chicken soup and cake

made campbell's select chicken soup and a vanilla cake for s.c. who was feeling sad about not being head drum major. The soup was because she's sick. It's pretty strange. I've always that that it was an Euro-American thing to eat Chicken Soup when you're sick. For asian, we eat like porridge or rice with water because it's really plain. Apparently, chicken soup causes mucus flows to expel and trap bacteria. It also clears up a stuffy nose for a bit and is generally just nutritious. Though, I'm not sure how nutritious canned soup is.

And for Culinary Club, we have the opportunity to go to Bistro 561 and have a tour of the kitchen! Updates on that later as soon as I make reservations for like 20 people.

Are We Self-Centered?

My dog killed a rat this weekend. She's really happy-- or more like, she thought she was playing with it. The weekend was a good day for photography.

My friends have actually decided to make a documentary of us for when we graduate. We had wanted to start Senior year but we decided that we should start now so that we wouldn't lose interest by next year. It's pretty fun-- haha. I think the group of six that we usually have have some many great ideas. The problem is that we never follow through with it. I think that's what kids nowadays are all about. Big dreams but there still is reality. Ah, life sucks hard but it's better with friends. Thinking about senior year seriously makes me sad.

Anyways, during Journalism, I read that my generation is the most egotistical generation as of yet. Known as generation Y, this generation boasts the most narcissistic college students...ever. The problems with this self-centered personality is the inability of students to get along with other people and accept failure. When confronted with failure, they often get frustrated easily. It reminds me of my younger brother who is extremely confident and gets exasperated when he cannot do things right. Professor Jean Twenge of the San Diego State University did a test called the Narcissistic Personality Inventory [NPI] and asked questions like "If I ruled the world, it would be a better place," "I think I am a special person" and "I can live my life any way I want to." Many of generation Y scored high on this test for Narcissism.

What is the cause? Many blame the education system, the parents, and of course the media. All over, preschoolers are influenced by higher authority that they are special. The reason behind this has been the idea that it will raise the self-confidence in children. However good self-confidence is, this "confidence-booster" has also done it's job of raising bratty, short-tempered, and dishonest kids.

And the funny thing is is that it's true. Generation Y [my generation] is all about and Myspace, LiveJournal, and even I myself have fallen into the clutches of Blogger. Many children are more rebellious than ever-- and in a bad way, if I might add. Like many freshman college students, they think that they can take care of themselves but when faced with an obstacle, they sit, pout, and throw a tantrum.

Source: LA Times, The Battalion
Photographs: Coco and Dead Rat, Dandelion, Old Wood Pile [Backyard "patio" thing we demolished and had rebuilt because it started to rot] that has started to rot and rust, Garage
All photos belong to Karen-- only dandelion was photoshopped.