, “Got Caught Up Out There: Photography by Homeless Women” I knew I had to help out at the show opening. The only problem was I have zero photography talent. What’s a lame duck like me to do? I called the program anyway and Roz, the program coordinator,... [Read more]

Slicing up a bunch of Granny Smith apples for a pie one day it occurred to me that it would be easier walk outside and pick apples from a tree rather than go to the store to buy them. Free, local, organic apples - Genius. With only inspiration and absolutely zero planning I bravely forged ahead with a new vision - an orchard on my 4 x 4 porch. On the Internet I found a plethora of information on apple seeding. Step one – use organic apples because conventional apples might have been sprayed with... [Read more]