Genki Gold

How to Eat in Italy I could have used this blog post before I left for Italy. It is one thing to eat as a tourist in Italy, but it is an entirely different thing to eat food prepared by an Italian. The first thing you have to know is that what you see is not always what you get. The kitchen and the dining room are totally separate rooms in most Italian homes. You will likely never see the food that has been prepared until it is right in front of you. Italian tables are small, you see. In America, for dinner the food is all out on the table. This is not the Italian way. They will keep food in the kitchen until the next course. Some people have enough dishes for the world and will set out individual plates for every course. This is a pretty clear clue to Americans that there will be several rounds of food. But not everybody has that kind of dishware. Know that even if there are not several plates in front of you that there will be several courses.  Yes, that's right: ...

Every day I am more grateful that my major is in Communications Studies. I just love conversation. I love understanding and being understood. The Worst insult I can imagine receiving would be as follows: “You don’t understand [insert something previously communicated to me].” It’s the worst. I consider myself to be a good listener, and empathy is my number one characteristic. When someone instead tells me, “You don’t understand, you did not listen to me closely enough, and you are not empathetic to my situation,” it feels like I am being told that I am not being true to myself. I wish I didn’t take it so personally, but I do. To prevent this, I ask questions, I repeat what I have heard, and summarize to try and convey how hard I am trying to understand. Of course, I will never be perfectly empathetic, but I hope I can always understand what is verbally communicated to me. You can imagine how hard it is to meet this end when I don’t speak the language of the country I’m l...

I loved social media. I loved having friends compliment me for how "real" my posts were and how I helped others' self-esteem. I really thought the good was overwhelmingly better than the bad. My husband Rob is not very active on social media, and often argued with me about how it could be a bad influence. I fiercely disagreed, but in the back of my mind, I knew there were tons of inappropriate posts constantly at my fingertips. Some of the content was provocative or triggering, or even induced jealousy in me. However, I argued, public life can be provocative, triggering, and covetous. Just because I was not seeing an image on social media did not mean that I would not see the same image in public. Likely, the same images are on the street. If one cannot handle what one sees on social media and control their lust and jealousy, the same cannot control those emotions when they see the same thing on the street. It is better to use social media and learn to control those emo...

Louis C.K.: I can't imagine how hard it is to have all of your most private and personal experiences made public. Many other men and women have the same experiences but will never lose their career over it. If you are guilty by public opinion for the rest of your life, I am sad for you. My name is Jenny, and I'm a married university student. I watched your Netflix special earlier this year and laughed a lot. It was your joke on marriages that last forever that provoked this blog. You said that you "looked it up" and that "no religion teaches" that there is such a thing as a marriage that persists postmortem. I want you to know that you missed one religion in your research: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. You might know us as the Mormons. Salt Lake City, Utah Temple My husband and I were married in an LDS temple. We believe that as long as we are faithful, our marriage will be eternal. We would agree with you when you said: "M...

It has taken me years to tame my mane. This post is for those of you who are still in the heat of the struggle. I have separated each step of my hair care into four parts: 1.Washing  2.Style Prepping  3.Drying  4.Must Read How To's You can skip around to what you need.  Maybe you don't have curly hair, but feel free to read on. If more girls like you read this, you'll see what us curly haired girls have to go through and won't be so jealous anymore. FYI: My hair texture is as follows: I tend to have greasy roots and really dry ends. My curl is more kinky than wavy. 1. Washing Brushes I do not brush my hair dry. Ever. I only brush my hair when I shower. This type of brush, with holes behind the bristles is the best for brushing wet hair because the water has a place to go. It was introduced to me by a hairdresser friend of mine. I got this one from Wal-mart; they are available nearly everywhere. Price: $ Price: $ This is a comb...