Secret Delicacy Found: A Book by its Cover

Secret Delicacy Found: A Book by its Cover

By Erin Pembroke

Freelance Writer

March 31, 2013

Vail, Colorado – Delicacy at Sonnealp Hotel’s Swiss Chalet Restaurant is odd to order but taste buds say other wise.

Do not let this aesthetically unappealing entrée named the Zuricher Geschnetzeltes fool you. It may look like a plate of blob or a soup for that matter but what the person actually receives when eating this dish is far more pleasurable than expected.

       

                                                                                                          Erin Pembroke/Photographer    

       Delicacy: Zuricher Geschnetzeltes at Vail, Colorado

The Zuricher Geschnetzeltes consists of veal that is cooked to perfection and is sautéed with Oyster Mushrooms, Button Mushrooms and Chardonnay Cream sauce that plays a delectable role on one’s tongue. The dish is rich and creamy and the medium-strong notes of Chardonnay can definitely be tasted on a person’s palate. Overall, the veal is tender, juicy and well flavored.

Both the Oyster and Button Mushrooms merely add to the flavor and although the entrée is served with Rösti Potatoes, you will forget all about them because the exquisite veal takes all the show here. On a scale of 1-5, with 1 being the worst and 5 being the best, the Zuricher Geschnetzeltes surpasses 5 on the scale. If the entrée must have a number, it would be a 10 but because the sale must be used, the dish deserves all 5 stars. What a highly recommended delight and the chef must be commended.

  

LOCATION

 20 Vail Road, Vail, CO 81657, (970) 479-5429, http://swisschalet-restaurant.com/

PRICES

Open bar, $3-$6; Dinner, $9-$38; Desserts, $10-$14

DETAILS

 Open bar: 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Monday to Sunday and Dinner: 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. also Monday to Sunday

Passion Abounds at Bastille

Passion Abounds at Bastille

Mini chocolate soufflé with vanilla ice-scream and strawberries

By Erin Pembroke

Freelance Writer

Published: March 13, 2013

Downtown Miami, FL- Café Bastille boasts a great mini chocolate soufflé. Many people may not have heard about Café Bastille. This small and often over-looked café/restaurant has a vivere ambiance when the server Dominique (or Dominic) is around. If you engage in a conversation with him, he will bring a French, la dolce vita attitude and way of living, along with a sizzling passion to your table.

Café Bastille has appetizers such as Foie Gras Mason and Le Chevre Chaud. It also consists of entrée’s such as Entrecote Sauce Echarlotte, Fillet Mignon Au Poivre and Saumon Aux Lentilles for dinner. Some of Café Bastille’s desserts include Crème Brulee, Profiterolles and a mini chocolate soufflé.

The mini chocolate soufflé for $8 is well worth the money. This heavenly and divine soufflé is round and holds on its own with a warm and delicious middle that is filled with Valrhona chocolate. It also comes with a scoop of vanilla ice-cream and strawberries on the side. In addition to these sides, the mini chocolate soufflé has powder sugar and a drizzle of chocolate sauce sprinkled evenly on top of it and across the plate. On a scale of 1 to 5, the mini chocolate soufflé rates 4.5 out of 5 stars.

LOCATION

248 SE. 1^st Street, Miami, (786) 425-3575, cafebastillemiami.com

PRICES

Breakfast, $3-$14; Brunch, $8-$13 Lunch, $12-$17; Dinner, $15-$29; Desserts, $7-$9

DETAILS

8 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Monday to Saturday and 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday

Committee for the Bourgeoisie

                                                          Committee for the Bourgeoisie

By: Erin Pembroke

11/15/2011

            Are we truly a freed nation? No, we are a nation that has succumbed to the current committee for the bourgeoisie. This committee of the bourgeoisie only looks after its own self-interest. It contains those whom you know so well; those that are suppose to stand up and protect you. They are comprised of the government and the wealthy elite. These current politicians and candidates do not have any nexus between themselves and all of the poor, suffering middle class.

            They believe our government should keep wasting trillions of tax-payer's dollars by blowing up other nations and never resolving any underlying issues. They do not see in the most logical and clearest sense that we, as Americans, do not have money to keep supporting our troops in the current war. These politicians only think emotionally and not what is logically best for the country...Some of these same elite have used nonpublic stock trading information to get ahead of the game and sold their information to the highest bidder (or at least thought and attempted to do so). How is that fair to the now new mass of lower class people?

            The committee of the Bourgeoisie has now officially sucked capitalism bone dry of itself. What system do we use now? What? Socialism? Communistic ideas? Surely, the elite will not take this lightly. Surely, the elite will retaliate. I implore the committee of the bourgeoisie that if one central system has finally failed, to stop using the same dead-end system that does not work anymore. Or else, we, all as one nation, will cease to exist and lose our place in the world. I implore you all to find another system that works. It does not have to be socialism or communism. It just has to work.

            Have you not learned from history and yet you all continue to repeat the same dreaded dead-end doom? Have you not learned about the fall of the Roman Empire, the fall of the Ottoman Empire, fall of all the Pharaohs and the fall of the British Empire and now you want to put us, Americans in the same category? Yes, it is true that Machiavelli once wrote that “philosophers make great kings” because they do not want nor wish to rule, therefore, I implore you to appoint an intelligent philosopher as the new head of government to help solve our nation's problems.

The Etymology, Meanings and Different Connotations of the Word “Ghetto"

Etymologia, Denotata, et Alter Connotare de Verbum “Jactare”

(The Etymology, Meanings and Different Connotations of the Word “Ghetto”)

by: Erin Pembroke

1/03/2011

            Have you ever wondered what a person meant when they used the word “ghetto” or asked yourself where did the word come from?” Have you ever noticed that a person can use it in a sentence to mean something else? Several words like the word “ghetto” have many different meanings and connotations that are used every day. Ergo, allowing people to get lost at the suggestive or implied meaning of the sentence.

            According to Merriam-Webster's Dictionary online, the etymology of the word “ghetto” derived from the Italian (Venetian) dialect on gheto island where Jews were forced to live. The Italian word came from the infinitive word, ghetar, meaning to cast. This word actually came from the Latin word, jactare, meaning to throw and was first used in 1611.

            Basically, the word was originally used to mean a section of a city in which Jews were required to live. However, later on, it meant a part of a city where members of a minority group live based on social, economic or legal pressure. While still retaining the second denotation, the word can also have a connotation that can be used as an adjective or adverb. According to the Urban Dictionary online, the word can also be an adjective or adverb for cheapness.

            While some people do not entirely agree with this version of Urban Dictionary's definition of the word, some people may agree with another that have been researched in this essay. A commentator by the pseudonym, Destardi, said on June 17, 2006 on Urban Dictionary said that [ghetto] “is also a way of thinking and behavior evolved from living in a physical ghetto.” The author of this post goes on to add, “People also associate the word ghetto as a condition, with people, objections and behavior that is not considered 'acceptable', or 'proper' by mainstream society.” For example, “Girl, you look ghetto.” Look at the different usage of the word between these two sentences: “I live in the ghetto,” versus “Why you gotta act ghetto all the time?” One is an area or place and the other is an adjective for a type of behavior.

            Now, that we have distinguished the one denotation and one connotation within that word, it is time to describe how people in modern pop-culture would describe, define and use the word ghetto. Behaviors, attitudes, mannerisms and actions such as these are usually be associated with the word: people that want to be or practice being gangsters or thugs, people that yell instead of talking in the middle of the street, people that broadcast their personal business in public, and taking pride in being broke. Other behaviors and actions include: flashing money that you do not have, taking high priority or having an expensive car, house or clothes without having a job or a job that will support your living style, and people that run from the police for no reason. Additional attitudes and actions include: wearing house slippers outside the house, wearing hair rollers and shower caps outside on the streets and replacing a broken window with a trash-bag and duct-tape.

            Ghetto can also be described as trying to dress or look the part such as wearing gold teeth, a durag (a cloth head covering), baggy shirts or baggy pants with the underwear showing. A ghetto people can also wear expensive shoes and jewelry, speak in slang or Ebonics and live in places with high crime rates or places where drugs are illegally sold and prostitutes roam the streets at night. The typical actions and life-style choices I have noticed are: woman getting pregnant while still young and the father of the baby disappears out of the child's life forever, guys making indecent and lewd passes at women with no regard to how a woman will react or feel and dropping out of secondary school at an early age (usually by the age of 15 or 16 years old) or they simply lack in education. Ghetto also means living in “the projects” (a low-income, neglected, and impoverished area) where it is dimly lit, vermin/critters are abundant and roam, elevators smell like urination and often break down and rape occurs.

            However, the term ghetto is mistakenly used to refer to “black people” or “black” culture. Thus, making it have a second connotation. It should be noted that the listener needs to have pragmatic competence with the pragmatic word “ghetto” in order to avoid confusion as to what the speaker is talking about or what the speaker means. For instance, “She is acting ghetto” or “Stop being ghetto” in linguistic semantics equates to, she is acting “black” and stop being “black.” This is used on a person who is seen act acting “black” when they are clearly of another ethnicity and race such as Caucasian or Asian. From a “black” person's perspective, they generally view Caucasian or “white” people as people that should act proper, decent, and at times a bit stuck up and when they see a “white” person that acts or tries to act “black” they get offended and believe that the person should stop acting this way.  Basically, this new “ghetto” attitude in a “white” person is a paradox or an oxymoron to the “black” community.

            It is a new behavior that “blacks” are now seeing that they have not seen in decades or centuries before in a “white” person or a person of another ethnicity and race. The reverse can also happen where a “black” person is called an “Oreo” or “white” for being “'black' on the outside and 'white' on the inside.” This idiom's denotatum is that a person's skin color is black, dark brown or any other shade of brown while their personality, behavior and mannerisms are proper and decent (or called “white” behavior). It should be noted that calling a “black” person an “Oreo” is an offense as well as generalizing or saying that all “blacks” are ghetto because it is not true.

            To conclude, the word “ghetto” two denotations and two connotations. The two denotations include: an area where Jews were forced to live and a section of a city where members of a minority group live based on certain circumstances while the two connotations of the word “ghetto” refer to cheapness and “black” culture or people. Ghetto can also be described as low-income, low-educated and impoverished areas where people retain a certain way of thinking and behavior based on their physical ghetto. It is also an image in hip-hop culture where people wear baggy clothes and buy the most expensive objects while maintaining a certain attitude or behavior.

           

            

The Mannikin (Mannequinn) Effect

The Mannikin (Mannequinn) Effect

By: Erin Pembroke

3/22/2011

            Have you ever thought why a mannequinn looks a certain way? Or have you ever wondered if there are any effects from mannequinns looking a certain way? I have. In this piece I question and analyze the effects and how the mannequinns can be interpreted. I also analyze the subliminal messages that these mannequinns emanate and direct to consumers; more in particular to women.

            I work in a  plus-size clothing store and I have noticed that all the women that enter and shop in the store want to be just like the mannequinn. They all want to be not only thin but have the exact curves, hips, thighs, calves and legs as the mannequinn. However, what they need to realize is that the mannequinns are all unrealistic wants and desires all pent up in these man-made objects. These objects  of desire are “too perfect.” I remember seeing one woman looking up at the mannequinn and examining it. She was making statements about how she wish she could look like the mannequinn. I told her “look, the mannequinn is more perfect than me and I am skinny!”

            The mannequinn has all the right “meat” and weight in all the right places which is totally unrealistic. If I, a thin person was saying that, then it could only mean it is true. These plus size women need to realize that it is society as a whole that has a one-track mind. Society is stuck on who and what is deemed as beautiful. What society should look at and consider is that in other coultures, big-size women are looked at as more beautiful, healthy or even wealthy. These women need to realize that they have to love themselves for who and what they are. Yes, it is great to lose weight and to stay fit and healthy but it is unrealistic to be the size of a mannequinn without surgery.

            I term the phrase “the mannikin (or mannequinn) effect” for several reasons. The first and most obvious reason is that these plus-size women want to be as thin as the mannequinns. The second reason is that the mannequinns in the store depict an unrealistic view of women in society. Have you ever noticed or ask yourself “why are all the mannequinns skinny?” It is because society implies that women should be skinny, curvy, round bottom, big breasts and a tiny waist. This is false and an archaic way of thinking. Women come in many different sizes, colors and packages.

            The second part to the second reason is that not only are these mannequinns “skinny” but they are always Caucasian. Why are all the mannequinns in the store Caucasian? The mannequinns are the problem. They depict unrealistic thinking in society and therefore are not representative of the population, race, ethnicity and weight of people in a particular city. I work in an area of Brooklyn, NY where the majority of people that step in the plus size store are African-American. Corporations need to get on the fast-track and invest in “fixing” their mannequinns to make them more representative of the census in an area. It is horrible marketing.

            Corporations cannot and should not try to market clothes on “Caucasian” mannequinns if African-Americans do not look like the mannequinns that the company uses. Some Caucasians have a different style just like some African-Americans do as well therefore, Caucasian style should be on Caucasian mannequinns and African-American styles should be on African-American mannequinns. In addition to this idea and technique, to better suit the demographic range, the company can also use both Caucasian and African-American mannequinns in their stores with a mix of what each race or ethnicity would wear by a given average or mean generated by statistics, polls and surveys. So, why isn't there a plus-size and African-American mannequinns in the store I work in or in other stores? Beats me. It sounds like predominantly white elitist society took over in corporations without paying attention to their demographics and their true target audience.

            In addition to this, I have not seen a Caucasian but plus-size mannequin in a plus-size store. I have noticed that without plus-size mannequinns, the customer thinks “hey, that looks good on the mannequinn so, it will look good on me.” However, when the customer goes to the actual clothing rack and takes a look at the piece of clothing, they notice it is much bigger on the hanger than on the mannequinn. They feel like the piece of clothing is now ugly because it is so big. They will view it as too baggy or big and bulky. The mannequinn gives an unrealistic view of the clothing which does trick the consumer yet does not generate extra sales. It may actually generate fewer sales for the company because the contrast with the unrealistic “skinny” look of the clothing and the reality of the huge and baggy clothing will cause a consumer to change their mind and not buy the product.

            I have had many discussions with customers who wish that they can see the realistic view of the clothing on a plus-size mannequinn so that they will know how it will look on them. To generate more sales, the plus-size store will have to use a plus-size mannequinn and dress the mannequinn with eye-catching and eye-popping clothes to make the consumer shop and buy more while making them happy by giving them a realistic feed-back of themselves and the clothes they buy. The third mannequinn effect is that some mannequinns do not have faces just necks, thus implying that women should only be seen for their bodies and not heard. The fact that these mannequinns have no heads or necks implies that women should be submissive since they cannot speak up for themselves.

            I truly wonder if corporations give any thought into what messages they accidently give to the public and do not want the public to receive. Corporations naturally think about what messages they want their consumers to take in but do they give any thought into detail that is so small that you can hardly see it until the damage has been done? The last mannequinn effect is that since some of these mannequinns do not have faces, arms, and sometimes even legs, women become the man and the poem “Ozymandias,” meaning women will fall, crumble, decay, wash or wear away.

                        “Nothing beside remains. Round the decay

                        Of the colossal wreck, boundless and bare

                        The lone and level sands stretch far away. -Percy Bysshe Shelley

Perhaps, we as women are doomed to crumble away because we are doomed to since Eve fell by being tempted by the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge. All of these interpretations are what comes out of the four mannequin effects.

            To conclude, the phrase that I term “the mannikin (mannequinn) effect” consists of four effects that manikins (or mannequinns) either have on women or society and how these mannequinns depict women in society. The first mannikin (mannequinn) effect is that plus-size women want to physically look like mannequinns that are displayed in stores. However, it cannot be mistaken that it is just plus-size women that want to look like mannequins; it is also thin or average women that want to look like these mannequinns because of their curves, thighs and so forth.

            The second mannikin (mannequinn) effect is that the mannequinns are always thin and Caucasian which does not portray women in society very realistically. The third mannikin (mannequinn) effect is that women should be seen and not heard since some of these mannequinns do not have faces but have only bodies. The last mannikin (mannequinn) effect is that since there are no limbs on some of the mannequinns, women are doomed to decay and crumble perhaps like Eve when she ate the forbidden fruit. Women should strive to avoid most of these effects and learn to love themselves as they continue to go through life in a society based on using what society deems as “the most attractive traits” of a certain type of person just to market products and generate capital. 

The Modern Dark Era

The Modern Dark Era

by: Erin Pembroke

04/14/2011

Decline of the American Intellect Part I.

            Doesn't society seem to be changing to you? Have you ever wonder what is going on with the world today? Why is society so skewed? What is going on with our youth today? I am going to present a number of issues to think about such as lack of intelligence, lack of artistic value and social decay in today's society.

            I term the phrase “the modern dark era” after the “Dark Ages” except I am simply talking about one era or time frame and not several eras. When I say modern dark era, I mean a period of intellectual darkness among the youth and even in a vast number of adults. It is not just a period of intellectual darkness but a period of social decay and a scarcity of true value in artistic work. It is almost as if in the last decade or two we, as a human race, went back to the the age of darkness. It must be noted here that although, I do refer to this specific decade as the modern dark era, that it is not completely a dark era and should not be mistaken that the whole decade or era is completely “dark.”

            It is obvious to the naked eye that the pursuit of intellectual work or anything intellectual for that matter is declining. People prefer to not think than to figure something out. People prefer movies where bombs explode and sex take over most of the scenes in movies. We want everything right there for us without ever having to think or to get up and get anything. Kids prefer to play the Wii game system than to ride their bikes and play with each other. It is not just about not wanting to think but not wanting to get up and be active. Are we as a society not only becoming less intelligent but more lazy and hence prone to obesity and lack of intelligence in which we pass it on to the next generation after us?

            Let's back track to the lack of intelligence problem. I read in the New York Post, on http://getinvolved.rutgers.edu/programs-and-events/events-calendar/954, http://www.nationalreview.com/phi-beta-cons/263669/re-snooki-rutgers-jason-fertig and on  http://thedamienzone.com/2010/12/05/snooki-to-speak-at-rutgers/comment-page-1/ that Snooki (a drunk and party-goer) from the television show “Jersey Shore” is or has gotten paid $32,000 for lecturing to students at Rutgers University. Who knows what advice if any that she will give or is even qualified to give?! I am more than dumbfounded at how this happened. I do not understand why would an ivy league college let this happen.

            This money apparently came out of “mandatory student fees” as quoted by Jason Ferig, the author of “Phi Beta Cons: The Right Take on Higher Education” in second link that I posted in the earlier part of this paragraph. This is clear evidence that in order for the university to make money, that they had to sell out to lower intelligence. I guess, low intelligence pays these days. The real question is why? Why do we find shows like “Jersey Shore” entertaining? Is it because our own lives are boring and unsatisfying that we need some form of bizarre entertainment to cope with the boring lives?

The Snooki Effect vs. The Pinky & the Brain Effect

            Is there something deeper here? You see, the New York Post called the mini article “The Snooki Effect,” but is there really a “Snooki Effect” going on here in society? The “Snooki Effect” to me is the dumbing down of society and young adults wanting to be like the people on “Jersey Shore” who only care about partying, getting drunk, tans, hair, fashion and a massive amount of exercise in men to obtain muscles. I like to term it the “Pinky and the Brain effect” due to the fact that in the 90's cartoon television show, “Pinky and the Brain,” Pinky always ask “Gee, Brain, what do you want to do tonight?” Brain replies with “The same thing we do every night, Pinky – try to take over the world!” I term it the “Pinky and the Brain effect” because little by little stupidity is truly taking over the world. Little by little society through famous people in the media are creating both the “Snooki Effect” and the “Pinky and the Brain Effect.” It is like the song “American Idiot” (2004) by Green Day who sing:

                        Don't want to be an American idiot.

                        Don't want a nation under the new media

                        And can you hear the sound of hysteria?...

                        Now everybody do the propaganda.

                        And sing along to the age of paranoia...

                        Don't want to be an American idiot.

                        One nation controlled by the media.

                        Information age of hysteria.

                        It's calling out to idiot America.

            The song's motive is basically thrown in your face. The rock band is clearly sick of the way American's don't want to use their minds and think but just do as they are told by the media. They become the “American idiot” according to the band and “society's robots” according to me. Americans become paranoid with so many things that they hear but do not question whether any of what they are hearing from the media is true or not or question how much of it is true and how much of it is distorted. Americans are more into fashion and pop-culture and obtaining money than anything else and above all, intellectual pursuits.

Decline of the American Intellect Part II.

            People do not want to think anymore. They do not want to look up information through the use of books anymore. The Google search engine has become increasingly popular because when you logically think about it, a person just has to type what they are looking for and the answer pops up in front of them almost instantly. The person literally does not have to search for anything in a book because the computer does all the research, thinking and pulling of information. The information then becomes a fast find that is perhaps less appreciated than if we were to look the information up in a book.

            The use of Spark Notes or Cliff notes compared to actually reading the book or the use of “Nook” or listening to a device to hear a person reading a book to you as you drive through traffic or sit on a bus or watching a DVD than reading the book has become increasingly popular over the pass two decades. Reading a book is too tedious and takes far too long than “Googling” something, spark-noting something or watching a movie. We get what we want without sacrificing the time that we could use for the pursuit of something pleasurable.

            After people have finished school, they do not want to think about what they have learned. They do not want to pursue scholarly research, reading, writing or contributing to society in an intellectual way unless it deals with obtaining capital for themselves. People normally do not research, write or reach as much as when they were in school. After high school or college, their mental activity seems to begin to slow down and their interest in learning anything intellectual seems to also decline. People become too busy to read, write or research or just flat out, do not care or want to learn, read or research more on various topics.

            As technology seems to increase and become more intelligent, more human beings seem to become less intelligent because the computers do everything for people. However, it does take either a person of some intelligence or usage of a specific type of computer over time in order to efficiently operate the device. Then again, as a person becomes acquainted with the device, their brain goes on auto-pilot as their hands and bodies do the work.

A Confederacy of Dunces

            As pop-culture becomes more trendy, people end up following that particular fad and in today's world, having a brain is not a fad. Apparently, it is better to look “sexy” or “hot” and have expensive clothes and accessories than to have either brains or both looks and brains. When can a person ever have both looks and brains in today's society? When will that ever be acceptable? It is possible because I have seen it and I am living proof of it. When will young women stop acting “stupid” while looking good just to get a guy when they can be both? Jonathan Swift said in the essay “Thoughts on Various Subjects, Moral and Diverting” “When a true genius appears in the world you may know him by this sign, that the dunces are all in confederacy against him.” It is true, I, along with some select few feel this way. I feel like I am one person suggesting that people have both looks and brains but I am one of many and the masses and odds are against me.

            In fact, I have notice that some men actually prefer both. One man I had a conversation with complained that all the women he has ever dated had nothing important to say and only read Cosmopolitan or some other magazine when asked what is the last thing you read? If not, he said they say a title of a book they last read in high school. There seems to be a lack of brains in these women. They do not talk about the news or anything important and thus a man cannot relate to them because all they seem to know are things about fashion and make-up.

            Oh, don't think I have forgotten about you men out there. Some of you guys are just as bad. How can a woman relate to you if all you talk about is sports and guy's fashion? I'm not here to bash but I am here to stress a call for action; a call for intellect. This current problem reminds me of the movie “Idiocracy” (2006) starring Luke Wilson, where a society in America out-breeds the intelligent and becomes a uniformly stupid human society where they have no thought about consequences except for this one “smart” man who traveled from the past to that apparent future.

Fall of True Artistic Value

            Not only does the majority of society lack in intellect, we are also lacking in what is deemed as something having “artistic value.” I mean something original, creative, thought-provoking not a mere copy of something already produced long ago and brought back to a new age group who thinks it is new and original because they do not know any better. It is unnecessary to have remakes of “Beauty and the Beast” or “Little Red-Riding Hood” with different movie titles. The same goes for music. Songs these days seem to lack artistic value because they are either from other songs that were made decades ago or they are simply about sex, money, getting rich, getting shot and pimps, hoes and strippers.

            I don't think the younger generation (my generation and younger) have realized that the beginning of Sean Kingston's “Me Love” (2007) is actually the beginning beat and similar line from Led Zeppelin's “D'yer Maker” (1973) but even this song imitated reggae from Jamaica at that time. Sean Kingston's “Me Love:” “Uh, uh-uh, uh, uh, oh/Why'd you have to go away from home, me love?” Led Zeppelin's D'yer Maker:” “Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh/You don't have to go oh oh oh oh.” Sounds similar right? The point that I am trying to make here is that nothing is original anymore thus lacking artistic value. Everything seems to have been done already and there seems to be nothing left untouched or new to do or explore. How can one create something original when almost everything has been done not once or twice but several hundred times?

            Another point I want to make is that not only has a majority of things been done thus lacking artistic originality but is also considered art can also be questioned. Some people view art as an empty plastic bottle on display while some do not and some view stick people and paint splattered everywhere as art while other do not. I am on the side that I do not think an empty plastic bottle or stick people are considered art because anybody can do it. It does not take a genius or someone with artistic talent to do such a thing; even a kid can do it.

            However, it takes someone with real skills to sculpt a statue, to paint concrete objects with actual forms just how they actual appear in front of us or even for an artist to manipulate that in such a way that people can have a several different views on the subject or piece of work. There are simply way too many artists that call themselves such but cannot draw, paint or sculpt solid forms as they are seen just stick people and empty plastic bottles taking up unnecessary space in art galleries in which people pay a large amount to see.

            Don't get me wrong, art can and should also be abstract to allow a person to think and to get many different opinions from an audience but the art should not be so simple  to the point that an ordinary child or person with not talent can construct. This is what I personally deem as lacking artistic value in the past recent decades. I do not expect others to agree with me on this matter, in fact, I expect many to disagree with me on this particular subject and opinion.

Social Decay

            Lastly, we as a society lack social etiquette. We do not teach our children to say “excuse me” and “sorry”or “please” and “thanks” anymore,  instead we allow them to run a muck on a train or bus without reprimanding them and explaining why what they are doing is wrong or disturbing others. Society seems to be going through a social decay. Men no longer act like gentlemen on the streets and no longer hold doors for women. People in general no longer hold doors for others whether man or woman, old or young. Young people and kids do not give up their seats on buses or trains for the elderly anymore and parents bring their screaming and crying babies to quiet libraries while in the process of disturbing others with their baby's unruly ambiance.

            People no longer hold quiet conversations or lower their voices but instead broadcast their conversations on the streets, buses and trains for everyone to hear. Cars try to cut walkers off when they drive and run red  lights at the expense of everyone else around them. People litter everywhere and have physical or verbal fights on public transit. This is the way os society now; a lack of social etiquette and decency; perhaps even a lack of morals. My, my society has truly declined in intellect and social etiquette. This social decay will only get worse as we get more primitive and savage-like as our ancestors were eons ago. We are suppose to evolve as a society but the only evolution that has taken place is a technological one not a human/gene evolution.

           

            To conclude, society is on a spiraling loop of doom unless we do something about it. We should raise awareness to people to read more, pursue intellectual activities and to teach our the new generation manners to avoid a society where everybody lacks intelligence except for the computers. So far, people are becoming less intelligent, lack artistic value in their work and lack social etiquette. How far along can we as a human race survive this before the big fall of race occurs?

           

            

ADD Culture

The ADD Culture

by: Erin Pembroke

                                                                           6/29/2011      

            Have you noticed a certain trend in society? This trend I am talking about seems to have some sort of effect on both the youth and adults. Guess what trend I am talking about; ADD or ADHD. Yep, you are reading this correctly. ADD.

            I have noticed that everywhere I go, pre-teenagers and teenagers discuss a topic and then five minutes later they forget what they were discussing or laugh for no reason (perhaps because they forgot what they said). I have also noticed that adults seem to rock back and forth or waver in the chairs they are sitting on when they have to wait a long time for something. For instance, when I was at a DMV, I noticed that an older Jewish man sat down and five minutes later, he wavered back and forth in his chair for about thirty minutes. I do not think that this man was aware of what he was doing because if he were, I think he would stop rocking back and forth in his chair.

            I have also noticed that as young adults and teenagers get more absorbed in pop-culture and television icons, they tend to imitate them or act like them, thus taking in the lack of ability to concentrate and pay attention because the celebrities do not seem to concentrate or pay attention. This lack of concentration can be found on “Jersey Shore,” “Jerseylicious,” and any other reality T.V. Show. The viewer ends up taking in this lack of focus and concentration and making it their own personality trait. Not only that, but people's minds seem to wonder off more often than perhaps in the past. A person is more likely to stare at a person walking by than look at the person they are talking to. It seems like the world is just not paying attention.

            It is a new culture we are living in. This culture is the ADD culture. This is the era where kids can't pay attention and focus on their homework; the time where kids can't focus on anything but video-games and it is the video-games and computers that have caused this so called “ADD Culture.” Children all the way to young adults play so many video-games or use so much technology that nothing but those items can hold their attention. A child does not listen to a parent when playing a video-game nor does he or she want to get up during one. Doing any other activity during a video-game or work on a computer makes one lose a game or die in a video-game or lose track of their progress and work on a computer. This is the era and the culture where many dinners are actually eaten in front of a T.V. or on a computer. This is thus, the “alone culture.”

            When a man or a woman goes on several dates with each other and get comfortable with each other, one of them is likely to pull out a cell phone and start “texting” during a conversation at dinner when dining out. Yes, it is disrespectful but in this age, people do not realize how disrespectful it is because they are attached to their electronics. Either sex would view it as a sign of boredom while the other may view it as I have to catch up on work or the latest gossip, news etc. However, it can be a sign of both boredom and catching up on things. When we immediately pull out that cell phone, we do not realize how we affect that person and what it says about us and what the other person means to us. This easily accessible electronic scatters out mind because we end up in our own world. We do not listen to what the other person is saying. It is as if we push them aside and do not appreciate what is in front of our eyes; the person with whom you are on a date!

            It just seems like people these days cannot sit still, listen, pay attention, focus, or concentrate on one task at a time. It seems like our minds and attention is always diverted elsewhere. We never question what is so important that is diverting our attention. We just let it happen on a regular basis without a care; as if it is ordinary.

            What makes a culture ADD? I believe when a large group of people (not one here or there) start acting in such a manner that they get bored or distracted easily and have difficult paying attention. ADD consists of poor listening skills, struggling to complete tasks, tendency to overlook details, and zoning out in the middle of a conversation. Not only is our culture ADD but also ADHD, meaning our culture shows classic symptoms of one that is ADHD such as: trouble sitting still or fidgeting all the time, and doing several things at one time. Both of these put together in society or in the masses perhaps makes civilization prone to its own downfall by producing people and offspring that cannot contribute well to society nor survive because of the lack of ability to concentrate and get important tasks done (in order to survive). This is not the case now, however, it cannot be over-looked.

            The trend is increasing and there is nothing being done to decrease this problem because society does not realize that this is even a problem. All, I have done is make the readers aware of the problem but it is up to the audience to spread the word and stop this “ADD culture” madness through awareness and word of mouth. All-in-all, we live in an “ADD culture,” where people cannot pay attention, concentrate or focus on much of anything because of technology and something must be done about the situation before it is too late.

           

            

Research and Case-Study on Maternal Deprivation and Neglect on a Child

MATERNAL DEPRIVATION

Research & Case-Study on: Maternal Deprivation and Neglect on a Child

Erin Pembroke, March 5, 2013

Abstract

This study examined the relationship between parents of both sexes and their children but more-so, the relationship between mothers and their children. I hypothesized that the less parents in general and mothers are equipped and were nurturing to their children, the more maternally deprived the children became and the less emotionally, socially and physically developed they became. I also hypothesized that the more nurturing, love and social interaction a child receives, the more intellectual they became or able to understand higher intellectual concepts.
Research & Case-Study on: Maternal Deprivation and Neglect on a Child

Introduction

            Toddlers and children need emotional, physical and social contact with not just their environment, but their parents as well. These fundamental needs contribute to emotional and social development and can be brought out by their mothers. The problem occurs when the mother is not equipped to promote such needs.

           According to Rhawn Joseph’s “Attachment and Maternal Love during Infancy and Childhood,” There are babies who love to cuddle and mothers that do not (p. 12). When a mother does not like to cuddle, she does what is necessary as a mother such as feed, clothe and nurture her child or baby and then continues on with her tasks and needs (p. 12). The mother will hold and touch the child when necessary but not give as much nurturing as what the child desires. A mother such as this one will only physically nurture her child as a positive reaction to her child’s nurturing need or response (p. 12).

Methods: Observation

Participants

            In my own case-study, I have observed a female child at the ages of 5 ½ and 6 and the child’s (single) mother. Based on the facts presented to me by the mother, the mother did not receive adequate emotional, physical and social nurturing by her own mother. She claimed that her mother did not hug her or hold her and that she does not know how to do so for her daughter. She also said that her mother did not adequately nurture her and that she needs someone to show her how so that she can do it for her own daughter.

Drawing upon such statements, I have witnessed in her own actions, that she did not hold her daughter long enough but only what was necessary for the daughter. She also kept the child at arm’s length when she went to her bedroom or while conversing on the cell-phone. The mother did not tuck her daughter in bed, kiss her goodnight and yet did nurture her daughter when she got sick from a cold. Also drawing upon actions and statements, the mother has never changed her daughter’s diapers but has always had another care-giver in the form of a baby-sitter, nanny or friend do it for her and take on the role as a maternal care-giver or mother in her place.

My finings can be supported by the American Psychologist, Harry Harlow and his experiment with young rhesus monkeys. In the first part of the experiment, Harlow separated some monkeys from their mother upon birth. He placed them with two false surrogate mother monkeys where one monkey was wired and had a nipple that provided nourishment and the other was warm and covered in soft terry cloth. The young monkeys clung to the cloth surrogate yet reached over to get their food (while being in the arms of the cloth surrogate) from the wired surrogate (Schultheis, ¶6).

In another part of the experiment, Harlow isolated some young female rhesus monkeys and when they grew up and became mothers, they were negligent or abusive. The negligent mothers did not comfort, nurture or protect their babies nor did they harm them (Schultheis, ¶9). Thus, “deprivation of emotional bonds to live mother monkeys (as infant monkeys) these (now adult) monkeys were unable to create a secure attachment with their own offspring,” proves that children seek love, affection and acceptance from their mother or caregiver (Schultheis, ¶9). This part of the experiment more-so than the first part, is what I have witnessed where the lack of attachment from the mother to the daughter deprives the daughter of love, affection and acceptance.

                                            

First Result

In these accounts, the child is not receiving adequate maternal care. The daughter is in some realistic sense and while beneath the superficial nurturing, being maternally deprived. However, the child may not fully know or understand it now because it only receives “an adequate amount of stimulation, but not as much as it desires.” The daughter may see that the mother is providing love and care and yet may also feel she needs more and does not or cannot express that need and so chooses to remain silent or do nothing.

In conjunction with the idea that some mothers are not nurturing types or not equipped to handle the emotional and physical needs of their child, is the idea of unintentional neglect. The neglect may be unintentional because the parent may be too busy at work or with their own lives that they fail to notice the needs of their child or children. “Children who have parents who were always too busy and thus tended to neglect and ignore them create an environment which is just as abusive as those homes where the children are screamed at and beat (Joseph, p. 14).” Thus, children become impaired and lose the ability to feel worthwhile as a person and to give and receive love (Joseph, p. 14).

Although parents can be caught up in working too many hours, being on the PTA or beautifying their home, they do not perceive their actions as neglectful but as a good and caring parent. However, sometimes their motivations and intentions may be skewed and “designed to ward off closeness which the parent feels uncomfortable with. Thus, being at PTA is a convenient excuse for not being home hugging and loving their children (Joseph, p. 15).”

The children of such parents are only left with a void that is felt when their parents are not home. They are not aware of the intentions that their parents deem as good. When a child expresses such an absence in their needs, their parents may tell them their needs are not justified and the child may feel guilty (Joseph, p. 15). Neglect can also occur when the parents are busy at home as well. They may not communicate to their child or their body movements portray that they are too busy and should not be bothered.

For instance, in my own case-study, the child’s mother was on the PTA, had a beautiful home and worked many hours yet when she was present at home; she barely gave the child any attention. She may have used these activities as an excuse to ward off closeness that she did not feel comfortable with and in her absence, the child did greatly express a longing for her mother and to quote in her own words, “a fear of being alone.” The more the mother was away from her daughter, the more the daughter latched on to me and sought out love, affection and nurturing from me. It was natural for her because I was the next thing to a mother she could have at that particular moment in her life.

The child started hugging me before bed and expressed great sadness and a fear of going to sleep. Little by little, the girl’s behavior changed. Her behavior was not the same as it was when I first met her. When I first met her, she never had such fears or strongly sought out affection. When I dropped her off at elementary school, her behavior changed from wanting to rush into school with an excited look on her face to wanting to be held longer. One day, as she refused to let go of me, “why do I have to go to school? (Circa February 2013).” I knew for certain that her behavior had changed because of a lack nurturing from her mother. She was in fact, maternally deprived underneath the façade of her mother’s good intentions to take care of her.

Children may not be aware of the neglect because they may remember the nice materialistic things that they have had and the nice things people have said about them (Joseph, p. 16). Unfortunately, they lack one of the most basic needs, which is love. They will feel an internal void or numbness (Joseph, p. 16). They will also feel that they are not important and lack self-worth (Joseph, p. 16). They make think that their feelings are not important to others and may not recognize that they are missing something. Maybe, they will recognize it if they see another child or classmate receiving love from that child’s parent but chances are, they probably will not.

In my experience with the girl, I saw the void in her eyes, actions and in the words she spoke. After having a pillow fight with another little girl that was at her house, she said to me with a sad expression on her face, “I wish we can have a pillow fight.” I knew that her mother did not engage in fun and playful activities with her. Her mother hardly allowed her to go on playgrounds because she did not have the time or they were too dirty. Her mother just wanted her daughter to sit for several hours in front of the Wii and as I quote her, “like a good girl” and do nothing else but play the Wii.

Her mother thought arts and crafts “are crap that is meant to be thrown in the trash,” since they make messes and aren’t of any important use. The reason for these thought processes and actions are because the mother never did these things as a child nor watched cartoons and did not understand that all of these things help promote social and emotional development in her child. She has not realized that by materially depriving her child of fundamental needs, she is also hindering her child’s social, emotional and physical development.

In contrast, when I was in contact with another child and that child’s parent, the child’s emotional, social and physical needs were beyond met and thus beyond developed.  The parent did everything in their power to not only provide but to give an abundant amount of love, affection and nurturing. I have witnessed on many accounts when the girl hugs either one of the (separated/unmarried) parents, that they return the hug back. They give and receive a hug to and from their daughter that satisfies her until she is ready to enter the school with an older school mate for reassurance.

One of the child’s parents takes her to birthday parties, playgrounds, parks, and fairs. The parent plays with the child both indoors and outdoors. They color, horse around, and play with her toys. The other parent takes the girl shopping and deals with the feminine aspects of being a girl. Ergo, this girl receives social interaction from her parents (primarily from one more than the other) that promote and advance her social development.

This girl has been introduced to a repertoire of concepts such as spirituality, meditation, and meanings of words and actions. It is of no wonder and to any person’s amazement that she is at an advance stage of not only social interaction and development, but also in intellectual development for a child. This girl has also recently made the honor-roll with the help of one parent’s unique teachings and guidance.

Discussion and Final Results

Interestingly enough and in disparity to my hypothesis, when I asked this child’s parent (circa: March 2, 2013) if the love, affection and nurturing has made their daughter more intelligent, the parent replied, “no, because she is going to get the intelligence from outside sources like school, but the love and nurturing will allow her to use her intelligence in a constructive manner.” The response not only sounds plausible, but makes it seem like social development more-so than emotional and physical development contribute to how a child uses their intelligence in the present and how they will use it in the future, whether for the right or wrong means. Yet, social, emotional, and physical developments all still go hand in hand with how a child uses their intelligence in the present moment and in the future.  

In opposition to the girl that made the honor-roll, the previous girl lacked social development in the spiritual and words and actions arena and cannot understand such concepts. Not only has her intelligence been mired because of a lack of introducing intellectual and social ideas, her social development have also been hindered with regards to playing with other children. When taken to a playground, the previous child would stand on the sidewalk and be afraid of sand getting inside their shoes.

Next, this particular girl would stand in the sand, still making sure that no sand got in her shoes. Followed by, asking me to play with her on the playground instead of with the other children. Afterward, this child would approach and stand around the other children or play with the playground’s equipment while other children walks pass her. Lastly, I or another adult will then encourage her to play with the other children and with several persuasions, she will then decide to talk to a child or two and end up playing with them.

Once again, my results can be supported by Harlow and his experiment with the young rhesus monkeys. When Harlow placed the young rhesus monkeys in a room with the surrogate mothers, they used the surrogate mothers as a secure base to explore the room (Cherry, 2013, ¶9). However, when the surrogate mothers were removed from the room, the monkeys did not want to explore the room and began to freeze up, cry, rock, crouch, and cry or scream (Cherry, 2013, ¶10). Like the young rhesus monkeys, this girl did freeze up and used me as a secure base to explore the playground and playing with other children.

However, if it were not for these persuasions and encouragement, she would have stood on the sand for either half the time or for the entire duration as she has on countless occasions. This particular girl lacks some social development and social interaction with her peers because she not only does not receive it from her mother, her mother does not show or encourage the social interaction among her peers. In retrospect, she barely attended birthday parties and playgrounds because her mother disliked them.

To conclude, some mothers and parents in general do deprive their children of maternal love either because they are not equipped or comfortable with doing so. They not only deprive them of such nurturing but also can unintentionally neglect them due to their busy lives. In the end, these children have voids that they cannot fix and either seeks too much love or they become too cold and deprive others of love, nurturing and attention. They also seek mates later in life that may also deprive them of such needs and affections.

References

Cherry, Kendra (2013). The Science of Love: Harry Harlow & the Nature of Affection.

Retrieved March 6, 2013, from http://psychology.about.com/od/ historyofpsychology/p/harlow_love.htm

Joseph, Rhawn (n.d). Attachment and Maternal Love during Infancy and Childhood.

Retrieved March 5, 2013, from http://brainmind.com/Attachment

MaternalLoveInfancyChildhood.html

Schultheis, Erin (n.d). Harry F. Harlow.

Retrieved March 6, 2013, from http://muskingum.edu/~psych/ psycweb/history/harlow.htm

The Subjugator and the Oppressed

The Subjugator and the Oppressed

by: Erin Pembroke

3/01/13

     There are professions that oppress more than others, especially that of stripping and prostitution. These occupations exploit women either indirectly by their consent or directly against their will. In these two jobs, there are two kinds of women; the oppressed and the one that over-comes being oppressed.

                                                                       

     To begin with, the occupation of stripping indirectly oppresses women by capital means. When women enter an agreement with the strip-club owner and with the customers for money, they become addicted to the amount of capital they make per night. Most jobs cannot compete with the substantial amount that strippers make, thus, some strippers stop looking for other employment and solely rely on their profession. These women become bound by their job and enslaved by the money.

                                                                                                     

     They work hard for their money and at odd hours, just to be enslaved by their addiction of making an ever flowing amount of cash that allows them to gain many materialistic objects. In other words, the strippers represent the concept of operant conditioning by B.F. Skinner where the cash becomes the positive reinforcement to their addiction or operant behavior. The strippers keep seeing that their actions have worked before and they were awarded for it by capital means and will keep stripping so long as they are awarded by a great amount of money.

     Strippers are also imprisoned by their appearances or how they appear to others; one can witness that strippers constantly apply make-up on their faces several times in one full day and must appear to look beautiful at every given moment on a 24-hour clock. They are afraid to publicly go “natural” or without make-up. They are afraid to show their true selves. They are afraid of their natural physical flaws and must cover them up.

     They are confined by how men view them. They are tethered by the natural beauty of other women they deem more beautiful than themselves. They are simply oppressed; chained by beauty and appearance that they appear vain and shallow. Everything is superficial about their appearance because in their occupation, they must learn to be shallow and give and fit all the fantasies of every man they come in contact with or are around.

     Unlike strippers, prostitutes are different. They sell their bodies because they desperately need the cash. They are less bound by addiction of money because the money is their source of food and housing. A prostitute can be bound by appearance but perhaps less than a stripper. A prostitute's goal is to appear beautiful to get their client so that they can do their job and leave. They seldom get lost or invited to parties and other social events that strippers go to.

     Dissimilar to strippers, prostitutes are directly and more-so shackled by men that repress them. Most of their clients and their client's behaviors are shady. The prostitutes can be tied to men with abusive, violent behavior or may not even know what she is getting into until the last minute. Thus, they are oppressed from liberty and freedom of expression as well. These men may beat, abuse, misuse and kill prostitutes. Some prostitutes feel repressed from going to the police and others feel they cannot lead safe lives.

     As men use their bodies for their own gratification, these women feel that they are only men's play toys and nothing more. Their self-worth and confidence diminishes and they become broken. They become emotionally damaged. The more they seek money, the more they receive men of worthless substance and rely on those men as “sugar-daddies” to take care of their financial means.

     Unfortunately, sometimes strippers can become prostitutes. For instance, when the strip-clubs that the stripper works at are not doing financially well and her options become limited, she might turn to prostitution as a second source of income. She may do this for many reasons such as: not saving money and running out of funds, having a large amount of debt that accumulated by her expensive materialistic tastes, and lastly, having a child that she cannot continue to support by such means.

      In elaborate continuation of this topic, there are two types of women in these professions; one that becomes oppressed and the other that over-come subjugation. In witnessing one account of each, I will now contrast these two kinds of women. The oppressed allows factors such as addiction to making money, gaining material wealth, appearance and men to continue to subjugate them.

     They forget their real goals and get lose in the muddled illusions and details. They get lost in what their lives at the moment provide for them, whether they are parties or food on the table. They get lost in the operant conditioning and positive reinforcement. They think their lives will always be like this and do not plan for the future nor make any changes. Women in these occupations accept where they are at or get too comfortable in their jobs.

                                                                                                                 

      Whereas, the once subjugated women in these professions are enslaved by several means, becomes the subjugator of the situation and of their lives. These women may have had a goal and never forgot their purpose. They worked to full-fill their purpose and once it was accomplished, they simply stood up to the tyranny and left the situation. Another instance could have been that they saved up their money before having a lack of it (and while being pulled into different directions or different oppressors), finally realized that they have had enough of being restrained by several different means. Ergo, they left their occupation and their oppressors.

     They could have also coped with their subjugators (with money saved) by continuously isolating themselves (such as staying home and not making an income or disassociating oneself) away from all the things that chained them. Thus, their isolation became a negative reinforcement against their oppressors which lead to the extinction of their behavior in relying on their subjugators for monetary means or as a way of living and the extinction of their occupation.

     The subjected stay emotionally broken in their old occupations and become severely damaged. They repeat old patterns and behaviors. Contrary, the newly freed woman breaks all ties and starts a new career or goes back to school. There is a new sense of hope for his kind of woman. She can begin to repair what has been damaged when in her previous state, if she was damaged. In contrast, the other type of woman will go on living a dehumanized version of herself and a dehumanized life that will continue to break her.

     To conclude, women in the occupations of stripping and prostitution can be held captive by money, appearances, and men. Several may turn for help in the wrong places and seek other sources of income. Some women may continue to be subjugated whereas others over-come their oppressors and lead new lives. The choice is theirs whether to face their oppressor or to continue to be the oppressed.