Soundtrack to Jessica's Life

“Girls Just Want to Have Fun” – Cyndi Lauper

“When the working day is done/ Girls-they want to have fun/Oh girls just want to have fun”

This is by far my favorite song of all time, and even through its extremely old, no other song can top it.  The point of the song is to say that all girls want to do is have fun, and that’s true, so what could be better than that?  Also, when my best friend and I were younger, we would get dressed up and lip-sync to the song with hairbrushes in front of the mirror.  And in first grade, we made up a dance to the song and performed it at our elementary school talent show; we ended up winning.  With so many good memories of the song and my childhood I always am in a good mood when I hear the song.

“Tubthumping" by Chumbawamba

“I get knocked down, but I get up again/You’re never going to keep me down”

When I first heard this song I was in the car with my dad and my older sister going to a hockey game in Milwaukee.  Hearing it at age seven, I thought the song was about hockey, and when the players “get knocked down” they "get up again" and continue playing.  Later, I found out that wasn’t what the song was about, but my dad made it a point to play it while we were driving to every hockey game, it became a tradition.  For my high school graduation, my dad got me a card that sang “I get knocked down, but I get up again/You’re never going to keep me down” and wrote a message about how it relates to life; every time I get knocked down, I have to get back up and keep trying to pursue my dreams.  I now listen to the song when I am feeling down and it always motivates me to “get up again.”

“Shots” – LMFAO

This song is my favorite “party” song.  It has catchy lyrics and a good beat that always makes me want to party.  Here at Madison, my friends and I all have our favorite “pump up” or “going out” songs that we listen to while we get ready to go out and this song is by far my favorite.  

“Summertime” by Kenny Chesney

I look forward to summer every year so I can listen to this song.  “School’s out and the nights roll in/Man, just like a long lost friend/You ain’t seen in awhile/And you can’t help but to smile.”  Not only is summer my favorite season because it’s warm and there’s no school, but also I have so much free time to spend with my friends and family.  Every summer my family mainly stays at our lake house and we go swimming, wakeboarding, and tubing on a daily basis.  Its so much fun to have all the people I love around in my favorite place in the world (our lake) during the best season of the year.  I already have a count down of the days until summer (about 172 days until summer break).

Any song by Taylor Swift

Going though my iTunes to find what songs to include, I realized over half of my “top 25 most played” songs were by Taylor Swift.  This is probably because we are both teenaged girls and we’re going though the same things.  From the break up songs like “Picture to Burn,” “Should Have Said No,” and “White Horse” to the songs abut wanting boys who don’t like you (“I’d Lie,” “Teardrops on My Guitar,” and “You Belong With Me”) or the songs about being happy with boys like “Sparks Fly,” “I’m Only Me When I’m With You,” and “Our Song.”  It seems like every time she releases a new album I find myself listening to it on repeat for hours because it reminds me so much of my life.

Citation practice

One if the leading causes of childhood obesity in America is the lack of exercise amongst youth. Previous generations often played sports, walked to school, and enjoyed outside activities as forms of entertainment. New generations do the opposite; their form of entertainment includes watching television or playing video games ("Three Leading Causes of Childhood Obesity).


"The Three Leading Causes of Childhood Obesity." The Health Care Center. 2008. Web. 20 Nov. 2010.


In my paper I want to include some of the leading causes of why there is a dramatic change in the amount of children who are overweight.  This will be one of my arguments with some statistics and facts to back it up.  From this I want to show what affect childhood obesity has on the United States as a whole, so I think showing where most of this comes from will be useful to the reader.

Cottonelle's Commercial "Puppy Gets Pampered"

In Cottonelle's Commercial "Puppy Gets Pampered," a yellow lab puppy spends the day at a salon being pampered.  First he shows up in a nice car to a huge mansion, where he is greeted at the door and brought inside.  He gets "perfect paws, a little rub, a bit of a trim," and ultimately looks "sexy."  A woman announcer then states that when we demand the best toilet paper, we have to try Cottonelle's Ultra toilet paper because "it is the ultimate way to be kind to [our] behind[s]."  The commercial ends with the puppy in a bath tub relaxing and enjoying his "me time."  This commercial has appeared on TV the past few months, but I don't know if it is on TV anymore.

This commercial is supposed to convince its audience that if they buy and use Cottonelle Ultra toilet paper they will also live a luxurious, pampered life.  Also, it uses a cute puppy to catch the audience's attention because most people love puppies and this commercial shows one doing cute things.  The Cottonelle's Commercial "Puppy Gets Pampered" fits in the category "need to nurture" from Fowles' list of advertising techniques.  The main audience for this ad is females because it shows a puppy going to a salon, a place where mostly females hang out.  I categorized it as a "need to nurture" commercial because most of the time women shop for things like toilet paper and they are more aware of small things like types of toilet paper than men, and usually women fall for this type of advertising more than men do.  I find the ad somewhat effective, it certainly fits in a category from Fowlers' list, but I'm not sure if I would buy the product because it doesn't really talk about the toilet paper itself-it mainly shows a puppy at a salon.

link to commercial on youtube

Research Question Blog

Why is childhood obesity a rapidly growing issue in the United States?   Or

What is causing the increase in childhood obesity in the United State?

I know its not recommended to use a “why” questions, however I find it more interesting to find out why obesity is becoming such a big issue rather than what is causing it.  I haven’t fully decided which would be better and I am considering doing somewhat of both.  I think I am going to explain what the causes (using statistics to back up my point) of how children are becoming more and more overweight.  While I haven’t started my research yet, I think it would be interesting to show how the rate of childhood obesity has grown so much from years ago and compare that to the different ways of life from years ago.  I would include information on how technology has changed and how there are more food options, a lot of them not as healthy, compared to years ago.  With that I would explain how the issue is growing and causing numerous health problems and also lowered self esteem in the overweight children.  Another thing I would possibly include is how our childhood obesity rate is growing a lot more than other countries to show that the United State’s has a higher rate.

I find this topic really important because when I was younger I was overweight.  Towards the end of elementary school and early in middle school I was forced to completely change my way of life; everything from my eating habits to how I exercise has changed.  

Racism (Rand)

Rand’s main argument in her essay “Racism” is that the Civil Rights Act of 1964 will not prevent racism from occurring.  She states that the act only encourages the separation of groups because it singles out the minorities to give them more rights while it takes away rights of majority groups.  Her solution to this problem is to have the government take no part when it comes to the subject; instead she believes discrimination will end if the government only supports individual rights. 

            While Rand’s points are interesting, she has no evidence to back up what she is saying.  There are no facts in her piece, only her opinion.  She has no facts to back up her idea that if the government did not get involved with the issue racism would end.  Also she uses the idea of capitalism to promote a truly free society, however not country in the world is completely capitalist, making her point confusing.  Since this article has been written, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 has showed improvement throughout the country.  While racism occurs daily it is nothing like what it used to be like, and I believe that the act has helped and will continue to help make our country “colorblind.”

Solution to Saturday's Puzzle (Sdaris)

I found Sedaris’ piece, Solution to Saturday’s Puzzle, entertaining and somewhat funny.  I thought the part where he discussed how he worked on the crossword puzzle and thought other people would be impressed at how quickly he could complete the puzzle was funny.  Also, it was funny that he wasn’t even filling out the puzzle correctly, he was only writing mean things about the woman sitting next to him.  The story was interesting and was better than some of the other things we have read, but I wouldn’t consider it to be a really funny piece.

Joke:
Little Johnny goes to his father and asks, "Dad, is god a man or a woman?" 
His Dad replies, "Johnny, both. God is both." 
Johnny asks, "Dad, is god black or white?' 
His Dad says, "Both. God is both." 
Ok, then Johnny asks, "Dad, is Michael Jackson God?"

The Klansman Who Won't Use The N-Word (Ronson)

            In Ronson’s piece, The Klansman who won’t use the N-Word, he is describing how a leader of the Ku Klux Klan is trying to change the image of the Klan.  Ronson mentions that Thom Robb, a leader of the KKK, is trying to change how people outside the Klan perceive the group, so more people join and there will be more support for the goals and ideas of the Klan.  During his speech, Thom states that the n-word is not to be said by Klansmen, the white robes and headpieces are to be only worn on certain occasions and the poor representations that the media conveys of the Klan will not change unless the Klan changes.  Also, Thom makes it clear that the goals of the Klan are still the same, white supremacy, however the way they go about achieving that goal needs to change because their current method isn’t as effective as it used to be.  Ronson is also gesturing towards a wider concern when he talks about the people he met.  He makes sure to state where the people are from and how they have different personalities, showing the different kinds of people who are in the Klan.

            In my opinion the new Klan that Ronson discusses is somewhat of an improvement compared to the old, however it is still not acceptable.  While it is an improvement that Thom wants his Klansmen to not wear the ropes and not say the n-word, all of the ideas that were the cause of the Klan in the first place are still present.  By not using offensive language, the Klansmen can appear on television shows and their quotes can be published.  This is in a way good for the Klan so they create a positive image in the media, however with the same driving force behind the Klan, the message they share may not be appropriate today, even without offensive words.  I thought it was especially confusing when Ronson tried on a Klansman robe and headpiece.  It is ironic that a Jewish person would be willing to wear an outfit of a group that doesn’t approve of his religion.  All in all I thought the piece was interesting because it showed Ronson in a situation that could make him uncomfortable and how the Klan is trying to change their image from many years ago.

Bitch (Beverly Gross) Blog

     In Beverly Gross's Bitch, her main point was that there are multiple definitions for the word bitch, but the definition can depend on who you ask to define it.  Gross goes from giving the definition of bitch from the Oxford English Dictionary, "a female dog or [a word] applied opprobriously to a woman; strictly a lewd or sensual woman" to Claude Brown's account of how a bitch is just another word for a female (77).  Through her various sources there are many trends that appear.  For example, many of the sources state that mostly women are bitches, and that they are mean, selfish, annoying or promiscuous.  Also she backes up the dictionary definitions with examples that her students gave.  Her students generally agreed with some of the definitions, but others were never mentioned.  Most females today would not consider a bitch to be a woman who threatens male power, while the same might not be true for what males think.  Also, the term bitch isn't used as often as Claude Brown states, because it is considered inappropriate by most people today.  All in all, the definition of what a bitch is can vary depending on who the definition comes from.

     In my opinion, Gross's piece is very convincing and I would agree that most people have different definitions for bitch.  I like how she uses different sources from when the word first originated to more updated slang dictionaries because it shows how the word has changed slightly through the years.  Although the piece is somewhat dated, I think the point of the piece is very effective.  Personally I am offended by Eugene Landy's Underground Dictionary definition which states a bitch is a "female who is mean, selfish, cruel, malicious, deceiving aka cunt.  Female.  See Female" (78).  His definition describes all female as being this way which is not accurate.  I also don't think bitch should be interchangeable with female, like Claude Brown states, because I was always taught that calling someone a bitch was inappropriate.  I would agree with the definition of a bitch as being someone who is annoying, self-absorbed, snobby, or pushy, but I think that some of the definitions she gives are over the top and inaccurate.

Jessica

Jessica's English 100 Blog