Our Sprawling Supersize Utopia

This essay explains how people everywhere are flocking to suburbia. I've always thought the little neighborhoods with matching houses and a playground on every corner were really cute. I always imagined the typical American family: a husband, wife, son, daughter, and a dog. But this article talks about how there is much more to the suburbs than that.
The author characterizes each type/group of people who occupy suburbia. She says that there are the doctor/lawyer/professor group of people who drive around in foreign cars, serve healthy snacks and make conversation about granite counter tops. Then there are the Asians serving live fish and buying copies of Korea Central Daily News. Even farther into suburbia are the "golfer" type who strive for perfection. They own blackberries, have cheerleader daughters, walk in closets, always maintain a casual composure and are surrounded by miles of parking lot.
I agree with this article, although they are making humorous stereotypes of many groups of people. I used to sell newspapers door to door and it was amazing how segregated suburban neighborhoods are. I remember knocking on my first door of the evening to find an Asian woman who spoke no English. I was shocked when the next 10 houses in a row were the exact same thing. It completely depletes the whole cookie cutter suburban family idea.

Guess the mood

The windows of the preschool are darkened. As the children slumber on their cozy cots, a neglected ball blows up against the sandbox. The sidewalks are lined with chalk outlines of the children who once occupied them. A crime scene without a victim. Rather than the squeals of childhood joy that fill the air earlier in any given afternoon, the playground is silent. A strong breeze rustles the dried leaves off the the orange fall trees. A bicycle is blown to the corner of the fence, banished away until the children awaken. A table and it's chairs have been tipped over, forgotten. The wind pushes invisible children on the swings as the metal link chains moan and creak with each motion. All is frozen, awaiting nap time's end.

Body Modification

I have 2 tatoos, 4 ear piecings, and a nose ring. I had always wanted to get my ears pierced, ever since I was a kid. My parents wanted me to wait until I got out of Elementary School. Eventually in 6th grade I got tired of waiting so my friend Emily pierced my ears on the playground during recess. It was soley for fashon purposes, and probably made me feel "grown up". I just started piercing my ears whenever I felt that I needed more. I got up to four earrings on each side but I decided to let most of them close. I didn't like to take them out every night and have to put them back in every morning, but they were too uncomfortable to sleep with.
For my first tattoo I was in Mexico with my friend Emily ( yes the same one) and we decided that we would find someone to give us tattoos. We were only 13 so we couldn't get them legally. We met some kids who took us to this "underground" tattoo shop. I ended up getting a butterfly tattoo on my hip and she got cherries in the same place. The tatoos came out pretty bad, so once our parents found out we had them (they were pretty pissed) we had to go get them fixed. I really don't know why we got those tattoos. Mostly out of rebelousness I guess. Partly out of just being teenage girls. We hate them now but we laugh about our experiences and how stupid we were. Anything could have happened in mexico, including disease from the needle. If nothing more, it was just a fun experience.
My last and most recent tattoo is of my sons name and his newborn handprint. That one was more carefully thought out. I took in his baby book and the tattoo artist tattooed his first handprint on my lower back. I do not regret that tattoo. It is something I will always love because I will always love my son.
Lastly- my nose ring. That too was for fashion reasons. I just thought it looked cute. But now its a pain in the ass to take care of and I will probably let it close up too someday soon.

Body Images

I think girls these days are more pressured by the media to fit that skinny, beautiful, Hollywood image than ever. The most popular teen girl magazines are filled with images of beautiful women and products that send the message: "this is what you should look like". Celebrities and weight loss products are all over TV. Even the music we hear on the radio is about body proportions "24, 34, 46" (Petey Pablo) and clothing brands "apple bottom jeans, boots with the fur" (Flo Rida). Girls are pressured to spend virtually all of their money on brand name clothing, make-up, manicures, pedicures, gym memberships... you name it, just to feel beautiful. What they don't understand is that half of what they see on TV isn't real. With photo shop and other programs, even models are digitally modified to look their best. Blemishes are edited out, eyes and noses are adjusted so they are more proportionate. It's all just an illusion.
Boys, on the other hand, deal with much less pressure. Many boys think it is important to dress in brand name clothing as well, whether it be Nike or Abercombie and Fitch. Some even go to the gym so they can build up their muscles. They are clean shaven and sport fresh hair cuts. But that is about where it ends. Men don't usually see what they should strive to look like all over TV, and they usually don't obsess over it either. They are more concerned about having the latest technology and driving the nicest cars. If boys shop at Target instead of Hollister, nobody really cares. Therefore, they do not have to deal with half of the pressure and media influence that girls do.

McCain

I feel like McCain rewrote half of his speech after watching Obama's. McCain knows that living such a privileged life hurts him. The fact that he owns 9 houses (not 7) separates him from average Americans in a way that he can not relate. In an attempt to try and help his campaign he told stories of a solider killed in action and a struggling mother who's son was recently diagnosed with autism in order to convince Americans that he is able to relate to them through his acquaintances. He wanted to convince Americans that he does want change and he can go against his own party (even though he voted with Bush 91 percent of the time). He told Americans that he would lower taxes while Obama would increase them (although that's not what I heard in Obama's speech) and lower government spending when Obama would raise it.
The only part of McCain's speech that I felt was truly genuine was his prisoner of war story. He spent a large portion of his life defending his country and made sure his audience knew it. I was quite bored by McCain's speech and very bothered by how he kept using conjunctions and slang like "we're gonna". We're gonna do this. We're gonna do that. Very annoying. And what about Sarah Palin? The audience was more excited for her than for the man who is running for president of the United States. It is cheap that McCain chose a woman as his vice president. I'm all for feminism and woman's rights(Hillary was my first choice), but not for McCain's strategy of choosing a woman to gain woman's votes. The announcers said that Sarah will appeal to the disabled citizens because her baby was born with Down Syndrome. Well yea, what do you expect when you have a child at 44? Almost 1 in 30 babies born to mothers over 40 have down syndrome. And she doesn't believe in global warming?! OMG! Ahhh I'm just so frustrated I need to stop writing! OBAMA '08!!

The perks of motherhood

I've suddenly began to realize how different my life has been since I had a child. I don't know why it took two years for it to finally hit me, but I can't believe that I'm a mom! Maybe it's just that I'm in the toddler stage. But I find myself saying the funniest things these days.

"Angelo, you already have wawa in your dado!" That's mom speak. My son calls bottles dados, I'm really not sure why. Bah-tul and dah-dough sound nothing alike to me. But I say it anyways. Just as he picks up things from me, I'm picking up things from him. I figured out why he says wawa though. My husband is from El Salvador, and spanish was his first language. So wawa is a mixture of water and agua (Spanish for water). I find it very cute, and although I probably should correct him, I'd like to let his innocence last just a little bit longer.

He thinks everything is gross. Every time he sees a crumb on the floor he will bring it to me and say "ewwe!" The truck that parks next to me is ewwe because it has some old rusty tires in it. When he finds something unexpected, like a stringy green bean he spits it out and brings it to me with a disgusted look on his face.

He does have his annoying habits though. Whenever I eat a bowl of lucky charms he is over my shoulder picking out all the marshmallows and eating them for himself. Those are the best part and he knows it. And he constantly wants to go outside. He will go get my shoes and put them on my feet with a little puppy dog look on his face, then ask me, "outdied?" His favorite movie is Shrek. He knows what is going to happen and sometimes finishes the lines.
Every day is something new with him, and I can't wait to see what the future will bring.

Obama

After endless "thank yous" Obama was finally able to begin his speech. He started out by saying that the American Promise is in jeopardy. This is a result of the government's failure to react and Bush's failed policies. He says that America is better than the past eight years. McCain is nothing but a 3rd Bush term. Obama stated, "John McCain voted with Bush ninety percent of the time. What does it say about your judgement when you think George Bush is right ninety percent of the time?!" Obama wants to evoke fear in his audience that the American promise is in jeopardy. He wants them to see that everyone must do their part and stand up for change. He wants americans to say "ENOUGH!" Obama wants his audience to see him as their only chance to save the American Promise.
Everyone likes someone who they can relate to, and Obama is just that. He is the American poster child. Being a Caucasian and African American child growing up in a single parent home, he did not have an easy start at life. Even though his mother was on food stamps, she sent her children to the best schools in the country. His is a story of rags to riches. Obama compares his grandfather to the young veterans returning home from Iraq and Afghanistan. He compares his mother to the struggling student who can sleep only three hours before working the night shift. He compares his grandmother to every woman who has difficulty starting a business or making her way in the world because of her gender. He says that those are his heroes and they have shaped him to be who he is today. His life is not that of a celebrity, as is McCain's. Obama wants Americans to see him as one of us. He wants us to see McCain as someone who is ignorant of the real American lifestyle- someone who is hasn't had to experience struggle and hard work, like the rest of us.
Obama is trying to persuade every last American to do their part. He wants the Republicans to own their failure and citizens to help better their communities. He wants us to believe that if we work hard we will succeed. Although Barack Obama is only one person, he certainly has some big changes in mind. Some believe that he is just saying what everyone wants to hear, and one person can not change the world. I believe he will stand up for his values until the end, and although he can only do so much, he will do his best and encourage others to do so as well.