tornadoes!

So I am a little freaked out with all the hundreds of tornado outbreaks in the US. I feel like since Japan moved eight feet after the tsunami the whole axis of the world is thrown off and the weather is going crazy! I was just thinking about it, and I found that the safe spot in our apartment would be our coat closet on the first floor, also located in the center of the house!
I called my best friend this morning to wish her a happy birthday at around 8:30am just to be that annoying friend haha and when she answered all she said was"thanks! call you back,  I'm going to find shelter!" I could hear the tornado sirens going on in the background. She goes to school in Oxford, Mississippi. 
I was thinking, and what if the US became notorious for tornado outbreaks on a regular basis and our home as we know it today would completely change. What if we all had to live underground and build temporary huts on top of us because in the next month or so another tornado would come and blow it away. Its weird to think about.

http://www.cnn.com/2011/US/04/27/tornado.outbreak/

Welcome, Gladiator fashion!

My little brother is in love with the show Spartacus. It's pretty much all he thought about until the new show Game of Thrones came out. Even now, he quotes Spartacus all the time and wishes he could go to gladiator camp. This Spartacus love is not unique to my brother. In fact, it's showing up all over the place in women's fashion... Check out this Spartacus costume:

According to the website for the Colosseum, Romans really did wear sandals, primarily because the temperature in Rome was too hot to allow for full foot coverings. Apparently, Romans never went barefoot because a bare foot was a sign of absolute poverty. The sandals Romans wore were generally rigid leather attached by leather cords or straps, so the Gladiator sandals we see today in modern fashion are a rejuvenated interpretation of this slightly primitive footwear. What's interesting is that just like today, Gladiator sandals had a bit of fashion to them. They were often studded with metal nails on the soles to add structure to the soles, and although gladiators in the arena didn't really need that sort of support, the nails added style and realism to the show. Today, we're copying the gladiators...

I personally thought the gladiator look was a little silly when it first came out, but now, I have fallen victim to the fashion bug, and I like them. I definitely believe that this fashion craze relates directly to my brother's beloved Spartacus. And while I don't really like the show, I have now begun to dress like the characters!

worst next week of my life

There are always weeks like these when you have so much stress and you just want to give up on everything. Right now, it feels like my whole earth is about to shatter. Even if I did more than 12 hours of work a day, I still don't think I would be able to get through with an average grade for any of the projects/tests I have coming my way.

Brought all my stuff home to do work over Easter and I accomplished nothing. 

But have you ever thought about what this next week would mean to you next year? or maybe even a couple of years from now? If you put this whole pile of stress in the bigger perspective, it really means nothing. Its only a couple of grades. It won't affect my whole college GPA. I rather do the best I can without completely going over the edge... I feel like I am about to go crazy! I cannot wait until this week is over... 

Oh but wait, SMU decided to have finals without any days to study before... that's funny because after my hell week I have 3 finals on the first day and then my next to most difficult finals (which need at least 2 days of studying in advance) are the next. 

My life is about to go WAYYYY downhill from this day until summer. 

taboo

Taboo is the best game ever.
You really get to know the people you play with, in a sense that your looking at the inner-workings of their mind. I recently just played with a group of friends, and I don't think I've laughed that hard in a really long time.
It makes you think of an object in a completely different way because of the 'taboo' words you are not allowed to say, however, the way you interpret something is completely different than someone else's interpretation.
For example, a pez dispenser. (the cartoon little plastic toys that spit out little pez candies) well you can't say any of those words... and when you say a "long thing that spits something out of its neck"... you are going to get some pretty hilarious answers.

I'm about to go to Target and buy it to play with my family over Easter Break! Can't wait.

Coop De Loop!

Sometimes I wonder whether or not my dog Cooper was a human in a former life and carried on some of his past characteristics and skills to his life now. He has a personality of his own. I know everyone says this about their dog, but he has such a huge personality! He opens my door at 7am almost every morning when I am back home and jumps on my bed to wake me up (doesn't matter if the door is closed because he has already learned how to open it by himself).

They say that chimpanzees share most of our genetic makeup, however, because dogs have been with us for so long psychologists are now starting to study them as a model for human social behavior.
I attached this article because I thought it was really interesting...
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29895614/ns/technology_and_science-science/

Carrot Cake

So I've come to a conclusion after spending 2 hours baking a carrot cake for my Dad's birthday... Never use a recipe that doesn't come from a cookbook, cooking magazine, or at least a reliable source so you know it's somewhat worth taking the risk (e.g. your grandmother).
I originally took a recipe out of "Southern Lady magazine" ... looks good right? Yeah, it's not.

The cake never rose! Probably because it had like 3 sticks of butter in it....

Anyways, about 2 years ago I got into cooking & baking. My grandmother is a great cook and she has taught me a lot... (She's very precise and picky though, so it's funny to see her reaction when I try to put my own spin on a recipe). It's usually a 50/50 chance whether or not it works out though, but it's worth the try because it's fun to surprise yourself when you do something good!
Over the years she has collected and perfected a lot of recipes and now I want to start adding to the collection! Maybe someday we will be able to make a cookbook! If that ever happens I want to name it after her!

Raw Claims: What can you do for ME?

Common claims about the benefits of raw:

• Raw foods have more vitamins and nutrients
• Raw foods have their digestive enzymes intact, so they are more easily processed by the body
• Raw foods have healthy microorganisms that can aid the immune system
• Raw foods don't have any toxic dyes, chemicals, or preservatives

When did all this raw business start? 

You're never going to believe this... the raw movement actually began in the 1830s, and the man who pioneered the plan was none other than Sylvester Graham - better known for his self-named Graham cracker! 

Obviously, Mr. Graham wasn't always a raw foodie, because the Graham cracker is a deliciously cooked little biscuit... but it turns out the Graham cracker was made for the expressed purpose of creating a healthy supplement to a vegetarian diet. The Graham cracker was made with whole wheat flour, in a time when people found refined flour to be a symbol of prosperity... That humble healthy cracker is probably in my mom's pantry right now, a strange connection between my modern fascination with raw and the traditional influence of Mr. Graham in my life. I guess the raw diet and the obsession with health didn't save Mr. Graham because he died at age 51. I hope current raw experiments turn out better.

How did raw get moving in the US?

A man named Juliano... no last name, just a first name... opened the first raw food restaurant in the United States in Los Angeles in 1995. 

Apparently, Juliano grew up in the kitchen of his father's Italian restaurant, where he was surrounded by meat and fish, but he turned into a vegetarian who brought raw food into the cooked food mainstream. He has become a super celebrity, training everyone from Steve Jobs to Demi Moore on the basics of raw cuisine. I suppose I have him to thank for this new topic of interest.

Okay, so I look at Graham, and then I look at Juliano. Clearly, Graham was not a happy looking man, and I could chalk that up to his all-consuming obsession with this daily intake of raw veggies and barely cooked wheat, but Juliano follows much the same line of thought, and he looks amazing! Juliano claims that he has more energy because of his raw food diet, maintains his weight more easily, and has better overall health.

I have tried to get clear answers about what raw food can do to cure disease, by reading real studies, but the fact remains that the issue seems cloudy. No one can really tell what benefits come out of eating raw. The few raw foodies I have spoken with are enthusiastic, but they don't seem to be able to do much with their friends. They can't eat at restaurants. They can't enjoy a cocktail on the weekends. It seems to be a life that's all about conviction, but never about actual enjoyment. I can't help but wonder if all of these raw-a-holics don't feel like they are gaining some sort of social capital by choosing such a difficult diet. Maybe they will perpetually feel better than their peers. I'm not really sure.

I have come to the conclusion that a healthy diet needs a balance of raw and cooked... but I am definitely not sold on the benefits of 100% raw because I've now read that there are some serious drawbacks about eating all raw:

• Dietary lycopene and carotenoids are more active in cooked foods
• Baked bread allows the body to absorb more zinc and calcium
• Cooking aids in digestion (those raw bean-eaters are in for serious pain in the long run)
• Cooking kills harmful bacteria (yes, sadly, salmonella exists on vegetables, too)

Now that I've decided that Raw on its own can't do anything for me, I am on the hunt now to find raw weirdos.

The Oddballs of Raw

I've read more raw foodies' websites now, and I am completely sold on the idea that 100% Raw is a strange choice.

Let's look at the top three strange raw people:

1. Tonya Zavasta - creator of Beautiful on Raw

It's Dark Side of the Moon meets the food pyramid! 

I'm sure Tonya Zavasta has great intentions, but her strange photos and narcissistic blog are enough to turn off even the most eager learner.

2. Tonya Kay (not sure what's up with the name Tonya here!) - creator of Veganica

I'm sure Tonya doesn't care about pushing raw into the mainstream, so she's not going for that appearance. She is obviously in amazing shape. She's a pretty successful television personality, as well. She drives around the country in a VW fueled with waste vegetable oil. I guess she's admirable, but her offbeat approach to her good looks makes me think more about the social capital idea I introduced in the last blog... Could she be doing all of this for attention??

3. Robert Ross - creator of Raw Food Life

Robert's actually the guy on the right. He doesn't look very strange, and in fact, his website is probably the most impressive, most comprehensive raw food site out there. However, Robert has some strange ideas. For instance, this picture of Mr Hyde: 

is used to represent the hidden dangers of cooked food.

Considering that no one has been able to substantiate any claims that cooked food is harmful in any way, and considering that humans have cooked their food since the invention of fire, such claims are misleading. It takes a serious extremist to go to such lengths.

I think raw food would have greater potential for large-scale success as a movement if raw foodies were more moderate. There is a militant quality of raw eaters that seems to push them over the brink a little. That offbeat nature alienates the raw movement and keeps people like me from really giving raw a sincere try.

Barbecue Heaven in Luling

I know some people love Kansas City ribs, and others dream of North Carolina pulled pork, but in my mind, nothing can really beat Texas barbecue. There's a grittiness to it, a cowboy color that makes Texas barbecue the most hardcore barbecue there is.

I recently went to Luling on a drive home from Lake McQueeney, and I stopped at the Luling City Market.

This place is famous for barbecue, and it had better be, because they serve basically nothing but meat. When you walk in, it looks like there's nothing to choose from at all, because you have to walk through the main dining room into a closed smokehouse area.

You can barely see through the glass because the room is so black with smoke within, and on the glass, they proudly proclaim, "No out of town checks!" Nope, at Luling, it's cash or nada. Once inside the smoke room, you pick the meats that satisfy your cravings, shouting out, "One pound of lean brisket!" And, don't even think about turkey or chicken... they don't sell that fowl here. It's red meat or bust.

You get your food on a very elegant piece of brown butcher paper, and they will toss in a few pickles out of a five gallon jug, if you're lucky. Top that off with some processed, white sandwich bread, and you're off to the races!

In total, with a pound of sausage, a pound of ribs, and a pound of brisket, our total was $17. It was a steal. Of course, that price didn't include what we would pay with indigestion in the near future, but the suffering was well worth it!

Luling may not be a large town, but it's barbecue packs a massive punch.

El Meson del Champinon

If there's anything the US is missing, it's genuine interaction with the people who prepare our food. Sure, we may cook our own food at home, but when we go out, we leave our meals in the hands of whoever may be standing at the prep counter or behind the stove. In Spain, it's sometimes a little different, especially at the Meson del Champinon on the Cava Baja in Madrid. The Cava Baja is legendary in Spain because of its large number of tapas bars and fame for fabulous nightlife. I stumbled into El Meson by accident. Well, it wasn't altogether accidental - I mean, for a mushroom lover, what could be better than a restaurant dedicated to the fungus?

What really got me was that I could watch the chef in action, making dozens and dozens of grilled, stuffed mushrooms and fried pimientos.

Don't touch the dillos... and don't eat them either

Happy Armadillo!!!

Sad Armadillo!

I've seen many smashed up armadillo carcasses on the sides of highways, apparently trying to make some desperate, slow attempt to cross the road or just make a change in their lives. I've sort of felt sorry for those little guys because they are seriously too unattractive for anyone to want to hug them or show them any sort of love. Who ever heard of a pet armadillo? That's sort of what makes them cute - their absolute hopelessness as pets or objects of affection.

Well, my intermittent sympathy for armadillos has basically crashed and burned, considering that they apparently are seriously sources of leprosy!

Does anyone even remember leprosy??? Where are leper colonies in the world today? It turns out there really aren't many, but until just the last century, a decently sized leper colony existed in Carville, Louisiana:

Now, lepers are basically a thing of the past, or so we thought. As it turns out, up to 15% of armadillos in Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, and Mississippi are infected with leprosy! It's apparently pretty easy to get leprosy from an armadillo because the human and armadillo strains of the disease are remarkably similar.

Next time you think about moving or eating roadkill, think again.

Lightning Show

I never realized how scared I was of lightning until last night. I left the library at around 10:30 right before the down-pour of rain, but just in time to be right in the middle of a lightning storm. I was stuck at the front of Fondren and since all of SMU is under construction you basically have to take a long, circular-route to the parking lot. So annoying.
Anyways, I took a running start from the double-door entrance and ran as fast as I could to my car, all while the sky is conducting its own mini 'light-show' and the hairs on my body were literally standing up from all the electricity in the air.

As I'm catching my breath, I started to think about how cool that was (obviously now that I wasn't in the middle of it)! I was really intrigued by the fact that I've never really viewed lighting as so fascinating. Maybe because my adrenaline levels were skyrocketing at the time, but still. I went back home and looked up some videos.
 The lighting wasn't as dramatic as the video I posted, but the sky literally has a personality of its own! How cool would it be to go to a "lightning show." People could set up metal rods and have the lightning strike in certain places. I doubt that would ever happen, but the thought of it is really interesting. Maybe even having a concert centered around that theme? Music playing, lights going off, and people dancing. Sounds like a pretty good time to me!

Adventures in Marshmallows

For years, I have enjoyed low-fat and fat-free desserts. I've eaten the Skinny Cow sandwiches and relaxed with Ben and Jerry's light ice creams. I can't really tell the difference between fat-free and regular Fig Newtons anymore, and I think of Teddy Grahams as a luxurious treat. In the world of low-fat desserts, the marshmallow reigns supreme. It's got pillowy goodness and sugary flavor, and it's the basis for the delicious wonder that is the S'more. That's why I was so excited when I discovered Plush Puffs and the Krispery.

Plush Puffs takes marshmallows to the next level, creating amazing flavors with fat-free delicious puffiness. The flavors range from Chocolate Chip to Coconut to Caramel Swirl, and they really taste how they are supposed to! 

I had a S'mores party with these last weekend, and we combined all sorts of marshmallows with all kinds of different crackers and cookies. It was incredible, and it was still healthy because you could leave out the chocolate if you wanted!

But that's not even the best part... the Krispery has mastered the marshmallow in action - as the binding agent of the beautiful, inimitable Rice Krispie treat! There are limitless possibilities for the Rice Krispie treat, but before I found the Krispery, I had only tried different kinds of cereal and added chocolate chips, crushed candy bars, or M&M's. Enter the Krispery...

Look at that Gooey Goodness!! The caramel is just spilling out of the inside... and it's also loaded with pretzels and dripping with chocolate syrup. Like a dream come true.

For me, these innovative takes on old standards have been eye-opening. I can't wait to try them all and love each second of it. I know what I am giving for birthday gifts!

E.T.

Are there really aliens? Well if you really think about it, we could be aliens? Imagine traveling to outer-space and landing on Mars and find little tiny creatures running around, speaking in a high-pitched foreign language and then come to find there's a whole city! Wouldn't we be those "scary invaders" that we make movies about all the time. Those aliens from another planet who find out that there's other life and great resources!
 - What if we were the aliens, and earth was this weird place with giant humans who produce bad chemicals that destroy the atmosphere. Think if other planets look down at us and make fun of our dumb mistakes... What if earth was the the "Jersey Shore" of outer-space.  Obviously they wouldn't invade us because we are destroying our planet, but what if those other living creatures were scared that we were going to find out they exist and then come invade their home!

interesting...

Embracing the Raw

About a week ago, I was at Whole Foods, browsing the selections and guess what I found... dessert! Not just any dessert, mind you... raw dessert. Raw cheesecake, raw German chocolate cake, raw mousse. It was astounding to me, but after I came home I started doing some reading on the raw movement and its possible benefits.

It turns out that people are doing everything raw... it's just taking a long time to start off in Texas, one of the fattest, least healthy states in the country. In an effort to spread awareness, I thought it was worth taking a look at the innovative raw dishes that are being churned out all over the world.

Since Dessert was my first introduction to the world of Raw, I thought I'd start there...

The Raw Oreo Ice Cream Cake - Looks like any normal cake, but there is absolutely no dairy and nothing was baked, not even the cookies. They use dehydrators to dry out dates, figs, and carob to simulate the chocolate taste, and then use almonds and almond milk with vanilla to create a vanilla mousse!

I am trying to figure out where I fit into all of this raw business. I find it fascinating, but I am addicted to hot food... I like my meat cooked, and I'm not really into the idea of vegetarianism. However, I think there's probably an important value to considering vegetarianism. I wholeheartedly embrace the idea that nutrients deteriorate with cooking, and I understand that we should pay attention to more than just the number of calories our food has - we need to think about what we are really feeding our cells. I think I'm going to continue studying what benefits have been attributed to raw eating, and then I'll see if I am interested in heading that way myself.

Talking Turkey

I always thought that turkeys were all created equal. Really, what's the difference between a Butterball turkey and a more expensive variety? All I ever knew was that the turkey was low in calorie and fat, generally served at holidays, and significantly larger than the chicken. As I am learning, the humble turkey is becoming almost a status symbol, as people are starting to obsess over the rediscovered heritage turkeys, which apparently have the old bloodlines that were present when America was first discovered. They are supposedly more sustainable, better tasting, and less pumped full of modern chemicals, hormones and antibiotics.

This is what a heritage turkey looks like:

That looks far more appealing and alive than the Butterball:

However, this healthy, environmentally friendly turkey comes at a price! While a Butterball may ring up at just over a dollar a pound, the Heritage varieties may cost upwards of $6 per pound, a pricey difference when you're considering that a turkey can easily weigh 15 pounds.

I'm going to ask my mom to give the heritage turkey a try at Thanksgiving, though. After all, we're already doing free-range chickens, wild-caught salmon, and grass-fed beef. We might as well give the upgraded turkey a whirl, right?

Wonka's Nerds

Everyone knows what nerds are! The best candy ever invented.
But if only they made them for pets. I was just eating a box of them over the weekend and looked at the little candy characters and they are soo cute! I really want one as a pet.
They would be wild little things.
Ideally I would want them to be the size of a small dog because otherwise I feel like they would bounce all over the place and you wouldn't find them except for every now and then by surprise. A strawberry-watermelon mixed one would be the perfect pet. I wonder how they would talk?

Abercrombie

Last night my friends and I went to this 'focus group' at the W hotel. Morgan's sister works for a marketing company in Dallas, so she invited us to participate in their little research project. A group of boys and girls went and were asked to describe "what is cool." On one side of the room, they had little sticky notecards all over the place that you had to re-arrange into categories (most of them were brands and trends). On the other side was a description of a clothing brand and you had to guess which one it was. They described themselves as the 'classic all-american brand, originated in the east-coast, and conservative yet sexy.' Well the first thing that comes to mind is something like Ralph Lauren right?

Wrong, the brand they were describing was Abercrombie. 

They had brought a group of SMU students in to basically tell them what was wrong with the brand and why it wasn't selling anymore...

1. Who wants to walk into a pitch black store with an over-powering smell of cologne and loud music... its suffocation-nation.

2. I'm embarressed to walk around with a bag picturing a half-naked teenager on the front. 

3. the clothes are made cheaply and I don't want the brands name in bold letters on every part of the shirt they can fit it. 

fix that. And I think they will start seeing results. 

photoshop

I want to learn how to work photoshop! How cool would it be to transform a normal/average picture into something that is surprising, different, and captivating!
You can pretty much have an idea in your head and create it using photoshop. There are so many times when I picture something in my head and there is no way to describe it with words. If I could only learn how to work this simple yet complicated software, showing people what goes on inside my head would be soo much easier. Because lets face it... I'm not the best artist with pencil and paper.

Ads tp better our world

There are so many ads that exist to promote products and services and it gets overwhelming. Why not try something different? It's so great to advertising that 'helps' the community. I wish there were more ads encouraging people to go out in the community and help better our world. I know that sounds kind of cheesy, but there are so many fun ways to get involved and advertising them is such a perfect way to highlight that (not to mention it would give the advertising business a good rep too).

I am working for a small advertising agency in Houston this summer called Love Advertising, and one of their clients is Susan G. Komen. 

Advertising "race for the cure" is what has made this foundation what it is today!! 

There should be more ads promoting awareness of causes such as breast cancer like the Susan G. Komen foundation... inspiring others to help! 

Feed the Media: Charlie Sheen

Its funny how someone famous can do one crazy thing or say something a little over the top and next thing you know its all over every media source in the country. Ironically I feel as if this promotes their behavior. We keep giving them more and more attention, egging them on and expecting more from them. For example, Charlie Sheen...
He was always a little off, inappropriate and yet extremely hilarious... but after a couple of slip ups the media started crawling all over him and since then he's gone way down hill. I mean honestly, it's a joke. I was listening to the radio yesterday and a "Charlie Sheen remix" of "Tonight I'm Lovin' You" by Enrique Inglesias started playing?!

 In a completely different perspective, I think Charlie has the right idea... besides the fact that he's mentally disturbed and going through a major meltdown... it seems as if he knows that the more he feeds to the media the more attention will come his way. He even said he was going to start charging people to interview him. Pretty clever on his part since he just got fired.
All in all, if celebrities didn't have the pressure of the public and media judging their every action and feeding their bad habits... would they face less emotional distress/instability than they do now? I think the answer is easily a yes.. and thus I doubt we would see as many "messed" up celebrities as we have seen today.

View from Above

The days when you desperately need to get somewhere and end up running into traffic are easily one of my biggest pet peeves. Its so unfortunate because I am usually pretty accurate about how long it takes me to get from point A to point B, but with traffic in the mix... it messes up everything. However, imagine life as bird. I think that would be pretty amazing. Taking flight whenever you felt like getting some fresh air, getting to places quicker, and not even having to worry about leaving the house during rush hour! You could just simply fly overhead and passover the poor guy slamming his fists against the steering wheel because he hit yet another red light.

Not to mention, if I were a bird for a day... imagine the the great view. What would it be like to see the world from above? I found this picture of the Golden Gate Bridge, which I thought was very different from what I've always been used to seeing. Its pretty scary if you think about being that high up and looking down at everything. I wonder if birds ever get afraid of flying to high? I may be the first one... 

Take a smile...

I came across this picture and I really liked it.
"take a smile" ...
It's so simple, but ripping off a smile from it would do exactly that for me. As cliche as this sounds, a smile can really make someone's day.
Did you know that forcing a smile can actually make you feel happy? Our body is programmed to react to certain body movements and a smile is one of them. You can actually manipulate your facial expressions to form an emotion! So if you think about it... if you force a smile it will eventually make you laugh... and since laughter is contagious wouldn't that make people around you happy as well? 
I really want to try this out and see what happens! Go to the library, sit down to start studying for a little with a group of people, and then just put a HUGE smile on face and wait to see what happens... i'm already laughing thinking about it :)

Boxes

I wish we could keep the imagination and innocence we had as children. I recently just walked into a FedEx store and saw all these boxes... nothing to them right? They are just cardboard boxes. However, then I remembered if I saw this as a kid, this would be awesome! I could build the coolest, largest fort ever!

We see the world differently as a child and sometimes even more creatively. Why is it that we lose our ability to create things out of nothing as we get older? I mean it obviously still happens, but we have a whole process to go about finding that "one idea". As a child this "process" would be as easy as breathing. What happens to our ability to be free thinkers as we get older? Is it the pressure of conforming to society and not being an outsider? In my view, brilliant ideas come from uncontrolled thoughts.

From the perspective of a tree:

    At the very start of my life I was happy-- level with my surroundings, taken care of by the rain, but also very delicate in the first few years of my life. I could observe the vast plains surrounding me. Empty, bare, and beautiful. The air was clean and my only fear was the occasionally temperamental weather.

As I grew and my branches extended, the space around me became smaller. However, it wasn't because I was growing, but because of the world transforming beneath me. I can now see houses being built nearby, a small factory to my left billowing dark colored smoke and the taste of pollution running through my veins. My lungs are working harder and harder to breathe with every rise of the sun and I'm starting to feel as if the ground in which my roots relied on for nutrients is now feeding me toxins. As I patiently wait for the slightest breeze of fresh air, I begin to feel the earth shake beneath my branches. Men with shovels start digging away my familiar and loved surroundings. The flowers, the grass, and the tiny ant hill that has been with me since the last rainfall have all been destroyed. I as I stand there in agony, I suddenly feel a stab to my heart when an ax cuts right through me to make way for a new road.

From the Stork

            As a little girl my parents used to joke around that I got my blue eyes from the “mailman” since both of them have hazel-brown colored eyes. I also remember that I used to believe a stork dropped me off on my parent’s doorstep when I was born. I look back and laugh about it now, but its funny because when we’re kids we tend to believe anything that comes out of someone’s mouth. The common belief is that if someone says its true, then it has to be true. The concept of lying is just to much for us to consider and so we take the route with less cognitive work. When we grow older our capacity for cognitive thinking increases and we finally learn that, unfortunately, babies don’t come from storks. It used to be so simple, but of course babies don’t appear out of thin air and get dropped of by storks… there’s a long process to it. 

Wake up!

Alarm clocks are super annoying. Especially the ones that sound like a siren is going off and you practically wake up with a jolt thinking your house is on fire. At least I've made use of the "harp" sound on my iPhone to make waking up more pleasant.

But just when I thought I have had enough I came across this... A pillow that VIBRATES to wake you up in the morning! How simple, yet pure genius is this? Why didn't I think of this?  All you have to do is pull the pink tag out to however many hours you are going to sleep that night and when it reaches the end it will start to slowly vibrate to wake you up from a nice sleep. And apparently if you don't wake up your head weight acts as the "snooze trigger." No more annoying sirens and harps waking me up in the morning anymore!

What makes Starbucks so Popular?

I just registered a Starbucks gift-card online that my dad gave me around a week ago and I was so excited to hear that I only needed 5 more stars to reach "Green Level" ... 30 for "Gold Level!!"
Everyone says that there is nothing special about Starbucks coffee, but then why does everyone always flock here to get their morning, afternoon, and late-night java fix? Some have even stopped saying the word coffee.. now it's.. "I'm gonna grab a Starbucks." If it was really just regular old coffee, then why do I make the effort to drive all the way over there in the morning even if I have my own coffee a couple steps away from my bed!

They really know how to sell this place.. it has a personality. I come here to study or have a quick "coffee break" with a friend. Not to mention, the new online system where you can collect 'stars' and reach different levels only makes me want to come back even more! (so clever...)

stumble upon

If you havn't heard of stumble upon or stumbled a little yourself, you are definitely missing out.
It is one of the most ingenious websites I have ever come across! It gives you the internet's best of the best and some of the most noteworthy unknown websites.
You can check little boxes of whatever interests you and then you are ready to stumble!
It is extremely engaging because you can go from stumbling across street art by Banksy to hidden wonders of world to soon to be sensational viral videos! The possibilities are endless and not to mention extremely addicting.

Go check it out and create a profile!
www.stumbleupon.com

making lists, doodling, and photographic memories

I tend to make a list out of everything. Why? I don't know. I'm not the uptight/on-schedule type of person... as a matter of fact, I'm very spacey, always day-dreaming, and forgetting things here and there. I seem to have embraced my inner pisces.
Even though I usually end up losing the lists I make, I think its the mere fact of writing it down that helps me remember. Through the years I've learned I have somewhat of a photographic memory. I tend to use 5 different colored highlighters when I take notes or study for this very reason. I can look over something and remember the smallest details, exactly where something was on the page, and a mental image of the exact color of the word I needed to memorize. With this I can usually remember the color, then where it was in my notes, and then use logical reasoning from there!
I got in trouble in my Rhetoric class freshman year for doodling while the professor was lecturing. But I can't not doodle! It helps me concentrate... I obviously wasn't going to say that back, but I was really tempted to send him this article I found online that proved that doodling was actually a way of concentrating for something. Also, I can also remember the notes/lecture better by what I was doodling when the professor is talking about a certain subject!
Check out the article in Time Magazine...

Doodling Helps Studying!

Popsicle Scribblers

These delicious, fun, and delightful pops have been a huge part of my diet! I don't know what makes them so good or fun to eat, but I swear I am addicted to them. Maybe its the little kid inside me that thinks they are "the coolest" popsicle on the market. It tastes almost the same as the the regular ones, but its so much more fun to eat the very tip of the scribbler (orange preferably) and then carefully chew off the sides (green) and then you are left with the yummy middle section ... the red! The best part is the little joke at the end on the stick. These little ingenious popsicles will be staying with me for a long time. I just can't seem to stop buying them... I even start to skip a little when I reach the frozen food section of Kroger...

the wonders of coffee

Coffee. Coffee. Coffee!!
    -- The essence of productivity --
A wonderful drink when you need to get things done right? If only I could be productive on the right thing.
For example, blogging instead of studying for my psychology exam tomorrow.
4 cups down, its around 3AM, and a lot more studying to get done. I'm honestly starting to wonder if I'm becoming closer and closer to looking like this photo. I feel as if this bug-eyed owl made out of coffee beans is my twin... literally...we have a lot in common at this point in time.

Somebody had to say it...

Don't you hate it when you have to be that person who just "had to say it..." Whether you see someone walking out of the restroom with toilet paper stuck to the bottom of their shoe or having to tell someone to shut-up because they're being extremely obnoxious. It always happens after some time has passed because the people next to you don't want to be the "bitch" so they usually wait for someone else to say something.

I don't understand why people just sit there and assume that the person next to them is going to say it or is more willing too... when clearly everyone is in the same position. 

new age

You know something is off when you hear your 10 year old brother singing the lyrics to "S&M" by Rihanna...
It's a little unnerving to imagine what kids will be exposed to in the next couple of years. Are people going to be walking the streets nude because they believe they have a right to "express themselves?" I mean nude beaches are totally casual these days... no big deal. Next step... "nude cities."
Society has become more accepting of the untraditional... good or bad is up to you to decide.
For one, the way we dress is definitely different...
For the most part, Lady Gaga's choice of style is a little over the top right? Will this be the norm a couple years from now?

  

Almost nothing is to scandalous to promote these days. I remember when I used to sing along to the spice girls and backstreet boys (not too long ago)... songs like "As long as you love me" and "Spice up your life" ... Today were sining along to lyrics like "chains and whips excite me" and "I just had sex." 

Its funny because until you actually think about it, it doesn't phase you. 

 from this to...

Slow Motion

How amazing would it be to have the ability to see everything in slow motion at any given moment. The world would be so much different. You would be able to appreciate some of the world's most simplest occurrences.  For example, popping a bubble....

I wonder why there aren't any superheroes with the power to slow down time. I tried to look it up, but nothing seemed to show up except for the characters in The Matrix. Apparently the superpower is called "Bullet Time." 

Pretty catchy name if you ask me... 

I might as well invent my own superhero! He won't be able to be defeated since he will be able to fight at such extraordinary speeds compared to his enemies! I think I'll call him, Spitzer. 

view history

After sitting through my creative class I started to think: There are so many ideas I have throughout the day that I can never remember later on... its so frustrating.

But, what if there was a way to click "view history" in your brain and be able to keep track of what exactly you were thinking at a certain point in time. There are so many times when I wonder "why in the world did I think that was okay" or "when was the last time I saw my phone?" I can only imagine what it would be like. The amount of ideas that go through my head could be stored and I could scroll through them whenever I needed something new and fresh! Those times when the same idea keeps running through your mind and you can't get rid of it and all you want to do is MOVE ON! well with "view history" we can be inspired by our past thinking!  I can search my past thoughts and my problems would be solved!!

And what if we could apply this to dreams?!

Food is creative

I don't think people give cooking as much credit as it deserves. There are so many different types, styles, and presentations of food.. its truly amazing. There are no rules, and its open to interpretation. Be as creative as you want!
Cooking is an art as well as a creative process. It's through people opening there eyes and minds to the different possibilities and combinations of the same ingredients that we have created such an extensive variety of foods. A long time ago food was solely "fuel for the body," but today it incorporates a mix of presentation and taste. I love cooking solely for these two reasons... 1. its an art project and 2) I get to eat it -- edible art! nothing is better than that.
People don't just add ingredients into a blender and pour it onto a plate (that is disgusting)... instead, we find a way to make it look pleasing and appetizing to our pallets.