It's Not That Easy

It is our job as Americans, or even generally as humans, to help one another out, but how are we supposed to tell who truly needs help, and who is just trying to play us to get our help when they don’t truly need it? This has been a question that state sponsored welfare programs have been trying to answer for years. One method of determining who deserves to be a part of these welfare programs is through a drug test. Anyone who fails the drug test is not eligible to be a part of welfare. State legislators and their supporters feel that this will help prevent abuse to the system by stopping people from spending welfare money on drugs.

This is a terrible idea. It’s immoral, and has potential to ruin lives. Our country is not meant to judge it’s people, yet some states have no problem denying people money they require based on what substances they have in their system? A person on drugs is still a human, and just like every other human in this world, deserves our help. Just because someone is under the influence of drugs doesn’t mean they don’t need help. They could be a hard working parent who lost their job and (unfortunately) turned to drugs for relief. They have gone done drugs and now want to change to make themselves better. Many times the people doing drugs are the people that need the welfare money most, yet because of a small demographic that spends all their welfare money on drugs, we are preventing people who honestly need money from getting it. Also, consider that there are plenty of ways to easily and legally abuse your welfare money. The country instantly jumps to banning people who have drugs in their system, but doesn’t even think about how much the system gets abused illegally. Someone could just as easily go and spend all their welfare money buying a new TV. In fact, legal abuse of the welfare system is probably worse than drug abuse in the system. Consider this piece from an article about Massachusetts state welfare, “A Team 5 Investigation found more than $2.3 million in Massachusetts welfare money ... has been spent in locations outside the state in a three-month period, including pricey vacation destinations like Hawaii, Las Vegas, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands,” (WCVB Boston). The people that abuse the welfare system can do it easily without breaking the law, so why block a person from a welfare check based on something as superficial as a drug test. Also, consider that if people know they cannot get welfare if they don’t pass a drug test, they will probably just stop doing drugs temporarily to pass the test, then just continue after. People taking the test know this too. Consider how in Florida, out of everyone that was interested in welfare, “7,030 passed, 32 failed and 1,597 did not provide results,” (NY Times). This very clearly shows that not many people are taking the test if they are under the influence of drugs, or if they are under the influence of drugs, they probably are not providing the results.

Implementing a drug test for welfare candidates does not seem to fix the real issue here. What we should have is a more intense screening process. It shouldn’t be easy to obtain welfare. People should be screened in depth and their records should be examined. The state should get to know them and consider every factor possible when making such a life changing decision about someone. Basing welfare checks on any one superficial quality is wrong, and should be stopped. It’s not our job, as humans, to judge one another, and it should be no different for the government or our country.

Why Bother Drilling Deeper?

Offshore oil drilling is one of the most commonly debated endeavors that the US has partaken in. On one side, you have the environmentalists, who are concerned about the effects of this drilling on our environment. On the other side, you have the oil companies, who need to make money by providing increasing amounts of oil to support America’s demand for the resource and the energy it can produce. Many people feel that they need to take a side with one of these entities and fight for said group, but I do not feel that this is necessarily true. When evaluating the factors that should be most important when considering the expansion of offshore drilling, the most important factor that people should look at is the alternative methods of producing energy in America, rather than which side has the “best” ideas.

Whenever a new bill comes out proposing expansion of offshore oil drilling, you always have the environmentalists opposing the bill, and the oil companies agreeing with the bill. There is never a way to make both parties happy. Even if there is a compromise between the two and a smaller number of drilling plants are approved, then both parties are still unhappy, because the environmentalists don’t want any increase at all, while the oil companies want as much increase as possible. In reality there is no way to please both entities, because one wants no offshore drilling at all, and the other wants to fill the entire ocean with them to turn more profit. John Broder, a writer for the New York Times, illustrates this constant displeasure between the two groups in his article titled U.S. To Open New Areas to Offshore Drilling. In this article, Broder discusses a proposed plan for offshore drilling in America. This plan offers a compromise by only adding a few offshore drilling rigs compared to the many requested. Even with this relatively even plan, “Oil industry officials quickly criticized the plan,” and, “Environmental advocates responded vehemently to the new plan,” (Broder). Both entities can never be pleased, so it becomes rather pointless to argue or debate. What we should be focusing on is how we can create a viable source of energy that can make money for the oil companies and keep environmentalists happy. The US cannot depend on oil forever, so why not focus on finding alternative sources while we are relatively comfortable with the sources we have now? This would fix our issues when deciding whether or now to expand offshore drilling, because it would eventually become obsolete. This would not be a quick process, but if it were embraced by oil companies, then both in the long run, oil companies could make lots of money selling clean, renewable energy, and environmentalists would be happy about the new path the oil companies are taking.

Some companies are realizing this already and starting to research renewable energy, but they don’t put nearly as much resources into this alternative research compared to their main oil and gas production. A good example of this is demonstrated in an article by Jad Mouawad in the New York Times. Mouawad says that the oil company Shell, “Spent $1.7 billion since 2004 on alternative projects,” but that the amount was much smaller than the, “$87 billion it spent over the same period on its oil and gas projects,” (Mouawad). I firmly believe that if major companies truly put in the effort to find a renewable energy source, they could not only become very wealthy, but also solve the problem of depending on a nonrenewable resource, and keep environmentalists happy. This would all take dedication and a leap of faith by major oil companies, but it is going to have to happen eventually, so it’s better start now than later.

No, They Will Not.

Deciding where to take one’s education after high school is perhaps the most important decision a young adult has to make in his or her life. There seems to be a growing percentage of people who believe that college is not worth it or that it and that education above high school is pointless. Michael Ellsberg has a strong opinion towards college. In his article titled “Will Dropouts Save America?”, Ellsberg argues that not going to college gives students an advantage in the real world. I feel that this position makes no sense and that it could adversely effect success in the lives of students who read the article.

The argument Ellsberg starts out the article with is that some of the most successful people in the world are college drop outs. One of his main examples is Steve Jobs, who dropped out of college, to create Apple. He indirectly suggests that by not attending college Jobs was able to create his company Apple. What Ellsberg fails to mention in his article is that Steve Jobs did have some sort of education after high school. After he dropped out of college, Jobs continued to take separate college courses including a course on calligraphy. This course on calligraphy later inspired him to include different fonts in his computers, which ended up being one of the most unique and sought-after features of the first Apple computers when they came out. In his 2005 Commencement address to Stanford students, Jobs said, “If I had never dropped in on that single course in college, the Mac would have never had multiple typefaces,” (Jobs). What college did for Jobs is important, it gave him inspiration. Which is what I believe College should do for everyone.

Another argument Ellsberg makes is that college breeds people to work for someone else when they should be creating their own businesses. This argument honestly makes me mad. Ellsberg acknowledges that school doesn’t really teach children how to run a business, so how is anyone supposed to create and properly manage a business if they don’t have any education on how to do so? Ellsberg is basically telling students that it’s perfectly fine to just jump in and make a business without having any knowledge on managing money or people. Doing this would set anyone up for failure. In fact, Ellsberg understands this and believes that "entrepreneurs must embrace failure," (Ellsberg). What he fails to explain is how anyone could turn that failure into success without having knowledge on how to run a business. Also consider that if a majority of people decided to create their own businesses, there would be a lack of workers and businesses would not have much to differentiate themselves from the giant mass of other similar small companies. If everyone followed Ellsberg's advice and dropped out of college to create their own businesses, the only thing America would have is a bunch of businesses that are not run properly and that are likely to fail.

The arguments Ellsberg makes are either totally illogical or misinterpreted. Through his writing, Ellsberg could lead students down a path of destruction, a dark path where learning is not important and success is just handed to people without college degrees. I guess if anything can be taken from Ellsberg's article, it's that students should always make their own decisions. No two people's situations are alike, so it's very important to look at the facts objectively and make a decision that's right for you. I firmly believe that if you do this and make all your decisions based on what you believe and what your goals are, then the only thing you can be is successful.

So Much To Do, So Little Time

Our world today seems to be so rushed and hurried with everything we do. We speed around to get everything done and pack our days with millions of tasks to the point where we get easily overwhelmed. Think about how many times you’ve heard a friend say something like, “I am so stressed, I have so much stuff to do today.” We force ourselves to speed through every little task to make others happy and meet our own set of quotas, but at what point do we simply have too much to do? At what point are we hurting ourselves to get tasks done rather than improving our lives through those tasks? I think that many Americans already suffer from this overload of work, and the issue really needs to be addressed and dealt with.

Everyone should try to limit their work to only the things that they truly have time for. If we just rush through every task we have to do, we are bound to either do a terrible job on said task or improve nothing about ourselves in the process of completing the task. You should take your time to do your best work and get the best experience from the task you are completing. After all, finding your difficulties in some projects will only make your next project better. Some may say that they simply have to complete a certain task and they need to rush through it so they can have it done for a specific day. When you come into situations like this, planning ahead can help improve your situation. You could try splitting up your project into different sections. There is always something you can do to decrease your stress in any situation.

It’s important for individuals to recognize how long it will take for him or her to complete a certain projects and plan ahead for it. Whether it be writing an English essay or simply doing your spring cleaning, it’s always important to prevent stress and do the best job you can. In the end, forcing yourself to rush through a project won’t get you anywhere and should be avoided at all costs.

Body Modification and Society

Whether it be simple body piercings or extreme modifications, there seems to be a natural draw to changing our bodies into something that better reflects how we view ourselves. The problem is that many people find these modifications unprofessional or even foolish. I do not understand this argument. Every day, almost every person in the world makes a decision about how they will look through the clothing they wear. It’s only logical to assume that they choose this clothing to show people their personality and style, so why is it so different when someone makes a modification to their body for the same exact reason? You could even think about it from the other side; what makes someone in a business suit without any piercings or modifications so professional? When we define professionalism based on someone’s looks, we are bound to be mislead. Someone with 12 piercings could be just as professional as someone with none.

Another popular argument is that you should be happy with your body and not want to change it just to make yourself look better. This is another thing I can’t wrap my head around. Everything I do is to improve myself emotionally, not physically. If I get a piercing, it’s not just to look cool, it’s to show myself and the world who I am on the inside, to truly connect my mind and body. If you’re going to criticize me for that, then go ahead, because honestly, I don’t care what you think.

Body modification is still a taboo subject, even in our seemingly accepting present day culture. If people really took the time to think about the topic at hand, instead of blindly spewing hate, we would probably have a much different view of professionalism and individuality in our culture. I hope that we can finally see the error in our ways and think of everyone equally, no matter how they look.

Landing on Your Feet

I have recently obtained a miniature panda bear figurine. For the greater portion of the day, he sits right on top of my computer screen, but sometimes when I walk into my room at the end of the day, he’s curiously sitting on my desk, standing right side up, almost as if he made it there himself. Many people would just assume that this inanimate object fell off the top of my monitor and happened to land right side up. I like to imagine otherwise. You see, my monitor has the entire computer tower built into the back of the screen, and likewise, it can get quite warm on the top of the computer. This leads me to believe that my miniature panda figure was getting way too warm and just wanted to cool down on the comfortable, room temperature desk.

I guess, in all honesty, this lifeless creature probably just fell from the top of my computer and landed upright by chance, but there is something inside me that sees a deeper meaning in this occurrence, something that was planned. For the next few days, I’m just going to leave this panda on my desk, because when it comes down to it, everything is not what it seems, and I prefer it to be that way.

Or Maybe They're Just Dots of Ink?

Every time I look over at him, he’s staring right at me. Even when I don’t have the pleasure of seeing it, I can feel it. It’s almost as if his eyes are laser beams, slowly making their impression on my skull as he gazes at me for hours. It happens every day now. I don’t know what to do, I don’t know what to say. I don’t know if I even have the authority to do or say anything. All I know is his gaze is powerful. I can only imagine what he might be thinking. Is he planning an attack on me? Is he trying to read my mind? Is he just interested in me? Why he stares, I’ll never know, so I guess I’ll always be stuck with an uneasy feeling of paranoia ringing through my body. A feeling I relive every time I think about him and those little black eyes that seem as though they could stare into the deepest part of your soul.

Rolling in the Mud

Ever since I met him, he’s been quite gross and dirty. I really don’t want to offend him, so I don’t know what to do. I can’t just go right up to him and tell him he needs to bathe—that would be rude—so what am I to do? Even if I do ask him, he is extraordinarily shy, and I bet he wouldn’t even answer. Should I just wash him myself? I really can’t deal with his filthiness. He’s only been in my room for two days, and every time I look down at him, I just want to throw him in a bucket of soapy water and clean his fur back to it’s once white glow. I guess I’ll spare him the embarrassment of calling him out on his filthiness. He is only a small panda, so he probably likes being dirty anyway.

Lyophilisation

Lyophilisation, or freeze drying, is an increasingly popular technology used in our society. This process uses differences in pressure and temperature to quickly remove water from an item and leave it in it’s original state for an extended period of time without having to worry about it decaying. We see this process used all the time with the freeze dried foods we eat, but new breakthroughs in science are improving this process and bringing more applications to freeze drying than ever thought before. Scientists can now freeze dry dead animals. This improved process has lead to the creation of some quite amazing products. Known most popularly by Americans is the freeze dried South Korean mini-panda. This panda is no more than an inch in length. When these pandas die, they are freeze dried, causing the panda to remain in it’s current position forever. They still look cute, they still feel fuzzy, but now humans can carry around this beautiful piece of nature in their pockets for the rest of their lives.

Creativity in a Can

Go into a big city, and you are bound to see it everywhere. It covers walls, trains, and even entire buildings. It’s graffiti, and the place it has in our culture is debated quite frequently.

Some people feel that graffiti is ugly, that it’s a destruction of property, that it ruins the appearance of the structures that society has worked so hard to build up. I do not agree with this opinion, I think it is an outdated view, and needs to be rethought. Consider how many man made structures are around us that we have just left to rot away. These structures are far more ugly than the creatively painted designs the are graffitied onto them.

Now, I am not saying that all graffiti is great. When people decide to graffiti for a malicious purpose, then it can become a problem. Spray painting meaningless lines or words onto the brand new commuter rail car requires no creativity, and really ruins the perception of our society as a whole; we are seen as a society of destruction, rather than creation.

Fortunately, the majority of graffiti that I see is creative, original, and gets people talking. In many areas, the graffiti is the most interesting and beautiful feature in the area. This creativity, provided by members of our culture, brings creativity and life into what was once rotting steel and crumbling brick, a feat many would only dream of achieving.

While graffiti may be illegal in many areas, I feel that a good majority of it is done for the greater good of the people, and for that I commend the artists who risk legal action to bring creativity and beauty back into our increasingly bleak culture.

The Negative Side of Caring

Care is a word that is typically used in a positive context. If I had to define the word care, I would say that care is having concern for a subject and taking action for said subject. You might care for your ill grandmother by visiting her and helping her with chores. You might care about the life choices your friend is making and try to lead them down a better path. Every time we hear the word care or think of the act of caring, we always envision to a positive, kind, loving action. Rarely seen is caring’s negative side, a side to caring that doesn’t fit into it’s normal heartfelt definition. This negative side is simply caring too much.

There is nothing that bothers me more than when people care too much about me, my actions, or my preferences. Some people just think that it is their job to fix everything about me, no matter how minute the detail may be. People care about how I look, people care about my personality, they care about what kind of computer I use, they care about my glasses, they care about practically every part of me, and they want to change each of these aspects to better suit themselves. I still will never understand why people care so much about such mundane things. Some might say that they are just trying to help, but these things are what make me who I am, and I don’t need anyone telling me that I need to change them. Maybe everyone just needs to sit down and think about what they really care about. I’m sure there are plenty of subjects to care about that are more important than what I choose to wear to school today.

Paper Bag in the Wind

It has been far too long. I have been sitting here for the past two weeks, getting nearly no attention, and I’m ready to move on. It’s always sad to leave, but I feel that it is really my time to go. There is no use in me just sitting here, so it’s really for the better if I move on and find someone else to inspire. My whole experience has been a great one. I’ve been the topic of many discussions and have been analyzed from top to bottom. Now that my goal has been achieved, it’s time to move on. I can’t help but feel like a piece of paper floating in the wind, just waiting to see who I might blow in front of next.

True Creativity

Using simple items as a form of entertainment has been a popular theme throughout American culture. Consider one of the most popular toys of all time, the Slinky. What more is a Slinky than a giant spring? Despite it’s outstanding simplicity, we still use it as a source of entertainment today.

There is one item that’s entertainment value is often unacknowledged; the paper bag. Children in our country now have pre-made puppets to play with, but where’s the fun in that? Sure they get to play out a scene and might have fun doing that, but how much greater is it to create something on your own and see it come to life. If you give a kid a box of crayons and a simple brown paper bag, they can make anything come to life right before their eyes.

Sharing a Room with 199 Siblings

Anyone who has brothers or sisters know that the entire point of your life is to pester them; in a similar way, it is their life goal to bother you. This can be exasperating to say the least, but for me the annoyance is even greater. I have spent my entire life right next to my brothers and sisters. We have all been in the same place, together, since the day we were born. As you might imagine this generates quite a bit of problems. My brothers constantly try to hog all the limited space we have, while my sisters won’t stop complaining about how they want to get out of this place. I can’t really blame them, because living in the bottom draw waiting all our lives to be used can get very boring.

New Purpose

It is truly amazing how quick the entire process was. One minute I’m just standing there, the next I’m in a factory. I always knew this day would come sooner or later, but that didn’t really help ease my nerves when the event transpired. The process was beginning now. First, they tore off my skin so I could be treated easier. This was quite painful, but was not as terrible as I had imagined. I then was dunked into a vat of chemicals that started to slowly dissolve most of the matter I was made up of. After a bath in these chemicals, all that was left of me was cellulose fibers. These final fibers that once made up my body were then washed, rolled into sheets, cut, and folded. At least now humans can use me for their lunches. I guess.

Discarded

It was dark. I could hear machinery whirring all around me, an eerie sound that seemed unescapable. Instantly I feared for the worst; I was done for, and there was nothing I could do about it. The stories passed around between my acquaintances were far too familiar to me; fairly soon I would be making my way down a cold, unforgiving, conveyor belt, never to be seen again.

Sure enough, I found myself traveling down a conveyor belt. Crumpled, incapacitated, unable to move, every bit of liveliness inside me was drained. Without any chance of escape, I decided I would just have to accept my fate; I was being incinerated, and there was nothing I could do about it. It’s hard to imagine that just a few days ago I was carrying someone’s lunch, but I guess no one keeps a paper bag forever; eventually one day we must be discarded.

My TV is Killing Me

Every day, it seems as if some researcher is coming out with a new study claiming that some typical everyday task is killing us, or some other crazy theory. One recent study published in Pediatrics showed how watching the popular children’s cartoon, “SpongeBob SquarePants,” can cause brain degradation in children. Honestly, I don’t understand how scientists can make this link. How can watching a simple television show cause brain damage? It seems like nothing can be good in our society, everything has to have a negative part to it, or something wrong with it. This is really disappointing to me, because I feel that something as variable as a television show cannot be defined as simply good or bad. While constant viewing of a show might cause some people to misinterpret it’s content, there is one thing that many scientists do not really think about; does the benefits of a show outweigh the negatives? In the case of SpongeBob, I feel that the benefits outweigh the negatives. People, especially children, need to have fun and need to be creative. SpongeBob is a great example of a character who inspires children to have fun and express themselves. As a child, I know a main source of my creativity were through television shows like SpongeBob. It inspired most of my childhood artwork, it got me talking with other children, and taught me valuable life lessons. I would say my childhood was greatly improved because of SpongeBob, and the positives of the show definitely outweigh the negatives. If this research on SpongeBob is true, then I guess the brain damage was worth it.

Feeling (Double) Down

Fast food companies in the United States are constantly trying to change the way we think of food. Some try to persuade people to eat healthier, like Subway, who encourages Americans to try a baked crispy chicken sandwich instead of it’s fried alternative. Others, however, try to convince us that it’s okay to eat unhealthy foods. Kentucky Fried Chicken, who tries to persuade people to consume bacon, cheese, and mayonnaise shoved between two pieces of fried chicken, is a great example of a company’s disregard for it’s customer’s health.

I honestly cannot fathom why anyone would willingly consume any of food that is so blatantly unhealthy. Our culture stresses the importance of a healthy diet through schooling, government support, and advertisement, so why is it that many Americans still continue to support an unhealthy lifestyle? I believe this decision is based largely around the low cost and convenience of living an unhealthy lifestyle. You can go to practically any fast food chain and in under a minute have a meal for less than five dollars without leaving your car. That’s quite impressive! What is the cost of this to your health, though? You might contract diabetes, you might become prone to heart failure, or, at very least, you might feel bad or sick. Some of these risks are possibly deadly. Does it really make sense make yourself prone to certain health implications just for a cheap meal? People might argue that they don’t feel sick and they enjoy the convenience of unhealthy fast food, but just because there aren’t any repercussions at the current moment, doesn’t mean there won’t be any in the future.

My suggestion to everyone would be to seriously consider trying a healthier diet. If you look hard enough, you can still find cheap healthy food that is easy to obtain or make. You don’t even have to completely cut out fast food from your diet; just try a healthier fast food, or eat fast food less than you do now. I guarantee that if you truly attempt to live a healthier lifestyle, you will feel much better about yourself and your future.

The Ballad of the Paper Bag

Have you ever noticed the way a paper bag folds up? Next time you see one, take a close look at it. When the bag is folded down, it appears to just be a flat piece of brown paper, but when you unfold it, it becomes something different, it changes into a three-dimensional object. To me it is extraordinarily amusing to watch this process unfold. It’s almost like reading a pop up book when I was a little kid; there is just something interesting about the way the lifeless paper can jump right up, move around, and change. Maybe I’m crazy, but next time you see a paper bag, take a closer look and maybe you will be just amazed as I am.

A Paper Bag in a World Filled With Lunch Boxes

When people think of emotions, they typically envision the feelings and instincts of humans. Are emotions reserved to humans, though? Let me let you in on a little known secret; humans are not the only ones who get to experience emotions. Believe it or not, practically every object in this world has emotions, they have just been too shy to convey them to humans. Well, I want to break that stereotype and let humans know how I feel. The more days I sit here by myself, the more melancholy I feel. I’m always left alone, just laying here. Nobody has even bothered to stand me up or move me around. I’m not even granted the simple act of getting fresh air; something that so many humans take for granted. I’ve never had a purpose, and I have been of little use to anyone around me.

I want someone to share their lunch with me. I want someone to take me with them to school or work. I want to be acknowledged. For now I suppose I’m stuck sitting here, for being a paper bag in a world filled with lunch boxes makes it difficult to be noticed by anyone.

Maybe I'm Crazy?

Note: I do not have a blog post for September 6th, because I was not in class to trade trinkets.

Look in any lunchroom waste bin and you are likely to see one very common item; the brown paper bag. There are plenty of superior alternatives to the paper bag, so what is it that draws society to keep using this simple creation to carry our lunches? One might argue that it’s for convenience or ease of disposal, but come on, that’s just silly! The true reason why people continue to use paper bags is because of their smell. There is just something about the scent of ground up trees that reminds you of home. Now, this probably sounds crazy to most people, but when you think about it, is it really any crazier than cutting down millions of trees to make them in the first place?

It's a Love-Hate Relationship

America; land of the free and home of the brave, everyone has heard this phrase, but how does it really hold up? Many Americans feel that our country is the best in the world; we have the best government, the best economy, and the greatest opportunities, but does America really live up to it’s name? In my opinion, America I somewhere in the middle.

America is an awesome country, and I am proud to live in it, but there are definitely some things that I dislike about America. To be honest, I’m not really into politics, so that doesn’t really matter much to me, but what does matter to me is what America feels like to me. I love that Americans can live freely and have a happy, successful life. There is a problem with this though; there are people that don’t get to live this life; they never have a chance to live the “American Dream.” There are people in all countries that, for whatever reason, cannot live their life to the fullest, but I feel that in America this is becoming far too customary. Everywhere I go, I see people who don’t have passion or desire to succeed. Whether this is because of our current economic status or just a lack of desire, it seems almost as if America’s entrepreneurial demographic is dying. This is very disappointing to me, for I feel like it previously was one of the best parts of America. On the other hand, America still has people with desire to succeed, which is promising to me. It is to be hoped that these people will drive the rest of America to aspire for success. 

Another major factor that influences my view of America is the prejudices and assumptions it makes about it’s own people. I’m sure that this happens in all countries around the world, but it seems like America should be better. Not only do we have biases of people from our own country, but we also have these misconceptions of countries other than ours. It is getting better though; our country has drastically reduced racism and has generally thought of each other more equally. 

In my opinion, America is an exceptional country, but there are still quite a few things we could improve on.

Out With the New; In With the Old?

We are living in a society where things are constantly changing and being improved upon; computers get faster, buildings get larger, infrastructure gets more advanced. One thing always amazes me, though; our society’s embrace of styles from the past. Everywhere I look, I see people featuring styles from the 90s, 80s, and even further into the past. Whether it be bright neon colors or checkerboard patterned clothing, people allover the world are featuring styles from the past.

My question is simple; why is it that society defaults back to the past for style when practically every other element of our lives are consumed by the future? Many people would argue that this is just a fad and will eventually pass. I feel differently, though. I would argue that this phenomena is something bigger than just a fad; it's a recognition of our culture.  

My belief is that our society, while interested in the future and growth of our culture, also wants to embrace the culture of previous generations. Inevitably, we want to remember what the past was like so we can appreciate it and use lessons from it to improve the future. Even if the majority of people are mimicking the styles of the past just as a fad, without thinking about it, there was always a person who started that fad; how did they come up with the style? Somewhere along the line, someone had to have a reason behind recreating the styles of the past, and I believe that reason was to celebrate and remember what previous generations were like.

One Man's Trash is Another Man's Treasure

For the past week, I have had the pleasure of having a Snapple bottle cap in my possession. It might sound silly to call this item a pleasure to have; especially considering that most people would just throw it away, but what I have obtained from this chunk of metal warrants far more than a trip to the waste bin.
This cap taught me how to look for a deeper meaning of common items. It assisted me in becoming more creative. It showed me how to be inspired. It helped me understand.
All good things must come to an end, though, and it’s time for me to part with this wonderful item. As I take one final look at it, I read, “Seal is broken,” and think of my bond with this item and how it will now be nonexistent. I can only hope I can find another item that inspires me as much as this mere bottle cap has.

0737559

Today I decided to take a look at the Snapple bottle cap on my desk. There really isn’t much to it, just a metal cap with some blue text and designs printed onto it, but what’s this I see? I had to squint to get a good look at it, but surely enough, right on the side of the cap, printed in extraordinarily minuscule blue font was the number sequence “0737559.” This got me to think; what created this number? Was it simply a unique identifier for the Snapple bottle it was once paired with, or was it something more? Somehow, I felt like this number had some sort of meaning, it was more than what it seemed; so I decided to check it out online. The only thing I was able to come up with was that the sequence was the phone area code for the Hunan and Yiyang provinces of China. This isn’t really what I was hoping to find, so I guess my mind will be stuck thinking about this number for quite a while.

Well I should get going now, my parents want to talk to me about the move we are about to make to live near the “Long River” so my dad can keep his current job. I wonder what state that’s in?

"Pop" Music

Many people strive to be like the world’s famous music artists and achieve a life of fame and fortune. Well, let me tell you, it is much easier to achieve this goal than one might think. The secret of nearly all of these artists lies in a small object that may appear to have no music abilities at all.

The secret is the pop top of a Snapple container. Nearly all artists have one of these simple tools with them at all times. You may have noticed how addicting it is to pop the top of the Snapple cap. This is no coincidence; artist’s hone in on this addicting sound to create the beat of their song, which is inevitably why their songs get stuck in the heads of many people. It is quite amazing how these artists can analyze the sounds produced by this mini-instrument and turn them into a work of art. Now you just have to figure out how these sounds work, and you too just might be the next big thing.

The Best Stuff on Earth

They say that Snapple is “Made from the Best Stuff on Earth,” but what about the cap of this beverage?  Is it made from the best stuff on earth? Would it be able to sing “내가 제일 잘 나가 (I am the best),” in Seoul with 2NE1? Well, I have spoken with this highly misunderstood piece of metal, and it seems like it very well could. 

In talking with this top I quickly found that it’s sense of pride was above the norm. The shiny surfaces of the top were a source it’s of joy, even though they seemed to be scratched and dented. The advice it gave to people on it’s underside gave it a sense of worth, even though it’s content was questionable. It was happy with what it was, even though it’s features weren’t perfect. If you look at this item from the outside you might not think it’s “made from the best stuff on earth,” but if you really take a look at what it is and what it provides, you might reconsider that assumption.

Reject

Alone. Separated. Out of place. These phrases are the closest I am to verbalizing the terribly empty feelings I have inside. I have difficulty even recalling the last time I felt content with my life. It has been many years now since I have been separated from my other half, the one who meant everything to me, the one who completed me. Removed from each other’s grasp by means outside of our controls, we have been forced to live in isolation ever since. There was a time when things were different, though, when I was blissful, when I was inspired, when I was alive. Now, though, all I can call myself is a reject. I guess I should come to expect this though, for being the top of a Snapple drink means that I was designed to be separated from my other half. Regardless, I can’t help but notice that printed right across my body is “REJECT IF BUTTON IS UP,” and ever since I was separated from my cherished half, my button has been up.

23,000 Breaths a Day

What is a Snapple bottle cap? A simple piece of metal? On the outside, yes, but look a bit deeper, and you might be surprised to find the hidden qualities of this marvelous object. Snap the top and you might find a source of entertainment, but even deeper than that, read the “Real Facts” on the underside of the cap. You are likely to find yourself presented with information like “The average person takes 23,000 breaths a day.” What might this information lead you to? You could decide to research more about human behavior. You could learn about some more interesting facts on the computer. You could spread your knowledge with your friends. The direction this one bottle cap could take you in is virtually limitless. What direction it could lead you in personally, I do not know, but neither will you unless you use one of your 23,000 breaths to look a little deeper into the things you once thought you understood.