Worst Fear

What is your worst fear, and why are you afraid of what it is that you fear?

Personally, my worst fear is being in an airplane and having it just free fall to my death. I am not sure how this would happen. It must have to occur with the engines just stopping or with a gigantic malfunction. Although very unlikely, it is still possible. I think that I developed this fear, because of the fact that I hate when planes hit bumps and feel like they are dropping suddenly.

I find it interesting to look at what others are feared of. I asked my roommate what her worst fears are and she responded by saying, "Drowning and Rottweilers." I asked her why and told me that when she was five years old, a Rottweiler pounced on top of her and knocked her over. She ended up lying on the ground with the dog on top of her. She says she thought she was going to die, until her dad came to her rescue and snatched the dog off from on top of her. When I asked her why she was afraid of drowning, she responded by saying, "I heard it's really painful." I then asked her how she would know that, because she cannot talk to someone that has drowned because they are now dead. She told me that the experience of the powerful crashing of waves at the beach left her with a feeling of helplessness. The fact that she felt powerless was very traumatizing.

Although we all have our unique fears, I believe that one fear that would be amongst the most common is the fear of being alone.

The Future for Transportation

What will be next for everyday transportation? There have been so many recent advancements in technology that have caused vehicles to become much more fuel efficient, as well as environmentally friendly. From hybrid vehicles to increased options for public transportation, the advancements being made to protect our planet's future are immense.

It seems humorous to me, when one looks at people's past predictions of the future to see how everything really panned out. When the animated television series the Jetsons initially aired in 1962, it would seem hard for someone of that particular generation to fathom anything that was pictured in the show to actually happen. Although people cannot currently live in space and drive around in a flying car like the Jetsons did, our society has made tremendous advancements.

Keeping this in mind, I wonder where we will be forty-eight years from 2010. Will it be possible for people to just fly from one place to another in order to avoid everyday traffic jams?

Although this does not have to do with transportation, it occurred to me while I was writing this that we now have iChat and Skype where people can talk while viewing the other party on their computer screen like they depicted in the 60s sitcom, the Jetsons.

What makes people take risks?

The other day in class, my accounting teacher was talking about the Challenger Space Shuttle disaster. I obviously knew that it was a big deal, but really had not looked into it to the extent that I felt I should be educated on the topic. This morning I decided to read an article on the disaster to better inform myself. Following my reading of the article, I watched a video of the event. Although the passengers of the Challenger Space Shuttle were aware of the risks that are involved in space travel, they all still decided that they wanted to take part in a mission into space.

Dawn Brancheau, a trainer at SeaWorld endured a fatal bite by a killer whale this past week. If the name "killer whale" is not enough for you, I am not sure what would be. Attached are photos of Brancheau with the whale that caused her death. I was very surprised when I looked at photos of her with the whale, Shamu. One that particularly shocked me was the photo above. (There are more on the attached website link.) It appears as if the whale would have just slightly opened their mouth and she would be done.

The Titanic sank, because it was going too fast and could not be stopped in time when the iceberg ("dead ahead") came into view. There is a pretty strong theory that Bruce J. Ismay, chairman and director of the White Star Line, ordered the Captain of the Titanic to speed up in order to make a record time crossing the Atlantic on the night that the Titanic sunk.

Roy Horn, famous Las Vegas magician, was mauled by a Bengal tiger (by the name of Montecore) in 2003 while performing. The seven year old tiger was well trained and had been part of Siegfried & Roy's act for quite some time. However in the end, Montecore was still a wild animal.

What makes people take risks like these? When one looks at the examples that I have provided, it seems rather silly for one to risk his or her life in this manner. Is it fame that is driving people to do these outrageous things? Is it money? Or is it passion for what they love and enjoy? It is definitely something to think about when you or someone you care about is taking a big risk.

Below are the related links:

Challenger Space Shuttle

http://space.about.com/cs/challenger/a/challenger.htm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j4JOjcDFtBE

Dawn Brancheau and Shamu
http://www.cbsnews.com/2300-504083_162-10002596-10.html?tag=page

Titanic

http://awesometalks.wordpress.com/2009/05/08/titanic-did-j-bruce-ismay-order-captain-smith-to-speed-up/

Roy Horn

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8391183/

Lovers Lane and Greenville Avenue

Everything flashed before me. I do not know if I have ever been shaken up so hard before.

I was coming back from running an errand with one of my friends. We were just passing Central Market and were approaching the corner of Lover's Lane and Greenville Avenue when it happened. When I saw the car in front of mine's break lights light up, I started to ease into breaking my own vehicle.

Only the vehicle did not break. When I pressed the break pedal, the car accelerated. I freaked out, and had no idea what to do. My instinct directed me, and I turned the steering wheel sharply so that I could get into the open lane, which was to my right. There was not enough time.... The left front corner of my car was scraping into the rear right corner of the car in front of me. I pulled into the parking lot of the "Shuck 'N Jive" restaurant, which was directly to my right. I got out of the car and looked at the damage. I could not believe my eyes. I immediately began sobbing and shaking uncontrollably.

It turns out that my particular car (year and model) had been recalled, because there were problems with the brake pedal causing the car to accelerate in other vehicles similar to mine. Well, I had known about this. Upon first hearing the news, I promptly brought my car to the dealer where it was purchased and had it checked out. They assured me that my car was fine and would not malfunction in this manner.

Well it did. I do not know what is going to happen next, because this event took place just a few hours ago. All I can say is that I am still shaking, have a headache, and feel sick to my stomach. I have absolutely no desire to drive anytime soon.

Blondes, Brunettes, Redheads...

Will some hair colors ever become extinct?

It seems as though the recessive gene of blondes and redheads has caused their respectable hair colors to become less and less common in their offspring. Will it ever come to the point, say in year 3000 that there will be no people with natural blonde or red hair? It is definitely something to think about, considering that our society today is mostly made up of natural brunettes. Those that are blonde or redheaded are most likely fake versions, aspiring to be the real thing.

With chemicals available today, it is possible for one to acquire virtually any hair color that they desire, as long as they have the means to pay for it.

If there really is a possibility of natural hair colors becoming extinct, it makes me wonder if there were any other hair colors that were natural prior to my lifetime. I mean we are in year 2010 currently, and that leaves a lot of space for things to have died out. Was it ever possible for fuschia or purple to be a natural hair color, say in year 1000. As far as I know, we do not have any photographs documenting that time, so there really is no way for us to know.

If I could invent something...

If I could invent something, it would be a way to shower and get ready for the day more efficiently. I love being clean and looking my best, however, I feel that sometimes it can be a gigantic hassle for girls. It is quite lovely being in a warm shower, but the big drawback is when one has to get out and they are both soaking wet and freezing. It's not that being wet is that bad, because it is easy for one to dry off. The worst is having soaking wet, long hair.

I grew up in Chicago, where the winters are obviously very, very cold. Although people in the south may have never experienced this for themselves, trust me when I tell you that it is not fun to go outside with wet hair in the winter and have your hair freeze. Yes, it does happen. And one does not need to be laying out in the snow or going on a long walk to experience this phenomena... this can occur in as little time as it takes to run from one's car to the door of their school. Even though other times of the year are not as brutal as the winter, I still find it incredibly uncomfortable to have a sopping wet mane of hair on my back at any time.

I propose a solution to this problem, which would be my invention of an efficient shower machine. This machine would be a box shape with a square base (about four feet by four feet), and it would extend to a reasonable height. This machine would essentially be a "car wash" for the human body. The machine would go through various steps such as rinsing, spraying soap, shampooing and conditioning one's hair, rinsing again, and drying with air. This process would take at most twenty minutes, depending on the length of one's hair and how dirty the person was. There would be different settings, similar to a laundry machine, so that one could set the level of cleaning to such that would be appropriate for their needs each time that they used the machine.

With this invention, people would definitely be more adamant on keeping themselves in great shape. Also, this would cut down on people getting sick in cold climates, because they no longer would have to go outside with wet hair. My shower machine would really be a winning deal!

Perceptions vs. Actuality

Since I have been at SMU, I have learned even more than I thought I could that things aren't always what they seem to be on the outside. SMU is a perfect example of this.

Many people in the north refer to SMU as either "Southern Millionaire's University" or "Southern Methodist Country Club." I was the one upon graduation that got the "really?" looks from my classmates as I tried to explain that there was more to SMU than just a manicured lawn and sorority girls prancing around in high heels. To be completely honest, those were partially things that sparked my initial attraction to SMU. I mean, who wouldn't want to go to a gorgeous school in the heart of a great city, like Dallas?

After being a student at SMU for over a year and a half, I can say with all of my heart that SMU is SO MUCH MORE than those things. I am involved in many other things on campus other than just my sorority, and I have a broad group of friends which definitely extends beyond my sorority sisters. Although Greek life is important to me, one does not have to "go Greek" to have an equally rewarding experience as mine while attending SMU.

I am very impressed by the quality of education that I am receiving at SMU, as well as the availability and generosity that the faculty has with their time. I honestly feel that I have changed at SMU for the better, and that every experience is really just what one makes of it!

What makes life worth living?

I was really inspired after looking at a former student of Dr. Griffin's Mind Map. (The mind map pictured above is mine, but just shown to illustrate the concept of a mind map.) The central topic/idea of the student's mind map was "What is killing us?" This was very interesting to me. Although it is evident that people can die of drug overdoses, cancer, and old age, I never really broke the question down in the way that this student looked at it. This intrigued me, and made me wonder... on the contrary, what is making us live? This blog entry is all about what makes me live my life how I do.

I would like to focus on what makes me live my life the way that I do with regards to my "worldview." This is, as I have learned in my Advertising Ethics class, my background, which causes me to view things in a certain way that is unique from the way that others view the same things or same situations. One's "worldview" depends on experiences that they have had, things they have done or seen, people that have grown up around, as well as many other factors.

I live for FAMILY.

I am an only child, and because of that I am very close with my parents. Although I have always wished for a brother or sister, being an only child has made me more appreciative than I may otherwise be of my cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents, and parents. I treasure all of my relationships with them, and I make a point to talk to each of them frequently. When you have really great friends, there is really no distinction between them and your family.

I live for CHALLENGES.

Nothing worth doing will be easy. I have learned through experience that tough times can enrich a person and shape who they will be. Working through a challenge can only make one stronger. I believe in challenging myself each and every day.

I live for the times that I LAUGH so hard, I end up crying. I live for PEACE. I live to make a CHANGE.

What is LOVE?

I have thoroughly enjoyed my experience so far at SMU. There is really not one thing that I could complain about. However, there is one thing that strikes me kind of oddly about the students around the SMU campus, or atleast the group of them that I hang around with.

The word "love" is really overused. It is to the point that I feel as if it has lost meaning somewhat.

Everyone loves almost everything and almost everyone. As I have said in a previous post, I am totally for loving the world, and I see the glass always as being "half full" as opposed to being "half empty." However, I find it impossible for everyone at SMU to really love everyone else. There is definitely a destinction between caring about someone deeply enough to say that you love them and enjoying being around someone. I don't really know where this distinction is, and I myself am struggling where to draw the line.

It is definitely something to think about though...

Reform This!

There are so many things that politicians speak of reforming. I believe that many people think just as one person, they cannot make an impact on the world. However, if we all reform ourselves and our ways of life, we can make a gigantic impact on the world around us. I would like to reform the attitude of the general population. There are so many people in the world that go through life everyday wearing their smile upside down. The glass is "half empty" for way too much of the world, and people need to realize that in actuality life is what you make of it. In my world the glass is always "half full," if not completely full. There are so many things in life to be thankful for. I promise you that if you laid in bed at night and tried to count all of your blessings, there would be absolutely no way that you could do so without falling asleep. If you do not believe me, I suggest that you try it.

I realized I was wrong

Some people may think that this is about the craziest realization.

I am the first person to get a "Thank You" note out on every occasion. I find that when one (particularly myself) has personalized stationary, it motivates one to use one's stationary... in my case all of the time. I live in a town home right behind Snider Plaza in Dallas. There are four connected town homes, and at one end of the complex there is a row of four matching mailboxes, labeled A through D, respectively corresponding to our units. For the longest time, I had no idea that I could leave letters to be taken by the mailman in our box. I believed that the box served only as a depository for incoming mail. I religiously went to the post office in Hughes Trigg every time I had to mail a letter or package. One day when getting my mail, I realized that there was a small compartment marked "Outgoing Mail." After seeing that, it was quite obvious to me that I no longer had to walk to Hughes Trigg when I needed to mail a letter.

It gets better. I start putting letters into the "Outgoing Mail" compartment all of the time. I start to notice that they aren't getting picked up as often as the mailman visits our town house. I think he must not see the letters there, and that I am just must be crazy... until two days ago.

I go out to drop a "Thank You" note into the outbox, and my other roommate is out there putting a letter in as well. As I turn to go back inside after depositing my letter, I see her put the red flag up on the mailbox. I stop and ask her why she is doing that. It turns out that that little red flag is not a decoration... that is how the mailman knows there is outgoing mail in the box. Now I know why my other letters were sitting in there for so long!

To go back to what I initially said... some people may think this is about the craziest realization. On the other hand, at least I am admitting what I was wrong about. Some people would be too scared to do that at the risk of looking silly or dumb. There is no need to feel that way, because it is almost guaranteed someone else in the world still thinks they are right about the same thing. They may come to their realization soon but then again maybe they never will. At least I did, right?

Superbowl 2010

The advertisement spot that I would like to examine from the Superbowl of 2010 is one of Bridgestone Tire's spots. As we know, Bridgestone Tires sponsored the Superbowl's halftime show this year, and through that received a couple of commercial spots. The particular Bridgestone advertisement that I would like to focus on is titled Bridgestone: Whale of a Tale. The genre of this particular spot is "advertisement," and I feel that it encompasses two definite examples of vertical intertextuality within two different cinema films. First of all, this spot definitely jogs my memory of the movie "Free Willy." In particular, the scene when they are trying to get the whale, "Willy" back to the ocean before it is too late. The emotions that the characters in the commercial embody reflect emotions very similar to those in the movie.

Another much more current intertextual connection that I made was between this advertisement, and the recent hit movie "The Hangover." In this movie, the characters go to Las Vegas and end up in some ridiculous circumstances. One of these circumstances being that they wake up in their hotel suite at Caesar's Palace with a tiger in their bathroom. The Bridgestone advertisement reminded me of this when the driver of the car says "Now that... was a bachelor party." This happens right after the whale is released out of their back seat/trunk of their car into the ocean.

A tertiary connection that I have drawn from this advertisement is when I hear people quoting lines from the movie, "The Hangover." I feel like with the popularity the movie has had within my age group, it is very common to hear people quoting various lines from the film.

What is the state of your union?

The union that I wish to discuss is between my three other roommates and myself. Our state is chaos. From the endless piles of clothes lying around in every possible inch of the common areas to the skyscrapers of gross dishes stacked high in our sink. No one listens to anyone else. No one cares. I think everyone besides myself and my one other roommate has had a full time housekeeper since the day that they were born. No one wants to place blame, yet no one wants to clean up someone else's mess.

The year started off with people trying to help out by pitching in even the slightest bit, say unloading the dishwasher. From there it has completely and utterly gone downhill. Probably to be more realistic, let's say it has gone from its peak and fallen off of a sharp cliff. Has anyone ever heard the words "respect for others"? Obviously not in this case.

Bad news... laziness rubs off on others. At this point in time, let me just leave you with a word of advice. You know the five second rule? This concept is where if something drops on the ground, and it only remains there for a time period of less than five seconds or less it is still okay to eat. Five second rule out the window. Last time our floor was mopped, wiped, or swept? Dinosaurs might have done it.