TED dot com

I just found out about ted.com! Awesome free speeches/presentations, 15 minutes and under on every subject you could imagine. What a great way to share the love of learning and unique aspects of human existence with the world! I watched an interesting one on the shared experience of film (really a beautiful speech, written by an eloquent british female director), but the one that really blew me away was this one about bio luminescent underwater creatures and squid, octopuses that change TEXTURE? Uh-mazing.


Check it out! This one's only six minutes and it's incredible. 

My Top 25 Favorite Movies

Not in any particular order. Are any of these your favorites?

I Wrote to Kellogg's, And They Wrote Back!!!

I took a media literacy class last semester. One of our assignments was to write to some media corporation, advertising agency, channel, etc. about an aspect of their product that we were pleased (or displeased) with. The goal of the assignment was to give us practice being active consumers of media and letting our voices be heard if there was something we do not agree with. I chose to write to Kellogg's about their Nutri-Grain bar advertisements.

Have you seen these? Totally offensive. First, they use the female body to sell a product (a rampant problem in media). Secondly, the ads suggest that having a cinnamon bun or crescent roll in the morning as opposed to a nutri-grain bar will condemn you to "buns and rolls" of your own. My thoughts: do we really need to stoop to capitalizing on female body insecurity to sell a breakfast bar? I don't think so.

 So here's the letter I wrote for my assignment, followed by the one they wrote back to me! :)

 Dear Mr. Baynes,

 I am writing as a concerned consumer. I recently saw a disturbing Nutri-Grain advertisement. This poster had a woman with two large cinnamon rolls for a bottom and the caption, “respect yourself in the morning.” This advertisement was for Nutri-Grain’s apple cinnamon breakfast bars. Though attention-catching, this ad did not motivate me to eat apple cinnamon breakfast bars; rather, it discouraged me from supporting this product. Please allow me to explain why, and what I hope can be done in the future so that I may continue to purchase Kellogg’s’ goods.

 I feel that this advertisement is degrading to females. Some women are body-conscious, and I believe that this Nutri-Grain advertisement capitalizes on this insecurity. Distorting the female body image to sell a product seems very unnecessary to me. In fact, I find it disrespectful. As an educated and thoughtful consumer, I find it illogical to assume that choosing alternative foods over a Nutri-Grain bar will destroy my self-respect and add inches to my waistline. It is wrong to represent females in such a body-conscious and self-oriented light, and I feel this advertisement may only add to the growing problem of female body consciousness.

 I hope to have a family one day, and I want my children to appreciate women for their intellect and acts of kindness. I do not want them to be exposed to advertisements that negatively represent women’s bodies and place emphasis on what they must do to be thinner. I believe that Kellogg’s produces wonderful products, and I enjoy eating Nutri-Grain bars. I encourage Nutri-Grain to employ more positive advertising messages. Rather than use a degrading poster based on weight gain or loss, please emphasize that fact that healthy foods give a person greater energy or strength. Please do not pinpoint and degrade overweight females. This type of negative advertising does not encourage your consumers to support you. I am happy to purchase Kellogg’s products so long as its advertisements reflect positive values and do not perpetuate psychological harm.

 Sincerely, Melinda Cummings

 The return letter:

 Dear Ms. Cummings,

 Thank you for your comments regarding advertising for our Kellog's Nutri-Grain cereal bars. Since we care how consumers perceive messages conveyed through our advertising, your feedback is appreciated and is being shared with our marketing department. Our Global Chief Marketing Officer, Mr. Mark Baynes, shared your letter with me and asked me to respond on his behalf.

 The goal of our advertisements is to encourage consumers to include Kellogg's Nutri-Grain cereal bars as a better option in their diet than others in their diet to help manage their weight. We are always trying to maintain a positive message within our advertising. You will be pleased to know that we have refocused our advertising strategy for Nutri-Grain bars to "Take Care of Yourself". In fact, if you "Like" Nutri-Grain on Facebook, you can learn more about our current promotion where you can share how you take care of yourself so you can take care of others. We hope you find this new campaign as well as our future advertisements more acceptable.

 Sincerely,

 Carie Wolters Sr. Manager Consumer Operations Consumer Affairs Department

Hooray for media literacy! I need to write them back and say that I appreciate the response. I think one time Mom and Dad helped me write a TV show after I saw an episode that freaked me out. I was 5ish, so I think I asked them if they could show more shows like Bananas in Pajamas...they were kind enough to answer that one. Politely. :) Oh well. One voice at a time, you know? Cool stuff!

I Love Being a TA

Besides Women's Chorus and meeting amazing friends, being a TA has probably been one of the most meaningful experiences of my college career! I was completely freaked out about it before I started, but I love love LOVE it. I recommend it to anyone who wants to get more involved in the college scene. If you do well in a class, ask your professor if you can TA for them! Chances are they'll love having your help or at least can point you to someone else who needs it.

Going to a big school like BYU, it can be easy to feel like you're just floating through college till you get the number of credits you need - then you're checked off a master list and sent out into the real world. I've liked being a TA because it makes me feel like I'm contributing to the educational environment and making some small impact at BYU. However slight, it's a good feeling. The students are great, the experience is awesome, the pay is nice, the hours are so reasonable...life is good. :)

There Comes a Time In Every Human's Life...

When they must stop poring over these...



and go do this...



before their brain turns into this:



And with that, I'm off to the testing center.



Inspiration and relief here :)

The Good, The Bad, The Other

I'm a Senior graduating with one hundred-something credits. I've taken a lot of classes! Here's the final verdict on the categorical top 10. :)

1. Most boring - Cognitive Development. DRY dry dry, such a...growing experience.
2. Most influential - Human Development. This class won me over into my major.
3. Most fun - World Dance. I LOVE folk dance!
4. Most memorable - American Heritage. I loved the lectures and it was a great experience to work really hard for a good grade.
5. Most meaningful - Women's Chorus. Hands down. 8 semesters of pure joy.
6. Most frustrating - Advanced Family Processes. I'm in it right now. It's basically a debate class and it's really stretching me. I kind of have no idea what's going on. :)
7. Most useful - Volleyball! My social circle expanded once I decided I wasn't afraid of playing sports in front of people. Life is so much more fun, because sports are fun!
8. Most difficult - NOT stats! :) Probably still Advanced Family Processes.
9. Most interesting - Family and the Law or Adolescent Development.
10. One I'd reccommend the most - Church History with Sister Black.

What's your college top 10?

I Need an Interpreter of Dreams

Seriously, last night's dream was crazy scary. And random.

First, I was with Greg and Michelle and my roommate Rylee in a library-looking room that was part of BYU but that I have never seen before. We walked outside of the room and saw a steely sky with rolling clouds in the distance. Then this happened -



(ignore the shutterstock). The clouds raced towards us, and FAST. Our instincts kicked in - we RAN back into the library room where the noxious clouds smothered us. I seriously felt like I was going to die. After a few agonizing moments that seemed like hours, the smoke cleared. Then the room began to rumble.



Books toppled, roads split, I heard screams but nobody died (thanks to my weak-stomached subconscious).

The scene then cuts to all of us at dinner in a French restaurant.



"What we just experienced," Greg explained calmly, "was a Tableau."

Melinda: "You mean a Tornado?"

Greg and Michelle: "No, a Tableau. It happened because the Needlenose river and Rock Canyon Point collided at the San Andreas fault."

Melinda and Rylee: "Oooohh..."

Upon reflection, I think this whole dream is a result of my being stressed for a huge test I have this Friday. Let's hope I have more knowledge of Advanced Family Processes than Geography. :)

Happy Tuesday.