Swine Flu

There is a lot of buzz lately about the H1N1 'Swine Flu' "pandemic". I got Curiouser about this new trendy disease (similar to the 'bird flu' scare of past years), and decided to do some research. What is swine Flu? according to the CDC (Center for Disease Control) Its a flu Virus that rarely spreads from Pig to Human and from Human to Pig, then of course from human to human and so forth. Most of these cases are common among pig farmers and people who are around pigs a lot. 'Swine Flu' is just a nick name for this particular strain of flu, made up because many of the test samples showed genes that are most common in pigs. There are 286 confirmed cases of the 'Swine Flu' in 36 states, and only 1 death, with only 1 case in Utah thus far (the death was not in Utah). I think the odds really are in our favor according to the CIA website (cia.gov) there are 307,212, 123 (July 2009 est.) people in the united states, so out of over 300 million people there are only 286 cases of the flu, I'd say that's a good thing. of course there are those people that out of a million to one odds are that one that will get sick, but thank goodness there are ways to prevent catching or spreading the Flu.

• Cover your mouth with a tissue when you sneeze or cough, then toss the tissue
• wash hands often especially after coughing or sneezing and before preparing food
• avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth as that is how the virus can sneek in
  
• and avoid contact with sick people

I think that these are things that we do anyway right so its more of a common sense thing. Stay heathly!!

The History Of Shoes

Shoes. I love shoes. But do we ever stop to consider the history behind them?
There is so much to learn about the shoes you are wearing right now! Of course I cant go through all the histories of every kind of shoe, but I’ll tell you about my favorites.

One of my favorite pairs of shoes and the shoes I get the most compliments on are my modern style spectator shoes. The history of the spectator I personally thinks is pretty interesting, being made popular by a duke, WOW!! That’s a pretty cool and fashionable shoe. The spectator shoe was claimed designed by the famous boot maker John Lobb, as a cricket (a game similar to baseball, in England) shoe, in 1868. The spectator shoe is most notable for its two tone color, usually black and white, but other colors are common. The spectator is usually a wingtip shoe but can also be classified as a cap shoe and even loafers. They were most popular as dressy sport shoe, after the duke of Windsor adopted them. Spectators were most popular in the 1930’s and 40’s and lost some of their favor in the 60’s, but lo and behold made a come back in the 1990’s as retro. The spectator is one of my favorite shoe styles. To me this shoe says “I’m responsible but quirky and fun.” this shoe can be worn with so many different kinds of outfits, casual and dressy. it’s a very versatile and comfortable.

Then on the other side of the high heeled shoe spectrum is the stiletto heel. Even the name sounds dangerous. The stiletto heel is a long thin heel on woman’s shoe or boot. The stiletto heel is named after the stiletto dagger. (ooh, spooky) the phrase was first mentioned in the 1930’s. stilettos shorter than two inches are called kitten heels. Now, not all long slender heels get the honor of being a stiletto. The original stiletto heel of the very early 1960’s were no more than five millimeters in diameter(slightly thinner than your pinky finger.), for most of their length and sometimes flared at the tip . Sadly in the late 60’s the stiletto heel was pretty hard to find, because of the way the heels were mass produced. Although there were some plastic heels with metal tubes inside that imitate the stiletto they will never be able to match the slender line or strength of the metal stemmed stiletto heel. It was only a matter of time till popular demand brought it back. The stiletto heel is probably the heel that does the most for your legs, although they are very tiring to wear for any extended period of time.

Then there is the ever trusty sneaker. Sneakers are probably the shoes with the longest history, way back in the late 18th century people wore plimsolls, but they were probably pretty uncomfortable seeing as there wasn’t even a right or left shoe. Around 1892 a US rubber company came up with a more comfortable rubber sneaker with a canvas top. They called them “Keds”. when 1917 rolled around they began to be mass produced. They got the name sneakers because they were so quiet, someone wearing they could easily sneak up on someone else. Since then there have been tons of different kinds of sneakers made for all different types of activities. It’s interesting to imagine that such a universal shoe can started out as a humble piece of rubber with canvas fabric on the top.

We wear shoes with every outfit that we have in our closet, and probably don’t think about the wide history that every shoe holds. It’s like a mystery on our feet.

Drivers Ed

I firmly believe that the only reason for Drivers Ed is to make the teenagers so afraid to drive badly that they will never make a mistake. I watched a rather shocking video for my Drivers Ed class that made both my mother and I jump as we watched. Several people and animals were hit by oncoming trains. really there can't be a point to watching those kinds of things, not to mention that Drivers Ed is a complete waste of my braincells. Well that's enough venting for today.
Jane

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!

The new year is finally here! this year I will finally turn 16! (approximately 4 months, 2 weeks and 6 days from now. . . . . not that I'm counting) I haven't ever really made any resolutions before this year, but I have so much I need to accomplish I thought I might as well. these are a few

• Get a job

• finish drivers ed and get drivers license (no matter how awful the high school is going to be about it.)

that's just a couple of the most important ones.
This year is going to be the best!!