Monday, October 26, 2009

Dig your Spoon into something new...

Let’s do it “The Big Spoon Way.” Frozen yogurt for breakfast is not anyone’s typical morning pick-me-up; however, it is quite delicious.

Upon entering Big Spoon Yogurt on J Street, a friendly employee handed out miniature cups for sample tasting and made everyone feel welcome. It’s a serve-yourself-type-of-place, but once the digging in begins there’s no stopping.

There is not much service involved in the Big Spoon Yogurt desert bar. Since everything is out in the open and attainable with spoons, cups, and handles there is no need for help. It’s probably better to serve yourself anyway because of the many choices involved. All flavors are right-in-your-face so it makes it fairly easy to grab anything and fill up to create a treat. Even though there is not much service involved, all the employees are pleasant and helpful. If anything is needed the employees are happy to help. Asking for anything is not a problem.

The process of make your own frozen yogurt treat begins with selecting a flavor of frozen yogurt. Big Spoon offers, peanut butter, raspberry, vanilla bean, original tart, very berry, and milk chocolate. All flavors are flavorful, so it makes it fairly difficult to choose just one! Choosing one flavor of frozen yogurt is not the most difficult task because there are many toppings that still need to be chosen. Decisions…. Decisions….

Once the frozen yogurt is picked, the next step is picking through the many toppings Big Spoon has to offer. There are soooooo many choices! Everyone has a different preference of what they like; at Big Spoon, there are over 75 flavorful toppings, so even the picky eater can find something.

The toppings range from gummy sharks, candy corn, yogurt chips, honey smacks, cheesecake bites, maraschino cherries teddy grahams, to cashews, cookies and cream, chocolate syrup and whip cream just to name a few.

After going through the many decisions of what flavors will partake in the taste bud explosion, simply take the cup to the register. At this point, the cup will be weighed and then the grand total will be announced. With so many choices of frozen yogurt and toppings, remember that it is 39 cents an ounce, so overloading the cup can add up.

After paying for the tasty treat there’s nothing left to do, but sit down and enjoy. The flavors are fresh and delightful. The rich tasting flavors of fruits, candy, syrup topping, and yogurt are suitable for an excellent desert. It doesn’t matter what time of the day it is, a frozen yogurt treat with toppings that can meet anyone’s expectations is great.

Big Spoon Yogurt is one of the best places to have desert. If frozen yogurt is a favorite then this place is THE place to be. The atmosphere is fun and colorful and is topped off by bright lighting. Everything that is wanted out of a yogurt place is at Big Spoon Yogurt. Bursting flavors, bright lighting, colorful artwork, and cheerful employees is what desert is all about.

Desert time just got better.

Monday, October 19, 2009

The significance of a bra...

Men and bras are pretty similar. Some give support, others don’t. Comparing men to bras is a compelling, yet a funny thought. How can the two possibly be similar? Let’s find out…

Bras were first developed in the 1920s. They were simply undergarments that were supposed to provide support for women’s breasts. Now there are many kinds, and somehow men can easily be compared to them.

Let’s start out with the training bra. The training bra is designed for pre-teen girls who are in the early stages of breast development. The cups come without underwire support, and helps girls become accustomed to wearing a bra. Men have to be trained. Women usually train men them into how they want them, until they can move to the next stage. Once they start maturing it is safe to say that they can move up from the training portion.

Sports bras are made for active women who engage in physical exercise. The bras are supposed to fit comfortably. Now don’t most men like sports and like to sit comfortably watching them? Many men can sit for hours after hours watching sports. Some ladies do not enjoy sports, while others do. For the ladies who do not like sports, watching sports can get annoying. Once Monday night football comes around, a lot of ladies can become irritated because all eyes are on football.

The minimizer bra is one that may not be worn by many women. It is commonly sought out by large-breasted women who wish to reduce the appearance of their breasts by a cup size or two. It’s funny to think that some women wish to not only minimize the size of their breasts, but also the size of their men. Women may not tell their boyfriends that they are becoming large and they need to do something to stop it because they are too big. There’s not some type of body bag women can put over their boyfriend’s to reduce their size, but at least if their breasts are too big they can use a minimizer bra to adjust that problem.

Built-in bras are extremely convenient. They are built into clothing, so another bra doesn’t need to be worn. Some men are simply just convenient to women. There is one thing men rather not hear; that they are being used. Believe it or not, some women do use men to get what they need, which makes them extremely convenient just like a built-in bra.

The padded bra is one that many women use because it adds volume to their breasts. Many men may wish that there was some type of padding they can use. Hmmm…. The unmentionable won’t be mentioned, but there are many enhancement products on the market that are made for men. Too bad they just can’t throw on a padded bra and appear to be enhanced.

Bras and men. Who would have ever thought the two can be compared? Believe it or not, it has come to make a lot of sense.

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

I am a what?.... Not a phoenix...

California is home to 23 California State Universities. “I am a Phoenix” has never been in any of the students vocabulary. William Tierney, professor of higher education at the University of Southern California has thought-up a far fetched proposal that students attending the CSU school system will one day say, “I am a Phoenix.”

And get this, the whole CSU school will only be worth 2.3 billion to buy.

According to dictionary.com a phoenix is a person or thing of peerless beauty or excellence. According to the University of Phoenix, being a phoenix will get you anywhere you need to be in life while still living your life and attending school part-time. Hmmm…. Interesting thought. The University of Phoenix lacks tenure for professors, most classes are taught online and the debt for students will be a lot higher when compared to other universities.

How does phoenix mean beauty again? Being a “phoenix” is a little sketchy. If CSU students wanted to be a phoenix, wouldn’t they just attend The University of Phoenix?

Tierney’s proposal is mind-boggling. It actually makes my blood boil a bit just by thinking about it. Its actually a little insulting. Lets be honest, most of the classes that are taught in this so-called “university” are online. Ok ok! So what if it gives you freedom to do your work when you want to, but how exactly are students learning?

Getting an education shouldn’t be easy. It takes hard work and effort. Just sitting at a computer and not doing anything hands-on shouldn’t be considered as receiving a degree.

Is being more in debt and acquiring an easier degree really worth being a phoenix? What about the 16 percent graduation rate? Whoa! That is pretty darn low! 16 percent graduation rate seems like there is some sort of a problem. Excuse me, there must be a big problem!

The University of Phoenix is known for its part-time professors, instructional shortcuts and recruiting abuse. I would want to drop out too if I had to be put through such lousy education.

Of course since most classes are taught online, the course work is cut shorter. If you think about it, attending The University of Phoenix is like attending summer school year around. For any of you who have attended summer school, you know what I’m talking about. You have to cram a lot of information into your brain in a limited amount of time. Its stressful right? You rush to get the work done and can’t do as great as a job because everything is in such a hurry. Now why would you want to do a half job when receiving a degree?

The 23-CSU campuses are homes to 450,000 students. Why in the world would Tierney even think that they all want to say, “I am a Phoenix?” The school system is going through some tough times right now, but what isn’t? The economy is bad, but many students are still proposing themselves somehow to attend school and achieve a real degree.

I think I much rather say, “I am a CSU, I worked hard for my degree.”

Monday, October 5, 2009

I am Hip Hop

“I’m allergic to broke, I’m addicted to stuntin’, I’m infatuated with h*es, and I’m in love with money,” rapper Plies says in his song “I’m in love with money.”

Every category Plies just broke down in his chorus is the epitome of what rappers tend rap about in their songs. Even though their music is extremely catchy and the genre of Hip Hop music keeps booming, it is brainwashing the youth.

Who ever thought that a genre of music would be considered a lifestyle? In Hip Hop, everything is flashy, big, pretty, and worth an extreme amount of money. Unfortunately, everything that is seen on T.V. cannot be reenacted in real life.

The youth watch their favorite rappers in hopes that maybe one day everything they have can be attainable. The issue at hand is the lyrics and lifestyle. It is not uncanny to believe that lyrics in rap songs do not influence youths. Of course they are influenced by the lyrics and the glamour that comes along with Hip Hop. Lets be honest, who wouldn’t want a lot of money, fame and a fabulous life?

The roles of men and women in the Hip Hop life are depicted just as any form of masculinity and femininity. Men, for example, have all the money and are in power. Women are usually considered to be inferior and a lot of the time are exploited as being objects to men.

Young men see the images of being in power and having women do what they please, so they believe that life should be that way. This is where the issue comes into play. They can grow up to be disrespectful toward women and believe that the only way to have power is through having a lot of money by becoming an artist.

The interesting thing is that breaking into the world of Hip Hop is not as easy as many young artists believe it can be. Lets take myspace into perspective. There are many pages on myspace that showcase artists and their music. A lot of the artists are not well-known and may never make it into the industry. My question is, what happens to the youth that are extremely focused on music and don’t do anything else to try to set up their future?

Well, the Hip Hop world portrays a lifestyle in which it is fine to be thugs, gangsters, and drug dealers. I guess its ok to be anything as long as you’re getting money right? If your broke it seems as if the joke is on you. A vast majority of the time any occupation that has the words gangster, drug dealer, or thug in it will more than likely just get you into trouble and end up in jail. I don’t see how that lifestyle is glamorous.

The youth that is being extremely influenced by Hip Hop should realize that its not all that its made up to be. Most lyrics in Hip Hop are extremely offensive toward pretty much everyone. Now don’t get me wrong, Hip Hop is not the only genre of music that has offensive lyrics, but it is the one that many of the youth follow.

The lyrics are catchy, the dances are entertaining, and the lifestyle is portrayed as glamorous. Hip Hop is made to “stunt” (another term for stand out or be seen). There is nothing wrong with being part of Hip Hop. The issues only begin when the youth want to be Hip Hop so bad that it takes over their train of thought.