The Battle of Sugar, Fat and Salt

Colby Sibley

My Battle with Sugar Fat and Salt

            To have the knowledge of knowing what to eat and how the food you ear affects your body is one step closer to a healthier life style. I really enjoyed this book because I always considered myself knowledgeable in my dietary tendencies but I never this deep into studying how companies act towards hunger, money and getting food on the shelves that keep us hooked. Its captivating knowing that chemists are working night and day just to perfect a product that is cheap to make but can hit the bliss point to keep me coming back for more. The cereal wars which added sugar to countless boxes every year just shows how capitalism can affect our health, but as consumers we can control these companies by what we buy so it’s a give and take. Also this book has showed me how advertising really does work for companies especially when directed at children. Everyone knows the frosted flakes tiger, the old spice crazy commercials and don’t forget about that weird Cheetos’s guy. But their best marketing plan is to fill their products with the sugar our minds crave, and the salt and fat that our bodies love to have. I have always been cautious when looking the nutritional labels but with reading this book I know that sugar salt and fat are some things I really need to cut back on. I also will take into account the snacks I love to have like Oreos or cheese-it’s because these processed foods are only good because the additives they have so in that case I may have to find a healthier alternative. In all I enjoyed this book and I will take into account what I have learned when preparing my meals and feeding my children when that part my life comes around.

That Which I am Thankful For

Colby Sibley

That Which I’m Thankful for

                These Holidays are a time for reflecting on the things we are blessed and thankful to have.

I am Thankful for my new home Oxnard.

I am Thankful for my best friend and my biggest fan my beautiful Mother.

I am Thankful for my close friends who might not be close now but we always stay true.

I am Thankful for my car which is as old as me but she’s definitely a trooper.

I am Thankful for my mentor and one of my inspirations Kevin Jacobson.

I am Thankful for my relationship with God and having the faith to tackle every new day.

I am Thankful this year and every up and down it has brought me.

I am Thankful for my teachers this semester who have pushed me to grow and open up to new ideas

I am Thankful for having the opportunity to compete in baseball

I am Thankful for all the new and exciting things to come

Enjoy Family

Enjoy Family

                Family is one of the most important things we have in our lives. We may not know this when we are younger because most of us haven’t felt loss at an early age. We haven’t encountered the impending meetings with death that we all have to face sooner or later. I considered myself very close with my family, I was always in a school with my cousins, always at my hippy uncles house and visiting my grandma and grandpa every weekend and I’m not saying I took for granted but I didn’t know what I had until it was gone. A family is as tight knit as you make it; you have to contribute to the overall feeling of togetherness and strength so you have the strong foundation when you need it the most. Well when I was 12 years young I went through one of the toughest and most character building times of my life. I lost my great grandma that summer, my father the year after and also my grandparents. This shook my family to the core and I feel we have never fully recovered. I never encountered death and with such a blow and I didn’t know how to handle it. I couldn’t comprehend the idea of losing a loved one let alone most of my family and what was left of my family slowly drifted apart. Holiday family dinners faded away, visiting each other as much as we did dwindled and it soon became just my mother and I. I also moved schools which also had me struggling for air but I had to become strong for my family and mother’s sake. My mother and I started a dog walking business because my father provided for my family, I took control of advertising and I worked seven days a week to make sure we had a roof over our heads. But I never truly understood what happened until I was eighteen, that life can sneak up on you and shake your foundation and you must always get up every time you fall down. Death is a part of life and we have to love the ones who we hold to dear to us as much as we can for as long as we can because you never know what life might bring next. My small family has recently had growth in the right direction and everyone has come to the fact that all we have is each other. Thanksgiving is coming up and I am thankful for everything I have and I look forward to enjoying my family and being thankful we are all together.

The Capitalistic Christmas Frenzy

The Capitalistic Christmas Frenzy

                The holiday season in the United States has become something entirely different of what it was and should be. In this capitalistic society we all participate in; large corporations have somehow persuaded the public that if your Christmas tree doesn’t have loads of present under it then this isn’t a good year. I agree with Amel Saleh’s view on how the holidays have become more consumeristic than enjoying it with your loved ones. I mean we all enjoy getting something for your loved ones but the way we go about it is making all of us way more materialistic. We all know how crazy it gets shopping during the holiday season, I mean people die every year Black Friday shopping and that’s not how it should be. Until I was about seven years old my parents would go all out for my birthday and Christmas. I am talking about loads and loads of gifts and I loved it but I noticed I was becoming more about getting what I wanted then enjoying my family and why they were getting me those gifts. I would hate when they got me clothes and if they didn’t get me a video game I wanted oh man I would throw a fit. But when I turned eight we hit financial trouble and soon after the holidays weren’t all about gifts but enjoying what we had, the people that were with us and of course what we could all get each other. Now that I am older I am thankful for a pair of new socks and a card saying we miss and love you. I don’t have too much family left and I wish I would have really enjoyed the Holidays with the family not just looking forward to the gifts. We shouldn’t listen to the corporate giants and we all should reevaluate what the holidays mean to us.  

The Good, The Bad and The School

The Good, The Bad and the School

                Every new semester of college brings new classes, new people to meet and even earlier times to wake up but thank goodness I have no early classes. This fall semester of 2014 has been great so far especially being able to play collegiate baseball again. I had to take some time off to work and help my family so I’m glad to be back and playing ball. I also have had pretty interesting classes like astronomy and political science which are both subjects I have been interested in for a long time. I have gotten some pretty close up pictures taken by yours truly of the moon and Saturn with its rings through a telescope, both were awe inspiring. I have always had passion for current events and politics in the United States so to learn the roots of liberalism and the foundation of the constitution, problems with factions in America and how our rights are being infringed upon with the intrusion to our privacy has been exciting. I moved from Las Vegas to Oxnard which means I’m at the beach all the time because growing up in the hot desert was just to dry. I have great roommates who are all the baseball team which always makes it a great time and feeling of being on my own with a job working at weddings has been a growing experience. But I am still learning the town and most nights I just stay at home and catch up on Netflix shows and write essays.  Oxnard College has been great and a lot better than my last junior college except for the parking permits because that’s just a pain.  I wouldn't change anything about this year and I am hoping for good grades and good times to ensue.

Reality TV

Reality TV

                Reality television has flourished over the past decade and is on almost every channel and network nowadays. I have to admit when I was younger I would enjoy an episode here and there of Keeping up with the Kardashians and I am not proud of that. We would sit around and watch hours of people more well off than ourselves just going on with their lives and we were addicted. We would watch reality shows like Big Brother and Real World because it offered such a realistic viewing experience like anything could happen. But I learned most of these shows were scripted, like WWE and I was heartbroken, and this was a major turn off because it wasn’t truly real. Everyone loves watching the TV show Cops because that’s true reality and you are hoping someone you know isn’t having that bad of a night. The amount of reality shows current is staggering. You have everything ranging from tattoos, cooking, and even moonshiners.  This recent boom of reality shows has brought out new emotions in viewers which is my opinion is not healthy. Viewers who watch prominent families or people living in the moment have this sense of longing for experiencing a life like that. I remember my Mom being glued to the television when any fresh news about the Kardashians broke and if it was a new episode of Keeping up with the Kardashians forget about even trying to touch the remote. People nowadays are caught up in these reality stars lives, wanting to be them and idolizing them. I mean really? The Kardashians jobs are basically being present or breathing, but people are still fascinated by the ground they walk on. I’ll watch dirty jobs or Ink Masters when it is on because it’s somewhat educational and some of the designs they have are pretty cool. I tried auditioning for Big Brother and it didn’t work but that would have been a great experience. Reality shows are definitely something notable for our generation and will be around for a long time. I’m not saying I dislike reality TV shows but I’m saying I strongly dislike celebrity reality shows and don’t mind educational or a cause based reality show. It’s good to break off from the traditional network monotonous programming like the crime scene shows, family orientated shows and the big bang theory, I don’t see why people like that show so much. These network programs that plot lines have been over used a thousand times get a little old so reality shows do have an advantage because like I said before anything could happen. But I tend to stay around the ESPN channel, comedy central and I think I have seen all the season of How I Met Your Mother 3 times. Reality shows aren’t bad but if you see yourself being glued and wanting for their lives then it can be healthy, you have to focus on your life and making a reality show that you enjoy.

The Choice and Opinion

Derek Jeter the Person We Hate to Love

                Every child has a very important decision to make, a decision so colossal in size that it will impact his life from birth to death. This decision can tear families apart, destroy friendships and ultimately control your feelings at certain parts of the year. A child must choose which baseball team he will support. Growing up in Las Vegas which has no Major League team, I didn’t have a default on this decision; I decided to go with the Boston Red Sox the team always out to make a statement rather than my Dad’s team the St. Louis Cardinals. I became a diehard Sox fan and with that comes the undeniable hatred for the New York Yankees, I even hate writing their name. It’s always a yelling match when two rival fans meet up, we can’t stand even the thought of the Yankees. Who has headed the rag clan of bums all these years, Derek Jeter the face of pure evil and the man who can’t do wrong. Yankees always hide behind their pennant wins their idol Derek Jeter and they had a point their team was force to be reckoned with and had plenty of wins, but they all were still good for nothing bums. Over the years their team has declined and Jeter was reaching the end of his career. When we announced his retirement season I really gave thought about what I really thought about Derek Jeter this so called villain. I realized that Derek Jeter was a class act, a player who made the game better and just realized that I've never experienced a season without him because I was born 1993 and his rookie season was 1995. I threw away my hatred for Derek and I truly respect how motivational of player he was, how he changed the game and how he was an overall standup guy through the years but he will always be a Yankee and therefore a bum.