The Catfish Epidemic

James Riley, Matthew Perry, Shane King, Dawn Stump, Kolleen Whitford, Kourtney Cooper

OH EM GEE hun-cal froyo

Last month, the popular site instagram had some glitches and was down for a couple hours. During that time, many people I follow on twitter had an opinion of the problem, tweeting that they were devastated they were not able to upload their latest photographs. I ignored most of the tweets, as they were highly whiney and repetitive, however I found one rather humorous. One of the more witty people I follow sarcastically said he was concerned instagram was done because he would not know what everyone had for dinner. I thought about this statement and realized the truth behind it. Lately, instagramming pictures of your dinner was the new fad, but I was not sure why. In particular, I could think of two specific foods I constantly see on instagram from the majority of the users I follow: sushi and frozen yogurt. I also noticed that not many males were posting photos of the two foods, rather it was mostly college-aged females.  I wondered why these two foods seemed to be so “popular” among these women and came up with a possible conclusion. Both are supposedly “healthy” for you, or at least a healthier alternative. As somewhat of a health freak, I can’t help but laugh. In a popular YouTube video they refer frozen yogurt as “hun-cal froyo.” However, with the dozens of toppings such as candy bars, sauces, etc. that most people choose you put on their frozen yogurt, I can assure you that it is just as bad for you as ice cream, if not worse. It’s the same with sushi. Yes, sushi can be good for you, but if you are getting a deep fried roll with extra soy sauce, eel sauce, and spicy mayo, the roll is not in fact healthy for you. I guess they made a valiant effort with their “healthy” instagram, but they just missed the mark. 

"A Long Distance Affair"

“A Long Distance Affair,” the article about long-distance relationships was essentially the story of my freshman year of college. My senior year of high school I was living in Alabama, but set to go to college at Oklahoma State University. Most of my friends were going to colleges in Alabama, particularly to Auburn University or the University of Alabama; nevertheless, I planned on going far away and leaving my life in Alabama behind. The summer before I left, however, I became closer with a guy friend I had throughout high school. After I left for college we became even closer, thanks to the beauty of Skype. Skype was a lifesaver my freshman year. Not only was I able to keep in touch with him, I was able to keep in touch with my four best friends who were spread out in Mississippi, Alabama, North Carolina, and Indiana. I even began Skyping my parents, who I was rarely able to see.

Skype has revolutionized long-distance relationships for couples worldwide. In a college relationship, unless you are dating someone who both attends your school and lives in your hometown, you will at some point spend time apart. Whether it is for holidays, summer break, or studying abroad, Skype is a way to keep in touch and feel close. Also, for couples in the military, Skype can be way a way to occasionally see each other versus simply writing letters or talking on the phone.  Because of Skype, I was able to keep a healthy long-distance for an entire year. Like the article states, long-distance relationships can be a blessing in college because you are able to have the freshman experience of meeting brand new people without being tied down, but you also have a solid support system at the end of the day. Now that I have transferred to BSU, I still use Skype to talk with my friends in Oklahoma and my high school friends from Alabama. Skype is one invention I could not live without.  

ke$hasuxx

The entire semester, as people have admitted their parasocial relationships, I have kept quiet, and in some cases secretly judged; however, I am finally willing to admit my obsession with arguably the worst artist currently making music, Ke$ha. My parasocial relationship, I would debate, is much different than many others, for I am very aware that Ke$ha sucks. (In fact, her twitter name is @keshasuxx.. so she even knows she sucks.) For starters, I think it is absolutely ridiculous that her name contains a dollar sign. Nevertheless, I am quick to correct anyone who spells her name merely as “Kesha,” as if this is deeply disrespectful to her identity. Next, I HATE facial hair. This may seem like a pointless argument, but Ke$ha is famous for her love of beards. In one of her most famous songs, she ends the track by saying “I like your beard.” Ke$ha does not simply like beards, she is obsessed with beards. Actually, Ke$ha made a Tumblr blog called “Put Your Beard in my Mouth” where she does just that: she puts beards in her mouth.  I don’t know about you, but the idea of someone’s beard in my mouth repulses me. Next, I think glitter is tacky, and Ke$ha lives for, you guessed it… GLITTER. In another one of her songs, she sings “Throw some glitter, make it rain,” and that’s exactly what she does. At her concerts she spews glitter on her audience for hours.  She even admitted to spending thousands of dollars on glitter a month. Lastly, Ke$ha is a horrible artist. Her lyrics have no substance and her singing is completely auto tuned. Yet, if a  Ke$ha song comes on the radio, I will turn it up and recite every word by heart. I can’t hear a Ke$ha song without dancing along, it’s impossible. I am not sure why I am so obsessed with songs about brushing your teeth with alcohol, getting hit on by dinosaurs (old men), or the “Party at a Rich Dude’s House,” but in the words of Ke$ha… “I’ve got a sick obsession.”

Vegetarians... WE EAT

Vegetarians don't eat meat: True

Vegetarians don't eat: False

     In July, I was sitting with my older sister at a concert, talking about food and health. My sister was telling me about a book she read called Skinny Bitch. Although the book has a bad rep for scrutinizing women's diets and is thought to encourage anorexia and low self-esteem, it is essentially a book about veganism. My sister, who has three kids, spent a few months as a vegan after she had her second child and was in the best shape of her life. I never particularly loved meat so I decided to give it a try. As a college student, I knew the difficulty of becoming a vegan, so I decided to become a vegetarian instead, because it seemed more manageable. For clarification, a vegan does not eat any animal products including eggs, milk, cheese, etc., but a vegetarian can eat animal products except for meat. 

     The next day I went to the store and bought all new food. I focused on buying mostly fruits, vegetables, pasta, and other foods that had the nutrients and protein to replace the meat in my diet. The first month was difficult, as I was forced to reassess my choices at restaurants and find new meals to cook, but eventually it become second nature to me. I settled on being a pescatarian, meaning I do not eat meat but I eat fish; however, I rarely eat fish unless I feel I am low on nutrients. I have also switched from drinking regular milk to rice or almond milk. Being a pescatarian has forced me to steer clear of fast food and think out my meals more thoroughly. I am careful not to stuff my face with things that will fill me up, rather to eat three nutritious meals a day. 

     Watching Food Inc. only reassured my decision not to eat meat. Not only is there the argument of how the animals are mistreated, but the diet of people who consume meat is often extremely unhealthy. It is possible to have a healthy diet while consuming meat, but being a pescatarian has made me more health conscious than I ever thought possible. This may seem like a lot of pointless information, but I wanted to debunk the myth that vegetarians do not eat. We do eat, and maybe healthier than you! :)

"Everyone's a Little Bit Prejudice"

So I will go ahead and admit a pop culture obsession of mine: musicals. In class, when talking about how many people will say, “I don’t like gay people, except for this one person,” it reminded me of a song from a musical called Avenue Q. Basically, the musical is the raunchy, grown-up version of Sesame Street. The musical originally sparked a lot of controversy with songs like “The Internet is for Porn,” and the song I will refer to, “Everyone’s a Little Bit Racist.”

Whether we are willing to admit it or not, I believe this song is more relevant to our current society than people realize. I do not think everyone is racist, however, I do believe most people have at some point in their life had prejudice against a type of person based solely on appearance. It is a natural trait of human beings to group themselves into categories because of the innate desire to belong and fit in. Because of this desire, humans have developed the idea of race and somehow decided race is an acceptable means of classification. In my Sociology class, I recently learned that there are often more differences biologically between two people of the same race, than two people of different races; yet, we insist on highlighting the differences between races, mostly because of skin color.

I am Indiana born and grown; however, I spent two years of high school in Alabama. Talk about culture shock. I went from a school that was full of different races to a school where I could count the number of students in my class that were a minority on one hand. Not to mention, many of the students were openly racist. Although I was constantly offended by racist comments, I learned a lot about prejudices and the ways they are developed and shown. Furthermore, I was able to share a more tolerant and loving view many had not experienced. I think I am still trying to figure out the balance between being too sensitive and not sensitive enough to race, but I challenge you to be aware of the prejudices you have that you are unaware of, whether it be towards another race, gender, or sexual orientation.