Puki's Blog

Blown Away

Luckily, I wasn't blown away (literally) by the raging wind storm that tore through on Saturday night. However, I got another chance on Sunday night to be blown away by the amazing talent and creativity of all my friends in the MUM family. It was the annual MUM Variety Show Extravaganza! This year it was held in the new Sondheim Theater at the Civic Center in town, which made it all the more professional and delightful. There were all kinds of dances--modern/improv, traditional Japanese, Bollywood, hip-hop, jazz--original music, comedy, poetry and fun all around. I was incredibly impressed by all of the brilliant creativity bursting out of all of my friends.

My form of creative expression these days is through food. I love concocting beautiful, delicious, and nutritious live food creations. Yesterday I hosted a raw foods potluck that was 100% stupendous. The food was fantastic and its always fun to be with a group of people that are as excited about raw foods as I am.

What is Transcendental Meditation?

I just came across this video on YouTube that was made by a prospective student who just came and learned TM at MUM during the David Lynch Weekend. He does a great job of explaining what it is all about. Check it out.

Loving Life!

It really can't get much better than this. Spring time in Iowa is amazing every year--ideal weather and everything is bursting with life. My schedule is more free than it ever has been so I actually have time to relax, do my own thing, and enjoy it all to the max!

I am in TV Production 2, which is an entirely project-based class. Everyone just works on their own projects. Since I am new to the whole video world, so far I am teaching myself editing with the help from my wonderful classmates and the great Sam and Adam. My first endeavor was to create a short clip of the highlights from the epic night when David Lynch, Donovan, Moby and the gang crashed the Maharishi School prom a couple of weeks ago. I had a ton of fun putting it together and the super Virgo, perfectionist side of me just LOVES editing. Its a good outlet for that side of me and I can't wait to learn more. Here is my first little creation.

I am working with the David Lynch Foundation crew on an awesome project, creating the new David Lynch Foundation TV Station. It is still in the very formative stages, but it is a super fun group of people to work with and has a lot of potential to be a fabulous project. David Lynch himself is really excited about the idea!

In the rest of my free time, which I seem to have  an unusual amount of these days, I have been biking, doing yoga, gardening, making delicious raw food for myself, swing and salsa dancing, catching up with friends and just enjoying! This is the life!

Peace,
Puki

"Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful." - Albert Schweitzer

Another Great Weekend

Life seems to bring one action packed weekend after another these days. Just after recovering from the David Lynch Weekend, which I helped organize last weekend, the Eco Fair occurred. I was not super involved with the event, but I did model for a local organic clothing store in the EcoJam Fashion Show last night and I gave a raw food workshop this morning. The theme of the Eco Fair this year was Artisan Foods and the Slow Food Movement, and though I didn't attend much of the event, the one talk I did see was fantastic. Deborah Madison, who started the famous Greens restaurant in San Fransisco and has written numerous cookbooks, gave a great talk on local foods. After hearing her talk I was inspired to walk across the street to the farmers market and buy a bunch of fresh yummy vegetables and plants for my garden.

After I finished my raw foods workshop this morning, I spent the beautiful afternoon (spring is finally here!) outside planting our garden with my mom. We planted raspberries, tomatoes, kale, parsley, spinach, arugala, peas, cilantro, thyme, lettuce, and that's just the beginning... I am so excited that soon I will be able to walk outside my door and pick an abundance of super fresh veggies and make all kinds of incredible meals! Its interesting for me to observe how excited I am about gardening now, when just a few years ago my mom had to drag me outside and pay me to get any help in the garden. Now most of what we are planting is driven by my desire to eat fresh, local, organic, homegrown food. Its going to be a great summer!

The lovely spring day culminated in a delicious barbecue this evening with a bunch of friends. It was the perfect way to end a nice long weekend before heading back to class tomorrow. Yes, I am indeed enrolled in an actual class, after months of doing directed studies and traveling. Okay, I will admit, I am basically doing a directed study, working on some awesome video projects for the David Lynch Foundation, while technically being in the class TV Production 2.  Somehow I managed to pull that off, without having taken TV Production 1, or any of the other prerequisites. Some people have called me  "the queen of directed studies," and I am definitely living up to that title now. I think its going to be a great month, and I will learn a lot because I am working with three amazingly brilliant video production people.

Peace,
Puki

Great Article

Here is the link to an article that Daron Murphy (Moby's friend and band mate) wrote for Men's Vogue about his time here in Fairfield for the David Lynch Weekend. It is well written, entertaining and captures the essence of the weekend fabulously. Enjoy!

Peace,
Puki

David Lynch Weekend Photos Coming Soon

I was running around like crazy all weekend and did not take a single photo. My new BFF, Amy Kettenberg, who stayed at my house during the weekend is a photographer and was brought out from LA to shoot the event for the David Lynch Foundation. She has so kindly agreed to let me use some of her photos on my blog, so check back because I should be getting them soon. I can't wait to see the awesome shots she got!

Peace,
Puki

What a Weekend!

One of the craziest, busiest, most bizarre, and most fulfilling weekends of my life has just come to an end. It was the the David Lynch Weekend on Consciousness, Creativity, Sustainability and Peace. For the last three weeks I have been working full time with admissions and the event organizers to help create the event as a directed study in Communications and Media. It was a ton of work and fairly exhausting, but it was a great learning experience and totally awesome! The event was a huge success and there is nothing more fulfilling for me than knowing that I played a part in creating such an amazing experience that transformed so many lives.

The new faces of prospective students, special guest performers, and brilliant speakers brought a wave of freshness and inspiration to the campus. As far as I know, everyone had a great time and can't wait to come back to live in the awesomeness of Fairfield.

A highlight of the weekend was definitely crashing the Maharishi School Prom with Donovan, Moby, David Lynch, Chrysta Bell and the gang. It was like something out of a David Lynch movie--a posse of random people gathering in a warehouse jamming out before entering a room full of glammed up high school students squealing with excitement as David Lynch crowned the queen and king and Moby, Donovan, and Co. busted out singing Atlantis and a few other songs. I asked Moby, "did you ever imagine that you would be in a tiny town in the cornfields of Iowa crashing a high school prom?" He replied something along the lines of 'I'm just waiting to wake up in Germany in a cornfield and wonder what is going on.' It ended up being a long, random, fun night hanging out with the rock stars. Another highlight was on Sunday night hanging out with Donovan listening to stories about the old days hanging out with the Beatles, Jimi Hendrix and everyone.

Now that the weekend is over and the excitement has died down, I am spending a few days resting up and figuring out what I am going to do with myself for the next two blocks. I have no classes scheduled and lots of opportunities. My problem is never that I have nothing to do, but that I have too many awesome things I want to do.  Usually nature makes it really clear what I am meant to be doing and it all works out beautifully. I am hoping that this trend will continue because it has certainly led to an amazing last few months for me.

Coming up next weekend is the Eco Fair on campus. I am not as involved with this as I have been in the past, but I am modeling in the EcoJam fashion show and helping give a raw foods workshop on Sunday morning. The theme this year is Artisan foods and the Slow Food Movement. It should be another fantastic weekend here in the cornfields!

Peace,
Puki

Crazy Time Just Hit

Event planning is always a lot of fun, but also generally involves a lot of insanity in the last few days prior to the event. Those days of insanity just hit me this afternoon. Up to this point, I have been cruising through everything that needs to get done, but this afternoon when I was leading a training session for 40 student hosts, it dawned on me that this is actually happening. This being the David Lynch Visitors Weekend which is happening at our university THIS WEEKEND! I am doing a directed study this block helping out with the organization and coordination of this event. Its going to be crazy...crazy awesome that is!!! Maybe I will see some of you there!

Peace,
Puki

Back to the Busy Life

It has now been almost two weeks since I have returned to MUM from my wandering adventures of the last few months and I am finally feeling like I am starting to settle into my life again. I have been doing a directed study helping out with the organization of the David Lynch Weekend, which is right around the corner! I am working with the admissions counselors and event organizers on coordinating everything student--student hosts, student entertainment, student panels. I am finding that I actually really enjoy this kind of thing--organizing people to do stuff. Its the kind of thing that could really easily be extremely stressful, however, I am feeling alarmingly calm about it all. Even though its crazy, I have no doubt that it will all come together perfectly at the last minute.

Last weekend there was a rockin' awesome band that played in the new Argiro Student Center on campus. It was a soul revival band from Iowa City called The Diplomats of Solid Sound. They were fabulous and we all got dressed up and danced the night away. Aengus, from student activities, took tons of pictures at the event that can be seen here.

As for now, I'm off to watch The Office...I got hooked over spring break. On principle, I am generally very anti-TV, however, every once in a while its nice to enjoy a good time waster. :)

Peace,
Puki

Home Sweet Home

The adventure whirlwind has come to an end...for now at least. I arrived home yesterday morning on the train with my two friends, Tegan and Anna, that I have been traveling with on various parts of the last few months' journeys. I seriously doubt that the train conductors have ever seen three people so excited to arrive in Ottumwa, Iowa (a nearby town where we got off the train). For days before we embarked on the homeward voyage, our excitement was mounting...and it feels so fabulous to be home, see all the friendly f amiliar faces, meditate with a group, and sleep in my own bed!

I am starting class again today, actually another directed study. This next block I will be working on the David Lynch Weekend, which is being held at our university in two weeks! Check out this website  for more information about the epic event. I have been gone for so long that I am seriously out of the loop with what is going on with it, but I can't wait to jump in and get involved.

Pictures from the travels coming soon!

Peace,
Puki

“Certainly, travel is more than the seeing of sights; it is a change that goes on, deep and permanent, in the ideas of living.” - Miriam Beard

Wandering the West

I am currently sitting in a rustic hostel/resort near Yosemite with a table full of fellow travelers from all over the world. What an adventure these last few weeks have been! I started with a 24+ hour train ride to Arizona where I visited the Grand Canyon and spent 4 days hiking 8 miles a day in and out of Havasu Canyon with a class from Southeastern Community College. The night after hiking out of the canyon Tegan and I hopped on a train and headed up to LA, where we had a wonderful time relaxing and catching up with a friend from high school. On Sunday we boarded the Coast Starlight train (I think that was the name...if not, it was something lovely like that) for a beautiful journey up the coast of California to San Francisco. We have been crashing with some old friends from middle school, eating delicious food, wandering around some fun neighborhoods, hanging out in bookstores and having a generally chill time. Today we were picked up by the Yosemite Bug Tour Bus for a two day tour of the national park. I am super excited to see it tomorrow! Thats a quick update of my wandering life. We begin the homeward journey on Monday, stopping in Colorado for 4 days before returning to Iowa. As amazing as this is...I can't wait to be home.

Peace,
Puki

Touchdown in Fairfield

Looking back at my previous post, it sounded like I was having an awful time in India. I would like to clarify that shortly after that post was written I found Heaven in Rishikesh. It was incredibly beautiful, pure, clean, relaxed, and charming. The Ganges ran through lush green foothills of the Himalayas, clear and blue with soft sandy beaches lining the banks. There were tons of fellow Westerners around, so we weren't constantly gawked at like some strange alien species and the whole place was simply wonderful. The food was fabulous, the shops were quaint, the people were beautiful spiritual seekers. I totally fell in love with the place. There are very few places that I could see myself living, and Rishikesh is one of them.

As hard as it was to leave this transcendental jungle paradise, I made it back to my wonderful home at MUM for a few days before embarking on my next adventure. Today I alight on a train  journey out to the Grand Canyon where I will be taking a course for transfer credit through a community college just down the road from Fairfield. After the class ends, my spring break begins so my good friend Tegan and I are hopping on the train and heading up the California coast to visit some friends in LA and have even more epic adventures in San Francisco, Yosemite, and Colorado on the way home. Its going to be another crazy whirlwind  of travel for the next three weeks and I am starting to get quite excited about it! However, as much as I love all this traveling I have been doing for the last several months, I am definitely looking forward to settling back into my magical universe at MUM when I return.

After spring break I will be back at school doing a directed study getting credit for helping out with the organization, promotion and production of the David Lynch Weekend that our university is hosting at the end of April. I did this last year and it was the most fulfilling thing I did all year, which is saying something because I had such and amazing time at MUM last year. After that...who knows? Maybe actually taking some real classes for the last two blocks before summer vacation. What a concept! This has been quite the exciting year for me, but as I was hanging out in Rishikesh, it hit me that I actually missed being in class. It has been a wonderful three months of spontaneous adventures and a great lesson in going with the flow. I am excited to see what the universe has in store for me in the not so distant future!

Time to get packing... as I leave for the next phase of the adventure in approximately 4 hours and 17 minutes. Until next time.

Peace,
Puki

Is this Homesickness?

I generally don't get homesick when I travel. But for the last couple of days I have been dreaming of pure air, fresh western food, brushing my teeth with tap water, my own bed, Everybodies (our beloved local health food store), my amazing friends, and general cleanliness. I think these fantasies are mainly a result of the fact that I have been holed up in a hotel room with 5 sick friends, myself included, for the past four days. Once we hit the train rails tonight and the adventure resumes as we head up to Rishikesh, I am hoping that the joy of travelling with return. Until then...Its all a great experience regardless of how much I miss my magical MUM world.

Adventures in India

Since I last wrote, my life has taken yet another interesting and exciting turn of events. Just as I was getting settled back into my life at MUM after my excursion to Holland, I was whisked off to India for another adventure. The founder of our university, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, recently passed away and I immediately embarked on this journey to attend the funeral ceremony and celebration of his life in his beautiful homeland--India. It was a very spontaneous trip, but somehow nature was supporting every step of the way and I managed to sort everything out--from getting a visa to hotel rooms to plane tickets and leave the country--all within 24 hours of deciding that I wanted to go. The ceremonies and celebrations for Maharishi are now winding down and I have rejoined with a group of my friends that I was with during the Holland adventures and we are resting for a few days before we alight on the next phase of our travels. The plan is to head north to Rishikesh, which has become famous as the place where the Beatles spent time with Maharishi in the 60's. This trip has been an absolutely amazing, beautiful spiritual experience so far and I can't wait to see what adventures await me in the next few weeks that I am here.

Peace,

Puki

A Historic Moment

Today marks an epic moment in the history of our university--the grand opening of the new Argiro Student Center! This day has been long awaited and anticipated by the students, faculty and whole campus community. There were many who believed this day would never come, and honestly, it is hard to believe that it is actually here. Last night there was a "Farewell Cosmic Cafe" party to hang out in our beloved old student lounge/cafe one last time. In exactly one hour the celebration and inauguration of the new building will begin. As of today, life at MUM will never be the same...

Edge Life Article

In December I was approached by someone in the media department at the University and asked to write an article for Edge Life Magazine's January issue on Meditation. It is a Holistic living magazine that is distributed throughout the upper Midwest. The topic I was asked to write on is  "Why Meditate?" My fellow blogger Alex wrote an article for this as well. His article can be found here:  <http://edgelife.net/article.php?id=0907>

Diving Within Yields Incredible Results
                      by Puki Freeberg
               

 

from the January 2008 issue

 

In our society, where stress is a given factor of college culture, one might wonder how a busy college student could afford to take the time twice a day to sit down, close her eyes and meditate. The general paradigm of our education system suggests that stress is a part of receiving a good education and becoming successful in life. As a student at Maharishi University of Management, where Transcendental Meditation is part of the curriculum, I am grateful to have discovered that the opposite is true. Success in every area of my life stems from the reservoir of deep inner peace, happiness and intelligence that I dive into twice a day when I meditate.

Learning to meditate was not a conscious choice on my part. I was raised by parents who practice Transcendental Meditation, and I was taught by my mother at the age of 10, far earlier than when most young people start seeking a spiritual practice. I always enjoyed meditation, but it was not until I was about 15 years old that I really began to notice the tremendous benefits that I received in every aspect of my life. I could write endlessly about the practical benefits that TM has had in my life: reduced stress; increased creativity, wakefulness and clarity; improved academic performance, self-confidence and social behavior...to name a few. Because I have been practicing meditation for as long as I can remember, I feel like these qualities are simply an integral part of who I am.

I would like to dwell on the deeper reason why I meditate.

The single-most important reason that I have continued to meditate for the past 10 years is the continued growth of a strong, steady inner happiness that permeates every aspect of my life. Through a practice of meditation, I have come to understand and directly experience that there is an unbounded level of existence within me, and in every one of us. This field, described by modern physics as the Unified Field and by many religions as Christ Consciousness, the Tao, Nirvana, etc., is the source of all creativity, intelligence and happiness -- and as a side effect, success.

By allowing myself the time twice a day to turn my attention inward to this field of infinite creativity and bliss, I come out of my practice refreshed, and I carry these qualities with me into whatever activity I choose. I find that I am able to accomplish and excel at whatever I put my mind to, without getting stressed out. This comes partly from my understanding that there is a deeper truth in life, and therefore I am not overshadowed by whatever challenges my busy student life may present. And it comes from the experience of deep inner peace, happiness and intelligence that continues to grow in my life every time I meditate.

This is why I choose to continue to meditate every day. No matter how crazy or busy my life appears, when I allow myself the time to dive within, I always manage to accomplish everything -- but most importantly, I am able enjoy every minute of life.

 

 Puki Freeberg is a second-year student of Communications and Media at Maharishi University of Management. She graduated as the valedictorian of her class from Maharishi School of the Age of Enlightenment in 2006. She participated in Students Creating Peace Network in high school and spoke to many students and educators about her experience practicing Transcendental Meditation.
Copyright © 2008 Puki Freeberg. All Rights Reserved.

The Flow of Life

Here I am, back in frigid Iowa, slowly thawing back into the flow of my life at MUM. My adventure in Holland was life transforming in and indescribable way. I am not even going to pretend to try to capture in words the the beautiful, but subtle transformation that has taken place within me, mainly because I have not yet figured out quite what it is. I will sum up the trip as characterized by abundance, insanity, devotion, inspiration and transformation.

The transition back into my MUM reality has been less than smooth. Usually jet lag does not effect me too severely. I think the fact that I was sick, stayed up for 28 hours straight traveling, and homeless when I returned was not conducive to an easy re-entry. My house was taken over (with my permission) by 13 students from my sister's college that were in Fairfield doing a Sustainable Living alternative break trip, working with many of the sustainable leaders at MUM and in town. They all seemed like really awesome people and I wish I was in more of a state to get to know them, but I spent the few days they were here hiding out at a friend's house recovering.

Since I came back halfway into the block, I am spending the remaining two weeks of block 5 doing a directed study picking up where I left off on the Tidal Wave Project, which I was working on before my spontaneous adventure. The Tidal Wave Project was created to bring together all of the students, faculty, and administrators to create a wave of action in Sustainability to fulfill the highest vision of our University as a carbon neutral campus. The goal of this project is to harness the collective power of a large group of people through a creative management system that will benefit the university in its sustainable development towards carbon neutrality. Things have been progressing slowly since I left, and I am excited to jump back on board and really get things rolling with the project.

Though it was a bit of a rough transition, it is wonderful to be back in my magical MUM world. There are so many beautiful, creative people and exciting opportunities that lay ahead. I can't wait to see what amazing opportunities manifest for me in the coming year. One of the most important things I gained from my trip to Holland was the experience of being totally flexible and surrendered to whatever path nature opened up for me. I am living my life more and more in this way every day. It is very powerful to be free and open to whatever opportunities may arise and appreciate each moment in its fullness. I have no doubt that this is going to be a fantastic year!

Peace,
Puki

"If you want to know the past, to know what has caused you, look at yourself in the PRESENT, for that is the past's effect. If you want to know your future, then look at yourself in the PRESENT, for that is the cause of the future."
—Majjhima Niaya

Christmas in the Nederlands

Yesterday Tegan and I took our first day off since we have been here and ventured into the lovely little town of Roermond. It is a quaint little Dutch city, bustling with Christmas excitement. Since there is a group of about 12 students here in Holland that will be away from our families at Christmas, we decided to have a little Christmas party in our bungalow. We are going to play a white elephant gift exchange game, so we went to the Dutch equivalent of a dollar store and got all kinds of fun things for the party. My favorite purchase was a mini Christmas tree that is about 5 inches tall, which we later discovered lights up, much to our surprise and delight! We left the store with a giant bag which we called "Christmas in a Bag." We then trekked back to our bungalow, dressed up in little kids elf tights, watched bad Dutch TV, and wrapped Christmas presents. Our little home is now festive and full of Christmas cheer. We are quite excited to make the holidays a fun celebration.

Most of the students from the Physics class have left, however, there are a few that stayed behind to help out and participate in a organizational course that Maharishi is hosting on his campus here now. Before the group left, Maharishi, the founder of our University talked to the class for an hour and a half and I had the great privilege to listen to the beautiful speech he gave. It was very sweet and inspiring. My favorite point that he made was "Be Yourself. Radiate invincibility. Radiate integration. Radiate affluence," in response to the question of what our generation can do to help with Maharishi's plans to create peace in the world.

Thats all for now. Merry Christmas!

Peace,
Puki

Spontaneous Trip to Europe

Some of my friends call me the master manifestor. I know that I do have a magical skill of manifesting whatever I desire and put my attention on...but this superpower has never been as clear as it is now. Three weeks ago I found out that the entire first year Physics class was going to Vlodrop, Holland where Maharishi, the founder of our University, lives. I have already taken the class, but I sent my mind on going with them. My scheming plans were not working out so I let the whole idea go and was very happy and content at MUM. Then out of the blue, the day after all of the students left for Vlodrop, someone called and asked me to come to Holland as soon as possible. That night I bought a plane ticket, and two days later I arrived in Vlodrop. Nature clearly wanted me to be here, and what better of my superb manifesting abilities.

There so much more to say, but I must be off now. Pictures and updates soon!

Peace,
Puki

"What we put our attention on grows stronger in our lives" ~Maharishi

What are YOU grateful for?

Yesterday I began a little social experiment. Bored  and disappointed with the standard greeting interaction:

"Hey."
"Hey,"
"How's it going?"
"Good. You?"
"Good."

I decided to transition my standard greeting to be "Hey! What are you grateful for?" The goal is to inspire more thoughtful/meaningful interactions and create an infectious feeling of gratefulness in my surroundings. Its interesting and amusing to see peoples' reactions and hear what answers they come up with. So far my favorite responses have been:  "Pants...well clothes in general," "YOU!" "coffee" (from my sister who goes to another college ;-). Already several of my friends have adopted the idea and are spreading the attitude of gratitude. (Don't worry, I am aware that this phrase is totally cheesy and cliche, but somehow I feel like it works in this context.)

What am I grateful for? Too many things to count...but today I am grateful for the fluffy, sparkly snow that has engulfed our little town. This is winter at its best--truly a winter wonderland. A few more things on my gratitude list: delicious raw food and my kitchen to prepare it in, my awesome massive boots, every conversation I have with the incredibly brilliant individuals around me, discovering new things about people I have known for a long time, and learning to live in the moment.

Peace,
Puki

"Contentment is no the fulfillment of what you want, but the realization of what you already have." 

One Chill Weekend

Whether I like it or not, winter is officially here. Usually I tend to manifest my reality exactly how I want it, but apparently nature has other plans for the weather. I suppose it would take a little more than my awesome manifesting powers to change the Midwest weather patterns, but I have no doubt that some day it will be within my capability. On Friday night it suddenly got ridiculously cold and Saturday we were bombarded with the first ice storm of winter. There was freezing rain, snow, wind and general nastiness. Upon discovering that my car was encased in ice, I holed up in my house and refused to leave. I rescheduled the meeting I had in the afternoon and spent the day hibernating. I ended up watching the Zeitgeist movie. It worked out perfectly because I wanted to watch a movie, but didn't want to go out to rent one and that one is available to watch for free online. I had been told many times over the last few months that I must watch it, however, the opportunity had not arisen until yesterday when nature made it clear that now was the time for me to watch it.  And I most certainly was glad that I did. It is a powerful documentary exposing truths about religion, politics, September 11, the economy, etc. It presents information in a very clear and logical way that makes the disturbing truth undoubtedly clear. I highly recommend this movie to all truth seekers www.zeitgeistmovie.com. Here is a quote from the website:  "Zeitgeist, produced by Peter Joseph, was created as a nonprofit filmiac expression to inspire people to start looking at the world from a more critical perspective and to understand that very often things are not what the population at large think they are...It is my hope that people will not take what is said in the film as the truth, but find out for themselves, for truth is not told, it is realized."

This weekend was super chill in every sense of the word. Literally, it was very cold and chilly. It was also relaxing and mellow. And not only that, but I had a lot fun chilling with all of the awesome prospective students that were here on a visitors weekend. Later in the evening, when the ice had melted off of my car and the roads had been cleared to a reasonably safe degree, I ventured out to join the wonderful group of visitors for a delightful evening of food, fabulous friends, and fun. We all had dinner and enjoyed entertainment from many of the amazingly talented student musicians on campus. It was a lively evening and it culmintated in a spontaneous outburst of the entire room dancing and singing Bob Marley together. It was a beautiful bubbling up and bursting expression of peace and love. The room was filled with so much love and positive energy...it was awesome. Not every visitors weekend is like this...there was something special going on in the air. I don't know what it was, but it should become a tradition because everyone had a fantastic time. After that magical event, many of us progressed to the apartment of one of our friends to continue jamming, dancing, chatting and chilling. All in all, it was a great group of people and a really fun night. I hope to see many of the awesome visitors back here soon!

Peace,
Puki

"When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace.: ~Jimi Hendrix

Watch SICKO Now!

Just do it. If you have not already seen Michael Moore's latest film, I highly recommend it. I was told repeatedly that I HAVE to see this movie since it was released this summer, and only tonight got around to watching it. It was highly entertaining, extremely disturbing and very informative all at the same time. I definitely think it is Michale Moore's best documentary that I have seen so far. It blatantly shows how corrupt our country's health care system is in a clever and moving way. Hope you enjoy learning the truth as much as I did...in a depressing kind of way.

Peace,
Puki

Block 4 Update

Today was a beautiful day on many levels, as is every day...but today was particularly fulfilling for many reasons.

1. I received my grade from my previous class--Calculus (read my previous post for comments on that)-- and was pleasantly surprised to find out that I got an A! It was satisfying to reaffirm that I am capable of succeeding at anything I put my mind to. Even though I felt overwhelmed and incompetent during most of the course, it feels good to know that by the end I must have learned something in order to earn an A.

2. I am making great progress in a project that I am working on with two of my fellow students as a directed study this block. It is a tremendous endeavor that we are undertaking, and there is much to write about it...so I will leave that for another post. But for now I will say that I am thoroughly enjoying and gaining lots of practical experience through my work on the project. I think the block system is wonderful for this reason. There is the flexibility for a student to take a month (or more) and earn credit for working on a project that they have designed under the supervision of a professor.

3. I beginning to manifest epic adventures for winter break. Who knows how it will unfold...but I am hoping that it all turns out as I plan...and if it does it will be AMAZING! I am an adventurer at heart and when opportunities to travel arise I can't help but jump on them. More on that later if/when it gets finalized.

Anyhow, I am off to watch Michael Moore's movie SICKO on campus. Every Thursday students meet in the Sustainable Living Department for "Green Thursdays." It is just an opportunity for people to get together, talk about ideas, share movies, and get inspired about sustainability. Okay, so SICKO isn't entirely related to Sustainable Living directly, but it will be very interesting and educational regardless. I have been hearing about this movie for months and am excited to finally watch it!

Peace,
Puki

"To give life a meaning one must have a purpose larger than oneself." ~Will Durant

Calculus Reflections

Block three went surprisingly quickly considering how intense it was for me. The most important realization I had this block was: Me + Calculus + Block System = BAD IDEA! It's not that the class was terrible, or too hard, or that I didn't understand the material. No, I came to a very important realization that I really, truly just do not enjoy doing math. And the beautiful thing is that now that this class is over, I never have to take a math class again...EVER! And that is something to be thankful for.

It has been a wonderful Thanksgiving break, just relaxing with family and friends and eating lots of delicious food. A few of my relatives from Nebraska came down and my sister brought home her friend and her friend's kitten from Grinnell, and I had a couple of friends over for Thanksgiving dinner. It was a totally random group, but everyone had a nice time. We had a traditional dinner mixed in with a few raw food dishes that I slipped in. All of it was totally tasty! Good times were had by all...except for my cats who were permanently traumatized by Biz, the psycho kitten that lives in German House with seven college students, who came to visit with my sister's friend. He was absolutely insane, but did provide some quality entertainment for us all.

Another highlight of Thanksgiving was our decision to have a Harley Davidson themed Christmas gathering with my relatives in Nebraska. Every year we have a get together with the family a few days before Christmas, and it is typically quite generic and not too thrilling. My cousin came up with the idea to have a themed party, so rather than the generic gift card swap, we will give themed gag gifts. I'm already planning my costume...its going to be entertaining at least. We spent the afternoon on Thanksgiving looking up ridiculous Harley Davidson paraphernalia on Ebay. Indeed, it is going to be an entertaining holiday.

Much more to say, but I must be off for a jog to work off the Thanksgiving gluttony and meet a friend for lunch. More later.

Peace,
Puki

"Let us rise up and be thankful, for if we didn't learn a lot today, at least we learned a little, and if we didn't learn a little, at least we didn't get sick, and if we got sick, at least we didn't die; so, let us all be thankful." ~Buddha

Mega Nerds

If you read my last post, you know that Team Awesome (4 of my classmates from last block's business class) spent the weekend competing in the finals of an intercollegiate business simulation tournament. We were managing a sensor manufacturing business, and competing against the top six schools from all over the world. There were eight rounds, each representing one year of business. We made our Round 1 decisions on Friday afternoon, Round 2 decisions on Saturday afternoon, and the six remaining rounds were played consecutively from 9am to 3pm on Sunday, with one hour for each Round. It was fun and intense to see what strategies the other students came up with, because previously in the competition we had only competed against computer generated teams. The market went nuts, because almost all of the teams introduced tons of new products and there was serious market crowding. Then the price wars began. It was a crazy day, but a great learning experience and we had a lot of fun. Our friends were all super confused when we told them how we spent our weekend, so now it is a running joke between our team that we are all mega nerds (in a good way).

Speaking of nerdiness, I must be off to try to figure out my calculus homework. I stayed home this afternoon because I have had a cold for the last few days and was not feeling mentally or physically capable of handling calculus. I rested up, drank lots of tea, and am now going to attempt to tackle it.

Peace,
Puki

"Any fool can know. The point is to understand." ~Albert Einstein

Team Awesome!

Three of my classmates and I decided to participate in an intercollegiate business simulation competition that was offered through the website that we used for a simulation during our business class last block. We had a lot of fun with competition, and were excited about our awesome results after each round. However, we had no idea how we were doing compared to the other student teams because in the semi-finals we competed against computer generated teams. The results came in yesterday and guess what?...WE ROCKED IT! We placed third out of 150+ teams and were invited to the finals round which starts this evening. We will be competing with the top six college teams in the simulation over the next three days. Wish us luck! I'll keep you posted.

Go Team Awesome!

Peace,
Puki

The Interview

Yesterday I had lunch with a film crew that was visiting Fairfield to shoot a documentary about our school and the effects of Transcendental Meditation in education. I was interviewed about my experience going to Maharishi School (the k-12 version of MUM). I used to do a lot of these kind of interviews, but it had been a while since one had come up. I really enjoyed doing it because it gives me a chance to reflect on what a uniquely awesome education I had, and express how much I appreciate it looking back.

When I was thinking about this topic yesterday, I realized that the greatest benefit I have gained from practicing TM is the knowledge and experience of the deep value of inner peace and happiness that underlies the constantly changing relative phenomenon we call life. Every day this silent inner contentment grows stronger and stronger, influencing every aspect of my daily life. This makes everything I do one really ridiculously awesome adventure after another.

Peace,
Puki

"He who binds to himself a joy Does the winged life destroy; But he who kisses the joy as it flies Lives in eternity's sun rise." ~William Blake 

Block Reality

If you have read any of my previous blogs, or my fellow blogger Alex's most recent post, you know that MUM is on the block system. In case you have been living in the dark, that means that we have one class at a time for a month. I have written many times about how much I love this system, so I will forgo that topic for today's post. My realization this week was how incredibly different each block is. I feel like I am living an entirely different reality with each block, since each class has such a distinct flavor. For example, last block I experienced the awakening of the business part of my brain, was on a really strict (self-imposed) workout routine, and spending a lot of time by myself.

Then there was the block break, where I totally broke my routine by staying up really late with all of the Halloween festivities, went on spontaneous trips to Iowa City and Ottumwa, was constantly surrounded by friends, and did not exercise at all.

Flash forward to Monday, the beginning of block 3--CALCULUS! As we walked into class, my friend Tegan (who pressured me into taking calculus with her) and I looked at eachother and said "Why the heck are we doing this?!?" It was ridiculously crazy and overwhelming for the first few days, because I have not done any form of math whatsoever in a year and a half and my brain was seriously rusty in that mode of functioning. After the first day, I freaked out and almost dropped the class, but decided to stick with it and it has gotten much easier. It was the same way in my previous business class as well. The first few days were insane and brain frazzling, however, it quickly smoothed out and I eased into the reality of the block.

Now that I am in the mathematical realm, business almost seems like a distant past. Except that I decided to enter an intercollegiate business simulation competition with three of my classmates to continue exploring our capabilities as business managers and earn honors credit for last block. The competition started on Monday and we are about half way through it, as of tonight. So far we are pretty much rocking it in every way and having a ton of fun. Go team AWESOME!

Other news in my MUM world:
My super amazing friend, Hana, just moved into my house today. We had a fantastically fun time with Halloween--I made her dream wings come true and we both dressed up as fairytails (half cat, half fairy) and had the most incredible costumes ever! (See pictures in the Halloween 2007 album for proof).  Basically, we are going to have a ridiculously fabulous time being roommates.

I have been on a mad cleaning spree  for the last two days. After my house was completely trashed last weekend when twelve members of the fairy mafia descended upon it to dress for the Halloween extravaganza, something had to be done. My amazing friends Christopher and Anila came over when I was gone and were awesome little cleaning elves and took care of most of it, but then my insane-order-creating side kicked in and I have gone out of control. I just love creating order and beauty in my life.

Anyway...This has gotten really ridiculously long. In essence, its a new block and I feel like a new person and I am excited about all the adventures this block will bring. Every day is a new adventure in my world. It is beautiful!

Peace,
Puki

"Fear and love cannot occupy the same space, so choose. What is it going to be?"
~Terces Engelhart (from her book 'I am Grateful')

Raw Sundays

Ever since my epic friend Courtney introduced me to raw food last spring I have been experimenting with this intriguing way of eating. I used to think that vegans were hardcore and insane and that there was no way I could ever be that intense, however, things have changed...suddenly I am not only a vegan, but a raw vegan. The crazy thing is that I love it! I have never felt better than I do when I eat delicious, homemade, organic, vegan raw food. I have begun to gather a little group of friends around me who are also into the whole raw food thing, which is essential because meals are such a large part socializing. "Raw Sundays" have become a tradition at my house and for the last few weeks I have created some ridiculously delectable raw concoctions for my friends. Even the ones that think I am crazy and assume that raw food = lettuce and carrots think its delicious. There is nothing more fulfilling than making beautiful delicious meals and sharing them with all of my awesome friends. Yesterday I made raw pizza, which most people question if it is even possible, and it was INCREDIBLE and beautiful and full of love. My friend Hana made an out-of-this-world raw avocado key lime pie to top of the most epic meal ever. Clearly, food is a very important part of my life right now.

Life at MUM just keeps getting better every day. Halloween is in the air and lots of exciting things are going on. I am making the most exquisite fairy wings for myself and my friend Hana. When she first asked me to make them, I was unenthusiastic, but happy to help her manifest her dream wings. However, after seeing the picture of these amazing creations, I was just as excited about them as she was and decided to make a pair for myself. She is the Wingleader and I am the Wingmaster, and we are slowly gathering a large flock of fairies for the Halloween party. It is a lot of fun--for some reason I never really got into the Halloween spirit and end up with really lame, last minute costumes-- but thanks to Hana and her wings, I am experiencing the magic of Halloween this year. In fact, we are so into these costumes that we are making a quick dash to Chicago on Thursday night and Friday during the block break to get accessories for the most amazing fairy costumes ever. We are then rushing back to our lovely world of Fairfield on Saturday morning to get dressed up and do a photo shoot in the graveyard. The goal is to be on the cover of Fairy Magazine--yes, such a thing exists. Check back for photos of our truly stunning costumes.

Well, time for me to get to work on the business class. We have the afternoon off to work on reports of the business simulation competition that we worked on in teams for the last two weeks. I am waiting for feedback from my professor so that I can make revisions and put together my final presentation. It has been a really great class--definitely a good learning experience. I have gained a ton of new and very practical knowledge about business success as well as my own leadership abilities and working with a team. It was great, but I am also quite excited about using an entirely different mode of brain functioning when I start calculus next week. There is so much to be excited about in this awesome life I am living in my little MUM bubble. I love it!

Peace,
Puki

"Leadership is practiced not so much in words as in attitude and in actions." ~ Harold Geneen

Meditating Mediators

This afternoon my class had a guest lecture by a man (who's name I am currently blanking out on) about mediation. Coming into the lecture I really didn't have any idea what the whole thing was about, but the idea of mediation sounded interesting to me. When I mentioned to my dad that I had this presentation after lunch he said, "You may not know what its about, but you would be really good at it." As I sat through the afternoon lecture, I found myself becoming more and more interested in the process of mediation and really excited to learn more about how it works. And my dad was right, it seems like something that would come naturally to me and that I would really enjoy--helping bring others to a place of peaceful agreement. Our school, as the speaker pointed out, is a natural fit for this kind of mediation. The fact that we all practice Transcendental Meditation, which creates the inner peace and calm that is necessary to be a successful mediator, gives us a huge advantage. There is a good possibility that some students from our school will be traveling to Chicago in a couple of weeks to compete in a mediation tournament. It seems like an incredibly useful skill to learn and a fun way to meet new people from all over the country. I am really excited about this opportunity to get involved in something new and interesting.

That seems to be my theme of the week--getting involved in new things. Yesterday afternoon I went to a meeting for our university's new literary journal that is being created by some of my fellow students. I enjoy seeing all of the different ways that the brilliant students here are expressing their passions and creativity. It is a beautiful thing and I look forward to getting involved more and more with the many awesome projects that are blossoming this year.

My business class is going great! If any of you read my last post, I was super overwhelmed in the first few days of the class with the mind-boggling amount of entirely new information that was presented. But as the second week comes to a close, I find myself enjoying it quite a lot. Every day I continue to gain a deeper understanding and broader comprehension of the business world, which makes the class and the business simulation competition a lot of fun. It is incredibly fulfilling to continue learning and growing so much every day!

Peace,
Puki

"The real voyage consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes." ~Marcel Proust   

My First Business Class...EVER!

This time my fellow blogger, Alex, beat me to the writing of a blog about our current class, Principles of Business Success. This problem seems to keep reoccurring as Alex and I live scarily parallel lives. Not really, but parallel in blogworthy events. Anyway, he did a great job of explaining the class so go read his blog if you want to know more what the class is all about. I am going to talk about my experience with the class.

My first reaction was AAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!! The first few days were incredibly overwhelming to me because it was the first exposure I have ever had to most of the concepts that were presented. Because it is a general introduction to business class, there is such a huge range of information that instantaneously boggled my brain. However, over the course of this first week I have begun to get a bit more of a feeling for what is going on. There is still so much information to absorb, but now that I am slowly moving out of the totally overwhelmed frazzled stage of comprehension, I hope I will be able to learn a lot from the class.

There is lots going on in the world of MUM this weekend, so I need to try to get some studying in before the weekends activities begin. Tonight is the Octoberfest Art Walk followed by a dance party celebrating the one year anniversary of the local community radio station. Tomorrow morning we have our first test of the block and then I will spend the weekend trying to come up with an excellent strategy for our simulation business competition for class. Saturday night there is Karaoke on campus at the Cosmic Cafe and my friend is having a Ninja Juice Party...yes, that's right, you dress as ninjas and make veggie/fruit juice. I also may go on a nature walk organized by the student herbalist guild that is being led by the head of the Sustainable Living department. That is just a few of the things I have going on this weekend. Just because we are in the middle of the cornfields doesn't mean there is nothing to do!

Peace,
Puki

"I start with the premise that the function of leadership is to produce more leaders, not more followers "
~ Ralph Nader

Back from the Wilderness

Okay, so we were only 10 minutes outside of the major civilization of Iowa City, so it is a bit of a stretch refer to our camping adventure as in the wilderness...but it was a blast anyway. I definitely spent more time relaxing in nature this weekend than I have time in the recent past. For those of you that didn't read my previous post, this weekend was a block break--three days of total freedom that we get every month between classes. Block breaks are pretty much the best thing ever and they allow for getting lots of rest or having crazy adventures...or both in this case.

On Thursday afternoon a group of my friends all decided to go on a spontaneous camping adventure. After class we packed up our gear and headed up to Iowa City, where we first went out for sushi, stocked up on groceries at the co-op and then ventured out into the wilderness. We set up our tents in the dark and then just chilled (quite literally) around the campfire which Nick constructed in his Martian pit, playing music and chatting. When we all got too tired and cold to stay out any longer, we  all piled into the tent and snuggled up in our sleeping bags for an interesting night. Personally, I slept great despite the fact that I was freezing for most of the night. However, other people had a little more difficulty with the sleeping arrangement, like falling into the crack between the two air mattresses or getting soaked by the dew that slowly covered the tent.

In the morning we all piled on top of the two air mattresses in one big cuddle puddle and just laid around until eleven, enjoying the peaceful laziness. Then we realized that we were all starving, so we got up and made a delicious breakfast/lunch. We all then gathered around in a circle and meditated and were attacked by millions of evil little bugs that bit like crazy. So we decided it was time to take a swim. I opted out of this activity and had a lovely time laying on the beach in the sun, while everyone else came out complaining of dirty mucky water. I'm from Iowa, and know how these things always end up. But a good time was had by all.

After sitting around some more and eating a snack, we were about to head out for a nature walk, but decided a nap was needed first. So we all piled back in the tent and cuddled and napped until two more of our friends, Tegan and Jai, arrived with a feast for dinner. So we cooked a delightful dinner of roasted vegetables over the fire and sat around playing history trivia games until we all froze and then all piled back into the tent for more sleeping. As I said, it was the perfect combination of relaxation and adventure. Its always refreshing to get out of town and mix up the scenery a bit. It makes me love Fairfield even more every time I return.

Peace,
Puki

"What I like about camping is you can get really dirty.  Either you're all by yourself, so no one else sees you, or everyone you're with is just as dirty as you are, so nobody cares."  ~Anonymous former Boy Scout

Block Break Adventures

In my mind I was planning a quiet, restful block break--a whole three days free to chill out, read, do yoga, go swimming, and finish some projects I have been working on. However, adventure was determined to seek me out as it always does, and I just couldn't turn it down. At lunch time to day my buddy Joey mentioned some vague plans about a camping trip and I expressed interest in going, somewhat skeptical that it would actually happen. Next thing I knew it was 1:30 in class and my friend and fellow blogger, Alex, leans over and said, "Are you excited about camping tonight? We are leaving at 5. You're driving." Woohooo! I am off on another adventure. I can't wait...life just keeps getting better and better every moment. Its fun to be open and spontaneous and see what nature manifests for me.

Peace,
Puki

I jumped out of an airplane!

I had been in Fairfield for almost three weeks and was starting to get the urge to take off on a random adventure...it tends to happen to me occasionally. As much as I love Fairfield and MUM, I love it even more when I do something exciting and adventurous to break up the routine of my everyday life. I was considering going on a whitewater kayak trip that the university is offering to students this weekend during the block break...but then I realized I already had a big adventure planned for last weekend. I was going skydiving! My dear twin sister has been obsessed with the idea of going skydiving since we turned 18. I always thought she was insane and had absolutely no desire to go...but when she planned a big skydiving adventure party for our 20th birthday last weekend, I couldn't let her down. I can't say it was the most amazing fulfilling experience I have ever had, but it sure was a lot of fun. The whole day was perfect. It was beautiful fall weather, we each had four friends come and we chilled in the cornfields eating a delicious picnic while we all took turns jumping out of an airplane. It definitely qualified as my adventure fix...for a while at least.

What else is new in my wonderful world at MUM? Well...I am currently in a very reflective state of existence. I am putting all of my attention on taking care of my self, focusing on what I eat, what exercise I do, how much sleep I am getting, and how it all effects my general state of well-being. I am doing a lot of reading and writing and thinking and I love it. I have spent so much of my life running around in a constant state of hyper-activity, always trying to do a million and one things. I am still doing a lot, but I am putting my personal needs first, which feels really great. The environment here is very conducive to this kind of lifestyle...if I choose to take that path.

Today was "Clubs Day" at lunch time. That means that all of the students who have started clubs had tables to share their passions with everyone and gather groups of people with common interests. I was really impressed with the variety of clubs that were represented by such a small student body and how excited everyone was with sharing their knowledge and interests with their fellow students. I signed up to be part of the physics club, the herbalists guild, the beekeeping club, the literary journal, the Indian dance club, and the investments club. I am really excited about getting involved with these new clubs and  taking advantage of the wealth of knowledge that my fellow students have to share. My favorite club that I joined was the "Nothing Club: no members, no fees, no meetings, nothing. To join, don't sign up." I believe the sign was created by one of our awesome art professors, Dale Divoky. It was highly entertaining to just sit and watch each person react to it. My favorite response was I don't have enough time to join.

Anyway...I must be off. David Lynch and Dr. John Hagelin are talking on campus tonight and I want to head over there.

Peace,
Puki

"People are influenced by what we are, what we radiate. That has greater appeal than what we say."
~Maharishi

Just Chillin'

Fall has descended early upon our lovely little university in Fairfield and it has been ridiculously chilly the last week or so. I may just be hyper sensitive to the cold because I am currently car-less and relying on my bike and feet as my main mode of transportation and the chill definitely limits when and where I can go places. Don't get me wrong, I love fall...but I wouldn't mind a few more weeks of beautiful warm weather before the winter kicks in.

On Wednesday evening I went up to Iowa City with a group of my swing dance buddies. We have formed an alliance with the swing dance club at the University of Iowa and decided to go up for their first weekly dance of the year. The dancing was pretty fun, but it definitely made me appreciate what a lively and unusually skilled swing dance scene we have in Fairfield, especially for such a small town in Iowa. It is definitely the most hopping in the area. However, what made the evening really awesome was the Robert Kennedy Jr. lecture that I went to before the dance. I had no idea what it was going to be about, some of the other dancers just wanted to go so I tagged along because I needed a ride up to Iowa City with them. I was pleasantly surprised and very impressed with the speech. He was a very powerful speaker and gave a beautiful speech tying together a variety of subjects but bringing it all back to nature and spirituality at the end. It was incredibly inspiring and I am now really excited about becoming more informed and knowledgeable and taking advantage of all of the opportunities that Fairfield offers. For example, there is a weekly series of documentaries and discussions on different artists and all kinds of things like that in town that I want to start exploring.

Last night my friend Jonathan and I went to a concert at Cafe Paradiso. The musician was named Lanky and I had seen him perform last time he was in town and ended up, through a very random series of connections, hosting a big sushi party for him and the other band he was touring with. We all had a blast that night so I was excited when I saw on MySpace that he was going to be in town again. It was a pretty entertaining evening in the sense that there were a total of 8 people in the audience, including the owners of the Cafe and the person taking money at the door. It could have been really awkward, however, we had a great time just chilling in the cafe, drinking chai, enjoying the music, and drawing on the table with crayons. Afterwards we hung around and had a long crazy discussion about the magical world of Fairfield, and the history of how the university came to be here. It was a fun evening. I think this morning we are all going to go out for brunch...speaking of which I need to figure out the plans with that.

Peace,
Puki

"Life is a great big canvas, and you should throw all the paint on it you can." ~Danny Kaye   

MUM at IRenew Energy Expo

My life has been one fun whirlwind of MUM recruiting events. Last weekend I was at Bumbershoot, a massive music and arts festival in downtown Seattle and this weekend it is i-Renew Energy Expo in the Cornfields of Solon, Iowa. While they were very different scenes, both events were great and we planted a lot of seeds in the awareness about our university's sustainable living program. "Green" and "Sustainability" are such trendy, yet essential concepts that are buzzing though our culture right now and it is really exciting to be part of promoting our university's program, which is on the cutting edge of the sustainable movement.

On the drives to and from the i-Renew expo I have been talking with some of my fellow students about a bunch of really exciting projects that we are all working on and creating a master plan to unify all of the creative energy at our university into one common vision. I am super excited about the explosion of consciousness and creativity that I feel like is about to take off at MUM and I can't wait to see how it manifests.

Peace,
Puki

"You can't have a universe without the mind entering into it." ~The Secret

Back to the Cornfields

We all made it back alive and semi-well from our adventure at Bumbershoot in Seattle. I say semi-well only because I am still a bit under the weather from the trip. I got really sick on Monday night and had to miss the last few hours of the festival, as well as a sushi night on the town. Oh well, the whole thing was a lot of fun and while it is hard to tell whether it was successful from the university's stand point yet, I have a pretty good feeling about it.

Now I am back in the wonderful world of Fairfield and MUM for a while. After all my crazy adventures running around the world this summer, it will be nice to settle into my super busy awesome life at school. Not that I will turn down any more traveling adventures that come my way...the opportunities always seem to pop up and I am always up for the adventures. But for now I am here in the cornfields and couldn't be happier.

I went to my first day of class today. I am in a class called Constitution of the Universe, which I am still trying to get a grasp on what it is all about. Since I missed the first two and a half days of class and was still in a pretty groggy sickish state this afternoon, it is a little more difficult to figure out. I am going to do my homework and read the syllabus when I am finished writing this, which I think will help out with my comprehension a lot.

Anyway, I am really excited about this year to come. I have a ton of great classes to look forward to, as well as a number of great projects that I will be working on with the David Lynch Foundation. I will write more about those in the next few days. We have a big meeting with everyone involved tomorrow, after which I will have a clearer idea of what these projects will entail. Even though I am not entirely sure what I will be doing with them yet, I am super excited to be involved with something that I am so passionate about.

Alright, enough procrastinating, time to hit the homework. Check out my pics from our Seattle adventures that I just posted. Captions coming soon!

Peace,
Puki

"Nothing is really work unless you would rather be doing something else." ~James M. Barrie

Adventures at Bumbershoot

After a fairly crazy day and a half of complications while we were trying to get set up at Bumbershoot...we finally made it! If you happen to be at Bumbershoot, stop by and see us! (read my previous post to find out what we are all about) Our booth is located along a walkway by the Starbucks Stage across from the science center.

Anyway, we are having a blast at Bumbershoot! Yesterday I went to see the Aggrolites who were a ton of fun, wandered around the Indie Market, and caught a bit of Rodrigo y Gabriela and DeVotchKa. I had never heard of any of these artists before I started checking out Bumbershoot and I thought they were all awesome. Live music pretty much rocks no matter what it is. Anyway, I am super excited about the next two days of Bumbershoot. There is so much creativity and life and energy buzzing through the city. I hope to see many of you at our booth. Keep an eye out for our "Beyond Green" t-shirts and stickers.

Peace,
Puki

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