Dear Irresponsible Dog Owner,
So.
You think leash laws don't apply to you, huh? You think you're exempt? You think that if you put your dogs in the back of your truck parked in your front yard in a kennel that they have chewed off the door that they won't attack me and my dog on our daily walk. Surprise, they will.
Luckily I'm the kind of dog owner that is prepared for this kind of thing. I know that my dog has problems with aggression so I NEVER let him outside the house without a LEEEEAAASH. I had the common sense to scoop my dog up (who weighs sixty pounds, I'll have you know) and carry him out of the situation. But here's a little nugget of advice for you, LEASH YOUR DOGS! Because if one of your dogs HAD bitten my dog or my lovely leg as I dealt a warning kick to him, I would have felt obligated to call the popo on you and then where would we be.
Not to say I'm insensitive. It wasn't as if I was in your yard. I was minding my own business on the streeeet. That's why we have these laws. So that when people like me are minding our own business, and chimps like you are leaving your dogs unnattended, people like me don't get eaten. Thank you. Have a nice day.

We could learn a lot from the way young things live. Every new experience is an adventure. Every afternoon can be perfect for a nap. Cautiously, they can make friends with anyone. They hold their family close. They trust indefinitely.

Through long years of animal rights activism and food snobbery I've learned to love expirimenting making dishes until they're perfect and free of things I don't want to put unto my body. I love the satisfaction you get after you create a dish that really hits the spot. These are my latest creations.


Arugula Mango Mushroom Salad with Avocado Lemon Dressing. The salad is arugula, mango, mushrooms sauteed in olive oil with garlic, a stalk of celery, diced, and a green onion, thinly sliced. To make this dish completely raw you can just replace the sauteed mushrooms with marinaded mushrooms.
For the dressing you just mix half an avocado with the juice of a lemon to a pinch of basil and oregano, a teaspoon of Braggs Liquid Aminos or soy sauce, a table spoon of coconut milk, and a half teaspoon of minced garlic. This one is good with arugula, but baby spinach might lend itself better to the freshness of the dish. Try it out for yourself!

This is Mango Strawberry Coconut Ice Cream, born of a night of ice cream cravings and no desire to use dairy. I made it by blending one mango, a cup of frozen strawberries, two tablespoons of coconut oil, half an avocado, a fourth cup of coconut milk, and four tablespoons of agave. Just put it in the freezer and stir it every so often as it forms ice crystals. It's sooo good!

Love and healthy-deliciousness, -Max <3

Um, today was pretty much the greatest day ever.
My day started like this.












I'm dabbling in raw foods for the first time. It's fun!
Then this happened.









And then this. I'm like a sushi junkie. Can't get enough!









Yeah. It was amazing.
-Love and new life, Max.

Why? Why do I do things I KNOW make me feel bad. It's not like happiness is a mystery to me. I know exactly what I have to do. So why don't I do it? My psyche is pretty simple. There are only a few things that trigger crap mode. From this point onward I will:
-Show up when I say I will.
-Keep my word.
-Only buy things I NEED!
-Eat well.
-Be nicer.
-Exercise
What things do you do that ALWAYS make you feel good? Do them! Let's be smart together.

HAPPY FREAKING EARTH DAY!!!
Happy Earth Day, everyone! In the spirit of conservation and minimalism this Earth Day, I have undertaken a little project for y'all.
If you didn't know it already, in the past, I have had a bit of a clothing...addiction? I couldn't seem to get enough. But this Earth Day I decided that I have had enough. I have always admired minimalists, especially the ones the get rid of practically everything. I didn't get rid of everything, but pretty close.
Here is a picture of ALL THE CLOTHING I OWN. Everything. I held nothing back. This is every coat, jacket, shirt, and shoe that I have worn over the last couple years.

Click to enlarge it! I know. I'm gluttonous and horrible. Aside from the monstrous laundry days I've had to face, it is just hard to keep a clean room with all this stuff! Having a dirty life is emotionally, spiritually, and physically straining. So i decided to make a change. I sorted through my things, gave my Dad his socks back, my brother his pajama pants, a whole heapa stuff to DI, finally separated out my scout uniforms from my regular wardrobe, and put the rest in my "Holding Pen". What is a holding pen you might ask? Well it's a garbage bag filled with clothing. If I can last a couple months without my things, they get to live with someone new. If I can't... well let's cross that bridge when we get to it. I narrowed my things down to a manageable, comfortable amount. Please observe.

Nine shirts
Five pairs of pants
Ten undershirts
Ten pairs of socks and underwear
One pair of dress slacks
One white dress shirt
One wetsuit
One pair of swimming trunks
One pullover
Two ties
One dress belt and one casual belt
One ranch jacket
One pair of work gloves
Ten handkerchiefs
One pair of work boots
One pair of dress shoes
One pair of flip flops
One pair of slip on shoes
Two sets of PJs
It's amazing how it feels to have so few clothes. It's odd. It's the opposite of what you think it would feel like. Instead of being restricting, it's actually really freeing. So I challenge you, do something that scares you. Conserve. Get rid of your junk. Peace and tranquility! Happy Earth Day!

I always find it fascinating how many counterfeits for love there are. Our world is full of them. Lust, pride, greed, addiction. We believe with all our hearts when we are entangled in their deadly grasp that they are our whole world. We can't live without them. It's so hard to see past our obsessions when we are in the midst of them. So often I wonder how I ever began to truly see clearly, or at least more clearly. How do we ever fall out of jealousy's poisonous fingers whole? How do we ever make it out alive? From a person who used to be plagued by counterfeit loves, here is a piece of advice : Love breeds love. Unlike lust, love lingers on and waxes stronger. Unlike pride, love withstands hearty blows from adversaries. Unlike greed, love is easily satisfied and always swelling with joyous content. Unlike addiction, the more love we attain, the bigger our hearts grow and the stronger we become.

Love breeds love. Love never seeks to be hidden. Love never pleads to be horded or rationed to a select few. Love expands exponentially. Love begs to be spread. Love makes us feel GOOD when other people find it. So many things in our lives we want to keep to ourselves for the fear that those things will run out or will be taken over by other people. But when we find what we love to do, we WANT people to join us. We don't care how many people do it with us. It makes us pleased to see that other people love what we love.

So spread your love. It is harder than spreading hate. But the rewards ALWAYS outweigh the doubts we feel about expressing our love. So LOVE! LOVE! LOVE! <3

I love this picture. It so embodies the feeling of being at the stable. Everything is so orderly and relaxed. This is one of the dogs out there. His name's Taz. When he's feeling really peaceful he'll just come up and lean on me or take a quick nap at my feet. Animals teach us so much about what it is to be human.

This week I am working to love what's around me. Embrace what Idaho has to offer. Look for the rich culture that surrounds me. Bring ancestors back to life by reading their journals.

This week communicate the love you feel. Do something you've been putting off. Tonight I finally went to Wal-Mart and got my grandpa's watch fixed. It took less than a minute and now I can keep him closer to me. Take that extra effort. It always pays off.

I've been thinking about writing this post for many days now and I just wasn't sure how to put what I wanted to portray into words. This is probably the biggest thing that keeps me from posting. I know what I feel and I don't want to botch it up putting it across. This post is inevitably long. I have a ton of things I've wanted to say for such a long time I have never said. I've conveniently split it into three parts for easy readability. I hope that some of this will help you.
As many of you know I recently started volunteering at a stable near my house. I don't hesitate in saying it has literally changed my life. For most of my life I thought the whole cowboy scene was pretty lame, maybe it's because it's what I grew up with, maybe not. At first I thought it would just be a lesson but when I was invited to 'hang out' sometime I found myself itching to go to the stable. I wasn't sure what 'hanging out' entailed, but I found that wasting away in front of the computer just didn't cut it for my life anymore. I had to move. I had to act. I had to get myself to that stable!
I gathered what was left of my bank account, went to CAL Ranch Store (a place I went to once as a vegan and was thoroughly appalled). I bought some boots (which I know list as one of my prized possessions) and went to the barn. At first I was apprehentious. As I mentioned before, I wasn't sure what my day would bring. I figured it would be a lot of crap work, which I have to admit, it was. But I also got to work with the horses. I got to groom them and help exercise them and feed them, and that wasn't the crap work! It was invigorating. I had to go back the next day! And the next day. I spent every day there when I had no prior engagement.
For most of my life I dreamed of the sea. I longed to live by the beach and learn to surf. I thought it would fulfill me and fill me with vitality and happiness. I'm not saying that I never will live by the beach because for all I know I will and I will love it. But after going to this , I just feel like I found myself. For the first time, I didn't need to dream about the beach or New York or being an actor. I didn't want to distract myself from what was happening right in front of me.
Which brings me to what I really want to talk about. Our whole lives we are told not to wish our lives away, to live right now, to stop dreaming and live. I always thought I was. I said that if I can just get over this crappy childhood, go on a mission, move to New York and become an actor, I can really live in the now! I know it sounds stupid, but isn't that what so many of us do? We wait for college or a career or a relationship. I know it can be hard to look at what our life is and decide that it is something magical, but that's what we have to do. The only way we can change our surroundings is by our perception of it. Our routine might not change, but we can chose to be enthralled by it. I heard a quote once that went something like "We look to the future, regret the past, and disregard our present." We wait for our dream body, regret bad eating habits, and turn our minds off while we are on the treadmill. We wait for our dream person, hate our exes, and overlook those that are right in front of us. There is so much to be spectacularly grateful for, we just have to open our lives and look for it.
End of thought one.
Beginning of thought two.
This was hard for me for a long time. I heard another quote that said "We can never be happy if we don't acknowledge the reality of our own feelings." I was a champion feelings unacknowledger. I was sad and I pretended I wasn't, I was happy and I thought it was fake, I was angry and I thought I had no right. Only when I allowed myself to admit that I was happy, that I had the right to be mad, that sometimes I just have to mourn the loss of something that would have been really great; did I really start to live. Strength is not the absence of emotion just as courage is not the absence of fear. One can not live without embracing the other.
Acknowledge the reality of your own feelings. This entails a lot but one of the biggest things it meant for me is that what you think is fun, might not be fun for someone else, and vice versa. I thought that every one liked reading so it seemed like waste of time. I thought everyone enjoyed music like I did so it felt like idle time. Find what you love and do it! As long as it doesn't hurt someone else, it's the best thing you can be doing right now! It means something totally different to you than it does for anyone else. It's best to be a first rate version of yourself, than a two bit version of someone else.
End of thought two.
Beginning of thought three.
Don't feel trapped into a future you feel destined for. I can not even express how trapped into a future I have felt. It's no ones fault but my own. No one ever told me I should be an actor. Quite the contrary some of my friends did nothing but try to explain what a irresponsible creature an actor is. I felt that I had no choice. I have talent for it. I like to do it. I wanted the fame. I wanted the satisfaction that comes with performing. I thought I had no choice. The truth is, I would be good at it. I would make money at it. I would be successful and happy and content. So why don't I do it? I don't really know. Perhaps it's because I had pigeon holed myself into it and this is twisted rebellion. Maybe it's because I had a (obvious) revelation that we can do many things and be happy. The measure of a life is not how many hear about it, appreciate it, or want to live it. It's how awesome it feels to live it, by yourself or surrounded by a million screaming fans. We don't HAVE to surf, we can horse ride. We don't HAVE to act, we can write. We aren't destined to be one thing or another. And above all else, we are allowed to change our mind mid-stride. I was ready to move to New York and hit up Broadway when I all but fell into a pile of hay. Part of me told myself not to go. I already had a destiny! I can't go changing now! What will people think? They will say I'm flighty, flaky, uncommitted. I will lose relationships that I have forged because of this aspect of myself. The truth isn't that people that don't like us if we change were never true friends. The truth is that we change. As we change, often everything about us changed. Our clothes and friends and sleeping patterns change and that's completely OK. Acknowledge the reality of your feelings. Allow yourself to change. Don't feel trapped. Do what you love. You can do anything you want and it really doesn't matter what it is. Count your blessings. Live now.

I've been searching for something fulfilling; looking for stress relief that seemed so out of reach. It's like I have been missing this piece of me for so long: something that would drain the poison out of me and fill me with peaceful completion. I think I found it, and it feels real good. c: