Economy and furniture

Yesterday, I went to IKEA to buy some furniture for my bedroom. So after two hours in the car, we finally arrive to IKEA in Pittsburg, PA. When we arrive on the parking, the number of cars astonished me; we hardly found a place to park! The first interrogation that came to my mind was “do all these people have money to buy furniture during this economy downturn?” Apparently yes! While we hear everywhere that the economy is very bad, that layoffs are more and more common, that people are losing their jobs, … so I was surprised to see that people still have enough money to spend it on new furniture, something that is not fundamentally vital. Do not misunderstand me. I think it is great to see that people are spending money. It indicates that they have the financial means to and it helps the economy in a way. I am just wondering if some sectors on activity are very damaged by the economy crisis while for some others the crisis does not have any impact on them. In any case, it is a very good sign that people continue to spend money. I am just hoping that they spend money because they have the financial mean to and can afford it and that they are not making a tone of credits that they will not be able to pay off later (plunging us all again in a economic crisis).

How Internet-depend we are…

Last summer, my mum and I went to France and Spain. I took Macbeth with me (for those who do not know who Macbeth is, it is my computer!). And of course, because it is an American computer, I did not have access to Internet. No need to tell you, I was miserable. I did not know what to do. Moreover, my mum worked and all my friends left in vacation in another part of France. I was alone. So I did things I never do: I cleaned the entire house, I mowed the garden, I cleaned every single plate in the kitchen … I missed Internet. And then I realize how Internet-dependent I was, which when you think about it is kind of scary. The same thing happened a couple days ago; I could not connect to Internet. Once more, I felt lost. I talked to my mum about this and the conclusion I can withdraw from this is that our generation always had known and lived with Internet while for the previous generations, it is a relatively new tool. When Internet did not exist, people had to go to the library to find information for example. However, because our generation has always known Internet, some ways to do things were lost between two generations. I am not saying that Internet is a bad thing (I personally love Internet!) but by making every thing easier, Internet made us forget some basic ways to do things.

Ignorance is Bliss…or is it?

Since we wrote this Matrix essay, I encounter several times situations in which I would have preferred not to know what was going on. These were usually things that one I knew them, hurt me profoundly and left me confuses. I surprised myself to tell myself “ignorance is bliss after all”. But now I am reflecting over these situations and I am wondering, “is ignorance really bliss?” Undeniably, ignorance can protect one from being hurt emotionally. On the other hand these experiences, although hard and sometimes disturbing, allowed me to put myself in question, thing I would not have done if I did not face these situations. They allowed me to improve myself and to not do the mistakes I once did. However, I think it is easy to fall in ignorance again because I feel that a part of me does not want to face hardship and prefer to stay in wonderland where things are surrounded by illusions. I believe it takes courage to face hardship. So I think what I can conclude from all of this is that when one is in complete ignorance and does not have doubt about anything, ignorance can be bliss and protective. However, ignorance can hinder improvement of oneself. I feel this post is a very confusing one but if you understood what I am trying to say, do not hesitate to give your opinion about it!!

What makes a good commercials?

So as I was saying in a previous, I went to the shopping mole and, I waited for my mum to choose cloth. Without realizing it, I began to pay attention to the commercials for this particular shopping moles. After hearing it three times, I surprised myself of being able to remember almost half of the commercial. The way this commercial was pronounced was particularly annoying but I realize now that it is probably one of the reasons why I remember it so well. In general, there are so many commercials on the loudspeaker (usually with the same voice, or close to the same) that try to make you buy something that most people (at least me) do not even pay attention to what it talks about. However, this commercial, although very annoying, was different from the other and this allowed me to remember it. So after realizing I remembered the commercial, I began to think about what makes a good commercial. Difference and repetition are the two things I came up with to answer this question. What do you think? Do not hesitate to give you opinion about this post!!

Newsweek Front cover

A couple months ago, my mother took out a subscription to the magazine Newsweek. I personally like reading it to be aware of what is going on in the world and also to find ideas to write journals and give my opinion about current events. I also like the article in this magazine because many of them are critical and bring a new light on certain events. However, the thing I like the most in this magazine is the front cover (as you may have guessed from the title of this post!!). Although sometimes controversial (such as the one with Sarah Palin making an advertisement for Blackberry, they are usually shocking or enigmatic. I remember one of them represented the White House up side down. I think they are always perfectly well chosen. This week, we received the new Newsweek and the front cover was, as usual the first thing that struck me. So I started to think what make a front cover a good front cover. Taking the example of Newsweek again, I usually remember very well their front covers; therefore it has to be memorable. It also has to be insightful and summarize in a couple words and a picture the main points the author of the article want to express. The front cover also has to attract the reader to learn more about a certain topic, to open the magazine and eventually buy it. Therefore, the success of a magazine relies a lot in the first place on its front cover. Personally, I know that I remember better the front cover of Newsweek from every week than the actual articles in it. I just found this interesting and I wanted to share this with you.

Saint Patrick’s Day

Several weeks ago, we celebrated Saint Patrick’s Day. I think it is very pleasant to see every one dressed in green and be part of this celebration. However, from the first day I arrived in the United States, I never understood why Saint Patrick’s Day in celebrated in the US and why so many people take part of it. From what I understood, Saint Patrick’s Day is an occasion for Irish people to celebrate Saint Patrick, the patron protector of the Irish population. The majority of the population of the United States is not Irish so why such an infatuation for this celebration? I even read that every year the city of Chicago dyes the Chicago River in green at this occasion (which I suppose can be very bad for the environment and contribute to the pollution of the waters). This celebration surely originates from the Irish immigrant living in the United States. However, the Irish population is mainly concentrated in Boston and its area so I still find very interesting to see how a celebration introduced by Irish people in a certain region of the vast territory of the United States was able to spread through the entire continent (I assume Saint Patrick’s Day is celebrated everywhere in the US). On the other hand, in France I never hear of Saint Patrick’s Day and I think everyone will agree to say that France is relatively closer to Ireland than the United States is. Still if someone can explain me more in detail the origin of this celebration and why a lot of people in the United States celebrates it, it would be very helpful!!

The power of music

After coming back from school, I had the firm intention of writing many journals to catch up with all the journals I did not write this quarter (by the way, I apologize about this). So I was saying, I came back from school and my mum asked me to go shopping with her and for those who know me enough, you know how much I dislike shopping especially after a week like this one, where the only this you want to do after having survived is sleep. Despite my insistence on the fact that I had more than ten journals to write, my mum continued to urge me to go shopping with her and … I had to accept. So after having walked from one end of the shopping mole to the other for I do not know how many hours, I finally begged my mum to go home. So in the car on the way home at 9 pm, I began to think about how many journals I had to write and calculate how many journals I needed to do to have enough before Saturday. I think it is useless to precise that it is technically impossible to do eighteen journals in a couple hours… at least for me! Back to my story. I was in the car and I was trying to find good topics to write about and of course I started to worry. Suddenly I paid attention to the music on the radio and recognized one of my favorite songs. I stated to sing “I can catch the moon in my hands/ Don't you know who I am /Remeber my name /Fame /I'm gonna live forever …”. You probably all know this song. In a second all my worries disappeared and I was completely captivated by the music on the radio. Music always has had this effect on me, it makes me forget my worries for a moment and makes me see life in a brighter way. Many say that music is a way to escape difficulties and obstacles one encounter in his life and I completely agree with this. I just wanted to share my opinion with you and allow you to think about this.