The Overachievers: The Secret Life of Driven Kids

I actually just returned from a great day trip with my roommate to Nantucket so I will make this post a quick one as I am absolutely exhausted (I will post on my brewery tour adventure tomorrow!):

I recently finished Alexandra Robbins' book "The Overachievers: The Secret Life of Driven Kids." Needless to say I was blown away (again) by Robbins writing and her unearthing of some disturbing material affecting teenagers and adolescents today. This book, as the title implies, discusses the pressures that are placed upon todays kids (by parents, society, peers, and sometimes themselves) to achieve levels of perfection in their academic and personal lives. I felt the stress surmount as Robbins described the daily activities of these overworked teenagers. Faced with ridiculous amounts of pressure to perform their best in school, as well as the large amounts of extracurriculars that they "must" take in order to go to a good college. As always Robbins definitely gives into the shock factor of her readers, and she definitely nailed it on this one.

It has been awhile since I stared down at a college application with the dread and anticipation that was chronicled in this book. However, I do not remember the amount of pressure that faced me, as did these teens. I was involved in numerous activities, including an afterschool job, but never failed to be home by 10 at the latest. Now-a-days teens are lucky to be home by 12. In addition I never even dreamed of only applying to Ivy leagues. When I went into the counselors office there were tons of brochures for all kinds of colleges available. The adolescents that Robbins describes in her book all run the race with the sole intention of trying to get into the Ivies without knowing if those colleges are appropriate for them. Needless to say I finished the book knowing that while I stare down at applications for gradute school I am at least over the worst of high schools woes...the drama.

Check out the authors website at: www.alexandrarobbins.com

Seriously?!

So I happend across today's Boston Globe and right there in the Style section is a large front page story on the apparent argument that is going on with Red Sox fans. And what is the arguement you ask? It must be big as it made the front page of a section of the Boston Globe, brace yourselves: pink Red Sox hats. Yeah seriously. Apparently some fans are mad at those individuals who wear the pink hats as they seem to symbolize the bandwagon affect that has happend in Red Sox fandom over the past few years. This is due somehow to the fact that those true fans who have stuck it out over the crappy years only wear the traditional colored hats and therefore are only true fans. One man goes so far as to say that those fans who wear the pink hats should not be allowed in Fenway Park! Needless to say I counter with the fact that those buyers of pink hats happen to be mainly women and sometimes we women need a bit of pink. I myself have watched the Red Sox since I have been three, and if I choose to wear a pink hat (which I do own!) then I have every right to as a fan. Heres the link to the article, needless to say I was intrigued:
http://www.boston.com/lifestyle/fashion/articles/2008/06/26/why_is_this_pink_hat_so_hated/

Movies, movies, movies!

I absolutely adore watching movies and have managed over the course of a few days to catch quite a bit. I will spare a review of the latest Disney channel movie that I happend to see today, but here are a few notables:

Get Smart
I wont lie I got dragged to this one by a friends of mine. The movie itself is not too shabby, just not my cup of tea. It centers around a man named Maxwell Smart (Steve Carell) who is a dimwitted employee of a spy agency called "Control." When a group called "chaos" wrecks well...chaos on the spy agency it is up to Maxwell and another agent played by Anne Hatheway to save the day. The movie plays up to the typical laughs that go along with these comedies. A side-plot with Hatheway's character adds some depth to her character, but it is a pretty typical comedy. Some of the best performances I believe in this movie were given by Bruce and Lloyd (played by Masi Oka and Nate Torrence) the nerdy friends of Maxwell. If you like cheesy comedies without much depth (think a little more Not Another Teen Movie and a little less Juno) or just like Steve Carell then I would say this movie is for you. If not save it for a rainy day onDemand rental. (PS the Rock aka Dwayne Johnson is in the movie...and he's not half bad!)

P.S. I Love You

This movie is the first I have rented from the Red Box rentals you see at every grocery store in America. You know the one's that offer a movie a night for only $1...needless to say I'm addicted. But back to the movie. This one came out awhile ago, and the trailers that followed told a good deal of what the movies about...okay they told like the whole movie. So in case you didn't see the trailers heres the gist of it: Hilary Swank plays a woman whose husband (Gerard Butler) has died and left her a series of letters instructing her to do various tasks to help her cope with his death. Along for the ride are a host of well know characters: her mom (played by Kathy Bates), a guy who works at her moms bar with a really bad case of ADHD (played by Harry Connick Jr.), her two friends (played by Gina Gershon and Lisa Kudrow) and another cute guy that Swank's character meets in Ireland (played by Jeffrey Dean Morgan aka "Denny"). Needless to say with all those big names the movie was not a winner. It was somewhat redundant, definitely depressing, and might I add during the scenes between Swank's character and her departed husband I felt more than uncomfortable. I understand that showing the love between a husband and his wife was important to get the real sadness of the film, but instead I felt as though I were viewing some kind of really private moment in a voyaristic kind of way...not cool. Needless to say watching Gerard Butler for an hour and a half was well worth the $1 and a good bonus at seeing "Spike" from Buffy legacy aka James Marster make it to my big screen.

No Reservations

Another sappy romantic comedy for $1. This one is so predictable, but so good at the same time. A comedy about a chef (played by the always lovely Catherine Zeta Jones) whose life revolves around work and is so uptight her boss has forced her to go see a shrink. Following a family tragedy, Catherine's character must care for her sisters daughter (played by Abigail Breslin). The restaurant she works at also happens to hire an additonal chef (Aaron Eckhart) while Catherine's character takes leave to deal with her family. Upon returning to work she finds that her tight-ship of a kitchen has gone the opposite with the help of Eckhart's carefree like attitude. I am sure you can figure out the rest as the story follows typical romantic comedy lines. Not a fantastic movie, but if all you want is a romantic comedy then this movie definitely dishes (no pun intended) it up.

Is ritalin the new steroid?

As this week is currently a break for me I decided to catch up on my reading. Right now I am engrossed in Alexandra Robbins' "The Overachievers: The Secret Lives of Driven Kids." As I was reading today I came across a tiny section in which they discussed the pros and cons of medication for ADHD. Having been diagnosed with ADD for some time now I was intrigued to hear Robbins make comparisons to ADHD meds, (such as Ritalin and Adderall) to steroids. This was made in the context that pro-athletes us performance enhancing drugs to excel in their profession much in the same way that adolescents and young adults now use ADHD meds to increase their ability to study. While she in no way bashed properly diagnosed individuals she brought to light an issue that is becoming increasingly common in todays society...overdiagnosis/misdiagnosis of ADHD.

That being said, I was most intrigued by the viewpoint that the author brought to light. Being pretty anti-steroid myself I was able to see the viewpoints of those Robbins talked about in her book, who felt that those overachieving students who use ADHD medication, without a proper diagnosis and for the sole purpose of getting that competitive edge over their peers, are somehow cheating the system. Under intense pressure to measure up to impossible standards that are set, are we really pushing our youth to go to this extreme? It is all to common around finals, both in high schools and at college campuses, to find students using these drugs in order to stay awake and achieve a heightened sense of alertness. Like steroids it does help these students gain an edge that would have otherwise not been present had they not ingested these substances. But would these students, without access to these drugs, not have found another way to achieve the same results given such intense pressure...probably.

So what is the solution then? Decrease pressure put upon these students to achieve unrealistic goals set by the educational sysem? Put tigher restrictions on the sale and illegal possession of these drugs? Have stricter diagnostic procedures when testing for ADHD? ...Only time will tell the impact that our drugged youth will have in the future. But needless to say it is easy to point fingers at athletes and accuse them of cheating the system rather then notice that something similar is happening in our backyards. I was quite impressed with this comparison...

Creepiest kids show ever!

So during a tiny sprint of insomnia recently (as in tonight) I happend to be channel surfing when I came across a Noggin TV station for children. Intrigued I watched for a bit and then came on a show called Oobi. This show involves real human hands that "talk" and have giant eyes atop where the knuckles should be. Flashbacks of creepy childrens shows popped through my brain as horrified I watched as these hands rocked a "baby" hand to sleep. I don't know the logistic or popular opinion on this childrens show, but I was beyond horrified. If you have no clue what I am talking about or the picture does not do the scary factor of this show any justice just youtube "oobie" and a dozen hits come up for this show. While I am sure that this childrens program is extremely educational and problem is great for kids, I as an adult am completely creeped out by the talking hands with eyes. (picture from www.noggin.com)

This is so not cool...

So every now and then I do happen to get to read some news articles (usually online) and there is always that one story that really grabs me. This one definitely did:

So apparently in Gloucester MA high school a group of girls got together and made a pact to get pregnant. Yes that's right folks....high school girls, pact, pregnant! This trend in recent media with Jamie Lynn Spears and movies like Juno (totally blaming either for this even), has spread to the masses. Apparently 17 girls are with child now at this high school. This has shocked the community deeply and now they are torn on whether to provide condoms to the kids at the high school. All I have to say is this...education is key!!! While providing condoms is a great way to prevent pregnancy, if you don't use them or don't know how to use them effectively then they are basically a waste of money.

Well enough about my opinions. I hope that for the sack of these girls and their families that something is done, and clearly some form of educational/birth control should be carried out through that school. Here's the article so you can form your own opinion, clearly you can see where I am coming from:

http://www.boston.com/news/local/breaking_news/2008/06/report_of_glouc.html

Scary Kids Movies

Nothing excites me more than going onto www.imdb.com and checking out the board posts. Recently I was checking out what people had written about the movie "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?" I laughed when I saw how many posts there were from people who were scared of the evil character in the movie, Judge Doom. I laughed mainly because I distinctly remember being ridicously scared of the character as a child and am pleased I wasn't the only one to be freaked about by the maniacle toon played by Christopher Lloyd.

Another childhood movie that continues to haunt my adult life is "Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland." This "kid-friendly" film focuses on a boy who gets trapped in his dreams and then eventually in the Land of Nightmares. While I had originally gone through life thinking I was the only one who had seen this movie, let alone been scared shitless after seeing it that I would get stuck in my deams I went on the IMDB board and found that every other post was by a person was traumatized as a child by this movie. The movie is a bit hard to get and the only reason I watched it was because my grandmother had found it randomly at a store and thought it would be appropriate for children, so I don't know how readily available it is now.

Either way I am sure there are plently of other movies that children have joint fear associated with. I just find it funny that as adults we are able to reminice about the movies that scared the crap out of us.

Here is a clip of the more adult-friendly than kid-friendly movie "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?" and the clip that seriously haunted by nightmares for a good portion of my young childhood, enjoy:

The Van Wilder College Plan

So my school is not quite as bad as the movie...but as I typed an e-mail to a gentleman whom I wished to impress I found myself trying to justify the five year program at my school. Over the last few years of college the huge difference in college programs has become more evident. As my high school friends graduate from their respective four year colleges I find myself faced with yet another daunting year of undergraduate. And while my friends tell me constantly that they are jealous that I get to delay the "real world" for another year I can't help wondering...am I a slacker for wanting to delay graduating? I admit I really don't want to enter the harsh environment of the daily grind, yet at the same time I find myself loathing the moment when people ask about school and then hate the inevitable questions that follow: did you take a year off? did you have trouble in undergraduate? did you start college at the same time everyone else did? In general I find the one about me flunking college to be the one that irks me the most. No I did not flunk college, my school is designed for this and no this does not make me dumber than the other college students who currently are proudly displaying their Bachelors of so-and-so degrees. I keep reminding myself that my resume is a lot more in-depth than those other students and this will make me more desirable to employers and graduate schools alike (thank you co-op), but still I find myself trying to make excuses and write about my academic accomplishments when all I really have to say is, "I go to a five year undergraduate college, take it or leave it." Oh well heres to one more year of undergrad before entering the working world...I might as well delay the rat race as long as possible, we all know it inevitably comes. (image from www.rottentomatoes.com)

Just a quick post...

So the Celtics won (go Boston!) and the parade is tomorrow (I hope I can go). And I have this giant paper that I barely wrote which is due tomorrow and I have no clue how to write it...welcome to the life of a college student.

Celtics!

Go Celtics! Tonight's game 6 against the LA Lakers here in Boston.

Victoria Secret's Semi-Annual Sale!!!

In case you have not heard Victoria Secret's semi-annual sale is going on right now. I managed to make my way over to my local store to scrounge through the buckets of bras and underwear to try to find something worth buying. One sticky lipgloss and one Diamond Eye Shadow duo in blue diamond, and two thongs later I emerged with $18 lighter and with quite a wider smile. Go check it out: www.victoriasecret.com

Father's Day

They don't make Father's day cards for people like me. I hear the same arguements every year...why even bother getting him one? To that I argue that he is still my father, regardless of lack of contact, and thus he gets a card plain and simple. I wish they made cards for the absentee father...just so it would be easier for people like me. I go down the aisle and find "To the #1 Dad" or "Your the Best Dad in the World." My father is far from either of those statements. They don't make cards that read "For the dad who was only sometimes there and really shouldn't get a card, but its a holiday so why not." So instead I settle for the $1 cards, you know the ones with only 1 line reading "Happy Father's Day." So here is my father's day rant, may all those kids with absentee fathers celebrate...celebrate that sometimes sending only the $1 card is best alternative to actually having that man in our lives. To those with fathers or great fathers themselves: Happy Father's Day!

New Computer!

So I am currently typing this blog on my new Toshiba laptop computer (insert excited squeal of delight!). And while it is taking a decade to update and reinstall all my old programs in this new computer (thank you Geek squad), it definitely was time for a change.

Speaking of a change...is everyone on www.match.com ? Seriously, I was on the other day and it seemed that everyone I knew had a profile up on this dating website. I don't know how I feel about this. It definitely took a bit of pride stomping to put up a profile, even to admit to some that I was online dating. I guess the taboo of online dating has gone out the window since its become so common. We still carry with us this stigma of the geek at the computer unable to date in the "real world" so he must go online to find some kind of virtual girl to be friends with. While this image has long since been replaced with complicated profiles and intricate date matching it still lingers around each and every dating website. And while I readily admit to dating online I still think it a bit upsetting at the idea of replacing traditional meetings with online web surfing. When telling the story of how one meets their significant other, rarely do we ever picture someone telling their great-grandchildren, "we met online." But perhaps in a few years, this will be the new thing...grandparents will regale their grandkids with stories of how they toiled through endless profiles till they found that magical connection with one in particular. Its a bit weird, but that is the direction we are starting to head in this high-tech world. And fair enough we do everything online now...from ordering clothes, to music, even our food...so why not our dates? I suppose the magic is mainly in the dating, but I wonder if by dating online I am missing the magic of the first meeting?

Ahh...enough about online dating I must away to bed as my eyes are heavy with sleep. Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Show Me the Money!

myspace glitter

I am in the process of cutting back my somewhat ridiculous spending habit...I mean seriously five debit card swipes a day!!! And while I fully love saving money (when I try), I refuse to sacrifice my daily pleasures for lack of funds. So here are a few of my favorite ways to get by on a college budget:

• Itunes - Between picks of the week, free trailers for your Ipod, and podcasts this is a mecca for those who like free things. Bonus for those who go to Starbucks and pick up those free music selections they have at the counter. Podcasts are my favorite by far of the free things you can get off Itunes here are a few of my favorites: The MastHead with Marie Claire, How-To Girl (my newest favorite!), Frommers, Fordor, ModTV
• Gossip Rags - So most people know I absolutely love to read celebrity gossip and wont settle for being kept in the dark when it comes to my favorite Britney trash talk. Needless to say the best places to find it when scrimping is online. Here are some of my faves: http://www.perezhilton.com/, http://www.popsugar.com/, http://www.people.com/
• Magazines - These are my complete and utter guilty pleasure and also the biggest waste of my money. I find that there are two extremely great places for me to read free magazines...the gym and my locale bookstore's coffee area. Enough said
• Movies - While going out to one is great and the in the grocery store kiosks make Blockbuster's look like the biggest money suckers ever...it is still nice to save as much as one can on entertainment these days. I find that onDemand has great movies under the "Free Movie" section and I recently discovered if you have one of the premium channels you also get a whole other section of free movies (Newsies, anyone?!). In addition to this there are also usually great selections of movies at local libraries (see next section on libraries).
• Libraries - I cannot get enough of the Boston Public Library (http://www.bpl.org/). I can take out movies, books, CDs, and get into a lot of museums on passes. A lot of other libraries are similar to the BPL...check yours out
• Museums - A lot of museums tend to have cost free nights, these can be helpful when scrimping. In addition Bank of America is having their Museums on Us Month, which I recently discovered on a trip to the Museum of Fine Arts (http://www.mfa.org/). If you have a Bank of America card you can totally save on museum admissions.
• Food - This one is a no brainer for me. When I remember to I try to print out coupons. These little suckers aren't just made for grandmas, with them you can save tons of money. And with the help of the internet you can find a coupon for just about everything on your shopping list! Also if you like to go out to eat like I do then your in luck, because coupons are out there for restaurants as well (who knew!). And if you really want to scrimp you can sign up for your favorite restaurants mailing lists (send these e-mails to your junk e-mail account) and a lot of times you can get a coupon for a free appetizer and/or entree on your b-day

Well I hope you all enjoyed me little tips on saving, now if only I would do the same!

Wear Your Music: Guitar String Bracelet

I was flipping through an Instyle magazine today and saw a link to a website (www.wearyourmusic.com) that sold guitar string bracelets for the charity Music Cares. The website also sells guitar strings from famous musicians, but for the great price of $9.99 you can get a regular guitar string bracelet. Needless to say I totally want one! I love that its pretty simple, comes in a range of colors, and isn't something you see everyday. When I looked up guitar string bracelets there was a ton of do-it-yourself sites that can help you make one. But since it doesn't cost too much and its for a good cause...why not check out the website. I am thinking this might be a payday purchase....

I miss these kinds of movies...

When I was younger I used to love watching the Old Western movies that my grandparents had stashed by their TV. There was something about watching men who were men riding after the women they loved. Rugged, dirty...there was something about those western movies that I just couldn'thelp but love. Its been awhile since I've seen a good movie similar to those that I loved as a child but Baz Luhrmann's new movie Australia may just do it. Set around WWII this story follows Lady Sarah Ashley (Nicole Kidman) who has inherited a ranch in Austrlia. When her ranch is in danger she is forced to move her cattle across the country with the help of a rugged stock-man played by Hugh Jackman. (www.imdb.com) Needless to say I'm hooked. I absolutely love Lurhmann's previous movies (Moulin Rouge, Romeo + Juliet) and the trailer for this movie gave me goosebumps. While not really considered a Western (as it takes place in Australia), it still has that rugged, handsome cowboy who doesn't mind helping out the lady...its definitely on my must see list!

Bare Escentuals

Maybe its cause my skin has taken a turn for the worst with the muggy weather...or maybe its because I haven't tried any new products in awhile, but I am craving this blemish treatment by Bare Escentuals. I was watching QVC the other night and they talked about this new acne treatment, by the very people who make the foundation I swear by. Part of the Rareminerals collection, the Blemish Therapy are minerals combined with natural sulfur in order to treat and prevent acne. The powder also has a nice naturalizing feature to diminish the redness of breakouts. According to studies they say there have been decreases seen in acne, faster blemish healing, and fewer blackheads. It is also said to minimize pore size. I am sold! You can check it out at http://www.bareescentuals.com/

Wedding Season blows...

Another one bites the dust...as I slowly rose after my wedding weekend stupor today to be greeted by the news that apparently since I have been gone everyone is either engaged or married I decided to retreat again to the confines of my room until this month is over.

Everyone from family members, to the guy who sits next to me in class, to people at work seem to have been bitten by the love bug. I haven't decided if this makes me want to aww or vomit yet...but as I continuely go on dates I suppose its the former.

Its hotter than hell right now in Boston and we just won a baseball game I suppose love does stop in Beantown every-now-and-then for the more important things in life. I know this is a lame post, but I hoped to get one in before a somewhat busier week...aka I should be writing my presentation but have decided to procrastinate until the last possible minute....ah the life of a college student!

Review:Canestaro

Both me and my roommate were surprised that we had not gone to this restaurant before, but we stopped in the other night before the SATC movie to this little Italian restaurant. This place is definitely not fancy but the food is moderately priced, serves alcohol, has a fantastic dessert menu, and is quite cheap. It offers both indoor and outdoor dinning and is on a quiet street. The atmosphere is more casual as the tables were cheap plastic and the game was on the TV behind my head, but for two cheap college students it was just right. This place offers the traditional Italian menu of pizza, calzones, and pasta dishes. There was also a specials list as well as an alchol list. If you go, I highly reccomend going when the weather is nice so you can sit outside.

Canestaro
16 Petersborough Street
Boston, MA
617-266-8997
http://www.canestaros.com/

Sex and the City: the movie

I saw The Sex and the City: The movie on opening night at midnight in Boston. As we got there quite early I had the opportunity to people watch the mainly female audience as they streamed into the large theatre. There were those who fully realized that this movie was at 12 midnight and were dressed in sweatpants and a big t-shirts. And then there were women in mini-skirts and tiny tops who looked like they just stepped off of the movie's set. Either way all these different women came together for the sole purpose of spending two hours watching four women that America has come to love.

As the lights dimmed the shrieks happend as the Sex and the City theme song came on. For the purposes of not ruining the plot I wont say to much but I will say this...the movie was great. If you are a huge SATC fan than I highly suggest going to it. Even if you only watch it occasionally watch it on TBS I would reccomend going. If you were only mildly attached then wait till it comes out on video. The movie is a long one (about 2 hours), but it had an odd feel to it. I don't know if its because I am not used to seeing some of my favorite characters for so long or because it was on the big screen. Also there was no real emphasis on Carrie's column, which is one of my favorite aspects of the show so it was a bit of a disappoinment. The writers of the movie did well in trying to fill in the audience on what has happend to these four women over the course of the years since we have watched them stumble through love on HBO. Much has changed for all four but they come together back in NY for Carrie and Big's wedding (yikes!). Needless to say this provides the majority of the drama of the movie.

I am definitely happy that I saw this movie, but am not sure how other SATC fans are reacting (numbers for people who saw the movie- does not mean reviews) to there characters. I am not sure if its because we see them out of their singledom or because the movie surrounds weddings, or if its just odd to place the characters in a full screen movie...either way I felt a bit odd when leaving the theate. I was satisfied but not in the big way I thought I would be. Either way I reccomend going to see it!