Purell

Take a look around SMU's campus, those darn Purell dispensers are EVERYWHERE! In the gym? Understandable. In the cafeteria or anywhere food is served? Understandable. But have you ever noticed how many are in the library? I understand a few here and there, but they are everywhere! Nowadays everyone is concerned about their health, but the amount in Fondren is ridiculous. Do we really need that many? This was my thought process until these past few weeks. With my endless nights in here and more and more people showing up to do their last minute cramming I am noticing a rise in colds. I feel like everyone is getting sick. Between the changing weather, the stress, the sleepless nights, everyone is coming down with some sort of sickness. I kind of even wish they had more dispensers. Which brings me to another point. Isn't it ironic that we overstress ourselves to the point where we become ill in times where we need our full focus and undivided attention? I find it so fascinating how our body works. Under stress we can study better,or at least cram more information than we ever thought possible, but physically make ourselves sick. How does our body work like this? Fondren should post some health tips and over emphasize the use of the Purell dispensers during finals.

Dragons

Mystical character? Who ever thought of a dragon? Was it once real? Often told to us in stories as a kid, many of us grow up believing in some mystical object. We relate ourselves to this animal and believe them to be our saviors if we were ever in danger. After all in a lot of Disney movies, isn't that what they do? They are protector of the good guy. Or they do the opposite and the hero slays the dragon so it can't cause any harm. Does this portray a different message to children. Sometime they slay the dragon because they know something that they don't want the rest of the town knowing. Are we teaching children at a young age, "keep your friends close. keep your enemies closer?" From early on, mystified characters such as this teach us lessons we don't recognize until we are older. We either wish we had one, or we wish we could slay one. So when do you know to slay the dragon or make it your savior? Is the dragon inherently either evil or bad, or is the way you perceive it and then make your judgements about it. In life, are certain situations inherently bad, or is the way we make judgements about it. Is i the way we perceive them? I believe these movies teach us from a young age, its half what happens to us and its half how we react. We all can perceive a dragon as a good guy or a bad guy. The choice is up to you.

Owl

Wise or creepy? If you showed an owl to someone right now, how would they react? Many would agree owls are sort of creepy creatures. So why do they symbolize wisdom. Ask any elder and they will say owls were often used as references to reflect wisdom. Owls are creepy yet right now they are just a fashion statement. Go to any urban outfitters and you will see owl necklaces, earings, rings, you know name anything owl, they have it. The definition in which you define something comes out of your cultural time. Elders think they are wise, the young think they are creepy, and the middle think its a fashion statement. One simple animal can represent 3 different generations. The era you grow up in really does depict your thoughts.

Glass

Window, case, cup, clear, breakable, colorful, art, etc. Glass, one of the most used things in the world. You look around in anywhere I almost guarantee you see glass somewhere. So if we use it so much, why is it so breakable? You drop a piece of glass, it is very unforgiving, it will shatter into a million pieces before you know it. It is funny how the things we value/use the most are the things that are broken/leave the fastest. It's like a rule of life or something. You love it more you lose it faster. Just like glass the things you don't every want to break end up breaking the fastest. And to boot, they don't only break they shatter. And they don't only shatter, they cut you trying to clean it up. So why buy glass? In hopes this glass won't ever break.

Pink!

Girl! Yep, take a look around my room, everything is pink! Why am I so obsessed with a color? Everything I own is either pink or rhinestoned. Why? The rhinestone aspect I believe is my true dancer inside of me. But how can one person become so obsessed with a color? It's like an addiction, I don't care what other shades it comes in, I am getting whatever it is in pink damn-it. And if it doesn't come in pink I'll get it in neon or anything animal print. This is my thought process. Typical girl response. So how did I get so girlified. I fit the stereotype of a female dancer. 16 years of dance I guess will do that to you. But will that forever be ingrained in me? Can you change an obsession? People become so obsessed with certain things its scary. Is it a sense of security that pink will never let me down? Or is it because I truly like pink. When you are a kid in elementary school you favorite color is a huge part of who you are. God forbid you say a funny color and other kids judge you. But now as adults, we still have our favorites. Is this due to comfortableness or do we truly get drawn to this color every-time. I believe as we get older we feel comfortable with this set of standards we set for ourselves. If its worked in the past. why change it? Why change what hasn't been broken? Our favorite color is just the same, why change it if it hasn't let us down yet.

What would you do if you were a lamppost?

What would a lamppost think if they could think? Think about how many things lampposts see. Whether its the beautiful sunny day and they are in their "sleep" mode, resting, taking in the rays or a rainy, muggy day when no one is out. Whatever they do during the day, what would they think when the light turns on... literally. Would they have ethics and morals? Could they judge the robber that just ran past them or sigh in awe and flicker their light when a future fiance proposes to his soon to be wife. Would they shine brighter if someone was in distress? What would a lamppost think. Give any object feelings. No we are not in a literacy class we do not need to go into literature terms. I think a lamppost would be an excellent source of information if it could communicate. It's like your perfect friend. You would always know where it is, it never tries to hide, always reliable at night, could help the lights turn on in a difficult situation. A lamppost would be the perfect friend.

Males vs Females

Take a walk down the boulevard or actually anywhere. Spring is approaching and animals are coming out. If you take a look around, the males are typically substantially more pretty and filled with more colorful feathers and appealing features. Why is this? Typically, when we think of beauty in the human race we think of women as the beauty icons. The only conclusion I have come up with is that in nature males need to attract their mating partner to continue their lineage. Women are the ones who need to be selective in picking their mate. They have control over who they want to mate with when they are in heat. Does that translate to us humans that since women are typically looked upon as the more beautiful that men have more power. Is this why in society men typically are the "powerful" ones. But in nature ducks to exploit the women and flaunt them. So why do we exploit our women in society? Is it to give them the lacking power? Women in our society feel the need to make up for lacking power through their beauty and bodies. It is a fact of our human nature. When did this need start? When did plastic surgery become a socially acceptable thing? Humans will always strive to be the best and when you can't be the best, exploit ourselves. Maybe we should reverse roles in society. Maybe women should have power for day and men should exploit themselves like in nature. With role reversal, even for a day, radical changes can occur. Gender roles are societal based and are created in which cultural context they are placed. It is not nature for women to the the prettier ones and men to be the ones seeking female. It is society's perception of gender roles.