Kids See Lots of Junk Food

I spent Tuesday and Wednesday of this week in Washington, DC. However, it wasn’t a vacation of any kind. Instead I got to go to a media event held by the Kaiser Family Foundation during which results from a recent content analysis that I worked with Dr. Walter Gantz and Dr. Nancy Schwartz on.

You actually may have heard about this study already. I’m actually surprised by the amount of media coverage that I’ve seen about this study so far. I’ve heard it on CBS radio, seen it on the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric, read about it on cnn.com, and have seen links to stories about it in various newspapers.

In our study we found that kids see during a single day many advertisements for candies, snacks, sugar cereals, and soft drinks but no advertisements targeting them for fruits, vegetables, or meats. Also, based on data about children’s viewing habits, we calculated that the average 2-7 year old sees about 4,400 food ads a year, the average 8-12 year old sees about 7,600 food ads a year, and the average 13-17 year old sees about 6,000 food ads a year. Astronomical numbers, I know!

Unfortunately we as the individuals who performed the study are often mentioned in these reports only as “researchers” but it is very cool to see the results that we worked so hard for on a national stage.

I invite you to read the Kasier Family Foundation report, which is linked here.

Or you can see the press event by clicking here.

R.I.P. Eve 1998-March 26, 2007

Today a difficult decision had to be made. My cat Eve was in the basement and was unable to climb the stairs back up. After carrying her back up she was having difficulties walking, limping severly and often slipping off of her front left paw. Though not in pain, she seemed extremely uncomfortable.

Because her quality of life was rapidly deteriorating and there was no chance for her to get better, today my roommate and I decided that it was necessary to put Eve down.

I've lost a dear and true friend. She will be sorely missed.

Another One Bites the Dust

Over the past few years I’ve grown attached to three daily comic strips. After today I won’t have new strips from any of these three to make me laugh on a daily basis.

The Boondocks creator, Aaron McGruder, stepped away from the strip in order to work on a television version as well as other products. In February 2006 it was announced that McGruder would be taking a six month hiatus. However, in October 2006 he officially cancelled any future plans to create any new strips. Reruns are still seen in daily papers, but nothing original.












Fox Trot ran on a daily basis until December 31, 2006. At that point the cartoonist, Bill Amend, decided to make Fox Trot a Sunday only strip. This really disappointed me. Daily strips allow for a continuing storyline. Even though they are in color, Sunday strips just don’t hold the same appeal to me. Reruns can still be ready in daily newspapers.



Today in reading my final comic strip pleasure, Big Top, I came to the realization that it too was ending. Cartoonist Rob Harrell has decided to focus on other ventures and just couldn’t continue. With the departure of Huey’s radicalism in the Boondocks and the daily zaniness of the Fox’s in Fox Trot, I came to rely on Dusty’s addiction to ChapStick and Wink’s crush on Katie Couric in Big Top to keep the comics pages funny. Now I don’t even have that.












I’ve added the final original strips to this message. (In the case of Fox Trot, it was its last original daily strip.)

My daily newspaper reading has just become a bit less fun.

Losing a Friend

Nearly every one of us has had a pet in our lives. Be it a dog, cat, bird, fish or other animal we’ve known what it’s like to have an animal depend on us for everything they need to survive. At the same time we develop a love and affection for these animals, as if they are a member of our family. We do whatever we can to ensure they’re happy and healthy.

I have two cats. I’ve posted their pictures on this space before. They bring a lot of happiness to my life, which is particularly welcome during the stressful times of my life (of which right now is).

Eve is the older of my two cats. She’s been a part of my life since 1998. In May 1998 I started to see Eve around the neighborhood. She was this beautiful long haired Calico kitten with a green collar. As we got into June and July every time I saw Eve she looked dirtier and seemed to be getting thinner. As time went on I realized that she was a stray with no home. May is the end of the academic school year, with many students leaving Bloomington for the summer (or if they graduate, leaving permanently). I’ve read that the number of strays in Bloomington seem to go up in May due to students who adopted a pet not being able to take them home with them to wherever they come from.

Seeing as how she was obviously a stray, my roommate and I took Eve in. We fed her, cleaned her, and she never seemed to want to leave. Though at first she did try to run out of our apartment whenever we opened the door, she soon stopped that. With her finding a way into our home, Eve quickly found her way into our hearts.

Over the years Eve has had her ailments. At one time she had a hyperactive thyroid that was causing her to lose weight. It was becoming a life threatening situation and the vet recommended that we have her dosed with radioactive iodine in order to jump start her thyroid. A trip to Radio Cat and about $1,000 later she was fine.

She’s also had a chronic ear problem. Eve had a tendency for ear infections that we were never able to figure out. The vets had lots of different theories as to what could be the problem, but nothing was ever conclusively decided upon. We became resigned to the fact that every few months Eve would have to go to the vet to get her ears cleaned and checked.

Now you’re probably wondering why I’m writing all of this about Eve. Well a little over a week ago Eve developed a growth the size of a golf ball on her right side. We took her to the vet in order to figure out what it was. In trying to figure out what it was Eve became very lethargic and sickly. However, this was alleviated when we found the right dose and type of antibiotic.

All the fluid around the mass quickly disappeared. The mass did not. On Friday we scheduled to have a biopsy of the mass. Eve had some blood tests done to make sure she was OK for anesthesia. The results that came back told a very grim story. Eve was anemic, which made her going under anesthesia very dangerous. But the biggest problem was her while blood cell count. The normal average in a cat is 15,000. Eve’s reading was hovering around 100,000. After review by a pathologist it is now the vet’s belief that Eve is suffering from leukemia and that the mass on her right side, which appeared in an x-ray to be bigger than is seems, is another form of cancer. At this point there is not much that we can do for her.

I guess that’s the reason for my writing this. A member of my family is dieing. And soon a very important decision is going to have to be made.

As of right now the mass isn’t bothering Eve unless someone touches it. Only then does she seem to be in pain. In addition she is eating, though not a lot, and drinking a lot of water every day. Eve is able to get around our house pretty easily and can still jump up onto my bed, which has become her bed over the past few months. She’s doing very well, but the fact that the mass on her side sprouted so suddenly, and her anemia is so severe, it isn’t likely that she will remain this way very long. As soon as Eve stops eating, or as soon as it becomes apparent that it is painful for her to get around and do her normal daily routine, it is likely that Eve will have to be euthanized.

One of my best friends in the world will likely only be around for another couple of weeks. I’m not sure what I’ll do once she’s gone. Her death will leave a pretty big void. It will definitely be one of the darkest days of my adult life.

Everyone's Free (To Wear Sunscreen) by Baz Luhrmann

I remember this from back in 1999, but heard it again today and got me thinking. It really is something to give some thought about, and in many ways live by.

Everyone's Free (To Wear Suncreen)
by Baz Luhrmann

Ladies and Gentlemen of the class of '99.....Wear Sunscreen

If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it. The long term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable than my own meandering experience...

I will dispense this advice now.

Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth; Oh never mind; you will not understand the power of beauty of your youth until they have faded. But trust me, in 20 years you'll look back at the photos of yourself and recall in a way you can't grasp now how much possibility lay before you and how fabulous you really looked...

You're not as fat as you imagine.

Don't worry about the future; or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubblegum. The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind; the kind that blindside you at 4pm on some idle Tuesday.

Do one thing everyday that scares you.

Sing

Don't be reckless with other people's hearts, don't put up with people who are reckless with yours.

Floss

Don't waste your time on jealousy; sometimes you're ahead, sometimes you're behind...the race is long, and in the end, it's only with yourself.

Remember the compliments you receive, forget the insults; if you succeed in doing this, tell me how.

Keep your old love letters. Throw away your old bank statements.

Stretch

Don't feel guilty if you don't know what you want to do with your life... the most interesting people I know didn't know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives, some of the most interesting 40 year olds I know still don't.

Get plenty of calcium

Be kind to your knees, you'll miss them when they're gone.

Maybe you'll marry, maybe you won't, maybe you'll have children, maybe you won't, maybe you'll divorce at 40, maybe you'll dance the funky chicken on your 75th wedding anniversary...

Whatever you do, don't congratulate yourself too much or berate yourself either- your choices are half chance, so are everybody else's.

Enjoy your body, use it every way you can... don't be afraid of it, or what other people think of it, it's the greatest instrument you'll ever own.

Dance... even if you have nowhere to do it but in your own living room.

Read the directions, even if you don't follow them.

Do not read beauty magazines, they will only make you feel ugly.

Get to know your parents, you never know when they'll be gone for good. Be nice to your siblings; they are the best link to your past and the people most likely to stick with you in the future.

Understand that friends come and go, but for the precious few you should hold on. Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and lifestyle because the older you get, the more you need the people you knew when you were young.

Live in New York City once, but leave before it makes you hard.

Live in Northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft.

Travel

Accept certain inalienable truths, prices will rise, politicians will philander, you too will get old, and when you do you'll fantasize that when you were young prices were reasonable, politicians were noble and children respected their elders.

Respect your elders.

Don't expect anyone else to support you. Maybe you have a trust fund, maybe you have a wealthy spouse; but you never know when either one might run out.

Don't mess too much with your hair, or by the time it's 40, it will look 85.

Be careful whose advice you buy, but, be patient with those who supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia. Dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it's worth.

But trust me on the sunscreen...