The centerpiece article on Orlandosentinel.com today is about underage drinking at Halloween Horror Nights and the repracussions of doing so. I find it hysterical that Universal is playing watchdog for people who have given their kid a jello shot or a kid who's holding his dad's drink. Let's get real people. I totally understand that they have a liquor license to uphold and the park is privatee property so they are in their right. But the only way, in my opinion, to enjoy those parks is with a little booze in you. The parks stay the same year after year and it's too expensive for them to change rides and decor for ADD park-goers like myself. So a couple of beers in I'm ready to ride that Spiderman that's about 5 years irrelevant. In high school, we would get drunk before going to Magic Kingdom for pete's sake. I think the problems occurring at Universal during Halloween Horror Nights is part of a bigger issue. The United States has created a puritanesque mindset where a culture of moderate alcohol consumption by consenting adults (as in 18+) is condemned.

In my sorority we often have similar issues; Why would anyone plan a social at a local bar and then tell the underage members, who frequent these same bars and drink there (be it right or not), they will get kicked out if they drink?

Same for Universal. If you don't want underage people to drink and are taking such a hard line on it, make the event dry.

Forget me not

In Sunday's New York Times, an article on Alzheimer's took a look at the prevalence of the disease among Hispanics. It said that although it's not necessarily because of physiological reasons, Hispanics tend to be diagnosed with the disease more than other ethnic groups. The experts cited in the story claim the fact that most elderly Hispanics are displaced from their homeland and have experienced cultural and financial hardship as reasons for this anomaly.

For me, this is such a sad fact. My grandparents are Cuban exiles who have been in the United States since the Cuban Revolution. Although the financial hardship piece doesn't really apply to them, the cultural adjustment is truly staggering. To this day, my grandfather, a doctor who practiced in the U.S. for 40+ years, can't speak about Cuba without a forlorn look on his face. He has often said he wishes he could just forget it all. He also says when he first moved here, he tried so hard to forget the language, where he came from and his culture, just to fit in. I know these are hardly scientific reasons for being diagnosed with Alzheimer's but you can't deny the coincidence.

It got me thinking about an entirely different issue. Whenever people claim immigrants should "just learn English already" or "become American otherwise, go home" I pray they consider this: not only are some immigrants wishing and trying to forget what they went through in their native country, but, in some cases, those memories are being ripped away by a debilitating disease.

My grandparents, Dr. and Mrs. Francisco Macias, and my siblings, last Easter.

XOXO, Gossip Girl

In the article "The Frugal Teenager, Ready or Not," New York Times reporter Jan Hoffman explored how the next generation is dealing with the financial crisis. She interviewed students from an elite private school in Manhattan, some of which are wealthy and some of which are on scholarship. It was interesting to see how the supposed "upper crust" in a city like New York is also feeling the strain when Mommy and Daddy can't afford the latest styles.

The story package also included a cartoon, video of student interviews and stills of the teens outside their school. With TV shows like Priviledged and Gossip Girl being all the rage, it was interesting to be able to put a face on Manhattan's elite that I've followed in NY Times Style section for so long now. And from lookint at the images in the Times, these teen girls are living up to the lifestyle; looking every bit the part of rich, stylish young women.

Growing up in an affluent neighborhood in Miami and attending a prestigious private all-girls' academy, I know what it's like to be surrounded by brand names and money but to feel the strain of financial woes. The only difference for me was that my parents didn't allow us to think that the money was what made us. By the time I was in high school, my parents could afford all the nice things my classmates had, but they always instilled the mantra "Just because you have the money, doesn't mean you should spend it."

Mallrats

On the homepage of the New York Times this morning was an article about how consumers are reining in their spending. Now, I went to the Mall at Millenia this weekend and if the hoards of people I saw there were "reining in spending" then they must be doing it in packs. It brings me to question the weekend ritual of so many Americans: just going to the mall.

What do you do in high school when you're bored? You go to the mall.

When you're going out but are so over what's in your closet, you go to the mall.

When you're parents are in town for family weekend and you can't find anything to entertain them, you go to the mall.

It seems like an activity that's ingrained in our culture. Have you tried parking at Waterford Lakes on a Saturday? You'd never think people are living in a recession.

Maybe that's part of the problem. Maybe people living on credit and not spending judiciously is one of the reasons we're in this mess to begin with.

Meanwhile, I'm on my way to Target. I don't have class until 1...

Halloween on the Cheap

While college girls are spending up to $100 for skimpy halloween costumes at Fairvilla Adult Megastore, Orlandosentinel.com has ideas for homemade costumes that are witty albeit a little embarrassing.

When I was a kid, my mom dressed me up as the sky one year. I wore a blue sweatshirt with felt clouds glued on it and green pants. The crowning touch was blue face paint and a gold headband. I'm not going to lie; I looked awful. But I thought I was the bee's knees that year, even if I was kind of nerdy and tall and thin. I guess I can forgive myself for that fashion moment.

Looking back, my parents were struggling financially at the time. My dad had just lost his job and, like so many parents today, couldn't afford the latest Transformers costume complete with light up buttons. I remember thinking how cool my mom was for coming up with this unique idea and never realizing that we were going through tough times. To be honest, I didn't realize we were alright financially until I left for college and had to input their income onto the FAFSA application.

With the economy in the state that it is, I think it's great that the Sentinel is helping parents out with this image gallery of unique Halloween costumes on a budget. Hopefully, their kids won't even realize that their parents are struggling and can look back on their "Static Cling" costume fondly (no matter how silly it may look). I hope when I have kids I can teach them to appreciate the small things and that you don't need tons of money to have fun.

Source: http://www.orlandosentinel.com/entertainment/halloween/sfl-cheap-costumes-0917,0,897154.photogallery

A [really] new society

In a culture where religion and antiquated propriety have long ruled the roost, Dubai is quickly becoming the beacon of the modern world. The New York Times did a story package investigating how Dubai's yuppies are faring in a city where modern temptations are clashing with religious identity. NYT sums it up in this paragraph:
"It is a land of rules: no smoking, no littering, no speeding, no drinking and driving. But it also dares everyone to defy limitations."

In an interview with NYT, Abu Zanad, who moved to Dubai to work in real estate, said, "“It is very disorienting. I felt lost. There are fancy cars, but don’t speed. You can have prostitutes, but don’t get caught with a woman."

This package is complete with a slide show that really puts a face on the young, vibrant society that's growing in Dubai. It really moved me because it reminds me of my own struggle with religion and real life. They are late 20-somethings who seem so lost in this glittering society being built around them.

When I was in New York this summer, I felt a little like some of the people interviewed in this article. Everyone has an agenda. You don't talk, you network. And leave your hometown behind, because you're in New York now. However, on the weekends, you would see people secretly flocking to their churches, the nearest library, or even lying in Central Park alone. Because in a city of staggering masses and blinding opportunity, you realize that you are very alone.

But New York has always been fast and shameless. The difference with Dubai is that they are becoming modern at the speed of light, leaving behind whoever can't keep up.

http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2008/09/22/world/20080922DUBAI_index.html

100 Ways...

TIME magazine's 100 Most Influential People list has been out for some time now. The list has been a subject of controversy (when Tony Blair pouted about not being included), which clearly only sells more copies. What I really love is the treatment used to display the list on TIME's website. In print, I feel like, although lists are effective alternative story formats, they can get stale. On the web, it is far to lengthy and hard to read if all the names were to be placed in a list on one page.

The design is so simple and clean that there is no doubt TIME's demographic (Baby Boomer Internet newbies) can easily navigate the extensive list. Each mini-article frames the image of the person deemed influential enough to be on this list. The articles are short and have options to e-mail, post it on Facebook or Digg and a variety of other ways to share your favorite person with the rest of the web. I also find it fascinating that each writer's voice is preserved perfectly in their articles. You really feel each one's personality since you tend to read the stories back-to-back.

I get pretty starstruck when I interview "celebrities." I interviewed Mayor Buddy Dyer and Daddy Yankee and I always find myself extremely nervous. What I love most about TIME's Most Influential People articles is that some journalist (or, you know, Madeleine Albright) gets to speak to the Dalai Lama or George Clooney or just plain gets published in freakin' TIME magazine. I can only imagine what that must feel like.

However, some silly copy editor forgot to capitalize NATO in Ms. Albright's piece on Vladimir Putin. Tsk, tsk TIME magazine... :)

http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/0,28757,1733748,00.html

Style.com Re-design

Style.com is the online home of Vogue and W magazines. For those interested in fashion news, it is the most comprehensive compilation of archived images from Fashion Week collections. They also offer highly edited trend reports and special interest story packages designed for the web. They recently underwent a massive redesign, streamlining their menus and departments. It looks a little messier at first glance, but I think its meant to give a "I just cut this out of my favorite magazine and put it up on my bulletin board" kind of look.

They put together an interactive slide show for their shopping guide that I found pretty inspired. It is a different approach to the average slide show because you click on the images of classic style icons to reach the actually image gallery.

The use of teal really stood out on style.com's (new) black and white background. The only complaint I have is that the images on the title page are cropped very haphazardly. It's distracting because the images seem distorted and oddly sized. It looks like they tried to have them "standing" but it just looks funny. However, I like how you when you scroll over each woman, you can see her name and select her slide show that way, but there is also the option to select from a list of their names.

The slide show looks very sleek and crisp; the pictures are free-floating and the page doesn't reload completely every time you click on something, which I think is so important for Web-based design.

I think style.com really achieved a feel that your just flipping through a picture album rather than clicking through a virtual slide show. The use of classic icons to represent new trends is always fun to see, although I would have loved the images of said icons to be better prepared for the web.

http://www.style.com/trendsshopping/shoppingguide/081308/

Fight for your right to party?

All the talk in past weeks has been surrounding the Democratic National Convention. Who will Senator Obama's running mate be? How many states do the Democrats have under their belts? Who's declaring their loyalty to the presidential "Hope"-ful?

But according to an article by Julie Bosman in the New York Times on August 27, the party scene in Denver, where the DNC is taking place, is sub par.

The article claims that Democrats are finding that Denver is not a conducive location for the apparently hard-drinking, gossip-mongering political crowd. The altitude (clearly not helpful for throwing back free booze), might be causing some of the not-so-high morale in the Mile High City. But there are deeper issues behind the scenes at the DNC.

Aside from the lack of party atmosphere, there seems to be an underlying cautiousness some of Bosman's sources were feeling towards their candidate.

Bosman quotes an anonymous Democratic lobbyist as saying "There’s a sense that the parties are completely detached from the populist excitement that under girds Obama’s appeal."

In this article, Bosman is addressing a unique angle of party and election politics. She reports on the little known aspects of a national convention: what happens after the speeches and staged events. I can watch videos and re-runs of those. But Bosman paints a picture of what’s going on behind the scenes. And that’s the kind of information I want to know.

Source: Bosman, Julie. New York Times. "At 5,280 Feet, the Party Atmosphere Is Thin"