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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 2, 1996)
Jessica : KENNEDY ■ Lighten up Don’t let everyday strains overshadow life “Never fear the shadows. They simply mean there is a shining light nearby —Alexia K. Tsairis What an inspirational idea! That regardless of moments of “being down” or confusion, there is some thing bright waiting to pull you through. Sure, it’s nara 10 iook past the obstacles or to even want to be happy. And sometimes it takes more than the knowledge that tomorrow is another day. Since the odds are against a knight in shining armor whisking you away into the sunset or winning $ 16 million in the lottery, look for the light in the little things. Little things are all around and are frequently overlooked while we hurry through our lives. Little things like a greeting card from a friend or a call from your - mom. Pick yourself up by looking through a photo album, reading old U Since the odds are against a knight in shining armor whisking you away into the sunset or winning $16 million in • the lottery, look for the light in the little things.” letters, or playing favorite tapes and CDs. Do you remember the song “My Favorite Things” from the “Sound of Music”? Julie Andrews sang of girls in white dresses, whiskers on kittens, and brown paper packages tied up with string... those were a few of her favorite things. How about a song from elemen tary school, “Happiness is...” The only parts I can remember is that happiness is two kinds of ice cream and tying your shoe. These certainly are not fancy pleasures or complex needs. And that's what the little things are all about—enjoying smaller, simpler moments of light, of life. Stop and think about the little things that make you smile. For example, I was standing at the sink doing dishes, staring out the window. It had rained the night before and the alley was full of puddles. On this particular day, a male cardinal was in one of the larger puddles taking a bath, just singing away. It was great—this bird, oblivious to the world around him, brought me days of amusement. Or how about after the game Saturday: I had forgotten to arrange a place or time to meet my ride, so I high-tailed to where I knew he had parked. I beat him there, of course, so I hunkered down in die shade to wait. As I sat there, a squirrel came around the comer. I was blown away—the squirrel came within a foot of me, twice. I tried to otter it my gum, but he wasn’t interested. The little things always pop up when you least expect it and when you need them most. After telling a professor about the rough afternoon I’d had, he told me a couple of funny stories and then reached out and gave me a big hug! How he knew that was what I needed, I’ll never know. But I did need it and the hug lifted my spirits immensely. Thanks George! When things aren’t going right or you have a week of waking up on the wrong side of the bed. Take a perspective check. Stop looking for the big things to cheer you up and don’t count on a bouquet of flowers. Count on yourself. Look around and enjoy what you find. Smile for no reason or any reason. Smile , because you’re enjoying the leaves falling or children walking home from school. Look for the picture-perfect moment and find the inspiration. Look beyond the shadows and see the light. Kennedy is a senior advertising and broadcasting major and a Daily Nebraskan columnist. Mark ALBRACHT Animal attraction Discovery Channel offers hours of arousal Every now and then, despite our deftest attempts to scurry in the other direction, we end up learning something. It’s a pain in the ole kaiser bun to get knowledge that KsaESi—an »on'1 affect our urns one way or the other. Doing so takes up brain space—cells that otherwise could have been sacrificed to the marauding beer cells that repute IU Kill Ulicill gence — and in the end leaves us no closer to graduation than before. I do ray best to keep from learning things when it's not required. I go to movies that delve no farther into so cial issues than asking such questions as, “Was Demi Moore more naked in ‘Striptease’ than Elizabeth Berkley was in ‘Showgirls'?” I hold evening long - conversations with my friends on what Yoda must have been like when he was younger. I lie on my living room couch and stare at the stucco patterns on the ceiling for several minutes at a time. I’m well-seasoned at idling away my years. That’s why it was so shocking to find myself inadvertently expanding my horizons while tuned in to the unofficial king of cultural regression. That, of course, being cable TV. There I was, not five minutes from Jenny McCarthy’s last flutter for the cameras on “Singled Out,” when I found myself immersed in educa- ~ tional programming. My thumb had paused ever so slightly during a routine surf between MTV and Cinemax, but that was all the time required for my brain to relay a quick There I was, not five minutes from Jenny McCarthy’s last flutter for the cameras on ‘Singled, Out,’when I found myself immersed in educational programming.” “Whoa Nelly” impulse to my thumb. There, on channel 35 (a.k.a. The Discovery Channel), was a pair of lions doing itl One doesn’t typically picture the king of beasts in that sort of mode. Whoever coined the term “like a cat in heat” must have never heard a lion in such a state of grace, because it is without a doubt the lion that carries the more memorable collection of aroused purring. As it turns out, lions are not monogamous creatures. The male lion whose interlude first caught my attention, proceeded to indulge himself for a full half-hour of TV time, getting intimate with four different partners. I might very well have been watching “Simbah Does the Savanna” as his only break was a one-course gazelle between the third and fourth sessions. I’ve developed a new appreciation for educational TV. I now watch the Discovery Channel quite a bit. In fact, I watch it and the Learning Channel simultaneously for several hours a night. And I recommend it to everyone, even to those of us who are stingy with spare brain cells. Watching lions attempt to squelch their libidinous fires is oily a small part of what makes these channels must-see-TY.A single week night puts the “X-Files” to shame as far as paranormal goings-on. Alien abductions are as frequent as cheesy one-liners in “Independence Day” and there are more per capita bigfoots on these networks than there are in the sparse Cascade Mountains of Washington state. The best of the shows that butter their bread with -Outer Limits” Parkay is “Arthur C. Clarke’s Mysterious World.” From his home in Sri Lanka (which is weird enough), Arthur narrates investigative repents on every strange occurrence imaginable: He has shows on ghosts, crop formations, UFOs, the Loch Ness Monster—you name it. The best episode in the series features spontaneous human combus tion. All over the world there are reports of individuals with large build-ups of internal methane who became cinder piles from the inside out. One such case was a man in Fiance who started to bum at the dinner table. Flames shot from his stomach which prompted his daughter to put down her croissant and call the fire department. When the firefighters arrived, the man was dead but still ablaze so they thrust a fire hose into his open stomach and , put him out. I think it’s very important for humans to know that this sort of thing can happen to them and not just Spinal Tap drummers. In my frequent viewing, the channels have proven to be a bevy of likewise useful informa tion. An example: Restaurants in Thailand carry a dish known as tiger penis soup. Don’t interpret that to be a clever idiom lost in translation, take it literally, because that’s what it is—a pair of tigers’ penises floating in soup. If you decide to tune in, you’ll certainly agree that the sexual aspects of big cats is a top priority of the Discovery Channel people. The useful part of this information comes in now—tiger penis soup costs $600. Jt is served in a large kettle that can serve roughly eight people, which breaks down to $75 a person, but really, think of what you’d be putting in your mouth for that much money. A useful travel tip indeed. J The show never mentioned whether or not tiger penis soup is actually good. The narrator only said that Thais be lieve it to be an aphrodisiac. But judg ing by the satisfied looks on the din ers* faces, it’s likely the unanimous response was, “They’re grrreatl” If you wish to continue avoiding extracurricular learning, then I recommend keeping a safe distance from Channels 17 and 35. On the other hand, if you have a few sacrificial lobes to spare, at the very least tuning in will give you some thing to talk about at parties. Albrackt is a junior philosophy major and a Daily Nebraskan. columnist