Gingers: South Padre Style

This week's ginger blog is going to be a little different than usual!  Last week I was on spring break in South Padre, Texas, where I spent the majority of my time on the beach.  While there, I decided to take my handheld camera with me for a little ginger-hunting.  St. Patricks day is a crazy day for redheads, Irish or not, so it wasn't hard to find a few willing gingers to interview!

Below is the link for my YouTube video interviewing gingers on the beach.  As a little preview of the video's interviews, here are some of the interesting quotes I got from the gingers.

"Everyone is envious of me - I know." 

- Joe Harris (Austin, TX)

"Gingers like to party more than any other nationality in the world." - Brian Tjossem (Simpson College)

"We're about to baptize people in the ocean." 

- Amanda (Commerce, TX)

Me: Do you like being a ginger?

"Not really...."

Me: Why not?

"We have no souls." - Steven (San Antonio, TX)

"It's a great way to meet women, bang hot chicks, party a lot, and get respect from the community." 

- Brian Tjossem (Simpson College)

"Everyone loves me today. I'm a leprechaun." 

- Hayden (Cincinnati) 

After reading those quotes, how could you not watch the video?! 

Please click the link below & enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7bPXKnRqVaY

Ginger #5 - Jessie McBroom

This week's ginger is the lovely Jessie McBroom.  She was born on June 28, 1991, and is originally from Grimes, Iowa.  Jessie is a sophomore here at Simpson College majoring in music.  Besides being involved in the music program, Jessie is a member of Kappa Kappa Gamma and works at Waterfront Seafood Restaurant, so she keeps up a pretty busy lifestyle!

When Jessie came to college she had her first experiences with "ginger" jokes.  Before she came to Simpson she had mainly been complimented on her hair, but she doesn't mind the teasing. Jessie says that you can walk
into a room and see plenty of blondes
and brunettes, but you rarely see a ginger.

"I love that I am unique!"

When people call Jessie a "ginger," she just takes it as them pointing out an obvious fact about her.  She takes the majority of her ginger jokes from her dear, dear friend Natalie Erhardt (the "ginger hater"), but she knows that Natalie loves her deep down, so she just plays along with it.

Another thing I should mention about Jessie is that she is one of my closest friends and roommate.  Yes - two gingers in one room!  Although the two of us get confused all the time, Jessie loves having another ginger around.  She claims it's nice to have someone else around who "takes the same heat, if not more."

When Jessie is looking to have some fun she does "what any normal person does for fun" and hangs out with her friends and family.  Despite the common stereotype, this ginger does have a soul and is very loved by all who know her. She is a happy, friendly person to be around is constantly amusing her roommates with her "blonde" sense of humor.

Another fun fact about Jessie is that she is "a half vegetarian" - which means that she only eats chicken.  And turkey.  And some exceptions of beef.  She is still figuring out what she wants to do in the future, but she knows that it will revolve around music in some way.  Good luck with whatever you decide, Jessie - make the rest of us gingers proud!

Thanks for reading, and look forward to my next ginger-post on a male, Simpson student next week!  You won't want to miss it!

Gingers #3 & #4 - The "Twins"

First of all, I just want to apologize for the longer-than-usual wait on this blog post.  Normally I have been ginger-blogging one once a week, but I just wasn't sure if everyone could handle this double-dose of ginger so soon!

That being said, here's what you've all been waiting for......

John and Ryan (left to right)

This week's gingers are John Cord and Ryan Stumbo.

Here's a little background information on each ginger:

John Cord

• Born on January 8, 1991
• From Atlantic, Iowa
• Majoring in math and economics
• Likes to go out, play video games, listen to music, and just relax

Ryan Stumbo

• Born on January 29, 1991
• From Laurens, Iowa
• Majoring in secondary education
• Can disappear if he wears a white hat and stands in front of a white wall

As you can see from the picture above, John and Ryan share a striking resemblance, but it's not only their ginger-qualities that make them so similar. These two gingers were born a mere 21 days apart (coincidence?) and both chose to come to Simpson College and play basketball.  Yes, both of these gingers are on the basketball team.  That should be reason enough to come to a game!

Ryan and John enjoy playing (basketball) with each other, 

even though they get mixed up a lot by the coach. Ryan says: 

"It's nice to have another ginger 

running around out there."

Ryan Stumbo

Instead of letting the ginger-teasing get to them, Ryan and John like to focus on all the things they love about being red-headed.  John loves how his vibrant hair color looks on his ghostly white skin, and Ryan loves how handy it is to be a ginger in the winter - you never get cold when your head's always on fire!

Although both of the guys admit to taking a lot of crap for being a ging, neither of them would change their ginger-ness if given the chance.  Ryan's heard the word "ginger" a million times and has even been asked if he glows in the

dark. He isn't a defensive person, though, so he doesn't                                                        let it get to him.  John, on the other hand, doesn't care for                                                    the "ginger" stereotype, but sticks with his motto: 

"Haters gonna hate."

John Cord

After they graduate from Simpson, both Ryan and John have big dreams for themselves.  Ryan plans on becoming a high-school teacher and basketball coach. John hopes to become an actuary and live in a city somewhere.  

Both of these gingers are doing great things, on and off the court.  Keep up the good work, guys, and never loose your positive ginger-attitudes! 

There will be a new ginger-post coming soon on a female, Simpson student.  Thanks for reading!

Ginger #2 - TJ Alger

This week's ginger is TJ Alger, a Simpson College sophomore from Okoboji, Iowa.  He was born on August 7, 1990, and has had red hair since day one.  His ginger-ness was no surprise, however, since his dad has a red beard and gingers are common on his mom's side of the family.

TJ is just your average, 20-year-old guy.  He likes to play sports and drink "adult beverages."  Although being a ginger has set TJ apart from the norm throughout his life, he doesn't mind one bit and doesn't consider being called a "ginger" offensive at all.  Like the rest of us ging's, TJ gets the typical jokes from close friends about his "situation," and says he commonly hears things like:

"Hey, you

ginger f&*k!"

He doesn't let the joking bother him, though.  Name-calling becomes like a part of life when you're a ginger - it's all about how you handle it.

When TJ "grows up" he plans to move to Nigeria where people won't judge him for his hair color.  He also plans to become a volunteer firefighter.  Gingers save lives and change the world every day - thanks for being one of them, TJ.

Well, that's Ginger #2 in a nutshell.  Look forward to another ginger-post next Sunday!

Ginger #1 - Yours Truly

When deciding who to write about for my first official ginger-post, I thought that it seemed appropriate for the first ginger to be featured to be none other than yours truly, aka me!  This will let you get to know me a bit and hopefully get you interested enough to check out my blog posts to follow.

My name is Julia Ann Robinson and I was born on December 26, 1990.  Yes, the day after Christmas.  I was born with red hair, which I got from my ginger-dad, Jim, and have had red hair my entire life.  My mom, Brenda, and younger brother, Lee, both have brown hair and are dark-skinned.  Needless to say, we don't look much alike!

Throughout my entire life my red hair has been a huge part of who I am.  Growing up I didn't get a lot of jokes about it, that I remember anyways, but it always seemed to be my identifier.  When girls guarded me in sports they never yelled out, "I've got 24."  No, they yelled out, "I've got the red headed one!"  People even just tended to call me "red" sometimes, but it never bothered me much.  "Carrot-top" was always a name that got under my skin a bit, along with some other inappropriate names for red heads (you can figure it out), but most people were respectful to me about it so it wasn't a big issue.

My high school and college years were really when the name "ginger" set in.  More and more people started to call me that, and I never understood how that name's supposed to be offensive.  When people call me ginger someone will always say, "OMG! Doesn't that bother you?!?"  But honestly, no, it doesn't.  I am a "ginger" and I enjoy my hair color, so if people want to acknowledge me for that asset, so be it!

That is all of my ginger-story that I will share with you for now, but I hope that this post caught your interest and maybe even made you smile!  My next post will be next Sunday featuring another ginger on Simpson's campus.  

Get excited! :)

Hello Hello Hello!

If you are reading this you are probably a Facebook friend, a follower on Twitter, or another Simpson student in my Journalism 2.0 class for which I was required to create a blog.  Oh, or Professor Chappell.  Anyways, no matter why you're checking out my blog, I'm glad you are!

This blog is going to be all about my life as a "ginger."  Most people don't realize the impact having red hair has on your life.  It's not just another hair color that you're born with, it's a lifestyle.  If you have blond hair you're called a "blond," if you have brown hair you're called a "brunette," but if you have red hair..... well, it's a different story entirely.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining.  Over the years I have come to truly love and embrace my hair color.  I have even taken on the identity of "Ginger" for my column in the college newspaper.  And although I've endured my fair share of teasing about my "ginger-ness," I believe it's made me a stronger person, so in a way I'm grateful.

Besides writing about my own life as a ginger, I will also be featuring some of my fellow gingers on Simpson's campus and other fun little ginger stories. I plan to post a new blog every Sunday night, so get excited!