Recommended foods to someone traveling to the south

You can travel all over the world and taste many different ethnic foods and spices, but nothing compares to a few good southern meals. Most of my family is from Louisiana, so I am partial to Gumbo, Jambalaya, Crawfish, Boudain, and Red Beans and Rice. Gumbo is a mix of meats, usually shrimp, chicken, and sausage, made into a soup with rice, celery, okra, and alot of Cajun spice served over rice. Throw some crackers in there and you've got a meal fit for a king. Jambalaya and red beans and rice are similar, Jambalaya is any combination of chicken, beef, shrimp, or sausage over rice. Where as Red Beans and Rice is just that, red beans over rice. Its the Cajun seasonings that make these dishes unique. One of the most popular sausages you will find in Louisiana is Boudain, which is ground sausage cooked with rice and spices and then restuffed into a skin and sold in links. After a quick trip to New Orleans, you can keep heading east and find yourself eating fried chicken, collard greens, mashed potatoes, cornbread, and drinking a tall glass of sweet tea. If you're lucky, you might come across someone roasting a fresh killed hog in a pit in the backyard or frying catfish just caught from the lake! The south is home of some of the best food on earth, just ask Paula Dean!

 

Why do Americans Eat So Much Junk Food?

There are alot of reasons Americans eat junk food. One reason is its cheaper to eat unhealthy than it is to eat healthy. If I need a quick snack, I will go through a drive-thru. They have alot of healthy choices now, wheat buns, salads, and fruit to name a few. But when I get to the menu I see cheeseburger $.99, fries $.99, drink $.99 or $2.99 for the combo, then I look over to the healthy menu and see salad $.5.99 and salad with anything remotely interesting on it for $7.99 and I still have to buy a drink! In the interest of saving money, the combo is more appealing and let's face it, a cheeseburger sounds more appetizing anyways and it doesn't take much more than a few dollars in savings to persuade that choice. Then once I get to the window, they say, would you like to add two apple pies for a dollar? Why, yes, I would! And to go along with price, at the grocery store a whole box of nutty buttys or fudge rounds is $1.19. That's for about 8 of them, but it costs around $8 to get a bag of apples and oranges. Another reason is healthy food doesn't appeal to everyone, some people were never raised on it, so they just don't have a taste for it. Take me, for instance, my mother never introduced a fruit or a vegetable into my diet as a kid. The first experience I had with either was on my lunch tray at school and by 5 years old a kid has pretty much established what they like and what they don't. Aside from taste and price, there is also convenience. In most snack machines there are candy bars, bags of chips, and snack foods. Right next to that snack machine is a soda machine, how convenient! America is a society of instant gratification and indulgence, so the thought that most people would go out of their way to pay more for a salad or find a deli instead of a snack machine is almost absurd.

Boo!

I took Geoff and the kids shopping for Halloween costumes this weekend. Damien picked a ghost costume and Makayla picked a cute pink skeleton outfit complete with a skirt and pink hair extensions. Now Geoff on the other hand, bought this horrid looking clown mask to wear trick-or-treating. I have never been afraid of clowns, I used to collect porcelain ones as a child. I was in the bedroom and Geoff went running out of there like something was wrong late Friday night, so I patiently waited in the bedroom for him to come back and let me know everything was okay. He comes running back into the room in the clown mask and scared me half to death! Hours later I went to check on Makayla because she's not been feeling well and her room is all the way across the house. As I'm coming back around the corner into the dark living room, there in the shadows crouched down is that danged clown again!!! I screamed so loud I thought the neighbors were going to report a break in. So all weekend long it has been the joke to scare mommy with the clown mask. I woke up in the middle of the night last night to it on the pile of throw pillows next to my side of the bed staring at me. I am really beginning not to like clowns as much as I used to!

Should prostitution be legalized?

Prostitution is one of those things that people consider taboo. Even those that participate in it don't necessarily talk about it, and they certainly don't share experiences with family and co-workers. But the question is should it be legal. If you are going by the constitution, the document that we Americans live by, then yes. There is nothing in the constitution that says we should not park in a dark alley and enjoy the services a woman has decided to provide for money, morally is a different story all together. A woman has the right to have sex, there is nothing illegal about that, but as soon as she charges for it she can be arrested. Some people joke about marriage being legal prostitution, because most wives that want to buy a new pair of expensive shoes or a new dress will sometimes use sex to get the answer she is looking for when asking for her husbands credit card. In another example a woman can go to a bar and go home with a random stranger and wake up in his bed, but as long as its a free service, its not illegal. In America, we glamorize sex, drugs, drinking, and gang membership by making movies and video games on how to achieve greater status by participating in these activities. Some of the best selling movies are the ones that include the most morally incomprehensible behaviors, for instance, Pulp Fiction, Blow, and American Pie. I think that if a woman chooses to sell her body, then there should be no law preventing it. But just like in other businesses, there should be legal regulations on the business itself. A woman in that field should have to submit to regular STD checks, use condoms, and pay taxes. When a prostitute is arrested, Americans have to pay the salaries of the officers arresting her, the process of booking her, the film for her mugshot, the ink for her fingerprints, the meals she eats behind bars, and the gas to transport her to jail. We might as well legalize it and make money as a country.

Discuss some of the status symbols of today's society

Today's society hasn't changed much in the way Americans display symbols of their status, just what constitutes as a symbol of status differs from the "old days". In the past a man would show his wealth and status by his girth to display how well fed he was or by his political party to establish his influence. In more modern days, Ed Hardy and Coach have taken the place of lace and ruffles, to show that one can afford to shop in such places. A Mercedes compared to a Kia, or a Lexus compared to a Saturn, is a clear symbol of one's wealth and privilege. Americans are proud to display symbols of what they can afford or who they are affiliated not only by clothes and cars but associates and clubs as well. Being a member of certain country clubs or high class associations is definitely talked about at a Sunday brunch or a cocktail party amongst the rich and famous. On the other side of the spectrum, some Americans show they are proud of the trailer park they came from by forming groups on face book for others to join that were also raised there. People like Larry the Cable Guy and Jeff Foxworthy glamorize the backwoods redneck living we are accustomed to in parts of the south. So there are many recognizable signs of where someone is from, how they were raised, and what their bank statement shows all over America.

If I had to live life as an animal, what animal would I be?

If I had to live my life as an animal, Id want to be a monkey living in the jungle. I would imagine that life would be exciting, swinging from tree to tree and playing with my other monkey friends. I wouldn't want to be one of those serious looking monkeys, I'd want to be cute little one with a red belly and a long tail. I would hang out in the tree tops and maybe even make friends with a bird or two. I would eat fruit from trees everywhere and share with my other monkey friends. I may even find a nearby stream and go for a swim and have a trout or two for dinner. Being a monkey seems like such a carefree life. Monkeys don't have to pay the electric bill or truck payment, they don't have to deal with traffic or politics, and they certainly don't have to work a 9-5 or write term papers. So if I had to live my life as an animal, it would definitely be as a carefree, adorable monkey.

Which has a greater effect on a person -- heredity or environment?

I can make an argument for both sides of this. I truly think environment would win the argument, but heredity is still a good runner up. A child growing up in the streets of a ghetto or a dangerous neighborhood will more than likely see certain behaviors, like joining a gang or selling drugs, as a way of life and follow in the footsteps of his or her examples. The same goes for prominent families with lots of money and kids in private school. Usually you see children from those families in college or with some high dollar career driving around in a luxury car. There are exceptions to both examples, but more times than none, they prove true. Those examples are extreme ends of the spectrum and also a comparison to wealth and status. You can also see clearly defined examples from people raised in the south versus the north, a farm versus a big city, or a trailer versus a mansion. Southerners are typically described as hospitable or backwards and northerners are businesslike and standoffish. Farm envoronments typically instill the value of hardwork for a days pay and time not being a priority where as city environment is depicted as hustle and bustle. Environments are where most stereotypes come from and that illustrates how the public places more emphasis on the effects of an environment instead of heredity. Very seldom do you see heredity formed into a stereotype, but it still has an effect on a people and how they define themselves.

A New Addition

Yesterday was my son's 9th birthday. I always let my kids choose where they have their birthday dinner since we do a joint party on a weekend but recognize them individually on their special days. My son chose McDonald's because of the awesome playground. So after this spectacular dinner of happy meals and big macs, we head on over to my moms house. Now my mom lives only a few apartments down from me so my children walk there on a daily basis and usually bring along a neighborhood kid or two. Apparently while we were out to dinner, the neighborhood kids brought Damien a birthday gift that mom chose to put into a very decorative baby blue gift bag. After unwrapping the family gifts my mom sat him down and told me to sit with him while he opened this mysterious gift. He pulls out of this baby blue gift bag a yellow butter container with holes poked into the top. Immediately I back away because I thought this was a joke playing on my fear of bugs, especially lady bugs. He opens the top and out pops a teeny tiny, little bitty, baby corn snake. As I walk back over and attempt to pick it up, my mom and sister in law Katie begin screaming as if they're about to get bit by this worm-sized monster in my hands 15 feet away. So in the chaos of it all, the snake falls to the floor and starts wiggling around, causing all kinds of commotion. My kids are laughing wildly, my mom and Katie are climbing over each other to get on the couch, and I attempt to recapture this poor traumatized reptile. After a five minute ordeal, he is safely back in his plastic abode and probably more confused than before he was kidnapped from his natural habitat. After careful determination and assessment of where this creature was captured, we decided that he was probably escaping the construction work that  threatened his environment and wouldn't survive much longer without proper housing. So now he has been adopted by my two kids and has a lovely aquarium complete with a heat lamp, purple sand, and a tree branch. So thanks to the neighborhood kids, we have a new addition to our family!

And the countdown begins.....

That first Saturday of September is always sacred for me and my best friend! It begins college football season. She wears her crimson tshirt with pride, and rightfully so seeing as how they did win the National Championship last year, and I wear my black and red in hope that we will have a decent quarterback worth getting us at least to the top 10. I have worn my bulldawg gear every year since birth, my dad is a UGA fan, his dad is a UGA fan, and so on. Christina married into that deep crimson red family, her husband Danny is from Alabama and so is his dad. We are all one big happy rival family. She convinced my son at a young age that "roll tide" was the way to go and he never looked back, my daughter on the other hand yells "go dawgs" even when we're losing. Every saturday we gather at Christina and Danny's house for food, fun, and football. We have Paul, the Notre Dame fan, who joins the mix when his wife lets him off of his leash as well as a few other Alabama and Georgia fans that show up to watch the games. This has become tradition in their household and years ago there was always the possibility of two games being on at the same time while fans of those teams were present. Danny came up with a solution! He added two more T.V.s to the living room for a total of three so we could watch all the important games at one time. We might not have sound if our game is not the popular one of the group, but at least we get to watch it with food, fun, and friends!

Video Games

Its a good thing Ms. Aiken gave me a topic today because otherwise I would have stared at this blank screen until I blogged about the color white. It has been a long day and its only 10:56am. My day started at 2am when a sick child woke me up with a tummyache and a headache. Finally after a trip to Kroger at 3am for tylenol, fixing a few glasses of water, holding her hair, and rubbing her back she fell asleep at 6am. So now I sit here with a blog topic! Video Games! I dont like most of them. I have 2 kids, my son is 9 and my daughter 6. We only own 1 gaming system and its a Wii. On that Wii, we have family sports games that we all play together like bowling, tennis, golf, darts, and lots of others. I dont really classify that as video games as much as I do family time that doesnt cost alot of money. The video games I dont like are the ones that take hours out of your day, days out of your weeks, and weeks out of your month! Many games include forms of violence or foul language or goals that take a year to acheive. There are alot of things kids should be doing besides playing video games. It takes away from family time, gives them a false sense of reality, and can even lead to obesity and laziness. Too many children these days spend all of their time indoors just trying to go up a level in some fantasy world and dont take the time to go outside and experience the world as a kid. Video games are fun and that can be addicting to a kid to the point of everything they do revolving around a game or trying to rush through things to get back to their gaming system. If video game time is rationed and parents moniter the games their children play, they can be used as an educational tool. There are games out there that are geared toward education that can be chosen and used as a tool to increase learning skills. But even then, it doesnt take the place of one on one time with a parent teaching their child. I just dont see a point in exposing children to violent games or video games with no value just to appease them.