Photoshopping

Nobody’s perfect, but it seems that our media drenched society would like you to think perfection is obtainable.

Gif by Photoshocked

Why are they making J-Law’s arms so toothpick thin when they are so healthy and strong???

The American Medical Association has urged advertisers in teen-oriented magazines to work with health agencies to develop guidelines that set some photoshopping boundaries.

“Photoshopping, especially as it’s related to children and adolescents, gives them an unrealistic expectation of what they might expect to look like as they grow up,” said Jeremy Lazarus, AMA’s president-elect. “So there are adverse health consequences as a result of that.”

When young people measure themselves against body types that can only be attained with the help of photo-editing software, it can lead to a poor body image and dangerous, unhealthy behaviors. Several studies have linked exposure to manipulated pictures to eating disorders and other health problems.

Celebs and artists like Lady Gaga and Beyoncé have raised their voice to the injustice of severe photo editing. Check out this music video from a Hungarian singer named Boogie who demonstrates the power of retouching in her new video, “Parfum.” Boggie chose to reveal the extent to which celebrities are altered to make a statement about modern consumerism and urge women to be themselves.

To some degree, we all grow up wanting to change certain things about ourselves. What if you could appear to be the media’s version of perfect ? Would your altered image become your Facebook profile pic STAT!? BuzzFeed gave four women professional makeovers and had them pose for photos. Then they photoshopped them to look like true “cover models.” Check out their reactions in the video.

They were happier being their unique awesome selves! So let’s embrace the freckles, the curves, the smile lines, the cow licks, the crooked teeth, the one eye that’s a little lower than the other (that’s me!) – everything that makes you, you.

♥

lauren @ CLP – Woods Run

Read:

Click:
SPARK Movement is a nonprofit organization that aims to fight  the media’s objectification of girls.

Tips for maintaining a healthy body image!

Teens Heath

 

A Teen’s Mini Survival Guide: Healthy You!

Part 1

From a Teen Librarian’s perspective

It Starts with You!

Have you ever wondered why things just have not gone right for you? Well, in my experience, I learned that is starts with you. What do I mean by that? I mean you get what you give! Everything in life is reciprocal (give-and-take); for example, you have a friendship that is in turmoil and you cannot seem to understand one another’s positions; sometime you have to ask yourself “Am I the problem?” or “What toxic things have I contributed to the relationship that could have caused so much chaos?” Another step that you can take is self-evaluation. You can start by asking yourself a couple self-reflecting questions like, what is bothering me and why? What is it that I want from this friendship or person and am I using clear communication to express to my listener? Knowing the answers to these questions may help you figure out where you went wrong and it may also help you understand why your friend reacts and feel the way they do toward you. Lastly, after you have realistically asked and answered your self-reflecting questions share your information with your buddy; tell him/her about the process and why you did it. Encourage your friend to participate and share their answers as well. Here at Carnegie Library we have lots of teen reading material that will help guide you on your journey to fixing your friendship. So come check us out, after all a productive and reciprocal friendship is worth saving!

Help yourself by helping others!

Volunteer, volunteer, volunteer! Through volunteerism, I learned that helping others with no need or want of compensation really makes you feel great inside. Being a part of something greater than yourself, allows you to lucidly understand that you are fortunate and that you some of your daily problems are mediocre and easily fixable. Secondly volunteering helps connect you with other. For example, one of the best ways to make new friends and strengthen existing relationships is to commit to a shared activity together. Volunteering is a great way to meet new people, especially if you are new to an area. Volunteering also strengthens your ties to the community and broadens your support network, exposing you to people with common interests, neighborhood resources, and fun and fulfilling activities. Third, volunteering is good for your mind and body. Volunteering can provide a healthy boost to your self-confidence, self-esteem, and life satisfaction. You are doing good for others and the community, which provides a natural sense of accomplishment. Your role as a volunteer can also give you a sense of pride and identity. And the better you feel about yourself, the more likely you are to have a positive view of your life and future goals. Last but not least, from my experience, volunteering can advance your career without making a long-term commitment. For example, if you’re interested in nursing, you could volunteer at a hospital or a nursing home. Your volunteer work might also expose you to professional organizations or internships that could be of benefit to your career.  As you can see, there are many advantages with volunteer. Did you know that you can volunteer at Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh? We love and support our teen volunteers, because you are the reason why our organization thrives! See your branch Teen Librarian for more details; he/she will be happy to assist you!

Want to learn more about volunteer check out: Volunteering: a how-to guide by  Audrey Borus.

Brandi-Knoxville

New Year, New You

Welcome to 2014- a fresh start, a clean slate, a chance to kiss a dog!  Wait, what?  I don’t know what compelled little Michelle Tanner to kiss a dog, but I do know that people love the beginning of a new year because it symbolizes renewal.  New Year’s offers an opportunity to shed any disappointments from the previous year, to look forward, and to transform yourself.  If you made resolutions but you don’t have a plan of action or know where to start, we can offer support!  Some of our very own Teen Staff have shared their resolutions for 2014 below.  If any of these resolutions sound similar to yours, remember that the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh has books, programs, and electronic resources that can help you achieve your goals.

Erin from CLP – Allegheny:  Mine is simple- slow down.

  

Sheila from CLP – Hill District: My resolution is to cut the amount of time I look at my iPhone in half and double the time I spend reading.

 

Whitney from CLP – Teen at Main: Mine is to start an Etsy shop.

 

LeeAnn from CLP – Teen Services: Eat less bread.  And wheat, in general.

  

Joseph from CLP – Teen at Main: Ride my bike to Washington D.C.

 

Michael from CLP – Hazelwood: To stop using (and misplacing) USB drives and start using “the cloud”.

  

Morgan from CLP – Teen at Main: My resolution is to organize my inbox and stay on top of it!

 

Mine?  In 2014 I’d like to brush up on my Spanish language skills, find the courage to start riding a bike to work, learn how to use a sewing machine, run my first 5k, and find more time to read.  Wish me luck!

Movember is here!

November is one of my favorite months since we are in the middle of football season, hockey and basketball are starting and my favorite holiday (Thanksgiving) takes place this month.  The last few years has seen a new November tradition and that is Movember.  If you are unfamiliar with Movember you can get a short history of it here.  Basically it started with a small group of men in an Australian pub who decided to grow mustaches to raise money to fight prostate cancer.  Since those humble beginnings, the Movember Foundation has raised over $175 million to fight cancer.

Besides being a great way to raise money to fight prostate cancer, Movember is also responsible for some EPIC ‘staches!  Here are a few of my favorites:

Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers

Pro Wrestler Hulk Hogan

Singer Lionel Richie

Ron Swanson from Parks and Rec

CLP Teen Specialist Simon (the alive one)

*Teen* Gardening Thyme

A lot of organizations talk about “going green” these days, but the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh is taking the concept to a whole new level.  Did you know that the Main Library (and many more library locations throughout the city) planted vegetable and herb gardens this spring?

And did you know that you can check out SEEDS to take home and plant from the Seed and Story Library currently located at both CLP Main and Lawrenceville?

This week at CLP Main- Teen, we’ll be kicking off our own *Teen* Gardening Thyme program series!  Throughout the summer, we’ll be hosting cool garden and gardening related programs.  Each program will begin with a tour of the fabulous garden at CLP Main!  Program participation is limited to teens and registration is required.

Seed Bombs: Wednesday June 19 @ 1 pm

Seed bombs are little balls made of compost, clay, and seeds.  You can plant them in your garden or use them to green-up vacant lots.

Make Your Own Salad Dressing: Wednesday, July 17 @ 1 pm

We’ll be picking some herbs from the CLP Main vegetable garden and use them to create their own salad dressing!

Make Your Own Pickles and Salsa: Wednesday, August 21 @ 1 pm

We’ll use some vegetables and herbs from the CLP Main vegetable garden to make pickles and salsa!

For more information or to register, contact CLP Main- Teen at teensmain@carnegielibrary.org or 412.622.5526.

   

   

Spa Day @ the Library!

If you’re a teen who will be near the West End Library on Wednesday, stop in to get pampered!

There will be he normal Teen Lounge stuff  – Xbox, Wii, Art Corner, and snacks, but you can also make a body scrub from scratch – this sugar-based concoction will make your skin smoother if you’re into that.

CC licensed photo by flickr user knittycent

You can take home easy skin care recipes to make from stuff you probably have in your own kitchen.

This could be a great Mother’s Day gift, too!

It’s from 4:30-6:30 and is FREE as usual. Check out the event page by clicking here.

Can’t get to the West End on May 1st? Check out these books:

The Green Guide To Natural Beauty by Karen Gilbert

EcoBeauty: Scrubs, Rubs, Masks, and Bath Bombs for You and Your Friends by Lauren Cox

Herbal Crafts: More than 60 Simple Projects to Beautify Your Home and Body by Jessie Hawkins

Home Spa: recipes and techniques to restore and refresh by Mannie Rosa Golden

Recipes for Natural Beauty: 100 homemade treatments for radiant beauty by Katie Spiers

Nature’s Beauty Secrets: recipes for beauty treatments from the world’s best spas by Dawn Gallagher

 

 

 

National Autism Awareness Month

Did any of your neighbors swap their white outdoor light bulb for a blue bulb on April 2?  When you drove past the CONSOL Energy Center did you notice its screens and LED pucks were blue instead of black and gold?  Your neighbors, the Penguins, and others around the took part in Light It Up Blue to commemorate World Autism Day (April 2) and kick off National Autism Awareness Month!

Autism is a disorder that is usually diagnosed in early childhood. The main signs and symptoms of autism involve communication, social interactions and repetitive behaviors.

Children with autism might have problems talking with you, or they might not look you in the eye when you talk to them. They may spend a lot of time putting things in order before they can pay attention, or they may say the same sentence again and again to calm themselves down. They often seem to be in their “own world.”

Because people with autism can have very different features or symptoms, health care providers think of autism as a “spectrum” disorder. Asperger syndrome is a milder version of the disorder.

-source: MedlinePlus

Organizations like Autism Speaks and the Autism Society work to raise awareness about autism and issues within the autism community not only in April but also year-round.  Did you know the Autism Society teamed up with AMC Theatres to bring families affected by autism and other disabilities an opportunity to enjoy their favorite films in a safe and accepting environment every month at “Sensory Friendly Films?”  How cool is that?

As you travel around the city be on the lookout for other buildings participating in Light It Up Blue, like the Andy Warhol Museum, Carnegie Science Center and PNC Park.

Want to learn more?  Don’t forget to check Overdrive for ebooks, audiobooks, and videos about autism.

               

Come Out… and Come to the Alternative Homecoming!

Today is National Coming Out Day, a day designed to encourage and support lesbian, gay, bisexual, pansexual, trans*, intersex, queer, questioning, and people from other identities all over the spectrum in their journey to be open about their sexuality or gender.

When it comes to the subject, I’ve always thought, “Comin’ out ain’t easy, but somebody’s gotta do it.”

According to the National Coming Out Day Youth Report, the numbers of LGBTQQIA* teens out in their schools has risen to nearly 2/3rds! At the same time, statistics from GLSEN‘s annual School Climate Survey have shown that schools are becoming increasingly better environments to be out, open, and getting on with the business of everyday life.

While it’s impossible to come up with the exact relationship between those two statistics, a lot of students have reported that social change in their schools was never going to happen until someone, anyone–the more, the merrier–came out.

It’s a lot of pressure to be that first person–and feel like you’re shouldering the burden for all the potential LGBTQQIA* teens past, present, and future in your community–which is why the Human Resources Campaign has put together a number of coming out guides for all kinds of different situations to address questions, concerns, and many other factors leading to you deciding whether you want to take that step.

It’s probably also why Ally Week comes just four days after, though it should probably come before. Oh, well.

Regardless of whether you come out and who you decide to come out to, the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh can be a place and resource for you.

And now that you’re out, or even if you’re not–and even if you’re straight but managed to see the word Alternative Homecoming and scrolled this far–you can celebrate with this cool dance!

Maybe your school has no football team. Or maybe you’re not allowed to bring your date. Or maybe you don’t have a school you call home but have a home you call school. Or maybe you just want to go to a really awesome party? The Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, the Carnegie Museum of Art, the Carnegie Museum of Natural History, and the City of Pittsburgh Mayor’s Youth Council are teaming up to offer the coolest teen dance of the fall!

On Saturday, November 10th, 2012, Pittsburgh teens of all kinds will invade the Hall of North American Wildlife and Botany Hall of the Carnegie Museum of Natural History (4400 Forbes Ave. Pittsburgh, PA 15213). In addition to bears and ferns, here are all the different wild things you’ll find:

• food and drink
• sweet jams provided by your favorite librarian deejay (me)
• a silent screening of Perks of Being a Wallflower, to celebrate the hidden wallflower in us all
• a free raffle for signed Perks of Being a Wallflower movie posters, provided by the Pittsburgh Film Office
• lots of cool arts activities, provided by the Carnegie Museum of Art
• a literary live green screen “Homecoming Portrait,” provided by The Labs @ CLP

You MUST have a ticket to enter! Tickets can be bought in advance at the TEEN desk at the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, Main (in Oakland), located at 4400 Forbes Ave. Tickets are $3 in advance and $5 the day of the dance (provided they don’t sell out).

Go stag! Bring one, two, three, four, or more dates! Dress as formal and fabulous as you want! Feel free to come in casual wear or your favorite cosplay! We will be handing out superlatives based on your unique style.

***Wallflowers & Wildflowers is strictly for teens in grades 9-12 or ages 14-17.***

For more information, give us a call at 412-622-5526. Hope to see you there!

~Joseph
Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, Main

sXe

Art by Cynthia Connolly. © Dischord Records

So recently I was talking music with a friend at the library.  “My favorite band’s Rise Against,” they proudly exclaimed.

“Cool,” I said.

At some spot along our ensuing point-by-point analysis of Rise Against, I added something like, ‘…and they’re mostly all straight edge too – except for the drummer, I think.’

“What’s that?”

I had a full-on Jack Skellington eureka moment:  Yes!  Blog post idea!

…………………………………………………………………………………………………

Basically, straight edge is a lifestyle choice.  At its core, it’s a personal decision to not drink alcohol, do drugs, or have promiscuous sex.  Many people who identify themselves as straight edge are also vegan or vegetarian and are against the use of violence; however, these beliefs are not central to being ‘straight’ (a word used to describe one’s desire to remain in control of themself, rather than in the sense of a sexual orientation).

Art by Susie Josephson and Jeff Nelson. © Dischord Records
The letter X is sometimes used to symbolize straight edge – this stems from the punk shows of the early 1980s where kids would have Xs marked on the backs of their hands to distinguish that they were too young to drink.

The straight edge mentality grew primarily out of the American hardcore punk scene of the early 1980s.  When punk began in the mid-1970s, it was a direct response to the pretentiousness and excess of mainstream 70s rock music.  However, by the close of the decade and the beginning of the 80s, punk too had become riddled with the same familiar vices it had set out to destroy.  Straight edge, in a way, was a punk reaction to punk itself.  It presented a new opposition in saying that alcohol and drugs do not make you look cool and are not needed to have a good time.

Ian MacKaye

A guy named Ian MacKaye is often credited with either creating or naming and propelling the straight edge “movement” – although this was never his intention.  As the singer in an awesome band called Minor Threat, Ian MacKaye wrote lyrics that expressed his personal ideals of not drinking, doing drugs, or having random sex.  One of these Minor Threat songs, Straight Edge, gave the mindset its name.  MacKaye later went on to form Fugazi, who, in this blogger’s less than humble musical opinion, were the most important band that has ever existed.

Give a listen.  A few great bands with straight edge members:

Fugazi – Check them out!
Minor Threat – Check them out!
AFI – Check them out!
Anti-Flag – Check them out!
Refused
Converge – Check them out!
Have Heart

Fiction Fix:

                

Jon : Carrick

How to Win the Gold Medal

The 2012 London Olympics have come to a close.  Now, I can’t pretend to tell you how to win an Olympic gold medal.  I can’t tell you how to get to the Olympics.  What I do know is that there were teenagers doing incredible Olympic feats at the 2012 London Games.  To even get to the Olympics is amazing—to win a medal is incredible.  To win a landmark medal is astounding.  Claressa Shields, 17, won the first gold medal ever awarded for women’s middleweight boxing.

Gabby Douglas, 16, is the first U.S. gymnast to win gold in both the individual all-around and the team competitions.

Kirani James, 19, won the first gold medal ever for his country of Grenada by winning the gold in the 400 meter race.

Missy Franklin, 17, won 4 gold medals and set several American records.  This YouTube video was created by a fan.

Wow.  These teens are absolutely inspirational.  Check out these books about teens, sports, and life.

Ball Don’t Lie by Matt de la Peña

Dairy Queen by Catherine Gilbert Murdock

Whale Talk by Chris Crutcher

The Girl Who Threw Butterflies by Mick Cochrane

Happy reading and happy sporting!