December 11th, 2007
Who knew a kindergarten holiday craft project could be such a addictive online game…
I’m hooked. It’s bad…
There’s a new (to me) meme going around. Apparently it’s a test given to college students illustrate privilege taken for granted by many people. I suppose it could be a helpful tool for a few but I think it largely confuses “privilege” with “wealth.” While the two are certainly not mutually exclusive, they are far from synonymous. In that same vein, I think the meme is probably ineffective in its purported goal, simply because I think (hope??) most people can easily see the material privileges they have in their life. It’s the more subtle, but equally important, privileges that often require an outsider to open our eyes to. That said, I’ll give it a go anyways. The statements that applied to me at age 18 are bolded, maybes are italicized:
If your father went to college before you started
If your father finished college before you started
If your mother went to college before you started
If your mother finished college before you started
If you have any relative who is an attorney, physician, or professor.
If your family was the same or higher class than your high school teachers1
If you had a computer at home when you were growing up
If you had your own computer at home when you were growing up2
If you had more than 50 books at home when you were growing up
If you had more than 500 books at home when you were growing up3
If were read children’s books by a parent when you were growing up
If you ever had lessons of any kind as a child or a teen
If you had more than two kinds of lessons as a child or a teen4
If the people in the media who dress and talk like you were portrayed positively
If you had a credit card with your name on it before college
If you had or will have less than $5000 in student loans when you graduate
If you had or will have no student loans when you graduate
If you went to a private high school
If you went to summer camp 5
If you had a private tutor
(US students only) If you have been to Europe more than once as a child or teen
(International question) If you have been to the US more than once as a child or teen
If your family vacations involved staying at hotels rather than KOA or at relatives homes
If all of your clothing has been new
If your parents gave you a car that was not a hand-me-down from them
If there was original art in your house as a child or teen
If you had a phone in your room
If your parent owned their own house or apartment when you were a child or teen
If you had your own room as a child or teen
If you participated in an SAT/ACT prep course
If you had your own cell phone in High School
If you had your own TV as a child or teen
If you opened a mutual fund or IRA in High School or College
If you have ever flown anywhere on a commercial airline
If you ever went on a cruise with your family
If your parents took you to museums and art galleries as a child or teen
If you were unaware of how much heating bills were for your family
Lee at Digital Nicotine tagged me for a meme. See it below.
1) Link to the person that tagged you, and post the rules on your blog.
2) Share 7 facts about yourself.
3) Tag 7 random people at the end of your post, and include links to their blogs.
4) Let each person know that they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.
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1) I hate calling people. I don’t mind talking on the phone (though I’m not big into that either), but for some reason I get all panicky when I have to make a call. Even with people I know. Every weekend a conversation like this is heard in my house:
Me: What do you want to do tonight?
TheBoyfriend™: I don’t know why don’t you call So-and-So and see if they want to get together?
Me: Uhh, yeah, well… Let me check and see if they are on IM.
2) I have the most extreme “Hitchhiker’s Thumb” I’ve ever seen. I can extend my thumb backwards at the joint to a full 90° angle. I used to occasionally entertain myself as a child by slamming my hand down on the table in front of others, then squealing as though I’d broke my thumb prominently displaying my reverse-bent thumb as evidence.
3) My skin crawls when I hear someone mispronounce “coupon.” It’s “koo-pon” not “Q-pon.” It stems back to my freshman year in high school in which the English teacher had a list of words you were not allowed to mispronounce in her class. I think that I’ve since seen that both pronunciations are now considered acceptable, but I still cringe at “Q-pon.”
4) I know an insane amount of useless trivia. I know everybody says that but I’m well known for it among my friends. The funny thing is that it’s all stuck in my head and I can’t pull it forth on demand, only when something I hear reminds me of a strange fact. At that point I feel absolutely compelled to share it with the room.
5) I’m always the youngest in the room. Ok, so not always but I do tend to always have older friends. My senior year in high school sucked because nearly all my friends had graduated by the time, I started my senior year. Hasn’t changed. Almost all my friends are 2-10 years older than me.
6) I have no enamel on my teeth. As an infant I contracted spinal meningitis. I’m glad I don’t remember if because I’m told at it’s worst, blood began to seep from the pores in my hands. Anyways, the medication they gave me saved my life at the expense of causing my teeth to develop without enamel.
7) I like making desserts. I don’t like to cook “food-food,” but I will bake pies, cakes, cookies, etc. The strange thing is I don’t have much of a sweet tooth and so I really don’t particularly care to EAT my creations, just to make them. I’m always excited when I’m invited to a party or something and need to bring a dessert. I make a mean cheesecake and at our recent Halloween party I made up my own thing by baking sugar cookies, adding a dollop of vanilla pudding and sprinkling it was hand-picked raspberries. They were a BIG hit.
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Ok, I’m supposed to tag seven others, but honestly the only people I read regularly are the folks on my blogroll (just because of times sake, not because there aren’t plenty of other quality blogs out there), and two of them have already done it, I’m pretty sure two won’t, so I’ll just leave it open for anybody. If you do it as a result of seeing this post, leave a comment and I’ll link to you in this post.
If it sounded like this:
As I said before, getting ready for my annual Halloween party is an all day event for me. Usually I watch Tim Burton’s Nightmare Before Christmas at some point during that day, but this year somehow the television got tuned to Mtv (I don’t know how, I think it’s the first time my tv has ever been on Mtv) which was running the entire second season of “So You Think You Can Dance.” Now I realize that that season has come and long gone for those who were fans, but I’d never seen it before. I have but one thing to say, there should be more shows on tv with scenes like this:
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I might watch more tv if there were…
Thanks MusicCityBloggers. This picture made my day.
If I had these guys and the knowledge to program them, I’d have a concert in my garage every night (well, if I had a garage that is)1