"Ob la di, Ob la da, life goes onnnnn, brah!"

Looks like we're back in business, kids.
Here are some things I've learned lately:

“Once social change begins, it cannot be reversed. You cannot uneducate the person who has learned to read. You cannot humiliate the person who feels pride. You cannot oppress the people who are not afraid anymore. We have seen the future, and the future is ours.” -Cesar Chavez


"A man is rich in proportion to the amount of things which he can afford to let alone." -Henry David Thoreau


"From all your herds, a cup or two of milk,
From all your granaries, a loaf of bread,
In all your palace, only half a bed:
Can man use more?  And do you own the rest?"  -Ancient Sanskrit Poem


"If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be.  Now put the foundations under them."  -Henry David Thoreau


The more you say you cannot do the something, the more you will believe it.  The more you believe it, the more truly you will be unable to do it.


On a separate note...
I'm planning the writing of an ebook.  What is something you'd like to learn/read about?  I'd love any ideas you have to offer!

Nevermind tomorrow; TODAY is the day.

Went out tonight for sushi with my love. :)It made me feel a little better.

Never buy a replacement cell phone charger again!

Photo: batteriesinaflash

Always worried you'll lose your cell phone charger while traveling?
Or worried that overuse will break it?
Never fear!

Simply go to any hotel and say, "I lost my cell phone charger.  Did you guys find one?"
They will come out with a bin full of cell phone chargers and there's bound to be a few that will fit your phone.

This is actually a form of recycling.  The hotel will throw them away after a while because they get so many.  You are saving a charger from being thrown in a land fill.  Congratulations!  You're making the world a better place!

I need a brain-hurricane.

After a while of making the same thing, I get bored with it. It doesn't take very long, either.
And after I've been bored with something for a while, if I continue to create it, I will come to dread it.

So that's when I create something new.

I'm at that point right now.
I need a new idea.
I keep slowly raising my lightbulb prices so that I will get less orders, and those that I do get will be more worth my time, effort, and boredom.

I have a few idea hatchlings.

One is a series of phone/iPod sleeves.
Maybe even play with a Macbook sleeve idea.

Recently, I had an idea for turning skirts into cool pants (kind of like the style of "harem pants," but think more of The King and I).
Only problem is that only certain skirts will work with this idea, and where I live, those kinds of skirts (and related clothing, for that matter) are rather scarce.

Another idea is sandals. I want to make myself a pair of really neat sandals with leather straps and tire tread for the soles.
If I manage to perfect the design, I could make them to sell.

I still like the bookbinding idea for journals and sketchbooks. I had fun with the two that I bound. Only problem is, I have been so busy lately, I have forgotten to purchase the proper supplies (online, since my town doesn't have any neat craft stores like Joann's Fabrics and Crafts or Michael's or A.C. Moore or ANYTHING). So we'll see if that idea ever becomes anything great.

Any of you got any ideas? I am open to anything. :)


P.S. A "brain-hurricane" is similar to a brainstorm, only much more forceful and ideaful.

Why do we do it?

What are colleges and universities?
Institutions that teach you in certain disciplines, and after you learn enough, you receive some sort of degree in that subject of learning.
Sounds good.
But would you trade that for a life of college payments?
Many, many years of debt.
Sounds not as good.

So, what is the real value of college?
A degree?
What does that get you?
A good job?
Well, what is a good job?
A job that pays well.
What is entailed in "pays well?"
I suppose a good bit more than minimum wage. Enough to live off of. Enough to support a wife/husband and 2.5 children (Who has ever had half a kid? Really?) Enough to live comfortably.
Who says you need a lot of money to do that, though?
Well society, I suppose. Good old society... But as mom would say, if society told you to jump off a bridge, would you do it?

I think a college education is overrated. Who wants to go broke for many years for a well paying job? And in this economy, there's absolutely no guarantee that master's degree is going to land you an automatic job for life. In fact, quite the contrary.
There is nothing you can learn in college that you could not learn in a library, online, or in a class at the Y.
Not to mention that all those essays you wrote will do you absolutely no good once you're in the "real world." You'll actually have to relearn how to write. Nobody wants to read a formal essay with no contractions and a bunch of big fancy words that no one understands except your college professors.

So my question is, why do we do it?
Why do we take 4-N years out of our lives to learn things for tens of thousands of dollars per semester that is knowledge that can be gotten for free or much, much cheaper?
Granted, if you are interested in a medical field or some other such very detailed occupation, a college education can be quite helpful.
But is it really worth the money you'll spend?

What do you think? Is it worth it?

Then there's Feedback...

I've gotten lots of great feedback. I check my Etsy a few times a day for any new feedback.
I do have three neutral feedbacks, though.
They are always disappointing.

My first neutral feedback was from someone who hadn't gotten their package yet. I had already shipped it (if they had checked Etsy or PayPal, it would've shown up "shipped") and before contacting me, they left some neutral feedback. The next day, they sent me a message about it, only to send another about 45 minutes later when they got it in the mail. Frustrating, no?

Second one was because something took too long to be shipped. I do have on my shop announcement (and now in my "message to buyer") that it may be as many as 10 business days before their order will be shipped. Maybe they didn't notice it?
I have a busy life. My main time for Etsy stuff is in the evening after supper and before bed. Not a lot of time there. I'd love to ship everything out sooner, but sometimes, I just can't.

My third neutral feedback was from someone who hadn't paid for their order yet. They bought something a two days prior and when I saw that they hadn't paid (I usually wait about 12 hours before saying something), I contacted them letting them know that I would not be able to ship their order until it was paid for.
The next day I notice a neutral feedback that said, (more or less) "Hi, still trying to get the hang of this whole paying thing... Can't wait to receive my fishbowl!"
That one was very frustrating.
Obviously the person is simply inexperienced(they could've just replied to my message and avoided the whole thing!). But it makes me look bad to have neutral feedback.

In every late (or potentially late) shipment, I include a little note to the buyer on a 3x5 notecard with a personal message about how sorry I am that it's late and whatnot.
I hope that'll help keep me from getting a lot of neutral or negative feedback.

Also, you know the people who send messages telling you how great your product is and how much they love it? I wish they would leave me feedback as well.

*sigh* Feedbacks...

NEWS: Etsy has just come out with this new feature called "Kiss and make up?" for neutral (and negative?) feedback! Wonderful. :)

Of Fish and Hippies

Well, about a fortnight ago, my Lightbulb Fishbowl was featured on Etsy Finds. This resulted in a torrent of sales and quite a few convos.
Several of the convos were pleas for me to take the fishbowls off Etsy and reconsider what I was promoting.

And after a lot of thought (and I mean a LOT), I have decided that I'm going to keep the fishbowls on Etsy (I did take them off for a while).
I have had fish for years. I love fish. Betta fish are one of my favorites because they are so versatile and live in such a variety of containers happily. I have kept them in old lanterns, antique soda bottles, jars, vases, and other such neat glassware. They've lived as long as the average betta should. They seem happy.

My newest idea was a lightbulb. And I haven't put them in the standard size lightbulb. That seems a bit small. But the vanity type lightbulbs... And the G40 kind (they hold about a quart of water) seem to do nicely. My fish are happy in there. And contrary to popular belief, they are quite easy to care for in a lightbulb.

Example:
Water changing. Simply pour out the desired amount (you can strain it through a fork if you're worried your fish may try swimming out (I've never had any trouble with it, though)) and fill it back up. With filtered water, of course. I read someone used a funnel for this.

Getting the fish in the lightbulb is not hard either. It is so easy if you put the fish in a bag (or if he/she came in a bag) and simply pour it in the opening. I always advise doing this over the sink or bathtub as a precaution. The person who used a funnel for pouring in water also used it to pour in their fish. I've never tried it myself, but it sounds like a nice easy alternative to the bag!

Oh, and if you are worried about an ammonia build-up, change the water more often! I'm lazy, though, and use carbon rocks which soak up the ammonia wonderfully (electric filters in most aquariums use carbon gravel stuff for this very purpose). Of course I do still change the water. But the rocks really do help!

Many of the naysayers who contacted me a fortnight ago would say something about cruelty... Either the fishbowl being cruel, or me.
Well, anyone who knows me, knows that I am not a cruel person... I love my animals SO much. Ask anyone who is even somewhat acquainted with me. I would never intentionally hurt any animal, and certainly not repeatedly over the course of many years.

I do not believe what I am doing is wrong or cruel.
Sorry if what I'm doing doesn't float your boat.
I have a vase version of the fishbowls still up for you who don't like it.

But anyhow...
Good day to you, and Happy Earth Day!

-Star

To everything there is a Season...

So this past weekend I took out my dreadlocks.
Yep, that's right.
Combed them out.
All 40 of them.

Why?

Well, I have been planning to take them out for a while now (I haven't taken good care of them so they weren't exactly the best dreads I'd ever seen), and this weekend I was staying at my grandmother's house. So it was an opportunity (not to mention I got a good bit of pushing from my grandma (she has always missed my "beautiful" hair ever since I dreaded it)), so with her and my best friend's help, we combed out all my dreads.

It was painful, I admit.
But combing out millions of knots that have been locked for almost 2 years usually is painful.

My hair is now quite long (almost to my waist!). And it needs a bit of conditioning care (it fared the dreadlocks surprisingly well and does not look very damaged at all).
I did trim the edges. I had layers back in the days before I had dreads. I liked how the layers would accentuate my wavy hair. So I created some new layers tonight. It also gives my hair more "body" so I don't have to do anything to it for it to look fine.

Funny thing, some people actually haven't noticed. They may think something is different about me, but can't place it. It's happened at least three times (that I've been told/witnessed).

Well, here are the before and after pictures:



P.S. For the "after" photo, I was showing my best friend the new headband I made yesterday.


So... I guess I'll have to relearn my hair now that it's no longer in dreadlocks!

Every day. Except Sundays...

Pretty amazing how God works.
I asked for at least a sale a day while I'm in school (I figured it would be easy enough to deal with since I'm fairly busy anyway).
As soon as I asked... I started making at least one sale per day. Sometimes two. I made three on my birthday, actually.
And I did make a sale the first Sunday. But the second and third Sundays I haven't.
"'tis the sabbath," my friend Leesha says.
She could be right, though. >.>
Wouldn't surprise me. Haha.
But let's hope for a sale a day to continue. And I'm going to be asking for two sales a day soon enough. (I want to be able to eventually shorten my day job hours to 1-2 hours a day.)
So here's to lots of sales! :D

In other news...

Well, I did make a sale yesterday. It was the first lightbulb fishbowl I've sold. Packed it up and shipped it today. Now just waiting for the next sale... I'm hoping for one at some point today.

Today is my birthday. I'm eighteen.. A legal adult.
And instead of not feeling eighteen, I feel like I've always been eighteen. It's a "FINALLY" sort of feeling.
But today I'm not feeling very happy, for some reason...
Just a little down.
Even though several people (especially via Facebook) have wished me a happy birthday, and my math class sang happy birthday to me. My Dad texted me from work this morning. My best friend Daly sent me a nice happy birthday message, too.

But I've not felt that great since sometime this morning...
I hope the day gets better. I've really no reason to be sad.

Oh, also, I've not felt like eating (I think that sometimes happens when I feel down). I have been hungry. My stomach has made hunger noises. But I skipped lunch.
Still don't feel like eating.
We'll see how it goes. I'll be going to my grandmother's house tonight and I expect we'll be eating. Haha.
So hopefully I'll feel like eating then...