Dove Evolution

This video sent waves of uncontrollable shivers down my spine.  PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE show this to all who truly believe they know what the definition of REAL beauty pertains to.  Adverts in fashion magazines and major billboard campaigns have a way of portraying an image of ultimate perfection, something far from truth.   Granted, I don't mind a bit of photoshopping and I'm sure most people will jump at the opportunity to have a few "nip and tucks" here and there, but it’s not reality. Ultimately, the road to happiness inevitably comprises of reality and acceptance - especially during the prime time of youth, when people are establishing their identity, opinions of themselves, and their bodies.  The media constantly reinforces what body images are most socially acceptable, however what they fail to clarify is that what we compare ourselves to is as real as a cartoon drawing. People might as well try to emulate Bugs Bunny or even Barbie for that matter... I thought we had learned from that lesson back in the 60's, but I guess not.  We are still sold the "flawless body" in silicone, plastic, and photoshopped images. Will there ever be a time when we are NOT told we’ll be happy if we are just ________ enough?

Mice don't like cheese.

This is a myth full of holes.  Ralph Emerson, the 19th century American writer once wrote, "If you invent a better mousetrap the world will beat a path to your door," however, he failed to mention anything about cheese.  According to researchers who obviously had nothing of greater importance to do, declared that the universal belief that the only way to lure a mouse to its death is by using a potent and smelly cheese, preferably cheddar or Swiss is a complete fallacy.  After this revelation, it is no wonder Tom never succeeded at catching Jerry.  So, for any of you with a serious mouse infestation a prime substitute for savory cheese would be the complete opposite, sugary chocolate - yes it seems that "chocoholics" exist in every shape and form.  

Starbucks.

Before any more companies attempt to get all fancy and cute with names for sizes, lets make something clear.

There are a number of predetermined sizes for food and drink that have already been tried, tested and agreed upon and make instant sense.

For those of you who are still unsure, they are:

Small

Medium

Large

and after supersize me...

Extra Large

If that wasn't enough, some decided to swap Small for Regular.  The reason: probably to encourage consumers to order the next size up.  Not only does this increase the consumers calorie intake in high fructose corn syrup and saturated fats, but businesses are also able to gorge off the added sales.  On a positive note, a medium or large is definitely easier to pronounce than "can I have a regular please?" The crazy thing is, companies such as Starbucks actually employ psychologists to work on these kind of logistics.  

So what is the reason behind Starbucks attempt to use such ludicrous names?

Let's take a quick look:
Small= Tall
Medium= Grande
Large= Venti

So here's my analogy: since Starbucks was originally from Seattle and owned by a bunch of hippies, who obviously appreciate "unusual" and "weird" ideologies, Tall appears to be an appeal to that sensibility.  Next is Grande. Spanish for Large. Again, attempting to be all cute by appropriating foreign words. But they can’t all be the same language....  In walks Venti, Twenty in Italian. Oh I get it! It’s 20 ounces!

My first attempt at ordering from Starbucks ended in complete confusion.
Me: "Can I have a small Soy Chai please?"
Starbucks: "Ok, so a tall Soy Chai for the lady please!"
Me: "No, can I have a small please?"
Starbucks: "Tall?"
Me: "No, small....."

I have learnt my lesson though.

Bonjour?

Having spent most of my childhood growing up in France, I can without a doubt make the statement that "I CAN speak French."  I'm sure that most of you are familiar with the quaint French Cafe, La Madeleine.  If not, well it's a so called French restaurant that serves so called French food.  As I walked through the door I was greeted by a hostess with the welcoming phrase "Bonjour, et bienvenue a La Madeleine," (translation: hi, and welcome to La Madeleine).  I was so impressed and eager to practice my French, although her Texan accent would have probably come under scrutiny if she had said that in France.  Nevertheless, I decided to reciprocate her warm greeting with "merci beaucoup madame" (translation: thank you so much miss), only to be given a puzzled and blank glare in return.  Confused by the whole situation - the atmosphere started to get slightly awkward as I stared at her and she stared back at me - I quickly decided to move along and sit down.  When the food eventually arrived, another French phrase was used "bon appetite" (translation: have a good meal), I decided to test the water one more time "Monsieur est ce que vous avez du sel? (translation: excuse me sir, do you have any salt?).  Once again, a blank expression took over his face as he jittered around not knowing what to do - this was completely hopeless.  I decided to shut up, and eat my food satisfied with the conclusion that "fake" sells, it just has to be presented in the right way.  If people are unaware/uneducated on the matter it is really easy to mislead and misinform.

So, the moral of the story - don't believe everything you hear or see.

Modern Fruit

One thing that drives me crazy about the United States is the endless "rubbish" blasted on the TV screens.  The other day, I saw an advert for some "health promoting" company selling "fruit in a tablet." Wait a second, since when did fruit come in tablet form?  The company's "revolutionary" idea was sparked by the fact that cutting fruit is messy, requires cleaning of utensils, chewing with the mouth and preparation time.  To resolve this "horrifying" problem chemicals would need to be placed into capsules, labelled as fruit and sold to the gullible consumers - no mess, all you need is water.  This made me really angry, It appears that humans have become so used to a life of leisure and ease that we are incapable of reaching into the fridge, washing a piece of fruit, opening the mouth, taking a bite, chewing once or twice, swallowing and then cleaning up after ourselves.

But - "what happens if a dribble of juice falls on little Mary-Sue's Roberto Cavalli dress?" - that's not a problem, we have chemicals to get rid of that too.

Everything we eat, wear, drink and inhale is full of man-made artificial chemicals - if this were what we ought to consume then we might as well be robots.  I miss the good old days of running through fields of organic strawberries, letting the juice of ripe watermelons drip down your face in utter contentment and stomach aches from eating too much rhubarb -  I don't think "modern fruit" can compare to this.

Soon we will be consuming all of our meals in the form of tiny capsules.  Sound appealing?  I don't think so.

Like Parents, Like Children

As I busied myself at home, I came to the abrupt conclusion that I am metamorphing into my parents! It all started a couple of days ago when my sister who is currently at high school was getting ready for her homecoming. Like a good sister I asked her around what time she thought she’d be home... ‘I don’t know’ was her answer. Great. So while taking a break from ruthlessly studying for my sociology test, I called my sister, our conversation went something like this, ‘When are you coming home?’

My sister responds, ‘I don’t know...’

“How do you not know, when it looks like the party is thinning out, you know.”

My sister sighs, ‘Well the crowd isn’t thinning and people are still arriving.”

“So around what time will you be home?”

“I don’t know, I’ll call you later.”

I wait. I study. I drink some tea. My mother goes to bed, she doesn’t seem too worried. I wait. I study. I drink more tea and then I pick up my phone. “Where are you?”

My sister responds, “I’m at a rave.”

“A rave? I thought you were at homecoming!”

“We were but we are now at the after party.”

I was getting really annoyed. So after those lovely phone calls, I realised that I had started using words like ‘old chap’ ‘cheery’ and ‘dashing young man,’ and had no idea where I had picked such vocabulary up. I have started bringing up the weather in every conversation, I talk about the younger generation with disdain and I have started changing my programmed radio stations to sad, 60’s songs. What is happening? After some research, it comes down to this. All human beings start life as a baby and ultimately die as babies, when we are unable to do simple tasks without aid; well we are turning into our parents. Simple as that. *rubs hands together* Oh I can’t wait to set my sister a curfew!

A word through images...

If you put all of these in a ziploc bag, shake them all up, and then pour onto my face, I'll feel like I'm at the beach.