"Do TV Commercials Make You Happier?"

Hmmmm..... according to the article from Time Magazine, they do. They enhance our enjoyment of watching television. In this article, they talk about a feeling of euphoria when one's favorite show is on. This feeling only last for a moment, and eventually that person is not happy that their show is on anymore. The cure to this is a set of commercials. You get so annoyed that the commercials are on that when the show returns you are elated.

I think it was quite funny that I found this article in the Business section of Time Magazine. Though commercials have a lot to do with business, why is it relevant to us enjoying television? The article talks about how upset people get when commercials come on and that is indeed what makes the audiences enjoy their shows. They weren't talking about if commercials actually work. I thought that the effectiveness of the commercials would be more appropriate for business discussions.

I must say that I enjoy my favorite shows with or without commercials. Commercials don't make my shows more enjoyable because they put me in a state of waiting and I don't like to wait. On the other side, I do like commercials. I find that a lot of them are funny. Some of them do persuade me to want certain products. Anyway, I guess that's off topic since that wasn't in the article. As I said earlier, if it is my favorite show, it is not affected by showing or not showing commercials.

"After the Stimulus, Can Obama Tame the Deficit?"

Well, I honestly don't know if Obama can tame the deficit. Is it supposed to up to Obama all by his lonesome? The deficit is approximately at $1.5 trillion. If all goes according to plan (according to this article from Time Magazine) in 2014, the U.S. will still be in debt by $546 billion. The government as a whole needs to collaborate on this issue if you ask me. I don't know enough to tell them what they need to do, but I can say that I don't think it should be all up to Obama. Just because Bush added a lot to the deficit doesn't mean that this president should be expected to get rid of it altogether. There are a lot of irresponsible politicians when it comes to money. In a class today, my professor said that a congressman (I think) spent $30,000 on a portrait. Really? Was that necessary? Not at all. That money could have went towards something important.

First let me address the stimulus...YAY for those of you who are actually getting help (I guess). It doesn't do me any good, I don't have a house. It doesn't do my family any good, the house we have is already owned. Now if we could get something to help with these layoffs of me and other family members, then I'd be happy. Other than that, I'm not really upset about this stimulus. Some people really need the help.

The deficit on the other hand, man it's really got me down. The economy is doing horribly and I'm going to have to deal with it head on in a few months. I've already encountered some of it and I'm not feeling it at all. I am seriously considering becoming a Canadian citizen when I graduate. Free health care... sounds good to me.

"Retail Sales Show Unexpected Rebound in January, According to NRF"

So the field of retail did better than expected after the holidays. I saw this on the National Retail Federation website as well as WWD. After the holidays comes nice markdowns that apparently consumers couldn't resist. Even though retail has done well as a whole in the month of January, the question is will this continue?

Hopefully the good sells keep up for a while, but in all honesty I don't see it. Most people want to save their money in this economy. I don't think retailers believe that that kind of business will continue either, that is why most retailers have already started their layoffs. If the sells continue to pick up though, there will be some hope for us. I could possibly have a job when I'm out of school, maybe even before the semester is up. That would be awesome. So I'm going to hope for the best.

"As Layoffs Surge, Women May Pass Men in Job Force"

Well, I honestly have to say that this kinda makes me feel good. This headline was found in the New York Times today. This article goes on to say that the reason that it seems more women will be employed than men during this recession is because of the type of work that women are more likely to do.

Women tend to work more in fields such as education and healthcare. Though men do work in these fields as well, women certainly have surpassed the men there. These fields are fields in which women are able to provide care for another.

I'm elated elated because I have worked with children before and for a long time at that. I wouldn't mind doing it again. Working with children of course is not my field of study, but I do love children and they love me back. Who's to say that working with children couldn't open up another door for me? Maybe working with children will inspire me to design for children...huh? Sounds good, right? I'll always be a designer, all I'm saying is that all hope of me having another job soon isn't lost.