Spring Semester...Hell In A Dormitory

Hello, all my dear readers! Sorry for the late post, I’ve been busy since school stated back up. Today I want to discuss something many of us are probably dealing with at this time. Second semester in college. OH, that winter break was lovely wasn’t it? It almost felt like school was over and for us freshman at least, it felt like we had gotten through the worst part of our first year in college. Then, we return to school and bam! Reality hits us. I don;t know about you guys, but so far my second semester appears to be way harder than my first. Teachers are already discussing projects, papers, case studies and etc. I mean geeze, its only the second week of school! Do I get a breathing period? I guess not. In this last week, I’ve had to read several chapters for history class, developbusiness ideas for my entrepreneurship class, think of ideas for the newspaper, read several books and….well, you get the picture….a sad depressing life, isn’t it? Is there anyone else out there feeling my pain? I hope so because if I’m alone in this dark abyss than I may just have a gradual mental break down in the up coming weeks. Besides school, there’s the social aspect of college as well. During the break some friendships may have..well just deteriorated and aren’t the same like they use to be. Then, there are ,for those who had similar issues like me, the bad blood left behind that was never taken care of prior to leave. It’s still there and you aren’t exactly sure what to do with it? I’m trying to take the high road and forget everything that happened last semester. Well, not forget, but forgive. I wanted to start this new semester with a clean slate and so far, my plan is working pretty well…I mean there are a few people who want to hold onto the anger/drama of last semester but like I said, I’m taking the high road. And to sound conceited or superior but I hope you all do the same.

One thing I can guarantee none of us missed during our break was college food. Processed crap on a plate is what I like to call it. After being home for a month I realized how much better the food was.I mean it just felt great to have something actually made from scratch and not frozen and deep fried. Like at most colleges , my school (thought they try) don’t offer real healthy options. To avoid that freshman 15( which I will admit almost got me), we’ve got to be careful guys or those extra pounds will just sneak up on you…seriously. I wont the battle last semester…I’m going to win it this one, too. Alright, well that’s all for now, my readers! If any of you are suffering the same pain as me please let me know! :) I’d be glad to chit chat and swap stories. And feel free to comment on any of my posts. Okay, until than~!

Stereotypes: Fact or Fiction

Hello, my dear readers! I hope you all had a good week. :) So, I guess its not too hard to guess what my post today is going to be about.  We’ve all heard a few before and we may even believe a few of them to be true. Stereotypes are a daily part of life that we all have to sadly deal with. Recently, Michelle Obama was interviewed by Gayle King about the book “The Obamas.” In the book, Michelle’s feelings about being the First Lady are discussed. The author basically says several times in the book that Michelle Obama hates being the First Lady, that there is tension between Mrs. Obama and many of her husband’s advisers, that she is actually the one running Obama’s discussion with his advisers and more. In her interview with Gayle King Michelle repeatedly says, “Who can write about how I feel? Who?” She denies these accusations and says that people are trying to paint an image of her as some angry black woman that just isn’t true. After reading this article and watching the interview, I felt that I could kind of relate to Mrs. Obama on the whole angry black woman point and that’s where I got the idea for this post. I’ve had several incidents where people have fed into this stereotype. The best example I can give is when I was hanging out with some male friends after class. They were discussing the type of girls they liked to date and their preferences when it comes to race. None of them were really that into dating black women, but I remember one of them saying explicitly, ” I don’t date black girls because they’re always ghetto and aggressive.” This feeds into the whole angry black woman stereotype. It’s right up there with people who say black women sleep with their fists balled up because they’re so angry. Of course when my friend said this my jaw nearly dropped since not only am I black but he is too! To me he said, “Well, except you, you’re not like that.” His statement made no sense. He lays these traits on black women as a group and then points out one and says you’re not like that. This just proves how false stereotypes are and also how they can play such a big role in our lives. I personally feel as though these stereotypes have affected me to an extent, especially at my college where its majority white ( my high school was majority black). Most of the kids at my school are from small towns where everyone is white like them and due to several factors when they come to college and see black people they have some preconceived notions about us due to their lack of knowledge and experience. Some of the white male students may not pursue a relationship with a black female because of stereotypes like “angry black woman” and maybe some friendships never even form due this stereotype. I am not accusing people at my school of being racist or hateful, I’m just saying that I feel in some situations there is a culture gap and a lack of knowledge. I’m sure I’m not the only one feeling like this when it comes to stereotypes and how they affect our lives.

Now don’t get me wrong some times people can make stereotypical jokes and one can laugh it off thinking that the joker doesn’t really believe these stereotypes to be true. Also, some stereotypes are just so plain ridiculous that no one can take them seriously or they can’t offend anyone. For example,all black people love fried chicken or all white people are bad dancers. These ones just roll off with no affect and can even be laughed at. However ones like all black people are violent, all white people are racist, all Mexicans ( actually all Latinos and Hispanics aren’t Mexican though some people seem to think so) carry knives or are in gangs can really hurt people’s feelings (yes we should care about how people feel. call me sensitive if you wish) and majorly affect how they are perceived. Now, I don’t think stereotypes will ever be abolished (I definitely wish they would though) and I myself can laugh at a stereotypical joke here and there ( when they aren’t carried to far and become really offensive), but I just think we should all start thinking about how we perceive people when we first meet them and why we perceive them that way. We should take a step back and actually view the individual as who they are and not what we may believe true about them based on a stereotype. So, my final word is stereotypes=fiction. And just as Michelle Obama said, “Who can say how I feel?” and Kelly Clarkson says in her new song, “You don’t know a thing about me,” remember that if people judge you off of a stereotype they don’t know who you are as person and they’ll never know how you feel so their opinion doesn’t matter. Until next time! See ya then my dear readers and feel free to follow me on twitter (Natasha Lane) and comment on this post! ;)

Skins UK vs. Skins US

Hello, my dear readers!!!!!!! It’s been nearly a week since I posted so I thought it was about time. So, I don’t know if its just me, but I feel like the last few years America has been doing remakes of a lot of UK shows. Shameless, the Office, Being Human, Skins and if you guys aren’t aware the hit UK show Misfits is being adapted in the good old US of A as well. Most shows that are re-adapted here are hits! The Office US is on it’s, correct me if I’m wrong, 7th season and is one of my favorite shows. Shameless is actually returning for its second season today at 8pm! Season 2 of Bieng Human is coming back the 16th of this month. These shows have been both nominated for awards and received many of them. They’re amazingly popular and Americans can’t get enough of them. Except for one show. Skins. Skins unlike other UK to US shows was a completefailure. It had horribly low ratings and only lasted for one season. Recently, I’ve been watching the UK version of Skins. When the US version premiered I was very excited expecting it to enchant me like all other UK shows. However, I wasn’t very impressed. I watched the whole season though, but I have to say I’m not upset  that there won’t be a 2nd season of Skins US. As I was watching the UK version I started to wonder why the US version was such a fiasco. Then, I realized why. It’s because the Skins US didn’t follow the plot of the UK version at all. Okay, they had the same characters (with different names) but the story of each individual character was so different. One difference that plucked a nerve with me personally was that the gay character in the UK version was a male, but in the US version it was a girl. I didn’t understand why they would change the gender of the gay character besides trying to play on most men’s fantasy of two girls being intimate with one another. Another major difference was language. The UK characters were a bit more straightforward and brutal. If a girl had had sex with a male character on the show, the UK characters would simply put it out there while US characters would more so tip toe around it a bit. This difference is due to a culture difference between the US and UK. A third difference is the back story of Jal and Daisy, who is US version of Jal. In the British show Jal’s Dad is  a big rich movie producer. Jal has two brothers while in the American show Daisy’s Dad is poor and discourages her from playing her instrument (in the UK show her Dad pushed her to succeed in music). She has one little sister. This difference completely changes the conflict Jal (Daisy) has with herself and her father. Also, Jal and Chris (UK) eventually fall for one another. This happens in the 2nd season but inklings of it are given in the 1st one. No such inklings happen in the US version and actually Daisy ends up hooking up with the American version of Anwar named Abbud which didn’t happen in the UK version. And lastly Cadie (US) doesn’t have aneating disorder like Cassie (UK). Cadie is much darker and a bid druggie, while Cassie is happy, bubbly and anorexic. It’s differences like these that make the characters who they are and either engage the audience or bore them.

There are many other differences but I don’t think you all want me to go off on a rant. The whole point is that the US Skins failed because it changed the show so much. If something is good why try to change it? If its not broke, why fix it? Why change a good thing? You see where I’m going here. If the US had stuck to the same plot as the UK I have no doubt that it would have succeeded. However, my dear readers please tell me what you think. Why do you think the US version of Skins failed? Do you think America has really been taken over by UK shows like I do? I know a lot of Brits are a bit angry about our adaptions of their shows. I personally don’t see what the big deal is, these are just shows and it’s not like we’re stealing their whole culture just because of a few shows, but everyone is entitled to their opinion. Do you think the Brits should be upset? It’s all up to you. Let me know and see ya next time! :)