ChaChaChaChanges

Well, today is a historic day.

We have a new president. We have an African American President. The first one in American history.

I don't envy him. We are in a time of crisis; there's no doubt about that. He said it in his speech:

"That we are in the midst of crisis is now well understood. Our nation is at war, against a far-reaching network of violence and hatred. Our economy is badly weakened, a consequence of greed and irresponsibility on the part of some, but also our collective failure to make hard choices and prepare the nation for a new age. Homes have been lost; jobs shed; businesses shuttered. Our health care is too costly; our schools fail too many; and each day brings further evidence that the ways we use energy strengthen our adversaries and threaten our planet."

(You can find the entire text of the speech here)

While I do think it's great that we have been able to elect a black person as president, I do have to wonder what it really means. Racism is still prevalent in the country today; I don't think anyone can argue with that. Is this really a big step in closing that racial divide? I wonder how many people simply voted for a candidate based on the color of their skin instead of the issues at hand. If I do give people the benefit of the doubt though and the majority voted based on issues, then bravo, America. I guess time will tell how much this means to racism in America. I can only hope that slowly but surely we are getting past the surface issues of what color a person's skin is and deal with the issues at hand.

Moving on from the racial issues, with the Dow down to below 8,000, I'm continuing to hold my breath in hopes that a new administration will mean an economic turnaround. Again, time will tell. I like my job; I'd like to keep it. I know millions echo that sentiment. Not only am I hoping for an economic turnaround and being able to keep my job (and return to full time!), I'm hoping for healthcare reform. The threat of losing my job has had me looking at private healthcare, which is ridiculously expensive. I mean, I do understand why, but only to a certain extent. I can't fathom having a family and having to pay the entire premium out of pocket.

Obama got my vote in November. He won me and I fell under the "Change we can believe in" motto. Now, Mr. President, show me that change. I know there's a long, steep, slow climb ahead of us, but a new year, a new leader and a new perspective has me hoping that promises will be kept and, in the end, we can look back and say it was change we really could believe in.

If I had a million dollars...

Well, the writers' strike is over. Am I glad? Yes. Did I miss my shows? Yes. Was it the end of the world that there weren't any new episodes on? No. I actually got some stuff done around the house instead of plopping my butt in front of the TV.

This strike was a bit interesting to me. People got so irritated that their shows weren't on, there were constant reruns, and we were bombarded with some (awful) reality TV. It's amazing how self-centered our society can be. On the message board I frequent, I was a little saddened by how many people were saying to just get it over with so they could watch new episodes again. Um, what about the writers? They were the ones getting screwed...

Think Too Much

They say that the left side of the brain
Controls the right
They say that the right side
Has to work hard all night
Maybe I think too much for my own good
Some people say so
Other people say no no
The fact is
You don't think as much as you could
Hmmm

-Simon and Garfunkel, "Think Too Much"

I was listening to CNN yesterday on my drive to work and Robin commented about how Britney Spears was back in the hospital on a psych hold. This segment was promptly followed by a clip of "Oops, I did it Again". I have to admit, it made me laugh. Don't get me wrong, it's a very sad situation, but that clip was just too ironic.

Britney's freefall from fame prompted a rather lengthy discussion on a message board I frequent. For some reason, I can't wrap my brain around this. Why are celebrity lives so intriguing to so much of the American population? I just don't understand it. If I'm going to listen to the news, I would want to be listening to something that was worthwhile. One of my friends posted a link to a summary of findings regarding news interests. I shouldn't be surprised by the following fact:

As is often the case with tabloid stories, younger women made up the core audience for this story. One-in-five women under age 50 listed Ledger's death as the story they followed most closely last week. This compares with only 11% of both men under 50 and women over 50 and just 2% of men 50 and older.

Kohut, et. al. "Campaign and Economy Dominate News Interest; Interest in Iraq at All-Time Low". The Pew Research Center. 30 January 2008 http://people-press.org/reports/display.php3?ReportID=390

::steps up on soapbox::


20% of the young female population chose to follow Heath Ledger's death instead of the upcoming presidential election, the war in Iraq, the stock market's tumble, or the economic stimulus plan. Unbelievable. Yes, he died a sudden death and death is sad, but I can't wrap my brain around the obsession over celebrity lifestyles. That's a scary, scary statistic right there. They're people too; I'd have to imagine they enjoy privacy as much as we do. Aren't there more important things in life than focusing so much energy watching someone's every move?

::steps off soapbox::

I wonder how things will change for this week... I put my money that that same group (women under age 50) will be following the Britney train wreck the most this week. Granted, I don't always listen to the news, but I can guarantee you that as soon as CNN kept bringing up Britney yesterday as one of their top stories, my finger found the buttons to change the channel in lightning speed. As long as people listen, the media will continue to feed us the latest gossip.

Stealing the words from the cervical cancer vaccine commercial... "I want to be one less": One less person who feeds the media's desire to keep covering the celebrity train recks, one less person who thinks a celebrity's break up is newsworthy, one less person who puts Hollywood in front of real news. I like to think I already am one less. Are you?

The real question is... Does our generation (or even America in general) think too much or not enough? Sometimes I think we think too much and overanalyze, but a majority of the time we fall into a "habit" of not thinking as much as we should. If people would start thinking about what they're spending their time in (celebrity gossip vs. real news), where would we be? Instead of reading the latest on TMZ or Perez, would a few more people have realized that they were getting into a bad mortgage because they spent some time researching what they were getting into? Would a few more people be more financially responsible? Would a few more people be able to make an educated decision on who they should vote for?

I'm not trying to say that everyone goes and reads these sites or picks up their US Weekly at the checkout each week, but that statistic above is quite scary. Are celebrity lives really that intriguing? It's a vicious circle. Gossip sells. Increased media attention + upcoming movie/song/show = Better sales. Britney's going off the deep end and people wonder why. I can't imagine the stress of having your every move scrutinized.

I'm the first to admit that I don't know as much as I should about a lot of things, especially politics. I'll also admit that I have my own mindless places/things that I waste my time on. I don't know of a single person who has a perfect balance between thinking too much and thinking too little. Sometimes you need a couple mindless minutes, hours, or even a full day. I guess it's something to strive for. One thing at a time. Habits can change with a conscious effort to change them. Maybe enough people's habits will change and lead to Hollywood taking a back seat to real news on every channel, not just a select few.