#7 Photograph of the Town You Live in.

I'm doing the Odd May Blog Challenge in an odd way. I'm doing the 7th on the 9th. Then again I probably won't do #9 since as much as I love cooking I rarely follow recipes so couldn't think of one to share.

So here is a photo of the 'town' I live in. Technically I live in a suburb of the Gold Coast so I suppose I could have used a photo of any part of the Gold Coast. But I figured since the little pocket I inhabit is actually quite lovely I would share a simple photo taken not far from home!

Cheers.

Why do we listen to Celebrities?

I recently posted a Facebook post before stopping to think about it. I blame all the meds I'm taking for my asthma and hay fever...

Seriously though I had a go at Jamie Oliver after reading a click bait headline saying he was declaring a war on sugar. Now what got me incensed was that I am sick and tired of seeing him everywhere. He has sold out in my opinion. He will put his face on anything including products containing sugar.

A few of my friends disagreed with my rant because they thought I was against the actual message. I realise that in my angry haste I worded my point badly and was misunderstood ( a lesson for us all! - write post, re-read post, think - then delete as appropriate!) I'm not against the actual message. Whilst I hate it when people declare war on anything let alone one particular type of food I of course believe we all should learn about sugar and what it does. We should aim for a balanced diet and learn about hidden sugars in processed food etc.

But the more I think about it the more it bothers me that people who become famous because they are talented at something think that qualifies them to tell people how to live their lives.

What we eat, what we buy, what we even think about certain things all seems to be heavily linked with the celebrity obsession our society has. Companies spend millions of dollars on celebrity endorsements because people are more likely to buy something that is endorsed by a celebrity.

Why though? You pay an actress to be in an ad for hair dye or make up. Do you really think she uses that product? She dyes her hair at home? Chances are she isn't using cover girl make-up either. So why do we think these products are automatically better? 

The same goes for the celebrity chef. Curtis Stone doesn't use those pans his name is on you can buy at Target. Putting his name and face on it just means you are being suckered into paying more for a pan that is identical to the one next to it because it has his face and name on it.

There is of course a very strong psychological force here. People are led to believe if they buy and use the products then that some way brings a tiny bit of celebrity into their lives. 

Though that in itself is worrying. Why do we give these people so much kudos? Why should I be happy that my son will hear it from Jamie Oliver that he should limit sugar? Because if I teach him to listen to a celebrity about that then I'm teaching him a celebrity knows best.

Why don't we listen to scientists, nutritionists and read up on topics for ourselves rather than take on board what a celebrity says?  How do we know when a celebrity genuinely believes something and when they are being paid to sell us things? 

So basically I am fed up with celebrity culture. I don't get it. I don't understand it. I don't see why I should pick a product off the shelf because of a photo shopped picture of a celebrity trying to tell me how good it is. It's getting harder to find products that are not endorsed by someone famous though. This is how bad things have gotten.

So yes I will teach my son about the dangers of too much sugar but not because Jamie Oliver wants his face in the paper again. I will teach him that because of facts.

It is time we all remembered that celebrities are people. I am all for admiring someone for their talent. But when it's come to a point that celebrities are the go to for our life choices then I think we have taken it too far. 

Best Ever & Roller Coaster #KellsWritingChallenge

Day 8 & 9 

Best Ever and Roller Coaster...

Hmmmm I've given myself a job here. How do I combine these two things into one blog post or story? Serves me right for not writing about best ever yesterday! I could tell a story of how spending a day at a theme park going on a roller coaster was the best ever day of my life but I would be lying... So it would have to be fiction..

No when I think of best ever I don't think of roller coasters or theme parks for that matter. Sorry to say. A few things come to mind. Like when you are child everything is pretty much the best ever. A certain toy you long for and finally get for xmas, riding on a bus or train, going on holiday to...well anywhere really. A certain birthday would be the best ever.., until the next year came around and managed to beat it!

Then at some point we stop thinking like that. We take everything for granted. Gifts and holidays we suddenly see as boring or not cool. We don't appreciate a good birthday cake, or a simple scenic train journey. But it's a part of growing up I suppose. Because at some point we change again and write things like this because we realise that we need to start celebrating the little things in life and taking joy in so many different things.

Even now with all these years behind me and places I've stayed, put me in a hotel room and I get crazy excited. Just like a child. I grew out of it when I was a teen then at some point in my twenties I suddenly realised it was ok to feel child like glee over something simple. So pop me in a hotel room and I check out everything; the little bottles of toiletries come home with me, I have to check out  what label tea and coffee they offer, I may even bounce just a little bit on the bed... Maybe each time isn't quite the 'best ever.' But at least I'm enjoying myself! 

It would be tough to pick out one best ever day or year or time of my life. I just think the best ever thing in life is to be grateful, laugh, love and enjoy as much as we can.  Of course not every day will be great. There will be bad times. Ok here it comes.., like is one big roller coaster. There are highs and lows, there is anticipation, things move too fast or go too slow, sometimes you laugh and sometimes you scream. Sometimes you just want life to stop so you can get off. Sometimes you just wanna throw up...

But mostly we have a lot to be thankful for, even when things are not going so well. We can be kind to ourselves in the down times and know that a best ever moment might be just around the corner. 

There we go then... Best ever and roller coaster.., I didn't think I could go it!