Random Thoughts

Once Upon A Time in Storybrooke

The Evil Queen

The Evil Queen in Once Upon A Time

Thanks to growing up watching Disney movies, I’m a sucker for fairytales, so I was very excited when I saw the promo for ABC’s Once Upon A Time. The premise is simple: The Evil Queen enacted a curse that took everyone from the Enchanted Forest and settled them in Storybrooke, Maine, with no memories of who they used to be.

Edward Kitsis, who co-created the show, describes it as this:

Once Upon A Time is, at its core, a story about hope. For us, that’s what a fairytale is. It’s that ability to think your life will get better. It’s why you buy a lottery ticket—because if you win you get to tell your boss that you’re quitting and you get to move to Paris or wherever and be who you always wanted to be. Adam and I just wanted to write about something hopeful that for one hour a week allows one to put everything aside and have that feeling that your dreams just may come true.

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Food, Travel

Japan ni ikimasu!

Discover Japan 2012

Discover Japan 2012

I’ve been on two Cosmos European tours and have enjoyed both immensely, so imagine my excitement when I found out that their parent company, Globus, has a Discover Japan tour! Since my London trip has been postponed, I’m really hoping I can go to Japan next year.

A room in a Matsue ryokan

A room in a Matsue ryokan - Wikipedia

Besides shopping in Tokyo, one of the Japanese things I’ve always wanted to do was to stay at a ryokan—a traditional Japanese inn. That chance is offered on the Kyoto part of the tour. Unfortunately, it’s an additional $439 (for 3 nights, I think), so I’m not sure if that dream is gonna come true… Continue reading

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Art, Blog, Family, Friends

A fusion of color

As per Stress reliever and Let’s get crafty…, I’ve been feeling crafty lately; plus, it’s starting to get cold again, so I decided to whip up a scarf. A classmate of mine gave me a HUGE bag full of yarn as a thank you when I helped her with her class website, so I went digging through that stash to make these projects. I’ve crocheted 4 scarfs so far.

Luna Lovegood Scarf

A pale plum-colored scarf modeled after Luna Lovegood's scarf.

This scarf is for my friend. It’s modeled from Luna Lovegood’s scarf from the Harry Potter movies. You can get the free pattern here. Continue reading

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Friends, Random Thoughts

Reflections of an ex-friend

If you know me (either online or offline), then you know that after a lot of thinking and stressing out, I reluctantly bowed out of my friend’s wedding. I know it wasn’t the nice thing to do, but it certainly felt like the right thing to do. Well, it’s been eight months since that debacle, and I found myself reflecting on what happened.

At this point, I thought I was going to be sadder about it. I thought I was going to miss her. Something. Anything. But, I find myself indifferent. I find that not only do I not miss her, but that I haven’t really felt her missing from my life. My life is exactly the same as it was before we stopped being friends. Continue reading

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Random Thoughts

In your face, credit card!

From ultimaterewards.com

Image from ultimaterewards.com

I’m pretty sure my credit card company hates me. They’ve raised my APR from 8.25% to 15.25%!

But, the joke’s on them! I’m what credit card companies call a “freeloader” or a “leech” because they don’t make any money from me. The point of a credit card is essentially to provide me a convenient way of paying, while charging me for that service. However, since I pay off my credit card in full every month, they can’t charge me interest.

Another blow to them is that my credit card is a rewards card. I earn 5% on select categories and 1% on everything else. Say this month’s category is Department Stores and I managed to spend $500 in that category and $100 on non-category items. That means I’ve earned 250 points ($25)  in the Department Stores category and 10 points ($1) on the rest of my purchases. So, in one month, I’ve already earned $26 from the credit card company for using their card!

Granted, I don’t spend that much money, but you get the picture. I’m making money off their card, as opposed to the other way around. And, that brings me to my sucker punch to their face! I have collected enough points to pay off all of my Christmas/holiday shopping this year, with some points leftover

Happy holidays, greedy corporate pigs!

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