Jen's Blog

Google's Logo

2009-04-27T08:07:00.002-05:00

I go to google almost every single day, and find that I can look-up any possible topic imaginable on the search engine! While the informative sites, images, etc. that I find are interesting, I think that the most creative aspect of Google's site is its logo. The website has changed its logo more than 140 times since 1999, and the ever-changing logos always seem to brighten my day.

However, there was some controversy over the logo in 2007, when the website didn't change its logo to honor Veterans Day or Memorial Day. The company said it was trying to be respectful, but I think that there are definetly designs that they could have created that would have honored the veterans.

If you want to catch a glimpse at all of Google's logos, there is an online museum displaying all of the logos for the various holidays, and what date they were created for. As you will notice, Google did create a logo for Veterans Day in 2008 after the controversy in 2007. One of my personal favorite logos is from May 22, 2008. The creator of this logo won a contest and I think that she was very talented. Do you agree? Which logo is your favorite?

Technological Age

2009-03-20T17:17:00.006-05:00

A few days ago there was an all-school workshop about technology and its influence in the lives of teens, and I thought that it led to interesting discussion. Today, our generation of teens takes all of the technologies we have (internet, phones, television, etc.) for granted, when even in our parents' generation they hardly had any of the technology that we do now. Technology has evolved rapidly to become a major part of our lives, but it has developed its pros and cons, as well. During the workshop, my teacher had us compile a list of the pros and cons of modern technology on teenagers, and here is a small example of what we came up with:

PROS:

easier communication with others

entertainment

easier to find information

CONS:
online predators
weaker face-to-face communication skills
"sexting"

I think that there can be very valid arguments made for the pros and cons of modern technology. Although it has its negative side, technology has become such a vast part of our lives that it is pretty much impossible to eliminate. The best way to live with it is just to regulate our usage and to make sure that we use these technologies in appropriate ways.

So, what do you think? Do the pros outweigh the cons?

Cold Season

2009-02-23T18:45:00.015-06:00

I haven't walked into a class in the past few weeks that hasn't had at least a few sniffling students. It's the season for colds, and when I came home with a case of the sniffles, my mother suggested drinking some hot tea or having warm, steamy soup for dinner. These remedies are really common all over the world, but do they actually work?

There has been no large-scale clinical trial testing wether hot liquids actually help to relieve the symptoms of the common cold. However, I found an article on a small trial of 30 sick patients who got a drink of blackcurrant-and-apple-flavored fruit cordial, a popular local remedy in Wales. While the test subjects nasal air flow remained the same, most of them reported a decrease in common symptoms, such as fatigue, runny nose, cough, sneezing, etc.

There are many speculations as to why these hot fluids relieve the symptoms of a cold, some saying that the ingredients in blackcurrants and green tea might fight viruses, bacteria, and inflammation. I think that the best reason for this is simply the placebo effect. People with colds believe that hot liquids will cure their symptoms, and so they feel better.

Whether the effects of hot liquids on cold symptoms are only psychological, we simply do not know. But, we do know that colds can spread easily, so if you have a cold, make sure to wash your hands frequently and cough and sneeze away from others!

Groundhog Day

2009-02-10T18:32:00.008-06:00

February 2nd was Groundhog Day, a day many of us just overlook and pass off as unimportant. Although I am guilty of committing such acts of uninterest towards Groundhog Day, I did a little research about the holiday and found out that it is a much bigger event in other parts of the country. The largest Groundhog Day celebration is in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, where crowds made up of as many as 40,000 people have gathered to celebrate the holiday since at least 1886. In fact, the holiday began as a Pennsylvania German custom in Pennsylvania in the 18th and 19th centuries.

Groundhog Day has its origins in ancient European weather lore, where a badger or bear is observed, as opposed to a groundhog. It also has similarities to the medieval Catholic holiday Candlemas and the Pagan festival Imbolc, which also involves predictions of the weather. While we may pass off the predictions of the groundhogs as unnecesary, due to the many various sources of weather prediction that are avaliable to us through the media, ancient cultures may have relied on the groundhog or other animals to accurately predict the weather for them.

The most famous modern groundhog, Punxsutawney Phil, predicted that there would be six more weeks of winter this year. No surprise for Chicago weather! So, come February 2nd of the year 2010, make sure to appreciate the prediction for Groundhog Day as a look back into history when people didn't have the morning news weather report to predict the weather for them.

Easy Bake Oven

2009-01-26T17:12:00.012-06:00

Recently, my mom was cleaning out my sister and I's game cabinet, and she pulled out an Easy Bake Oven. The oven immediately conjured up childhood memories of putting on aprons and oven mitts that were too big for our hands, and attempting to make cookies out of the mixes. We opened up the box and found a mix for brownies, so we decided to make it.

While emptying the contents of the brownie mix packet into a bowl and adding the wet ingredients was very easy, some of the aspects to the Easy Bake Oven were quite frustrating. We then poured the batter into a pan that was about as small as my palm and stuck it into the oven. A simple click of the switch, and the brownie began to cook. Easy Bake Ovens cook using a 100-watt lightbulb. While this feature allows the oven to be wire-free, it makes for very slow baking. It took about 15 minutes for the brownie to cook, about half the time of a 13x9 inch pan of brownies from a standard mix! Eventually the brownie appeared to be cooked, so we tried to pull it out using the long, red plastic device that came with the oven. This was actually quite frustrating, since we ended up pushing the brownie deeper into the oven, instead of lifting underneath it and pulling it out! When my sister and I finally fished the brownie out of the oven and tasted it, we were not satisfied. The brownie tasted horrible!

On the plus side, we decided to try baking a cookie from some refrigerated cookie dough that we had in our freezer, and the cookie came out quite well. While Easy Bake Ovens are meant for young kids and are effective in providing a realistic experience of baking, they end results are often distasteful and the tedious effort is not worth the end result. I would simply suggest having a child make a treat using a standard mix, and then preparing it in a regular oven. The end result is (almost) always delicious and satisfying!

The Science of Baking

2009-01-08T17:55:00.006-06:00

I love to bake all kinds of delicious desserts, but I just recently discovered how complex baking was and how science can apply to everyday life. My aunt and I watched a Food Network show called Good Eats with Alton Brown. The show not only has Alton preparing recipies, but he describes the science behind the recipies, as well. The episode that we watched was about cookies and was called "Three Chips for Sister Marsha". It explained how the different ingredients in cookies could be adjusted to alter the texture, size, consistency, etc. of the cookie. For example, eggs puff-up rather than spread-out, so you can replace eggs with milk if you want your cookies more spread-out and flatter. Also, the higher the ratio of white to brown sugar in a recipe is, the crispier the cookies will be.

Although the humor of Good Eats is a little cheesy, the information that it has on its recipies is very informative and helpful, whether you're baking or not. I liked this show about baking cookies in particular, because it explained how to make all kinds of different alterations so that I can test my favorite recipies and create the perfect cookie!

New Driver

2008-12-15T08:30:00.004-06:00

I've had my permit since March and am still currently learning how to drive. Although I am progressing and becoming a better driver, my mom still gets extreemely nervous everytime we are in the car together. Even when I'm not driving, she is pointing things out and telling me what "I should have done in that situation."
Because of her nerves, my mom has taken those window stickers that say "new driver", and has put them on the back window of our cars. Although I dislike the sticker and protested at first, I eventually let my mom keep it on the car. This was fine, until my mom kept getting nervous and decided to take it a step further. She wants to buy new driver magnets and put one on every side of the car! This way, she says that other drivers will keep their distance from me, and will drive with more caution, because they know that I am not as experienced. I don't think that these magnets are actually a way of making me a better driver, but making my mom calm down. Even if other drivers drive with caution around me, once I take the magnets off I will have to adjust to how drivers normally drive, anyway.
For those of you with parents who are as nervous as my mom is, I would suggest giving them tips on how to calm down in a tense situation, and just remind them that you are learning how to drive.

Knitting!

2008-12-07T16:04:00.002-06:00

Some girls in my spanish class this year have got me started knitting again. A few years ago, my aunt had taught me how to knit and I started a scarf. However, my younger self soon lost interest and the scarf was never completed. But, when I saw my peers carrying around bags of yarn and knitting needles, it sparked my interest in knitting again, especially once they told me that the scarves they knit for their knitting club, SWAP, get donated to people who need them.

When I got home that night, I found my old scarf, but I also found all of the mistakes I had made when I was knitting it. So, I ripped it out, but couldn’t remember how to start a new one! So, I went online and found a good website that teaches basic knitting skills. So, I really encourage all of you to learn how to knit, it’s really very simple, and the results are greatly rewarding. I have already knit and donated a few scarves, but also plan to give some away as Christmas gifts.

It’s so much more rewarding to wear a scarf or anything else that you made yourself, as opposed to one that you bought. Knitting can give a person a sense of self-satisfaction and accomplishment, and is easy to do. So, get started!

Christmas Already?!

2008-11-17T18:45:00.019-06:00

Although Christmas is my favorite time of the year and I cannot wait until it comes, isn't before Thanksgiving a little too early for malls to set up their Santa displays? It's just starting to get cold out, and radio stations have been playing Christmas carols for weeks! I believe that the major cause of this early start is the commercialization of the Christmas holiday. When most people think of Christmas, they think about presents, Santa Claus, Christmas trees, etc., instead of thinking about its original meaning, the birth of Jesus Christ. I am completely guilty of these thoughts, but I do think that radio stations should at least wait until after Thanksgiving to play Christmas carols. This way, we wouldn't get sick of all the songs by the time Christmas actually arrives!

While I love the commercial holiday as well as the religious holiday, I simply think that it's a little ridiculous how much our world is focused on the gift-giving aspect of Christmas. Stores do have a right to use the commercial aspect of Christmas to promote their business, but I don't think they should start setting up displays where kids can meet Santa until after Thanksgiving. With so much focus on Christmas, we almost tend to overlook Thanksgiving and what a great holiday it is, as well. Even though Christmas truly isn’t that far away, I think that we could hold back our excitement just enough to enjoy the coming Thanksgiving holiday, as well.

Teen Pregnancy and Television

2008-11-04T18:03:00.014-06:00

There have been new studies that have shown that many young, teenage girls are getting pregnant as an effect of watching television. In fact, teens that watched the raciest shows were twice as likely to become pregnant over the next three years than those who watched less extreme shows.

Although I am guilty of watching some these shows, such as Desperate Housewives, Grey's Anatomy, Friends, and Sex and the City, I do agree that these studies make sense. These shows portray a society in which sex is a very common and casual occurrence, and it is very rare for many of the women on the show to become pregnant. Even if they do, the situation is often not elevated as a negative as much as it could be. The shows prefer to show the positives of sexual experiences, rather than the negatives that can lead to pregnancy and other complications.

Many people also have varying perspectives on the movie, Juno. This movie is about a girl in high school who gets pregnant. Many people dislike the movie, because they believe that it glorifies pregnancy and makes it seem "okay", because the pregnancy turns out to be happy and fine, which is a very unrealistic outlook on teenage pregnancy. However, others think that the movie realistically showed what it would be like for a teenager to go through a pregnancy. Although pregnancy is not necessarily shown as a negative in this movie, it does show the possibility of getting pregnant, unlike many of the sexual television shows of today.

While sexual shows promote casual sex, it is important for viewers to remember that real life should not be carried out as in the realistic setting of those shows, and that they have to be responsible to themselves and others. Teenage pregnancy is a very big issue, and usually has many negative effects on the lives of teenagers across the world. While the shows are entertaining, it is just important to always remember the risks of sex and the negative impact of teenage pregnancy.

Summer Job

2008-10-09T12:01:00.014-05:00

This summer, my uncle and cousin introduced me to my first official job at LCR (Liquid Crystal Resources). When I was younger, my uncle would always bring me home fun color changing stickers, mood rings, computer mouse pads, and other novelties. These came from his work at LCR, and learning about how they were made and how a business functions was really interesting.
The liquid crystals that the company uses are chemical compounds and mixtures that change colors. The company uses many thermo chromic liquid crystals, which change color with changes in temperature. The products that use these are a wide variety of thermometers. I was really excited to learn that these temperature gauges can be reversible or irreversible, because they are examples of the reversible and irreversible chemical changes that we learned about this year in chemistry class!
While my job mainly consisted of packaging and labeling the products, I also enjoyed tours of the business: seeing the chemicals mixed in the lab, watching the graphics designer create the labels that I would later be using to package the products, and just getting to see all of the cool products that can be created using the chemicals. (My favorite was the CC sneakers from Puma.)
Hikyle. "Puma Basket CC (Color Change)." YouTube. 10 Aug. 2007. 16 Dec. 2008 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cfteadnfpbg&nr=1.

Although most kids don't like having to take on the responsibilities of a summer job, they can be fun and I think that most people will find that they will gain a vast amount of knowledge day to day.

Benefits of Running

2008-10-02T19:49:00.006-05:00

I joined the cross-country team this year after deciding to start running this summer. At first, running was very difficult, and I had to go running with friends so that they would motivate me to go, because what I really wanted to do was stay at home and just relax. But, I eventually got into the habit of running, and went on a jog everyday over the summer. When my friend convinced me to join the cross-country team, the workouts were definitely a lot more challenging than those I had been doing over the summer! However, I found that running became a habit for me, and one that I enjoyed and looked forward to participating in. I did some research on the benefits of running and found out that there were a lot more than simply getting in better shape:
Of course, running helps a person lose weight. But, it also improves cardiovascular health, which can reduce a person's risk of heart disease, which is the number one killer in the United States. Running also slows down the aging process by improving bone strength, and can improve coordination. Some of the main benefits of running that I experienced were psychological. Running, like other forms of exercise, releases endorphins that make a person feel good. It also gave me a positive attitude as I saw myself improve over time.
While running may seem like a pain at first, the benefits are endless and very positive. So, go out and start running!

Chinese Moon Festival

2008-09-23T21:20:00.010-05:00

On September 14, as on every Sunday, I went over to my grandmother's house after church for lunch. When I entered her house, I found that a table was set-up in her living room, supporting a whole cooked chicken, other food items, some incense, and of course, moon cakes. This unusual display was because that Sunday was the Chinese Moon Festival. This festival, also called the Mid-Autumn Festival is celebrated on the fifteenth day of the eigth moon (according to a lunar calendar), around the time of the autumn equinox. It is celebrated every year to greet winter, worship the moon, to celebrate life, and to recognize family and friends living away from one's home.

The food offerings on my grandmother's table were because, the Mid-Autumn Festival is also considered a harvest festival, because during this time harvests were plentiful and food was abundant. The most important offering, however, was the moon cake. According to legend, these cakes came about when the leaders of a rebellion hid secret messages containing the plans of their attack inside of specially made cakes. These cakes came to be called moon cakes, because the rebels planned the attack to take place during the Moon Festival. Moon cakes are typically made with a red bean paste and contain a whole egg yolk in the middle, to represent the full moon. I tried my first moon cake this year, and let's just say it did not agree with my taste buds.

Next year, I will walk into my grandmother's house more aware of the Moon Festival holiday and it's significance. However, I might be more careful to avoid the moon cakes!

Pearson, Chris. "Mooncake." To the Moon. 25 Sept. 2007. 16 Dec. 2008 http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://markcole.files.wordpress.com/2007/09/mooncake1.jpg&imgrefurl=http://markcole.wordpress.com/2007/09/25/mooncake/&usg=__bqbrpfvq2vdmne62vek7b4gxzks=&h=314&w=347&sz=80&hl=en&start=1&tbnid=i36133bhcp1d3m:&t.

Room Renovations

2008-09-10T22:20:00.006-05:00

I’m currently in the process of re-doing my room, and right now I’m stuck on deciding which color to paint my walls. The trim is going to stay white, but I just need one color to paint all four walls with. My furniture is made of pinewood, and is similar to the shade of the panels in the link. The blanket on my bed is purple, blue, pink, and green in a block-like pattern that is almost mosaic. So far, my decision is leaning towards painting my room a toned-down version of lime green, such as the one in my blanket. I think that the light green will visually make the room look larger, while the brightness of the color will also be fun and happy, just how I want my room to look. What do you think?

If you’re thinking about re-painting a room in your house, this website offers a lot of assistance in helping a person pick out a color or color scheme to use. It has a lot of information about the effects of colors in a room, as well as many tips to choosing a color scheme to accomodate a person's certain room situation.

After a color or color scheme is decided, this other site can be used to help a person visualize what the color or color schemes they are deciding between would actually look like in a room. This helps, because colors usually end up looking different when they're covering an entire wall, as opposed to a small color sample. It's easy! Simply choose a room, and select a color from a very wide variety according to your preferences.

Picking out a color for a room may not seem very hard, but a lot more thought goes into it than most people realize! The color of a room not only has a very big impact on the overall effect of the room, but is permanent and not very easy to change. So, be careful while deciding on a color, just as I'm going to spend a lot more thought as to which color I'm going to paint my room.