Blog Post #8 ~ Writing in your Journal for "I Remember Masa."

Writing in Your Journal for "I Remember Masa" Pages 562-565

1. Write about your earliest memory of food or something associated with food, such as shopping or cooking.

One of my earliest memories of food are from when I was around three years old. I have a picture embedded in my head of me sitting on my 'play' blanket (a small, colorful blanket with pockets and things sewed on it to play with) while eating a piece of orange fake cheddar cheese. I still remember the taste in my mouth, as well as the memory of me returning often to my mother for some more.

My entire family is allergic to dairy, in any form. So eating soy cheese, soy and rice milk as well as other substitutes for butter, and yes, ice-cream, are things that I have grown up with. Another memory I have is from when I was about four or five. My aunt accidentally gave me some regular dairy ice-cream, and me, thinking that it was the kind I could have, ate it all! When I found out I felt very guilty, though I can't remember if I got sick or not. Most of the time when any of my family eats dairy we get a really bad cold and sore throat. Now as I am older sometimes I will knowingly eat things with dairy, because it looks SO good. But sure enough a few weeks later I am suffering the consequences.

Food is definitely one of my weaknesses! I LOVE food! It's something I look forward to everyday! There isn't really any kind of food that I don't like. I'm definitely the least picky eater in my family! I guess it all started with my fun and happy time of eating cheese on my 'play' blanket.

Blog Post #7 ~ Writing in your Journal

Writing in your Journal Assignment for “The Beguiling Truth about Beauty” By Carlin Flora

Pages 442-446

1. In paragraph 5, Flora says “Our brains have a built-in hot-or-not meter that never stops gathering data.” Is this statement true for you? Explain.

I’m afraid that I have to say yes to that. I think that the ‘meter’ works in my brain quite a bit more than it should. There are some days that I feel like I am pretty, but those days seem to be far and few between lately. I am absolutely terrible at comparing myself to others! I try to remind myself that every single person is completely different and therefore honestly not in any way comparable to myself, yet I do it anyway. Self-image and self-confidence are things that society really struggles with in the world today. Media has brought the ‘expectations’ of beauty higher than it has been before and men and women everywhere are finding it hard to measure up. I am affected by this like everyone else, but I find myself affected more by the people around me. I feel that I have to make up for my lack of physical attraction by my skills to get attention. How I feel about myself seems to greatly depend on what happens each day. The most important thing I am learning is that it is who you are that makes the difference, not how you look, and that it is also important not to let the ‘hot-or-not meter’ take control of your life. How you feel about yourself is a choice. I am trying hard to be happy no matter what other’s opinion of me is or what I think the hot-or-not meter says.