Barbie: A Change For The Better

For years Barbie has been a figure of perfection, sought out by women of all ages. Barbie's physique set the beauty standard for skinny waists and large breasts, which we all know isn't always attainable or realistic. In "Mattel Introduces Barbie Dolls With Diverse Body Types", by Melissa Willets, she explains that "If a women were to have Barbie's proportions, she'd have approximately a 39-inch bust, 18-inch waist, and 33-inch hips. Combine that with a size 3 shoe, and you have a pretty unrealistic person." Following the feminist movement, the support for body positivity and the efforts to end body shaming grew massively. So much so, that even Barbie decided to join the cause.
To show their support for the movement, the designers at Barbie came out with dolls of all body shapes, skin colors and various heights. They didn't stop there, they also came out with a new line of Ken dolls all varying in skin color, size, and height as well. Now when little children are perusing the isles of toy stores they are able to find Barbies that resemble themselves. This may seem like a small gesture, but it speaks volumes to the generations of kids to come. Having real characteristics on dolls might just be the move that ends body negativity at a young age!

Meet Sophia

For years our world has built a fantasy around robots. But in this day and age it is no longer a fantasy, it's a reality. Meet Sophia, a product of Hanson Robotics, her chilling hazel eyes and life like features have sweep the nation, making huge strides for the artificial intelligence movement. 

According to Hanson Robotics, Sophia has become a cultural icon and a highly sought after speaker in the business world. She has been interviewed on many major media platforms, including on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. Sophia has also graced the cover of one of the top fashion magazines, in 2017, titled Elle. Hanson Robotics states that, "Sophia is an evolving genius machine. Her incredible human likeness, expressiveness, and remarkable story as an awakening robot over time makes her a fascinating front-page technology story." 

Although this is an amazing step forward in technology, I have to say it really does scare me. After binge watching interviews of Sophia online, a bone chilling sensation took over me. The way she processes information and interacts with others is other worldly, and makes me bit uneasy. If this is what the future holds, I will definitely need some time to adjust, but in the long run I can see a bright future for artificial intelligence. If Sophia is any indication for the new technology to come, our world is in for a big surprise. 

Sweater Weather

The world works in such mysterious ways! This week in class we discussed guerrilla art, and the next day on my ACT there was an article on, you guessed it, guerrilla art! As I was scrolling through google images looking for a photo that interested me, I was stopped by (photo to the left) a tree covered in vivid assortments of yarn. Suddenly a little light bulb appeared above my head as I put two and two together. In summary, through the fate of the universe, I will talking about Germany's fabulous guerrilla knitters. 

One might ask, what is guerrilla knitting? According to the website "Young Germany", this form of art "refers to knit or crocheted works of art placed in public area[s]". Similar to graffiti, works of guerrilla knitting happen publicly, often anonymously and without permission. Over the years this practice has acquired different names such as, yarn bombing, yarn storming, knit graffiti, and knit hacking. 

The photo shown on the right - the yarn bombing of Frankfurt's famous bull and bear statue - displays the handy work of the Munich Guerrilla Knitting Group. Rather than being appalled, Germany has taking a great liking to this sort of 'graffiti'. As the website "Young Germany" puts it, "a yarn bomb can bring a pleasant dash of color and whimsy" to urban scenes. In fact, Ute Lennartz-Lembeck founder of the guerrilla knitting group, has nixed anonymity by installing her art publicly during the day. She is best known for the picture shown on the left, a tree in Velbert covered in a multicolored knit sweater. 

Ethnic Names

In "The 'F Word'", an excerpt from Funny in Farsi: A Memoir of Growing Up Iranian in America by Firoozeh Dumas, Dumas describes life as a young girl with an ethnic name. Aside from being very humorous, this autobiographical essay depicts a story I'm sure countless immigrants in America can relate to. Like herself, her brother Arash would be made fun of for his name by being constantly asked "if it itched". Dumas says, Firoozeh, which means "Turquoise" in Farsi, roughly translated to "Unpronounceable" in English. After being teased throughout her childhood for her difficult name, Dumas decided she needed to choose a simpler, more American one. "[She] chose Julie" and her brothers later followed suit by calling themselves "Fred and Sean". Dumas found that after changing her name life became easier, and "infinitely simpler". In addition to that, people actually remembered her name, which was "an entirely refreshing and new sensation".
When Dumas went to college she decided to change her name back to Firoozeh. "All was well until [she] graduated and started looking for a job". Unfortunately, she could not get a single interview, so she added "Julie" to her resume. "Call it coincidence, but the job offers started coming in".
Although she changed her name to Julie, she still had many family and friends who called her Firoozeh. Dumas compared having two names to being like a "soap opera character who [has] an evil twin". Eventually, she decided to end her 'double life' and revert back to her real name. By then she was a stay at home mom who didn't have to care about job interviews or or people bothering to remember her name. To add, Dumas also lived in Silicon Valley, where ethic names were more commonly seen such as, "Rajeev, Avishai, and Insook".
Dumas claims that she has "found that Americans are now far more willing to learn new names", despite a few close minded people.

If you can relate to Dumas's story, I would love to hear yours as well! Comment down below if you have ever encountered an experience like any of Dumas's mentioned above.

When You're an Addams...

If you've never seen The Addams Family, then you really should (shameless self promo.... buy your tickets at the Troy Theater Ensemble website before they sell out!). This fabulous show is chalked full of clever symbolism and hilarious figures of speech.  First things first, Morticia, The Addams Family's leading lady, sings a song called "Death is Just Around the Corner".  While singing, she is over joyed by the thought of death, which ultimately makes her feel better about the circumstances of her marriage. In the title of the song the word 'corner' has a double meaning. It means what you would think, that death is in the near future, but it's also a play on words because a 'coroner' is someone who examines dead bodies. Also Morticia derives from mortician, a funeral director. In the midst of all the dark humor, there is also a smattering of slap stick comedy. Pugsly, Morticia's son, pretends to be a cub scout to impress the family of his sisters boyfriend, in doing so he whispers to the family "put some money in the can, and no one gets hurt!" His veiled threat always gets a hardy laugh from the audience. There are also some pretty hilarious innuendos that I always giggle at back stage. Unfortunately I don't think Ms. Valentino would appreciate me explaining those on this blog, so I guess you'll just have to come see the show and find out!

Promo Video!!

Death of a Candle

In my hands I hold a unvarnished strand of wick. Untouched by wax, and unbeknownst to the feeling of
fire. The wax I’ve been preparing has melted, and is ready to completely cover and conceal the wicks
torso. I plunge the wick into the oozing wax, then finally pull it up for air. Each layer more oppressive than
the next. The torturous process continues till the wick is sufficiently weighed down by the burden of wax.
The wick is now forced to work in tandem with the wax, ultimately resulting in their partnership as a
candle.

I place my new candle horizontally, hanging on the edge of the corner on my rectangular desk. Each end
sways in the air, waiting for stability. When it has finally balanced, I strike a match and light each end.
My candle burns with agony from head to toe, rather wick to wick. Both ends liquefy the wax in its way at
equal speeds.

After a few hours my candle grows numb to the pain. There is only an inch left of wax. The residue from
the defeated wick lies ashy on the ground. Stalagmites have formed, covering the corner of my
rectangular desk. There is only a centimeter left of wax. The flames of the fire erode the remaining wax,
till there is only a millimeter left. The final wax drips away before I’m able to say goodbye.

The untouched, pure wick I had once held in my hand is now riddled with carcinogens, and transformed
to ash. My candle, burning from both ends, is finally at peace. Although my precious wick is deceased,
the wax that once burdened it gets to remain.

As the soul of my candle ascends into the unknown, its body lays stiff on the corner of my rectangular
desk. Can its soul ever be redirected and its body left useless, or has its soul dissolved into nothingness
and its body left to be re-purposed?

Do You Believe in the 5 Second Rule?

I am a firm believer in the 5 Second Rule. For those of you that are unfamiliar with this rule, let me enlighten you. The 5 Second Rule dates back as far as anyone can remember. This technique has been used for centuries because of its practicality and non-wasteful ways. The 5 Second Rule, by definition, is when a remnant of food descends from ones hands/mouth onto a surface, thus causing one to swiftly pick up the fallen remnant and relocated it back into ones hands/mouth. The controversy of this matter is whether or not it is safe to ingest food that has been on an unknown surface: floor, restaurant table, carpet, etc. I'll have you know, this process is rather safe if you posses common sense. If you don't, here are some question you can ask yourself if caught in such a predicament.
What kind of food did I just drop? If it falls under the category "sticky" or has a sort of damp coding - suckers, ice cream, hard candy, something you have been sucking on - do not eat it. I repeat do NOT eat it! Now, if the food you dropped is hard, such as an apple, it is certainty okay to dust it off on your shirt and continue eating. As for an already bitten into apple, all you have to do is run it under the sink for bit, and it's good as new. 
Second question you should ask yourself is, what type of surface did my food just touch? If it is a surface you are familiar with - like your own kitchen floor or dinner table - then you can judge whether it is clean enough for your liking. The 5 Second Rule tends to get a bit blurry when it comes to public spaces. It all depends on how comfortable you are, and how strong or weak your immune system is. If your food has fallen on the floor of the school cafeteria, the subway, a muddy hall way, or anything that is alarmingly dirty do NOT eat it! When it comes to the outdoors I feel it is okay to eat something after it has fallen on the grass, but never if it has directly touched dirt. 
The final question is, how long was my food on the ground? In my opinion, The 5 Second Rule can safely be stretched to 20 seconds. Anything past 30 seconds, say goodbye to your food. Once again, this also applies to how long you are comfortable with your food touching unknown surfaces. 
In truth, the 5 Second Rule might not be all that safe, but it helps one from being wasteful and can help in times of need. The 5 Second Rule is very useful in times of crisis. If you dropped your sandwich at lunch are you going to starve, or pick that perfectly good sandwich up?  Pick up the perfectly good sandwich!

Cheese Burger in Paradise

Ah. The sweet smell of fried pickles, Twinkies, Oreo's, corn, burgers, and basically anything you can fit into a deep fryer. The feeling of stickiness everywhere you go. The slight bit of haze in the air from all the smoking grills (and people). The sounds of motorcycle engines, Jimmy Buffet, and endless chatter fill the air. That my friends is the Cheese Burger Festival - also known as Cheese Burger in Paradise - in Caseville, Michigan. Every year my family drives 2 hours to stuff our faces with an endless amount of greasy burgers. Despite my previous explanation, I actually look forward to going to the festival every year. I even own a cheese burger hat! 

If you are interested in joining in on the fun, here are some tips you should know before venturing into cheese burger paradise. 

1) Make sure to wear elastic pants. Pants, such as jeans, will cut off your circulation as your stomach gradually gets larger from all the burgers. 

2) Wear sunscreen! You're going to be having such a blast scarfing down carbs, you won't even notice the horrendous farmers tan you've acquired. Also as your T-zone (forehead, nose, and chin) gets more oily from all the fried food, it starts to act like tanning oil. Except instead of getting a nice golden glow, you go home looking like a tomato.

3) Bring money for souvenirs. You don't want your only memory of the Cheese Burger Festival experience to be you with a horrible stomach ache, do you? To make sure this doesn't happen, invest in a cheese burger hat or an overpriced t-shirt that is very poorly made. 

Now that you know all the tips and tricks, you are ready to make the most of your trip to Cheese Burger in Paradise! Have fun, and remember calories don't count if you don't count them! 

I Want a Husband

I want a husband. I want a husband who is handy. If the kitchen faucet is leaky, I want it fixed today. Not tomorrow, not in a week, today. I want a husband who can keep it together - emotionally- when I can't. If my hamster dies, I need him to stay stone faced and show no emotion while I am a crying mess. I want a husband who will give me a fairy tale ending. I want everyday to feel like one of those "once upon a time" stories. In order to do so, it is mandatory that at least every week my husband plans an extraordinary night out, to keep things interesting.  I want a husband who is comfortable with his masculinity. If I buy him a nice button up top with pink elephants on it and a magenta tie, I better see him wearing it the next day to work. I will not tolerate a husband who complains. "Everyone will make fun of me if I wear this!" I would passive aggressively respond, "well I guess that means you don't love me" and that would be that. I want a husband who is intelligent. I need to be able to have a conversation about things other than football, or any sport for that matter. My husband will need to speak with perfect rhetoric when he deals with all the negotiating he does for me: phone bills, tchotchkes I don't need but buy anyway, convincing the Starbucks barista that I actually ordered a grande, not a tall, so I get to keep both, etc. I want a husband who makes a lot of money. My husband will need to be able to pay my credit card bill, buy me expensive gifts, and send me the most luxurious flowers he can find, just because. Jesus, who wouldn't want a husband. 

Gender Typing in Toys

At a very young age (I'm talking straight out of the womb) men and women are placed into categories. Baby girls are swaddled in pink blankets, and boys in blue. Little girls are given dolls, and boys receive toy trucks. Likewise, girls enlist in dance classes, while boys participate in sports. Thankfully these gender stereotypes are becoming a thing of the past. I am proud to be growing up in a generation were gender isn't so concrete, but rather more fluid. Young girls are encouraged to play with legos and other toys that were once considered masculine, and young boys can now try ballet without feeling like their masculinity is being tarnished.
Many toy brands have recently put out more gender inclusive toys. With this being said I feel some brands are making the divide even bigger, when in reality their intentions are the exact opposite. For example, the brand Nerf now makes Nerf guns for boys and girls. Which is wonderful, but they had to name it Nerf Rebelle. In the words of Deborah Tannen, "endings like ess and ette mark words as 'female'". In this case the ending elle presumably makes this product 'girly'. In addition to the name of this toy, the design is just as feminine. Lets look at a side by side shall we....

As you can tell, the Nerf guns on the left are obviously meant for girls, and the toy on the right for boys. Why couldn't Nerf just picture a boy and girl together on one product, rather than making two categories? This is a result of the archaic way of thinking that if you make a product pink, girls will buy it. Hopefully the changing perspective of consumers will in turn effect the way manufacturers  make their products. 

Airport Security

While I’m currently bed ridden with the plague, I’ve had a lot of time to stare at walls and painstakingly refresh Instagram every 5 minutes. But more importantly, I’ve been able to further ponder our disscusion from class about racial profiling. 

Especially in this day and age, racial profiling is extremely prevalent in airports. In security lines it is unfortunately more common to see a Muslim couple pulled aside for further inspection, rather than a white couple. In a debate between securityologist Bruce Schneier and critic of religion Sam Harris, about whether we should profile Muslims in airpoint security, Harris states “we know who the danger is, it ain’t old ranchers from Texas or pretty blondes from San Diego—it’s Muslims, so let’s focus airport security on them” (ACLU.org). Sadly, if we adopted this close minded and bigoted way of thinking, secrurity officals would overlook threats that come from all races and religion. 

In a New York Times article titled “Traveling While Muslim Complicates Air Travel”, by Michael T. Luongo, he interviews Nafees Syed a lawyer and writer in New York. Syed tells Luongo that she has to go “an extra hour earlier than anybody else [to the airport], because it’s not random checking”. In addition, she explains how she is often pulled aside “at security check-in for secondary screenings and pat-downs, the examiner feeling her head through the hijab.” The racial profiling done by security officers in airports is a byproduct of the views our society holds today. With such influences as the media, and even our own president, it is easy to unconsciously profile others because it is viewed as socially acceptable. The only way to stop racial profiling is to educate others on cultural differences, maybe then a trip to the airport won’t be as daunting to those of others religions/ethnicities. 

Remember the Ice Bucket Challenge

I want to make a bet with you.

I bet you can't tell me what amyotrophic lateral sclerosis is.
Give up? Lets try again.

I bet you know what the ice bucket challenge is. I also bet that many of you took a video of yourself dumping a bucket of freezing water on your head.

I must confess, that I too, hopped on the bandwagon of pouring frigid water over myself. At the time I don't really think my middle school self knew why I was doing it, all I knew was that everyone else was. I soon realized that the purpose of this trend was to raise awareness and money for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, better known as ALS or Lou Gherig's disease. But did everyone else partaking in this trend know that too? Did any of the kids in my middle school really know what ALS was; and that you were suppose to donate to the ALS fund upon doing the challenge? Or were they just hopping on the bandwagon like me?
Flash back to my fifth grade days. I remember vaguely attending a family party with tons of people. Little me was super excited to be getting out of the house and meeting up with my cousins. Once again misinformed, I had no clue we were attending a fundraiser for a relative with ALS. When we got to the party, my parents went to go greet a man in a motorized chair. I quickly noticed his frail figure and the little control he had over his body. This was first ever encounter with a disabled individual.
Flash forward to now, I occasionally have the images of him pop up in my head (especially during this weeks discussion on disabilities). Him being a distant relative, in just recent years I have learned that his disease took over, and he is no longer with us. If I could I would go back in time and scold my middle school self for being so uneducated, I would. Although many blindly did the ice bucket challenge, it did have a gigantic impact. The ALS ice bucket challenge raised tremendous awareness for the disease and raised over 115 million dollars for the ALS association. "It turns out those much-mocked Ice Bucket Challenge videos helped do a lot of good" (The New York Times).
Now that the social media trend has passed, many have already stored it as a distant memory. But we can not allow this disease, and the people with it, to be forgotten. 6,000 people a year are diagnosed with ALS in America alone. If you would like to learn more or donate (or even redeem your middle school conscious) head over to ASLA.org.