Twiggy

Lesley Hornby, also known as Twiggy, was arguably one of the world's first super models. She was nicknamed Twiggy because she was so skinny and she was said to have started the trend of today's prototypical models, tall and skinny. She got offered a modeling contract at age sixteen, she was only 90 pounds. Twiggy's career took of and she was named the face of '66.

Today Twiggy isn't completely out of the lime light. She was a judge in the hit TV show Americas Next Top Model, where she advised young girls on succeeding in the modeling industry. Twiggy got a lot of criticism for being so skinny and sort of got blamed for aiding the weight problem some teenage girls face. I think this is an unfair accusation because you can't blame someone for having a desirable figure.

I look at Twiggy as a role model because i think she had an amazing life. She was a shy young girl that got thrown into the American eye. Everyone idolized her and she was just an ordinary girl in her own eyes. She wasn't afraid to be different, she was immensely different then the trend in the early sixties.

Wreck This Journal

Keri Smith is the creator of Wreck This Journal. It is a creative outlet for anyone who wants to express themselves or just wreck something. Each page has different directions on it to do to the journal. The first page says to doodle on the cover of the journal and the copyright page. Some pages tell you to write things like: make a grocery list, write the same word over and over, and record in detail an insignificant event. Each person will interpret these pages differently and think of their own creative way to fill them out.

I received this journal as a present form my friend for Christmas. I really like the idea of it and i think it is a great way to get away from everything. it's sort of like a journal where you write down all your worries and problems and get them out in the open, but it's different. You don't actually come out and say these things you can display them through how you "wreck" the journal. I remember when i got to a page that said write the same word over and over i wrote purpose. That day i was very stressed about college and i couldn't decide what i wanted to do with my life. It's a way to get things out of your head and onto paper because it helps to externalize your feelings sometimes.

The journal also has pages that say things like document your dinner on this page and one collect fruit stickers on this page and one say collect stamps on this page. The fruit sticker one was fun because i am a cashier at Hyvee so i day i just stole every one's fruit stickers as i was checking them out. i collected them all on a piece of paper then transferred them to my journal. Also another page i am looking forward to doing is the one that says place a picture of yourself here that you hate. Now scribble all over it.

The back of the journal looks like a letter and has a place for an address and a return address. One of the pages says tape this journal shut and mail it to yourself. I think that when i am all done with my journal i am going to mail it to someone else. I am excited for this day but i still have a lot to do.

Comfortably Numb: How Psychiatry is Medicating a Nation

Written By Charles Barber, Comfortably Numb is a book about how pharmaceutical companies are taking over the world. It gives his perspective on the increasing mental health issue in the United States and the various reasons it is happening. Charles Barber is a talented author who also wrote Songs From the Black Chair, which is a memoir about his own experience with mental illness. He writes a blog for the Huffington Post.

The use of psychoactive drugs in the U.S. has been rising dramatically which has contributed to a nice profit for the pharmaceutical industry. This wasn't by accident. These companies make this medicating readily available to everyone. They blur the line between mental illness and everyday problems with their advertisements that promise a quick fix. These drugs are the second most advertised product in America exposing millions of people to this unrealistic quick fix. It is illegal to advertise drugs in other countries which would explain why the united states has a much bigger problem with over medication then other counties.

"Comfortably Numb chronicles the extraordinary psychopharmaceuticalization of everyday life that has arisen in recent years and appears to be growing apace. Charles Barber marks out the inconvenient truths on our path to emotional climate change but also offers alternatives to readers who wish to avoid pharmageddon."— David Healy, author of Let Them Eat Prozac

Also pharmaceutical companies bribe psychiatrists to promote their drug so they can maximize their profit. There have been reports of companies paying doctors to write false information about their competitors drugs and even same articles in prestigious journals with unknown authors. These are called ghostwriters whom pharmaceutical companies pay to write an article with completely false information about different medications. A good psychiatrist knows to take what they read in these journals with tremendous doubt.

The problem is these companies promote these drugs and neglect telling people the much saver and better alternatives. People have an unrealistic expectation and vision of these drugs, they are a magical cure. Other routes that people could take is going through therapy or even just good old aerobic exercise which has been proven to reduce stress and make you a healthier person. Just talking to someone and having a strong social support system can also help tremendously. You have to try to help yourself before you resort to relying on a foreign substance to mask your symptoms and risk side effects.

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

This movie is about relationships. Almost everyone has went through the misery of a breakup and that is what the idea of this movie is based on. Breakups can be a really hard part in a persons life and they usually always are accompanied by drama, broken hearts, and sad memories. In this movie they invented a way to erase the memories from your brain. They erase all of the memories that have to do with the person that you broke up with. You won't remember them at all, not even meeting them. This is a very interesting concept.

At the beginning of the movie Joel and Clementine meet each other on a train. Joel is shy and sad while Clementine is friendly talkative. They end up liking each other but they don't know that they both have a forgotten past. The movie flashes back and forth between their old relationship and new one while in the process of telling the story of Joel getting Clementine erased from his memory. All of this is confusing at first but the cool part is it's all intricately and thoughtfully interwoven into a story that you'll never forget.

While Joel is getting his memory erased he somehow is conscious of what is going on and wants it to stop. He changed is mind while his brain was flashing back to all of this old memories. This movie is definitely interesting and worth watching.

Actors etc.

Taking the Stage

Taking the stage is a new reality show on MTV. I know what you are thinking, not another stupid reality show! But seriously this one is different. It's not your typical scripted lame dating show that is usually featured on MTV. This one is actually interesting and real. You never know what is scripted these days so i have no idea if it is reality but i still like the show and all of the kids on it. This show is about about students at the school of Creative and Performing Arts in Cincinnati. You have to addition to get into the school and afterwards students go to persue their dream in all areas of the performing buisness.

The show follows five very talented students and shows how they are working toward their dream.


Mia is a singer-song writter who i fell in love with the first time i heard her sing. She has an amazing vioce and she plays the quitar. She is incredibly driven to be famous and her goal in life is to be signed by the time she is eighteen. The first episode was about their school's talent show and the judges were actually people from the entertainment industry. Mia was in the talent show playing a song that she wrote with her band in the background. She got first place in the talent show and i was so happy. Also i like how she is not afraid to perform and she goes and plays shows wherever they will let her. She has a very funky style and she seems so confident. She can sing, play guitar, write songs, and even dance, she can do whatever she sets her mind to.



Another person i liked right away was Jasmine. She is a very talented dancer and loves ballet. Her goal is to make it to Juilliard which is a performing arts school in New York. She says she wants to be the best profesional dancer of her generation. She can also dance hip hop and it a very pretty girl. In the first episode she meets Tyler, a new student and they instantly hit it off. Tyler is a hip hop dancer and comes to the school to become a more well rounded dancer. He is in Jasmine's ballet class and he asks her for help. He finds out that there is a hip hop group at the school and Jasmine tells him to come to their practice and check it out. When he does Malike, the leader of the group gets angry. Tyler decides he wants to make his own hip hop group because that wasn't his style.

The show is mainly filmed at their school and shows what goes on. One day they had a dance off in the cafeteria. I don't know it this really happened in real life but if it did that would be crazy. I guess it was kind of corny but it still showed off their really good dancing skills. At the talent show Tyler's dance group won over Malik's and that made him very mad. They kind of have a battle of who is better through out the show.

The series just started but i am very excited to follow along. The reason i like this show so much is becasue it's not your typical reality show. I like the content and just the idea of the show. It shows kids who are motivated and very talented. It gives other kids inspiration for their dreams and it's just interesting to watch other people on their journey to fame.

Requiem For a Dream

Requiem For a Dream is a movie infused with addiction and self illusion, drugs and prescription pills, and lives all headed on a downward spiral. The movie follows a mother, her son, his drug dealer and his girlfriend through their chaotic and dreadful lives. The movie depicts these four people caught in the cycle and exposes the means that people go through to feed their habit.

Ellen Burstyn plays the lonely mom who lives alone in her apartment. She is mesmerized by television and watches the same infomercial over and over. When she gets a call saying she will be on television she becomes excited and it gives her a reason to wake up in the morning. She decides she wants to lose weight so she can fit in the same red dress she wore to her son's graduation. She goes to the doctor and gets prescription diet pills which she becomes addicted to. Her life gets consumed by this medication and she becomes one of many addicts.

Jared Leto plays her son who is addicted to heroin and his girlfriend is addicted to cocaine along with his best Friend. All of these characters live the most horrible lives. Everything is centered around when they will shoot up next and who they will buy their next sack from. The movie shows all these character's lives on a downward spiral as a result of their addiction

An intense(like the circus) part of the movie is at the end when all the characters seem to hit their low point at the same time. They flash from scene to scene showing the dramatic affects the drugs are having on their lives and what it has lead them to. This part of the movie makes you sick but you can't stop watching in horror. The ending brings the whole movie together and really gets the point across. This movie is a great movie portraying how addicts really live, even though people might not know about it.

Overview