Not that long ago, I got in touch with some friends I haven't seen since elementary school. After getting over the shock of how much these people have changed since the last time I saw them, I asked them what they were up to. One of them, a guy who lives in Coral Gables, had nothing but negative things to say. But as I listened to his sob story, I couldn't believe how spoiled he was. He didn't realize how lucky he was and actually had the nerve to feel sorry for himself.
His family owns a good business that has been successful enough to build another store. So, in other words, his family is rich. Recently, his family promised him a good position as a manager in one of their stores, so his future is pretty much set. The only catch is he needs to go to college before he gets that position, which is understandable. But he whined that he didn't want to go to college, he just wanted to start working and receiving his close to 6-figure salary (his parents are giving him extra money to pay for insurance, rent or mortgage, gas money, etc.). He said that he could do that job with no problems because he's seen how easy it is, and if he had a problem his parents would help him. But his parents aren't giving the job to him unless he has a "stupid" college education. He doesn't even have to learn anything, he just needs the piece of paper that says he graduated. When I asked him how he was paying for college, he said that his parents paid for everything. So, not only does he just have to go to college just to get an education for a job that's being saved for him, but his parents are paying for it too. He doesn't have to worry about keeping a scholarship or anything. All he has to worry about is passing in the classes he chooses. So, this lucky son of a b**** just has to do his 60 credits with a passing grade, get his diploma, then work in a job he'll probably never get fired from. Poor him!
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Food traditions
I am a fish out of water when it comes to food traditions in my local area. I live in an area predominantly of Hispanic heritage. There are many food festivals in the local park, but I don't attend them because they have nothing to do with my food traditions. The only food traditions I have experienced that involve this area are of the Miccosukee Indian Tribe.
Every year they have a festival where they display their traditions, including their cooking, clothing, jewelry making, and alligator wrestling. They lived in the Everglades and the Big Cyprus were they had to eat off the land as their ancestors did. Their diet included many wild animals, such as wild boar, fish, alligator, and other game. In the festival, they roast wild boar over an open pit, making an old fashioned barbeque. Their reasons for cooking it this way is because it was the way their ancestors cooked it, and they're honoring that old tradition at the festival for others to experience. Most eat the pork without any sauce slathered on it to enjoy the smoky flavor and can eat it without utensils.
Those attending the festival for the first time would learn how the Miccosukee Indian Tribe cooked their food and how the traditions that comes with it were passed down from generation to generation. They would learn that even now the tribe still finds their food from the wild and prepare it the same way, honoring their ancestors.
What make a dish traditional? I believe one of the things that makes a dish traditional is if the ways the dish is prepared are the same (how it was cooked). Like the Miccosukees, some people cook a dish the same way an ancestor cooked it, and it's mostly only to honor a tradition. When creating S'mores, it would be so much easier to put marshmallow fluff on the chocolate and gram crackers than it would to make a fire, hold a marshmallow over the fire with a stick, and try to put the sticky, blackened marshmallow on the chocolate and gram crackers. But it's done the harder way because it's traditional. Another way a dish can be traditional is if a recipe for a popular dish is passed down to the next generation and is made the same way. It's a traditional meal because it's actually respected and special enough to be passed down. But it has to be the same or it's a different meal. Another way a dish can be traditional is if the dish is reoccurring at a particular event. It doesn't have to be prepared the same way, but the dish must be at the event every time, like hotdogs and apple pie on 4th of July, and turkey on Thanksgiving. That's what makes a dish traditional.
Every year they have a festival where they display their traditions, including their cooking, clothing, jewelry making, and alligator wrestling. They lived in the Everglades and the Big Cyprus were they had to eat off the land as their ancestors did. Their diet included many wild animals, such as wild boar, fish, alligator, and other game. In the festival, they roast wild boar over an open pit, making an old fashioned barbeque. Their reasons for cooking it this way is because it was the way their ancestors cooked it, and they're honoring that old tradition at the festival for others to experience. Most eat the pork without any sauce slathered on it to enjoy the smoky flavor and can eat it without utensils.
Those attending the festival for the first time would learn how the Miccosukee Indian Tribe cooked their food and how the traditions that comes with it were passed down from generation to generation. They would learn that even now the tribe still finds their food from the wild and prepare it the same way, honoring their ancestors.
What make a dish traditional? I believe one of the things that makes a dish traditional is if the ways the dish is prepared are the same (how it was cooked). Like the Miccosukees, some people cook a dish the same way an ancestor cooked it, and it's mostly only to honor a tradition. When creating S'mores, it would be so much easier to put marshmallow fluff on the chocolate and gram crackers than it would to make a fire, hold a marshmallow over the fire with a stick, and try to put the sticky, blackened marshmallow on the chocolate and gram crackers. But it's done the harder way because it's traditional. Another way a dish can be traditional is if a recipe for a popular dish is passed down to the next generation and is made the same way. It's a traditional meal because it's actually respected and special enough to be passed down. But it has to be the same or it's a different meal. Another way a dish can be traditional is if the dish is reoccurring at a particular event. It doesn't have to be prepared the same way, but the dish must be at the event every time, like hotdogs and apple pie on 4th of July, and turkey on Thanksgiving. That's what makes a dish traditional.
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Can a dog person be a cat person as well?
I had a hard time deciding what to write about in this blog, so I decided to write about the creature that's staring at me right now.
I'm a dog person, I love dogs. Whenever I'm around one, the dog and I have a lot of fun playing with Frisbees, balls, etc. Sadly, though, I can't have one. I live in an apartment and it's unfair for a dog to be stuck in one all day. A dog deserves a big, spacious yard to run about, and I can't provide that just yet.
However, I do have a cat. Her name is Samantha, nickname: Sammy, (my mother and I named her after the witch, Samantha Stevens, in the television show "Bewitched."), and she has black fur and yellow eyes. She was given to me when I was 12 years old, so I've had her for 6 years. I love my kitty. I think she's the best cat in the world. She is very loving and very playful, like a dog I suppose, she actually plays chase and hide n' seek with me. When I was younger, whenever I would run she would chase me and jump at my heels. And whenever I got her all excited and ran away to hide, she would actually look around the apartment for me. Is this normal behavior for a cat?
I've had her since she was a young kitten, so my mother and I are the only influences she's had. Is it possible that we unconsciously trained her to have the persona of a dog? Or is she a normal cat and, even though I'm a dog person, am I a cat person as well?
I'm a dog person, I love dogs. Whenever I'm around one, the dog and I have a lot of fun playing with Frisbees, balls, etc. Sadly, though, I can't have one. I live in an apartment and it's unfair for a dog to be stuck in one all day. A dog deserves a big, spacious yard to run about, and I can't provide that just yet.
However, I do have a cat. Her name is Samantha, nickname: Sammy, (my mother and I named her after the witch, Samantha Stevens, in the television show "Bewitched."), and she has black fur and yellow eyes. She was given to me when I was 12 years old, so I've had her for 6 years. I love my kitty. I think she's the best cat in the world. She is very loving and very playful, like a dog I suppose, she actually plays chase and hide n' seek with me. When I was younger, whenever I would run she would chase me and jump at my heels. And whenever I got her all excited and ran away to hide, she would actually look around the apartment for me. Is this normal behavior for a cat?
I've had her since she was a young kitten, so my mother and I are the only influences she's had. Is it possible that we unconsciously trained her to have the persona of a dog? Or is she a normal cat and, even though I'm a dog person, am I a cat person as well?
Friday, October 3, 2008
If there isn't any physical contact, is it still considered cheating?
How many times have people asked whether they were cheating or not? It’s a very confusing thing to determine because everyone has different views on the subject.
Okay, here’s the problem. My friend has a steady, serious boyfriend. She loves him and he’s very “hot” (I’ve seen him without a shirt on :) ). She really likes him, but there are moments when he’s a BIG jerk. There have been times when she was deep in her tears, wondering whether he was worth her time. That’s when she tells me every bad thing about him (I’m sure everyone has had this kind of conversation with their friends). She tells me that they don’t really have anything in common. She says he does nothing but play around with “stupid” cars, he hates everything but sports, he says the most ignorant things sometimes, and does many other selfish things that would be considered inappropriate to mention in this PG blog.
Then she tells me about her feeling for a friend of ours. She tells me that she loves her boyfriend, but she’d much rather spend her time with our friend. They have so much in common that she values their time together more than her time with her boyfriend. I asked her if she had strong feeling for our friend, and she said that she did and that there have been times when she wanted to kiss him. But she didn’t of course, she’s not that type.
“But would you consider this cheating?” she asked me. “I don‘t want to break up with my boyfriend, but I'm afraid I'm doing something bad that'll make me lose him,” she told me.
“I seriously do not know,” I told her. I really don’t. I always thought cheating involved sex, but maybe cheating involves emotions and sex usually just comes into the equation. But what about times when people have meaningless sex, one-night stands? It’s still considered cheating. So, maybe emotions don’t have to come in the equation. IT’S VERY CONFUSING.
Then she asks me, “What should I do about this?” She wants to know if she should tell her boyfriend. But you see, he’s the controlling, “quit looking at my girlfriend” kind of guy. She’s afraid if she mentions this thing she considers nothing, that he’ll see it as her cheating on him and break it off.
I have no idea what to tell her. I’m usually the one my friends turn to when they’re at a crisis, and I feel bad that I can’t really help her. I hope someone could shed some light on this subject for me.
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