hi - Nice to be able to say hello... well - Tools is an awesome place that I have really enjoyed so far... I have met great people, given and received fantastic motivation and inspiration - and that is really what it is all about isn't it?  The interconnection and support of all of us to each other and the rest of the planet.  Hear, hear! 

Well - my outlook is in a place of fulfillment and philosophical curiosity - I have recently returned from Israel where I came to understand myself in some very deep and profound ways.  On the day to day 'who am I' question, see below... but 'WHO am I?' well, I am Amanda - I am just like you - I am different from everyone and no one - I know everything and nothing - it is what it is.  I believe that life is a most amazing gift.

 I am thankful for being here - thankful for the gift of my daughter - thankful for the gift of being Jewish - thankful for being alive - May everyone here succeed - thrive - prosper - and be filled with joy... Hashem should help.  

I Love to play dominos, cribbage, Scrabble, backgammon, pool, darts, etc.  I really don't care if I win, but I love to play (and I do win a lot!).  I like to read and like to write. I love to dance in my living room like a whirling dervish.

I am known for being honest yet diplomatic, cautious yet trusting, and loud at times with a strong and opinionated political/social/cultural view.   I take responsibility for my actions (or lack thereof) and am willing to speak out for myself and others.  I am 'too much' for some - and tend to overpower people with my enthusiasm for things.  I have a LOT of enthusiasm!!! :)

I struggle with procrastination - staying motivated - and staying faithful to what I KNOW is the 'real truth' if that truth would keep me from having whatever I want right NOW. Childish, yes, but nonetheless that is my struggle in a nutshell.  I could name it Food, Alcohol, Cigarettes, Being Late, yadda yadda yadda . . . .

You all know what I mean, the issue isn't (for me) the THING I 'do' to soothe myself - Whatever is around will do - I am working on remembering that what I really WANT lies beyond that thing, and will be so much better than that thing and staying true to myself in THIS MOMENT will make it come true.  That is why I am here.   

I live in a small town called Grass Valley in Northern California; about an hour outside of Sacramento. It is beautiful here but, in my opinion, suffers from a huge lack of racial/cultural/religious diversity.  I plan to leave in a year, for places yet unknown, to learn all the wonders of the universe . . . . .   

I am considered by many a "hippy" although I don't label myself as such, I am just a 'go-with-the-flow, optimistic, nature lovin', creative, peaceful, earth mother' .

I work as a VISTA (Volunteers In Service To America) and am about to begin my third year working for low pay and high praise, doing something I believe in completely.

I am a mom.  I have an amazing, brilliant, beautiful, intelligent and interesting 19 year old daughter; she has completed two years at UCLA Honors Program and is currently on a "year off" while in Israel. She is at a Women's Jewish Studies University near Jerusalem - she LOVES it! 

I visited her there over the Winter Break and It changed my life.  She kept saying "I wish you were here Mom, you would LOVE it here!" well, I must say, she was so amazingly and totally right.

I work hard, laugh a lot, believe in compassion, diversity, education, literacy, politics, music, Hashem and the end of capitalism and the blindness of western society (please see my blog and watch the AMAZING movie called "Zeitgeist Addendum" for some pretty eye opening ideas.  I would love to meet YOU! (especially if you have had the fortitude to read this far and still be here!) Why not send me a friend request and say hello?  8^)