Happy Halloween!

So I am not really sure if I am actually going out tonight considering the fact that I have already celebrated halloween for the past 4 nights, but if I am I am in desparate need of a costume idea. I have already used all of mine up. Good thing that as I was stumbling today I came onto a page on halloween.com with last minute costume ideas.
It would be totally obvious that the costume ideas they have on there lack any effort in putting them together. Some are really stupid, but if I was a guy I would of used the idea of making myself look like a package and write "From: God To: Women" on myself so I would be "God's gift to women." Haha
http://www.halloween.com/halloween-costume-quick-ideas.php

Makeup

Earlier today, I stumbled on a commercial for this foundation brand called Dermablend. Dermablend specializes in makeup to conceal flaws, scars, tattoos, etc. on the face and body. I bought some of this stuff a while ago because I anted to see if it could cover a couple scars I have when I was going to a formal event and did not want them showing while wearing a fancy dress.
I saw the commercial and as amazed how a makeup team could completely cover up tattoos that this guy had all over his face and body, making him look like a zombie. Well, when we started taking off the makeup in the commercial, my first thought was of why he even got those tattoos in the first place, and then my then thought was WOW they could really cover all those up.
When I used Dermablend on my scars, I felt like it did not cover it pretty well nor blend in my skin so it looked obvious. Later in the day, when I stumbled on an article about the making of the commercial, I learned how it all went down. So basically, I learned I should hire a makeup team whenever I want to bare my legs. That way it can look as good as zombie boy's did. Cool story, I know.
Article:
http://livefastmag.com/2011/10/zombie-boy-goes-bare/

I Don't Understand

I stumbled on this true story about a girl named Danielle. She basically was left in her house her entire life until she was almost 7. Her mom left her home, did not potty train her, did not teach her to eat or talk, or even bring her doctor. She was left in her room to lie there like a baby in her own feces; the house was not ever cleaned and bugs crawled around everywhere. Danielle's lack of interaction made her become a child that acts like a baby and as completely unsocialized.
Because 85% of the brain develops in a human first few years, people did not have much hope for her once child services came to take her away. The story goes on with a older couple adopting her because they thought she needed them, and they go through the difficult task of trying to teach her how to be human. When I read this story I could not believe how someone could let her child grow up like this. It suprised me how much it is necessary to have a nuturing environment and interaction. It is amazing that her new parents were able to make some progress with her development. I wonder where she has ended up today.
Read the story: http://www.tampabay.com/features/humaninterest/article750838.ece

waste time

So basically I wasted about two hours of my day on this site I stumbled on: http://www.unfriendable.com/
I went through random people's submissions of other people on social networking sites and such that are really dumb, shocking, or just plain hilarious. I laughed out loud a few times, but other times I questioned how some people do not have any common sense.

random essay from class

The movie Cloudy with a of Meatballs (2009) was inspired by the book by Ron and Judy Barrett. It is about an inventor named Flint Lockwood and his relationship with his father who misunderstands Flint’s undertakings, set on an island called Swallow Falls. Their town faces hard times with sardines as its only food source, and Flint believes he can save it by inventing a machine that makes food from water.  Flint takes the finished machine outside for a test run; it blasts up in the sky, and starts raining cheeseburgers over the island. People of the town are ecstatic about their new source of food, along with a weather girl named Sam Sparks who reports the forecast to people around the world.

Flint is now able to take orders from the townspeople and the machine rains whatever food the people ask for. Sam reports the forecast of every meal and becomes famous. Over time, newly named Chewandswallow’s townspeople get greedy with their food orders; the machine becomes overworked and begins creating uneatable foods. After Flint and Sam heroically end all the chaos, Chewandswallow goes back to Swallow Falls and the townspeople return to their previous way of life.

The movie delivers a variety of messages to the audience. First, there are common morals of the story, such as not giving up and persistence. Flint’s character displays that being different and misunderstood should not stop people from doing what they want to do. Another significant moral the movie communicates is to be yourself. Sam and Flint develop attraction for each other, but Sam still acts dumb to attract Flint. This message is for people who try to change in order to fit in or become attractive. Most family films are geared to teach morals, but this one also tries to reach out to popular culture.

It is known that the United States is dealing with obesity and poor health. Media tries to spread knowledge of portion control while restaurants continuously serve bigger meals. There have been more cases of diabetes and heart diseases with the growing waistlines. Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs makes a statement about gluttony. Overeating is part of popular culture today, and media is trying to promote health consciousness to the growing population.

The movie obviously communicates this message and makes it entertaining for viewers. Many critics have picked up the themes; some deem the movie too childish, but others point out the clever wit of the creators.  The characters are relatable to a variety of personalities and there are comical references for more mature audiences, so everyone follows storyline and picks up the themes. Evidently, people should not expect deeper meanings and connections to popular culture.
This movie is spiritual in a sense that it encourages morality and teaches a better way to live. In Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, the creators promote what they think is good for the public; strive for your greatest, be proud, and be more health conscious, now when obesity is on the rise. Animated movies like this have more to offer than just entertainment.

Fun Facts

I love stumbling upon fun facts when I am bored. It doesn't make it feel like as much as a waste of time if I am learning something...
http://thumbpress.com/20-mind-blowing-facts-you-probably-didnt-know/

COOKIES!!

Ok there are these vegan cookies that I rarely find in the cafeteria and sometimes in random cafes since they are so delicious. They are Zoe's Vegan Banana Walnut Chocolate Chip, do not let the "vegan" scare you away because they do not taste weird or non-cookie ish. The only difference is they have flax seed instead of egg and vegetable margarine instead of butter; which is good for me because I do not eat dairy products..So looking online to find these cookies online or a recipe that is fairly similar, I found a healthy protein version of it. Good for me because I do not get enough protein, and considering other people that consume a lot of cookies, they probably don't either. I have no clue if they will taste anything like Zoe's version, but I have to try it. Here's the link:
http://giftedearthoriginalsblog.com/2011/09/02/banana-walnut-chocolate-chip-protein-cookies/

Inspiration

So I don't know if stumbleupon is trying to say something to me, but they have been giving me a lot of pages with inspirational quotes recently. I decided to actually look at this one, and I found some quotes I like. This probably has something to do with all the sitting around and stumbling during my free time..
http://www.goal-setting-college.com/inspiration/inspirational-quotes/

Spiders

I don't know many people who are not afraid of Spiders..except for dads. When I screamed for my dad to kill a spider, he just told me to say hello to it. That did not make me laugh, but this did:
http://www.savagechickens.com/2011/08/how-to-cure-your-arachnophobia.html

Sushi O Sushi

When I crave sushi, I usually head to Whole Foods Market to pick up some of their brown rice or multigrain rice sushi for a healthier alternative to white rice sushi in restaurants. I missed going to restaurants when I wanted a “healthy” fix of sushi, like in my hometown when I could order brown rice sushi for an extra charge, so I searched for a local sushi restaurant on the internet that also serves brown rice. There is where I found Sushi O Sushi, which is on El Camino Real in Santa Clara.

Walking in, I sensed that the restaurant was nicer than most of the local sushi restaurants around here, despite its unkempt outward appearance. Around regular dinner hours, you can expect full tables and a bit of a wait to be seated. Once seated, the service was fast and friendly; but one given the menu I became overwhelmed by all the entrees and sushi roll options. I decided to keep my choice simple, no overloads on sauces or tempura, which is sure to make anything taste good when fried. I chose a “Rocky Roll” with brown rice; a roll with yellow tail and avocado in the center, and layer with salmon, tuna, and grilled eel on top. They informed me that their brown rice is a mix of many grains, making it even better in my eyes since multigrain is considered even healthier.

Not too long later, I received my roll. I was surprised at first by the purple color of the rice from all the different grains, but that did not discourage me from eating it. Every piece as a delight; the fish tasted fresh, not fishy, and the rice tasted sweet, complemented the fish, and did not come out mushy like brown rice sushi tends to be from other places I have tried it. I was satisfied to have found my new favorite place for sushi; the dollar extra for charge the change in rice did not seem too big of cost considering their quality.

You can find the link to the restaurant here:

http://www.sushiosushi.com/

Fake Girlfriend

So today I stumbled upon something funny called FakeGirlfriend. The site instructs that a guy can save a number in his phone as a "girlfriend's" name, and at anytime he can send a text and it will respond with a girlfriend-like text back..I kinda want to try it just to see what it says.
Here's the link:
http://fakegirlfriend.co/

Really?

Today I stumbled upon an article on EurekaAlert with the headline Children find human-made objects more likely to be owned than natural objects. Right after reading that, I thought really? I mean, duh children like man-made objects better than pine cones and sea shells. What are toys?? I can not even go further with this.

Here's the link:
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2011-10/apa-cfh100611.php

Cooking Errors

Today I stumbled upon a Cooking Light page about the the most common cooking mistakes that people make. There are a lot of the mistakes on there that I have not ever made, but mainly because I have never tried a bunch of them. There are some mistakes that I already know the correct way to handle them, but others..not so much.

One for instance, is that I make unwise baking substitutions. Trying to turn sugary baked goods into something healthier resulted in a bunch of failed attempts.

Another is that I boil instead of simmer. Honestly, I did not know the difference.

And third, I used to have no idea how vegetable dishes in restaurants came out so colorful while mine browned and got too soft. I learned that you are supposed to shock the veggies in cold water after they are done heating to the desired texture.

I could go on with a few more, but decided just to talk about the mistake I have to deal with often in my school's cafeteria: icky hard-boiled eggs. When I add eggs to my salad at the salad bar they always have that greenish ring around the yolk; it looks kind of gross, but I eat it anyways. Maybe I should consider sending them this link:

http://www.cookinglight.com/cooking-101/techniques/cooking-questions-tips-00400000064986/page41.html

Great Roommates

So today I stumbled upon some guy named Wally's blog about all these annoying occurrences with his roommate Rachael; it is called Things Rachael and I Argue About. You find that the name is fitting because from the experiences he talks about with her, you can see how wacky Rachael is. They get into random arguement, or more correctly, Rachael starts random arguements about anything and makes it turn into how Wally does not care about her or that he thinks she is a horrible person. She is not even his girlfriend and he puts up with all her attitude and stupid comments; he seems like a smart guy from how he shows himself, but he can not seem to get away from her. I can not necessarily relate to Wally for having a dumb roommate like Rachael, but I have gone through a few years with some wonderful roommates: Freshman year, my roommate and I were complete opposites, it made it hard to find friends who were actually into my interest and on top of that we had entirely different schedules year round; she got up early mornings, waking me from my sleep, and she went to bed early, making me have to go through my nightly tasks in the dark. Sophomore year I chose my roommate and I thought it would be fine, but she though it would be okay to take my clothes without asking and leave leftover food all around the room; we got into a lot of fights. Junior year my roommate was always at her EX-boyfriend's place, which was fine for me to have the room to myself until she got into fights and brought her upset feelings back to me. She also would leave the room an entire mess that I eventually gave up cleaning up my stuff most of the time cause it would not make any difference. This year, I have a single, but still have one apparment-mate I can go through interesting times with. At least this year I can go into my room for some privacy if I need it. If you want to see the blog, here it is:
http://officeofstrategicinfluence.com/rachael/ It is pretty funny.

Magic Mushrooms

Just now, I stumbled on an article on the chemical found in "magic mushrooms" called psilocybin. Researchers from John Hopkins University conducted a study on adults to record any long term effects after using the drug. This article interested me because I know some people that have taken these so-called mushrooms; I never have and would be scared to if I was ever offered because I thought there would be negative after effects. This article says otherwise; more than half of the study participants had significant personality changes lasting more than a year after use of the drug, the change was in their openness. They said that the change in openness “encompasses aesthetic appreciation and sensitivity, imagination and fantasy, and broad-minded tolerance of others’ viewpoints and values.” The people that attained this change in personality reported that they went through mystical experiences; the ones who did not go through a similar experience did not have a change in their personality. In the study, people reported feelings of joy and happiness, so researchers are currently searching for alternate medical uses of the chemical. While psilocybin is not considered a drug with potential for abuse and has no medically accepted uses, I think continuing to study the drug may find some sort of medical use besides just being an illegal recreational drug. You can see the article here:
 http://www.redorbit.com/news/health/1112391707/lasting-happiness-found-with-hallucinogen-use/index.html