I Whip My Hair (If I Had Enough to Whip!)

I was cruising the 'net, and came across two adorable videos dedicated to girls and their hair!

Tweetly Tweet

The other day I chronicled my baking experience on Twitter. I made the best brownies in the world, and I posted pictures for each step. I thought it would be kind of cool if I opened up my kitchen to my cookie fans (that’s what I call my customers).

I love Twitter. A lot of people who are not on Twitter complain about it because they think that it invades their privacy. But one crucial point that these people seem to overlook is that Twitter let’s you choose who follows you.

I use Twitter for two reasons.

Ultimately, it’s a part of my “hustle.” I tell my cookie fans what’s going on in my world. Even though they love my funny thoughts and jokes, they follow me to find out what’s in my oven. Not only do I share with them what I’m baking, but I also provide incentives for following me on Twitter. Everyone loves free cookie contests!

Chart borrowed from www.eMarketer.com

I may regret saying this later, but I also use Twitter because older members of my family are on Facebook. According to eMarketer.com, in 2009, 57 percent of American Internet users maintained a social networking site. For baby boomers, like my dad, their social network of choice is Facebook.

About a year ago, my aunts, uncles and dad, joined Facebook. I thought it would be cool to accept their friend requests because they’d get an inside look at my life in college. I’m proud to say I have nothing to hide, so I didn’t see any harm in letting them into my world. For a while it was nice to post a greeting or two on their Facebook walls or to tag them in Christmas pictures. But after a few months, it got old and annoying. I stopped posting statuses on a constant basis because I got phone calls from my concerned family members, and I untagged pictures of myself because my parents constantly questioned my whereabouts.

Illustration borrowed http://www.time.com/time/
magazine/article/0,9171,1879169,00.html.
Drawn by John Cueno for Time.

“Why Facebook Is for Old Fogies,” an article that ran on Time.com, suggested older people flock to Facebook for 10 major reasons. The top reason? To find people they’ve lost track of. Why drive hundreds of miles to a class reunion when Facebook is free? And on top of that, they can pry into an old classmates’ business in a matter of clicks.

The author of the article, Lev Grossman, lists a plethora of great reasons “old fogies” jump on Facebook. But, in the case of my father, I don’t agree with Grossman's list. If you scroll to the bottom of Grossman’s list, you’ll see why my dad joined Facebook. Ladies and gentlemen, my dad joined Facebook because of me. I’m not sure whether to be fearful or to feel flattered.

So now I’m on Twitter, and life is sweet (literally). I check my Facebook page every once in awhile, but my main medium is Twitter. I know that I can’t keep running from my family online. I’ll have to deal with this issue eventually. I often ask myself what I’ll do when my parents get tired of Facebook and join Twitter.

I’ll deal with that when it happens. 

Ewwww! Wash your hands!

At my university, I’m known as The Cookie Girl. I love to bake goodies from scratch, and I sell them to classmates and teachers. I started baking when I was knee-high to a grasshopper. I can remember going into the kitchen, specifically during holidays, to bake with my Auntie Bertha.


I learned a lot of things from my Auntie Bert in the kitchen. I learned that the most important part of mixing up cakes is the creaming process (mixing the butter and the sugar). A good creaming makes a good cake! I also learned to be patient while the oven preheated. The oven must at the right temperature when you put the delectables in. But one of the most important lessons that I learned was to have clean hands. I could go into gruesome details about what could happen if one’s hands aren’t clean, but I will not.



Photo borrowed from http://www.dkimages.com/discover/Home/
Health-and-Beauty/Personal-Hygiene/Soap/Soap-46.html



I read a book called “Do the Right Thing: PR Tips for a Skeptical Public” by James Hoggan. I read an interesting passage about hand washing and manipulation. Hoggan told a story about an anthropologist who worked in Burkina Faso, a country in West Africa. The anthropologist, Dr. Val Curtis, set out on a mission to get the residents to wash their hands. Curtis thought the simple act would help knock out diseases caused by dirty hands, thus saving thousands of lives. Hoggan says her years of public education campaigns flopped, so she turned to companies like Procter & Gamble, Unilever and Colgate-Palmolive. The three companies are master manipulators. They convince us that we need disinfecting wipes, air fresheners, fabric softeners and teeth whiteners on a daily basis. They were the perfect companies to help Curtis.

Through research, the team (comprised of the three companies) found out that the people of Burkina Faso didn’t think going to the bathroom was dirty. The team decided to convince them that it was. The new public health commercials showed moms and their kids walking out of bathrooms with “glowing purple pigment” (p. 33) on their hands. Everything they touched glowed purple, too (to show the act of contamination).

Smart idea, huh?

The point of Hoggan’s story is highlighted on page 33 of his book: “Is it wrong to use manipulative tactics in a good cause?”

I think it’s wrong, but I’ve done it before. Once, when I was helping out at children’s church, a little girl walked out of the bathroom without washing her hands. I prompted her to go back to wash her hands, and told her that her hands were dirty. She looked at them, and insisted that they were not. I bent down, grabbed her hands and held them out. I told her, “You can’t see it, but little buggies are crawling on your hands. The only way to get rid of them is to wash your hands with soap and water. If you don’t the buggies could make you sick.” I had to instill a little bit of fear to get her to “Do the Right Thing.” Is that wrong?

“Nothing’s Better Than Friends!”

(Image borrowed from http://www.webring.org/
t/The-Baby-Sitters-Club-Webring)

I’m a jack-of-all-trades and a master of some. I’m working on mastering the art of skillfully entertaining kids.

Growing up, I always watched “The Babysitters Club” on the Disney Channel. In elementary school I wanted to do two things:

1. Start a club, like the one created by girls from "The Babysitters Club."
2. Babysit!

So, when I was in middle school, my parents let me take a whack at it. Ever since then, that’s what I’ve done. When I moved to Tallahassee, I picked the job back up. I babysit two silly little 4-year-olds named Quentin and Vivian. They’re on a journey through life and are exiting the world of toddlerhood. I’m confident about this because they will boldly look into your eyes and tell you: “I’m not a baby. I’m a big kid.”

I recently read a surprisingly good book for my PR Research and Strategies class. The book is called “The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make A Big Difference,” and it’s by Malcolm Gladwell. I’m not a fan of assigned reading, but I must give this book six thumbs up (my thumbs, Quentin’s thumbs and Vivian’s thumbs, too).

Even though this book isn’t about babysitting, I can apply some things that I read about to my second college “hustle.” So, here is.

Brittney’s List of Babysitting Tips 

Based upon children’s TV research from “The Tipping Point”

Me and Vivian on the see-saw!

1. Kid’s like variety. Follow the "Sesame Street" model. Instead of doing long, drawn-out activities with them, do a handful of short-and-sweet activities. Just the other day, I was hanging out with Q and Viv (we don’t call it babysitting, we call it hanging out). They get antsy if we only watch TV or if we only play outside. So, we watched TV for a little while, then we jumped on the trampoline, then we baked cookies, etc. I think you catch my drift.

2. If you run out of things to do, it’s OK. Kids don’t mind playing the same games that you played last time. On Sunday, I was running out of things to do with Quenten and Vivian. I got a bit nervous because I wanted to be on my toes ... I was far from it. Not knowing what to do, I thought back to the last time that I babysat them and suggested that we build a tent. Their eyes lit up! They ran to grab sheets and blankets in order to build something that we’ve built thousands of times before. It never gets old.  

3. Keep it simple. Gladwell explained in his book that the show “Sesame Street” is full of puns. The "Sesame Street" crew did it because they wanted to entertain parents who would be watching with their kids.  The creators of the show “Blue’s Clues” saw that kids don’t catch on to puns. Simplicity is the key!

Read up on “The Tipping Point.” Buy it if you’re looking for something good to read! http://www.amazon.com/Tipping-Point-Little-Things-Difference/dp/0316346624

The Chef Has Arrived

Last night, I finished my americanized Chinese dinner with a fortune cookie. I opened it up, slid the cookie out, and crushed it in my hand. I grabbed the slip of paper and read the mass-produced message: Eat more Panda Express.

(Image borrowed from
http://www.yorkblog.com/onlyyork/2008/11/)

Wow! Great fortune, huh? I was a bit ticked off, but the yummy crunchy cookie helped soothe my pain.  

My name is Brittney, and I love cookies. They can be round or square, crunchy or soft, big or small. I make them, bake them and sell them. I don't do it for a living, but one day I would like to. I started marketing my product in 2008, and I've been growing ever since. My pockets may not be growing as fast as I would like for them to, but I can surely say that I've grown as a person. This great opportunity has enabled me to meet people whom I probably wouldn't have met, stand up in front of people and say things that I would have never said, and push myself further than ever. I don't regret starting my own college "hustle" because it's helped me learn so much about myself.

“What’s your day job, Brittney?” you may ask. I’m a student. I’m a member of the Rattler Nation. I’ve wanted to attend Florida A&M since I was knee-high to a grasshopper. I’m so glad to finally be here. Sometimes I walk through campus (not so much anymore because I have class in one building … but work with me), and smile. I’m finally where I want to be.

(Image borrowed from http://newsone.com/
entertainment/news-one-staff/bill-cosby-will-
receive-prestigious-mark-twain-award-for-humor/)

This is may sound über cliché, but my time on “the hill” has slithered by extremely fast. So, over the next year, I’ll be chronicling my life. By peeking into my life, you’ll see that it is filled with mishaps associated with baking, stories of how the Lord has proven Himself awesome, and my journey as a super involved student.

In closing, let me leave you with some words from my favorite actor, Bill Cosby: “There are those who blaze trails, and there are those who trail blazers.” Which one are you?