"Snooki wants Smoosh Smoosh" 'South Park' and 'Jersey Shore'

Last night 'South Park''s new episode poked fun at the New Jersey craze. The most notable of their slams was on the cast of 'Jersey Shore', especially Snooki. In fact, they created a creature and called it a "Snooki." It was pretty much amazing and I didn't stop laughing through the whole episode. Snooki's creature was decked out in a bikini top, fuzzy slippers, carrying a cocktail, eating pickles and of courses adorning the infamous hair poof. The best part was she ran around making a sound quite similar to the popular "waaaah" of the real Snooki and demanding "smoosh smoosh" from everyone's favorite South Park characters. According to TMZ.com today, Snooki is just taking this as another sign of her growing fame (and she's probably right). South Park's depiction was epic in every sense of the word. I do have to admit that I am a viewer of 'Jersey Shore,' and I find something fascinating about shows that embellish the New Jersey culture. There of course was a clip with "The Situation," (who by the way was just voted off of 'Dancing With the Stars' Tuesday night for his insult on dancing.) I was slightly disappointed that they didn't pick on him a little more. The characters kidnapped him and were interrogating him and e sat in a chair holding up his shirt. I was also a little sad that they didn't spend more time on J WOWW or any of the other characters, but it was only a 30 min episode (maybe should have been a movie...) Kyle discovered that his mother was from Jersey (refereed to as "S-WOWW Titty-bang) and in his first 2 months as a fetus they lived in New Jersey. This created the character Kyley-B (after Pauly-D) which was a good edition to the episode. He had the famous Pauly-D blow out and ripped his sleeves off. He also used his Jersey attitude to save Cartman from the Snooki. The plot of the episode is that New Jersey is taking over, and the residents of South Park must stop the people from New Jersey so that they don't become West Jersey. The characters recruit Osama Bin Laden  to crash plans into the New Jerseyians and then shoot him in the end (as not to offend too bad).

Many people may not have caught another Jersey show reference, but the Jersey hair salon wa sa direct reference to a show called 'Jerseylicious' about a New Jersey hair salon, the Gatsby Salon. In fact, the hair dressers were cartoon copies of the actual attention-getters on the show Tracy and Olivia.

In the same scene there was also a very noticeable jab at the 'Real Housewives of New Jersey.'

Notable quotes from last night's episode:

Cartman: :You’re a ginger, you’re a Jew and you’re from Jersey – Strike Three, Kyle, you’re out!"

Kyle’s Mom: "You can take the fetus out of Jersey, but you can’t take the Jersey out of the fetus."

Kyle (as jersey Kyle): "Put that cabbage in your f'in muff!"

With this sudden increase in New Jersey related TV Shows, it was only a matter of time before South Park was all over it. 

Single Friends

I have always been the "single friend." I have friends that are also the "single friend." Some of my friends are never single. I have a friends who married her high school sweetheart. I have a friend I call the serial monogamist, because she is always in a long-term relationship. There are those friends who date but are never in relationships, those friends that are always in short-term relationships and single friends.

Like I said, I am normally the single friend. Yes, I've dated, and yes, I've been in a few serious relationships, but for the most part I am the single friends, the third wheel, the fifth wheel, the tag along, the one who is ALWAYS down to hang out. In the past I am always available to hang out, because frankly, I never had a man taking up all my free time. Honestly, there is nothing like just sitting at home with your man, doing not a damn thing. Couples know what I'm talking about. Why go out when you have someone to talk to right in front of you?

Being the single friend, I also was always the bitter friend. Why can't you hang out? Why are you always with your boyfriend? Why does your boyfriend always have to come along? Can we just have a "girl's night?" Every single girl knows what I'm talking about, why do your taken friends always bring their boyfriend everywhere??? The best way to avoid that is to request a "girl's night," but that doesn't always work out because some guys are always around and for some reason that automatically exempts them from not being present on girl's night. Plus there are those couples that live together, so if you want to hang out, he is always there. The best way to know you are not spending enough time with your single friends is that they request a girl's night. It's code for "you're spending too much time with your boyfriend. I want to hang out without him there for once." I know what all this is like, because like I said I am normally the single friend. Your couple friends want to include you but they also don't want you to feel like the odd man out, so more often than not you hang out with your other single friends or you get stuck at home with a carton of cookie dough ice cream watching reruns of law and order.

I am no longer the single friend. I have been in a relationship for a year and half and we live together, so now I'm no longer me, I am we. We come in a package. When I go somewhere without him, people always ask where he is. People invite me out, anticipating that my man will also be there. In fact, most people don't even remember what I was like before I was a taken girl. So now I am "that" friend. You ask for me, you get both of us, we are a packaged deal. This does not mean that I am opposed to an occasional girl's night, but if you want to come over, guess what? He's here too. So now I know how annoying I was as a single friend. I always thought my friends were being selfish and needy for always wanting to be with their men. Frankly you can't leave them at home by themselves or they get themselves into trouble...or the pout. Boys don't want to admit it but they don't like to be left out either. They also hate when you go out with your girls and then come home and fight with them about something they did months ago, only because you just spent the last three hours complaining to your girlfriends and listening to them complain about their men. Most of the time you bring him a long because your other taken friends do the same thing, and then he has someone to talk to. Honestly, we are always together but that doesn't mean we are always "together." Let me explain. We go to the bar, we might not even talk to each other for most of the time. We might not even sit next to each other. So even though we come as a package, we still carry on separately.

Sometimes my single friends annoy me, just as I'm sure I always annoyed by taken friends. They want to hang out, but honestly sometimes I just want to sit on my butt at home. It's easy, it's convenient, and if I want to talk to someone, HEY! there is someone there right next to me doing the same thing. No effort whatsoever. People in relationships are lazy, we don't go out as much because we are not looking for a man, and plus we hate getting dressed up to impress when we already have someone, and he sure as hell doesn't care, he sees you when you wake up, and we all know that's scary. So let's just say my complacency with being in a relationship has strained a few friendships. Some understand and some don't. Those that don't...they're single. Surprised? You shouldn't be. Friends in relationships are doing the same thing as you, sitting at home. Single friends either want to get out of their lonely apartment or away from their parents.

I love my single friends. I love girl's night. I love sitting at home with my man. I don't hate on single girls, I was there too, I understand. Girls in relationships just need to remember to a time when you were a single friend, and single girls just remember someday the tables will probably be reversed. :)

Increase in Teen Suicides

Over the last month there has been a disturbing amount of teenage suicides, primarily gay teen suicides. With an increase in bullying awareness, why is it that homosexual students are falling through the cracks? Many people were bullied as teens, including myself. Whether it's your height, your weight, your hair color, how much money your parents have or who you're dating, the fact of the matter is that kids are mean. It doesn't matter who you are, even if you are their friend, kids will find something to harass you about.

When I was in high school at Howell High School in Howell, MI, proposal 2 was passed my junior year in 2004. Proposal 2 banned gay marriage in the State of Michigan. Coming from a conservative town, my friends and I found out repulsion to this proposal in the minority. Now we were probably a little out of line, but we hung a rainbow flag in our school hallway. Let me mention that we had the approval of the administration, I have no idea how we ever received that permission, but we had it. Within the hour the flag had been torn down and stolen. This created a huge controversy in our high school. We were able to recover the flag and had it permanently placed on the wall in our hallway with a logo for our Diversity Club that we belonged to. After we graduated in spring of 2006 it came down, but the point was that we felt we had won a small victory for the time being.

The same year this happened, an openly gay student in our high school had experienced many verbal attacks during a school play. A few theater students decided to spray paint "LOVE" all over the sidewalks and on a giant rock in front of the school (that the students were given permission to spray paint). These students were suspended and forbidden from participating in Senior activities because of their vandalism. The students agreed to pay for the removal of the spray paint on the sidewalks. What started out as a loving gesture for their friend turned into another controversy for the high school. In the past students were known to spray paint on the sidewalk when fellow students had been killed, without repercussions. The students did not expect that they would be punished so harshly for their gesture.

Where am I going with this? I am not homosexual, but I, like many of my peers, was bullied in high school. I was called a "fag", I had things thrown at me in the hall way. One time I had a gingerbread house thrown at me on the bus, thankfully it hit the kid behind me. My friends and I experienced a lot of ridicule for the way we looked, dressed and acted. However, the administration never did anything to stop it. I made it through high school and went to college and graduated and now I have a great job working for a State Representative. The point is, what happens to you in high school does not represent what is going to happen to you in life. No matter what happens to you or what they say to you, nothing can be worth losing your life. I can't sit here and tell you that I never thought about taking my own life. Whenever I thought about it, I thought about how I would effect the lives of my loved ones. Not only would I end my own life, but I would ruin the lives of the people who actually love and care about me.

Those people exist.

Everyone has somebody that cares about them.
Somebody who would cry if you were gone.
Somebody who would never be able to forgive themselves if you ended your life.
Somebody who loves you.

There has been an increase in teen suicide, especially gay teen suicide. Something needs to change. School administrations need to stand up for their student's right to be who they are. School is supposed to be a safe environment. I may have never made it through high school without the help of my guidance counselor, a few great teachers and my closest friends. Students need to find that confidant and school leaders need to make themselves more available for their students. Recently a college student, only a few years younger than me, killed himself because his roommate posted videos on the internet of him performing sexual acts with another male. What is wrong with these kids? Don't you know that your actions do not make you a better person? You are hurting someone, someone who just may end their life over your actions. The student council president at the University of Michigan is being harassed by a person who calls himself the Assistant Attorney General. This man is a public servant, and employee of the State of Michigan and he is carrying on like a teenager. He is posting inappropriate things online and stalking the openly gay student council president. You are entitled to your beliefs, just as I am, but are you trying to push this kid over the edge? Do people do these things because they want gay students to kill themselves? This is disgusting. Mathew Shepard was killed because he was gay. What is wrong with today's society that people can hate so much that they want to end the life of someone because of their sexual orientation, something that doesn't even effect them??

Many celebrities are speaking out about the recent teen suicides. There is help out there.

YOU ARE NOT ALONE!
http://www.thetrevorproject.org/