Protect Me from What I Want

And So...

2007-08-31T12:49:00.000-07:00

I'm moving to New York tonight. Tomorrow marks the end of this project. I met with Terri the other day and we discussed this past year and how I feel about this project now. And in the end this project is not about my mother. Its about me and the societal pressures we have grown so accustom to we almost never question them. I will buy shoes, and other thing I know I don't need. I really don't need anything, and I knew that in the beginning of this project. But I'm going to try and make more conscience. I don't know what will happen. I am going to attempt to update in a month or so just to revisit and have time to gather my thoughts post project.

I would like to thank the fallowing people for their kind support and encouragement. Without them I don't know if I would have made it through the year.

Tish Manuel, Patricia Butler, Terri Griffith, Lauren Vallone, Jen Wideawake, Maura Thompson, Aimee Beabien, Serena Worthington, Martine Syms, Barbara DeGenevive, Elizabeth Weiss, Chris Peters, Brenna ConNelly Fonda, Oli Rodriguez, and to everyone that read this blog and bought me cookies.

2007-08-31T12:44:00.000-07:00

About a month ago I went to go try clothes on with Lauren. We went to J Crew, and if I remember correctly it was to find her something to wear to this formalish party. Instead of helping her look I proceeded to try on clothes. Throughout the past year I have avoided trying on clothes mainly because I assumed I would cave in and buy something. I didn't purchase anything but I actually had a physical reaction to trying clothes on. It was the first time in the past year that I felt absolutely gleeful. Don't get me wrong I am a happy person but I can only describe it as a true happiness. For the rest of the night I was full of energy. When it came time to going to bed I opted to look at shoes online instead of having sex.

Shopping with a ten year old

2007-08-29T22:06:00.000-07:00

I was at the zoo a couple of days ago with my girlfriend ans her sister and it was really odd. We were in the gift shop and I was taken aback by how she wanted just about everything in the store. As a child I owned a lot of stuffed animals. I'm sure most children in America probably own plenty of them, but how many do they actually play with? Do you really need more than a couple?

It was also really weird watching her while at a counter. As she was paying she would randomly pick up objects that are specifically targeted towards her demographic. After reading Julliet B. Schorr's book "Born to Buy" and then spending time with a child it is not hard to see the social and subliminal messages that are being sent to children.

This really has nothing to do with water pistols

2007-08-29T21:43:00.000-07:00

At the end of September I signed up to partake in a water pistol tournament. I lost, but the weird thing about it is that I really started to think about my life and what I had imagined myself doing when I grew up. It's so easy to say that I would love to be an assassin, or a thief or a superhero like figure. But in the end I just don't have it in me. Superheros don't exist but if they did, I'm weak, I'm afraid of heights, and I get nauseous easily. When it came down to "killing" my guy I just couldn't do it. He was too nice and although it was just a game I didn't feel the urge to take him out.

With this project coming to an end, in three days, I am also starting to learn my own limitations and let go of my preconceived notions of how I thought this project would affect me. In the past year not only has my diet and spending habits changed but my own perception of what I need has consistently altered. My physical health has played a large role in my spending habits. I've noticed that when I was sick, either with strep of the flu, I would pay just about anything to immediately feel better.

Although learning that circumstances will affect my spending habits helps it's also helpful to remember that although I might be spending money I still need to be practical with my own expectations and limitations.

Reblog: IPOD Tops US Teen Brand Chat as American Eagle is Sole Apparel Representative

2007-08-27T21:10:00.001-07:00

US teens talk about brands twice as much as the rest of Americans. The most popular labels are headed by Apple's iPod, while teen retailer American Eagle was the only fashion apparel brand to make the top-10 list, according to a new word-of-mouth survey by TalkTrack for the Keller Fay Group. Of 2,046 teens (ages 13-17) polled from January-May, the top five brands with the largest number of "net positive" mentions were iPod, American Eagle, Dr Pepper, Chevrolet and Nintendo. In contrast, the top five word-of-mouth brands among the general public (15,287 respondents, ages 13-69) are Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Wal-Mart, Sony and Toyota. (via WGSN.com)

It's been a while

2007-08-27T21:04:00.001-07:00

Not only have I not been blogging but in the past three weeks I have really fallen hard. With only five days left I am going to update on the past three weeks that I have been M.I.A. I will be updating everyday until Saturday.

Reblog: McDonald's sued in China for not using Chinese

2007-07-31T09:49:00.000-07:00

Chinese lawyer has sued McDonald's in China for using mostly English, not Chinese, on its receipts, violating his right to information, media reported on Friday.
The lawyer, identified only as Shan, decided to take legal action against the world's largest restaurant chain after he ate at two McDonald's restaurants in Beijing in May and June.

"McDonald's offers food service in China, but it does not use Chinese, which violates the consumers' right to know," the Beijing Youth Daily quoted Shan as saying.

Shan has asked McDonald's to apologize in newspapers and give him symbolic compensation of 1 yuan (13 U.S. cents), the newspaper said.

Reblog: Wal Mart flip flops cause nasty chemical burn

2007-07-24T10:33:00.000-07:00

I hate feet. Feet honestly make me feel sick just looking at them. But for some odd reason I can't stop looking at this woman's documentation of what a pair of Wal Mart flip flops did to her feet. Check out the link below, I decided to not post any photos because looking at the progression is really...gnarly.

Boing Boing writes:

" Kerry bought some flip flops for $2.44 at Wal Mart. After wearing them for a while, she noticed a tingling sensation on her feet. She immediately stopped wearing the flip flops. Soon after, her skin turned red and blistery.
When she took the matter up with Wal Mart, they told her to take it up with the Chinese manufacturer.

Apparently, Wal Mart is still selling the flip flops"

http://www.lamanaphotography.com/walmart.htm

I'm in love... again

2007-07-23T08:23:00.000-07:00

To tell you the truth, I have been very disapointed in adidas recently. Most of their lines have just not impressed me. They are cutting their mens line to big and their womens line is being cut slimmer than I like. But this past week I fell in love again. Just like my previous love, the african inspired jacket, this too comes from the materials of the world series. I was talking to someone recently how I wanted a shoulder cape but couldn't tell if I could rock one. But after seeing this I just might be able to. I know it will probably be cut like the other jacket but for now I am just happy being smitten with this picture.

Your Logo Here

2007-07-23T07:36:00.000-07:00

I finaly got a chance to look at Denna Templeton's book "Your Logo Here."The book is a series of photos of young boys and girl that have corporate logos sprayed on them. It appears that all of the photos occure in my home state of California.

The book can be picked up here:
http://www.someday-store.com/shop/index.php?act=viewProd&productId=103

Inhanitat

2007-07-13T10:55:00.000-07:00

I found this website today and was going to blog about these prefab houses they were coving but ended up reading a lot of their previous posts. Its a great site for green design.

http://www.inhabitat.com/

Here is their mission statement:

GREEN DESIGN IS GOOD DESIGN
GOOD DESIGN IS GREEN DESIGN
Inhabitat.com is a weblog devoted to the future of design, tracking the innovations in technology, practices and materials that are pushing architecture and home design towards a smarter and more sustainable future.

With an interest in design innovations that enhance sustainability, efficiency, and interactivity in the home, Inhabitat’s attention is focused on objects and spaces that are eco-friendly, multi-purpose, modular, and/or interactive. We believe that good design balances substance with style. We are frustrated by the fact that a lot of what we see being touted as “good design” in magazines and at stores is all style and no substance. A lot of contemporary design merely imitates the classic Modernist aesthetic without any of the idealistic social agenda that made Modernism such a groundbreaking movement back in the early 20th Century. The flip side to this is that oftentimes real technological innovations - the ones which will eventually change the way we live our lives - are often not packaged into enough of a stylish aesthetic to move beyond niche circles and crossover into mainstream popular taste.

Likewise, we are frustrated at seeing an emerging category called “Green Design” - as if sustainability is somehow seperate from good design in general. We believe that all design should be inherently “Green”. Good design is not about color, style or trends - but instead about thoughtfully considering the user, the experience, the social context and the impact of an object on the surrounding environment. No design can be considered good design unless it at least attempts to address some of these concerns.

We believe in the original modernist ideology that form and function are intertwined in design. Style and substance are not mutually exclusive, and Inhabitat is here to prove

Reblog: Seeing Yellow: call your printer's manufacturer and ask why they spy on you

2007-07-13T10:39:00.000-07:00

I don't know if I had mentioned this earlier but I work at a digital print shop. Boing Boing and Eyebeam's Reblog and I'm sure many other blogs have covered this story.

What we didn't know is that if you ask the manufacturer of your printer to stop spying on you, they respond by ratting you out to the Secret Service as a dangerous subversive, and a few days later, the SS will show up and ask you why you care about your privacy.

Cory Doctorow: Seeing Yellow wants you to call your printer's manufacturer and ask them to stop spying on you.
We've known that our printers are spying on us, ever since the Electronic Frontier Foundation cracked the secret codes in the output of color laser printers. These hidden codes -- apparently placed at the behest of the Secret Service -- identify the serial number, make and model of the printer that printed them, as well as a date and timestamp.

Seeing Yellow -- a project from the MIT Media Lab -- wants to put a stop to this by overwhelming the manufacturers with complaints from their customers, so many that they can't turn us all into the SS.

When you print on a color laser printer, it's likely that you are also printing a pattern of invisible yellow dots. These marks exist to allow the printer companies and governments to track and identify you -- presumably as a way to combat money counterfeiting. When one person asked his printer manufacturer about turning off the tracking dots, Secret Service agents showed up at his door several days later.
Upset? You should be!

Let's stand up to silent tracking and government bullying and send a strong message to printer manufacturers. Our privacy and our control over our own technology is far too important to give up over trumped up fears of photocopied money.

http://www.seeingyellow.com/

Reblog: Love as a predictor of technological success

2007-07-10T14:42:00.001-07:00

Clay Shirky's ten-minute keynote from the Supernova conference, "Love, Internet Style," is a sweet and magic mind-opener. Clay explains how the best predictor of whether a technology will succeed is whether it inspires people to love it.
We have always loved one another, we're human, it's something we're good at. But up until recently, the radius and half-life of that affection has been quite limited. With love alone, you can plan a birthday party. Add coordinating tools and you can write an operating system.
In the past, we would do little things for love, but big things required money. Now we can do big things for love.

Thank you.

Reblog: Armless woman refused service at McDonald's

2007-07-10T14:37:00.000-07:00

Rockford, IL woman Dawn Larson, who was born without arms, was refused service at a McDonald's drive through, because the staff refused to let her take her food away with her feet (she uses her feet to drive, handle money, etc). The staff were vociferously revolted by the woman's disability.
McDonald's head office response? A $10 gift-certificate.

Dawn says her disability's never stopped her from leading a normal life. "I do everyday things like everyday people." But on November 3rd, she says that changed. Larson pulled up to the McDonald's drive through on Kishwaukee Street and ordered food for her and her sons. She drove to the first window, gave the cashier her credit card with her foot, and pulled up to get her food. Dawn says, "The first girl said, 'Girl, you ain't got no arms' and the manager said she couldn't hand me her food and she just kept sticking to the fact that I didn't have no arms and she was disgusted by it. I had the right to eat my dinner and feed my kids and they took that away from me."
Larson says the manager eventually agreed to hand Larson's son the food. But she says an incident 3 and a half moths later at the McDonald's on 11th Street didn't end that way. Larson claims an employee there refused to even do that. "I paid to be discriminated against and I paid to be disrespected and I paid to not even have the right to eat my food."

Larson says McDonald's sent her a 10 dollar gift certificate in response to her complaint. Now she's suing the fast food corporation to prevent anyone else from going through what she did. "That's saying McDonald's condones and urges people to treat the handicapped that way. I don't want that message to come across. I want to fight for my rights and my kids rights and have these things changed."

Updates

2007-07-06T14:28:00.000-07:00

So there is less than two months left till this project is done. I don't have much to say that I haven't said before.

Not to much has been happening. As of Sunday I have been sick for two weeks. I went to the doctor on Monday and he said its probably allergies. I don't know how much I trust him since the last time I saw him he gave me a high five for questioning if I got mono from a girl I made out with.

I read this a while back but forgot to blog about it.
http://www.hatingitmagazine.com/?p=571

Reblog: What it takes to bring you Fiji water

2007-07-03T10:03:00.000-07:00

Boing Boing posted this yesterday.

There have been lots of stories lately about the inefficiency and environmental damages caused by bottled water, but Charles Fishman has the definitive piece in Fast Company. You'll never want to drink Fiji again.
The label on a bottle of Fiji Water says "from the islands of Fiji." Journey to the source of that water, and you realize just how extraordinary that promise is. From New York, for instance, it is an 18-hour plane ride west and south (via Los Angeles) almost to Australia, and then a four-hour drive along Fiji's two-lane King's Highway.
Every bottle of Fiji Water goes on its own version of this trip, in reverse, although by truck and ship. In fact, since the plastic for the bottles is shipped to Fiji first, the bottles' journey is even longer. Half the wholesale cost of Fiji Water is transportation--which is to say, it costs as much to ship Fiji Water across the oceans and truck it to warehouses in the United States than it does to extract the water and bottle it.

That is not the only environmental cost embedded in each bottle of Fiji Water. The Fiji Water plant is a state-of-the-art facility that runs 24 hours a day. That means it requires an uninterrupted supply of electricity--something the local utility structure cannot support. So the factory supplies its own electricity, with three big generators running on diesel fuel. The water may come from "one of the last pristine ecosystems on earth," as some of the labels say, but out back of the bottling plant is a less pristine ecosystem veiled with a diesel haze (...)

Fiji Water produces more than a million bottles a day, while more than half the people in Fiji do not have reliable drinking water.

The full article is worth reading and can be found at:
http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/117/features-message-in-a-bottle.html

Reblog: Beijing Mystery: What's Happening To The Billboards?

2007-06-25T13:40:00.000-07:00

Today in the WSJ there is an article about Beijings new outlaw on billboards in the citys center. Here is a little bit of the article.

BEIJING -- Until recently, the highway leading to Beijing's Capital International Airport was known as China's Golden Avenue. Billboards on the 12-mile stretch, prized because it is what visitors to the capital see first, were the most expensive outdoor advertising in China. Not any longer.In one of the most ambitious attempts ever to sanitize a city's image, cranes were recently sent in to dismantle many of the 90-odd billboards lining the road. Some billboards still standing have tin sheets tacked onto them, to conceal the ads...

" Many use exagerated terms that encourage luxury and self-indulgence which are beyond the reach of low-in-come groups and are therefore not conducive to harmony in the capital."

Pride weekend

2007-06-25T11:08:00.000-07:00

This weekend in Chicago was Pride. I went to the parade on Sunday was a bit surprised to see so many corporate floats. I understood why there were news companies but 60% of the parade was made up by consumer products. I felt kindof weird about it. At first it seems that he companies present might have better polotics but I think they are just smarter to hit an "untapped" income.

I also bought three things at pride.
I bought a slice of pizza.
I bought a hot dog.
I bought a bottle of water.

Slow Food

2007-06-25T11:01:00.000-07:00

I was with Terri last week and she mentiond that I might be interested in the Slow Food movement. I just checked it out and am somew what interested. I don't really liek the fact that you have to be a paying memeber to access the movements information but I guess its like anything else. Here is some info I pulled on them.

Philosophy

We believe that everyone has a fundamental right to pleasure and consequently the responsibility to protect the heritage of food, tradition and culture that make this pleasure possible. Our movement is founded upon this concept of eco-gastronomy – a recognition of the strong connections between plate and planet.

Slow Food is good, clean and fair food. We believe that the food we eat should taste good; that it should be produced in a clean way that does not harm the environment, animal welfare or our health; and that food producers should receive fair compensation for their work.

We consider ourselves co-producers, not consumers, because by being informed about how our food is produced and actively supporting those who produce it, we become a part of and a partner in the production process.

Slow Food Guiding Principles

Sustainability

recognizing the interdependence of people with one another and with our environment
caring for the land and protecting biodiversity for today's communities and future generations
promoting pure food that is local, seasonal and organically grown

Cultural Diversity

recognizing food as a language that expresses cultural diversity
preserving the myriad traditions of the table
cultivating and reinvigorating a sense of community and place
Pleasure and Quality in Everyday Life

celebrating the diverse expressions of our earth's bounty
appreciating and encouraging creativity, passion and beauty
respecting and supporting artisans who grow, produce, market, prepare and serve wholesome food

Inclusiveness

following democratic principles in a spirit of sharing and service
educating members and others about Slow Food's mission
dedicating ourselves to local cooperation and global collaboration

Authenticity and Integrity

insuring our values are embodied by all staff, board members and convivium leaders
manifesting these values in all of our events, projects and publications
committing ourselves to partnerships with like-minded individuals and organizations

Here is the link to their general website:
http://www.slowfood.com/about_us/eng/philosophy.lasso

Here is a link to the Chicago branch:
http://www.slowfoodchicago.org/

Reblog:Camera in parcel tracks journey through postal system

2007-06-25T10:36:00.000-07:00

Tim Knowles put a digital camera inside a cardboard box and rigged it so that it would snap a photo every ten seconds through a small hole in the box. Then he sent the box through the mail. It recorded a total of 6994 images and he made a movie with them.

http://www.timknowles.co.uk/Work/PostalWorks/SpyBox/tabid/296/Default.aspx

Reblog: Lawyer to RIAA: Sue the First Twins for copyright violations!

2007-06-21T14:37:00.001-07:00

Just saw this on Boing Boing.

Mitchell Silverman, an attorney in Florida, noticed in a recent news-story that GW Bush's twin daughters presented him with a mix CD of exercise music for Father's Day. Since the record industry maintains that making and distributing mix CDs is a copyright infringement, Silverman sent their legal offices a letter on letterhead asking them to sue the first twins for "stealing music."
As you will see from the attached article from today’s The Miami Herald, President George W. Bush’s daughters made him a presumably illegal compilation CD, a so-called “mix CD,” as a Father’s Day present. As the article, at |http://www.miamiherald.com/692/story/142726.html| states, “[President] Bush's twin daughters, gave him [as a Father’s Day present] a CD they had made for him to listen to while exercising.”
This is a serious violation of copyright. As you know, whichever of your member organizations that are right-holders for the copied musical works may be entitled to statutory damages of $150,000.00 per musical work copied.

I hope and expect that you at the RIAA will display the same vigor in prosecuting this matter and protecting the rights of your rights-holders that it has displayed in enforcing those rights against other alleged violators.

Why I read the Wall Street Journal

2007-06-21T11:29:00.000-07:00

Terri emailed me the other and asked me to explain why I often referance the WSJ on the blog. I decided to make a list because it would be easier.

1) To begin with, my roomates and I get it delivered for free. I have no ide who it belongs to but we get it everyday.

2) I like their reporting and the fact that they leave out much of the garbage that shows up in most newpapers.

3) Although its conservative I also like the spin that it gives to all of the pop culture topics that they discuss. It's a business take on popular culture.

4) Someone I respected intelectually told me once that as a monority you should try and see what the dominant culture cares about. She recomended reading both the NY times and the WSJ to do so.

My mom's new SUV

2007-06-21T11:23:00.000-07:00

So I recently found out that my mom has purchased a new SUV. I must say that I have never understood the majority of people that own these kind of cars. It kills me to see a single person driving one. But anyways my mom got one because she claims to want to take my sister and I to the mountains. I have never been to the mountains. I have never even been camping, Couldn't she have rented one instead if she all of a sudden got a hackering to go outdoors? She also lives in LA where gas is really expensive. It also urkes me that she bought a new car with money that my grandfather, who I have never met and never want to meet, has givin her. I know that I should be responsible for myself but it really bothers me that she has not helped my sister with her car loan or her recent surgery that my grandmother is paying off. She has never taken financial responsibility for her two children. After being rather upset over this I decided that my mom should buy whatever she wants, as long as it's her own money, and not help Tish or I out. I'm an adult. But it bothers me that my grandmother still feels obligated to hep us.

My credit

2007-06-21T11:19:00.000-07:00

Maura was giving me a hard time recently on the fact that I still have not checked my credit. I can do a full project and still not really face my credit score. So this past weekend to prove her wrong I checked my credit. Several thing occured.

1) I was not able to access two of my credit score because I can not pass teh security questions. Mainly because the credit cards they are asking to confirm my identity were not taken out by me.

2) I don't know how this happened but my sister and I have a connected credit scores. My student loans show up on her credit report and her car loan shows up on mine. I have no idea how this happened and why but I need to go fix it.

2007-06-18T16:20:00.000-07:00

Although I walk everywhere I am not much of a runner. Actually I am really bad at running. But anyways, I fucking love these shoes. They are a bit sleeker than I usually like but damn are those shoes sexy. They make me wish I was a runner but then I wouldn't want to wear the shoes because running in them would make them dirty.

Updates

2007-06-18T16:13:00.000-07:00

This past week I re read all of the blog entries and started to notice some patterns

1) You can really see my change in attitude towards the food I am eating. At first I get sick and complain about missing the old food I used to eat. Halfway through I do a 180 and can't stand some of my once favorite foods.

2) I blogged a lot more in th beginning than I do now.

3) My post were a lot more personal than they are now. I was also getting a lot of comments on how my blog should be more personal in the beginning than now.

I can't remember some of the other things off the top of my head. But I'll post them when I remember.

2007-06-15T14:46:00.000-07:00

My problem with the post below is the fact that although Kellogs may reduce their marketing for children, most people that have read anything about child markiting shows that most children respong to advertisement targeted for older children. It just seems as if they are trying to get around being sued and still get their way.

Reblog: Kellogs to stop advertising to kids under the age of 11

2007-06-15T14:18:00.000-07:00

Read this on the WSJ yesterday but found this article @ http://newsfeedresearcher.com/data/articles_b24/idb2007.06.14.13.10.23.html

A consumer advocacy group said Thursday it is dropping plans to sue Kellogg Co. after the cereal and snack company announced it will boost the nutritional value of its products and alter its advertising campaigns for kids. The Michigan-based company said Thursday it has developed new criteria for its web, TV, radio, and print campaigns for children in an attempt to help parents make healthy food choices. [1] WASHINGTON -- Kellogg is expected to announce tomorrow that it will raise the nutritional value of cereals and snacks it markets to children. The Battle Creek-based company says by 2008 it won't market to kids under twelve unless single-serving sizes of their products meet specific standards. They must be less that 200 calories, have no trans fat and no more than two grams of saturated fat.[2]

CHICAGO - Kellogg Co. said on Thursday that it would change the way it markets food to children and only promote products that meet certain nutritional standards for sugar, fat and sodium, fending off threatened litigation. In conjunction with the new guidelines, the Center for Science in the Public Interest and Campaign for Commercial-Free Childhood said they would not proceed with a threatened lawsuit against the company.[3] WASHINGTON Kellogg Co., the world's largest cereal maker, is trimming the calories, fat, sugar and salt it allows in foods pitched to predominantly under-12 audiences. In so doing, it avoids a threatened lawsuit by parents and nutritional advocacy groups.[4]

The Battle Creek, Mich., company avoided a lawsuit threatened by parents and nutrition advocacy groups worried about increasing child obesity. Kellogg intends to formally announce its decision Thursday.[5]

Center spokesman Jeff Cronin said Kellogg contacted the plaintiffs shortly thereafter and began negotiating the new standards, so the lawsuit was not filed and will not be filed. "We are pleased to work collaboratively with industry and advocacy groups to unveil these standards," said David Mackay, Kellogg's CEO. "We feel the Kellogg Nutrient Criteria set a new standard for responsibility in the industry."[5]

Kellogg is now setting itself new nutrition standards. The company said about 50 percent of the products it markets to children _ including some varieties of Pop-Tarts and certain cereals _ don't meet these criteria. "It means we have a lot of work to do," said Chief Executive David Mackay. "If we can't make those products taste just as good as they do today and make them as appealing, then we won't reformulate them and we won't advertise them."[6] Products that do not meet the criteria will either be reformulated or will no longer be marketed to children under 12 by the end of 2008, the company said. In January 2006, amid concern over increasing childhood obesity, CSPI, CCFC and two Massachusetts parents announced their intent to sue Kellogg and Viacom Inc., parent company of the Nickelodeon children's television network, over advertising aimed at children.[3]

NEW YORK - Kellogg Co. plans to make popular brands like Pop-Tarts, Froot Loops and Apple Jacks healthier. If the company's test kitchens can't match the taste, Kellogg said it will leave the recipes alone and simply stop marketing such products to children under 12. The move, to be unveiled this morning, highlights the dual pressures on food companies.[7] Like Kellogg, a few companies have already unveiled tougher standards for advertising to children. Last October, for instance, Walt Disney said it would allow its characters to be used in food advertising only if the products complied with nutritional standards.[8] Kellogg's cereal boxes will also have key nutrition labels placed prominently at the front of the packages. "This settlement will keep advertising for some of the least healthy foods off children's media," said Michael Jacobson, executive director at the Center for Science in the Public Interest. Jacobson called the move a "real advance," but said Kellogg will still be able to market products that aren't terribly healthy simply because they come in just below the required limits.[6]

Use branded toys connected to any foods that do not meet the nutrition standards. Use licensed characters on mass-media ads directed primarily to kids younger than 12 or on the front labels of food packages unless they meet the standards. The advertising agreement does not apply to marketing characters Kellogg owns, such as Tony the Tiger or Toucan Sam, but it does apply to characters the food company licenses, such as the cartoon figure Shrek.[9] Under Kellogg's new guidelines, food advertised on television, radio, Web sites and in print that have an audience that is 50 percent or more children under the age of 12 will have to meet the new nutrition standards.[8]

The president and chief executive of Kellogg, David Mackay, said that the products that did not meet the guidelines would either be reformulated so that they did, or no longer advertised to children. "It is a big change," Mackay said.[10] There'll also be limits on sugar and sodium. Kellogg says it will reformulate the products to meet those standards or stop marketing them to kids under 12 by the end of 2008.[11] Nutrition information on calories, total fat, sodium and sugar will be spotlighted on the front of the boxes on Kellogg's products in Canada.[1] The largest U.S. cereal maker said that products advertised on media for which half the audience is under 12 years old would have 200 or less calories per serving, less than two grams of saturated fat, no more than 230 milligrams of sodium and 12 grams of sugar.[12]

The banner will provide key nutrition information at-a-glance for consumers to quickly assess how a cereal meets the recommendations of Canada's Food Guide for calories, total fat, sodium and sugar.[13]

Shrek cereal does not meet the criteria because it has 15 grams of sugar a serving and uses a licensed character. In a related initiative, Kellogg said it would introduce Nutrition at a Glance labels on the top right corner of cereal boxes this year.[14

Reblog: UNIQLOCK by Uniqlo

2007-06-15T14:15:00.000-07:00

I've been watching this for the past 40 minutes. It's not very functional but is great to watch.

http://www.uniqlo.jp/uniqlock/

Wesabe

2007-06-15T10:43:00.000-07:00

Yesterday the Wall Street Journal had an aricle about Wesabe,a Myspace like social networking service but for money. Below is a video about the website. It sounds somewhat cool but I would assume that many people including msyelf would be concerned about security. I like the idea at first but it aslso just seems like an easy way for companys to look at what exactly w certain demographic is spending and on what.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SG_w4DNpPs0&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Ewesabe%2Ecom%2Fpage%2Ftour

2007-06-12T14:20:00.001-07:00

To be honest I'm not really in the mood to update. I don't have much to tell. Yesterday I swallowed my lip ring. I think I might have pooped it out this morning but I can't really tell. I'll be back in a few days.

Still Life NYC

2007-06-07T15:37:00.000-07:00

I'm a pretty big hat fan. Most people that I currently know probably haven't even seen the top of my head. It hasn't always been this way. When I was a kid up until I was 17 I had a rather large fro which did not allow for my hat wearing. Long story short, I wear a lot of hats and I think Still Life might have some of the best hats I have ever seen. The one above is $250, a bit pricey but I think it might be worth it.

http://www.stilllifenyc.com/

Updates

2007-06-07T08:07:00.001-07:00

Here are just some general updats:

I've been pretty busy the past couple of days mainly with work. I'm working two jobs right now and can't wait for one of them to be over. I don't know if I had mentioned on this but for the full summer I'm working a 9 to 5 job. The job is somewhat boring but it has made me appreciate my weekends. But I do feel as if I am not having much free time. I wake up around 6:45 every morning to shower and what not and then head out by 8 to walk to work. Today when I got into work I realized that I forgot to put on my bra this mroning. I'm looking forward to the weekend.

I read in the Wall Street Journal that Wal-Mart has acknoledged that it sold fake Fendi bags for up to $525 dollars. The article did not say if customers who bought the counterfit bags would be able to return them. Its really crazy to see how powerful the counterfit culture has gotten when it come to luxury items. The bags were priced $400 less than a legit Fendi bag but still $525 is a lot for a fake.

I bought bread at Whole Foods the Other day. Every other week I buy my bread from Alliance Bakery which is six blocks from my house. But they weren't open when I decided to go grocery shopping. I was actually just being lazy because it was raining. So, I purchased bread at the grocery store. Two things. 1) I can totally taste the differance. Alliance's bread is just so much better. 2) I was really interested in my choice of bread. I walked up and down the aisle looking for what I thought would be the freshest bread. I picked out some organic brand and went home. The next day I saw that I had chosed the same brand that my romate usually buys. I don't really remember noticing her bread before hand but I would assume that it was in the back of my brain.

And lastly, I'm moving to NY for 4 months starting September 1st.

Fallow Up

2007-06-01T14:19:00.000-07:00

Some of ou might have read my Reblog on Congressman Tim Ryan and his participation in what he cals the "Food Stamp Challange. I was really into this project but then forgot to check back in for the final day. I posted his final blog post on the subject below and a link to check out the rest. It's worth looking at.

Day 7- A Confession
Well, we're now on day seven, and, in a moment of full disclosure, I want the whole blogosphere to know that I ate a pork chop on Friday night in New Hampshire. I apologize for not comin' clean earlier on the blog. I did mention this to Jerid at Buckeye State Blog immediately after my speech at Franklin Pierce, but forgot to blog about it in the haste of Peanut butter-gate. I needed some protein in a bad way and wanted to be in good shape for my speech the next morning. I didn't want to force my fellow FPLC alumnus to sit through a long, disjointed commencement speech. There is nothing worse than a bad Commencement speech. Anyway, after the Saturday Manchester airport incident I went back on the challenge and made myself some Polenta that night.

Today I headed back to Ohio for a funeral for the father of my dear friend Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones. I didn't have any breakfast or lunch today. As my vision started to blur I grabbed a small bag of honey roasted peanuts at the airport. So, there it is. I stuck to it much better than I thought considering the amount of traveling I had to do. And my 12 years of Catholic school have me feeling a bit guilty for not being totally compliant with the rules. So, I'm going to put in an hour or two at a local food bank this week end to make up for it.

I'm coming away from this experience with some hard lessons learned and a newfound understanding of this issue. First and foremost is that it is nearly IMPOSSIBLE to make due on this amount of money. I know many people have written in saying that Food Stamps are meant to be a supplement to other income. Well, yeah that is how the program was intended, but it has been 11 years since we've added ANY value to food stamps, 10 years since we've raised the minimum wage and in that time inflation has risen, the price of milk has risen, the price of produce has risen. NOW we find ourselves in a position where with gas well over $3.00 a gallon in many places those who earn the least among us use their food stamp benefit not as a supplement, but as their sole source of income for food.

That is why I am going to offer a few observations:

1) We need to have the compassion to raise food stamp benefits in this next Farm Bill. Me and the other three members who took the food stamp challenge are 100ommitted to give an extra $4 billion dollars a year for five years to bring people's benefits up a bit. It isn't a GREAT deal, but it’s a start. To those who would deny the poorest among us this benefit increase, I would like to remind you that $20 Billion is about how much every three months in Iraq.

2) Just allocating more money to the program is the first step. We need to have the courage to reform the current system. Our Food Stamp Program NEEDS to address the malnourishment that many children and families experience on food stamps. I want the Department of Agriculture to retool the food stamp program so that they are utilized for nutritious foods, produce, whole grains, milk and eggs. How? Well first, I want to have the Government study farm subsidies and figure out how we created a system where the raw materials used in creating all these horrible processed foods are subsidized but many fruits and vegetables are not. Check out this article from the New York Times Magazine by Michael Pollan for more information. In addition I would like to create a program to bring food stamps to farmers markets, and farmers markets to inner cities so that good produce is available to those who need it. This is a win for the farmer, a win for the consumer and a win for the food stamp recipient.

3) Finally, we need to emphasize personal responsibility. I want to give people the tools they need to make educated choices (unlike my choices) at the supermarket and I plan on asking for a pilot program to educate food stamp recipients on the sorts of foods they need to buy in order to create balanced meals. Food stamp recipients have just as much responsibility to make good choices for their children and families as the government has providing them the ability to afford basic foods.

I hope that once we successfully pass some of this legislation, we will have taken a much deeper and substantive step towards fixing our food stamp program. Thank you all for your kind words of encouragement over the past week. I have tried very hard to make this work, and while I personally fell short living on a food stamp budget; I won’t fall short as an advocate for the program.

http://www.house.gov/apps/blog/oh17_ryan/index.shtml

Girls Gone Wild

2007-06-01T09:00:00.000-07:00

So yesterday I finished the Luna Brothers Fourth and final trade paperback to their series "Girls". This series is for sure in my all time top 5 comic books ever. So, the story is set in a town called Pennystown, population 5. The main Character Ethan finds a naked girl on his drive home from the bar. He ends up taking her home and sleeping with her. I don't want to give to much away but she ends up producing clones and those clones main objectives is to sleep with men and brutally kill all of the women in Pennystown. The comic fallows the remaining townspeople as they come to terms with the loss of family, friends and neighbors, while trying to stay alive themselves. Soon the women pit themselves against the men and some people take drastic measures in order to control the situation. I really can't say how great this book is. There are obvious feminist overtones that really separate this series from most comics.

Here is a link to the first issue, which you can read for free:
http://www.imagecomics.com/iconline.php?title=girls_001&page=cover

If anyone wants to barrow the series I'll lend or send them to you. Just as long as I get them back. Email me if you’re interested.

Reblog: Google's New Street Views

2007-05-30T12:49:00.000-07:00

Via eyebeam's reblog

Today Google launched Google Maps Street View, a new Google Maps feature that shows a 360-degree view from the streets of select cities. “With Street View, you can virtually explore city neighborhoods by viewing and navigating within 360-degree scenes of street-level imagery,” said Stephen Chau, product manager for Google Maps, in a blog post. “It feels as if you’re walking down the street!” They’re launching with imagery in San Francisco, New York (check out Times Square), Las Vegas, Miami, and Denver. Watch a video of Street Views in action.

http://eyebeam.org/reblog/
........................................................

This is somwhat creepy and I don't really see exactly how one would use this but I just spent an hour "walking" through the Las Vegas strip.

World Without Oil

2007-05-29T09:35:00.000-07:00

Maura told me about this last week and I forgot to blog it. I checked out the website and it seems really interesting. Not sure if I'll get to play though.

World Without Oil is an alternate reality event, a serious game for the public good.It invites everyone to help simulate a global oil shock. People participate by contributing original online stories, created as though the oil shock were really happening.

The game's masters rank the participants (“players”) according to their contributions to our realistic portrayal of the oil shock. The game also places value on player-created communities, collaborative stories, and collective efforts.

Each contribution helps the game arrive at a larger truth. No team of experts knows better than a given individual what effect an oil shock would have upon that individual's life, or what action he or she will take to cope. Personal reactions to our simulated oil shock, placed in context with many other points of view, will help us all realize what’s at stake in our oil-fired culture.

HOW CAN A GAME HELP US PREPARE?

WORLD WITHOUT OIL aims to help fill a huge gap in our nation's thinking about oil and the economy. As people everywhere grapple with the problem of growing global demand for petroleum, no one has a clear picture of oil availability in the future, nor is there a clear picture of what will happen when demand inevitably outstrips supply. That will depend in large part upon how well people prepare, cooperate, and collectively create solutions. By playing it out in a serious way, the game aims to apply collective intelligence and imagination to the problem in advance, and to create a record that has value for educators, policymakers, and the common people to help anticipate the future and prevent its worst outcomes. “Play it, before you live it.”

http://www.worldwithoutoil.org/

Drop Spots

2007-05-29T09:28:00.000-07:00

Maura and I were over at our neighbors house for diner the other night and his friend was telling us about Drop Spots. Yjeu are places that people hide objects around cities for other people to find. As soon as we went home we check out the website to see where the closest one was to us. Luckily there as one three blocks away from us so we went over. Unfortunetly it wasn't there anymore. So we created a new one a block away from our apratment. It's on the NW corner of Ashland and Superior behind the billbords in a red bag. If anyone is interested in looking up spots in their area or starting their own check out the website below. There are only four in Chicago right now but I think I am going to start some more as I walk to work.

http://www.dropspots.org/

Reblog: Why Congolese Men Would Rather Starve To Death Than Look Cheap.

2007-05-24T10:46:00.000-07:00

I Am An African In New York has a great blog entry about the Congolese men who put priority on high end fashion lables.

http://imanafricaninny.wordpress.com/2007/05/08/“bon-chic-bon-genre”-or-why-congolese-men-rather-starve-to-death-than-look-cheap/

But, also check out Colors Magazines article about it below:

Reblog: Paradise Is a Fabulous Suit

2007-05-24T10:37:00.000-07:00

Paradise Is a Fabulous Suit

FOR THE CONGOLESE SAPEURS, HAUTE COUTURE
ISN'T JUST AN ABIDING PASSION, IT'S A RELIGION.

By Anna Weinberg
Photos by Héctor Mediavilla Sabaté

Their canon of saints reads: Pierre Cardin, Roberto Cavalli, Dior, Fendi, Ferré, Gaultier, Gucci, Jourdan, Miyake, Prada, Saint Laurent, Versace, Yamamoto. A typical ballad runs: “Listen my love. On our wedding day/The label will be Torrente/The label will be Giorgio Armani/The label will be Daniel Hechter/The label for the shoes will be J. M. Weston.” Brussels, their shopping mecca, is referred to in Congolese as Lola, meaning paradise.

These are sapeurs, acolytes of a 25-year-old movement called la SAPE—La Societé des Ambianceurs et des Personnes Élégantes (aka Kitendi, the religion of the cloth) — that revolves around the possession of the most expensive, most luxurious, most extravagant fashion in the world. Followers of SAPE wear $10,000 jackets and $500 shoes, but these mostly young Congolese men otherwise barely eke out a living in the rubble of Kinshasa and Brazzaville or the ghettos of Paris and Brussels, washing dishes or washing bodies, and sometimes selling their own.

The craze started with le Pape de la SAPE—intermediary between the gods of fashion and practicing sapeurs—the musician Papa Wemba, born Jules Shungu Wembadio Pene Kikumba in the Kasai River region of the Belgian Congo. Papa Wemba, an emerging pop star in the late 1960s, fomented a revolution in self-presentation, agitating for pizzazz over the dowdy duds prescribed by Mobutu Sese Seko's “authenticity movement.” Mobutu was the first leader of Zaire after it was renamed—freshly liberated from Belgium in 1960 (Zaire is now the Democratic Republic of the Congo). His authenticity movement, which frowned on all associations with Western culture, was part of an effort to distinguish African-controlled Zaire from the Belgian-controlled Congo. Under Mobutu, anything from Christianity to neckties was in danger of being banned.

For Papa Wemba, this meant the horror of being expected to perform onstage in the traditional raffia skirt and cowrie-shell hat. Authenticity was all right but, from his perspective, this costume lacked a certain ...elegance. Luckily, his new group, Viva La Musica, had gotten so wildly popular both in Zaire and abroad that he found himself with more cash and more independence than most Congolese. Along with importing the European fashions he'd admired as a child, Papa Wemba was able to establish a village in the suburbs of Kinshasa, in which a fashion code—centered on the beret—was imposed. Multiple trips to Paris in the early 1980s only fueled his fever for French fashion, and Papa Wemba soon developed a flamboyant, exaggerated style that was in direct opposition to the Mobutu-approved uniform, the dreaded abacost (from the French “ý bas le costume,” or “down with the suit”), a dull Zairean version of the three-piece suit. He called his new style Ungaru, and it was a throwback to the elegance of the 1930s—complete with tapered trousers, brogues, neatly trimmed hair and tweed hats worn at a rakish angle. For Congolese all over the world, the look was irresistible. SAPE was born.

These days, though, the passion for fashion has morphed into a craze for labels, the more expensive the better. While the Brazzaville faithful keep to a strict three-color rule—including accessories—for any outfit, in Kinshasa and among the immigrants in Europe, the look is more hip-hop, and features a blinding array of patterns and hues. But in both groups, designer names are at such a premium that rival sapeurs will do battle with each other, flashing label after label, trying to best their opponent, stripping down, if necessary, to their underwear. “It's combat,” says Héctor Mediavilla Sabaté, a photographer who's been studying the sapeurs since 2003, “and the clothes are the weapons.”

In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the average annual income is about US$100, among the lowest in the world, according to the World Bank. And Congolese immigrants in Europe are among the poorest, but many willingly spend as much on a jacket as they would on a house in Kinshasa. As Mediavilla says, “it is obvious that there is an inconsistency between the way they live and the way they dress.” Even wealthy Papa Wemba had to resort to tricks to keep himself in Cavalli—soliciting money for working the names of fellow sapeurs into his songs and, recently, charging upwards of US$4,000 for smuggling Congolese men and women into Europe disguised as members of his band, which led to his arrest in France in 2003 (whereupon there were riots in Kinshasa).

Other sapeurs employ different methods to finance their wardrobes. Before visas became difficult to get, some would travel to Europe to buy clothing to sell back home in Kinshasa or Brazzaville. Some rely on Congolese shoplifting gangs in Brussels and Paris to send them he latest Armani. Many have spent time in jail. Some cobble together outfits by borrowing. “Only the people who lent the clothes know they were borrowed,” explains Mediavilla. For the sapeurs, he continues, the right clothes have the power of transmutation. “When they go out dressed up, they walk differently. They give themselves airs of importance. They show off. Sometimes they don't talk to other people—even their friends—as if they really were famous. They're stars for that night. It's worth it, isn't it?”

Article originally posted at:
http://www.colorsmagazine.com/issues/colors64/04.php

2007-05-22T14:34:00.000-07:00

Ons second thought. I have told my other about this project but have not actual told her about this blog and the mentioning of her on it. So I suppose that that would be a secret. But I still am going to search for something that is privledge to only myself.

Secrets

2007-05-22T14:29:00.000-07:00

So as previously stated, I was hanging out with Lauren and Joann, and Lauren was saying that she doesn't know if she is going to tel her parents about all of her tattoos. And it got me thinking. I don't think I have any secrets. Like real true blue secrets. Or even just information I don't share with people. Tish knows everything, and I mean everything about me. I can't think of one secret she doesn't know about. As for the rest of the world, I am having a hard time coming up with any. I think I have been rather honest when I fuck up but at the same time I think I might share to much. I also wonder if I could keep something secret for a while. I can keep other peoples secrets and have done so for a while but I don't know if I can keep my own. I'l try and come up with something to keep to myself. I just kindof want to know that I can, as crazy as it sounds.

Mike Mills & MJ

2007-05-22T14:07:00.000-07:00

Currently it seems that I have a fascination with Miranda July, but I don' really. This is the last MJ thing to appear on the blog...forever. Btw, Lauren's friend called me MJ the other day and I was really envious that no one had called me that before. My first name being Meaghan and my middle name being Joan. I wished I had thought of it years ago. I should have been an MJ.

Anyways, here is Mike Mill's video Top Ranking for Blonde Redhead in which Miranda July is doing one pose per second.

http://www.thedirectorsbureau.com/bureau1/mills/BlondeRedhead-TopRanking.mov

Reblog: Cngresscritters try to survive on $21 in food stamps for a week

2007-05-21T15:45:00.001-07:00

Here is anoher reblog from Boing Boing:

Wednesday, May 16th, 2007

Rep. Tim Ryan (D-Ohio) and Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) are among a handful of congresscritters participating in an experiment in which they must subsist on standard US food stamp rations for one week.
The shocking conclusion, so far? $21 worth of stamps a week doesn't add up to much, and it's "almost impossible" to maintain a healthy diet for $1 a meal (huh, wonder why America's poor suffer obesity in such great numbers?).

Both lawmakers are blogging about the experience: McGovern here, Ryan here. Snip from Ryan's latest post:

My biggest concern today is running out of food before the end of the week.
One loaf of bread doesn’t make as many sandwiches as you’d think, and I’m running through my cottage cheese pretty fast as well.

The budgeting was hard enough, rationing what I do have will present another challenge.

Monday, May 21, 2007

Following up on a recent BB post about several US congresspersons who agreed to try and subsist off $21 in food stamps for a week (as they say our government asks program recipients to do), congressman Tim Ryan blogs today:
"You aren’t going to believe this, but all I have left is cornmeal.
I was doing SO well! I had everything rationed out perfectly and knew that I was going to be able to stretch my food out until the end. That was of course, until the TSA decided to step in....

Sure enough the very nice TSA agent explained to me the 3-1-1 regulations for liquids. As a public service I’ve decided to link you to them. He politely put the peanut butter and jelly to the side, closed my bag and gave it back to me. I was too astonished to talk.

I took my bag and walked towards the gate thinking about the 4 or maybe 5 meals that she had taken from me. What am I going to do now? It’s not like I can just go to Safeway and grab another jar. I have .33 cents and a bag of cornmeal to last today and tomorrow."

http://www.boingboing.net/2007/05/16/congresscritters_try.html
http://www.house.gov/htbin/blog_inc?BLOG,oh17_ryan,blog,999,All,Item%20not%20found,ID=070520_0614,TEMPLATE=postingdetail.shtml

No One Belongs Here More Than You

2007-05-21T14:55:00.000-07:00

My coworkers on Bad at Sports recently reviewed Mirand July's new book, No One Belongs Here More Than You. I really don't know how I feel about it. There is just so much sex or sexulization of children which makes me somewhat uncomfortable. But at the same time there are a lot of one liners that are realy funny. I keep thinking though that the only reason I like the book is because July is so cute*. If an unatractive man wrote this book I don't think I wuld be laughing.

*She isn't looking very cute in that photo.

2007-05-21T14:48:00.000-07:00

It looks like I am heading into the home stretch of this project. I'll be glad to be done but right I think I will probably live a similar lifestyle as I am right now. When my grandma was here I had the opportunity to eat whatever I wanted. But I didn't. We went grocery shopping and she wanted me to pick up snacks but I wasn't really interested. I at some TLC oatmeal and dark chocolate cookies but that was about it. My diet has changed alot. And as for my spending, I have almost $5,000 in my saving account. I am really happy with that and hope to open a Roth 401(k) in the next year. Shopping is going to be inevitable but I am learning to control my impluse habits. As for my imaginary shopping list, it's down to only five items. I update it once or twice a week. I must admit that I do look at clothes alot but have found myself removing items after only a weeks spand. If I had purchased these items would I have been equally disatisfied?

The Bet II

2007-05-21T14:44:00.000-07:00

This might sound like I'm pussing out. And Lord knows I probably would have anyways. But anyways, This past weekend I wasin the Adidas store with my grandmother and I tried on the Materials of the World jacket. And it doesn't fit right. The jacket is cut slimmer and more feminine than the rest of my Adidas jacktes. I thought it was going to be cut like the Superstar jacktes that they are famous for but its cut really weird. So th ebest is called off...for now. Brenna wants me to find something similar to that but I really don't have anything like that, that I must have.

Reblog: Falling in Love with Things

2007-05-21T14:41:00.000-07:00

"When it comes to love, I am only attracted to objects. I couldn't imagine a love affair with a human being."

This is a really interesting article about people who love objetcs. It's really worth checking out.
http://www.spiegel.de/international/spiegel/0,1518,482192,00.html

Updates

2007-05-21T14:34:00.001-07:00

So for the next couple of days I will be updating the blog. Sorry it took me so long. Having my Grandmother in town was nice but at a bit stressful. She bought me a bunch of stuff. Mostly for the apartment but also some shoes and stuff. It was interesting though to watch her shop. She compulsively buys. Walking down each isle and dropping things into her basket. It was weird getting into the mood to shop and also seeing where I picked up some of my habits.

2007-05-10T18:53:00.000-07:00

I'm going to be taking a few days off so I won't be updating. My grandmother is in town so I am going to spend as much time with her as possible.

Volta

2007-05-10T18:40:00.000-07:00

So my sister and I had a rather long conversation about Bjork's latest release Volta. We came to the conclusion that so far we find it rather underwhelming. That does not mean that it might not grow on either of us but for now I am a bit ambivalent to the album itself. We did however chart her career and placed this album three steps back than forward. I think that there are a few problems with the album:

1) The lyrics are weak, not as sophisticated and overtly pop in a bad way

2) It feels like compilation album. This might be because of the array of producers that she worked with but it feels like a poor survey of her career

3) In her podcast she talks about how allot of this album is centered on brass instruments. On previous albums such as Medulla, her most experimental album, and Vespertine, possibly her most well crafted album, both centered more on a concept other than a simple array of interments.

4) I am really into the ethnographic mix on this album but yet again it just kind of falls on its face due to weak lyrics and anticlimactic interludes.

5) And finally the song Declare your Independence is just awful. I understand that people feel an urge to make work that is political but its just downright bad. I feel that some of Bjorks strengths have been in her ability to transcend the trends that have plagued popular music. But on Volta I feel like the full album as a whole lacks the cohesive nature that has made her so great. It feels unfinished.

The gem on the album is definitely Earth Intruders, which is better than the single version that I blogged about a week or two ago. This album is not that bad but critically looking at it, which I believe her work should be looked at it just, falls a bit flat.

Reblog: Game of LIfe via BoingBoing

2007-05-08T12:27:00.000-07:00

Visa's "Game of Life" encourages credit-card debt

Visa and Hasbro have teamed up to make a branded version of the Game of Life intended to train children to go into credit card debt:

Hasbro is launching a new edition of The Game of Life called Twists and Turns that will replace play money with a Visa-branded card. Matt Collins, Hasbro's vice president of marketing, said of the switch, "When we started to design a completely new edition of the popular game, we knew it was also time to reflect the way people choose to pay and be paid - and replacing cash with Visa was an obvious choice."

They also changed the goal of the game from accumulating the most money to earning the most "life points." Supposedly this a combination of wealth and life experiences, but it's not hard to see parallels between "life points" and the reward points and airlines miles offered by certain credit cards.

A Failed Performance

2007-05-07T14:31:00.000-07:00

So today was going to mark the start of a new performance. This performance was a vow of silence throughout my final week of critiques. The idea came up when I was talking to my roomate about how often people tell me that my work is better once I talk about it. So, I decided with the suggestion of Maura to take a vow of silence. I even made up business cards. They read:

"Sorry for the inconvenience but I am currently abstaining from all verbal communication throughout my final week of critiques. I'd be happy to have a transaction of the verbal nature after May 10, 2007.

Thank you for your cooperation and support."

So today is the first day of it and I have already talked. It's weird. I often say that my work is about failure and disappointment. And I think much of it is. Most of my performances are bound for failure. I was bond to buy something I didn't need. And in the end that normally doesn't matter. But this time I failed immediately,only lasting several hours. I can say that my heart wasn't really into it but I did want to to do this project and I am a bit disappointed in myself.

Want for the day:
A new computer

Savings

2007-05-03T18:34:00.000-07:00

I received a refund check form the school today and decided to open a savings account with it. I felt relaly good afterwards. I know the money isn't always going to be in there but I'm going to try and keep $1,000 bucks in there for a while and see how it goes. I also set up where they deduct money from my checking once a month into my savings. Maura and I have been reading about the best deals. I am also getting a credit card this coming week. The Wall Street Journal had an article on how students can build good credit. I really just want to counter my bad credit and hopefully re establish the good credit scores I used to have

My want for the day:
I really want a good pair of running/walking shoes.

Things I want

2007-05-01T13:25:00.000-07:00

I was looking at some of my posts from the first month and noticed that I used to post what I wanted everyday. And then I stoped. So I am going to start that back up again. I have kept a list for the past few days and noticed that they have moved away from food to apparel.

5.2 Jack Spade Nyon Canvas Day bag - orange
5.1 Ben Sherman Tilly Harrington jacket
Classic Noel Posey Wallet

I might be contradicting earlier post about not wanting objects. I do want them. Just not a lot. I can't tell if all of this purging is just me getting ready to start shopping again.

2007-04-30T15:50:00.000-07:00

So Maura and I have been talking a lot about if we need to own objects or not. Recently I figured that I will probably never buy another dvd again. The first reason is because I believe that in five or so years we probably won't be using dvds anymore. Secondly, How many of the dvds I own do I watch multiple times. I do own a few, like the full Planet of the Apes series and Dogtown Z Boys, that I watch over and over again. But most of them I never even watch more that twice. So I'm getting rid of them.

I haven't looked through my dvds yet but I did go through all of my books. I am letting go of 30 books. Originally I couldn't even think of it but yesterday while I was laying on my couch I asked myself how many books, toys, dvds, will I have when I'm forty six? I don't want all of this excess. Most of them I will never read again or never read to begin with. I packed all of them up in tote bags and re organized my bookshelf. I feel like a small weight has been lifted.

Recycle, Reduse, Re Use, and Close the Loop

2007-04-30T15:47:00.000-07:00

My roomate Maura put together a recycling program in our apartment about two weeks ago. It is really astounding how much of our waste can be recycled. We ended up putting a smaller trashcan in the kitchen because of it. Since then our actual waste has been 1/4 of what we used to throw away.

Born To Buy

2007-04-30T15:41:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I had Lauren over for dinner. Lauren, who will probably be reading this, is my ex girlfriend who's, this is my own construction, main goal is to have babies. At least this is what I believe is one of her main "life goals". So, we were talking about babies as I was boiling some pasta and I said that I could only see myself having kids if my partner was going to be the one to stay home and take care of them. And if I had my own private space. Now, I know I would never do that to a child but to be honest I think I am too selfish to have one. I like myself. And I really like my stuff. And we all know babies take away from me time and destroy everything that you hold dear.

So I have been thinking about babies today and I am in the middle of reading the book "Born to Buy" by Juliet B. Schor. Most of the book is how babies/children are conduits for companies to parents wallets. But, in the beginning she discuss that the average American is working more hours than ever before. And she also discusses how parents are feeling anxiety over providing children with everything that they want. My mother has told me before that she has felt and does feel guilty for not providing me with everything that I needed. I've talked to some people that never really received anything from their parents when they were children and its really interesting how often they don't feel compelled to buy things that they do not need. I am the exact opposite. I am a collector by nature and more importantly I want
everything I never got when I was a kid. That Captain Planet Ring that my mom never bought for Tish and I at Target has to be mine. Or all of the 1993 Toy Biz X Men toys. But anyways, what has made us like this? And by us I mean the compulsive shoppers. Why is my sister not like this? We were raised in the same household.

I'm getting off topic actually. I got distracted from my initial point because I wanted to talked about my personal longings. So why have people chosen to work longer hours in order to buy their children objects? Doesn't it seem like children are just regurgitating commercials that they say at day care? Shouldn't the real value be a parents time with a child? I know that sounds cheesy but it just seems like people have their priorities turned around.

One more thing, I also don't want to have children because I think they are a much larger responsibility than most people will really admit to. And I'm not talking about paying for horseback riding lessons. As a parent you are have a large role in constructing who you child is and will be. That's just a bit more responsibility than I think I'm willing to volunteer for.

Mariko Takahashi

2007-04-26T18:43:00.000-07:00

I've seen this video for close to two years now and I still never get tired of it.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=vdX_OBUeHb4

Earth Intruders

2007-04-26T12:51:00.000-07:00

Bjork's new album is coming out May 8th. If you personally know me you will know that I hate just about everything. But I don't hate Bjork. Check out her new single "Earth Intruders" with Timbaland on the beats. To quote the laet great Anna Nicole Smith, (this song) "is fucking genius".

It's that good. Here is a link to her playing it live in SNL. The music video keeps getting taken down my her record company because they want you to buy it on itunes. I caught it before one was taken down and the video was okay. It felt like a rip off of some of Kara Walkers videos.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=LLCj0u6UvWk

Cluster Maps

2007-04-26T12:30:00.000-07:00

So, It will be eight months at of May 1st. I can't believe it has been this long. I can remeber the six month mark like it was last week. But I must say that I will be glad to be done. But in the meantime I put up a clustermap on the page. A lot of people ask me how amny hits I have recieved. I have no idea, I wan't really interested when I first started the blog. But now I am interested in where people are looking at my blog. I put the map up less than a week ago and it is already showing me that I get hits out of the Chicagoland area. But what is weird is that there are no hits in California, my homeland. My sister talks to me about the blog and yet not even one little blip. Oh well.

Also, There are some new people reading the blog and commenting. At first I found it weird. Not weird but...I guess I never really expected people to read the blog that I did not personally meet and give a card to. Obviously, people would be able to find this but I guess I never really thought about it. I guess I have a little bit of remorse for not taking the blog as seriously to begin with. I still don't post very often, about once a week, but I went weeks without posting at first. It also relaly took a long time for me to feel comfortable about talking on here. I have had to face some of the repercussions from posting on here but for the most part things have been smooth saling.

Anyways, thanks to new and old readers and the people that comment.

Imaginary shopping II

2007-04-26T12:19:00.000-07:00

So if you don't already know, I have made a list of things I want to buy. This weekend I went through the list and deleted items that I thought were not nessacery. Most of them were just t shirts or sweatshirts I put on the list but knew that I would probably never buy them. Kindof like my amazon wish list, I have things listed I would never buy but enjoy the possibility of maybe owning it. But anyways, the list was something like $1300, not to bad for a new wardrobe and a semi pricey necklace. But now I have reduced it to $700. Not bad when one iten is $300. I realized however that there were no Adidas items on the list. I think this has happened for teo reasons. Adidas online changes their full inventory every season so buying something I want know in September won't happen. And secondly, I don't really liek the Spring line.

2007-04-26T12:17:00.000-07:00

Here is a shot of the Greedy Genius' new shoes. I am really into them. I can't tell if It's becasue they are so ugly or because the lettering looks like "The Price is Right"

Let's talk about sex

2007-04-19T16:14:00.000-07:00

I used to sing that song in the grocery store to my mom when I was a kid.

Anyways, I'm having some problems with the jacket. It's not the moral delema that some people have had a problem with. To sound like an asshole for a moment; I don't really care about the girls feeeling as in the sense of her being hurt that it was a bet. I just don't care. I've slept with people before over bets and I recieved very minimal rewards. It's just...I don't know, I feell like most of my projects are really about putting me out of my comfort zone and forcing me to do something out of charactor, or even "better" myself. But this project goes to a place that I'm not exactly comfortable with. Sex. I talk about it all the time but to be honest I really don't know how much I enjoy it. Don't get me wrong, I like having sex but I question why my appitite is not as strong as my fellow college students. Isn't this the time to fuck around? Or is it just a myth? I assumed when I came to art school I would be sleeping with a lot of women. Not only am I not sleeping with them but I'm question if I'm generally interested. I'm not saying I'm straight in any way, but I do wonder why I am not as into sex .

The thing with the jacket is that I really want the jacket. I really don't care about the girl, and I do understand that this counters other things I have said about the bet. But I feel like my only motivation to have sex is to get this jacket.

Updates

2007-04-19T16:05:00.000-07:00

So right now I'm feeling pretty good. I have started doing some exercising the past few weeks, my sister is a personal traner/boxer and has given me a few tips. Alot of my friends are finding this really weird and I feel like I have to give a justificatio for it. I'm not trying to loose weight but I feel good doing it. I happen to like my body and I would never want to not fit the clothes I own. But with that being said I would like to be a bit fitter as in stamina, not nessaceraly sexually (since I'm not having sex) but just in general.

I am feeling good about this project. I know I flip flop about it but I do believe this project was worth it, it's been hard but deffiently worth it.

I have been reading a new comic book called "Girls". It's really great. I'm not going to talk about the premis because it just sounds a bit to dumb, but the undertones, specificly feminist, are really great. I would highly recomend reading them.

what else...not to much, trying to make work...I just cleaned my room which is always a good sign. I think I'm giving up pot. I think it's not making me as productive as I could be. Surprise surprise.

Oh and I got a new phone. My mom sent it to me, it's a blackberry pearl. It's really sexy and sweet, but I still haven't figured alot of it out.

Oh, and one more thing, I have been asking people how they think I could improve the blog. So if any of you have a suggestion either email me or post a comment or something. I would really like to know what you have to say.

No one belongs here more than you

2007-04-19T15:58:00.000-07:00

I've been trying to stay away from reblogging everything that I am reading but I couldn't help myself with this one. Boing Boing posted today about Miranda July's new book "No One Belongs Here More Than You". The website is really entertaining in th emost lo tech sortof way and would recomend checking it out.

http://www.noonebelongsheremorethanyou.com/

2007-04-16T12:51:00.000-07:00

I had a really weird nightmare last night. It actually still disturbes me a bit, more in a gross way than anything violent or sexual.

The Dream:

So I was going to go to the dentist because I knew I had some cavities ( which I do have in real life) and when I went he showed me what my teeth looked like in a mirror. One of my molars had a huge hole in, taking up most of my tooth and at the bottom of the hole was little nuggets of toffee.

That was it, but it was so repulsive I still find myself tounging my back teeth just to make sure. I also somehow cut the back of my gums last night.

2007-04-10T13:16:00.000-07:00

I've been back in Chicago for a week now. I feel sort of out of it. I don't really feel motivated to do anything right now. My room is a mess, a usual sign that I don't feel well, because I clean all the time. I went the full 40 days without masturbating. I question though, what it has taught me. Well A) Sex isn't everything. But now it's barley injoyable. I cum so quickly it's not even worth it. It's a bit painful and somwaht dry. I also forget to do it. And I have to remind myself that I can have sexual fantasies. During the project I attempted to surpess them. Other than that, I can't wait for this project to be over, 5 months left.

I am also really doubting my chances for winning this jacket. As much as I say that I'm getting something out of it other than the jacket, sex, I can only find my true motivation in winning the jacket. Plus I am afraid of lesbians. Which sounds really bizar but it's true. The jacket delema is a bit of what I was thinking about when I first started my project. On my business card it says, "If I had the choice I probably would have chose these shoes over sex." And that statement still remains true. The only reason I want to sleep with a girl right now is for the jacket. I also question if I would do it for a less expensive jacket and the answer would probablt be yes. For a few months there I thought I was controlling my fetish for clothing but as of late it has come back even stronger.

On a positive note, I have been reading a lot recently. It might be my favorite pastime.

2007-03-28T15:53:00.001-07:00

I went to SFMOMA (nice architecture and a decent collection) two times in the past week and I was really shocked by some people's behaviors in the museum. I know I often complain about people's manners in general but really what's happening? What happened to just common courtesies. such as just saying please and thank you?

I know the behavior inside a museum has been in debate for a long time. I would agree that people shouldn’t have to approach it as a white cube but I think people should be conscientious of others around them. I was watching a video installation by French artist Sylvia Blocher for about 20 to 30 mins and several people came in and decided to have a full conversation and did not even watch the work. This isn't fucking Starbucks. It's a museum, and inside a room that is specifically designed for a video installation. I just don't get it.

Fast Food

2007-03-28T15:45:00.000-07:00

You know I'm eating fast food right now as stated in the post below but it really makes me feel like shit. I miss eating my foods. Fast food is a convience and I often crave it but it makes me feel horrible. I can't wait to get home, even though I really like SF, but I long for home cooked meals.

Also, I am making a vow not to eat anymore McDonald's sandwiches again. I just can't it to myself anymore, but God I fucking crave that shit.

2007-03-24T09:40:00.000-07:00

I'm SF taking care of a buddy of mine. Yesterday we decided to walk around and check out downtown. Unfortunetly they have an Adidas store, which I went into. You know I should really learn my lesson and just stay away from them but I just keep getting sucked in. I saw the shoes above and damn I want them...Oh, I also had a Subway sandwhich yesterday and man was that thing gross. It smelled like dog food, I can't believe I used to eat this crap. Never again, unless it's free.

So close

2007-03-22T15:18:00.000-07:00

So I only have ten days left till I can masturbate again. Yesterday was really hard. I laid in bed all day and had to call my sister so I wouldn't ouch myself. For the most pat I would describe myself as level headed and I normally don't get depressed very easily. But sine doing my not buying and now not masturbating I have noticed that my emotions are really erradict. One day I feel awsome and the next I can barely get myself out of bed. Doing homework has become a struggle which hasn't been a problem for me since I came to Chicago. But to be honest, I only have ten days. I've already gone a month, it would be stupid to slip up now.

The Bet

2007-03-15T16:45:00.000-07:00

If there is one thing I love in this world it is to bet. Not only to bet but to specificly bet on people. It's much more fun when you can actually have some control over your winnings. Most of my bets revolve around sex; such as, I bet you can't go a semester without sleeping with so and so, or I bet you can't sleep with her tonight, or the latest ones, I bet you can't get laid by June 12th or I bet you can't make out with that girl in front of everyone. I would say I have won half of these but it is not usually about the prize. Most of them are just lunch or $20.

So this new bet is a bit different...it's almost a challange, that I don't think I can do. Brenna has offered to buy the Adidas of the World jacket for me ($323) if I can:
1) Meet a girl at a bar and take her home
2) Sleep with her
3) Steal either her bra or her panties

The rules as I know them are
1) I get a wingman
2) The person can not be someone I have slept with before
3) I get two tries
4) I have to document it on the blog
5) It starts after my no sex for lent project, April 1st.

So, I really really want this jacket. And I don't see anything wrong with sleeping with someone to get. But there are two problems.
1) As good looking as I might be, I am painfully shy around women. To the point of where I shake from nerves. This has happened only once but I imagine it could happen again.
2) What does Brenna get out of this? I'm sure I look like a douch on my blog but to be honest, that jacket is so fucking sweet it's sad.

Does this mean that I would have sex with someone for $323? I think I might be worth more than that. Well I do get lazy in bed so for one go maybe the price is right.

Make Believe Shopping

2007-03-15T16:42:00.000-07:00

So last week I started this new thing...it's rather pathetic if you ask me. I made a list of all the clothes that I want to buy and I am make believe buying them. I take the money out of my bank account, not including tax, and set it aside. I then cross the product off of my list and move onto the next item.

40 days and 40 nights

2007-03-15T10:02:00.000-07:00

I'm working on another project that I haven't really mentioned on the blog. I gave up all sex for lent. This means no kissing, no touching (in a sexual way), no sex, and no masturbation for 40 days. Just like that Josh Hartnett movie. I'm on day 22. I can't think of a time where I have gone this long without masturbating. The first couple of weeks I was semi depressed, but I have been better more recently. I initially expected this project to take my mind off of sex and make me more productive. Unfortunetly it has done the exact opposite. I can't stop thinking about sex and I have become some what lethargic and apathetic.

I'm documenting the project though a series of polaroids. Everytime I have a sexual fantasy I photograph what I'm looking at. Initially I thought most of the photos would be of women I found attractive or instances of pure boredom. Most of the photos though are a not what I expected. Men appear in them and the most common person is myself. There is also an odd balance between the obsurd/banal and the cliched. I still have 18 days left and I think I can do it.

SF

2007-03-02T11:48:00.000-08:00

I'm going to SF for a week and a half starting on March 23rd to help a buddy who is having surgery. I am pretty stoked to be able to go somewher and I have alwys like Frisco, plus a good friend of mine from HS lives there and we rarely get to see eachother anymore. But, I am not sure exactly how I am going to work the not eating out situation. We are staying in a hotel so there isn't a kictchen. I think I'm going to try and eat healthoer but might be forced to not solely prepare my food.

I came close II

2007-03-02T11:39:00.000-08:00

Okay, Yesterday was not only the halfway mark for my project but also the release for the Adidas Materials of the Africa series. This is the jacket I had talked about a few days ago. I was practically panic stricken. My day went from progressivley good, one of my favorite painters is coming to town and my boss is letting me off early to see her, to absolutely great. I layed in bed for about a two hours trying to decide what to do. I told my self to fuck this project and just go and buy the jacket tomarrow from the Adidas store after I picked up my paycheck. But, when I woke up I was a bit more rational. The jacket is $323 without tax. That is a lot for a track jacket. Yes it's an awsome jacket but still. It's practicly my whole pay check. Plus I'm going to SF in a few weeks and I am working on a couple projects that are semi costly. I could make art with that $323 or I could have a sweet track jacket. I called the Adidas store five minutes ago and they won't get it in till April. Currently I don't think I'll buy it but, as much as I haet to say I can be really irrational with money. Sometimes I'll just bloww all my money just because I can. I don't know what is going to happen but I think I might be able to surpress my urges and not buy it.

6 months

2007-03-01T10:27:00.000-08:00

I can't believe it but today marks the halfway point in my project. 6 months, I can't believe I've mad it this far. Some people have asked me if I'm going to celebrate. I'm at work so the answer is probably not. If I was going to though I would have a double quarter pounder with cheese from McDonalds. You know, I used to not eat any beef or pork for about, 9 years. The only meat I ever craved was a McDonals' Quarter Pounder with cheese. They aren't even that great but I crave them. I like Wendy's like ten yimes more but if it came down to it I'd eat the McDonalds first. That's kindof scary.

I'm Being Sued...Again

2007-02-27T13:12:00.000-08:00

This Sunday my grandmother was the bearer of bad news. I’m being sued again. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been sued I’m guessing at the max 6 and at the least 4. So this makes 5 or 7. None of which have been my fault. The amount I’m being sued for is $775. Every lawsuit against me has been from my mother taking a credit card in my name, buying whatever she feels like, and ditching the card. As mentioned before in the blog, this is on of the reasons I started this project. But enough is enough. I can’t turn my cheek anymore. She continues to deny it and has the nerve to fallow it up by asking me how the weather is. I don’t know what’s wrong with her and I really don’t know what to do.

I talked to my sister and grandmother yesterday and told them that I am setting an ultimatum. My mother may not get in contact with me until she is therapy and shows me proof. I have not talked to her yet but honestly, I’m dreading the talk. Everything is a large production and I can already guess what will be said. “I didn’t do it” which turns into “I’m sorry” and then to “I’m a bad mother…I never could give you enough.” This shit always turns out to be my fault. And I hate the fact that I feel guilty when I have done nothing wrong. But she manages to make this my fault every single time.

I’m tired of having to deal with her. And I’m tired that she has had a large play in my relationships with women in general. I just want her to grow up and learn that she can’t keep doing this to us and pretend that it is okay. I haven’t called the credit card company yet but I’m going to press charges. I hate to choose my credit report over my mother but something has to happen. And I know looming out there are at least two more cards.

Materials of the World

2007-02-27T12:27:00.000-08:00

I've been a bit down lately. Other than being sued, I am working on a project where I am abstaining from all sexual contact including masturbation. The lack of my hand on vagina contact has left me feeling a bit glum. But all of that changed when I saw this Adidas jacket. I'm going to be honest and say that I would not only eat shit for this jacket but I would probably beat the living daylights out of someone for it. I stared at this sole image for four to five hours this past weekend and just layed in bed invisioning how great my life would be if I had it. The jacket has not been realeased yet and will probably reatil for $400 to $500. If I see it either I'm stealing it or I'm buying it. I need this...

I was doing research on this jacket and the Materials of the World series and found this awsome blog, Annansi Chronicles African Style Worldwide. (http://annansi.com/blog/) It's really awsome. It's a bit schocking how everything is really about American Fashion.

Cereal

2007-02-20T15:18:00.000-08:00

I'm currently reading Dariab Leader's book "Stealing the Mona Lisa: What Art Stops Us From Seeing" Here is an interesting point he brings up. " There is a heterogeneity between our desires and the objects we think will satisfy them, which is why cereal packets often contain cheap plastics toys. We can eat everything, but real food is never enoughto satisfy the oral drive; th toy incarnates this dimension of the reminder, the fact that there is always something beyond what we think will satisfy us."

I originally started reading the book under because, for the most part, I am interested in art theft and the how a masterpiece is constructed. But, the book is actually a lot more about our desire for images and a psychoanalitcal analysis of the act of looking. It's really interesting a a rather light read.

Old School

2007-02-20T12:15:00.000-08:00

I've got a gripe. And it's with the phrase "Old School". I hear it so often, "You've even got the old school Adidas on". Where did this come from and why is it being used. Old School as a description is really not about something being old. It's about looking like it might have come from another time, more specificly the late 70's to late 80's, but usually is a contemporary object.

It's interesting because when you think about Adidas as a brand, well its kindof complicated. There is Adidas, which is the brand name. Within that brand, though, there is Adidas performance and Adidas Originals. Now they also have collaborations within their own sections, ie Stella McCartney is specificly performance while Missy Elliott is striclty originals. All of this might sound really dumb but it is how the market themselves and even carries over into their stores. Originals and Performance usually are not being sold in a store unless it is a flagship one. Anyhow, allegencies are to Adidas Original. The original's, for the most part, is centered around recreations of graments from the 70's and 80's. Which would explain the "Old School" aspect of the line when in fact they are contemporary.

I totally lost where I was going but look at this douche. I typed in Old shcool Adidas and found this. It's not even an Adidas jacket. They are the brand with the three stripes not two.

2007-02-20T12:09:00.000-08:00

Just saw this on Boing Boing. Haven't watched it yet but it has to be good. God rest her soul.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=DULYGi6dnvw

Let's face it, I'm not going to change...that much

2007-02-20T11:36:00.000-08:00

Let's be honest, I really don't know how much this project is really going to change me. I know it has on some levels. Firstly, I will never eat the same way I did. That doesn't mean that I won't eat hamburgers but I'm talking about all of the Kraft and General Mills prducts that used to consume. Secondly, I think I really will think and question my spending habits. BUT, let's face it, I want new clothes. I think about it alot. The first thing I'm going to buy when this project is done is a new bra. Not just any bra but I want to be fitted properly; after a while I really question if I'm wearing the "right" bra. Plus, I really want new clothes. Adidas...yeah, I always want some more but I really just want a change. Change is not the right word, new. The kindof new that you can smell.

I do understand that I have made a major change in my life and that changes do not have to revolve around a new wardrobe or a new haircut. Those are all superficial changes... and yet even in that recognition it doesn't trump that fact that I want new clothes.

Idiocracy

2007-02-13T12:15:00.000-08:00

My roomate and I watched "Idiocracy" the other night. I don't remember this film at all when it was in theaters and after reading up on it online it didn't get much press. If you are interested in a comedy about consumerism I would recommend this one. I don't know if it is a good film. Maura claims it is. The more I talk about it the more I believe it to be but I would refer to it much more so as entertaining.

Birth of a Nation

2007-02-13T12:03:00.000-08:00

Klansman ( Imperial Wizard ), 1990

I just finished watching "Birth of a Nation" this morning. God it was long, but it was worth it. The second half is definently worth sticking around for. If you have the time I would check out the making of documentary at the end of the film. As mentioned beforehand, I have an interest in the Klu Klux Klan. I've been looking at a bunch of stuff online about them. But check out the photo above from Andres Serrano.

2007-02-08T18:49:00.000-08:00

I was recently talking to some people who had no idea about this project. They asked me what's going to happen after I'm done. I actualy get this a lot. And to tell you the truth, I don't know. I am almost six months into this and I can't believe it. Time has gone by so quickly and yet, I do have some fear about the next six months. Who knows what's going to happen. I have learned a lot about myself through this but I do know that this is not about adidas shoes or criterion films. It's about a lot more than consumerism.

Queen's Garden

2007-02-08T18:36:00.000-08:00

Today is my long day. I have work in the morning, class in the afternoon, then back to work till nine pm. But today was not as bad as I had expected. During my night shift a woman brought her daughter in with her who is probably in the first grade. I work at a print shop and the mother was viewing some prints and subsequently wanted them reprinted. Anywho, while she was here I tried to entertain her daughter. This is very out of charecter for me. I hate children but was really turned of by the mother's short responses to her daughter's questions. Dude, this kid fucking rocked. She drew a portrait of me and her in what she titled, 'The Queens Garden'. She gave it to me and told me that I should go home and practice drawing. In return I gave her a Sacagawea coin. That coin actually was something I have been carrying around for a month or so, and gave me, and my roomate endless entertainment. (Don't ask me why, and no we were not high most of time.) She told me she had never had a coin and this was going to be the begining of her coin collection.

So is this how it starts? Collecting that is.

Helvetica, the better font.

2007-02-08T17:50:00.000-08:00

I just changed the layout of this page. Unfortunetly they did not have Helvetica as a font option. So I had to go with the imitation. Ariel. Beggers, can't be choosers.

How to Buy Nothing

2007-01-31T12:19:00.000-08:00

One of my roomates sent me this wiki how about how to buy nothing. It is kind of long and a bit silly at times but I would recomend checking it out.

http://www.wikihow.com/Buy-Nothing

Rosa Parks

2007-01-25T18:46:00.000-08:00

I started back at school this past week. My first class however was a bit disconcerning. So many people complain about how things are around them but 99% of the time do nothing to change it. Back on Martin Luther King Day I watched a documentary on the cival rights movemnet. Honetsly, I watched it because the KKK was on it. Man, I'll fucking watch anything with the Klu Klux Klan in it. Not because of some master slave fetish but because I am honestly frightened of them. So anyways, I never paid much attention to Rosa Parks. But man, I was really moved, as much as I can be moved, by the piece not really on her but of the bus boycotts. First off, I walk everywhere. I take the train maybe four times one way a week. So I know what is like to get around the city by foot. On average I walk between 3 to 6 miles a day. Most of the people during the boycott walked 7 - 11 miles a day for 11 months. Not only that but the shoes they were wearing were not Not only that but all of them went to meetings after work to hear about the progress of the strike.

What happened to people that had a collective voice? Why do we feel like we can't make a difference?

A Kind-hearted Town

2007-01-25T17:47:00.000-08:00

I have just noticed, to my surprise, that I never post anything about art on my blog. I just got done with Artnet's article on the Chicago artscene. I was really shocked that they reviewed several shows that have happend in the past month and a half. Most of which I have seen. The Bochner ones are really appealing in person. The surface is really sexy in a foodie fetish kind of way. I haven't seen the Gavin Turk show but we did have him on Bad At Sports a few weeks ago. I actually really wanted to catch that show but thinking about the Suburban's location makes me lazy. As for my neighbors gallery, Shane Campbell, who I love for the most part, I thought the show was a bit disapointing. I will say that I am a fan of most photocopies. I'm not really into Jay Heikes work and often am disapointed by the lack of art looking and the art of people watching during Shane's openings. But that is what openings are for, I guess.

Check it:
http://www.artnet.com/magazineus/reviews/orden/orden1-24-07.asp

Somebody's Watching Me

2007-01-25T16:16:00.000-08:00

I was talking to a friend the other day about this blog and how I wanted to focus more attention to it and make it a larger part of my project. I have to confess that most of this project is centered on the fact that I do not want to be like my mother. I want to have self control. So by creating these limitations to my spending I hoped it would alter my habits. The project has done that. My purchasing has been a lot less than it has ever been. I eat way better than I have and I consider why I make the choices I do. But, I have also noticed charectoristics that are like me mother. I lie now. I hate lying. It's the one thing I can never stand. But I have not confessed all of my purchases. I guess I'm not lyinng. I'm with holding the truth. I have purchesed several hamburgers in the past month or so. I haven't told anyone about it and at the same time I feel a great anxiety when I step into my local burger shop.

I also feel really guilty when shopping at the grocery store. When I came back from L.A. I purchased some dutch chocolate milk. I told myself that I deserved it for doing so well in the project. That day however I ran into a classmate that is very familiar with my project. Although he did not even notice the contents of my shopping cart I all of a sudden had to explain to him why I was purchasing that item.

I really don't like the way I feel. I don't want to feel like I'm sneaking around or that I fell like my peers are policing me.

Welcome Back

2007-01-10T13:50:00.000-08:00

Hope all of you had a good holiday. Mine was okay. Other than my initial complaint the holidays were as usal. My grandmother did her yearly holiday rant about how she has had enough of my mother and is going to retire. I hear this every year and every year I have a slight hint of concern. My mom overspent on us as usual. I recieved many of the things listed on this blog for my Birthday and Christmas plus a Playstation and mulitple games. I got a chance to hang out with my little sister, she's only 19 months younger than me and could beat the living shit out of me but she is still just my little sister.

I guess I have avoided talking baout my family a lot in this project mainly because I didn't want to sound bitter or any of the other emotions that might come out when discussing our past history. After returning home though I saw things in a very different light. It has always been easy to cast my Grandmother as the hero (good) and my Mother as the villian (evil). But in the end both of them are neither. They each have amiazing things about them but they also have large charector flaws.

A lot of this project is based around the fact that my mother has a problem with shopping. A big problem. She has taken out many credit cards in most of the families names and used them mostly to buy clothes. I noticed a similar habit of spending without thinking of the consequences in myself and wanted to use this project as a way to address it head on. All of this has been going on for years but it all of the information came to the surface about a year and a half ago.

It's been really easy for me to be angry with my mother since I have been gone. I never thought I actually was angry with her but after going home for Christmas I now feel pity and most of all semi responsible/guilty. I also feel rather helpless in the matter. All of us lead our seperate lives and I don't think about my mother as much as I once did. I do want to say though, that she has been as good of a mother as I believe should could be due to the circumstances.

Before I left I did however look in her wallet at her credit cards. One of which was in my Grandmother's name. I'm feeling a lot of pressure right now from it because this is something that can really make our break the family. Everyone is really at a breaking point and I think this could be it.

2006-12-23T12:49:00.000-08:00

I have't purchased anything in a bit but I was wondering why is it that when I end up buying something I only spend $50 max. Why not buy a PS3? or I don't know something expensive?

She's All That.

2006-12-23T12:42:00.000-08:00

I have watched more tv and movies in the past four days than I have this fall semester. I just finished watching She's All That with Freddie Prince JR. and Rachel Leigh Cooke. I used to think she was kindof hot in a "I'm a bitch" sort of way. Anyways, the movie sucked, no surprise there, but I have learned to not bet on people. Well, actually I pobably still will because that is who I am but one day I'll look back and tell myself that I was warned.

California Girls

2006-12-20T17:39:00.000-08:00

So I have been home for about 30 hours now. Just for the record I want to kill myself already. Before I could get home I already had a headache, and it's only a 15 minute car ride home. To celebrate my return home my mother decided to be irrational as usual and fight with my sister. I really can't belive I'm going to be here for 13 more days.

My mother is working, finally. I'm glad she is working but,if I have to hear one more thing about how much her co workers love her my eardrums are going to burst. It's like she is trying to convince us she is a good person. My grandmother, God knows I love her but she just doesn't think. Plus she talks about God so much I just stop listening. Today she wanted me to help her get the tree decorations down. That would have been fine but, the ladder we are using is like 30 years old and broken. I couldn't even hold it straight. Due to my common sense I decided to refuse to climb it. Instead my grandmother not only scales it but stands on the top! You are not supposed to stand on the very top of any ladder let alone a broken one. I almost died of a heart attack. I think I'm going to price what a new ladder so no one breaks their necks.

One last thing. I hate all of these pets. The 6 cats and 2 dogs littearly rule this place. There is hair and dust everywhere. I just want them to clean and decorate. I just don't understand it. It's like we have diffferent priorities.

Hamburgler

2006-12-07T18:42:00.000-08:00

My buddy Tim bought me dinner tonight. I was pretty stoked. I had a cheeseburger. It wasn't the best but I have been craving everything I used to eat lately. I think mainly because people have been feeding me what I want. My roomate works for Potbelly Sandwiches. Last semester I ate there 16 days in a row. I fucking love Potbellys. So she gave me five coupons for free sandwiches. Not only did I get them for free but I also suckered my way into getting extra toppings that should have costed me extra and a cookie.

The only problem is now I have a taste for it.

What ever happened to the Hamburgler? Man, I fucking loved the original cookies they had. Esp. the lemon ones...Good Times!

2006-12-02T12:39:00.000-08:00

All right. So I bought some stuff. A week and a half ago I ended up purchasing three books. All works of literature. The titles are not important. I then purchased six other books directly after that purchase. A total of nine. Most of which I have already read by this posting. I talked to a couple of people about it and most seemed really disapointed in me. I actually am not that disapointed in myself. I knew this was going to happen sooner or later. Especially with books. I really don't care so much about shoes anymore but I am finding it very hard to surpress my urges for the written word. I was hoping this would have happened later into the project but now that it has I feel like I have to re-asses my project. Not my project, per say, but my rules. I have been running into problems off and on since the begining but now I have hit one head on, my rule for buying anything for my artwork. That seems obvious. As a photorapher I need film and paper. But that isn't really how I make work. I actually have been rather conservative with my work. Not because I am making less, but most of the work I am making just doesn't cost me that much to produce. But I guess that all depends on what someone would consider to be a lot for making a piece of work. So I have to ask myself, what do I really need to make art? And more importantly, where do my ideas come from?

I do, however, still believe that my purchasing of theses books is rooted in my tendancies towards ownership not for the quest for ideas. If not I would have just gone to the library.

FYI

2006-12-02T10:13:00.000-08:00

For the three or four people that regularly read this blog I just wanted to let you know that I will only be updating once a week for a while. I'm busy (lazy) and have decided to make Saturday my day to post. When I get back to LA my updates will probably be more frequent.

Also, Sorry Tish for my previous post for claiming that you think Will Smith is good in Independance Day. I don't know what I was thinking.