Pretty Sure I Made Wine

The wine is done! I bottled it last night (after waiting for it to ferment for MONTHS when I thought it would take days) and had my first experience with a hand-corker. If anyone needs anything corked, let me know. That thing is super fun.

And the wine itself is...drinkable! It's not the best tasting wine in the world, and not sure I taste any blackberry in there, but hey, I up and made some wine.

Challenge no. 9 is history. Cheers!

Hadwin

Challenge no. 7 is to write and direct my own short film and submit it to a festival. Being the most ambitious challenge by far, you'd think I would have started it earlier.

I did. I came up with many, many ideas for my short film, starting months and months ago. Even wrote a couple of scripts. But no premise felt right. Until this one:

What happens to an imaginary friend when the kid who created him dies?

It's dark but sweet. It's sad and weird. It's Where the Wild Things Are meets Wes Anderson.

The script is title-less but finished, and I am now in the process of finding interested production partners. I want to do this one right, and in doing so I'm most likely sacrificing the ability to complete this challenge by the time I turn thirty. Sure, I could go out and shoot it myself on my Canon, but if my name is going on it, it needs to be polished. And polished takes time, favors, and luck.

Also, no stealies. I'll know.

Life Change Update

Challenge no. 13 was to make some sort of a life change, and little did I know that my boyfriend was planning (independently of this challenge) on asking me an important question. I said yes to that question, and so begins the process of throwing the most important party of our lives.

Today we found our venue, a photographer's industrial loft in Atlanta, Georgia. Here is the sneakiest peek I would allow myself to give:

Homemade

My outfit is done! I finished the shirt last night (with some expected imperfections) and am making plans for a self-portrait shoot very soon. Here's a sneak peak at the final pieces (for challenge no. 28):

 I plan on styling it with this belt.

 A homemade shirt. Clearly.

A Little Honesty

So, how are those daily challenges working out? Do you really do them every day? What about when you're on vacation?

Somewhere in the midst of traveling, planning a wedding, and launching the biggest campaign of my career, I have slacked on some of my daily challenges. I haven't been drinking a liter of water, meditating, writing or complimenting someone every single day. I haven't been perfect. I don't get an A.

GASP.

Do I fail? Do I get to cross them off the list at the end of the year? I don't know. What I do know is that I'm dedicating the last 55 days of my 29th year to these daily challenges. They are great challenges, good-for-me challenges, challenges that encompass everything this year is about, and I owe a little more effort to those who issued them.

Excuse me while I fill up the Brita.

The Final Twist

Regular posting shall resume tomorrow, as I am currently stuck in a glass box in Times Square.

It's the last day (day 100) of the Oreo Daily Twist, a campaign I've been working on.

Me, on a live video feed billboard in Times Square.

If you'd like to submit your own idea, you can:

Losing My Religion

In the eyes of all 10+ gods I have met over the course of the last 10 months, I hereby cross challenge no. 29 off the list. I have now attended ten different religious services.

Last night my cousin and I went to a Hare Krishna service at Sri Sri Radha Govinda Mandir in downtown Brooklyn.  The 6:00 Sunday service is called Sandhya Arati + Kirtan.

It's pretty much an hour-long incense-induced shoeless dance party, but hey, they have fun with their religion. And they get to wear robes.

Everyone faced a main stage, where an older gentleman in a white robe performed a series of rituals involving fire, water, and a large fan. The man leading the chants stood in the crowd next to a microphone, surrounded by boys and men with drums. The atmosphere was joyful. Little girls danced in circles. Here are some pictures (sorry for the poor quality):

Upon entering the room, each person got on their knees and bowed, some a little more dramatically than others:

And don't ask me who that guy on the couch is. He faced the stage near the back and remained unmoved for the entire service.

At one point a woman walked around with a flame on a plate. She instructed us to put our hands over the flame and then touch our foreheads. Next, a different woman came around with a bowl of water and splashed us with droplets.

After an hour of music and chanting that escalated into jumping up and down with hands in the air, it all ended with a quiet prayer:

Since walking blindly into the service didn't really reveal much about the Hare Krishna belief system (and my knowledge to date has been based solely on an episode of Mad Men), I dug a little deeper via their website. Karma, vegetarianism, and yoga play a large role, as do the following four principles:

1. Cleanliness: Of body, mind and soul.
This means the daily washing of the body, but also refraining from illicit sex (only sex for procreation within marriage). Celibacy, recitation of God´s (Krishna´s) holy names and studying the holy Scriptures help us to keep the mind and soul clean and balanced.

2. Mercy: To help living entities (materially as well as spiritually).
True followers of the Vedic (or any other) Scriptures are strictly vegetarians. It is perfectly possible to live healthily and happily without needlessly killing innocent animals. To kill our fellow living entities instead of protecting them, is against the laws of God.

3. Austerity: To take only what we really need, without greed or violence.
Intoxications like alcohol, hard and soft drugs, tobacco, caffeine etc. make someones mercy and friendliness disappear. Addictions are not only unnecessary, but also very harmful (to body, mind and to others). The best alternative for addictions is an awakening of our eternal relationship with God (Krishna) by living in accordance with His laws.

4. Truthfulness: Means that we should not lie or gamble.
Gambling destroys truthfulness because it is an attempt to bypass the laws of nature and obtain material profit without honestly working for them. An honest deed is the best gamble in the world and a sure winner.

But perhaps the largest part is what they call "Mantra Meditation," which is both individual and congregational. Individually devotees of Krishna perform a daily schedule of personal prayer and meditation. This is centered around the recitation of the names of Krishna (God) using prayer beads to count out the number of names chanted. The prayer, or “mantra”, that they repeat is called the Hare Krishna Maha Mantra.

“Hare”, “Krishna” and “Rama” are all names used in the Vaishnava tradition that refer to God and His energies. Because God is spiritual and all-powerful if someone chants His name then they will become purified – materially and spiritually. This chanting is also considered a form of prayer whereby the devotee is appealing to the Lord to please engage the devotee in the Lord’s service.


Overall, it was pleasant. The people were relatively welcoming but pretty much left us alone. I didn't get a cult vibe. And if I ever feel like dancing and touching fire and feasting on vegetarian fare, I know where to go.