Naked Time!

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Apart from providing a humorous Harry Potter short, the above video serves as a snappy opening for today's post. Naked Time! Nudity is the subject of this, and yes I did think of this topic while I was in the shower yesterday.

Nudity is one of those topics that can make people uncomfortable in various situations. In movies, after a sex or romantic bed scene, we often see the female character rush to grab the sheet, blanket, or some form of covering before pillow talk and cuddling can commence. Partial nudity, which I am using here as referencing revealing clothing, will often get a woman labeled some derogatory term. A lack of covering on a woman somehow means she is free game to names, insults, and being degraded to an object only purposeful for satisfying a man's lustful desires.

Now I am not advocating that we all shed of these "horrible binds" known as clothes and become on big nudist colony, but rather some more body acceptance and celebration would be nice. There are many aspects that I could extend with this post, which makes it a bit difficult to stick to one clear path. I am simply saying, walk around your house naked more. Sleep naked. It's a nice feeling and I do think it brings about a teeny bit of being okay with yourself. Now I know some could say, well that's all fine and dandy for the good looking people of the world but I'm not in that boat so how can I walk around naked? My answer: the same way the rest of us do. I have been chunky and slightly overweight, I have been underweight and I am how I am now. Therefore, I do not think that people necessarily have a problem with the way they look. Disappointment arises when they think of how they should look according to some silly standard somewhere. If we can get over silly standards, you are free to wander your apartment naked, although roommates might object--that's a case by case basis I guess.

Walking around naked is a nice feeling. If you can, do. I think the process does bring about body acceptance.

I might have lost a bit of my fluidity and point in this post, but that's the byproduct of not writing this down when the initial inspiration struck. Guess that means I should get a white board in my shower. Quick sum up to my in-cohesive post: enjoy your body.

One of Those Cynical Rants about the Faith of Humanity

Today was a great day for one of the European nations, one of the masters of the Old World, Spain. The Spanish won their first ever World Cup Football title today against the Netherlands, who have also yet to claim a title despite tremendous momentum in the trials and games these past two months. Although two of the teams that I was deeply rooting for were eliminated, the Netherlands and Germany, this is not a bitter rant about the sportsmanship, quality of play, or the number of yellow cards that the referee chose to give out during the final. Seriously though, they're not like candy at Halloween; you don't have to give them to everyone.

Instead, this posting is exactly what the title directly spells out. Hopefully, some of you may have already guessed why this topic exists. Superstitions continue to astonish me. I have beliefs, traditions and old sayings, but I've never been one to buy into superstitions, psychic abilities and "natural phenomena" of a certain sort. Therefore could some one please explain to me why Paul the Octopus got so much attention? The rationality that I possess does not compute the popularity of this invertebrate.

While I am no marine biologist, heck I'm not even the most informed in the field of biology in general, I find it very hard to believe that an octopus is "psychic". For those of you not completely engrossed in the internet, Paul is an octopus at the Sea Life Aquarium in Oberhausen, a city in western Germany. Paul has been supposedly predicting the victor of World Cup matches when two cases, each with a mussel for food and with separate country flags for the teams set to play each other, are dropped into his case. By choosing the food, he is apparently choosing which team will emerge victorious from the match. While octopi are apparently fairly intelligent invertebrate, I still refuse to believe that Paul is "psychic".

Come on people, this is an octopus. This is bullshit.

One source estimates that Paul had a one in 128 chance in predicting Spain winning the World Cup title. This is based off of the number of matches being 1/2^n. Now having taken probability, and being a mathematics major, based upon sheer numbers this estimate seems okay to fly due to a binomial tree, however, this is a football tournament. I do not believe that a octopus could have intentionally foresaw this result. While they do apparently have long and short term memories, I highly doubt that Paul watched every single match in the World Cup. Paul does not understand strategies, momentum or the determined resolve of a serious player.

Paul got lucky. That's all there is to say.

The most disturbing and disappointing thing about Paul is that so many people worldwide gathered behind him and seem to claim his "predictions" as gospel truth. Paul got lucky. There are probably people out there whose brackets predicted the same victory by Spain, but we don't see their names in news articles do we? Maybe I'm overreacting. Maybe I think the average individual in the world is decaying their brain with the massive amounts of subpar information and mediums available today, and yes I'm looking at you Stephenie Meyer. I just find it infuriating that people can be so dumbfounded, bamboozled, and generally reduced to an idiotic mass.

Conclusion of my rant: Paul may cause me to shield my child from the internet for a good deal of time.

Perfection est un bon croissant

There are a couple simple pleasures in life that can seem like mere trifles, or a silly after thought to others but are really the guardians to unlocking a good day to some. Good chocolate seems to be a universal item; sunshine, brightly colored balloons, polished machinery, and bubbles are other such items of companions of mine. Myself, I have many little simple pleasures in life, however, there is one especially reserved to the task of safe guarding Saturdays.

Most every Saturday when I am in Troy, I go to the Farmer's Market. The weekly voyage down the hill to River Street started last summer with my friend Hannah, and has become a tradition revolving with different friends for company. The grocery list varies from a complete open mind to needing beans, greens, pork and bread for the week, but one thing always remains constant on my list.

Every Saturday is started with a cup of coffee, iced recently due to this God forsaken East Coast gross weather, and a croissant of either the classic style, chocolate or baked with ham and cheese inside. I generally believe that there exist two schools of thought on croissants. Some are more fluffy and dough like, resembling the texture of other distinct bread items, which I generally regard as more "American" personally. Then there is the other school of thought to which I am a follower. My ideal croissant is more flaky and buttery on the inside. A prerequisite is that crumbs should escape into flight when you break into the pastry delight with either your hands or mouth. The crumbs are brittle babies of the toasted, golden brown exterior. Inside, the croissant is like a cavern with scattered pockets of air in between thin buttery layers.

A good croissant is one of my fixes. It is both comfort food and the reason to wake up in the morning on Saturdays. Why else would anyone want to wake up early to trek downtown?

Today's inspiration was a ham and cheese croissant. In addition to the carefully designed caverns of air, the buttery flaky layers hold secret a slice of rich ham molded with the pastry lining by melted Havarti cheese. This robust construction has shown to be the foundation to a peaceful summer day. A croissant will always be persuasion to coax me out of bed no matter how comfy the situation is; any company shouldn't be offended unless they for some reason detest croissants. If that situation arises, well they wouldn't be suitable bed company now would they?

All You Need is....Sleep!

The life of a college student normally includes being broke at some point. Dining on $2 pizza, pinching pennies together and unavoidably mooching or being in debt to a companion is part of the experience; it builds character. There are certain expenses though that are unavoidable such as bills, textbooks and food (or just a massive quantity of ramen). When students do find a little extra in their accounts, it is possible to splurge on some item designed to make life more joyful, and it can be viewed as an investment for the long haul. Some people buy nice clothes, others quality kitchenware, but personally, I invest in my bed.

Is it ridiculous to have 500 thread count cotton/sateen sheets? Probably. Is it ridiculous to have a total of five pillows on my bed at any given time? Also, probably. Is it comfy as hell? You betcha.

Some statistics claim that we spend about one third of our lives sleeping, and while not all of that might be in a bed, or our own beds, I am operating under the assumption that most of my own sleeping will be in my bed. With a third of my lifetime spent sleeping, I might as well do it in comfort and style right? In addition to sleep, I spend a good deal of my homework time sitting criss-cross applesauce (or Indian style) on my bed. Reading and lounging are also normally situated in this location.

Being one of the most time consuming activities in life, sleep covers a whole spectrum of emotional responses. Nightmares and dreams aside, there's always something sacred and calming about sleep, no matter how long it may take to close your eyes at night. Personally, waking up is more attractive than falling asleep. When single, you can roam free along the plains of your sheets, taking up as much room as possible in unimaginable diagonal combination of poses. On the flip side when with someone, well, I'm not even going to fully attempt to describe that warm peaceful delight of opening your eyes with the sun coming in through the windows to shine on the face of that person next to you wrapped in a warm cuddle. Sleep lets you take a pause on life, slow down, recharge, and readjust what is really worth stressing about in life. It calms tempers, resolves arguments, creates a time for a deep breath of serenity and just generally has a warm and fuzzy feeling associated with it for me.

Having been called a narcoleptic in jest, I can and do fall asleep quickly. Don't get me too horizontal, and dim lighting? Well that's just asking for me to fall asleep. While I've been teased for it, I don't mind it. What's wrong with getting more than normal deep sleep?

Besides, I think it's kind of cool that I can sleep through earthquakes.

Wish List Wednesday

It's time for another round of Wish List Wednesday! Yes, I am aware that it is Thursday, but due to my mini vacation and subsequent absence of blog posts since Saturday, I have decided to do two, or maybe even ::gasp:: three entries! Today! Time to start off with the easy visual stuff of WLW.

First off, it's summer. The East Coast is currently in a heat wave. I am landlocked and really really really don't like it. Did I mention my distaste for East Coast humidity? Frankly, I just want to get my booty to a beach and why not do it in some thing new and cute?

This cute little bikini is on my list for two reasons. First, the suit helps me visualize water which mentally cools me down, and secondly, I haven't bought a new suit since the summer after senior year at JHS.

Moving along then, the second item is on a sad note of mourning. Yesterday when going to do my workout, I reached into my bag only to find that my goggles had broken cleanly along the plastic nose piece. Thus, a time of mourning is also an opportunity for new life.

These TYR goggles look similar to my old babies, but we shall see if they can truly fill that sacred place in my heart.

Lastly, the theme of this post seems to be water related activities. I have heard about and read about this kind of contraption but haven't tried it out.

The idea of being able to listen to a playlist while going through my swim workout has always seemed alluring, but the irrational threat of sparks and short-circuiting in my ear in the water is also a big deterrent. That caution factored with the price level of any sort of underwater mp3 device leaves me to think it'll stay on a mystical wish list for a long time.

Hope everyone is staying cool!

Vacation!...kinda

Just a silly little post that has close to no point, but it helps me sleep at night knowing my soul is fulfilled. I am currently on "vacation" aka out of Troy, for 4th of July weekend with my friend Rob in the lovely South, or Maryland. Moral of the story, it feels good to be out of Troy.

In case I don't post for a bit, I leave you with this:
WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!
:D

The Ladies Aren't Buying It

We live in a time where men and women are getting closer and closer to equality. That implies that we can do the same tasks, tackle the same challenges, and as people, there are certain things we want and value equally. Being painted as outdated stereotypes isn't one of them. There are a lot of marketing campaigns and advertisements out there that simply baffle me as to what team thought they could sell a product by putting down half of the entire population.

Many Americans no doubt tuned in this past winter to see the Super Bowl, partially because of the actual sporting event, and partially due to the ads. The advertisement commercials have become as entertaining and looked forward to almost as much as the game itself, yet with such a high viewership, how did the Dodge monstrosity make it through? The Dodge Charger ad paints women as stifling, shrill control freaks who suffocate their boyfriends and husbands with "ridiculous" demands, and so the only way for a man to avoid becoming a castrated lap dog is to "drive the car I want to drive". My question to Dodge, and other marketing strategists, is why can't the man just drive his car for the sake of driving? Last time I checked, men haven't been repressed for untold centuries. A Charger is not some gleaming hope of redemption.

While it is annoying dealing with advertising targeting men that end up putting down women, I would argue that it is much more frustrating seeing marketing for women belittle the very audience they are trying to sell their product or service to. In this local car dealership ad car buying is a scary experience "especially for women". Excuse me? While I'm sure it is nerve wracking for everyone seeking to purchase their first car, it is anything but helpful to be told that it's worse because of your gender. Preaching this out of a smiling woman's mouth is just insulting because it seems like a pretense to cover up a sexist ad. It's okay because a woman said it, right? It's okay if you're trying to add insult to injury. The same tactic of stereotypes and silly ideas about women presented in advertisements by women can be seen in countless products across industries. Is it a product women use? Then you can bet women have been portrayed as silly in it.

One of the refreshing breaths in the media, as far as I'm concerned, has been Sarah Haskins. Her series on InfoMania, "Target Women" is nothing short of amusing as she dissects myths and silly ideas about women in advertisements. While I love Sarah Haskins, it would be nice if she hadn't been able to have as much success with this series. Without something to make fun of, it wouldn't have been around. That would imply equal advertising now wouldn't it though. What I cannot comprehend why so few companies seem to be able to market their products without playing into outdated gender roles.

Some of the best success I have seen on the "female" product end is Dove's current real beauty campaign. The add focuses on real women of all shapes, sizes, ages and elasticities and shows what their products, shampoo, conditioner, body wash and other hygienic products, are used for in a way that highlights the product, not a negative view of the potential user. You might say, well of course it's easy for Dove to have success, their selling products to women that women already use. My response to that are some of the current Old Spice commericals. The newest one, released recently, is a play on the original "I'm on a horse" commercial. It's not the easiest thing to sell men's products to women, just ask any girl about their opinion on Axe. The Old Spice campaigns capture the opposite audience of the product's designed user and successfully entices them to the product in a positive way.


With women making up the majority of retail sales, with 83% of the market and accounting for $4 trillion of the U.S. consumption, I simply don't understand why advertising campaigns fail at marketing to women so often. I would like to see Budweiser release a commercial advertising their beer to women. If we can have women in positions of political power, women employed in scientific fields, why can't we get a little respect when it comes to private consumption?