Red Liquid of Life

picture courtesy of http://www.247donation.com/2007/August/Blood-Donations.htm

I gave blood on Monday for the first time in a while. I love to give blood because it is one of the few things I do that I feel actually makes a difference. I have been very frustrated because the last 4 times I have tried to give blood I have been thwarted. Mostly because I have too low of a hemocrit count. But this past time it was because stupid Purdue made me get a shot, so I had to wait an extra month before I could give. I was seriously irked.
But anyway, I gave blood so all is good again. :) I was amused because the lady stuck the needle in me and everything and then turned to do the next person and by the time she was done with him and turned back around my bag was about 1/3 full. She said, "Wow, you're really fast!" It made me giggle. I gave with my right arm, something I'm never going to do again because it is really inconvenient to avoid doing stuff with my right arm when I'm right handed. But anyway, I was a bit dissapointed that they didn't wrap my arm in the ultra-bright colored gauze like stuff. It makes me feel a bit more secure that I won't randomly start bleeding again. I have a bit of a fear of that because once I did start bleeding again. It was while I was still at the station so we applied pressure and put another band-aid on and I was fine, but it was a bit scary. Anyway, I encourage anyone who can to give. It helps a lot.

Rockin' Out

My Thanksgiving break was absolutely awesome! On Wednesday when I got home, I baked an apple and pecan pie with my mom, and my friend Amanda came over to help and hang out. Then, we watched Heros for the rest of the night because my dad got the season 1 DVD. Thursday, I helped make dinner, ate dinner, then hung out around the house hanging out with my family. Friday, I went shopping with my mom, at the decent hour of 9:30, and it was funny because we mostly did grocery shopping as opposed to normal Black Friday shopping. (Why do they call it Black Friday anyway?) But anyway, we got back around 4 and I went to my brother's house around 5. At my brother's, his friend Dan showed us Metroid for the Nintendo Wii, then Andy, my brothers roommate, came back and we all rocked out to Guitar Hero 3 for about 4 hours. When we got tired of that, we played Metroid some more and then I went home around midnight. On Saturday, my sister and her boyfriend came up to visit, and in the evening my brother came over and also the Jacksons came to visit. I got to play Scrabble with my brother and Justin, my friend Gen's boyfriend. My brother slaughtered us both because he spelled the word "munchies" and got the 50 extra points for using all your letters. Then Sunday, I went to church and then came back to Purdue.
I love going home for visits! ^_^

Home Cooking

Here's the prompt:
In Bich Nguyen's memoir, food is used to "make visible" the "invisible" cultural practices that define us as "American." Reflecting back on your own childhood, think of an example when a particular food (or foods) served to include or exclude you from a group of which you wanted to be a part. Describe the food, the situation, and how it made you feel.

I honestly can't remember any time in my childhood when I was excluded or included from some group because of food. It is possible it happened and I didn't realize it, I was a rather dense child, always with my nose in a book. However, I do remember how a certain food set me apart from other kids.
Before Christmas break, during elementary school, most of the kids would give the teacher a small gift, I guess to show our appreciation for being taught. Well, since my mother and I make chocolate candies around the holidays, I would always take the teacher a small "sampler" of the things we had made.
It always made me very proud that I could give my teacher something that I had made myself. Also, I loved that the teachers liked my present, they knew what it was because I have 3 older siblings who went through the school before me and my mom did the same thing for all of them. My sense of pride and accomplishment was increased because I knew that the teacher liked my present.

Documenting Morals

Here is my writing prompt:
In Zana Briski's documentary film, Born Into Brothels, she documents the lives of children growing up in Calcutta’s red light district. Her film reveals the most intimate details of their lives. Briski uses those details as evidence in an argument about the effects that living in the red light district has on these children. Write a blog in which you explore this. Is it fair that the children’s lives are “on display” for all the world to see? What about their privacy? Can a child “give consent” to be portrayed in this way? Do the “ends” justify the “means”? Is her documentary ultimately “successful”? How do you measure its success?

I shall first address the question of, "can a child give consent to be portrayed in this way?" I would say, of course they can give consent! These are not children as we would think of them in America. They are wonderful kids with hopes and dreams despite their circumstances and they still have a child's happiness, but they are much more mature than the typical child of equivalent age in America. This is due to their poverty, forcing them to work as well as go to school, as well as their surroundings in general. They have developed their own thoughts and ideas about themselves by now, because they have been forced by circumstance to consider these ideas. Therefore, they know what they are getting into when they give consent to be documented.

By answering that question, we can therefore concur that by giving consent to be documented they have put their faith in the documenter to portray their circumstances without undue invasion of their privacy. Yes the film shows their family lives, but the children, and their families, are certainly aware that the cameras are there, so if they objected they could just tell the visitors to shut of the cameras. So, yes, in this case the ends does justify the means because the means were not unreasonable.

Her documentary is successful in that she does portray the effect of growing up in brothels on these children. She shows their worry about their situation and their struggle to rise out of their circumstances by gaining an education. She also displays the difficulties for children like them to rise out of the red light district because good schools don't want their reputations tainted by the stigma associated with the illegal activities.

Quality vs. Quantity? Maybe not.

So, in English class we have been reading a whole slew of material about the scary truth behind the food we eat. US food has unlabeled GMOs (genetically modified foods), the US foods are being boycotted in some areas because they are unlabeled, Monsanto and other companies are patenting genes in plants that spread and then they sue farmers who have been contaminated. Then there is the fact that much of what we eat contains some derivative of corn. All this is pertinent and useful information, but it isn't going to change what I eat.
I do believe that GMOs should be labeled. It would not be that hard to do, and it would make people happier. It may even make people less suspicious of GMOs if they were being "hidden" by the government/food companies. But, I am a college student. I don't have the time, resources, or inclination at this point in my life to track down foods that are GMO free, or corn free. Now, I do go through some effort to exclude certain things like high fructose corn syrup in a lot of my food, but that is about it. I will continue to buy the stuff that is relatively cheep because it allows me to possibly escape college without a lifetime's worth of debt.

The College Dilemma

So, most people in college have come up against this all important question by now, "Who am I going to room with next year?!" As of a couple days ago, I have finished my quest for the answer! *and there was much rejoicing* (two points to whoever gets the reference)

So, in practice for our Memoir assignment, sort of, I shall relate the saga of the roommate debate. Originally, my friend Carmen asked me if I would want to rent a house with her and 4 other people. We would have at least 1 dog (a big one) and around 4 cats. Now I wouldn't mind this arrangement, but after thinking about it, I just don't know whether I would be able to handle the responsibility of pitching in to care for the cats (the dog is the responsibility of the owner, I don't do dogs) while also doing school and working. Then, I was supposed to room with my friend Lizz from my hometown. We would be really good roommates, the only problem is that she really wants to room in an apartment, and I really don't. Hilltop has captured my heart and I really wanted to room in a 4 person 1 bedroom apartment next year. The other factor going for Hilltop is that with a 4-person room and no meal plan, it will be between $2,000 and $3,000 dollars for the whole year. So, I started sounding people out for this plan. The first person I recruited was actually Lizz's roommate, Brittany. She is driving Lizz up the wall (though she doesn't really know it) but I think we would work out ok. The second person I recruited is my friend Katie. That is gonna work out really well because not only is she awesome, she loves to cook as much as I do and makes really killer pizza, so we can split meal planning and cooking. Then, Katie asked her friend Corinne (pronounced Kor-ene) and she agreed. So we have our 4 people ^_^. I hope that at the very least Katie and I, but hopefully everyone can work out a system of communal food. We could all pitch in a certain amount and have a group grocery list so that we don't have to do the awkward lable-who's-food-is-who's thing. If we have to it would be ok, but I would really prefer not to.

Creativity

When I first got to Purdue I met this absolutely wonderful person named Katie. Since then I like to think we have become pretty good friends. But anyway, on the first or second day we hung out, she asked me what my creative outlet is. She claimed that everyone has one, but the question just sort of dumbfounded me. What do I like to do creatively, I asked myself. Well, I draw every once in a while, but it is mostly doodles and I wouldn't really call it an outlet. I make jewelry every once in a while too, but it is still sort of an idle hobby. At the time I had no answer for her. Then came the advent of cold weather and I pulled out my coat. All of the sudden it dawned on me, my creative outlet is sewing! I love to sew, though it isn't something I indulge in often. Mostly I make pillows. Of the 9 pillows on my bed, I have made 4 and my mommy made 1. I have 1 maybe 2 more at home and I've made a couple for friends' birthdays and such. Other than that, I have a pair of boxers, a purse, a pair of bright ORANGE cargo pants, an obnoxious plumed hat, and my coat. My coat is by far the most awesome thing I've ever made. Originally, I made it so I could cosplay as Vash the Stampede for Halloween, but it is actually a really good winter coat. The high collar acts like a built in scarf and it is lined. I love the reactions I get for it. Most people are like, "You made that?" O.O and it makes me proud. Once, while I was at the academy I had a BSU student comment to me, "That is bad a$$." The other day, when the wind was really bitter, I was walking to class and as I passed two people on the sidewalk I heard one say to the other, "Oh my god, it's Vash's coat!" It made the sew-er in my feel all warm and fuzzy inside. I love when people actually know what the coat represents, both because they have actually seen TRIGUN and because the coat is recognizable despite obvious, or perhaps not so obvious discrepancies.


This is my friend wearing my coat and also the hat I made. Yes, I am aware the combination brings to mind Carmen Sandiego. This is a screenshot from the opening of TRIGUN (created by Yasuhiro Nightow) and is one of the very few pictures where you can sort of see all of his coat. There are better ones, but I don't know how to capture screenshots for myself, so I have to work with what I have.

Not an Assignment Post

Don't let it eat you!

I'm really excited that my friend is coming to visit this Saturday, and I will probably do my third blog for this week about his visit. Unless of course, we have an assigned blog, but I didn't see one when I checked yesterday....

I still haven't started writing my paper because I had to scrap my research and start over because I looked it over and found that I had gotten entirely off topic, a problem that continually plagues me when I research. I find an interesting bit of info and get distracted and follow it.

My back hurts, for no apparent reason. >:(

I think I may pull an all nighter tonight reading the books I got as research for my paper and write it tomorrow.

TTYL

Side Panels of DOOM!!!

Yeah, so I work at Earhart Dining Hall. I am a student associate. I usually work cleanup shift due to my abundance of 4:30-5:20 classes *cough cough* Anyway... I have worked there since the beginning of the year and I usually end up shutting down the salad bar. Now, when you shut down salad bar, you have to take out panels on the bottom and the sides. On salad bar there are two rectangular wells and the long sides have panels that have to go in a certain way. In each well, one of the long side panels has six rows of slits for ventilation and the other side has two rows of slits. When I first trained during BGR week I was told that each well had to have a six and a two, but it didn't matter which side they went on. Today, I got told, after I had finished putting everything back together and had started wiping down tables, that the six slit side panel has to go on the left side of the bar. So I had to take the entire bar back apart, because of course the side panels go on first, and switch the panels. I was rather annoyed because this was the first time I had heard of this and I hate looking dumb in front of my employers. To top it off, the supervisor who talked to me about it is not one of the ones who I generally interact with, so I feel like I have given a sub-par impression to him. Oh well, the other supervisors like me. ^_^

Don't drink too much coffee kids

I have discovered the secret to making expresso at home.

Step 1: Make coffee regularly

Step 2: Go to class and forget to turn off coffee pot

Step 3: Return from class 3 hours later and think, “Awesome! Coffee!”

Step 4: Make coffee as you do regularly.

Step 5: O.O

Step 6: Add more sugar so you can drink it. LOTS more sugar.

Note, this method requires a coffee pot that does not have an automatic 20 minute turn off built in to it.

Seriously though, I'm just sort of glad that my coffee pot didn't break or catch fire while I was out or something. That would have been bad. I don't make coffee that often, so about half the time I forget to turn it off. Last time it happened I had made hot water for tea and then left the pot on all night. I have to tell you, getting the water scale of that pot was real fun. NOT. Hopefully, I will learn to check the pot before I go out of the room before my negligence burns down the building.

In acquiescence to Ms. Hickner's request, I shall include a visual.
The person in the foreground (Ed from Cowboy Bebop, an anime produced by Sunrise), pretty much has the expression I wore when I tasted that coffee. That was some kind of wake up call, lemmie tell you. Moral of the story, think before you drink. (no pun intended)

Communion

I went to church this past Saturday for the first time in a couple weeks. I usually try to go every week, but circumstances have been conspiring against me. So anyway, as usual, the service was absolutely amazing. This church is much closer to what I think a church should be than the one I go to back home. Church is a place for people to worship together and to encourage each other in the faith. My church back home has become closer to a bible study of sorts rather than exhortation and encouragement. I think that I have grown more in my faith from going to this church for a few weeks more than I have going to my old church for the past several years.

Anyway, this Sunday was communion Sunday. The way that this church practices communion really opened my eyes to what it may have been like to be present at the last supper and makes me feel much closer to the spirit of communion. At my old church, communion was accomplished by the decons passing around the plate of little bread-like wafers and little cups of juice. The pastor would say some words about the significance of communion and then we would eat them. The only reason that communion had any meaning to me was because once, when I passed the plate to a family member, they just passed it on. I asked them why later and they told me that since they couldn't let go of their anger at someone, they weren't able to partake in communion because they had sin in their heart. But communion at this church that I attend now is much different. The pastor said his words about the communion and then he and his assistant held a platter with bread and a cup of grape juice at the front of the church. Everyone lined up and took turns breaking off a piece of bread and dipping it in the grape juice, then eating it. This ritual had so much more meaning for me. Not only did the actual bread give me more of a connection to the first communion at the last supper, but I experience a much greater connection to the church community. It felt like the communion of a community, rather than an individual thing.

My church is on Grant St. It has a steeple, it is pretty hard to miss. Sunday service begins at 11 and they usually have donut holes, fruit and juice in the anteroom for you to snack on a bit before and after service. I invite you all to come.

*Headdesk of Frustration

The prompt:

1. Choose one of the Adbusters spoof ads in the "food" category and write an analysis of the ad. First, describe the ad visually. Next, explain what the ad is referencing and how it is spoofing the referenced work. Finally, provide your own response: how successful is the spoof? Why does/doesn't it work? Write a minimum of 200 words. [If possible, include an image showing an example of the kind of original ad that is being spoofed.]

The response:

A woman who looks to be in her 20s maybe early 30s stands smiling and with good posture, one hand on her hip and the other holding what looks like a glass of milk. A milk mustache coats her upper lip. Her light blue sweater both offsets her from the medium gray background and coordinates with it. A caption next to her head reads, “WHY MILK? Try soy instead.” This caption leads us to believe that it is a glass of soy milk and a soy milk mustache that she accessorizes with. A paragraph at the bottom of the page says, “I was raised to believe that milk was part of a healthy diet. Then I discovered that to increase production, many dairy companies inject cows with hormones and antibiotics that we end up drinking. And that cows are kept “artificially” pregnant so they'll produce milk all year long. So I scraped my milk mustache for a soy one. It's healthier for me AND the cows.”

Unlike many adds that are text heavy, this one is rather effective. The reference to the famous, “GOT MILK?” campaign leads a reader to investigate what the add is about. The cool colors are restful to the eye and so it attracts the eye from the bright white or colors of many magazine pages. This add is endorsing soy milk instead of real milk as a healthier product.

When I read this add, I got really mad. (no rhyme intended) I like milk. Natural milk is one of nature's most perfect foods because it contains many of the things your body needs, such as amino acids and lipids, to name a couple. That the capitalist thirst for money is adding crap like hormones to our milk, even unintentionally makes me angry. I'm not going to stop drinking milk because, as I said earlier, I like it, but I may have to research the different companies that produce milk. It may become a little extra on my budget each month to get better milk instead of the cheaper milk. It's not like all milk isn't already about 4 bucks a gallon anyway, not that I'm bitter... I already buy butter instead of margarine anyway.

Music of all kinds... except musicals

Give me Tchaikovsky, Beethoven, My Chemical Romance, the Gorillas, Rob Zombie, Nine Inch Nails, Avril Lavigne, Eminem, or even the popular music channel. But for the love of all that is my ears, DO NOT play the “musicals no one has ever heard of” station while I'm cleaning up at work. Why would someone even INVENT that channel?! It was terrible! Everyone at work was like, “what is playing on the radio? Put something else on... anything!” I remember one of the lyrics from a song that played was “Praise God and pass the ammunition!” I was like O.o it was really creepy. Even musicals that people have heard of are weird to hear on the radio. The songs just don't sound the same when taken out of the visual context. Some time I wish that they would put on the classical radio station. I can just imagine cleaning the salad bar or dish to Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D Minor. That is the first classical song I ever heard, by the way. It is the very first song in Disney's Fantasia. Arguably the best movie to ever be produced by them. Fantasia 2 was ok, but Fantasia was just made of awesome. I watched that movie quite a lot as a child, and I would watch it here too, but I don't have a VHS player.