Concerned about the giant plastic gyres growing out of control in our oceans? I am. These trash vortexes consist of massive collections of plastic trash that end up in the oceans killing wildlife and destroying ecosystems.  The Pacific gyre is the size of Texas! Still, everyone keeps buying plastic because products are made with it and packaged in it.

Two young women (20-somethings) have found a living mushroom that actually consumes plastic.  That’s right, it eats plastic!  Not only does it digest plastic, but the mushroom is also edible itself!  They’ve found all sorts of these mushrooms that are native to regions all over the world.

Check out this article and watch this video about their research: https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/two-women-turn-plastic-to-food-with-a-powerful-mus/

Love to see brilliant young women solving our gyre problem with edible mushrooms!

For Jaclyn’s party at the Saddle Rack, I sculpted a boot using layered cakes and covered it with fondant. 

For those of you newbies, fondant is the sugary frosting layer that gives the perfectly smooth texture you see on professional cakes. Not sure I like the taste of fondant but I like rolling it out and decorating with it.

What I really like about fondant is that you can lay it over any shaped cake and it creates a smooth canvas. Then, you can create just about anything! 

For Jaclyn’s boot, I used a spiked roller tool to create the “stitching.” By using the premade colored fondant, it was easy to add the brown leather and black soles to the boot.

You can buy fondant at art supply stores and Walmart.  Have fun making your next cake!

When children make art without the interference of art teachers, parents, or critics, it has personality and directly relates to the way the child perceives the subject. It’s real art.

I remember the day I first saw this precious elephant sculpture.  I was 9 years old and visiting my cousin Jeff who was just 5 years old. 

Being the oldest of 11 cousins, I always took care of the little ones and he was certainly my favorite. So when I walked into his house, he proudly showed me his elephant creation.  I loved this sculpture because it reminded me of him.  I could see how he shaped the elephant – his thumb impressions were clearly visible.

Every time I visited Jeff after that, I asked to see his elephant.  I even asked him if I could have it but his mom wanted to keep it as a memento.

Fast forward to last November 2015.  I was visiting my aunt who now lives with Jeff. We were sitting around the dining room table feasting on an early Thanksgiving dinner because Nicole was going to have to work on Thanksgiving day. My 84-year-old aunt handed me a gift as we gorged ourselves on turkey.  She had crocheted a little pouch that held – you guessed it! – the little elephant that Jeff made 50 years ago.

Now I have my favorite sculpture made by my precious cousin.  

I’m glad to see fashion moving away from high-end snobby labels to everyday objects!

I’ve never understood why the fashion trends dictate what we wear, and how everyone rushes out to buy the latest styles – even if they don’t look good in them.  Just because everyone is wearing skinny jeans doesn’t mean that they should.  You know who I’m talking about! Sometimes I wonder why people think they look good just because they’re sporting the latest designer pants.  When they’re all squished into their clothes, if they have normal body fat, they’ll be popping out above the waistline and around their bras. And, just because pastels are in, doesn’t mean that they’re flattering for your skin tone.

That’s why I was encouraged that this season’s fashion models are wearing clothes that display everyday objects like phones and symbols instead of touting a ridiculously expensive designer’s tag.  Keeping up with the Joneses by wearing $300 tennis shoes and carrying $2,000 handbags is outrageous.  It’s pushed our youth into killing one another just so they can wear Michael Jordan shoes.  Really? I’ve seen kids brutally bash girls for buying “knock-off brand” purses.  The real question is why do these kids care so much about whether a product is “real” and why is it that they know what signs to look for in knock-off brands.  I don’t have a clue. With their busy lives and sensory overload, shouldn’t they be saving their brain power for more useful things?

[Source: The Guardian]

I remember when I first heard that guns were allowed on college campuses from a student at the University of Arizona.  At first I thought she was joking – afterall, how could mixing college parties, brawls, and guns be a good idea to anyone? But the Pro-Gun Movement in America is promoting legislation and litigation to force public colleges and universities to allow concealed guns on campus.

Arkansas, Colorado, Idaho, Kansa, Mississippi, Oregon, Utah, Texas, and Wisconsin have been forced to allow firearms on their campuses (classrooms, dorms, grounds, or parking lots). Worried about where your babies are going to college?  Check out this map that shows which colleges allow guns and various stipulations. 

How could this be happening?  It doesn’t take a genius to know that mixing drinking/drugs with guns is a bad idea. In the past, when college kids or frat brothers had disagreements, shouting matches or fistfights were the worst that could be expected, and the only people they could hurt were themselves.  Adding guns to that kind of volatile mix leads to COLLATERAL DAMAGE, and no one needs that.

[Source: RawStory]

I just read a fascinating article in the New Yorker Magazine about China’s fuerdai, the new wealthy “1%” in China.

For the past 2 centuries, China has been very poor so this new class of billionaires is known as the rich second generation. These nouveau riche don’t have previous generations to guide them on how to behave in public like the aristocrats of the west. China’s government has recently provided a crash course in traditional Chinese values and social responsibility to 70 children of billionaires. Meanwhile, reality shows like “Ultra Rich Asian Girls of Vancouver” are watched by Chinese people all over the world.  Hmm.  It’s kinda like the obsession Americans have with the “Housewives of…” and the Kardashians.  Nope, not me – never watched any of these shows!

The super rich in China are sending their kids to the west for education and culture. Good schools in China are almost impossible to get into, so these parents are sending their kids to western high schools and colleges. One of my Chinese students told me that many of her friends’ Chinese parents aren’t concerned about the quality of the education, but just about the reputation of the school and the grades they receive.

In order to diversify and protect their finances, these super rich families want their children to purchase real estate and establish roots outside of China. They aren’t looking to reel their children back to China like they did during the last century. Interesting…

[Source:The New Yorker]

Did you know that every 2 minutes, a woman is raped in America?

Officers asked men who had sexually assaulted women how to protect women from future attacks, and here’s what they learned: 

Rapists aren’t looking for sexy or beautiful women, they’re looking for easy targets. 

Who knew?

Here’s what rapists look for:

1. Woman with long hair in a ponytail, bun, or braid; something easy to grab.
2. Woman wearing clothes that are easy to remove.
3. Woman who is distracted by a cell phone; easy to overpower.
4. Woman in grocery store or office parking lots, or in public restrooms.

Here’s what deters rapists:

1. Woman who puts up a fight and screams; it’s not worth it because they don’t have the time.
2. Woman carrying an umbrella or something large that could be used to create space between her and the rapist.
3. Woman who yells that she has pepper spray and holds it out towards them.
4. Woman who pinches under their arms or upper inner thighs with all their might.
5. Woman who kicks or punches in the groin.
6. Woman who grabs their fingers and bends them back.

Here are ways to escape an abduction attempt:

1. If a robber demands that you give him your wallet or purse, toss it as far as you can throw it, and then run in the other direction. Scream as you run to attract attention.
2. If you’re thrown into the trunk of a car, kick out the tail lights and stick your arm out the hole and wave like crazy.
3. If the guy has a gun and he isn’t holding you, run away screaming. He will miss you 96 times out of 100 times, if he even pulls the trigger at all.

Here are ways to be aware of your surroundings:

1. Before getting into your car, check the passenger and back seats.
2. If parked next to a van, enter your car from the passenger side to avoid being pulled into the van.
3. Avoid walking in stairwells by yourself; take the elevator instead.
4. If you’re alone, don’t help others who claim to need your help.  If they really need help, call 9-1-1 and let the professionals help.

Share this with your female family and friends. Remind them of these tips when they go out so they remember what to be aware of and what to do in case of an attack. 

What’s going on with standardized tests? 

Maybe because colleges aren’t relying on them so much anymore, the test companies are scrambling to change up their game. The SAT just made drastic changes that started in January 2016, and the ACT has been making little changes over the past few years. These changes aren’t earthshaking but it’s important to note what they are because most of the ACT prep workbooks and programs don’t address these changes.  So keep reading because I’ve laid out the general theme and outlined the changes.

The ACT is trying to become a standardized test that will be used in elementary, middle, and high school. I think they’re expanding their demographics to ensure a foothold on testing students over their entire K-12 span – not just for college-bound juniors and seniors.  The new ACT questions are less tricky than the old SAT but you have to be able to focus and zip through the questions quickly because of the time constraints (less than a minute to answer each question).

The ACT is also trying to assess and predict students’ interests in colleges and majors. They ask students to complete a deluge of questions when signing up to take the ACT, questions that have nothing to do with setting up the test date. Do NOT answer any of the “optional” questions because they may use your responses against you. Yup, that’s right.  They actually send the colleges recommendations on “College Readiness,” which is their way of predicting whether or not you will be successful in particular college courses. What’s really worrisome is that they’ll do that without your knowledge or permission. 

Here’s how we speculate they use this information. If you answer questions about your future major or career and you do poorly on that section of the ACT, they may suggest to the college that you will not be successful in that major or that college. Yikes!  This is really stepping outside their position as a standardized test company. So play it safe and only answer mandatory questions until the ACT decides how they will use their information and whether colleges even review the ACT’s findings.

Changes in the new ACT:

1. Math: Increased difficulty in the math section because they’ve added 2-3 pre-calculus problems. Students who have taken pre-calculus or calculus may find this better because these advanced problems are fresher to them.  Sometimes advanced students miss easier problems because they haven’t done simple math in several years.
    
2. Reading: Added a new comparison between 2 passages section.  So far, most of the passages have been in the humanities area but they change it up so be prepared for any topic.
    
3.  Science: Reduced the number of passages from 7 to 6.  But, they have the same number of questions.  Most questions do not require scientific knowledge, but your ability to read charts and graphs. However, the new ACT has added about 3 questions that do require some science fundamentals.
    
4. Writing: Increased the time allowed from 30 minutes to 40 minutes, which is good.  The 2 readers evaluate the essay based on 4 criteria: (1) ideas and analysis; (2) thesis development and support; (3) organization and logic of topics; and (4) language use and standard English convention. Raw scores are now 8-48.  The new scaled scores (1-36) are generally lower than the old ACT.  For instance, a raw score of 9 equals a scaled score of 29, 10 = 31, 11 = 34 and 12 = 36. Under the old ACT, a 9 would be a decent writing score but now that they’re scaling it, a scaled score of 29 doesn’t look as good. The ACT organization is still trying to standardize their new grading system, so you can request a re-evaluation for $50.
    
5. Test Accommodations: If you have test accommodations with extended time to take the ACT, this would be the better test for you.  They allow you to complete any section you would like to take within the time frame.  This is very different from the SAT where you can only do one section per time block. In some cases, you can take the ACT over several days – that’s a huge bonus!

Many colleges are making the SAT/ACT optional, and for good reason.  If the colleges you’re hoping to attend require them, weigh out your strengths to determine which test is best for you. 

What kind of cake do you take to a Line Dancing and Bull Riding surprise birthday party?

A Rice Krispies Treat Cowboy Hat Cake, of course!

Yee Haw!

I have watched the pendulum swing for college admissions from super easy to ridiculously difficult matriculation rates.  Back in the day, most students got into colleges simply by meeting the colleges’ eligibility requirements.  Today, perfect GPAs and SAT/ACT scores don’t guarantee admission at selective colleges, which has created a super-crazy frenzy amongst high school students (and their parents) to do whatever it takes to get into great colleges.  This has caused students to overdo just about everything – sports, music, AP classes, clubs, volunteering, and more. Know anybody like this?

As a college advisor, I see all kinds of students.  Some are Stanford or Harvard bound, while others are simply trying to graduate from high school before they turn 20! So you could imagine the transcripts I review.  Parents and students keep pushing themselves to take more AP classes each year, which virtually makes it impossible to do meaningful things like projects – that by the way, are much more impressive to college admissions officers than a boat load of AP classes!  I’ve also seen resumes filled with 15 clubs and 3 sports!  As if the colleges would really believe that these students spend 40+ hours doing extracurriculars while going to school full time. P-L-E-A-S-E…

So it’s refreshing to see Harvard, Yale, and other top universities changing the rubric for college admissions by only inquiring about 2 or 3 extracurriculars to give students the opportunity to demonstrate how they spend their time doing meaningful things.  Colleges are also playing down the importance of taking dozens of AP classes. They know that AP classes force students to spend the entire year preparing for one exam. 

Students don’t get to immerse themselves into their studies and research interesting areas because they spend all their time memorizing useless information like the years each American president held office or learning the differences between ethos and pathos!  Many colleges aren’t requiring SAT or ACT scores as part of the application process anymore; it’s optional. Colleges are moving towards looking for students who aren’t robots scheduling their lives away in AP classes, SAT prep classes, and dozens of clubs.  They realize now that rote memorization and studying for tests don’t necessarily produce successful students in college.  Instead, many of these students become depressed and often resort to delinquent behavior and substance abuse.  Hmm. Not the ideal entering freshmen class that they were hoping for.

That doesn’t mean you can toss out your SAT prep books and take the easiest classes offered at your high school.  What this means is that colleges are really looking for genuinely interesting students. Instead of loading up on AP classes and extracurriculars, focus on doing something that will show your integrity, passion, and concern for others.  Delve into new things and explore things that spark your interest.  Try to solve some of our impending environmental, medical or social problems.  This is what colleges are looking for… Not some burnt out kids who have lost their zeal for learning and contributing to humanity.

Source: [reallearningct.com]