Nights in the Red Light District

After watching Zana Briski’s documentary film, I feel that these children did the world a favor by allowing themselves to be filmed and put in this documentary. Because of this video, the world better understands what it’s like for children to grow up in a home where their mothers are having sex in the next room, and their fathers are selling beer under the table right next to them. After watching the documentary, it seems to me that the children enjoyed being on camera, and most of them said that they didn’t want to spend their nights there anymore anyways. I definitely think that the children were pleased to be doing what they were doing. They loved taking pictures and seeing them in important places. Overall, I think that the successes in the end definitely justified the means of making the video. Most of the children were eventually able to be sent to boarding schools or at least given a chance to do something else great. Thought not all of them were able to leave the “Red Light District”, they were still able to be given chances to do things that a lot of children their ages in India, were not able to do. Briski did her best to give the children a better chance than what was waiting for them. The success of the video is measured by the outcome. The video definitely grew to be something great, as well as the children got to do something that they loved, at least for a little while.

The Truth on Food.....

After learning about of the genetically modified foods as well as all of the details on organic farming, most of my eating habits have not changed. Though I have decided to eat a lot less beef and a lot more chicken in place of it, I have found it very hard to change my eating habits at the drop of a hat. Due to the fact that I cook for myself and my sister most often, it is hard to find things that both of us enjoy eating. If all of a sudden I just took something out of my diet, my sister would have to quit eating it as well, and she is not very understanding in those cases. Though I would like to quite eating everything that is genetically modified or considered a “slow food”, organic foods are much more expensive than other foods found on shelves. Since my parents buy our groceries here at school, it is very hard for me to spend ample amounts of cash on foods that I could get cheaper if buying non-organic.
After watching “Super Size Me”, I have decided to stop eating at fast food restaurants when it can be avoided. So far, I have done very well overall, though I did eat Subway for lunch yesterday. I honestly find it difficult to eat at places that take awhile when I am in a hurry. Baby steps….baby steps!

CATEGORY
ACRES
FOOD
5.7
MOBILITY
1
SHELTER
5.7
GOODS/SERVICES
5.9
TOTAL FOOTPRINT
18
IN COMPARISON, THE AVERAGE ECOLOGICAL FOOTPRINT IN YOUR COUNTRY IS 24 ACRES PER PERSON. WORLDWIDE, THERE EXIST 4.5 BIOLOGICALLY PRODUCTIVE ACRES PER PERSON.
IF EVERYONE LIVED LIKE YOU, WE WOULD NEED 4.1 PLANETS.




Personally, I do not think that it is fair that Americans use more than their share of our natural resources. Overall though, I do not feel that is entirely our fault. Our way of life is almost impossible to change now, after living this way for so many years. Yes, I do agree that buying recycled containers and going “Green” will help us in the long-run, I feel that it is being a bit ridiculous to think that people will be able to change their ways of life over night. I must mention though, that a lot of people do live very selfishly and do not even care about the well-being of others. Those people I feel, are the ones that are ruining it for everyone else. Since I still live with my parents, I honestly have little control over what I use.
I do feel that since we are spending a lot of the energy, we are responsible for making up for it. We are doing our part though, and researching ulterior sources of food and gasoline, so this is a start. I think that we should put more funding into this area though, so that we find better and more efficient means of doing things soon, because global warming is a threat.

A Day's Dining

After keeping track of my daily diet for the day, I realized that food is a big part of my life. Normally, I do not even think about what is on my plate, let alone where it came from. My diet consisted of toast with peanut butter and a glass of orange juice for breakfast, chicken and rice with broccoli and a glass of milk for lunch, and chicken tacos with refried beans and bottled water for dinner. Throughout my day, I did not visit any fast food joints or eat at any restaurants. All in all, I believe that my day was genuinely healthy, which is normal for my diet. More than likely, the chicken that I ate during lunch as well as dinner, was probably a genetically modified food. The broccoli that was part of my lunch, was fresh, but not organic. The orange juice I drank came from oranges grown in Florida, and was, to my knowledge and as far as I could tell, the thing that traveled farthest to end up in my stomach. Overall, I am not entirely dissatisfied with my meals. None are very high in fat, with the exception of the rice, which just as carbohydrates, and none are terribly “bad” for my health. Currently, I am happy with my daily meal choices, because knowing me and my sense of will-power, they could all be A LOT worse.

Spring Breakin' It Up

Throughout my school years, I have had fourteen different spring break opportunities. Out of those, I have taken a trip to Florida eight times. This past one, unfortunately, I did not get a chance to go out of state, but had to spend the week in the small town of Fairland, Indiana. Though while planning my spring break I was totally bummed, after the week was over, I realized that it was not quite as bad as I thought that I would be.
One interesting thing that I did last week was visit with my friends that I had not seen for nearly four months. We went out to dinner at Santa Fe Steakhouse and then went kareokeing. I must say that we had a wonderful time!! My friend Whitney goes to Georgetown, Kentucky, where she has been living for the school year. I admit that I have missed her tremendously and was thrilled to spend the evening with her. My boyfriend Brad and I, Whitney and her boyfriend Doug, and my friend Brookley all had a wonderful time just catching up and reliving old times. We already began making plans for the summer! I am definitely counting down the days until summer vacation! I cannot wait. It is really surprising how much you miss someone you haven't seen in forever.

A Little Stressed Out

I am writing this extra blog to just help myself "de-stress" a little. Currently, with only three days left until spring break, I am definitely feeling the academic pressure that come with the college life. No matter how hard I work, there never seems to be enough time in the day to get everything that one wants to do, accomplished. Is it just me, or has our class-load multiplied by like 20x? I look at my list of "To Dos" and it seems as though I never check any off. Overall though, I am definitely ready for a little "R&R" next week. Though I am not going anywhere but home, the lack of responsibilities will definitely be readily accepted, and, after all of this weeks work, well-deserved!!!!

Harriet "Courage" Tubman

One individual that I find to be very heroic, is Harriet Tubman. Throughout a time in history when standing out could possibly get one killed, she was not afraid to do just that. Famous for leading numerous slaves to freedom in the North, Harriet Tubman was one of the many "revered" leaders of the Underground Railroad. Though she was constantly risking her life in doing this, it seemed at though she never failed to put other's safety first, above her own. One interesting point, is that though she was not only black, she was also FEMALE, which also put her at risk of rape, as well as beating, and quite possibly, death.
There are many reasons why I find Harriet Tubman to be a herioc individual. Risking one's life daily is just one of the many reasons that I find her to be important to history. She was very selfless and cared more for others than herself, which truly showed her to be a hero. The way that she seemed to ignore the fact that her life was on the line every time that she stepped out of her door makes her a heroic individual to me. Above all, I find her to be one of the most influential women in our history. She was not afraid to step out of her "safety zone". Courage was definitely a trait that Tubman knew well. It seems that when some were afraid to help those enslaved in the South, she did her best make up for what others were busy not doing. For these and many other reasons, I believe that Harriet Tubman deserves to be recognized as one of the "heroic" figures from America's history.