Turkey Day

With Thanksgiving being only a couple of days away, I couldn't help but think to blog about the holiday. What is the point of Thanksgiving anyways? Some would argue that as time goes on the day becomes more and more about stuffing our faces with delicious food...quick to forget the real meaning behind the holiday. Of course when Thanksgiving starts to approach I always get really excited because my dad makes the best mashed potatoes and stuffing, but on second thought, it really is a nice day to spend with your family and loved ones. A day to be thankful for how fortunate we are. I understand that this sounds very generic, but it is very true. What better medium than a holiday that brings people together? Some people travel or fly great distances to spend this day with the ones they love and care about. In a sense holidays could be one of the more effective medias out there for connecting and bringing people together. 

Thinking about it from the standpoint of a college student, it really is nice that Babson gives us a week off to go home and spend time with our families. Thanksgiving, at least for my family, is a day my whole family spends hanging around the kitchen helping my dad cook food and then sit down later and enjoy the meal together. This never happens in my family with my mom and dad both working and my sister at school and working as well. We are all always so busy that I really cannot remember the last time we have had time to all sit down together and enjoy a meal other than for birthdays and holidays. In high school when my sister and I were living at home it was a little easier, but now that we are out of the house, and as we get older, we will depend more and more on holidays as set days we can count on to see our families. I think that although the actual meaning/history behind holidays, such as Thanksgiving, can sometimes be overlooked...the aspect of bringing people together is still really important.

 

Living The Ultimate Dream ?

Hugh Hefner...I think it is pretty safe to say that everyone reading this blog not only knows who he is and what he created, but also is secretly a little bit envious of his lifestyle. It is truly one of a kind...breaking all stereotypical norms. However just to be safe let me say, Hugh Hefner is the Founder, Editor-in-Chief and Chief Creative Officer of Playboy. His world's best selling men’s lifestyle magazine has inspired a media empire and one of the most recognizable brands in history for over 50 years. The empire Hefner has created, along with the monumental Playboy Mansion has become an obsession of the media over the years. A write up on the founder states, "Throughout the years, Hef has become a fixture on the Hollywood celebrity club scene and the Mansion has once again become a mecca for entertainment industry superstars including a new wave of young motion picture and television celebrities, rock groups and more. Hollywood and cinema continue to be major factors in Hef's personal and professional life."

Although some people may not agree with the concept behind the magazine..literally selling sex...and argue that the magazine is extremely degrading to women, the application process to become a "playmate" and be photographed in the magazine is extremely competitive. Some women would kill to be in the iconic magazine..so I guess it depends on how you look at the situation. Either way Hefner has created quite the empire, which has in turn inspired numerous connections whether it be through the magazine itself, parties photographed by the media at the Playboy Mansion, reality television shows such as "Girls Next Door", merchandise, etc...the list goes on.

Books...An Endangered Species ???

Ok..of course books are never going to go completely "extinct," but as the internet begins to play more of a central role in our everyday lives we begin to turn our back on books more and more. We spent a good portion of the class Wednesday discussing the impact the internet has made on our lives...on our brain...on our attention span. As people spend more hours scanning the web, jumping from webpage to blog to e-mail message to IM we are unintentionally shortening our attention spans, just as Nicholas Carr explains in his book "The Shallows." So it got me thinking...how often does our generation actually read books? I mean aside from homework assignments, and even then most students have access to some webpage, such as sparknotes, where they can just skim a few paragraphs to get an over view of the material covered in the entire book. But the question is when does our generation read for personal enjoyment? Thinking about this made me realize that our generation only really reads books when the internet is not an option. By this I mean when we are in an airplane or on the beach where internet access is unavailable. Of course there is always going to be a small outlying percentage that do read books on a regular basis for their personal enjoyment, but most of us spend our time surfing the web or creeping on facebook.

However I think it is really important that we take a step back and try to remember the importance of books. In no way am I trying to undermine all the pros the internet encompasses, but I think there is an importance to reading a "good old fashioned" book, at least every once and awhile.