Energy Drinks

By this point in time, I am confident that most everyone has tasted an energy drink, if not heard of them. If you aren't aware of what an energy drink is, it is a magical beverage filled to the brim with caffeine and vitamins that are supposed to give you an extra punch of energy. Unfortunately, in excess, this mix of chemicals is likely to give you a stroke and/or a multitude of heart conditions. With this in mind, I have a confession to make: I am addicted to energy drinks. If you hand me one, there is no chance that I wont drink it. Every day there seems to be a new study coming out about how energy drinks are seriously detrimental to your health but nothing seems to stop me. Now, its no like I drink multiple  drinks per day, and not even one a day. Its more around 1 or 2 a week, which actually isn't a lot compared to what others may drink. The problem is, whenever (and I mean whenever) I am faced with an opportunity to consume one, the outcome is me drinking up.

So what is it that makes me like energy drinks so much? At this point I believe it is slowly becoming a physiological addiction, but what draws me even more is the taste. Most people, when asked to taste an energy drink, say the taste is just awful and accuse me of only drinking it because it makes me feel cool. But I legitimately love the taste of most any energy drink. Some of my favorites include Red Bull (however overly priced it is), Monster, and Amp. They have a sour taste unlike any other soda, and when served cold go down very smooth.

Now that we have gotten over the embarrassingly short list of good things about energy drinks, we can talk about the bad. The first thing that would seem to belong on the good list is the energy these drinks supposedly give you. In my experience, the drinks either have absolutely no energy effect on me (caffeine resistance?), or they make me feel nervous and jittery. Another huge downside to drinking energy drinks is that simple fact that they are so expensive. If you want a large Red Bull, you will be down around 5 dollars. Though Red Bull is the most expensive one, an average drink is around 3 dollars,  which is way to much money to be paying when all you get is a tiny can. The final downside is that energy drinks are simply bad for you. Multiple studies have shown the adverse affects that these drinks cause, the worst being serious heart problems.

Energy drinks have become a burden on me, and my wallet, but for some reason I refuse to stop drinking them. So this time, my message is don't try energy drinks; it may turn out that you like them.

Oh Sheesh Y'all!

One of my favorite things to do when I'm next to a computer is waste time. Regardless of what homework assignment I need to be doing, if it’s online, there is a more than likely chance I will get distracted. The internet is a dangerous place because it is so vast and the possibilities of pointless things to do and watch are endless. It always begins with the checking of my Facebook page. From there, it progresses to a state of idiocy, clicking link after link, meandering my time away. The worst part about all of this is that at night, my sleep cycle is thrown off completely by my computer, I try to turn my lights off my 10:30, and hope that is the end of it. But I seem to always end up getting back on to my computer and checking just one more thing. Eventually I'll promise myself to go to bed at 10:45. Then it becomes 11. Then 12. Then 12:30. And hopefully by then, out of sheer exhaustion, I turn my computer off.

But what could possibly so interesting that I need to stay up for an extra 3 hours? Many things. The first and foremost culprit that causes my sleep depravation is Reddit. Reddit is a site where a bunch of people post random links to pictures, videos, and opinions. The most popular things get voted to the front page. Unfortunately for me, these links are very entertaining and I usually spend about and hour daily clicking through them mindlessly. I was debating on whether or not to link you to this dreadfully addicting site out of fear of spreading my addiction. But hey, clicking it is totally up to you, right?

Another site that has me hooked is YouTube. I am assuming every one of you has heard of this video-sharing site, but I will tell you why it is truly evil. Two simple words: Related Video's. I couldn't even imagine the amount of extra sleep I would have on my belt if not for this feature. When get on to the site, it is usually from a link that a friends sends to me, or from Reddit. It could easily stop there. But unfortunately, YouTube has a feature where they suggest other videos that they think you would like. For a tired and weak mind (how my mind usually is at 11 o-clock) it is absolutely irresistible. "Hmmm, that looks interesting, oh look at that! I have to see that next video!" And the cycle repeats itself over and over and over.

The third means of time wasting (and the inspiration for the title of this post) is Jake and Amir. Jake and Amir are two guys that work at collegehumor.com. They make short sketch videos that are each about 2 minutes long, and also happen to be insanely addicting. I've spent hours upon hours on their site, watching all of their videos. I am confident that I have seen all of them, and could probably quote most of them. If you want to know about some of my favorites, just ask me. But I think it is preferable that you discover them for yourself.

Writing about all of these things makes me realize how easily addicted I am. Having a computer is the sole reason you will see me tired at school. So don't feel bad for me when I say that I'm tired, I'm doing it to myself.