"The Backstreet, Who?"

It is official, I’m getting old! Can you believe it has been fifteen years since the boy band Backstreet Boys began their first tour and thirteen years since “I’ll Never Break Your Heart” was blasting through our portable C.D players? I can’t! Just last night my roommate Brittany, who teaches at a local dance studio, randomly asked me “Did you know thirteen year olds don’t know who the Backstreet Boys are?” It caught me off guard. Then it hit me, “Wait, what? You mean THE Backstreet Boys, your students have never heard of them, ever?” Brittany being a self proclaimed BSB fanatic yelled, “I know rite”.

She then told me a story about her playing a Backstreet Boy song to her dance class. “Who is this?” asked one of her thirteen year old students. “The Backstreet Boys” commented Brittany. “The Backstreet, who?” said another student. By the tone of Brittany’s voice I could tell she was frustrated with the youth of today’s society. I too asked myself “how on Earth have they not heard of the Backstreet Boys, what about NSYNC, and the Spice Girls, anybody from the 90’s?” Then it hit me. The thirteen year old girls in Brittany’s dance class were born in the mid- 1990’s.

The music I spent hours if not days listening, singing, and dancing to with my Spice Girl hairbrush, was the music of the past. It was the music of my generation. Now, here is the part that depresses me. For the first time in my life, I have quoted a famous saying from my fifty- five year old mother “It was back in my day!”



-Boy band.. of MY generation!? :/

"You Have No Friends"

Prior to reading the article in it's self, I assumed it would detail an argument opposing the social network Facebook. To my surprise, my suspicions were inaccurate. While reading this article as a believer, I was open minded and held no judgement. I simply read it, with the intent to learn and comprehend the author's position toward Facebook. Manjoo presented an argument in support for the popular networking site. He listed many interesting facts about the site. Personally, the idea of "If Facebook were a country, it would be the eighth most populated in the world," stuck out to me immediately. Manjoo continued his argument by presenting the many reasons why so many people have joined Facebook. He had responses from both 'Facebookers' and 'Non-Facebookers'. By including these, it allowed me has a believer, to see both sides concerning his argument.

I've become a doubter. After reading the article a second time through, a few things crossed my mind concerning Manjoo's position. Yes, he gave a argument in support of Facebook and did even justify a few opposing remarks. However, Manjoo failed to mention a few things. First off, no where did he mention the concept of fake profiles and the harm they can cause. Most people assume the good in others, thus believing a person in a photo is the real person behind the screen. There have been numerous occasions where pedophiles or 'creepers' have created both Facebook and even Myspace accounts claiming to be someone else. In some instances, these men and woman have caused emotional and physical harm to their 'friends'. On another much different note, Facebook can become addicting. Manjoo did discuss some information concerning this fact but did not identify the negatives that come with it. I for one have witnessed first hand a number of my fellow classmates engaging in Facebook activity for hourrrrss at a time. That's a huge distraction. Plus side effects from these actions can cause blindness and carpal tonal.

Definition of the "American Dream"

When the idea of the “American Dream” crosses my mind, I immediately begin to picture a gigantic house, white picket fence, a dog, and 2.5 kids. I think the American Dream is ideally that. It’s the thought that with self determination and perseverance anyone- in America, can achieve greatness. Greatness equaling material possessions and happiness.