pral

I think in America, because of the strictness of drinking age and such, people see it as a coming of age moment. That fun time they had, breaking all the rules, challenging their parents, things like that. It's almost how prom gives girls a chance to dress up and have a moment of feeling incredible, alcohol has a similar effect. When I was first entering college, it was definitely a whirlwind of alcohol and parties every night. People around me were drinking at every turn, and the worst were the people with the most strict parents who felt this sudden freedom fall upon them. Not that I condone drinking till throwing up and blacking out, but theres a reason why people do it. At my college, drinking was the way to meet people in a casual fun, non-awkward sort of way. If you think about it, my school being in the middle of nowhere, if you throw 20,000 kids together to meet and mingle, and need to make friends in a week, drinking is bound to happen in excess. I think the problem that your seeing, if when people first start drinking, they don't understand their limits. They just keep drinking, because everyone else is doing the same thing, and of all those people someone must know what their doing, right? I'm still 20, and its a little weird because in Japan I have been of legal drinking age but not in the US. Though, Japan is far less strict than America is, and my mother would always have a glass of wine or beer with me when I'm there with her. For me, I enjoy beer and wine before I sleep, but there is a huge difference with that compared to binge drinking. The reason for people even having to deal with throwing up is the amount they drink and not controlling themselves, which is probably due to society. Maybe its all because of the media's obsession with partying and making is seem so great?I don't know, I think it's great that you are against the whole scene, and you should stay true to your beliefs! If anyone doubts you, they are the ones trying to conform and fit in, and it's their loss. My 2 cents.

I respect anyone that is able to completely cut meat out of their diets, but I never realized how touchy of a subject vegetarianism can be for some people. I definately agree that some people take the anti-animal-killing thing a little too far, but in my experience the vegetarians I know are healthy, sensible people who don't believe in eating meat for their own personal reasons. The way I see it, if they can look at the way industries use and abuse animals for the mass production of food supply and tell themselves they don't want to be a part of that anymore, than more power to them. If they approach me and tell me I am wrong for being mainstream and consuming meat here and there, then I have a problem. I think it is just like every other social issue, though: there will always be extremists and those are the only people you notice for that very reason. My father is vegetarian for health reasons, and many friends of mine choose not to eat meat for their own reasons, and we should all accept that. It's just like religion and other issues, everyone is entitled their own beliefs and we should all respect each other. No one is right or wrong, they just have different values.I myself am actually unable to digest meat other than poultry. Since my father is vegetarian, I would only eat meat when my family and I ate out on occasion, so whenever I attempt beef and pork, I have a hard time digesting the food. I love fish and chicken, but still eat both rather sparingly compared to friends of mine. I guess health wise I'm lucky since I don't get tempted by the roommates huge tri-tip steak sitting in my fridge

The restaurant I work at was so dead because everyone was watching the game. But, for those of us who had to work, I must say it was quite an exciting moment when the giants turned the game around at the end of the 4th quarter. I'm not a huge football fan, but I can enjoy a good game like today's.Although, the best part of the superbowl has to be the crazy commercials they show every year. Have you ever wondered how much money companies spend to advertise during that prime television spot? It is absolutely ridiculous, mind you, they are still spending a lot more than normal for the production of the commercials as well. Oh well, I guess they are entertaining nonetheless.

I absolutely love Japanese food. Traditional foods though, I'm not too big on chicken teriyaki or crazy sushi rolls with TONS of sauce all over them. I like simple Japanese dishes with rice and soup and seaweed. (yum) I love grilled fish too, and since I don't have one I have just been broiling my fish usually. I wish I could find a larger variety of fish at the local grocery stores

I'm not too sure how popular (or not) this game was in places outside Japan, but the earthbound/mother games were always my favorite. The quirkyness of the games are cute, but maybe this is just a female perspective on rpg games. I know Ness was in Supersmash Bros which is popular out here, so maybe there was a bigger following than I am aware.The game itself is cute and fun, I love that style of graphics and just an overall entertaining story.

As a graphic design student the programs that I have to use on a regular basis are Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, and Bridge. Illustrator is usually how i end up composing any poster or print work I do because it handles type so well. Photoshop is only used when I need to edit the image itself, and then I format it correctly and place it into illustrator anyway. InDesign has an interface similar to illustrator and is a tool for multi-page layouts. Editorials, catalog's, book-spreads are usually done in In Design.I like to use Bridge to view and organize my photographs as it gives options to rename photos in batches and to open them between programs which can be very useful.I actually have not even tried to look at the other programs, but I'm sure one of these days I will.

When I was around 12 or 13, I think I was dating anyone who was interested. We would hang out for weeks or months, and then realize that we were not right for each other and move on quite quickly. I never once expected something as serious as what I have now back then, but the experience helped me shape my understanding of others and our abilities to communicate effectively with one another. In highschool I had a much more serious relationship (maybe 2 years or so) but because I was so engulfed in it, as was my boyfriend at the time, the way it ended was by no means civil or optimal. I think because we were together for so long (Well at the time it was extremely long to us) we expected a lot out of the relationship and each other even though we barely knew ourselves. These relationships are all great to find out who we are as people and what we expect others.Now that I am a little bit older and more mature, the person I am with now is truly special and perfect for me, and we can communicate with one another much better which makes for a solid relationship.I think it is important to date and experiment at the younger ages to establish yourself and learn about each other, but also try to put things into perspective that you are young and shouldn't get too carried away. The most important thing is to just have fun and live your life, is my opinion.

I am a college student in my Junior year studying Graphic Design and Communications.In my free time (well, my non-class time) I work as a Graphic Design assistant on campus (10$ / hr) and at night I work as a waitress to pay the bills. If anyone needs a great job that makes a lot of money, and you are friendly, you should definitely look into serving at a restaurant. You can make at least 100$ per night in tips at most restaurants, varying from the degree of the quality at the place, but it is also a great place to market yourself and make connections with the rest of the world.

I love it when I get to experience the occasional lucid dream! It is really crazy when I realize it, but more often than not I am unable to control everything in my dream. I actually had quite a few interesting dreams this past night, but I am not confident that I could remember the details...1. When I think of the 3 strangest dreams I have ever had, the first one that immediately comes to mind is when I went to see a safari in Africa. I went with a couple of my friends, and we all were hanging out driving a trailer around in the jungle. Then as the day started to drift away, the car was stopped in the middle of a vast plane of land. Various jungle animals who were hanging around in the shadows began to approach our trailer and there were a couple of my friends who had left to explore. As they dashed back to make it back before sunrise, we had to go around locking windows and doors (reminds me of I am legend) for fear of the animals overtaking us. I woke up at the moment of action when my friends were barely making it back and we had to lock the last of the doors to avoid attack from the lions outside, but it was quite a suspenseful (and random) dream of mine.2. A partially lucid dream I had involved a little mall shopping on an endless escalator. Instead of being able to control everything in the dream, I could only change certain things: once I realized it was a lucid dream, I instinctively tried to fly but I couldn't. All I could do was jump up and float a little while I was on the escalator. So I was trying to shop at the mall, and though I could enter, none of the stores were open. I walked around everywhere, but there was little to do so I hopped on the escalator. It seriously would not stop. This was when I realized I was having a lucid dream. As I looked around it was a little Alice in Wonderland-esque as the walls around me no longer existed and I could see different things I owned floating around me. Then I finally reached the top and I was just overlooking the entire city I was literally just standing over the sky on a simple escalator. Really a dynamic picture when I re-imagine it. Then I tried to fly again but it was pretty sad and I sort of drifted over the floor once I fell that far. Not very cool, but I guess I'm not either so appropriate none the less.3. The strangest dream I ever had was meeting a person who was basically my dog in human form. It was very strange, and basically my dog was talking to me! He would ask the things he usually whines for, but it was such a weird experience because you never really expect to see that it real form. He looked like a wolf-man and was actually quite cute, though.

I don't see why pets wouldn't be able to dream, since they sleep so much. I'm not sure the scientific process on it, but cognitively, they probably just don't get the same level of sophistication of dreams as humans do. Human dreams have so much that variation and randomness, but I would imagine my dogs dreams to be a lot like his primary entertainment during the day: food and play. I could see him dreaming about chasing squirrels and finding things to eat, but I doubt he could remember the last dog he played with at the dog park. It would be interesting to get a glimpse at what our pets dreams look like; I wonder of any of us appear?

I definitely go through phases of caffeine addiction. When I am smack in the middle of my university's quarter, with 2 jobs, I am the extreme caffeine fiend, but during the summer months or when I have breaks, I don't need any at all. I work as a waitress through, and often times I need that energy boost before dealing with customers and running around the restaurant. It is a little scary how dependent I begin to get as I drink more and more coffee. When I'm not in the daily coffee phase, I can manage to serve tables without any even when its a longer shift, but as my dependency increases I have to buy a red bull from the bar or I just won't make it. As I drink more coffee, I can manage to fall asleep even when I just had a ton of caffeine moments before, but when I am off it I can barely fall asleep if I have any. Btw, caffeine does have negative effects and when your body is out of whack the best cure is to stop caffeine intake. It can actually lead to psychological issues like many harder drugs so heavy coffee drinkers should consider cutting back.Although I remind myself this all the time, coffee is just too hard to say no to. Just a side note: A co-worker of mine got a stomach ulcer from drinking too many energy drinks, so really be careful with those. It may be a new phenomenon lately, but just remember that it is a very high dosage of caffeine, and our bodies are not built for that. ^ really sounds like I am talking about drugs

Everything in my gut (and coming from my doctor) tells me I really need to stick to a birth control pill, but during my one month experience on it I began feeling depressed and decided to quit. I'm assuming the hormone in-balance was too much for my body to handle, and many of my peers told me to wait it out for another couple months to see what would happen. Is there anyone with similar experience that has found a pill that works for you that did not affect you in that way? Or just generally what have you found to be a successful method of birth control?

My 8 month old puppy named Goma (Japanese for sesame seed): He looks a bit like a German Shepard because of his markings but he is actually a Japanese breed called the Shiba Inu. Hes only about 20 pounds and he is the most annoying rascal, but of course absolutely adorable at the same time. This is the first dog I've ever tried to raise and he is one intelligent dog so it is a bit of work but so far very rewarding as well. Does anyone else have a Shiba Inu? Often times when I mention his breed people are a little confused but they are very similar to Akita's and Spitz in personality type - and supposedly one of the closest breeds to wolves. I hear there are about five dogs which fall into this category. He is very instinctive so when I first got him he would be terrified over the smallest noises. He even killed a bird in my yard once (sad, but cant be helped I suppose). I was absolutely terrified when I first saw him, but at least he didn't eat the poor thing!

Astronomy is the study (science) of planets and everything out there. Where there are, what they are made of, how they move. Astrology takes this a step further. It is the analysis of how these planets and their relationships with one another affect other things, like people. It is a lot more abstract because how can you know for sure. Astrology can be very interesting when done right, but should not be confused with fortune telling...which is not based in the planets.

I actually have pretty strong beliefs about astrology. I think that astrology can describe a little bit about a persons personality, not what they will actually end up being or doing. The more detailed reports usually take into account your birth place and time, and take into consideration the location of each and every planet when you were born. When I first read reports describing who I was, it was surprisingly very accurate. When it comes to describing what will happen day to day or with relationships, it is a lot harder to believe anything I read because I still feel like each of us control our lives. Seeing astrology as a description of my personality has been very interesting. I am a Taurus and I have often heard that Taurus' put a strong value on relationships and friendships that they have. When I thought about it, all three of my closest girl friends are all Taurus' and I feel the most trusting and comfortable with them because I know they feel the same way. Those three girls also surround themselves with many Taurus' and it is completely subconscious that all of us did so. There is a great website that does these reading for you for free but it is a lot of information (that gets repetitive and excessive at times) but if anyone is interested in astrology I definitely recommend it. (Sorry I am new and am unaware of link policy, so correct my post if this isn't allowed.) https://cafeastrology.com/ <for the natal charts. I believe there is a link to describe the process, and it is a free service. http://www.astro.com/ <free daily horoscope that takes your birth time and place into consideration. You may have to register but also a free service.