Spray Away Gray

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            Touching up gray hair used to be as easy as buying a box of hair dye from the local drug store and applying. However, a new As Seen On T.V. product makes trying to mask age even simpler with a spray-on color fix. With it you can extend the time between your shampoos. The spray color will stay put until you shampoo it out.

            Sounds like this would work in a pinch, but doesn’t seem like the best solution out there. In my opinion, it is a bit trashy and cheap. The television commercial says it looks natural and they show the demonstration on someone with black hair. It is hard to go wrong with a color match there, right? I wonder how the spray-on color would look on someone with red hair because that is definitely not a one-size-fits-all type of shade.

            I don’t need a gray fix-up and even if I did I would not use one from a can. Alas, it seems it was never meant to be anyway. They have colors for black, dark brown, medium brown, light brown, and auburn, but there’s not a color to match my hair. Probably not a missed opportunity though because I think the concept is ridiculous. It kind of reminds me of the laughable spray-on hair for balding men. What will As Seen on T.V. come up with next?

Bagel Head, Really?

Perhaps you’ve heard of this. It has been in the news the past couple of days, but the bagel head is something that I haven’t been able to get off my mind. Picture it, the newest trend in body mutilation/art is a round lump in the forehead with a thumb print in it. Apparently, the lump is made of saline that is injected into the forehead and then at just the right moment someone presses their thumb into the middle of the lump to make an indentation. The body “art” only lasts about a day. The National Geographic Channel did a whole show in this craze (set to air 9/30/12) and CNN’s Anderson Cooper featured it on his Ridiculist. I think the Ridiculist is an appropriate place for the commentary on the phenomenon, after all it is rather ridiculous. Some probably think it looks cool or sexy, but I think it looks idiotic and to go through a medical procedure to look temporarily idiotic is even more asinine. You make the call. Pictures below.

The Instagram Joke

Is Instagram becoming the butt of jokes? I recently saw a promo for the hit comedy show “Two Broke Girls” and one of the actresses made a comment about Instagram being like Twitter for people who can’t read. Comical and seemingly true! You can tell which photos on social media news feeds were taken with Instagram because they look cheap. The filters do not enhance the photography. Instead they attempt to mask the imperfections of the picture with corny color treatments, blur spots and borders. Please stop using the ridiculous after-affects!

Instagram bills itself as photo sharing, reinvented. So, families can share photos of their children with their friends and photographers can showcase their work. However, just because Instagram is a new concept for an app doesn’t mean it is worthwhile. There are many photo sharing websites that are worthwhile, however not quite as instant. After all, you have to wait until you get to your home computer or laptop to upload the photos into an album, but is that such a terrible price to pay if your sole purpose is to share photos with others? This is why Instagram has been likened to Twitter because it is almost instantaneous. Simply take a photo with your phone, add a silly filter that makes the picture look very phony, and post to all social media platforms. You are essentially showing off where you are and what you are doing. However, I wonder if the novelty of Instagram has reached the point of saturation in the marketplace. There is the risk of attention deficit-prone Americans growing weary of the product. Furthermore, there are naysayers like me who will continue to joke about and mock Instagram until it has been driven into the ground.

FroYo? Pile It On!

            Frozen yogurt? Yes, please. I am a big fan of the trend of build-your-own dessert bars at frozen yogurt shops. Bright colors, several yogurt flavors to chose from and then a toppings bar so you can sprinkle candy, nuts, cereal or anything else on top of your creation. The downside of the build-your-own FroYo is that my eyes are bigger than my stomach and you pay by weight and I always get way too much. Generally that ends with me clutching my head because I am frustrated with myself and have brain freeze. I have also at times made some really bad decisions just because I got so excited about multiple non-complimentary flavors. One time I had cheesecake and peppermint sprinkled with Cinnamon Toast Crunch. That one may just go down in history as my worst selection, way too much going on there Here's some advice if you ever find yourself overwhelmed with FroYo: you can’t go wrong with fruit flavors and Sour Patch Kids.

Scrumptious or Yummy?

Scrumptious is a word used to describe food or drinks and not humans. So, why then has Heidi Klum decided to name her new line for Babies R’ Us “Truly Scrumptious”? Is there anything wrong with using adjectives that mean cute instead of adjectives that mean yummy? This is a question that has been on my mind for a couple weeks now, actually since the first time I saw a commercial for Klum’s new baby line. The name bothers me. Klum’s line has clothing, strollers, bedding, and furniture. It features monster characters, animal prints, tutus, and teddy bears. These things are all cute or precious, but not appetizing.

Morning After Pills in High Schools

            Some are again questioning whether New York City is going too far. Nurses in high schools there are now handing out the morning after pill to students without parental consent. According to an article in the Chicago Tribune, officials say the parent were made aware of the program and were offered a way to opt out. Very few parents decided not to take part in the program. Health officials say the program was designed to help prevent unwanted pregnancies. The pill works as emergency contraception up to 72 hours after unprotected sex or contraception failure.

Despite the program’s intent it has created unwanted controversy. One city lawmaker has called on Mayor Michael Bloomberg to immediately put an end to the program because he views medicating children without parental consent as unconscionable, according to the Tribune article. The director of an anti-abortion group in the area says the program should actually force parents to opt in instead of declining to participate. That way, many more parents would pay attention to what is going on because they would have to sign a permission slip in order to take part.

It is true that New York City is one area with a teen pregnancy problem and I commend health officials for trying new methods to reach out to teens and ameliorate this problem, however I feel this type of direct involvement in the lives of students is unwise. It removes the parent from the equation, going over their heads to manage teen reproduction. Officials have shifted the problem of teen pregnancy from the home to the schools. Now, it will be seen as a school’s fault if a teen becomes pregnant and schools already have enough to worry about without getting involved in this fight.  I think some teens will see this as an easy way to get around having to talk to their parents about sex. Instead of being safe, they’ll just go to the school nurse after the fact. It seems health officials do not want children to eat high calorie foods or drink large sugary sodas, but they are okay with teens getting emergency contraception at school without their parents knowing.

Dancing with the Stars: Week 1

 SPOILER ALERT!

Pamela Anderson is gone. The show couldn’t have picked a better person to hang up the dancing shoes. After all, Dancing with the Stars doesn’t quite have the all-star cast they claim to. There is a lot of excitement, intensity and talent, but not everyone measures up. I understand why the producers chose to put Pamela Anderson in the lineup. Sex sells and she definitely has the appeal. Her dancing, while a bit better than I remembered from her first go-around, was not at the level of the other contestants. She was unsure of her steps and seemed to be moving a bit slower than her professional partner Tristan. One dancer whose level of skill also doesn’t match the others is Bristol Palin. However, Bristol is much better this season. She is much more confident and not just in what she is doing but in herself. She looks much more poised. Her dancing reflects this change in her. I agree with the judges that she is the most improved, but I think she should be the next to go if eliminations were based on dance skill alone.

I picked my favorites for this week, four of them in fact. They likely won’t be my favorites every week, since my judging is based on actual skill, charisma, and performance. Shawn Johnson was very precise in a fox trot that just made me smile. Perhaps it was the yellow costumes. Drew Lachey also performed a lovely fox trot that was bubbly and fun. At this point in the competition I was wondering if I just had a thing for the fox trot. Then, Kelly Monaco came with a hot cha cha that was very precise. To cap the night off and my list of favorites, Emmett Smith delivered a funky and soulful cha cha. He was very entertaining and moved around like he owned the stage.

The most radical of changes for this season is the judges being able to issue half points. This no doubt was done in order to increase competition and decrease the number of ties. The producers are encouraging a horse race mentality this season and this change makes it even easier to see who is right on the leader’s heels, getting ready to edge them out. Only time will tell if this actually works or if the addition of the half points becomes a laughable distraction.

The Dancing with the Stars producers are again having trouble filling time on the results show. Tonight’s show was filled with boring moments to talk to the celebrities to find out what they’ve been up to and why they decided to come back to the competition. Not enough action for me. There were some funny moments, but in my opinion they were not enough to sustain my attention. Stick to the dancing!

Here Comes Honey Boo Boo?

            As part of my desire to keep up with pop culture, I recently decided to tune in to some reality television. I didn’t want to waste a regular amount of time watching the newest reality phenomenon, “Here Comes Honey Boo Boo.” Okay, phenomenon is not the right word, how about debacle? Anyway, I watched short features of the show on On Demand and that was really enough for me to get a good feel for the show without demoralizing myself. The features are much shorter than the real TLC program (2 minutes long) and more fitting for someone who does not have the patience to deal with shows that champion people who are self-proclaimed rednecks. Many have criticized the show for that reason and because it is a spin-off of sorts from “Toddlers and Tiaras” people have criticized that show as well, however for slightly different reasons. I feel outrageous shows of the sort give people something to talk about. They give people some thing to debate and fodder for water cooler conversations at work.

            Child pageantry is definitely a controversial subject. While I do believe it builds self esteem, confidence and responsibility, I think that pageant contestants can sometimes get caught up in an alternate reality where winning by any mean is the most important thing in life. There is life beyond the tiara and sash. The most important aspect of participating in pageants or high-competition sports or competitions is a good balance in life.

            Reality shows are more successful when the show is able to perpetuate a stereotype or portray a certain character as evil, over bearing, or complaisant. It is very difficult to judge a family or situation based on how it is presented in a reality show. After all, the reality show isn’t out to necessarily portray reality. The show’s objective is to bring in ratings.  The redneck culture that is on “Here Comes Honey Boo Boo,” has to be common somewhere, but I find it hard to believe that the amount of showy, in-your-face red neck confidence is the norm. Some of that may be editing and some may be acting based on a subtle nudge from producers. The show’s success is up to you, the regular viewer, and not me.

Operating System Upgrade vs. New iPhone

            The iPhone 5 is now available and so is the new iPhone system upgrade iOS6. At first when learning about the features on the new phone, I didn’t feel an overwhelming desire to own the latest technology. There was only one feature that I thought would be an excellent addition to my phone, the new turn-by-turn map system. However, I now have that technology on my iPhone 4s courtesy of a free upgrade.

            So, why get the new iPhone 5 when the system upgrade contains excellent non-hardware updates? In addition to the turn-by-turn navigation, the new mapping system can show real-time traffic conditions like accidents and road construction. It also includes a new perspective on maps with interactive 3-D aerial views of major metro areas. Another feature that is not necessary, but is a fun perk is the new voice call options. When someone is calling you and you can’t pick up you can instead send the call to voice mail, reply with a message, or click for a reminder of the phone call. The new phone also has a panorama camera option. Lastly the integrated Facebook feature makes connecting with people easier as I am now able to post a picture to Facebook directly from my camera or photos and post my location in a status directly from the maps app. These features alone are more than I could possibly need.

            Then there are the updated options that are nice, but probably won’t get as much use on my phone. Siri is able to deliver answers to new kinds of questions about sports scores and movie reviews, but as it is Siri doesn’t understand a thing I say. You can also share your photo stream via the cloud, but there are already numerous apps that allow me to share photos. Passbook allows users to organize your boarding passes, coupons, gift certificates, movie tickets and more. However, I don’t often use these electronic receipts.

            Although the new iOS6 upgrade has all one could possibly need in a phone, some have still gone out to purchase the iPhone5 and many more plan to. Sure the new phone is a bit thinner and the camera’s optics are better, but at what point are we content with the technology we have available? At what point do we stop consuming new versions of technology? After all, many of the non-spec features on the iPhone 5 are similar to the new operating system and also not vital to everyday life. In this case, it seems people are rushing out to get the latest technology just to have it rather than because they actually need it.

Marketing Applies to More than Campaigns

            It can be difficult for people to talk about themselves. In fact I don’t know how many times I’ve heard people say they feel silly doing so because they’re not full of it. Knowing how to talk yourself up a does not make you full of it. Knowing how to market yourself makes you a savvy businessperson and that doesn’t just apply to the workforce.

            Understanding your strengths and weaknesses can help you position yourself in the job market, for workplace advancement, or to land a date with that guy you’ve been eyeing up. You have to know how to apply your skill set or attributes to any situation. Focus on the positive. You have to know how to shine a light on what you can do for a company, a department, or a social situation. How can I relate my professional communications experiences to auto body repair? The answer may seem a bit like manipulation or spin, but if you understand your abilities then you are simply telling the truth.

            Marketing applies to more than just campaigns. In life, you are marketing yourself whether you realize it or not and if you don’t take advantage of the opportunities then you could be selling yourself short. If you don’t learn how to talk yourself up now, it may be too late to learn by the time you need to start trying. Thus, every time I hear someone say they’re not good at talking about themselves I give a little chuckle. It is worth the effort to try.