October 9 2014

Can't Get Enough

Have you ever been addicted to anything, or worried that you were? Have you ever spent too much time and effort on something that was a distraction from your real goals? Tell us about it.

I have a highly addictive personality. 

I am addicted to some things for a short while, like certain TV shows.

Somethings I will always be addicted to, like soda and buying purses and bags, and my wife. 

However, addicted sounds bad, so, I'm in love with my wife, not addicted.  ;)

I bequeath this blog to the world, in order to make it a better place.

Blessed Be 

)O(

Misty

--
Thank you,
Misty Bishop-Martiss

April 29, 2014

Do you fell uncomfortable when you see someone else being embarrassed?

 

Yes, I do, mostly because whatever they are doing, like tripping over invisible things, etc, I can see myself doing, and I can totally feel for them!

 

Thanks for Reading,

Misty

)O(

Blessed Be!

April 21st, 2014

Go to your favorite blog and write a companion piece.

 

I do not have a favorite blog, so I am going to work on my paper today instead. 

 

Thanks for reading,

Misty

)O(

Blessed Be

I Feel Pretty, Oh So Pretty...

Balloons at car dealerships are so pretty from afar, but stopped on the bus at a red light, I get a better view. They are dirty and scoffed.

Aren't we all like that? Putting our best face forward for society, friends and sometimes even family?

 

The biggest lie told daily is “I’m fine”

We wear clothes because we have to, but what we wear is a choice. The clothes that we choose are an extension of us and the façade that we wish to portray of ourselves to others.

I wear this big sweater today to hide the fact that I have gained weight and my pants are too tight. When the end of this day comes and I undress, my jeans are not too tight, but weight still shows.

Some people will use make up to cover flaws, again, at the end of the day, those same flaws are still there.

Why do we feel the need to wear these ‘masks’?

What is it about the world that makes us feel that need? I know that today for instance I am wearing ‘jegging’s – stretchy jeans - , a tank top and an over sized sweater. I feel pretty, my pants aren't so tight that I am miserable, and the sweater hides the fact that my belly protrudes out of the tank top.

Do I feel pretty because my flaws are hidden?

When I get home I will put on a large t-shirt and ‘happy pants’, not quiet sweats, not quiet pajamas. I will be comfortable. I will not necessarily feel pretty, but I won’t care because I am comfortable. Will that be because my flaws are hidden safely behind the closed doors of my own home?

Wouldn't it be nice to live in a society where we didn’t need to have dress to make others make us feel pretty? The Looking Glass Self at work. If we didn’t have that, how would I know I feel pretty today?

Noe Article

We have to address an ANCIENT article about the similarities and differences in Rap and Country music.

 

Noe’s thesis is that Rap music and Country are similar in several aspects. Those aspects being women, law breaking and the American Dream. They both tell stories to convey these messages.

 

Noe comes to the conclusion that while both of these genres share many themes, it is in the way that they convey them that makes them different. The performers that convey them, more specifically the race of the performers, makes these songs come across differently to the mainstream public. While country can be seen as “red-neck” but mostly nonthreatening, rap can be in your face, and tell-it-like-it-is, even when what it is, is not what we want to hear.  

 

          One of Noe’s claims that I agree with is that crime does not pay. In “Mama Tried” by Merle Haggard, he sings about how his mother tried to keep him out of trouble, but he didn’t listen. In Ice-T’s “Drama” he raps about realizing that education was the way to a better life, not whatever landed him in jail, only to come to this realization too late. That has been a theme in many a song, across many genres. The opposite can be true as well.  

 

          Noe makes the claim that in Country music, hard work is all for not in the end. I disagree with this. I will use current music to make my point. There is a song by Eric Church, it is about a young man that rejects his life “on the farm” for city. He wears his pants sagged and his hat backwards. Not to read too much into this song, but it sounds to me like he has given up his country music for rap. His brother, the singer pleads for him to come “home boy”. He offers hard work, which will keep him “out of jail”. He also makes the case that one day he will regret not sitting on the tailgate of his truck with his “high school flame on one side, ice cold beer on the other”. He pleads for his brother to come “home boy” and make right with his parents, before they are called home, boy. The title is a play on words, as I am sure you can tell. This song, however, disproves many of the arguments that Noe makes. This song does not promote casual sex, rather, that this young man should come home to his high school flame, I read it to mean so that he can make a life with her. It offers this young man hard work versus jail and promotes family repair in this case.

 

          I know that this song is current, and Noe’s arguments are old (1995), but I would argue, that Noe’s choice of country music that she analyzed was old at the time. Merle Haggard’s “Mama Tried” is from 1968!

Imaginary Hamburgers

 

Imaginary Hamburgers

Fast food restaurants today have to be more cunning in the way that they advertise their goods to the public. In recent years these establishments have not gotten a good wrap. People want healthier choices. The two ads that I have chosen to analyze both represent the back bone of these establishments, the hamburger. The trick is that there is not an actual hamburger in either ad. The consumer is left to use their imagination to invasion what they will get when ordering at these establishments.

In the first ad, for McDonalds, there is a stack of books. All that you can see is the spines of the books. There is not much to look at, but so much to see. The bottom book is labeled The Very Best of Bread. There are many different kinds of bread in the picture on this spine. All are golden in color, and look appetizing and healthy. The second book in the stack is called Meat * New Edition. The meat on the spine of this book looks less like a hamburger and more like a steak with a nice big juicy piece cut out so that you can see the inside of this cut of meat. The third book is The Special Book of Cheese. This spine does not have much going on at first glance, but upon further investigation, at the top of the book you can see what looks like pieces of the cheese cut away haphazardly. This seems almost as if someone has been tearing pieces off to snack on because the cheese is so irresistible. The next book is just calledTomato. It has, as you would imagine, red, ripe tomatoes on the spine. They have the stem still on them, leading us to wonder if they were just freshly picked out of McDonald's organic backyard farm. The next book is titled The Encyclopedia of Salad. The spine has snippets of beautiful green heads of lettuce. The top book of the pile is calledBreads & Co. It has more breads on it like the bottom book, but they are different, though equally appealing in appearance.

This ad suggests to me that McDonald's is offering to us the idea that they have re-written the book on hamburgers. The book was obviously already written. Most of us have had a hamburger before, but this ad suggest that they have improved upon the process. Not only that, but they have gone about it in an almost academic, "foodie" manner. The bottom book with the breads on it gives us the idea that the bun, at least the bottom bun, is made from the "very best". The second is supposed to suggest that the meat used in the burgers not is not the "same old same old" that has been used by McDonald's, or even that which is used by the competitors. The third book in the book burger is the "special" book of presumably "special" cheese because, well, the cheese that McDonald's uses is no ordinary cheese. The next two books, the tomato and the lettuce look very fresh, as if they were just picked by someone's southern Grandmother from her very own garden, and then delivered right to McDonald's to put on my burger. The top book, again is the bread. Fresh, golden, healthy, unique, not at all the stale plain buns that we are used too.

This ad, while having no actual hamburger leaves the burger to the imagination. It lets us build up the anticipation about the hamburger that McDonald's would serve us should we walk into their facility right now. Or, if we drove up to their window, because some of us are already in our pajamas and just want a burger to enjoy in the privacy of our own home while we watch Doctor Who re-runs. I think that this ad is meant to build up this burger in our heads before we get the real thing, and possibly the letdown that comes with the real thing.

The second ad that I am analyzing does the same thing. It leaves the actual burger to our imagination. It is the Burger King ad with no burger. The ad has a bright yellow background, and the only thing, besides the Burger King logo, which is peeling up a bit at the edge, is a set of "hands". The only portion of the hands that are visible are a set of thumbs, and an oddly proportioned set of forefingers. The forefingers in the ad have an extra set of joints in them.

I think that the reason that the fingers in this ad are freakishly disproportionate is to lead you to believe that the burger they will serve you is so large, normal hands "need not apply". The coloring of the ad, the solid yellow background, is a color that is said to evoke hunger. It is a good thing that this color is supposed to make you hungry, the burger that Burger King is offering, seems to be so big that you will need to be famished in order to finish it!

                                         

These ads are tied together through the imagination. Both franchises let you know what is being offered without the exact details of what that is. Since most ads have pictures of fake "dressed" food, they have bypassed this step, and left it up to you, the consumer to envision the meal that you will get.

 

Restaurant Review

Nob Hill Bar and Grill

Nob Hill Bar and Grill is a favorite in the area; however that does not necessarily mean that it is worth your time. It is busy most week nights, and downright packed on weekend nights. There is no doubt that there is a strong, loyal customer base.  The service and food are not the best I have ever had, but they are by no means the worst. I do acknowledge that your reasons for dining anywhere would greatly affect your overall view of the experience. If you are going out for dinner out with friends just for the sake of dinning out, then this could be a good choice. Having a dinner with a significant other? This place would work, as long as the occasion was not something form. Going out for a casual work dinner, sure thing.

I expected from more menu choices from this restaurant. Though the menu is not as varied as I would have liked, it was very specialized. There were items that I found to be too specific and detailed; the devil is indeed in the details in all of these meals. I was happy to see fish and chips on the menu. The meals chosen by the rest of the members of my dinner party seemed to be equally appreciated. While not a wide variety, everyone found something to enjoy for dinner

I really wanted to enjoy this dining experience as much as I have enjoyed others with my co-workers. Nob Hill Bar and Grill was enjoyable, and perhaps I need to stop comparing it to the other places that we have dined and just enjoy the experience and meal on their own merits. Overall the meal was good, although the menu did not offer me personally many choices. The cornflake covered mozzarella sticks were very unusual, and I think that is what made them so good. The patronage was rather low the evening we dined there, but I attribute this to the fact that we dined there on one of the only days it ‘snowed’ so far this winter.

            The service was not bad, but I have had better. Our waitress was only serving our party of four and two other tables, yet she was infrequently around to wait on any of us. When she was waiting on us, she was totally engaged; again, it was just difficult to get her to wait on us. She was very friendly and knowledgeable about the menu; she was very helpful when it came to specific dietary needs and restrictions and what dishes they had to offer to that end. I think that overall she was a good waitress, if not always present.

The meal that I ordered was good, if not exactly what I expected. The fish and chips were actually fish and waffle fries. While this was not exactly what I had pictured, it was enjoyable. The fish was battered and deep fried and the waffle fries were moist inside and crispy outside. I must admit that while I enjoyed the fish, I was expecting more work on the part of the kitchen for this dish for the price; perhaps the fish could have been less greasy. I could have gotten nearly the same meal at Long John Silver’s and for half the price. Overall the meal was enjoyable.

The Nob Hill Bar and Grill is a “hip” restaurant in a “hip” area of town, and you have to realize that this is the biggest part of the draw.  There is a giant fish tank near the ceiling, a definite conversation starter. I have heard from many diners that they have enjoyed their meals and over all experiences here. This is one of my bosses’ favorites, which is why we were there for dinner. I can see the draw of this restaurant; it is kitschy and it fits well in this area of town.