Let me guess, you have a great personality!

I was watching television this morning and I came across an ad for a made for tv movie here is a synopsis:
    Boy meets girl, girl does not like him because he is in the friend zone, boy enlists the help of his other girl-friend to make him over, which includes adding hair gel, taking his glasses off and making him dress the same way he did before but different, with a splash of color, Then aforementioned girl falls in love with boy, but boy is in love with his longtime friend…
.
We have all seen this movie, Right? But what does it accomplish? Let's take a look:

The actors in these movies are just that, actors. They are abnormally good looking. Just putting glasses on someone who looks like David Beckham, will not make him any less attractive, this may even make him more attractive. Proving that someone will only love you if you look perfect or if not, you have to make yourself over to "please" the other person who you are trying to impress. What usually happens in these "makeover shows" is they usually take some average women dressed like she is doing yard work, with no make-up on. Cut, and color her hair, slap hooker make-up on her, and dress her like she is going out to eat at an expensive restaurant. I hate how they take a beautiful, wonderful, and unique individual and change them into the exact same person they changed the last person in to.

These shows/ movie are a disgusting reminder of how shallow and morally bankrupt this country is becoming. instead of trying to better our entire self, be it physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually speaking, we look to television programming for guidance, as it was some kind of blessed, god- blueprint to live our lives by. Please Calvin Klein, Mtv programming execs, and the marketing people at maxim/cosmo/us/people/etc how I should look, dress, talk, and act! Please tell me how to spend my time and money; help me live a more commercially complete life. America needs to turn off the tv and pick up some god books. You want to impress people without all the BS, put the women back into the same outfit she was wearing before you did your stupid make-over. Or just once, take her out of the fancy outfit, and slap her in some farmer jeans and a tank top.

I hate it even more when the make-over a man. They usually pick some guy who looks like a long haired country hick with a scraggly beard, give him a decent haircut, and shave his facial hair, and, usually highlight his hair, and trim the unibrow. Then stick him in a suit and tie, or something that he will more than likely not ever wear again. When I watch them I think that it's very pathetic and to look at the inside of people. But this is probably the reverse reaction that they intended and receive when they made these shows.


Well, on the flip side if you're at home and feeling ugly it might give you a weird sense of hope thinking that if someone else that feels poorly about themselves can change why can't they?The plastic surgery is rather extreme and just supports all the wrong ideas but the offering of correct eating habits, exercise and the tools in which to present self are all important things many people were never taught.

It is rather ironic to see members of a fitness board rag on the concept of beauty and perfection - no mater what.

 

When you’re stuffed to the gills just push reject…..

I am sitting in my bed feeling sick! No, not sick like a flue, but a "I ate my weight in food today" kind of sick on top of that I have acid reflux! UGH!

This got me thinking about weight, like how I have lose some! But more about others …here are some stats: From cdc.gov/obesity

1.)No state has met the nation's Healthy People 2010 goal to lower obesity prevalence to 15%. The number of states with an obesity prevalence of 30% or more has increased to 12 states in 2010. In 2009, nine states had obesity rates of 30% or more. In 2000, no state had an obesity prevalence of 30% or more.

2.) Obesity-related conditions include heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes and certain types of cancer, some of the leading causes of death.

3.) In 2008, medical costs associated with obesity were estimated at $147 billion; the medical costs paid by third-party payors for people who are obese were $1,429 higher than those of normal weight.

UGH these stats make me feel sicker….

What can be done about it?? Well we can all believe that we have the ability and the mindset to lose the weight that we have gained, in turn making us as skinny as Mila Kunis in "Black Swan", but I think that we have to look at why we are eating so much.

No brainer right????

I eat when I am bored, happy, sad, anytime actually. And it's not the heath lists of foods like devil dogs, Oreos, chips, ice cream…While you're driving and you pass a McDonalds, have you ever had the urge to eat everything in sight? I have, and so have many other adults . It's hard to resist that feeling of hunger, even if you have just eaten a three course meal.

Obesity is becoming a global epidemic among the young people in today's society. It's not just a simple eating disorder anymore, it's growing into a chronic disease. According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, an estimated 129.6 million Americans, or 64 percent, are overweight or obese. Obesity and overweight have been shown to increase the odds of developing type 2 diabetes, heart disease, some forms of cancer, and other medical conditions. Obesity is also reported to be disabling children as young as 16 years old. The leading causes of disability are mental illness and chronic back pain--both linked to obesity. I guess it's because it's very cheap to eat and very expensive to exercise. Obesity is overtaking smoking as the leading cause of preventable death in America.

That's exactly what obesity is, preventable. The problem with most obese children is that they weren't introduced to exercise at an early age. Instead of running around with other kids, they were sitting in front of the TV. Studies show that children who joined an exercise class or a sports team were generally less open to becoming obese. I play soccer and lacrosse, so it keeps me in shape. If you don't want to join sports, run around your block a couple of times and eat a healthy diet consisting of fruits and vegetables.

America is a unique country where people die from eating too much than eating too little. The eating habits cannot stay the same if we wish to back away from the massive health problem of the future.

Modern pampering: Fuel the mind.

"Curious people are interesting people, I wonder why that is." –Bill Maher-



"UGH,I need a day off, I need a massage, I need a day of pampering" these are the many quotes that I hear on a daily basis at my work. But what actually goes into a "day of pampering" How does one "pamper" it sounds messy, but let's take a look:



The definition of "pamper" is to cater excessively to someone or to his or her desires or feelings. To pamper is to gratify appetites, tastes, or desires. The way that one might "pamper" themselves might include having a delicious dinner, tasting an expensive wine, or getting an hour long massage. When you pamper, you involve all of your sense; sight, smell, touch, taste, hear. It becomes a euphoric experience that helps relax your body and your mind. My favorite way of pampering is getting some nice scented candles, get my favorite calming music, which includes Mozart's Piano Sonata No.4, scented soap, bubble bath liquid and a face mask made from mashed avocado and honey. I sit in the tub and melt away all of the anger and frustration of the day. But what if we swapped the bubble bath for a book? Or for a nature walk? Or maybe we talk in an art exhibit?
We have all heard the saying "A mind is a terrible thing to waste"? Well why don't we all start pampering our minds? Let me explain….
Let me preface this by saying I was not the best student in school. It wasn't until I got to college where I started to really take an interest in school. I was never interested in reading…AT ALL.
Recently, I have begun to read…A lot. It's the beginning of the summer and I have already read 3 books, all of which are more than 300 pages. What I have realized as I began my journey into the world of books is that the more I read, the more I wanted to read. I would read about music and then I would want to learn more about composers, I would read about politics (which I love) and I am now starting the biography of Bill Clinton. Each and every word I read took me to another world that expanded my mind and my soul. I actually feel smarter than I was at the beginning of the summer.


I have also been really into Sudoku lately, which really stretches your brain muscles. I know it may sound crazy, but I do feel better, meaning more awake and alert because of the increase of reading and math puzzles. I feel that we (Americans) do not do enough to keep our minds sharp. I remember on school vacations I would not want to do anything related to school. My mother and I would fight constantly about doing math games, summer reading and word games. I should have listen to my mother because when I went back in the fall, I would feel like I was behind, even on the first day of school.

Now that I am older and wiser, I look forward to doing the things I hated as a child, like reading. Not for nothing, my mind does feel pampered; I am loading up on anything you can think of; politics, news, art, entertainment with a big slab of classical music thrown in for some flavor. We have so much in this world that is just waiting to be explored. Don't get me wrong, I do enjoy a good massage from time to time. But using your mind is the best thing in the world. Even though you may not know it, your brain can be used for more than just handling the mundane tasks of life. It can be used for experiencing life in a whole new way. This means thinking outside your normal realm and doing something just because you think it's fun. You may find out something about yourself you never knew.

Me??????
I found out that I am all about Frank Sinatra. His music, way of life and his attitude. Maybe I should get out of the wet bathtub and into a dry martini.

 

 

Take a load off…

I am hoping that you all heard about the teacher in Philadelphia who was suspended in the early part of this year for calling her students "lazy whiners" Have you seen the bombardment of "lazy" items in the media such as The Lazy Gourmet, The Lazy Intellectual, tried Lazy Cakes relaxation brownies? Oh and let's not forget the suedo new Bruno Mars' "Lazy" song?

What makes not want to get off the couch is that in a recent American Time Use Survey, conducted by the Bureau of Labor Statistics states that Americans are working less (26 minutes a day less than in 2007) and goofing off more (sleeping and watching TV is on the increase).

So are we slowly (no pun intended) developing into a lazy nation???

I think the answer is found in how we spend our days off. Personally I try to tie up any loose ends that I may have let go during the busy workweek, like cleaning or catching up on some important educational programming like Criminal Minds, Anger Management, Real Time with Bill Maher and of course Family guy. Others, like my family members, might enjoy some gardening like my mother, hanging out with friends, like my brother or just doing nothing, like my father.

In this debate, as in so many others, we are two nations. Those who believe that a day off should be used to improve ourselves (like my mother and I) and those who want their downtime to do nothing.

In early America, being "lazy" was considered by many to be a vice, at times a luxury. This was in a time where people thought that hard work could make your dreams come true only if you did not spend too much time dreaming. "Determine never to be idle," Thomas Jefferson said. "It is wonderful how much may be done if we are always doing." Jefferson was the king of multi-tasking. He was famous for keeping books within reach at Monticello so he could read as he waited for guests to arriver for dinner. On the same said Benjamin Franklin used to say Leisure is the time for doing something useful," he said. "This leisure the diligent person will obtain, the lazy one never."

"After you have worked six, eight, ten or even twelve hours day, do not think your remaining hours can be wasted in pleasure," John Candee Dean wrote in the Indianapolis Star in 1920. "Do not waste your time at the 'movies,' at the theater or in the street. If you will employ all your spare time well, you can not only become financially independent, but also a man of education."

Others, like my dad, believe that leisure time was the perfect time to do nothing; in 1928 a couple of Michigan cousins in the furniture business take advantage of this national strain. Using orange crates, they designed a chair that tilted back in a recliner sort of way. They took suggestions for the name of their new invention such as the Sit-N-Snooze, the Slack Back and the Comfort Carrier. Eventually they settled on a name that reflected the delighted self-image of some Americans: They called it the La-Z-Boy.

In the same token Americans are now taking more vacations and on those vacations the did not want to do anything . In a 1948 pre-summer meeting of resort operators at UNH, there was a general howling. According to the Boston Globe "that many vacationists never get beyond the luxurious laziness of lounging on a porch where they can contemplate the beauty of a mountain, or a lake, or a peaceful village."

Let's face it, laziness due to technological advancements is part of our Pop culture and is causing downward trending of active people and has been an increasing issue. So what's causing this rising laziness to grow exponentially? We as human beings have an urge to invent things daily that make our lives easier and eventually take physical labor out of the equation. Most look at innovation as humanity take a step forward, studies show that dramatic increases in laziness come from daily advancements. As the saying going to much of a good thing can be a bad thing, this is a prime example of just that; to many advancements are bad for the human race as a whole.

First is the vehicle issue, while not new, humans are way too dependent on their use, but they are one of the things that make the world lazy. "Vehicles are pretty much a necessity in today's world, but they are one of the major contributors to increasing laziness." (Lazier) What happened to taking a walk around the block to your destination? Now a day everyone has a car that they can and do take everywhere, even if it's just down the street. For many people in this modern age, the four wheels have taken over the job of two legs. Consequence? Well, we become overweight, lack of exercise and prone to all kinds of illnesses. The conveniences of the vehicles like cars and bikes have caused laziness which in turn caused deterioration of our physical health.

Next is something simple, like using spell check on your computer. "Spell checkers that flag mistakes, like using "their" when you mean "there," are frequently ignored. It's grotesque; technology has created a new standard, not of accuracy but of laziness. People are too lazy to take the lazy way out." (Too Much Work) Things like spell check were invented to make more time for other things that need to be done, not to add to the laziness pool.

I get it we can all be lazy, but while we are "being lazy" maybe we can open a book.

The home of the brave!

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness ..."

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!!!!

Before I begin this blog, here are some fun facts about the 4th of July:

2.5 million

In July 1776, the estimated number of people living in the newly independent nation.

Source: Historical Statistics of the United States: Colonial Times to 1970 <http://www2.census.gov/prod2/statcomp/documents/HistoricalStatisticsoftheUnitedStates1789-1945.pdf>

313.9 million

The nation's estimated population on this July Fourth.

Source: Population clock http://www.census.gov/main/www/popclock.html

Almost 1 in 3

The chance that the hot dogs and pork sausages consumed on the Fourth of July originated in Iowa. The Hawkeye State was home to 19.7 million hogs and pigs on March 1, 2012. This estimate represents almost one-third of the nation's estimated total. North Carolina (8.6 million) and Minnesota (7.6 million) were also homes to large numbers of pigs.

Source: USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service, <http://usda01.library.cornell.edu/usda/current/HogsPigs/HogsPigs-03-30-2012.pdf>

7.2 billion pounds

Total production of cattle and calves in Texas in 2011. Chances are good that the beef hot dogs, steaks and burgers on your backyard grill came from the Lone Star State, which accounted for about one-sixth of the nation's total production. And if the beef did not come from Texas, it very well may have come from Nebraska (4.6 billion pounds) or Kansas (4.0 billion pounds).

Source: USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service <http://usda.mannlib.cornell.edu/usda/current/MeatAnimPr/MeatAnimPr-04-26-2012.pdf>

6

Number of states in which the value of broiler chicken production was estimated at $1 billion or greater between December 2010 and November 2011. There is a good chance that one of these states — Georgia, Arkansas, North Carolina, Alabama, Mississippi or Texas — is the source of your barbecued chicken.

Source: USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service <http://usda.mannlib.cornell.edu/usda/current/PoulProdVa/PoulProdVa-04-26-2012.pdf>

Please Pass the Potato

Potato salad and potato chips are popular food items at Fourth of July barbecues. Approximately half of the nation's spuds were produced in Idaho or Washington state in 2011.

Source: USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service <http://usda01.library.cornell.edu/usda/current/CropProdSu/CropProdSu-01-12-2012.pdf>

    The Fourth of July is more than just the nation's birthday. It is the countless number of friends and family, the perfect weather, the backyard barbeques, and the brilliant fireworks that light up the night sky. No other holiday makes people feel the same as they do on the Fourth of July.  It is a great day to catch up with old friends and the perfect time to meet new ones. Seeing loved ones on the Fourth of July only adds to the excitement felt on this holiday.

We gather together on this one day with family, friends and neighbors and celebrate. We put everything aside on this day and we celebrate freedom. We cluster in community street and sit on other people’s lawns and take in the local community parades and at the end of the night, gaze up at the night sky and see “bombs bursting in air” and claim, for ourselves the collective proof that the flag was there and it will always be standing strong. 

This was never so clear to me until I attended my grandfathers funeral.  Two army officers removed the American flag from his casket and carefully folded it 13 times. The sound of taps filled the air and one of the officers saluted the other and carefully put the flag in the grave with my grandfather. My grandfather and the men he served with were true heroes, they were barely men when they enlisted, but they protected their country and their freedoms  

In that moment, I saw America in a new light, a notion worth fighting for; nation worth dying for; a nation worth living for. Take a moment to be thankful for all that you have, and where you live. “For the land of the free and the home of the brave” 

Higher than your average bear

What do you call a movie that broke $54 million this weekend alone?


I call it Ted


The motion picture directed by Seth Macfarlane has become the highest grossing R-rated movie in a weekend. But in all honesty, what can you expect from a guy that is the creator of 3 of the most popular shows TV despite being canceled about 3 times and having an amazing Sinatra-esque voice that aided in the selling of his first big band album Music is better than Words.


So getting back to Ted…which was filmed in my home state of Massachusetts!


Narrated by Patrick Stewart, Ted follows a young boy named John (played by Mark Wahlberg, a 35 year old man child who works at a rental car place) and his "thunda Buddy" a stuffed teddy bear named Ted. Ted has been with John ever since that faithful day on Christmas where he wished ted to be able to talk "for real". The talking bear becomes an instant celebrity once the world has discovered that he has come to life. He appears on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson and is on countless celebrity magazine covers.


Move along about 25 years…


John and Ted are roommates. They sit around playing video games, smoking pot and watching television. They both have a fascination with the 1980's movie "Flash Gordon" stating that that is the American Dream. Being a Pro-football player and to be called to save the world. None of this is sitting well with Johns girlfriend (played by the irreplaceable Mila Kunis) who wants him to "Take the next step in their relationship" so she gives him an ultimatum- her or the Bear.


Ted is loaded with Macfarlane's extraneous humor that we can only expect to come from the bear's mouth itself. Ted is a horny little hell raiser, who messes around with hookers and drops f-bombs more than AT &T drops your phone calls. Ted is what most fans of the Seth Macfarlane trilogy can expect when it comes to crude puns and social commentary. There are a few "cutaway" scenes but they are not at all set up as they are in Family Guy.



Every issue was coved in this movie, from friendship to love and even in the sadder moment's death. It was very easy to forget that Ted was almost 2 hours long because the storylines are so sidesplitting and funny that each and every scene flew by like the changes of the seasons. Your attention is drawn to the appearance of Ted who is  fuzzy, with a Disney-esque face that could melt any icebox in anyone's heart. But then the bear opens his mouth and he is the epitome of a Boston man. A Cheers loving, beer drinking, pot smoking animal ( no pun intended)


To me, the debauchery that went on between Ted and John was ten times funnier because Ted is a child's toy. We think of a teddy bear as something that brings us comfort and helps us through rough times, but when you see teddy bear smoking pot, swearing, and dating less then reputable women, it's funny, Its like hearing a little kid swear, it's funny because they aren't supposed to say those things. And a bear is not supposed to be potty-mouthed, want sex, and do drugs, but it's funny!


 This could not have a better first showing for Mr. MacFarlane ( as a directorial debut) I was not disappointed in the least when I saw this movie. The only thing I was mad about is that my soda spilled all over my pants and I had to deal with that all movies. I guess it helped in the long run because it did cover up the pee stench that I had from laugh so much!


Note: I did not pee myself, I thought that was a good way to end this:


Here is the trailer if you have not seen it yet!! Enjoy :)