Television

In this day and age, television is more important than ever. People care so much about what they need to TIVO each night. My parents have 500 channels and there is never anything exciting to watch. The world of television pretty much consists of news, sports, and movies. We live in a 30 second sound bite world. Back in the old days, everything happened on the radio. Franklin Roosevelt instituted the "fireside chats" where he would sit my a fire and chat about his life. I guess you could say that's where talk radio began. However, television makes everything so much better. You can see people's facial expressions, you can see how other people react, you can see how someone presents them self.

I know Monday is supposed to be about pop culture, but I consider this under that umbrella. As I just wanted day 1 of the Democratic Convention, all of these thoughts dawned on me. All of the speeches from tonight wouldn't have been the same if we were not able to watch it. Watching TV doesn't necessarily need to be a bad thing. For example, I watch the news every day. I watch game shows like Lingo, Jeopardy, and Cash Cab where I can exercise my mind. I also watch comedies so I can get in a laugh every once in a while. I've been watching TV ever since I was little and turned out fine. We live in an age where we receive information from television and that is probably how it will be for the years to come.

Planes, Trains, and Automobiles

What is the best way to travel? Each days, airlines continue to raise prices so people are going to start traveling by car. A recent report says that more people are going to be driving for Labor Day Weekend than flying. An article from the New York Daily News says there is going to be a 5.7% decline from last year. However, more people out on the road means more traffic and longer travel times to their destinations. In light of this, a CNN report states that travelers will start to use trains and buses to go on vacation.

To be honest, I have never been a fan of trains or buses. I, like every other person, prefer a car or an airplane. In Europe, the most sensible ways to get around are by trains or walking, and I did both of those when I was there. I enjoyed walking more, but there is something amazing about seeing the beautiful English countryside from a train. Also, taking a seven hour train ride from Madrid, Spain to Biarritz, France was a great experience. Maybe Americans should start to become more like Europeans and learn about the world of train travel.

I've done some research to find some great train trips that people would enjoy. A great website to go to for train trips is vacationsbyrail.com. Here, you can look into different trips in different parts of the world. After looking at the website, I picked my favorite trips from the U.S. and Canada that would be the most fun for me. Many people do not know about train trips and how much fun they can actually be. It's a good way to get out of a traffic and that stuffy airplane!

1. United States- National Parks of the West Tour. For nine days, you can experience all of the great National Parks of the West Coast. The trips start at $5,700 and most include meals. This trip includes stops at Jackson, WY, Grand Teton National Park, Yellowstone National Park, Salt Lake City, Zion or Bryce Canyon National Park, Las Vegas, Grand Canyon, Sedona, AZ, Santa Fe, NM and Albuquerque, NM. There is no better way to get to all of these place than from this trip. Flying to all of these places would cost a lot more.

2. Canada- The Canadian Rockies Experience. This is a six day tour that takes you around the beautiful parts of Canada that include sapphire river and lakes, the snow capped Rocky Mountains, and Yoho and Banff National Parks which allow you to see beautiful wildlife. The cost for this trips starts at $6,600 and you need to get to Calgary on your own.

**Photo courtesy of hotlineblog.nationaljournal.com**

The future jounalist

I have a dream...that one day I will start my own magazine. This is a dream I've had for a long time and is something I hope will happen in the next five to ten years. Ambitious, I know, but I've always been told to shoot high and reach for the starts. How cliche. I know this will happen eventually, after I have magazine experience under my belt and when I am more financially stable. My one problem is that I don't know what I want to write about. People constantly ask me that question everyday. Tonight, my dad said "you need to have a specific topic." But that's the thing, I like to write about various topics and think it would be really fun to have an all-encompassing magazine that people can enjoy.

In an effort to start to figure out what I want to write about, I am going to start having different topics for my blog and then see what I like the best. Doing this will allow me to really get a vision of what I want my magazine to be about. So, I have put together a little schedule, if you will, of what I will talk about each day.

Monday- Pop Culture. This includes anything that happens in the entertainment world, perhaps a movie review, or a book review, or commentary about current entertainment news.

Tuesday- Politics. This is a very important time right now leading up to the election. I watch the news everyday about the latest polls and issues between Obama and McCain. I'm going to talk about anything I see that strikes me or anything I feel people will find interesting.

Wednesday- Sports. The Olympics are slowly coming to an end, but we are right in the heard of baseball season, and all of the other major sports will be starting soon as well.

Thursday- Health. I'll be going back to the beginning of m blog, talking about different health issues that are prevalent right now. I want to talk about various ways to stay healthy and great exercises to do on a daily basis.

Friday- Travel. Traveling is one of my passions. I want to talk about some of my personal travel experiences and discover new places to go.

Saturday and Sunday will be random posts- perhaps certain things that happen to me, something interesting I see, thoughts that are on my mind, or maybe a little glimpse of an ordinary day in my life.

I'm going to try this for a couple of weeks and see how it goes. I want to determine what I like writing about the most, and go from there. I don't know how it will turn out, or what I will decide, but what I do know is that I'm going to have fun doing it. I hope you enjoy learning!

What recession??

Everyone knows what our economy is like right now. Gas prices are through the roof, the unemployment rate is high, and the costs of everyday essentials are rising. Yet, people don't stop driving, and even more surprising, people are shopping (more than I have ever noticed in the past).

For the past month and a half, I've been working at White House, Black Market, a high-end clothing store. People come in, usually looking for a great dress to wear for a party or a wedding. Some just want new clothes for that vacation they have been anxiously awaiting. Buying new clothes makes people happy. When I was a little girl, I always remember being so happy when I get new clothes or a new pair of shoes. It is that sense of having something new that makes you feel so good about yourself.

I think it is good that people are still going out and spending money. It makes me think there is some hope for our country in the future. You can go out to any restaurant in Irvine, California (my hometown since age 8) any night of the week, and you most likely have to wait. You have to wait in line to see The Dark Knight. You can walk around a mall and most stores seems to be crowded. This whole phenomenon is really fascinating to me. When athletes always say "it's not about the money" it usually is. Americans love money and everyday is living proof of that.

What we can do for now is keep enjoying ourselves even though times are tough. Go out and have fun. Enjoy life and live everyday to it's fullest.

Welcome Back

Well...I'm back! I know, it's been a long time since I've posted and a lot has happened since November. I've graduated college, got in a serious relationship, and started to figure out what I want to do with my life. One of those things is doing this blog. At first, this was something I HAD to do for my class. I enjoyed it, but always found myself sitting in front of a black computer screen every Sunday night. Now, this is fun, yet informative, and something I want to do.

In May, I graduated college. At that time, I was so excited to be done with school and move on with my life. Now, as all of my friends go back to school, I miss college every day. College really is the best time of your life. It's a time of growth, maturity, independence, fun, and making friendships to last a lifetime. Now, I feel as though I am lost. I had a daily routine for the past four years that no longer exists.

In about a week in a half, I'm taking a big step and moving to Dallas. I was offered an internship with a magazine. It has always been a dream of mine to write for a magazine and one day, start my own. Also, my boyfriend is there, so it only makes sense. Everything is starting to fall into place and it is exciting and scary at the same time. This is a great time in my life...I'm free studying, taking tests, and stressing out about classes. Now, I have to stress out about being in the real world and being successful.

My hope for this blog is to give people a glimpse of my life and my daily experiences, whether they be funny or embarrassing. It also want this to be sort of a current events blog as I give insight on what is happening in the world.

Welcome to my life...I hope you enjoy it.

All good things come to an end.....

Well, we've reached the end of the semester and my days of blogging for a while. These past three months have been a time of learning, self-reflection, and becoming a better person/journalist. Before this class, I have never done a blog before. I think it's a great way to provide insight into a specific topic. This has allowed me to explore different facets of the health world on the U.S.-Mexico border. I hope I did my job in showing people different aspects of the issue.

People need to realize how important border issues are, especially in places like California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas. There are so many different websites that address the different issues. It's important to stay informed about what's going on, even if you don't live in the "border region." Health is especially important because it concerns everybody and determines their future. Knowing how to stay healthy in a foreign country is great knowledge to have.

I feel like I've learned so much reading other blogs from my classmates as well. If it wasn't for them, I would not know half of the things I know now. To be honest with everyone, I was very apprehensive going into this class. I thought it would be extremely difficult to run an online publication dealing with the border. Then came the blogs, and I was clueless. However, we were all able to rise to the occasion and produce and award-winning, online, student run newspaper. That alone will help each of us get jobs in the future. I think we are all better people for being in Borderbeat and know have some knowledge that many people lack and never will be able to acquire.

This class has made me a better journalist. I've had experiences that bettered my future. I never would have been able to go to St. Andrew's Clinic and show people what happens there. Online journalism is the future, and we, as journalists, are going to make the future great because of it. I thank everybody in the class--it was a team effort to get this paper together. I also thank Professor Rochlin for always being supportive and allowing our creative sides to show. Borderbeat is something everyone should be proud of!

To view some of the stories I've done this semester, click here.
To view our publication, click here.

Happy Thanksgiving....almost

Thanksgiving is right around the corner, and that means all of us get to eat our hearts out. However, some people do not have the means to have a nice, family, Thanksgiving dinner. So this week, I want to talk about the adopt-a-family program.

This program has been implemented at my synagogue in California for about ten years. In Santa Ana, there are many Mexican families who would never have a Thanksgiving dinner if it wasn't for this program. The same is true for families in other parts of California like Los Angeles, and San Diego, which is really close to the border. This program entails having families adopt those who are less fortunate. We provide all of the fixings for a great Thanksgiving dinner and allow families to enjoy their holiday that people around the country get to experience without even thinking twice.

Tu Nidito, the program I profiled in my blog from last week, also does something similar to this. During the weeks before Thanksgiving on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday nights, all of the families can come to the Tu Nidito house and enjoy a Thanksgiving dinner with families just like themselves. Many of these families do not have the time or energy to think about making a dinner like this while they are grieving the loss of a child or dealing with a sick child everyday. Tu Nidito also allows members of the Tucson community to donate gift cards to the families. Often times, this is a lot more meaningful than giving gifts because gift cards to places like Walgreens, Target, or Wal Mart are much more useful for families, as they can buy essentials.

Here is a list of my personal favorite items that make for a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner that any family would enjoy. This is what you should get to put together the perfect dinner for those who are less fortunate. It's important to realize that you get items that are easy to make.
-turkey, the main focus of the meal
-instant mashed potatoes
-stuffing mix
-canned vegetables
-canned cranberries
-a jar of gravy
-another other personal touches that would make a family feel as though they are eating a true Thanksgiving dinner.

As I was searching online for other adopt-a-family programs, I found this one in Los Angeles. Although this is somewhat of a different topic, it's still important to help people like this. The shelter allows families to have a Christmas they can always remember.

I hope this blog opens allows people to think of others during this holiday season. Have a great Thanksgiving!