Little bunny foo foo, but not so little.

Whether it is due to certain pet restrictions where one lives, allergies, or simply tastes and preferences not every pet owner has a dog or a cat. As a dog lover, I don't particularly understand why anyone would choose another pet over a dog. However, these individuals are probably thinking the same thing about my choice, but reversed. All preferences aside, I was astounded when I met my cousin's pet bunny.

This bunny is not your usual household bunny that lives in a small cage. This bunny is larger than my dog. At 22 pounds and 2 and a half feet long when outstretched, I met "Trip," a Flemish Giant. Flemish Giants act similar to dogs and cats, roaming around the house freely. Although instead of walking, they hop. They even have collars with bells so that they can be located around the house. It gets even more strange... they go on walks outside with a leash, but instead of walking, they hop. With this in mind, there seems to be no limit as to what animal can be domesticated. I wonder what will be next!

THE Panama Canal

I never really understood why anyone would want to go see a canal... I mean it really cannot be that exciting right?

Well that is what I thought until I was given the opportunity to spend a week over the New Year's holiday visiting Panama. At first I wasn't very excited for the trip. In my mind the highlight was laying by the pool at the resort for the first few days. I looked at the last few days of the trip in Panama City as being something we were doing just because we felt badly not throwing a bit of history into our trip. It turns out, I was completely wrong.

Although I learned so much about the Panama Canal while visiting Panama City, the one thing that I truly could not believe was how skilled the drivers of the ships must be to make it through each set of locks. Just look in the pictures attached at how close the ships get to the sides of the canal! It's really amazing that the drivers can get the ships through such a narrow opening, given the ship's size. I was also fascinated to learn that the captain of the ship is not allowed to steer the boat through the canal. A Panamanian driver (or drivers) boards the ship as it is entering the canal by a small boat and then exits after steering the ship through. This is done mostly because of the high level of skill the drivers need to have to make it through successfully. Any minor deviation can cause damage to the canal that is very costly to repair.

Enough with the facts that I learned while visiting Panama. The real idea I took away from this trip is to always be hungry for knowledge. One never knows when they may learn something that really fascinates them or brings them onto a higher educational level.

Having a Shell

What would it be like to have a shell? Would you feel protected or would you feel trapped? I guess if you would have always had a shell, you would not know what it would be like to not have a shell and so it would seem normal. I guess if I were a snail, I would be wondering what it would be like to not have a shell. In the photo above, one can see the snail stretched out. Snails move by contracting and expanding their muscles. This forward motion looks somewhat like a "slither." Although snails do have a "foot" below them, it is nothing like our feet. This foot creates a slimy secretion that protects the snail's underside. It seems that snails are a bit more equipped for the wild than humans. After all, they have a shelter on their back as well as built in protection mechanisms. I wonder what it would be like to have a shell, because anytime you felt embarrassed or uncomfortable you could just escape situations and go into your shell. At the same time though, I wonder if it would be something heavy and somewhat awkward to carry, like a large camping or hiking backpack?

I think the weirdest part about being a small creature though would be the being small part. Being 5 foot 7 inches, I could not imagine having to look up to see everything. I suppose if you were in a tree or something though, you would be looking down on others. I sometimes even wonder what it is like to be one of my friends that is shorter than me or my mom (who is also shorter than me). I wonder if they wonder what it would be like to be looking down on them as I do? It's definitely a lot to think about!

Puppy LOVE

Friday, April 23, 7:00P.M. Hinsdale, Illinois, about 20 miles outside of Chicago. A squeal is heard from inside of a small cottage house. There has been a coyote attack.

Man Down... or shall I say Dog. Mandy, a five year old West Highland White Terrier (Westie), has been terribly wounded by two coyotes while lounging in the backyard.

As it so happens, three houses down there is another Westie, by the name of Adelaide, safely in her home. Little does she know, one of her friends has been bit. Thankfully, Addy was inside when the coyotes attacked. For all one knows, it could have been her.

Mandy's owners run outside at the sound of her squealing and rush her to the emergency room, where she gets stitches and is hooked up to an IV. Eighteen hours later, she is now home and recovering, however, still on her IV.

Life is precious. Be careful to watch over those you love. Addy is my dog (pictured above), and the most joyful twelve pounds of love one will ever meet. When my mom called and told me about this, I could not believe it. I was so thankful that Addy wasn't the victim of this brutal attack. With this in mind, I will always make sure to show people in my life that I love them... before it is too late.

More Sunscreen Please.

Doesn't everyone look good with a bit of color? I mean I know I'd prefer to have a tanned glow rather than sport the pasty pale look. We've all heard various stories of terrible sunburns and the damaging effects that sun can have the skin of humans. I have always chose to tune these warnings out. Maybe I'm one of those people that thinks "Hey... It can't happen to me!" Well, I'm reconsidering that thought after stumbling upon this...

NASA has recently released new images and video of the sun. By going to the link below, one can view footage taken of an eruption happening on the sun's surface. This footage was taken by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO). I know I wouldn't want to be anywhere near an erupting volcano... so why do I think it's okay to expose my skin to an erupting sun?

I mean I'm not planning on covering up one hundred percent of my body in sun-protectant fabric, but this article has made me not think twice about considering to apply sunscreen on a daily basis.

How do you define "responsibility" in advertising?

How do you define "responsibility" in advertising?

When Dr. Griffin gave us this blog assignment in class last Tuesday, I was rather perplexed of how I would answer this question. I had some form of an idea in my mind, but I am still struggling to put my thoughts into words. I guess here's what I can offer up:

To be responsible in the advertising industry, one must (in most cases) place moral value in front of their desires for monetary gain. There are a lot of ways that agencies can choose to advertise in an irresponsible manner that will send products flying off of the shelves. These irresponsible techniques are usually easier ideas to come up with as well as an easier route to pleasing the client. The real challenge for the agency is to get that same outcome, but achieve it in a responsible manner.

Ideally, responsible advertising should be advertising that one would be able to show any viewer without causing them any offense. Responsible advertising should be truthful and not mislead the consumer. I believe that it may be hard for some in the advertising industry to create responsible advertising, because it can just be harder to come up with a great "responsible" idea. I think that the Dove Beauty Campaign, from Ogilvy & Mather's Toronto office, is an excellent example of advertising done responsibly (see image above).

I would like to conclude with the statement that it takes talent to be great at advertising as well as being responsible with what you advertise.

Public Transportation

When I first came up with the idea for this blog, I did not realize that my question was actually somewhat already answered. I was sitting on the Amtrak train going from Chicago to Milwaukee to visit my cousin at Marquette University. While sitting in my seat, I began to wonder why I had chosen that particular seat. I came to the conclusion that I had decided to sit there because of the following three reasons: #1 On this particular train, you can choose to sit facing backwards or forwards. I find it dizzying as well as unpleasant to be sitting facing backward, so I chose to sit facing forward. #2 I wanted to be able to look out at my surroundings, so I chose a seat next to the window. #3 I was traveling alone and wanted to get some work done for school, so I chose to sat in a quiet, emptier section of the particular train car that I was in.

After choosing my seat, I started to wonder if people ever were assigned to a particular seat on the train. I compared this in my mind of bus travel, where seats are not assigned, and to air travel, where seats are usually assigned. I began to imagine what it would be like if there were seats assigned when traveling by bus and if there were not seats assigned when traveling by air.

I then thought of Southwest Airlines. On Southwest Airlines, passengers are able to choose their seat, however, they must board the plane in a particular (assigned) order. I am not sure how people generally feel about Southwest Airlines, but I feel like they do not dominate market share with this concept. I am kind of confused as of now how it would go over if this was the way for all things, but I will be thinking about it.