Thursday, May 6, 2021
Sunday, May 9, 2010
Toddlers and Tiara's
Ok, this weekend my mother and I were flipping through tv channels looking for something to watch and we came across a show on TLC (I believe that was the channel) titled Toddlers and Tiara's. Since my daughter is 3 I thought this would be something cute to watch, little girls wearing fancy dresses and shoes, with cute little pig tails in their hair. Wow, was I in for a surprise, lets say fancy dresses and shoes was about all I had right.
I have to admit I did not watch the whole episode, I turned it off because I felt like it was just not right. Now, I do not have a problem with beauty contests, especially if a person is old enough to make the choice to participate or not. I also do not object to things such as cute baby contests. What I do object to is the glamorization of small children.
In the episode it was not just cute clothes and perfect hair, things went to the extreme. Parents were putting wigs, fake fingernails, makeup, teeth covers and of all things, fake eyelashes on children as young as 3 years old. These children competed in categories such as beauty, talent and even swimsuit. Yup, a swimsuit competition for 3year old. I cannot believe that parents actually put their small children through this stuff, and that someone actually thought to make a tv show about it.
I have to admit I did not watch the whole episode, I turned it off because I felt like it was just not right. Now, I do not have a problem with beauty contests, especially if a person is old enough to make the choice to participate or not. I also do not object to things such as cute baby contests. What I do object to is the glamorization of small children.
In the episode it was not just cute clothes and perfect hair, things went to the extreme. Parents were putting wigs, fake fingernails, makeup, teeth covers and of all things, fake eyelashes on children as young as 3 years old. These children competed in categories such as beauty, talent and even swimsuit. Yup, a swimsuit competition for 3year old. I cannot believe that parents actually put their small children through this stuff, and that someone actually thought to make a tv show about it.
Sunday, May 2, 2010
A hard case of writers block.
Have you ever been so tired you can just not think? That is me today, I am just not feeling this. Normally I have some sort of idea for my blog in mind, and if I don't something on Yahoo's homepage usually gets my attention and brain in thinking mode. Even checking for prompts on thoughts for a blog is getting nothing.
I am chalking this up to a very long weekend. A lot of running around, playing, cleaning, homework (I have a 4 credit online class that runs for only 7 weeks online and it is killing me, I have never had this much for a class ever!), and of course learning to cook empanadas for my experience essay. I am tired, I have a headache and just want to go to bed, which I almost did but thankfully the other day I set a reminder on my phone to do my blog, must have been fate.
As I am sitting here, trying to come up with enought thought to make my required three paragraph, three sentence requirement my mind drifted off to class on Thursday and the essay by E.B.White and how I did not know what Moxie was. So I decided to do a Goggle search and see what turns up. It turn out it is a soda that is still produced today, according to Wikipedia (I know not the most reliable source, but there are ads and photos of the stuff, so I believe it is a soda)it was one of the first mass produced soft drinks, and is still regionally popular today.
There, now that everyone is a little more educated on the Moxie, and my requirement is met I can go to bed. Goodnight fellow bloggers.
I am chalking this up to a very long weekend. A lot of running around, playing, cleaning, homework (I have a 4 credit online class that runs for only 7 weeks online and it is killing me, I have never had this much for a class ever!), and of course learning to cook empanadas for my experience essay. I am tired, I have a headache and just want to go to bed, which I almost did but thankfully the other day I set a reminder on my phone to do my blog, must have been fate.
As I am sitting here, trying to come up with enought thought to make my required three paragraph, three sentence requirement my mind drifted off to class on Thursday and the essay by E.B.White and how I did not know what Moxie was. So I decided to do a Goggle search and see what turns up. It turn out it is a soda that is still produced today, according to Wikipedia (I know not the most reliable source, but there are ads and photos of the stuff, so I believe it is a soda)it was one of the first mass produced soft drinks, and is still regionally popular today.
There, now that everyone is a little more educated on the Moxie, and my requirement is met I can go to bed. Goodnight fellow bloggers.
Sunday, April 25, 2010
alien existence
I love the news blips on the homepage of Yahoo! There are usually 32-40 of them and they can be scrolled through at four at a time. They range from funny to serious, heartwarming to information, and some are just pure strange. Strange is the word for the blip that caught my eye today.
The title on the blip spot was "Scientist: ET go home". My first thought was are they finally admitting to area 54? Aliens are already here! Since the only movies I find to be scary, and to give me nightmares, are alien movies (watch Fire in the Sky it is based on a true story) I was quite intrigued. When I clicked on the link the actual title of the article was "Aliens may exist but contact would hurt humans: Hawkings" I have to say it was no where near what I expected.
The article basically said that we should not want to make alien contact because chances are that "the outcome would be much as when Columbus landed in America, which didn't turn out well for the Native Americans" and stated that they would most likely happen upon us as the looked for another planet to live on as they sucked the resources on their planet dry.
I thought to myself, is that not what the human population is doing to the earth? We use and use and consume and consume and there is no way to replace much of the resources we use, eventually we will have sucked this planet dry and I have a feeling that the aliens will have to watch out for us.
The title on the blip spot was "Scientist: ET go home". My first thought was are they finally admitting to area 54? Aliens are already here! Since the only movies I find to be scary, and to give me nightmares, are alien movies (watch Fire in the Sky it is based on a true story) I was quite intrigued. When I clicked on the link the actual title of the article was "Aliens may exist but contact would hurt humans: Hawkings" I have to say it was no where near what I expected.
The article basically said that we should not want to make alien contact because chances are that "the outcome would be much as when Columbus landed in America, which didn't turn out well for the Native Americans" and stated that they would most likely happen upon us as the looked for another planet to live on as they sucked the resources on their planet dry.
I thought to myself, is that not what the human population is doing to the earth? We use and use and consume and consume and there is no way to replace much of the resources we use, eventually we will have sucked this planet dry and I have a feeling that the aliens will have to watch out for us.
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Finally rules for the library
I have not had much travel into or through the library at UW Sheboygan this semester until just recently. I can not tell you how very happy I was to see that students are expected to be quiet in the library. I have been waiting for library rules for years.
I do not know if any of you will remember the old library which was located where the UW Extension is now located. I used to try to use the library to study for tests between classes, but it was useless. There were always people talking nearby, breaking my concentration. The library had even sent around surveys one year asking about the noise level and policies of the library, but there was never any change. I was sure hoping for change when the new library was opened. When it did I had mixed feelings.
I was happy to see all the study rooms the new library had. These were great and at first hardly anyone ever used them. They were quiet and they faced out over the lawn. They were a great place to study for a test or do group work. Now they are usually much more occupied and sometimes unavailable, but still a great choice. The computer lab was a disappointment, I figured being in the library there would have been more regulation. And even though there was a sign posted that it was a quiet work area it was highly disregarded. Sometimes it seemed like it was the new hangout place instead of a quiet work area.
All in all I hope that the new library rules stay. Not to say that I do not feel bad for any students who have group work to do and need technology, because I do, especially if the cyber cafe is still dominated by the yelling video game players it used to be. At least the library should now be a better place for individualized work.
I do not know if any of you will remember the old library which was located where the UW Extension is now located. I used to try to use the library to study for tests between classes, but it was useless. There were always people talking nearby, breaking my concentration. The library had even sent around surveys one year asking about the noise level and policies of the library, but there was never any change. I was sure hoping for change when the new library was opened. When it did I had mixed feelings.
I was happy to see all the study rooms the new library had. These were great and at first hardly anyone ever used them. They were quiet and they faced out over the lawn. They were a great place to study for a test or do group work. Now they are usually much more occupied and sometimes unavailable, but still a great choice. The computer lab was a disappointment, I figured being in the library there would have been more regulation. And even though there was a sign posted that it was a quiet work area it was highly disregarded. Sometimes it seemed like it was the new hangout place instead of a quiet work area.
All in all I hope that the new library rules stay. Not to say that I do not feel bad for any students who have group work to do and need technology, because I do, especially if the cyber cafe is still dominated by the yelling video game players it used to be. At least the library should now be a better place for individualized work.
Sunday, April 11, 2010
open when needed.
I just love a nice day, I think most people do to. 65 degrees, no wind and lots of sunshine. Even if you prefer really hot or really cold I think you found today acceptable.
Why do I think that way? Have you ever been to the store on a really hot, really cold, rainy, or snowy day? On days like that it seems like everyone is crabby, no one smiles, checkers seem like they hate their job, other customers gripe about how long the line is and heaven forbid if they need to move their cart over a half of foot so you can pass down the aisle. And have you ever been in line where the person behind you is complaining under their breath, such as the store needs more checkers, or they are just breathing in an agitated way?
Well I had to do some shopping at Piggly Wiggly today. We decided to grill out, and from listening/talking to others in the store, it seems as though a good portion of the people in Sheboygan decided to also. A friend of mine that works in the meat department said it had been crazy busy. Even with the store being so busy, everyone seemed to be in a great mood. No one seemed to mind waiting their turn to make their pick from the fresh meat. People were chatting, smiling and in an overall great mood. Even in the checkout lanes, people seemed overall in a great mood, including the checkers who were at work on such a nice day.
Point being is that when the weather is perfect, not extremely hot or extremely cold people just seem to be more comfortable and in a better mood. It is to bad there is no way to bottle this great and open it when needed.
Why do I think that way? Have you ever been to the store on a really hot, really cold, rainy, or snowy day? On days like that it seems like everyone is crabby, no one smiles, checkers seem like they hate their job, other customers gripe about how long the line is and heaven forbid if they need to move their cart over a half of foot so you can pass down the aisle. And have you ever been in line where the person behind you is complaining under their breath, such as the store needs more checkers, or they are just breathing in an agitated way?
Well I had to do some shopping at Piggly Wiggly today. We decided to grill out, and from listening/talking to others in the store, it seems as though a good portion of the people in Sheboygan decided to also. A friend of mine that works in the meat department said it had been crazy busy. Even with the store being so busy, everyone seemed to be in a great mood. No one seemed to mind waiting their turn to make their pick from the fresh meat. People were chatting, smiling and in an overall great mood. Even in the checkout lanes, people seemed overall in a great mood, including the checkers who were at work on such a nice day.
Point being is that when the weather is perfect, not extremely hot or extremely cold people just seem to be more comfortable and in a better mood. It is to bad there is no way to bottle this great and open it when needed.
Sunday, April 4, 2010
How we assign responsibility.
On Friday I had a nice long drive down to Chicago to pick my husband up at the airport. Even though I hate traffic, and at times it was heavy, I found the ride to be pleasant. My daughter amused herself with her books and toys we brought along for the drive and I found myself thinking about the article about Wisconsin's drinking and responsibility we had discussed in class on Thursday. Mostly I thought about how we try to pass the blame, depending on our view of the situation.
I thought about the student mentioned in the article who drowned after a night of drinking. I thought about other articles I have read over the years about people who died drunk driving. I thought about what I learned in the responsible beverage servers class, how it is the alcohol servers responsibility and judgement to stop serving an intoxicated person. So, who really is to blame when a tragedy happens? Usually blame is passed around. Blame the bartender or bartenders who served the alcohol, blame the friends, blame the city, blame the store, blame the car, etc. It always seems everyone is to blame except the person who died. Of course that is human nature, who really wants to blame the dead for their own death. Very rarely do you ever hear a parent saying my child died because of their own fault.
This brought me to thinking about a very close and dear friend of the family that passed away many years ago. He was 14 years old and he died after being flung off a car while car surfing. For years it was the drivers fault. The driver should have done this, the driver should have done that. And in an essence, the driver was irresponsible, he never should have drove the car with someone sitting on it. But in the end, it was our friends fault for car surfing. No one made him do it, he knew it was dangerous and still he chose to do it.
How this relates back to the drinking is if a person chooses to drink they take on the responsibilities the come with drinking. There are always risks and dangers, and the choice to drink is one's own choice, no one is pointing a gun to your head making drinking the safer option. The sad part is that many drinkers think themselves or their friends can handle their alcohol, think that they are ok to drive, think that the bad stuff will not happen to them. It is this lack of understanding of the true dangers of alcohol that cause tragedies to happen. If you chose to drink, drink responsible, drink in moderation and drink with respect for others in you community.
I thought about the student mentioned in the article who drowned after a night of drinking. I thought about other articles I have read over the years about people who died drunk driving. I thought about what I learned in the responsible beverage servers class, how it is the alcohol servers responsibility and judgement to stop serving an intoxicated person. So, who really is to blame when a tragedy happens? Usually blame is passed around. Blame the bartender or bartenders who served the alcohol, blame the friends, blame the city, blame the store, blame the car, etc. It always seems everyone is to blame except the person who died. Of course that is human nature, who really wants to blame the dead for their own death. Very rarely do you ever hear a parent saying my child died because of their own fault.
This brought me to thinking about a very close and dear friend of the family that passed away many years ago. He was 14 years old and he died after being flung off a car while car surfing. For years it was the drivers fault. The driver should have done this, the driver should have done that. And in an essence, the driver was irresponsible, he never should have drove the car with someone sitting on it. But in the end, it was our friends fault for car surfing. No one made him do it, he knew it was dangerous and still he chose to do it.
How this relates back to the drinking is if a person chooses to drink they take on the responsibilities the come with drinking. There are always risks and dangers, and the choice to drink is one's own choice, no one is pointing a gun to your head making drinking the safer option. The sad part is that many drinkers think themselves or their friends can handle their alcohol, think that they are ok to drive, think that the bad stuff will not happen to them. It is this lack of understanding of the true dangers of alcohol that cause tragedies to happen. If you chose to drink, drink responsible, drink in moderation and drink with respect for others in you community.
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