Come Together

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I am an American. According to this thing, I am a liberal. But in my opinion, according to this thing, who wouldn't choose to be a liberal? It seems to me that choosing between left and right here is synonymous with choosing between right and wrong and good and bad. But, I guess that's because I clearly side with liberal ideals.

I realized that a staunch conservative would look at this and think the same thing, but opposite: left is wrong and right is right.

It's called othering: a process in which groups single themselves out as "us," and classify all other groups as "them." Othering highlights differences between groups and minimizes similarities.

That is probably why we fight so much...

We're so busy thinking WE'RE right and THEY'RE wrong there's no time to learn from each other.

And it's such a shame too because EVERY SINGLE PERSON on this earth has something to teach you.

So, I hope that after you read this, you decide to hear a few more people out. I promise it'll be worth it.

Women Perpetuate Sexism

Woah. Bold blog post title, eh?

But if you think about it, it's kind of true.

I always hear women saying, "Oh, if only it were the 1950's! Men took women out on actual dates back then!"

Well sure they did. It was what society, and women, demanded of them. Before the 60's, a man would have absolutely been shunned if he tried passing off a meeting at Starbucks as a date.

Ironically, women today actually get excited over a Starbucks "date" because it's at least better than the pre-game-clubbing-hook up combination that is so popular among men in the dating pool today.

So what caused this epic shift in the way people date? I think it's the way women present themselves. At some point, showing our bodies became less about equality and freedom, and more about sex.

Society, and that includes women, no longer demands that men respect women. In fact, the media actually encourages the subordination of women through promiscuous advertisements and gratuitous sex scenes in movies and television.

Women seem desperate for the attention of a man, and often try to get it by dressing ridiculously.

Showing more skin or wearing thick coats of make-up may gain a woman a man's interest temporarily, but it will never change the way today's men date. Conversely, it encourages the way today's men date.

If women are giving men what they want, then why should men change what they're doing?

At least once a week from a man I hear, "It's a man's world."

And you know what? I agree. Right now, the world does belong to men, and it will continue belonging to men until women start making some changes and pushing some limits.

I vow to be a part of the change by having confidence in my own ability to solve problems and demanding respect from my peers.

And just think, I've never considered myself a feminist.

Let your mind take you there

A hammock for two in Bora Bora.

Paradise. Pure paradise.

Since I can't really just hop on a plane to anywhere right now, I've taken to visualizing vacation spots during my daily meditation session. I collect images of different spots I'd like to visit and tack them to a board. Before I meditate, I stare at each picture, and then at the entire board.

Then, after the travel images are engrained in my mind, I begin to meditate.

First, I take a deeeeeeeeep breath in, and let it out. Both breaths should be slow and steady.

Innnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn, and ouuuuuuuut...
Innnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn, and ouuuuuuuut...
Innnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn, and ouuuuuuuut...

Then, I close my eyes. I begin counting, a technique I found shuts off my mind to negative thoughts and clutter.

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13... 46, 47, 48, 49... 100, 101, 102...

After counting to a number around 100, I am ready to meditate.

I allow the images of travel to rush back into my mind. They return more vividly than they entered. I allow myself to fall into one of the images, and picture myself walking down a street. I am always by myself. It is more peaceful that way.

When I inhale, I imagine the scent of the air that would surround me if I was actually existing inside the photograph. Sometimes, my imagination is so vivid that I swear I can smell the scents of my mind travels long after I finish meditating.

After it finishes its trip around the world, my mind takes me back to my apartment in Dallas.

I love traveling, whether it is through meditation or reality, but you know what? It always feels good to come back home.  

Speaking of my old room...

Here are some pictures I took of my room while I was still living in my old house in the suburbs. I can't believe they made it through the multiple computer transfers and house/apartment moves until now. I'm so happy they did!

The corner above my bed.

I clearly made myself at home in my old bedroom, more than I have at any of the bedrooms into which I've moved since. Upon those old walls of mine, I scrawled Imogen Heap and Corrine Bailey Ray lyrics; I tacked up pictures of my baby cousin, my dad and I embracing before my trip to Peru, and my friends and I hanging out on the beach; I hung posters of Imogen Heap and a Mexican folk dancer, and sketches of a ballerina and a hornet; lastly, I hung up some of my own art.

These walls represented so much of what used to mean a lot to me. And some of it still does. While I no longer listen to Imogen Heap regularly, I still cherish those same photographs; although now, they hang in frames on my walls : )

My walls of beloved treasures.

I kept many things as treasures when I was in high school, and I still do. It's not that I was a burgeoning klepto headed straight for an episode of "Hoarders," it was/is just that I cherish so many events/ideas that I want to keep their physical momentos. I've since realized that the longer you live the more the momentos begin to pile up in an unpleasant way; resultantly, I've had to throw out some of the things you see here. However, I still have that painting; it hangs in my room in Milwaukee. I still have that statue of Mary; it is also located in my room in Milwaukee. Lastly, I still have that green statue of an Asian figure that my Auntie Jayne gave me a while back; it stands about five feet away from me on my kitchen counter : )

Art and fashion are my passions.

 The caption says it all here.

Taste doesn't always have to change.

I loved red and turquoise then, and I love red and turquoise together now. I still wear the turquoise necklace pictured on the left in the middle, and I've kept the red and green scarf. The only thing that's changed here are the braces my teeth are wearing in the old photo (that's a photo of me at my lake house on the lower right)!

Chevrolet uses Electric President's "Grand Machine No. 12" in 2011 Volt commercial

Chevrolet Volt Commercial

"Grand Machine No. 12" by Electric President

Tonight, the TV was white noise until Chevrolet's Volt commercial peaked my attention with its use of Electric President's "Grand Machine No. 12." This song brings back the most vivid memories of the time I spent hanging out in my room at my old house in the suburbs. The sun always seemed to be brighter on that side of town. All my memories involve beams of hot sun beating down on my cheeks, making them prickle. I remember laying on my carpet, bathed in sunlight, listening to iPod playlists featuring Electric President and other like bands, doing art, or writing. I spent a lot of time alone in high school in that room. I think it was good for me. I don't spend enough time alone now. In fact, my time alone now almost always ends in an epiphany of some sort, or at least in some serious introspection. I think more alone time would be good for me. 

Amazing what can come from a song... or, a commercial : )

Gatorade's Got it Good

LSU coach Les Miles after defeating U of Miami in the 2005 Peach Bowl

While I was watching the Packers beat the Steelers in the Superbowl of 2011, I realized how EPIC it is that Gatorade has been associated with almost every big NFL victory for the past 20 years.

I mean... Gatorade is literally associated with winning. Doesn't get much better than that.

Interestingly enough, the first cooler of Gatorade was dumped over the head of New York Giants coach, Bill Parcells, by one of his defensive linemen, Jim Burt, out of animosity in 1985. Apparently Burt was trying to get back at Parcells for dogging him too aggressively for his liking on the sidelines during the game.

Parcells didn't mind the sports drink shower, so the post-victory Gatorade dump became a Giants tradition. Eventually, it became a sports tradition.

When Bill Schmidt, the head of Gatorade's sports marketing department from 1984 through 1999, was asked to comment on his response to the Gatorade dump phenomenon he said, "John Madden was circling the gatorade coolers showing how they do this thing. I'm thinking, 'What the hell? I think I've died and gone to heaven'" (http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=rovell/051014).

Click here to read MTV's "25 Greatest Gatorade Baths in Sports History" and watch some cool videos of the historic moments.

Positive association is obviously a very powerful form of marketing. Corona has also successfully associated itself with beaches and vacations. Here's one of its football-associated ads:

The internet is a great tool for creating associations. While Gatorade and victory and Corona and beach are positive associations, some associations are negative. Take, for example, comedian Stephen Colbert's response to former state legislator Rick Santorum's anti-gay comments. Upset, Colbert logged on to UrbanDictionary.com and defined "Santorum" as "The frothy mixture of lube and fecal matter that is sometimes the byproduct of anal sex" (http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=santorum).

Now that's association.

Clearly association can harm just as easily as it can help.

• So, what would I like to be associated with?
• Intelligence
• Passion
• Wit
• Art
• Beauty
• Charm
• Empathy
• Kindness

Hmm... kindness and empathy should probably come before wit, art, beauty and charm at least if not in front of intelligence and passion as well. Maybe I need to reevaluate my priorities a little bit. Humanity first.

I Love Liz Lee

My Life As Liz

The MTV show My Life as Liz is one of my favorites. Yes, it is obviously scripted. Yes, it may try too hard to be "hipster," and Liz Lee, the show's protagonist, may try too hard to be lame. However, there's this undeniable spirit of individuality that courses through the show. All the characters have their own thing going on, but especially Liz.

Why do I think she's so cool?

The girl's got spunk. She is who she is. She's weird, she's crazy, she's colorful, she's original. She embraces her angle on life. She jumps over spilled trash cans instead of walking around them. She gets up and performs her music instead of singing it in the shower. She goes to New York for college instead of staying near her hometown of Burleson, TX.

That's another thing- Liz has struggled with fitting in everywhere she has gone, and I can relate to that. When going to high school in Burleson, Liz thought no one got her but her "nerd herd," a group of Star Wars-loving goofballs. The culture at her school was very small town Abercrombie and Fitch, while Liz would have been better classified as "indie." While the majority of her classmates was meeting up at the local mall, Liz was ambling around in dusty old thrift shops, looking for her next statement piece.

So, in an attempt to find more people like her, she decided to go to college in New York City. There, she expected to find oodles of art nerds and Star Wars fans. However, what she found was another place she didn't fit in. This time, instead of being ostracized by the mall rats, she was ostracized by the same people she thought would embrace her, the art nerds.

When I watch her show, I can't help but think, "Welcome to my life."

I grew up in Milwaukee, WI, a small, liberal, largely middle-class city located along the coast of Lake Michigan. Most of my friends outfitted themselves in thrift shop finds and borrowed items. However, I was all about the runways. I craved sophistication and a cosmopolitan lifestyle. So, I left what I knew in Milwaukee and headed for Southern Methodist University in Dallas, TX.

When I got here, I was so excited to find more people "like" me; however, all I found was more people I was not like. Instead of finally feeling accepted, moving away made me feel even more confused. Since I wasn't sure I liked what I had found in Dallas, and I wasn't sure the culture of Milwaukee was for me... Where do I fit in?

Of course, I've found some amazing friends at SMU now, friends I know I will keep for life. However, a week does not pass without my feeling insecure about fitting in here.

Then I realized, that's life. No matter where I move or who I choose to hang out with, I will struggle with "fitting in." It's not that I have special weirdo problems, it's that everyone, no matter how "cool" they are, struggles with fitting in. Interesting thought. Even President Obama feels awkward sometimes around foreign leaders sharing an inside joke he doesn't understand.

So, thank you, Liz Lee, for showing me that I'm not an anomaly. I am me.