Katy Perry does America.

As you can see from the posts so far that I have not found an identity for what my blog could be yet. So I will continue to to test the waters until I find a niche to write about, and today's niche is the lovely and talented Katy Perry.

Many of you are wondering why I decided to do a post about a pop star whose target audience is millions of teenage girls, tweens, and guys who have a thing for her. I guess lately shes been on a tour promoting her new album, because I am seeing her a lot more often. If you know anything about her and her videos, in general they tend to be fantastically crazy or curiously interesting. If you ever seen California Gurls then you know what I'm talking about, if not watch it and be mind blown. It gives you a new spin on an old childhood game of Candyland. My question is why the heck is Snoop Dogg in it?

I'm guessing shes trying to find more people to buy her albums, because she was to be featured in an old childhood tv show "Sesame Street." In it she is on a play date with Elmo, (I wonder if Russel Brand was okay with it) and the whole premise of the skit was have Katy running after Elmo to a kids version of "Hot and Cold," all in a low cut dress. After many complaints about the its "sexual" content it was shelved. It begs the question, Why was it made in the first place? No doubt, it was to attract higher ratings for the show, but it had to educational content at all. I mean I grew up loving the show Sesame Street for its kid lessons about honesty, hard work, and caring for others; not to see a pop star finding more tweens to follow her. Granted, I'm sort of a hypocrite by showing this video just below, but its hard to look away ;), maybe I should start watching Sesame Street again.

Education..... Is it up to us?

I recently saw a movie trailer about the failing education system in the United States. From trailer (in which you can see below), concerns are raised about the future of our country if our school systems are allowed to wallow and deteriorate. The reason for my fascination with the school system is because like the most of us, we were all part of this big epic school failure (private schools aside). How many of us have been bored to death or uninterested in school because it didn't apply to our daily lives? How many of us have had dreams or aspirations shut in our faces because we didn't get into our dream school to further our passions?

Well, I was/am still relegated to the limitations and barriers that I got from my education system. That is not to say that I'm blaming it all on the schools, part of it is family upbringing and personal motivation. I believe that everyone has to have a fair shot at living out our dreams. Those who live in inner city communities and poor areas of the country have very little real chance of getting out of their situation. (I am generalizing, of course there are many exceptions) But, good teachers tend to want to teach better and safer neighborhoods, leaving the the poor/bad teachers to educate the rest. 

I think that the way schools are pushed to "study for the test" is a incomplete way to learn. One cannot study and memorize facts without significant context to support it. The material is much more personal if it can be related to something in our lives no matter how inconsequential it is. For example, learning about physics can enlighten one's views about the world that they live in, how the motion of the planets can effect the climate and seasons. Or history, studying that the world has been conquered over and over and that it might happen again if we aren't to careful of who we chose to power.

School is to promote ideas, foster minds, and generate creativity, but it seems the complete opposite in reality. How many of us fell asleep during school? I'll have more later on, as this is a topic is close to my heart. Watch the movie and be scared of what might happen to our youth.

In the beginning there was man.

I have chosen to start a blog as a creative outlet to expand my horizons. Hopefully, the viewers (if any) will find my comments and opinions witty and satirical enough to keep on reading. It is mainly for my own personal benefit that I write down some of the feelings and issues that I have with society and my own need to solve problems far beyond what one man can do. If you know me well enough, I tend to get very passionate with problems at hand and over-analyze them to complete exhaustion. I guess that is why I decided to head towards a career studying problems.

So, a little introduction is in order. My name is Steven, I like long walks on the beach, walking in the rain, smooth jazz, I'm a Gemini, hates turtlenecks and loud people. Hmm sounds an ad for e-harmony. Anyways, I'm starting graduate school at USC with the hope of being a Dr. Steven in a few years. It is an exciting time filled with new adventures, new people, and awesomeness! In reality, so far it has been a lot of work and homework. This blog is my way of keeping sane the next few years of my life. I have always had an interest in writing and storytelling, so my goal is to be able to harness my untapped skill.

and now a comedic break...





and we're back.

I think she was okay. There will be more educational material further down the line, so stay tuned.