Farmville Induced Insanity

     About two years ago I logged onto my Facebook to notice a game request for something called "Farmville".

I ignored it for reasons a) I don't play games on Facebook and b) it looked stupid and no one could possibly want to waste hours of their day making a virtual farm when they could do much cooler stuff like stalk people's photos or "like" random sayings or phrases. You know, normal Facebook activities.

However, in one week literally every person in my high school was a virtual farmer.
     I suppose I really didn't notice the Farmville craze until my senior year, and my drama teacher in particular caught the fever. My second period every other day was a free period and I would go hang out in the drama room, do some art work, eat food, or sleep. I would always say hello as I entered the room, but my teacher always seemed a bit distracted.

So, one day I went into her office and saw she was on Facebook playing Farmville (This was her prep period... she didn't neglect students for Farmville... that would just be irresponsible).
     It got to be that every day I would walk into her office and unless she needed to do something for class or a show, she would be playing Farmville. Finally, I felt the need to ask what the deal was with Farmville. She said it was relaxing and then presumed to show me her farm in great detail.

     It wasn't only infecting adults in my life, but people my age too. My best friend in the whole world gets on Facebook and checks Farmville and Cityville rather immediately. At one point we got to her house, she checked on her Farm and looked right at me and said, "Remind me to check my crops before 2:00 tomorrow."

     Yes, I reminded her, and I'm not necessarily proud of it.
     I have this horrible nightmare that one day I am going to call every person in my contact list and each person is going to say, "I can't hang out today. I need to take care of my crops. You know how it is."

Then in my nightmare I go into public places and people are just sitting like zombies on their laptops grooming their farms, buying marry-go-rounds and helping lost cows find their way back to their friends' farms. It's madness... I quickly go insane.

I woke up from this nightmare hyperventilating.

  

Jewel and Jacey's Epic Day

     My best friend Jacey and I try to do something epic every time we are reunited after a long period of time apart. So today we decided to go climb shit (like I said... people in Montana like to climb shit). Instead of hiking the M we hiked Blue Mountain, which is a series of trails just outside of Missoula that gives a variety of inclines. Jacey and I got extremely pumped for our hike the night before and the next morning we were ready for some hiking action!
     This morning I woke up, looked out my window and it was completely overcast and slightly raining. That's the thing that bugs me about rain, if it's going to rain, it should just frickin' rain. Not drizzle. But this was not going to stop our epic day of hiking. So I hopped in the shower, put on some leggings and my favorite ugly sweater (I call it my Tijuana sweater) and a rain coat. When I got to Jacey's house she was wearing high water pants, her fire fighting boots that needed breaking in (she got a job as a fire woman in the summer) a rain coat and her hair was in a frizzy bun. The best way to describe us was a lesbian and her illegal Tijuanan lover.
     Before setting out though we decided to go get food at our usual spot, Taco Del Sol. I got my usual fish tacos and she got a mission burrito, but today I decided to get lettuce, salsa, and medium hot sauce on top of my fish, white sauce and cheese (I have an intense fear of new foods so this was epic). I ate one full taco, which honestly wasn't that big, but i'm not a big eater as it is and felt like my stomach would explode. Jacey ate a full 9 inch mission burrito and would have eaten my other fish taco if she liked fish. This is a common occurrence with us. She's like a garbage disposal that I can talk to.
     Once we finished lunch we hit the mountain. Let me preface this by telling you all that Jacey is training for a marathon and ran 20 miles the other day, and I'm doing good if I run three miles in a half hour at the gym. I'm out of shape. When we reached the steep part of the mountain I really began to feel how out of shape I was. Every few feet I would ask, "are we there yet?" as Jacey was commenting on how beautiful nature was. Eventually I would just say, "uh, yeah, it's great" when in fact I was looking at the ground cursing my birth in Montana and therefore my innate love of hiking. When we were about 100 meters from the top I said, "there better be something exciting special and glorious when we get to the top." She said, "There will be a woman singing opera, fireworks and an open bar." And you know what, there wasn't! And there should be! I bet people would be more excited to hike if there was someone at the top to sing them a song and crack them open a beer when they reach the top. I would take that job! I would love to sing songs to people once they reach the tops of Mountains, but the issue is that there is no one to sing to me when I get to the top of the mountain. This is where my plan is flawed and people must only find joy in being outside.
     On our way down though something amazing did happen. While standing on a rock pretending to be Lewis and Clark, Jacey and I said and the same time, "The wind is making me have to pee." HOW COOL IS THAT?! If that is all I got out of this day, saying that sentence at the exact same time as my best friend, I say this day is a success.
     The rest of our day was spent binge eating junk food. This is a bad habit of ours, and I'm not sure if you can say we exercised because of it, but you know what, climbing shit is not always about exercise. It's about the journey, and ours was kind of odd and looked like a lesbian was running away with a boarder jumper. But that just makes our day more epic.

Dying to Be Thin Vs. The Freedom to be Fat

     Last week, while watching The Colbert Report, a professor at Dickinson University, Amy Farrell, discussed her 2009 book, Fat Shame, and the effects of stigma on fat people in America and how that stigma lends to their being overweight.
     So, after watching her on Colbert I was not convinced. She did not address the growing epidemic of obesity in America and the health issues of being obese at all. In fact, the closest she got to a scientific discussion on this topic was saying the health problems were more severe for someone that is underweight than someone that is overweight. In both instances, it just depends. My best friend could be considered "underweight", but she is an active dancer, is probably more muscular than I am, and eats healthy and hearty meals. However, her BMI would consider her to be "underweight". I have also seen people who are just slightly overweight (10 lbs - 4.54kg) who have been able to keep their cholesterol levels at proper numbers and blood pressure in the safe range, etc. What's my point? Professor Farrell did not convince me to a) read her book and b) think that it was okay to be supportive of fat people being sedentary and doing nothing for their health (this was my first impression of her Colbert interview).
     My second problem with Farrell's position based off the Colbert interview was that the fat issue is a "civil rights issue". Colbert summed up my problem with her statement pretty well by saying that a black man can not go to the gym and work off his blackness just as I cannot go to the gym and work of my vagina (although somedays after a half hour of stationary bike my vagina would disagree).
     I decided to get a little more information on Farrell's position and read her research paper simply titled "Fat Studies". In her paper, she talks about the tendency in America to place blame on the fat person and not those around the fat person. She says possibly fat people would have fewer problems if they faced less stigma not only in society, but in their doctor's offices. The stigma she refers to is that fat people are lazy, gluttonous, greedy and have no self control. Now, I don't want to discuss all of the topics she brought up, but she makes very good points and I strongly encourage reading her article here. There is much more research in this article however she still fails to discuss the unavoidable health issues that face fat and obese people in America.
     I took a look at some websites and grabbed some stats that Farrell seemed to be avoiding in her rhetoric. According some sites, in 2004, obesity was named the number one health risk facing America. Obesity results in 400,000 deaths per year and costs the national economy nearly $122.9 mil. per year (treating obesity is apparently very expensive). Obesity is caused by many reasons. Most commonly by consuming more calories than your body uses, living a sedentary life or both. There are also genetic factors at hand. Some people have slow metabolism, hereditary hormonal problems and internal body disfunction. Also, certain races are more likely to be obese than others. For example, Asians statistically have less obesity than other white non-hispanics. Obesity is most common in African Americans, followed by Hispanic Americans, followed by Caucasian Americans. Could these race and obesity correlations have dietary explanations? Absolutely.
     So what's the point I'm trying to make here? I think there is a mean between where Farrell stands and where doctors and those who are "stigmatizing" against fat people stand. Certainly, making fat people feel uncomfortable and insignificant about their weight does not make them any healthier or any skinnier. The main point we should focus on from Farrell's dissertation is that twig thin does not need to be the norm and people can be beautiful at any weight. Plus size models should actually be plus sized, but that is a whole other rant. However, just because someone has written a book saying that being overweight is essentially okay, does not give people the excuse to sit on their butt and eat blocks of cheese like they are sandwiches. I do not care what Amy Farrell says, but I know from my experience of being in different areas in America that lifestyle choices make a difference on your weight.
     When I was in New York City last spring I saw one obese person and possibly two dozen overweight people. All of these people were tourists (they displayed all the tell tale signs). The people in New York (Manhattan) were pretty much of a healthy weight and my best explanation of this is because they walk: pretty much everywhere. Sure, there is the subway ride to and there and possibly a cab ride, but walking or biking is the primary mode of transport. Even while I was in New York I lost five pounds.
     Simple changes such as walking daily and making small changes in your diet can make an incredible difference in not only your weight but your life and energy. Start small. Take a walk around the block and each week increase it a little bit. If you start too big you will become discouraged and quit. This is a big problem that faces people who are trying to meet weight loss goals and maintain them. Also, changing your diet to gluten free can make immense effects on your weight. It is very simple to go gluten free with very little difference and there is virtually no difference in taste. It is better for your blood and your body will love you for it! Now I must clarify that it is not the lack of gluten that makes you loose weight, it is the restrictions on certain foods such as deep fried foods, certain deserts etc. It's a great diet option that I do believe I will be switching to this June to help keep my energy up while working at a children's theatre camp.
     So, what are your guys' thoughts? Do you think society is to blame for obesity in America or do you think blame lies solely with the person? What about other countries that do not have such a problem with obesity? Why do you think America seems to have such a problem with rising weight? Remember to keep comments pointed and do not insult someone for their opinions and tell them to die or go to hell for them, etc. I want to hear from my readers and I want to hear your opinions! Feel free to contradict me! I'm just now learning about fat studies and it fascinates me. I'm dying to learn more and hear from YOU!