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...