Final English Blog Post

When the spring semester started I read my English 202 syllabus and thought classmate blogging was a great idea! The 500 word blog assignments each week sounded easy! How hard could it be? I get to choose my own subject! I had already started to commit daily to looking at my favorite design blogs. Here are a few: Vintage Revivals, The Lettered Cottage, House of Smith’s, Young House Love, The Estate of Things, The Stories of A toZ, Primitive and Proper. Please check some of them out because each and every one has a unique story, clever ideas, beautiful pictures, and really enjoy revealing their posts. It's very interesting to see what people have to say or make in the blog world. For example, did anyone watch last year’s Design Star on HGTV? Emily Henderson has a blog where she actually lists her favorite shops to go too! Only she lives in LA; however if anyone of us ever decided to visit at least we'd know where we could afford to go for high style decor at a low cost price. I thought that was very informative and rare! Nothing annoys me more than secrecy! A classic case of uncertainty is the show on TLC called Extreme Couponing. Every mom saves a penny and a nickel, but they never reveal their sources. They tell you to go buy a lot of newspapers and cut coupons. However, I always see them using the computer printing coupons off, but what websites are they visiting? What stores have the best prices?  What stores double coupons? Has anyone else wondered this? I want to pay $9 bucks for $600 bucks worth of groceries too! Anyway as the semester progressed, I found out how much I'd rather not blog, which I found odd being a dedicated blog follower. Random thought: I think we should have been assigned specific topics to write about each week. I feel it would have challenged myself more because I literally found myself aimlessly searching for any random topic online. I never found anything passionate enough to write 500 words about that was worth reading. Maybe, I’m boring? Also, I think it would have been fun to see what other bloggers in the class thought about the “so-called assigned topic” too! If they agreed with me, didn’t, or put a spin on it. I don't think I will continue blogging unless it turns into a family blog where I could post recent pictures of my little family and post updates about who, what, where, and when for those who would actually care enough to visit. For those who enjoyed blogging, keep at it! Thank you online classmates and Professor Chism for a great spring semester!

The Most Spontaneous Thing I've Ever Done!

Two months ago, I decided that I wanted to do something else. You know when you get the feeling where nothing is working out for you and if you ever had the change to start over fresh and new, you would take advantage of the offer? I didn't like my job. I hated the commute, which was two hours long everyday to and from work. I hated the long 50+ hours I worked each week. I never went out because all of my friends lived back home in Joplin, Missouri. It was difficult to make new friends because I was working during prime friend-making public hours. I hated the weather! It was either too hot or not hot enough. I didn't like my apartment, it was too far from downtown and most importantly, and I didn't like Austin, TX. Most people would assume that I was just stressed and my vacation was long overdue. However, I knew I wanted to move, but where? I didn't know. My parents wanted me to move back home because it was practical; I could finish school, they could provide for me, and see me everyday. I thought it was very nice of them to offer, but what twenty-two year old wants to live at home? Not one. Besides, I had been working very hard for a very long time; I had a lot of money saved up. I started doing research on where the best places to live in 2010 where to see what information I could find. Many places seemed appealing, especially locations near the beach. I knew that I needed to make a list of what I wanted out of my future destination. First, I knew it was east coast vs. west coast. I realized I didn't want to drive anymore. I loved my car, but gas was expensive, especially with my daily four-hour commute. I wanted to live in a city, not a huge city, but a city with modern amenities, great quality of life, and public transportation. I put an ad out on Craigslist to sell my car. Then, I started narrowing down the list: New York was too big, I didn’t want to live in the South, California was too expensive to live on my own, Colorado was a contender, but I wasn’t sure of the climate. Washington was almost a winner, but it rained too much. Then bam, Oregon popped up. It had everything on my list! I started making all of the arrangements. I moved out of my apartment by giving the property management company a sixty-day notice and losing my deposit. I stayed with my parents for a while and had a yard sale. I sold all my furniture and belongings. What I didn't sell, I gave away to family and friends, who needed it. I kept only the essentials: clothing, shoes, a computer, and luggage. I bought my plane ticket for $175 bucks. I found a cute two bedroom online on Craigslist, sent the deposit, and signed the lease via Internet. It was very nerve-racking for me because I prayed I was getting what I saw in the pictures. I guess if it hadn’t worked out perfectly, it would have been only a year, right? During the huge snowstorm in Missouri, I drove to Tulsa and boarded my plane at six in the morning. The roads were incredibly bad and I remember someone telling me a few people died within that week traveling. I flew into Colorado, which had EVEN more snow on the ground (I was very happy about my decision then!) and caught the next flight to Portland, OR. I had to get a cab to take me to my new apartment because I had six pieces of luggage. I felt bad for the driver because I didn’t think everything would fit into his cab, but I didn’t want to take the train because I barely managed to get my entire luggage from the airport. On the way, I had a small panic attack because I realized how much was changing. When I arrived, I got the keys and went into my new apartment. I immediately was relived because it was exactly what I was expecting. What I didn’t realize in all of my planning was that I didn’t plan for any new furniture to arrive? I had to go that day after a ten-hour flight and buy furniture that could be delivered the very day for me to use. More next week.

Is she REALLY talented?

Americans and Zimbabweans: Not So Different After All?

The old adage “the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach,” has always had its place in the United States.  What many don’t know, however, is that it rings true well beyond America’s borders, all the way across the Atlantic Ocean to the country of Zimbabwe, as well.   In fact, despite the growing number of overweight Americans and the malnourished masses of Zimbabwe, these two geographically distant nations are surprisingly close together in terms of their eating habits.  Upon closer inspection, one finds that their knowledge of nutrition, eating preferences, and emphasis on convenience in food preparation, all create more common threads than differences.

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to notice that Americans are increasingly becoming more and more unhealthy.  One of the key differences between diners from the ‘country of plenty’ and the rest of the world has been our taste for excess.  As of 2009, for example, roughly 63.1% of adults in the U.S. were overweight or obese—up from sixty-two percent just a year before.  In other words, each year an additional 900,000 people are tipping the scale.  Zimbabwe, conversely, is known for its rampant starvation and food shortages.   Drought conditions and poor harvests cause 7.2 million Zimbabweans per year to require outside food aid just to survive, meaning forty-five percent of the population is at risk for death due to undernourishment.  Life expectancy for men and women alike ranges from the high thirties to mid forties, a far cry from the late seventies and early eighties enjoyed by their American counterparts.

Being so far apart on the spectrum with respect to the amount available for consumption makes many overlook the glaring similarities of these two countries’ eating norms.  In both the United States and Zimbabwe, governmental agencies list recommended daily values for staple food groups like fruits, vegetables, and grains.  Likewise, the citizens of both countries are taught the values of well-portioned meals, which make appearances in the schools and hospitals in both nations.  It’s not a far stretch to believe that if Zimbabweans lived in a society with as much access to food as Americans, that they would eat very similarly.  Despite the lack of education in Zimbabwe, knowing which foods are healthy and which are not is common, much like here in the U.S.  On top of understanding the nutritional values of foods, both countries maintain pretty similar food and snack preferences.  In Zimbabwe, popcorn, peanut butter, macaroni, and cereal are some the most popular snacks.   In addition, the preferred meal is one made up of meat with vegetable side dishes and bread—structured with an uncanny similarity to an American dinner.  Over the last thirty years, fast food in the United States has taken off.  Whether it be at a drive-thru restaurant or a microwave TV dinner, Americans want their fix and they want it now.  While the infrastructure of Zimbabwe prevents the average person from driving to their local McDonalds, they maintain a very similar approach to eating—one in which convenience is key.  When they lack the resources or money for snacks or multiple eating forays, Zimbabwean families eat but one meal a day.  That meal emphasizes quick and easy, albeit in a different way.  The meal will typically be a type of corn porridge (called sadza) with meat, vegetables, and grains and fortified with vitamins and minerals.   Because porridge is ground up and cooked in a liquid (usually water or milk) it can be heated in a bowl over a fire rather quickly, allowing a hungry family to efficiently meet their dietary needs on a budget and with time constraints.  It’s no surprise that for more well-off families, chain fast food restaurants are becoming quite popular in more densely populated areas.

Anyone can focus on how others are different, but when one looks beyond the superficial distinctions, we begin to see that human beings maintain deep-rooted commonalities.  So, while Americans are steadily becoming overweight and those in Zimbabwe are faced with limited access to food, people from both societies have cultures that emphasize the same nutritional focal points, food and snack preferences, and value of convenience in cooking and eating.   Is the way to a man’s heart through his stomach?  The answer to that question may depend on whom you ask, but at least now I know it doesn’t depend on where they live.

Community College Inferiority: A Myth?

Society often constructs artificial differentiations between that which one could consider ‘prestigious’ and anything that falls short of that honor.  One of the most profound examples of this dichotomy is in the common conceptions of attending a four-year college versus attending a community (two-year) college.  In fact, it is almost considered a universal truth that the quality of education received at a two-year college is inferior to the standards of a four-year university.

Many high school students begin their quest to apply for college in a meeting with their counselor their junior year.  Students are given an opportunity to sign up to meet with representatives from a variety of colleges.  It is hoped that a combination of external influences and internal support will help a student to generate some semblance of an idea about which direction they ought to move toward claiming their future.  What many people don’t realize is that most of the campus visitors are from four-year universities.  While junior colleges do have campus information sessions, for the most part they aren’t as necessary.  Many students would prefer to attend a more prestigious university, but academic criteria and finances often force their hand to stay closer to home or choose more economically.  Interestingly enough, beliefs about the differences between universities and junior colleges appear to be fostered initially before a student even enters the college setting.  

In addition to the college evaluation process students undergo, another clear illustration of the separation between two and four-year colleges is the practical distinction between the two.  Most students attending two-year colleges utilize statements like, “I’m just going there to get my basics out of the way.” or “I’m going there for two years, then I’m going to transfer to XXX University.”  Two-year colleges are seen as a stepping-stone between high school and serious colleges.  For many students, they’re like training wheels to help prepare for a more competitive college experience.  The whole tone of a junior college tells you everything you need to know about these types of places.  Students are very calm and collaborative, professors are lenient, and the entire experience feels like relaxed learning.  It’s hard to tell if these mindsets and attitudes are the product of the stereotypes or vice-versa, but one thing is for sure: all involved recognize a difference in the atmosphere and continue to perpetuate it through their actions.

On top of the ‘means to an end’ paradigm of two-year colleges and the high school perceptions created by those helping a student decide where to go, there are a variety of other modern trends that have shaped the belief that they are less prestigious.  Graduation announcements and assemblies rarely recognize students earning scholarships to local or community colleges.  Part of the ‘college experience’ is moving away from home, not remaining in the same community.  Community colleges cater to many non-traditional students, forcing students right out of high school to question the validity of their academic journey compared to those of their peers.  Perhaps the most telling trend is that community colleges are constantly striving to grow, to offer four-year degree programs, to expand their campus, to increase their enrollment, and let’s not forget to increase the cost of their tuition.

So who’s to blame for the stereotype?  We all know on a pragmatic level that taking English 101 in a junior college setting probably isn’t all that different from taking it at the University level.  The same core concepts exist in both environments, the same written rules apply.  With that said, everyone behaves as though the two are night and day.  These beliefs are not linked to a single action or statement.  They come from the initial exposure to colleges that high school students receive, the attitude that two-year colleges are a rung on the ladder to reach a four-year college at the top, and finally, the trends fostered by students, community members, and even the colleges themselves.  In the end, though prestige is probably less important than practicality.  Resisting how others define your experiences is the only way to experience things for yourself.  I've been through my fair share of experiences, and know that the truths we take for granted can just as easily be uprooted tomorrow.

Wanna A Ride?

Modern Transportation @ It's Finest!

Have you ever been on the MAX? Over Spring Break, I went to Portland, OR. Portland was just voted the #1 transportation system in the United States. (Yes, it's even better than NYC.) Shocker, right? It's a light rail system, a lot like the subway. I've never been on the subway in NYC so I can't compare the two together. Maybe, someday. Anyways, it's really neat compared to the "non-public" transportation system we have in Missouri. LOL. It consist of four rails: green, blue, yellow, and red. You can get anywhere in the city by using them. The colors represent the different directions the rail goes. Sometimes, you can even arrive faster than you would driving a car, depending on the time of day. Portland has a website called trimet, which allows you to plug in your starting address and your final address to see how long your trip will take, when to get off, and when the next MAX comes, etc. It's a lot like Google Maps, but more accurate. In 2009, Portland was ranked #1 in Safety by Travel & Leisure. After riding all week, I agree. It's clean, newer, and it was always either early or right on time! Best of all, there is a free fare zone on the MAX. Did I say free? Yes! It's free all day and everyday. It's the best locations too! You can visit the the Pearl District, Lloyd Center Mall, lots of breweries, parks, etc. When traveling outside the free fare zone, it costs $2.35 for a ticket. You can purchase the tickets at the bus stop using your credit card or you can buy one at specific locations using cash or credit. The fine for not purchasing one is $175. Yikes! A lot of people "forget" to buy one because it's not enforced as much as it should be! I never traveled outside the free zone, but I heard stories over the break. I'm going to upload a video of what it looks like so you can envision what I'm describing! Where did you go over Spring Break?