Affordable, Luxury Interior Design to Make Your House a Home

 Affordable, Luxury Interior Design to Make Your House a Home

Everyone dreams of their forever home. From carpet color, to sizes of pillows, to the kitchen countertop, making decisions about the place you want to live out your days affects how you will look back on your home. When life throws the unexpected at you, your home should be your safe place at the end of the day. Stubborn Interior Design wants to bring the dream of your home to life. We offer everything necessary and more that is needed to turn a house into a home. From couches where you’ll cuddle with a loved one on christmas eve, to chairs that host family and friends on thanksgiving, we strive to make you feel comfortable and at peace in your home. We offer a variety of decorations, from fake plants and indoor greenery, to abstract statues and figures that add a pop to whatever room is desired. At SID, we work to effectively meet your vision desires within your price range as well. We completely understand how much interior design and furniture can cost, and from our affordable collections to the luxury  of various decor and aesthetics can help bring the design of your dreams to life. Our most current collection offers subtle, calm colors, with a touch of coastal warmth, bringing serendipity to your home. Our modern collection consists of dark, warm colors, edgy textures, with an emphasis on a sharp look. Our contemporary collection brings soft edges, flexible patterns that work in a multitude of aesthetics, and neutral colors that accent different kinds of decor. Our top notch luxury collection at SID brings the glitz, glamour, and poise to home with bold lines and colors, emphasizing the gold accents in almost all of our luxury pieces. 

We bring not only an array of furniture to the table, but an expertise that is unmatched by any other interior design firm. All of our consultants have masters in the science of Interior Design, and have extensive backgrounds. We also thrive on not only our work, but the family atmosphere that is created by the constant support and love of all staff members. We support each other and uplift each other,  so we are able to support and uplift you in your vision. At SID, we work together to create an environment where you feel at home, and that you can trust us to bring your vision to life. Stubborn Interior Design is here to ease the stressing of turning your house into a home, filled with memories of friends and loved ones. 

Key Words: Affordable design, Interior Design, Luxury Design, Home

"Very On Brand" - An Introduction of Me and my Future Career

 “Outgoing”, “loud”, and “energetic” are words people use to describe me after talking to me for 5 minutes. I can’t really say I disagree with them. Ever since I was young I was always the loudest, most outgoing in my class. You would think I would be more introverted being an only child for the first 15 years of my life, but I turned out quite the opposite. I grew up in Berwyn Heights, Maryland, where my mom was well known and well loved. My dad was a DC firefighter and lived 30 minutes away. My mom and I lived with my grandparents until my freshman year of high school. My grandma worked as an office executive for Exxon Mobil, and my grandpa worked as a carpenter and went fishing on the weekends. I grew up with the joke that my mom was my grandpa’s favorite and I was my grandma’s, as while they went camping and fishing, we went to charity galas and plays at the Kennedy Center. My favorite childhood memories are going to work with my grandma and sitting in the visitors office, with my notepad and a bagel from K Street Bagels. Growing up I always had the same dream: to have a big house, lots of money, and a happy family with a LOT of dogs. I always wanted a big family because I was an only child, until my 15th birthday. The best present I ever received was my little sister, Layla. We may be 15 years apart, but she has become my best friend and one of my favorite people on this planet. 

When trying to describe me, I think of the things that my friends would say are “on brand”. These are usually things that consume my life, play some sort of effect on my personality, or that I claim is a part of my personality. The thing at the very top of the list is, and always will be, hockey. I grew up with all boys and family members who either played hockey or were die hard fans. I grew up going to games, calling our suite tenant “Aunt Diane”. Another thing that I absolutely love, and is a part of my everyday life, is dunkin. My dunkin ladies are some of my favorite ladies, and coffee gives me a kick start to having a good day. Lastly, my love for dogs is a big part of who I am. Whether it’s surprising my family with a dog, volunteering at a dog shelter, petting every dog I see, or crying at a dog movie, dogs are my favorite little cuddle buddies. 

All these things play into who I am and what I want to be when I grow up. Being able to make my outgoing and talkative personality a career through the major of strat comm has made me so excited for the future. I hope to work at Exxon like my grandma did, and become an international lobbyist. Ive always been good with words and communicating with others, and being able to travel the world has been a dream of mine. 

College, Oil, Travel

Final Post - The Effect of Technology

Different generations have had different relationships with technology. I look at my granda, who today I had to help her download something as a PDF, and then I look at my 5 year old sister, who has to watch videos on her phone to eat dinner. It's interesting to see how technology progressed through each generation. As time goes on, I think people will be completely dependent on technology, if they aren't already. 

My generation uses technology regularly. Millennials have the second largest presence on social media, after generation Z. We use snapchat, instagram, twitter and tiktok like it's part of our religion. It passes the time, entertains us, and gives us something to look forward to. We also use technology in our classrooms, having online textbooks, homework, and tests, using the internet for researching things, and writing blogs for classes. Technology use has become essential, not a choice. 

Personally, my relationship with technology is very wishy-washy. I love the internet, my laptop, my phone, and my tv. I love being able to research different topics and find different recipes at the tips of my fingers. I love listening to music, being able to control what comes next and the list of movies I’ll be watching. I love reading funny tweets, watching stupid videos, and listening to interesting podcasts. I love being able to facetime my friends all over the country. Technology can be a great friend, but it isn't. 

When it glitches, messes up, is slow, or unresponsive, I tend to get super frustrated. It's like having a friend you're supposed to always count on, and they let you down. It gets so frustrating to the point where sometimes, I get mad. How can I get mad at something that can't even talk back to me, and isn't making the conscious decision to glitch? I realized that it's unhealthy to depend on something so much that isn't even a being in itself. Not to mention, the internet knows more about me than I’ll probably ever know about it. 

When I think about how much time I spend on technology, I laugh. Technology is being used when we aren’t even aware of it. My phone tracks the amount of time I use it and I don't use it, my apple watch tracks every step I make, and I rely on my phone alarm to wake up everyday. Sometimes, using technology isn't a choice, it's a given. 

When it is a choice, I find myself definitely choosing it. I can sit on tik tok and not even realize that 30 minutes has gone by, or push off my homework until after just one more youtube video. Sometimes I do it without even realizing it, but I think that's because of how normalized technology is in today's society. When I get lunch with my friends, I put my phone away to be present in the conversation. Sometimes, I find my mind wondering who has texted me and what notifications I have. How crazy is that! 

Technology is also necessary in some aspects, making the time well spent. Writing this blog takes up some time, but for a good reason. School and online classes count on technology, having us spend out time looking at a computer screen. 

Because of this, the internet can be very useful. Using the right websites, you can learn to cook, organize, and pick up a new hobby. Quarantine has me taking online workout classes and trying new recipes. Without technology, especially during a pandemic, we would all be bored out of our minds. We have a whole world of new hobbies and online classes and informational sites at our fingertips, ready for us to take advantage of it.

With every positive, there's almost ALWAYS a negative. If people are only using twitter and facebook as their source of news, they're bound to receive false information. This causes online fights, bullying, disagreements, and public shaming. It's also so much easier to do all that over the internet instead of face to face. There's so many rumors out in the world, and they can blow up and trend on twitter like nobody's business. 

It is also ridiculously easy to believe fake news, especially on the internet. Twitter specifically can make fake news look SO real. But I think it's our responsibility to pay attention and notice these things. The internet isn't able to monitor information people put out to determine if it is real or not. If we have the resources to find out the truth, we should use them, and not just believe the first thing we read. 

I think the scariest thing about all of this is how dependent we all are on technology. As I said earlier, we use it even if we don't realize it. What if one day, everything crashes? What will schools, businesses, and households do? My sister HAS to watch her videos when we eat dinner, and if that goes away, what then? If that's all she's known her whole life? We type letters, send memos, and record our voices, but what if we can't do that? Taking technology out of society will completely change the society we live in. The one we once knew, the one we are in now, won't exist. To avoid this, it's important to acknowledge the bad and take advantage of the good. Technology is so useful to us, it's important that we respect what it can give and be aware of what would happen if it was taken away. 

https://www.matrixres.com/blog/millennials-technology-good-bad-and-awkward

https://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2019/06/17/technological-change-millennials

Positive Effects of Social Media

Social media can't be all bad, right? Our parents tell us that it rots our brains, lowers our self esteem, and lets us set unrealistic expectations for ourselves, which is all true. But using the internet the right way, and benefitting from all the resources it offers us, can help us grow and educate us on topics we did not know before. 

Social media like Youtube allows us to learn so many things. From cooking, organizing, and at home workouts, we have the ability to improve our lifestyles at the tip of our fingers. We have endless options of recipes, endless workouts, available to us for free. And it's not even limited to this. We can learn how to get better at public speaking, how to do hair and makeup, tips on training a dog, and more. 

Social media also gives us the opportunity to connect with those not close to us. Whether it's a simple like or nice comment, we’re able to build community and connect with one another. We are able to have interesting conversations, debate topics, and speak our mind. Social media can be like a public journal, that allows comments and sparks interest in conversations. We are able to connect and build character, and help learn how to love ourselves better and improve our lives. 

https://curatti.com/social-media-positive-effects/

Negatives of Social Media in a Pandemic

Today, I got a notification on my phone, looked at it, and laughed. It was my screentime from the past week, telling me my time went 10% down as now, my average time is 7 hours and 41 minutes a day. To think that I spent more time on my phone in one day than I would have spent if we were back at school in classrooms is crazy, and it's insane to think that I am not the only one. Middle schoolers, high schoolers, college students, and adults are spending more time on their phones and social media than ever. 

During this time, we spend so much time on social media. Regularly, social media causes us to be insecure, lonely, and depressed. We spend so much time staring at the screen, we mess up our daily routines and our sleep schedules. Being home and with school coming to an end, we now have the time to spare spending more than the average time on social media. Not to mention, the content is changing and adapting to the pandemic as well. Many are tweeting about their negative thoughts and feelings being stuck insight into the house and not allowed out, so it's causing a world of online negativity. 

https://www.forbes.com/sites/alicegwalton/2017/06/30/a-run-down-of-social-medias-effects-on-our-mental-health/#35f5c88a2e5a

Spiral of Silence

Have you ever publicly spoken out against anyone? If you have ever disagreed with your mom, felt differently than a teacher on a topic, or even argued with your best friend, for some it's not easy to speak your opinion if it causes issues or disrupts relationships. Sometimes, even if it's uncomfortable, you have to stand up for yourself and speak your truth. This, in my opinion, was the most important value in the eight values of expression. But what if you speak out against the government? What if you disagree with what they're saying? Well, it couldn’t be that scary. The Framers created a system of government that citizens would have a say in, to prevent this from happening! Duh! 

But I'm sure the Framers did not plan on a 2020 COVID-19 pandemic. They didn’t realize what the world would bring, and I'm sure they couldn't fathom the idea of social media. They sure didn't know about the “Spiral of Silence” theory. This is a theory that because people are scared to speak out against the government, they hold back their opinions. In today’s society, many citizens fear the government. After sporadic online stories and social media posts of government conspiracy theories, such as Area 51 and the Mandela effect, many are scared to have to witness what the government is truly capable of with the power they have. The government, specifically the NSA, has a scary stigma of being able to make people disappear, or alter their life in a way that it doesn't threaten the federal government. During a time of chaos, such COVID, many stay silent in fear of the consequences. 

This has also been more evident on all forms of social media. The creators of these platforms had hopes that social media would be a place to create discussion, and for minority groups to feel like they had a voice. Multiple people have reported that some of their content has been removed and taken down because of a political opinion. It's interesting most of all because our current president has a strong presence on twitter. He uses twitter the way it was intended to be used, to express our opinion and spark discussion. Many have noticed that tweets in response that are offensive or are of different opinion have been taken down, or the entire account has been deleted. 

Mass Communication Theory explained that “fears continually build within the minority opinion holder, hence the minority opinion is never voiced”. How is it that an entire nation of citizens can fall into the category of “minority”? Did we fail the Framers in letting the government consume too much power, or was it inevitable from the moment they created the system they did? During a time like this, it's important to be able to trust the government. If they invade our privacy, cause us to be silent, withhold information and infringe on the first amendment, can we trust our government to uphold our constitutional rights as a whole?

https://masscommtheory.com/theory-overviews/spiral-of-silence/

Privacy on the internet

To pretend that any account you have or any presence you have on the internet can be kept private is laughable after watching these Ted Talks. Whether you like it or not, the internet collects your data and keeps it either for producers and the government, and the scary part is that it's LEGAL. That's right, it's legal to obtain data involving you and your internet accounts for data. 

The Harvard Gazette explained that “being monitored by corporations and even governments is just a fact of modern life”. How scary is it that someone is watching your every move online, and documenting it without your consent. I wouldn't be surprised if someone from google isn’t watching this being typed right now. 

Not only are we watched on the internet, but if you own a car in the US, its more than likely they have a digital map that has documented your whereabouts for who knows how long. Those poles with lights and radars? Not speed traps, just the police tracking your location “incase” it's needed in the future. Sorry, but I just don't understand how that is legal. While it makes sense to prove you weren't or were somewhere if need be, it is highly unlikely that the majority of this data will ever be used. That's why I think it's unnecessary. 

Many say that our presence on the internet is like a tattoo, it can fade with time but it'll never go away. This can be a good and bad thing, but proves we really have no privacy on the internet.

https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2017/08/when-it-comes-to-internet-privacy-be-very-afraid-analyst-suggests/

My Internet Footprint

I do feel like I have a big online presence, but I'm not sure how much of an impact it makes. I have almost all of the big social media platforms, about 7 total, but I feel like unless you have a million followers and a blue check mark. 

I have accounts on twitter, facebook, snapchat, tik tok, linkedin, pinterest, vsco, and more. I’ve had most of these counts since I was around 13 years old, and check them daily. I don't post as often, but I am definitely kept up to date on others posts.  

I don't put much of my life out on social media, but mostly people would see two things. First they would see cool places I’ve been or fun events, as I only post when something special happens. My feed is full of formal pics, cruise stops, adventures in DC, and fun memories at HPU. It's fun to invite people to look into the fun memories and events that have happened in your life.

In today's society it's normal to give out your information over the internet. It's very common to give out instagram handles, snapchats, and phone numbers. It's common to make “internet friends” and bond with those you have never met, making it common to give out your personal information. My generation is very internet friendly, and feels more comfortable sharing their information than other generations. I personally don't like to give out my information. I give out my snapchat sometimes, but rarely give out my number.

While it's easy to meet people and be friends with them through a screen, it's important to remember internet friends and internet standards do not define you. Many people often lose themselves trying to meet the standards the internet sets, that is almost impossible to achieve. This causes many to feel lonely and isolated, having an effect on mental health.

Twitter and Diffusion of Innovation

Twitter is one of the most used social media platforms up to date. Twitter is used by the common citizen, celebrities, politicians, and companies all over the world. Twitter is most commonly used to spread news, publicly stating our opinion, and commenting on other people's tweets. Twitter blew up when marketing companies realized that social media was an up and coming way to market their brand. It was the easiest way to reach people and get them to notice your product. One retweet from the right person and hundreds of thousands of people will see the tweet. 

Twitter then became one of the best ways to spread the news about your product or program. While this can be a good thing, there is also a negative side when it comes to a less professional account. You can tweet pretty much anything you want, without consequences, unless the wrong person were to see it. Next thing you know, thousands are seeing something that they could take out of context and get offended and use against you to ruin your reputation and your company's reputation.

It's great that twitter is used as a resource to state your opinion, but it's important to remember words can be twisted and interpreted wrong. It's a great way to feel personally connected to people, but not everyone is actually what they seem to on the internet. Specially twitter. 

https://www.digitalorganics.com.au/what-makes-twitter-so-successful/

The Most Important Value of Free Expression

While all the values listed in the "Eight Values of Free Expression" are important when it comes to our first amendment right as American citizens, I can't help but think that there is one value that's more important than the other. The marketplace of ideas value, in my opinion, is the basis of the other values, and our freedom of speech as citizens. This value focuses on the fact that the truth will always prevail, when in the right.

Without the freedom to speak our truth, we wouldn't have not only individual identities, but no identity in our country, which prides itself on being "The Land of the Free”. The article called Marketplace of Ideas explains that “marketplace of ideas refers to the belief that the test of the truth or acceptance of ideas depends on their competition with one another and not on the opinion of a censor, whether one provided by the government or by some other authority” (Marketplace of Ideas, MTSU.edu). This explains that people have the chance to prove their truths to be correct, giving those the opportunity to express their truths. This allows not only good discussion, but the want and need for people to express their beliefs. 

The marketplace of ideas is beneficial to all the other values listed that make up our freedom of speech and expression. This can relate to participation in self government, because without the marketplace of ideas politicians and campaigns would not be able to speak their truths and base their marketing on any core beliefs. This allows them to come up with their own ideas and speak their opinions, drawing more attention and participation from citizens. In accordance to Stable change, people being able to speak their frustrations and issues out results in less violence and more targeted/beneficial discussion.

By being able to speak their truths, citizens are able to create their own identity. This aligns with the value of individual self-fulfillment. The marketplace of ideas also plays a big role when it comes to the value of checks on governmental power. Without expressing our truths on what we believe the government is lacking, there would be no accountability or change. Promoting tolerance is affected by the marketplace of ideas, because it helps us recognize hate speech and speak out against it. It promotes innovation by letting us compete and speak out on our truths and ideas that we feel would benefit society. Finally, it enables us to protect dissent, which allows us to not only disagree against the government, but speak out on what we feel they can do better.

https://www.mtsu.edu/first-amendment/article/999/marketplace-of-ideas

The History and Impact of Netflix

Netflix was created in 1997 by Reed Hastings and software executive Marc Randolph. Netflix's original purpose was to offer online movie rentals to the general public. In 1998, Netflix launched the first DVD rental and sales site, netflix.com. Netflix then debuted a subscription service, offering unlimited DVD rentals for one low payment a month. By the beginning of the 21st century,  Netflix introduced a personalized movie recommendation system, which uses Netflix members’ ratings to accurately predict choices for all Netflix members. In 2003, Netflix hit 1 million members. Netflix issued a patent by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office to cover its subscription rental service and several extensions. Netflix then grew to 5 million subscribers in 2006. With the evolving world of technology, Netflix introduces streaming, which allows users to watch TV shows and movies directly from their laptops. In 2008, Netflix partners with different consumer electronic companies, like PS3 and other internet connected devices. Starting in 2010, Netflix becomes available on the Apple iPad and iPhone, as well as the Nintendo Wii. Netflix expands farther than the US, starting in Canada. Netflix debuted in Europe, and won its first Primetime Emmy Engineering Award. With its growing popularity, Netflix premiered its first original stand-up special, "Bill Burr: You People Are All the Same." By 2016, Netflix is in over 130 countries, and has a multitude of original shows and movies, including  "House of Cards," "Hemlock Grove," "Arrested Development" and "Orange Is the New Black." Netflix started to win awards for their original shows, winning its first Academy Award when "The White Helmets" receives the award for Best Documentary Short Subject. Netflix continues to dominate award winning as time goes on. By 2019, Netflix had won four Academy Awards, including Best Director, Best Foreign Language Film and Best Cinematography for "ROMA," and Best Documentary Short Subject for "Period. End of Sentence." Netflix continues to be the number one streaming device used all over the globe, and adds different shows and movies monthly. 

Netflix has had positive and negative impacts on today's society. Netflix, while convenient and efficient for at home movie watching, movie theater sales have gone down. Many people would rather pay $10-$15 a month than go to a movie and spend $20-$30 per person at the movie theaters one time. Netflix has also caused companies to go out of business, one being blockbuster. Because of Netflix being at our fingertips, people spend on average 1 hour and 36 minutes a day watching netflix, while only spending 36 minutes with family members. While Netflix has been beneficial to our movie watching, it also has caused less interaction in our society.

source: Sobre a Netflix

Progressive Era

The Progressive Era started in 1907 with the first court case dealing with a journalist, Patterson vs Colorado. The journalists were sick of being thrown and jail and their first amendment right being taken advantage of. In 1915 a case about a movie where Lincoln was assassinated came to the courts when the film caused fist fights in ohio. The film was banned and the film company sued, claiming it was a prior restraint. Prior restraint is when the government stops you from speaking or writing before you have even done it. This causes subsequent punishment - when the government punishes you after the fact. The reasoning for the defence is speech action dichotomy, claiming that speech is protected under the first amendment, and action is not. This makes the film not protected under the first amendment. Journalists, movie creators, and those who wished to express their first amendment rights started to use expressive action, which is an action that has an expressive message to the public. In 1917, the US entered the war, and the US espionage act passed. In 1918, the sedition act was created, which made it a crime to talk bad about the government. This imposes on the first amendment right citizens have to speak freely. Many said the government violated the first amendment, and because the government didn't agree, they were thrown in jail. During the progressive era, the limits of the first amendment were tested in a multitude of ways.

Facebooks Invasion of Privacy

Facebook's lack of privacy and invasion on personal data has left millions of users feeling violated and untrusting of the popular social media network. Since 2018, facebook users have dealt with different issues and bugs contracting personal data and pictures that were uploaded but not posted. Many different instances have been reported where facebook or other companies used facebook to extract this data. One example is Cambridge Analytica improperly taking personal facebook data of 50 million people in order to profile and target users for political advertisements. Another example is the lack of facebook security enabled hackers to access and steal personal information in nearly half of 30 million accounts.

Not only are hackers misusing and stealing information, but facebook itself has also been accused many different times of taking and benefitting from users information. There was an incident when facebook staff did discuss selling access to user data to advertisers. The company was also accused of collecting text messages and phone call records through smartphone apps without consent. 

Social media companies should be restricted in what data they are and aren't allowed to use. If it already isn't, it should be illegal to obtain information without consent. When I go online and use facebook, I shouldn't have to worry about outside sources or facebook itself taking my information and using it to benefit them. Hopefully facebook, along with other social medias, can respect our privacy in order to not lose customers.

Source: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/dec/14/facebook-privacy-problems-roundup