Food Is Taking Over My Life

     Im slowly figuring out that I have a phobia of being hungry. It's a miracle Im not triple my weight right now. It really bothers me that I have no self control over my eating habits. Sometimes I care, and then sometimes I think that life is too short to not just eat what you want to when you want to. It really is a daily struggle. Now that Im in college and the freshman 15 haunts me everyday, I am a lot more conscious about it. I also feel sorry for the people that are actually struggling with weight issues much more severe than mine. I realize how hard it is for me to just lose a few pounds, and I couldnt imagine the stress accompanied with having to lose any more than that. And what's even worse, is that stress is linked to overeating and weight gain, making it even harder to reach your goal weight.
     What really pisses me off though is how expensive healthy food is in comparison to fatty, greasy, unhealthy junk food as we call it. As a broke college student, there is no wonder freshman 15 is a serious problem. If healthy food was made cheaper for everyone, I guarantee you more people would eat it. Price is another excuse we use not to eat healthy, but sometimes its not even an excuse, it really is just too expensive to live the healthy lifestyle. I will never understand why nutritional foods are more expensive than the foods we are told over and over again not to eat. So frustrating. In the meantime, I'm going to the gym!

Closing Time

     My first semester of college is finally coming to an end. I didnt think the transition was that tough, at least the way people portrayed it to be. Still though, I am glad it is almost over. Im one semester closer to graduating and that is excting to me. Im ready for Christmas break already and a new set of classes (not that I dont like yours). Like always, the end of the semester brings a lot of tests and a lot of stress... which I dont like. I did way better in all of my classes than I thought I would, but Im ready for my finals to be over. With one semester down (almost), I am closer to being able to move into a apartment and have my own bathroom, which is probably what I miss that most. This shouldnt be a surprise coming from a girl.
     In just a few months, Im surprised that I figured out and declared a major so soon. I hated telling people I was exploratory because it seemed like I was just going to college just to go and wasnt working toward anything in particular. Now that I have declared my major as Exercise Science, I feel like im here for a reason. Im also happy that I figured out a career path that Im interested in after graduate school, even though its going to be a looooooong, tough ride. Im just hoping I dont change my mind again so Im not in school any longer than I have to be. I am glad I joined the Pre-Dental Society to help me gain more information about the field I want to go into, or better yet, to make sure its what I want to do.

Thanksgiving Sports Story

     So I cut my Thanksgiving break with my family short in order to make it back to Tallahassee in time to attend my very first FSU vs. UF game. Was it worth it? The score wouldnt say so, but Im still glad I went. I've always wanted to attend a rivalry game, and because it was free there was NO way I would pass up the opportunity. The game was a ton of fun, regardless of our losing score. 37-26 is a score I can live with. Being in the stands for this game was crazy. I saw multiple fights due to gaytor fans making and scene in the middle of the student section! The bottles and popcorn that got thrown at their heads was well deserved. When EJ was hurt it was amazing how the entire stadium starting chanting his name.
     My family is divided so its always an interesting game day at my house. All of my immediate family are Seminole fans but my sister dares to be different and cheer for the gators. She agrees that the gators didnt play well this year, but of course she is still proud of the score with the Noles. I always remind her  that a bad a day as a Seminole is still better than a good day as a Gaytor!!!!
>>>---♥--GO NOLES--♥---->

Thanksgiving

     Thanksgiving this year turned out really well. My family is very dysfunctional and holidays seem to push us all over the edge. Fighting usually breaks out, and it really dampers the traditional "holiday mood." It was the first year that my sisters couldnt make it for Thanksgiving, which was weird, but everything else was close to perfect. Im thankful that I was able to go home for the holiday and see my family! We had 17 people over at my house, so you can imagine how much food there was! The picture below is only ONE table of our feast!

Having REAL home-cooked food was AMAZING, and Im already looking forward to Christmas dinner. It was also my neice's first Thanksgiving, and she loved it. She ate more stuffing than I did! My Thanksgiving night ended with some friends, playing card games, and then I started my 10-hour Black Friday shopping excursion at midnight! P.S. Im still eating Thanksgiving leftovers in my dorm that my sweet mother packed me :)
    Reuniting with all of my friends from high school was also a nice touch to my Thanksgiving break! Our entire posse, minus a few, were able to make it to PCB for the holiday and we all got together like we did before college. This Thanksgiving was definitely the best one yet!

Opposition to Adbuster

The ad im opposing is about the addidas shackle shoes that were taken off the shelves due to rioters. They are linked to a pair of hand-cuffs, with the phrase "What's the Difference?" across the photo. One view is that the media and consumers are taking this shoe design out of proportion and the design did not purposely relate to slavery.

I oppose this view. For starters, I think that the designer definitely knew what this design would spark. Slavery is a sensitive issue, and the designer should have known that incorporating shackles on these shoes would hit home for some and offend many others. Some symbols will always bring back memories from the past, and there is a line that should not be crossed. Certain symbols can not be used to mean or portray other messages, like handcuffs for example. The designer could pretend to not know what he was getting into, or he could say he didn't mean the handcuffs to be a symbol of slavery; however, I do not believe this. Because slavery is real, using these shackles in the shoe design is a sign of disrespect, especially to those with ancestors that were in slavery. In a professional market, this design is very UNprofessional and I'm glad they were discontinued.

Politics in Sports

     In my adbuster, I can include how international teams promote patriotic pride. The games inspire citizens to have a sense of pride for their country that they would not otherwise have. It allows a country to put aside their differences and come together and support one uniform sport. Sports also allow different countries to remain allies and maintain good-standing relationships among the countries and the athletes.
     Even areas of very diverse racial and ethnic groups come together to support a local team and spark conversation about the team's performance, feeling pride for their city or their country, despite the major differences between their groups that keep them segregated otherwise. If sports were not in play, such groups would have no incentive to communicate.
     I could also touch on how government regulation in sports is used to protect our athletes. This relates to my adbuster because the Statue of Liberty is a very symbolic figure that we take very good care of.
   

Jerry Sandusky Scandal

     Jerry Sandusky, former assistant football coach under Joe Paterno for Pennsylvania State now sits among death row inmates as he was found guilty on "45 of 48 counts of molesting 10 boys in a 15-year period," and was sentenced to at least 30 years in prison. Although he retired before the scandal leaked, Sandusky created a non-profit organization called The Second Mile, where he served the underprivileged youth. He continued working with these children after his retirement in 1999, and this is said to be where he met his molestation victims.
     Joe Paterno, Penn State head coach, was fired and died of cancer shortly after. The University President, Graham B. Spanier, was also dismissed. Apparently, they were both alerted of at least one of Sandusky's incidents and failed to take the necessary steps against him. He claims he mentioned it to athletic director, Tim Curley, who failed to report the incident and was also arrested and charged. 
     Many of the victims spoke out against Sandusky during his trial, admitting that Sandusky has violated them, made sexual advancements both in the shower on Penn State campus, and in Sandusky's home. He was also accused of writing them "creepy letters," which Sandusky says were just to keep up with them. Sandusky's lawyer, Joseph Amendola, repeatedly questioned the victims, and asked if anyone had witnessed the "uncomfortable situations with Sandusky in the shower." Several witnesses said yes and shared their story. Why were these incidents not reported and brought to attention then?

     Jerry Sandusky's wife, Dorothy Sandusky, when asked if she had "ever seen inappropriate contact between her husband and the many young boys," said that the only thing she recalls in one of the boys being overly affectionate with her husband (yeah right!!).

“They can take away my life, they can make me out as a monster, they can treat me as a monster, but they can’t take away my heart. In my heart, I know I did not do these alleged, disgusting acts. My wife has been my only sex partner and that was after marriage.”

“I didn’t say he would put them to bed,” Mrs. Sandusky said firmly. “He would go down and tell them good night.”

Adbuster Photos

I am thinking of putting the football or some other figure that reflects sports into the hand of the statue of liberty in place of the torch. The Statue of Liberty is such a known symbol just as sports is today. 

Adbuster

     For my adbuster I'm not sure what visual to use yet but I would like for it to involve the stereotype that many athletes are not educated or poorly educated. They are often portrayed as getting scholarships simply for their athletic abilities rather than there academic accomplishments. Some say it doesn't matter, and some say its not fair. I would like to analyze both sides of this argument.
     Another idea I have is to have the Statue of Liberty holding up a football or a professional player to symbolize the huge impact sports play in our lives each and every day. Sports are often put on a pedestal putting sports in a position of high adoration, much like the Statue of Liberty. People wish to see the Statue in person much like people wish to watch sports in person.
     Just as the torch in her hand lights up the world, sports are often of means of enlightenment and escape from a dark reality. To many Americans, the statue represents freedom and the American Dream. Sports also have this effect on people. Becoming part of a team and making a career out of sports in often a dream come true to athletes and they feel very blessed and satisfied to have the opportunity.  I could also talk about how sports across cultures and even countries bring people together, just at it represents the United States and France as allies. Sports bring people of different races, genders, and sexuality together, building strong coalitions between Americans and other countries, just as France and the United States did.