Entry # 11 Love Hate

I have a love hate relationship with blogging. This blog project has been an absolute roller coaster ride of emotion ranging from, “I can’t wait to write this blog,” to, “do I really have to write this blog.” For the most part I trudged through the negative emotions and published every topic I wanted to publish. 
At times inspiration was sparse and it took quite a bit of effort to write the topic I chose, but when inspiration struck me the posts were quickly written and the topic was fun. The repetitiveness of the blogs was a bit tedious at times. Typically I began to run out of original ideas on those repetitive posts; feeling as if I was writing the same points over and over again. 
One of the things I learned from this project was to watch the point of view in which I was writing. It is very easy for me to write in second person, as if I were talking to a specific reader. Second person point of view can be beneficial to get a point across to the reader as they are one singular reader not multiple readers. The drawback with this point of view is that the post can seem as if I am lecturing the reader and can be brushed off easily. This point of view also sounds much less formal than third person. In my opinion second person writing is not taken as serious as third person. 
Another part of the project I found to be extremely addicting was the page tracker. In the first few weeks I was obsessed with looking at how many views I had received. The tracker also tells what URL’s each post is being accessed with, how often and from what country. This addition quickly became unhealthy for me because I was constantly checking my views. It is a neat feature, but I had to correct my behavior before it became a bad habit.
 Overall I enjoyed this project because I could write and post pretty much at any time, with a few deadlines here and there. The flexibility of the deadlines became very helpful with my work schedule. Although at times the amount of work that was presented, along with other deadlines, became rather difficult to achieve. The result was semi forced posts due to the constriction of time. Luckily only a few posts reflect this and as a whole I feel that my posts are genuine, thought provoking ideas.
In a world where opinions are being shoved down our throats on a daily basis I can only hope the opinions on this page are fun to read. I hope the reader has taken away some of the insight I have to offer. One thing I would say to anyone who has been following along on this little adventure is to question everything; only in those questions will you find the truth. I hope this has helped the reader see a different way of thinking outside of their own reality. If you have taken away some insight then I am glad that you could join me on this adventure. I hope you loved it.

Entry # 10: Halloween

It’s that special time of the year, Halloween is almost upon us. Before Halloween was all about horror movies and cheap scares at haunted houses it was called Samhain, a pagan day of the dead. Samhain (pronounced sah-win or sow-in) was also a celebration of the end of harvest into the winter to come. The pagans that celebrated Samhain even went “trick-or-treating” they however did not receive candy; the homes often handed out food in exchange for singing a song. Now the holiday is a time for children to dress up as whatever they can imagine and get bags of candy, and the adults dress up and party. My favorite part of Halloween is special effects make-up. This video is from a few years back.

 I wandered around First Friday with my face a bloody mess and no one would look me in the eye. I could see people staring in my peripheral vision but when I faced them every single person looked away, as if they were afraid I was deformed. For that reason I think Halloween is great, it gives everyone the opportunity to create another identity. The children can be Ironman or Batman, while people like me can create a weird or grotesque façade. Halloween is the one night people can step outside the normal status quo. It is the one night to be another person.

Entry # 9: Lean, Finely Textured Beef

 

What is pink slime and why should consumers know about it? Pink

Lean, Finely Textured Beef

 slime is a meat filler product that was openly sold as “lean, finely textured beef” to fast food companies and grocery chains. This product is highly processed meat finely ground to a smooth texture and cleaned with gaseous ammonia. What this means is the part of the cow that becomes pink slime is the meat from the outer surfaces of the carcass. This meat is ground, heated

Squashed, Lean, Finely Textured Beef

 and put into a centrifuge to remove the fat to become 95 percent lean. From there it is pumped into tubes with ammonia. It is cleaned with ammonia because of the location of the meat being the outer edge of the carcass. Which means it is more likely to come in contact with bacteria. Several news outlets have done reports on pink slime, as a result, many fast food chains have stopped using this product in their food, namely McDonald’s. In turn, the cost of beef sky rocketed and the fast food industry was hurting for a more cost effective way to continue their business. So now it seems pink slime is back on the rise. The Wall Street Journal stated the production of pink slime has doubled since 2012. Who is using this product? The answer to that question remains a mystery that no one is telling.

Cooked, Lean, Finely Textured Beef

Think about that the next time you walk into a fast food restaurant and order your next meal.
That burger might possibly be pink slime grilled to perfection.

EC Entry # 8½: Food Inc

     Because of my activist background I was aware of the points Food Inc. has brought to the table of many Americans. The treatment of animals in Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs) are appalling. Raising genetically modified chickens 22 days less than a non-modified chicken in order to create more white meat is a mistreatment alone. GMO chickens lead incapacitated lives; most are unable to walk. This is due to the growth rate of the muscles compared to bones and internal organs. Imagine your muscles growing at a rate that does not allow you to walk. To me that is a very sad existence. The beef industry is equally disgusting. The cows stand up to ankle deep in their own manure, and some cannot walk on their hooves, but their knees and hocks. The film showed a cow with a stomach plug so a veterinarian can look into its stomach without cutting it open. The veterinarian said this does not hurt the cow, yet they pan over to the cow’s head and it is drooling and frothing at the mouth. Seriously, that professional said the cow is not in pain; that is very hard for me to believe. These are the animals being fed to the American public not just through fast food, but through the local grocery store.

     The factory farm industry has been enabled and defended by the government. The reason for this is because most government officials writing the laws have very close ties to those corporations they are put in power to protect us from. If the politician themself was not previously working for those corporations they have been given large campaign donations in order to be in power. These companies that are poisoning us have their hands in the same laws that regulate the food that we eat. As a consumer we have limited choices on healthy eating; what we think is healthy is actually not. When I think of government and industrialized farming I see them as one in the same because of the correlation from corporation to politician pipeline. This in turn creates a greedy government because they have the same mentality with law making as they do coming from the industry. The politicians enable and defend those corporations regardless of the citizens they are in power to protect. Money over people no matter the consequence. 

     I was taken back by the amount of engineered corn byproducts. I knew corn was used a lot in food processing but the things that astounded me were: gluten, sorbitol, citric acid, ascorbic acid, baking powder, vanilla extract, xanthan gum, white vinegar, xylitol and margarine. The actual list of corn involvement in processed food is too much to write. This is a short list of the products I did not know were engineered byproducts of corn. I have never been a fan of engineered food but in todays market non-GMO food is very expensive. Most certified organic food is out of my price range. 

     Food Inc. touched very briefly on the environmental aspects of factory farming. More in-depth statistics of environmental impact is just as horrific as the mistreatment of animals in those factories. Methane is one of the main environmental issues created by CAFO farming. “Methane is 21 times more powerful a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide,” said Noam Mohr in his report on global warming. These CAFO farms produce roughly 37 percent of methane emissions according to the Environmental Integrity Project.

     Monsanto is the epitome of capitalism destroying the working class to profit off consumers. Monsanto is the definition of evil. They are a multinational corporation that started out making chemicals, DDT and Agent Orange to be exact. If you do not know about DDT or Agent Orange look it up, then think, “Holy cow these people are creating the food I eat?” This company is one that I would love to see burn to the ground. They are agricultural terrorists; bullying farmers into contracts to grow their GMOs and taking anyone and everyone to court for “patent infringement.” They know the average farmer does not have the financial support to continue fighting them in court for their bogus claims. Therefore the independent farmers settle out of court and nearly lose their business. Even if the farmer buys and grows non-Monsanto seeds but their neighbor does and their crop is infected by cross pollination the non-Monsanto farmer is sued by Monsanto for patent infringement. This is insane! I say the non-Monsanto farmer in return should be able to sue Monsanto for creating a crop that pollinates in the first place forcing their tainted product on them.  

     When I google search “FDA allowance of bacteria in beef” the results are frightening. No where on any of the public sites do they list what is the allowed level of bacteria in beef. What they do tell you is how to store and cook beef. All of the information online states to cook beef thoroughly. When I read this it tells me that a large majority of the beef I eat is potentially contaminated but if I cook it enough I will not get sick because heat kills bacteria. That is terrifying. One thing the Legislative and Executive Branch has done to protect American consumers is the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), which was passed by President Obama in 2011. This law has key elements of Kevin’s Law allowing the USDA to shut down factories that do not pass safety inspections consistently. 

     So why does all this terrible information matter? What is the point of knowing where the food I eat comes from? Health. Diabetes, stroke, heart failure, cancer, asthma, depression, obesity; the list goes on and on. Why is that important? Well anyone who has any of these medical conditions will tell you, “Eat right. You don’t want to live like I do.” If you don’t believe that person then google “diabetic skin lesions” or “diabetic neuropathy.” Diabetes is a horrible disease that can be preventable in cases where diet is the main factor. It seems like a no brainer to me; I will pick spending a little more money on better food choices than medical bills and expensive medications any day.

Entry # 8: Imagine

This morning my Facebook news feed informed me that the US has bombed a hospital in Afghanistan wounding 37 people and killing 19, including 12 staff of Doctors Without Borders. The bombing was in Kabul, Afghanistan on Saturday, October 3rd at 2:15 am. The US military released a statement confirming the airstrike and saying that they were targeting individuals “who were threatening the force” and that “there may have been collateral damage to a nearby medical facility.”
The hospital treated everyone in the area regardless of political stance or citizenship, a policy that angered the Afghan Security Forces. There is speculation that this might have played a roll in the chosen location of the US attack. Police spokesman, Sayed Sarwar Hussaini, stated that Taliban fighters were using the hospital as a firing position. Which is in complete conflict of the statements of the survivors of the bombing and near by residents. All statements say no fighting took place near the hospital and that the hospital had a strict no weapons policy that everyone followed, even the Taliban, when being treated did not bring weapons into the facility.
The hospital staff called their military contacts as soon as the bombing started to let the military know that it was a hospital being bombed. Yet, according to the surviving staff the bombing continued 30 minutes after said call. The 37 people wounded were; doctors, nurses, pharmacists, patients and caregivers, 19 of those people are now dead. Half of the hospital has been destroyed beyond repair.
I want someone to try to explain this to me. Explain the logic in murdering people. The stipulation is do not explain this horrific murder using these words, “terrorism,” “terrorist,” “America,” “Afghanistan,” “Taliban,” “government,” “evil,” “bad guy,” “security,” “freedom” and “politics.” What is left for an excuse of the murder of these people? Nothing. There is no logical reason why this atrocity should have happened. The US military is not fighting for our freedom when they murder people in a hospital. Nor were they fighting for our freedom when they murdered a wedding party or the family gathering wood on a hillside. 
The American public needs to be more informed about the blood on their hands. After all, $596 billion of all taxes collected in 2014 were spent on military funding according to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO).

The next statement and question is, “I am only one person. What can I do to change how the government spends my taxes?” This is true and there is no easy answer. Some people will say vote others will say burn the whole system down because it is broken beyond repair. This is why voting does nothing, in my opinion. Has Obama done anything to stop the murder of Afghans, Syrians, Iraqis, Palestinians, Saudis, Pakistanis and Libyans? Did G.W. Bush do anything to stop the murder of those same people? Nope. So if the most conservative and somewhat liberal leaning politicians are preforming the same exact job with the same exact results, what is the difference? If people all around the world are being murdered by the US military with 17 percent of the public tax dollars, then the American public should have to live with hearing those consequences and hearing about them often in an unbiased report. Maybe then the public will start seeing humans as humans and not simply as a “terrorist.” Think about it like this, that 9 year old girl that survived a US airstrike but lost her whole family, now sees the US as the terrorist. The words “terrorist,” “evil” and “bad guy” are relative. Any of those words can be used against any person or government doing harm and damage to anyone.
If every citizen stood up and spoke out against acts like these maybe we could influence the politicians in power to respect human life no matter the country of origin. At the end of the day we are all humans and we need to recognize each other as such. In that recognition I believe we can achieve peace. Ultimately no life has more value over another. John Lennon had a few things right and this song is one of those ideas.

“Imagine there's no heaven

It's easy if you try

No hell below us

Above us only sky

Imagine all the people

Living for today...

Imagine there's no countries

It isn't hard to do

Nothing to kill or die for

And no religion too

Imagine all the people

Living life in peace...

You may say I'm a dreamer

But I'm not the only one

I hope someday you'll join us

And the world will be as one

Imagine no possessions

I wonder if you can

No need for greed or hunger

A brotherhood of man

Imagine all the people

Sharing all the world...

You may say I'm a dreamer

But I'm not the only one

I hope someday you'll join us

And the world will live as one.”

I can only hope one day I will see everyone as a dreamer, so I know my fight for equal rights for every human, no one person excluded regardless of gender, sexual orientation, race or religion, is achieved. 
“No one is free until we are all free,” MLK
Total liberation for all.

Entry # 7: Fresh

“Americans only fear one thing, inconvenience,” this quote from the movie Fresh could not be any closer to the truth. It is expected for a society to advance technologically and with any advancement comes convenience. Unfortunately mother nature is an already finely tuned machine. Every part of the cycle has an important purpose that if removed wreaks havoc on the whole system. 

Fresh points out the insanity of CAFO, Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations, and monoculture farming. These two industrialized farming, or factory farming, methods are how a majority of the food is grown in the United States. This way of farming has detrimental effects on the consumers health and the environment. Not to mention the treatment of the animals that will soon be the eggs and bacon on your breakfast plate, or hamburger on your BBQ grill.
This movie is relatively light hearted, considering the topic, and gives the viewer motivation and hope for the future. It really makes the viewer think about what they are putting into their body. The movie interviews and observes several farmers, in my opinion only one farmer really stood out, Will Allen, the owner of Growing Power. 

Will Allen

Growing Power is a nonprofit organization based in Milwaukee, WI that started out in 1993 and provides safe and affordable food to people in all communities. They have expanded to Chicago, IL and Madison, WI. They offer workshops and give hands on training for those who want to dive into growing their own food.

Will Allen

What they are doing is so very uplifting and motivational. It really gives hope that everyone can break away from the factory farms that are destroying the environment and our health. 

Entry # 6: My Green Thumb Is Itching

Yes it's beautiful, but look the soil is even killing the cactus!

Gardening in Arizona is challenging to say the least. Imagine planting a garden in a sandbox, the top quarter of the box is sand and the rest is filled with clay. Not the ideal environment to grow vegetables. These types of soil are typically low in nutrients, very alkaline and are not very good at absorbing water. The desert soil is as brutal as the desert sun. Over the years I have tried to plant vegetable gardens and failed miserably. In my past attempts I was not dedicated enough to mix in compost and standard topsoil. That’s a ton of work to dig down into the clay, work in the other soil, build a bed then sow the seeds. I’m from the Midwest where gardens are easy. All you do is poke a hole in the ground and drop in the seed, then voila edible plants. 

10 cubic feet of dirty goodness.

Basil

So this time I have done my research and things are turning out pretty well. After watching weeks of videos on YouTube and reading countless gardening websites the decision was made. I was going to plant in raised containers, ditch the terrible desert soil altogether.The most helpful videos I found on YouTube are from a guy that lives here in the Phoenix area, his channel is Vegan Athlete.

Cucumber and zucchini

My go to gardening website turned out to be Old Farmer's Almanac. I did a little more research on raised beds and found that Haxnicks Vigoroot planters work very well in this desert climate.They also aerate the root system promoting healthy plant growth. I have total control of the soil and what nutrients are added. These planters save water by only watering the plant and not the ground surrounding the plant. So I ordered several planters from Amazon and in some crazy form of garden magic, poof!I now have a ten cubic foot garden with Roman lettuce, spinach, three types of tomatoes, basil, cilantro, three types of

Roma tomatoes

carrots, dill, cucumber, zucchini, sweet bell peppers and hot peppers.

Sweet bell peppers and hot pepper

I’m roughly 60 days away from being partially independent from grocery store produce. 

Entry # 5: How about a Wall-No...

Wall-E the future I seriously hope mankind never sees. While this outcome is completely plausible, the human race disgustingly dependent on the technology it has created. How much do we already see in our daily lives? Texting a friend or family member that is sitting in the very next room, or even in the same room, solely because you did not want to leave your seat. So involved in a device that you are totally oblivious to the world around you. That moment of, “Wait, say that again I wasn’t paying attention.” The instant gratification of ordering a product online to have it shipped to your home with same day delivery. Billboards and electronic ads on every corner of every building and plastered on any available space of a webpage. Current society is, in my eyes, already completely dependent on technology. The only things that are missing are the hoverchairs and “Lunch in a Cup.” Let’s be honest here, the hoverchair does sound awesome and I would love to own one of those bad boys. But not to live in for the rest of my days. Being stuck in one of those would seem like a prison.

All these questions are making my head hurt...

 It makes you wonder how they prevent blood clots in their legs, are they being fed blood thinners in their food smoothies? If so, how are they getting the correct dosage? What is IN “Lunch in a Cup” exactly? Is the “Lunch in a Cup” full of daily vitamins and supplements? Is everyone near sighted from staring at that display inches from their face? It seems as though no one ever looks beyond their personal projection of video calls and ads. Do they get hoverchair sores? How do they use the bathroom? What happens when they sneeze? Do their bones break when they happen to fall off of their hoverchair? It also makes me think, are they really happy living like that? But the people in Wall-E know no other way. Most of them were raised in that world. They do not know the feeling of soil in between their toes, or even the weight of their own body. The feeling of being self sufficient, cooking their own meals and raising their children. Their technology has removed all personal connection, the fabric of communication. Are they aware that there is a human on the other side of that video call, or is it like how we treat each other on Facebook? Emotionless, bland conversations with a projection, or rather, a thread in the comment section of a status update. Communicating through technology is slowly ripping the fabric of conversation and we are totally and completely oblivious. That ever so slow tug on the binding thread that keeps humanity human, interaction through true face to face conversation.

Entry # 4: Thistle and Sage

     A strange noise in the hallway. A figure crossing your peripheral vision. A tug on the blanket covering your feet. Scary stories, I love them. If I could spend all my time reading ghost stories, watching horror movies, going to haunted houses or going on real ghost hunting trips I would. I am in constant search for new media that actually scares me, it’s the adrenaline. My heart picks up tempo, my muscles tense ready to run at any moment, and my hands turn into fists. When fight or flight is on the verge of taking over that is when I know if an experience is enjoyable. 
     Ten years back on Memorial Day weekend myself, two friends, Dale and Bryan, and my four year old niece Wena decided to go camping in the Prescott area. Bryan borrowed all the camping gear from another friend and Dale boasted that, “I have it all planned out. It’s going to be great!” I had to work the Friday we were driving up and Dale said that would be fine, it would allow them time to pack the relatively small Kia Rio Cinco. Dale picked me up from work and not one tent, ice chest, or backpack was in the car. A few stewing minutes later and we are at Bryan’s house. I jump out of the car and start packing the gear that is piled in front of the door. Finally the car is packed and all we have to do is stop at the store for ice. It’s nearly 8’oclock p.m. and we are on the highway to Prescott.
     Dale pulls onto a dirt road creeping ahead a sign slowly comes into view, “Campsite Full.” Dale ignores the sign and drives around the site. I ask, “Did you make a reservation or are you just hoping to find an empty spot on a Friday night of a holiday weekend?” He mutters, “We will find something.” I am fuming, so angry Bryan and Wena could have cooked S’mores from my heat. The second campsite revealed the same situation. The clock on the dash clicks to 11:00 p.m. and Wena is sound asleep in the backseat. Bryan is about to follow suit and just before he crashes he says, “Lets just get a hotel for the night and we can drive home in the morning.” We drive into town and stop at the first hotel, “No Vacancy” buzzes from the neon sign but Dale and Bryan walk into the lobby regardless. Moments later they reappear silently get into the car and we drive to the next hotel. The second and third attempts have the same result. The clock on the dash now clicks to 2:00 a.m. “Lets just go home,” Dale grumbles with defeat in his voice. “I at least want to take the backway.” “What’s the backway?” “You’ll see."
     Dale slowly drives the car through Prescott, obediently obeying the speed limit signs, on HWY 89a. Just after we pass the very last full motel in Prescott, Dale asks, “So, how do you feel about switchbacks?” And guns the tiny motor on the Kia as it lunges down the mountain towards HWY 60. I begin laughing uncontrollably and the harder I laugh the faster Dale drives us down the mountain. By this time Bryan and Wena have woken up from the noise and shifting of the turns. Everyone is laughing enjoying the ride when we get through the first set of turns. Dale releases the accelerator and says, “Is that a woman in the road?” Looking down from the top of a hill approximately 200 feet ahead. “No that is not a woman, it’s too big,” I say. “No it is a woman, we have to stop to help her,” Bryan states looking from the backseat. “That is NOT a woman! Dale do not stop this car! I have no cell reception and cannot call 9-1-1 if that person tries to murder us!” We look ahead and the person waves their arms over their head. “Dale please don’t stop the car,” as Dale begins to slow the car down disregarding my pleas.
      Dale rolls down his window as we coast to a very large man in a white shirt with a “Big Dog” logo on the front and blue jean shorts standing in the middle of the road. He was so tall he had to bend 90 degrees to look into the drivers side window to talk to us, “Hey, sorry to bother you folks but I ran my car off the side of the road and was wondering if ya’ll could give me a ride back to the bar I was just at down the road?” His greasy hair fell in front of his wire frame glasses, using a massive hand to brush it back. His fingernails were dirty but the top of his hand and back of his forearm showed no signs of dirt or having to struggle up the mountain from his car below. “No I’m sorry the car’s full,” I blurt out before anyone else can answer. The man looks into the backseat then back into the drivers side window. “My head hurts really bad and I think my leg is bleeding. I can’t walk home, it’s too far.” I reach into my backpack that I had kept with me in the front seat to find a bottle of Ibuprofen. I get four tablets from the bottle and extend my hand quickly saying, “We can call 9-1-1 as soon as we are out of the mountains.” “Well if you call don’t mention the bar or they are gonna ask if I’ve been drinkin’ and between you and me I did have a few but I ain’t drunk.” “Don’t worry about it, we won’t tell ’em,” assured Dale. “You won’t get cell service till about the bar, just use the phone there or tell the bartender, ‘Steve is stranded up here.” “Sure no problem. Stay put and someone will be back to help you,” said Bryan. Steve stands up and takes a step away from the car as Dale drives past him slowly. As he’s pulling away I look for a disturbance in the brush along the road where his car supposedly ran off the edge to see undisturbed thistles and sage. Dale looks at me startled as I say, “He wasn’t dirty, like he had just climbed the side of a mountain from his wrecked car.” “I know, he didn’t even have a scrape on his elbow.” 
     We drove in silence to the bar several miles down the road. Once we arrived at the bar Dale and Bryan got out of the car and went inside. Ten minutes pass and they briskly walk to the car saying nothing, each of their faces pale and emotionless. Without hesitation Dale starts the car, putting it into reverse and quickly throwing it back into drive kicking up dust and dirt toward the building. “What happened,” I asked. “Well we told the bartender that Steve needed help that he was just here and ran his car off the road,” Bryan said. “Ok.” “She looked at me and said that she hadn’t see Steve in months, in fact no one in town had seen him and that they were all starting to worry about him.” I check my phone and see that I finally have cell reception to call 9-1-1. I dial and hand the phone to Bryan. He reports what we saw and roughly where Steve is stranded. Unnerved by the bartenders comment we fly down the rest of the mountain to our homes.
     Midmorning the next day Dale and I go back to Bryan’s house to rehash what we saw last night. Not minutes after we show up my cell rings, it’s 9-1-1 dispatch to ask about what Bryan reported. Once again I hand him my phone, he answers a few questions then for a long period he listens. The color slowly creeps from his face and he says, “Well thanks for looking for him,” and hangs up. “What happened?? What did they say,” I practically shrieked. “The paramedics and DPS searched all night trying to find Steve or any evidence of his car over the side of the mountain.” “WELL!” “They couldn’t find anything and Steve is still missing as of January 10th 2005.”   

Entry # 3: Who's Ready for JARVIS?

Imagine a world where your whole house is an interactive computer. If the name JARVIS came to mind then you will enjoy this video. Corning is an original in the glass technology field. In 1879 the company created the glass encasement for Thomas Edison’s light bulb and they have not petrified like most originators. Corning has made a brazen statement that by 2020 homes could be equipped with fully interactive glass. Every surface from standard windows to counter tops could potentially become an interactive work or entertainment surface. Their electronics ready glass would revolutionize glass technology once again. Enabling a seamless data transfer for work and play. The first thing that came to mind after watching this video was, 2020 that is only five years away. Yes it is but several car makers advertise vehicles in their 2015 line that have this technology in the windshield. So the probability of a residential install seems achievable within the next five years. Exciting times ahead with Corning. I am hoping this technology actually catches on because Back to the Future did not deliver a flying DeLorean nor a hoverboard. 

Entry # 2: Social Media Friend or Foe?

Artist Bansky

Social media got you down? Do you crave likes, comments and shares? Ever wonder why some of your friends are obsessed with these things?

Artist 2Wenty

Well here’s why, a recent study shows a strong connection between Facebook and the reward center in your brain. A like on Facebook for most people is equivalent to currency for the reward center. The more currency we receive the better we feel. Before social media our currency was a smile, encouraging words, tone of voice, eye contact, facial expressions or gestures. Now that social media has come around we have cut out the emotional attachment to interactions. We no longer have all those nonverbal cues, we have emoticons. Emotions in conversation is the peanut butter to our jelly, yet society has chosen to converse via an emotionless outlet.

Artist Asaf Hanuka

 Why is that? It’s actually quite simple, we are lazy. Having a face to face conversation uses emotional energy we cannot hand out like free samples. Blocking out the nonverbal cues via online communication reduces the amount of stuff we have to process. It is the humans form of blinders, emotional blinders. But a like could show approval or act of solidarity on a common cause, a virtual pat on the head, with no emotions involved. This type of virtual reward could lead to ridiculous emotional highs or a downward spiral if not recognized.

Artist Christopher Jobson

If you find yourself under that category maybe try what Elan Morgan did for a two week experiment. She stopped liking posts and started commenting. This is her take on the like and what happened to her when she stopped. 

Artist John Holcroft

“The Like is the wordless nod of support in a loud room. It’s the easiest of yesses, I-agrees, and me-toos. I actually felt pangs of guilt over not liking some updates, as though the absence of my particular Like would translate as a disapproval or a withholding of affection. I felt as though my ability to communicate had been somehow hobbled. The Like function has saved me so much comment-typing over the years that I likely could have written a very quippy, War-and-Peace-length novel by now.”
“Now that I am commenting more on Facebook and not clicking Like on anything at all, my feed has relaxed and become more conversational. It’s like all the shouty attention-getters were ushered out of the room as soon as I stopped incidentally asking for those kinds of updates by using the Like function.”

Artist Bansky

Another social media hang-up is lurking. Quit lurking it’s weird, and the University of Houston recently discovered lurkers are more likely to show signs of depression. The theory behind this is, everyone puts out there what they WANT to put out there. People create a social media mask. Don’t be jealous of someone’s vacation or new car, because you never really know how they are feeling inside that brain of theirs. Most likely they want you to like their post to get that reward center active. Mai-Ly Nguyen Steers, a teaching fellow and study coauthor at the University of Houston says, "This can be an unhealthy perception because, of course, people present themselves in the best possible light with whatever message they are sending out on Facebook," The University of Houston also found out that people who tweet everything are likely to have more strife in romantic relationships. 

Artist Banksy

Artist John Holcroft

So how do the social media attention starved overcome this hurdle? Have a healthy balance of genuine face to face conversations as well as the addictive like, comment, share relationships. Have real conversations online instead of liking everything. The University of Arizona found that posts with no interaction made that person feel as if they did not belong. So if you truly want that reward center to light up in that head of yours start commenting to feel connected.

Entry # 1: It's Blog, It's Blog, It's big it's heavy it's wood... wait wrong song

Blogs, the new and improved soap box. Blogs have changed quite a bit over years. About 21 years ago the first blogs, or weblogs as they were known, were not co-opted by main stream media but individuals. These weblogs were mostly online diaries allowing aspiring authors to scream into the void that is the internet. Only in 2004 did main stream media and other well known media outlets jump on the bandwagon of blogging. Blogs now are so common most of us don’t even know we are reading them. Who knows if you are reading one now???

Blogs can be a great idea if aimed toward the right audience. The biggest problem is finding the right blog for you because there are tons of blogs. I mean too many to count, literally. Blogger.com doesn’t even have a total number of blogs listed and they are the largest website offering them. Other sites have guesses totaling over the billions. I spent hours digging through the internet to find blogs I actually enjoyed. In my honest opinion most were drivel or crazy right wing rhetoric. A few I genuinely enjoyed and would read again were; Dot Earth, We Hunted the Mammoth and /film. For the bad I will only list one, if I didn’t I would be writing this blog until I graduate.

Dot Earth is a New York Times professional opinion blog by Andrew Revkin on the environment and politics that directly impact the Earth. This blog is well written, informative and the authors’ posts are current. If you are into environmental politics this is a great find. Don’t let the category of “opinion” discourage you from reading this blog, I found the posts to be more fact than opinion.
 


We Hunted the Mammoth is a professional casual blog by David Futrelle on feminist politics. This blog has a perfect combination of information and sarcasm to maintain it’s level of professionalism. It is chocked full of information and keeps the reader entertained with wit regardless of the depressing manor of the content. If you enjoy reading current events on fighting misogyny check out this blog.

 


/film is a professional blog by Ethan Anderton on television and movies. This blog is well written and keeps you up to date on T.V. and movies. The author gives you an insider look on your favorite programs and movies. So if you don’t just watch things but want to know what is happening behind the curtain definitely check out this one. 






Now for the bad. Stormfront is a personal blog website for Nazis. One blog I begrudgingly read by James Harting is on racism and hating non-white people. The amount of people posting on this site is disgusting, most posts I wasn’t even able to follow due to the horrific writing skills. Rather lack of writing skills. This author spews forth the worst kind of rhetoric, the dangerous educated kind. The kind of rhetoric that the uneducated flock behind. He uses fear mongering to gather his sheep and injects ignorance and hatred into their empty minds. I could barely make it to the end of his post. I was so filled with anger that this ignorant man-child has such a large platform for his Nazi propaganda. If you are into Nazis and pro-racism don’t tell me or we will share words in real life because I will find you and most likely words will not be the only thing shared. Google Stormfront. No I am not posting a link, I will not have that filth attached to my page.

My Apologies to end on such a sour note but "Just remember, the sweet is never as sweet without the sour, and I know the sour." - Vanilla Sky

Introduction: Blogging this is Mary, Mary this is Blogging. Hello!

Hello my new friends in the blogging world, my name is Mary. I have started a new adventure in my life, college. My adventure slightly differs from your average freshman in college being that I am 30, a late bloomer for sure. Never the less I have finally figured out what I want to be when I grow up. I am currently working towards my Associates in Science at Glendale Community College. Once I have received my AS I will be pursuing my Bachelor’s Degree, from there I will take the Medical College Admission Test in hopes to become a General Practice MD. I am in this for the long haul, which means I will be giving up most of my hobbies. The road trips with no specific destination, hiking miles into the desert mountains, last minute photography shoots, t.v. and horror movie marathons, reading books for fun and going to punk shows at the bar are shortly going to be a thing of the past. Oh the memories, but that’s what finding your calling is all about, sacrifice to achieve your goals. I hope you can join me on this adventure, "You're going to love this, just love it."