laughter is the best medicine

We have all heard the saying that "laughter is the best medicine", and I have always believed it to be true. Whether I am sick or just in a bad mood, laughing always makes me feel better. I decided to do a little research to see if laughter is really beneficial to your health.
I found that it is true! Laughing helps the heart and blood flow by increasing blood flow. It also releases endorphins that make you feel good and relaxed. What I found to be the most surprising from my research was that laughing boosts the immune system by decreasing stress hormones. These are all similar benefits that exercising has on the body! So laugh more, and stress less.

mac attack

I have always been the person to not like something just because everyone else likes it. In high school it was shopping at stores like Abercrombie and Fitch, and now at SMU it's wearing certain designers like Tory Burch or Lily Pulitzer. I do think the clothes are attractive, but I simply refuse to look like everyone else! However, there is one hip product that no one (not even myself) can resist. The product is Apple and it's everywhere! It is our computers, our laptops, our phones, our mp3 players, and now with the ipad it has become our newspaper and books. What is it about this product that so many consumers can't resist?! There are tons of different phones, computers, etc. on the market, so it is deffinently not the only "one of its kind".
After learning more about the history of Apple campaigns in my advertising classes, I have become aware of why people even like myself, love Apple products. Apple has had the image even when first arriving on the market of being different and even a rebel when compared to it's competitors like IBM. They catch the eyes of consumers by having such unique and fun ads that represent the company's mind set.

S - eye - T

I take time every semester to help the philanthropy Service for Sight, which aids the blind and visually impaired. It has made me realize if that along with so many other things we take our sight for granted. We wouldn't be able to do the tasks like driving and some recreational sports without our sight. I have begun to notice the beauty in so many things around me from the trees, the blue sky, and a persons smiling face. Unfortunately, the reality is that there are people that cannot be apart of this amazing visual world around us. As citizens of the world, we can do our best to help out one another and donate our time to preventing and aiding the blind or visually impaired.

time travel

This semester has seemed to be the most stressful to date. I spent a good portion of my time babysitting young children and find myself wishing I could go back in time to that age where I have no worries or responsibilities. Doesn't that sound great?! This made me think that a time travel would be the PERFECT unrealistic invention/super power to have. I mean flying would be cool, but time travel would be much more useful. You could go back and say the thing you wish you said in an argument or put the right answer on a test or purchase the new trendy item before everyone else..GEEZ the possibilities are endless!! Well I think I need to end this post before I become even more sad about my time-machineless life. And if you are now feeling depressed like me, feel free to watch this funny family guy clip that will hopefully cheer you up.

16 & Pregnant

It has been obvious for a while that MTV has ben running out of ideas for shows, but they deffinently hit rock bottom with 16 and pregnant. Not only is this show awful it is now on it's SECOND season! You can argue that this show documents the reality of what it is like to have a child as a teenager, but it also does so in an inefficient way. The show makes light of very critical issues a teen parent would face, like how will they manage to make enough money to support this child or the potential medical complications that arise when a teenager is pregnant. Many of the newer episodes show the teenager's mother excited for the child. I agree that bringing life into the world is great, but these people are thinking unrealistically!! How do they plan on supporting this child when the parents are 15 and 16 years old??? Even without looking at the possible financial disaster they encounter, these children do not realize that they could be happy now with there boy or girlfriend, but they are still children themselves and people grow up and change. In conclusion, I cannot see how this show helps anyone, especially how recently teen pregnancy has been on the rise.

froYO!

VS.



There is a new dessert fad that has EXPLODED here in Dallas, frozen yogurt. You can't walk more than a block or two without seeing a frozen yogurt shop. There at least 12 different frozen yogurt shops in Dallas alone, but I'm sure that as I'm typing this more are opening! It's not uncommon to see frozen yogurt shops on the same block or across the street from one another. I think this is nuts! I predict that in the next few months we will be seeing many For Lease signs outside these buildings, because they have expanded too rapidly. This is very similar to what Starbucks did a few years ago. By expanding too fast they lost profit and had to close many of there shops down.
I think what bugs me most about these places is that they claim to be so much healthier than ice cream. I understand this is true, yogurt is healthier is lower in fat than ice cream because it is not made from cream. Have you ever noticed the size of the cups at I Heart Yogurt or any of the other froyo places??! They're HUGE! And offer the toppings of every kind of candy, brownie, and cake imaginable. By filling a bucket-sized cup with frozen yogurt and piling on all the sugary toppings you please is not healthy! Personally, I would much rather enjoy a yummy scoop of ice cream to yogurt any day!

Sweet Dreams?

I have found that there are certain dreams that most everyone shares and happen to reoccur. For example being chased by someone, falling, or showing up naked somewhere are all common. For me the dream I have constantly is of my teeth falling out which also seems to be a somewhat common themed dream. So what do all of these mean? With the help of dreammoods.com I was able to get the meaning behind these common dreams.

1) Being chased- these dreams can depict your tendency to run away from confrontational, uncomfortable, or stressful situations in real life.

2) Falling- this type of dream may indicate your insecurities or anxieties. It could stem from a unstable relationship, problems at work, or really anything where you have lost your sense of control.

3) Being naked- That you are becoming exposed and left without any defense or you have come unprepared for something.

4) Teeth falling out - This can represent either your anxieties of personal appearance or your loss of power.

All of these seem to have the common theme of being haunted with anxiety. These interpretations do not surprise me at all, in our American culture all we do is stress! Our lives revolve around deadlines and strict schedules. I find it sad that we can't even escape from our daily stresses in our dreams.