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My board is very simple because my style is simple.

I’m drawn to classic pieces and tend to stay away from trends. My ideal piece has simple cuts and seams and minimal embellishments, but I do like lace (as in the fabric), buttons (even if they don’t have a purpose), and laces (as in string). I also like neutrals, mainly black, versus screaming colors like neons.

I don’t wear makeup often but when I do, it’s simple and most likely natural-looking.

My everyday look is a shirt and jeans (I prefer pants to skirts and dresses) with little or no jewelry or accessories. I mostly wear a headband and loose hair, but sometimes I wear my hair in a ponytail.

Also, I live on an island so that affects how I dress. I don’t wear or own scarves, gloves, coats, or hats for that reason (but will need to buy some when I go off to college, which is why I showed a picture of Zooey Deschanel from Yes Man in her awesome coat).

I have set some fashion goals for myself. These are just things that I would like to achieve eventually, and not necessarily by the end of 2012.

Fashion Goals:

• Find different hairstyles (especially updos) and wear them.
• Wear more skirts and dresses.
• Buy items of good quality.
• Show my legs more.

My first goal is there because my hairstyles are incredibly boring. I don’t like to spend a lot of time getting ready (15 minutes tops) so my ideal hairstyles would be quick and hold all day. I prefer updos because it’s hot here and having hair on my neck isn’t very cooling.

My second goal is pretty self-explanatory. I don’t wear skirts and dresses but would like to.

My third goal is fighting against my cheap side. My wardrobe isn’t very large because I purge it of unworn and ruined clothing often so I depend on a few key pieces that are multi-functional. I think that it’s better to buy good quality items that will last for a while then having to constantly replace something that’s cheap.

The last one isn’t really a fashion goal, but it’s still a goal of mine. You’d think that because I live on an island I’d be more inclined to wear short shorts but I only own one pair and I mostly wear long jeans. Also whenever I do wear skirts or dresses, I wear tights or leggings. It’s not that I think that my legs are unattractive. Maybe it has something to do with my school’s dress code (hemlines must be 3 inches above the middle of the knee or lower).

Maybe eventually I will achieve my goals, maybe not, but at least I identified some so that I can start working towards them.

The ability to simplify means to eliminate the unnecessary so that the necessary may speak. – Hans Hofmann

Since I’m on my winter vacation and, as a result, I’ve been watching more television than usual, I’ve been seeing a lot of commercials. Some commercials are thought-provoking, some have content that doesn’t relate at all to the product or service being advertised, some contain songs that get stuck in my head, and some–or, more correctly, most–are just plain annoying.

For example there’s the one that begins with a disembodied female voice saying, “Too much stuff, not enough space!” a million times. Of course it’s advertising the Space Bag, a bag that you put fabric stuff inside of and then vacuum out the air so that these items take up less space.

The idea is a rather good one because it can help you organize your home and make it less cluttered. However it’s not a solution for “too much stuff, not enough space.” By buying this product, you’re only acquiring yet more stuff. The solution, in my opinion, is to get rid of stuff.

And of course I’m aware that this product is probably only a money-making scheme, but why buy something to solve a problem when you can solve it for cheaper? Sure, sorting through your stuff and throwing away unnecessary things is a lot of work but don’t you think that buying that product, getting the things, putting them into the bag, vacuuming out the air, and putting that away is a lot of work too?

I can understand wanting to store away bulky winter coats during the other seasons, but if you cut down on the items in your wardrobe–and there’s bound to be some things that you just don’t wear anymore but refuse to throw away–you may just have room to store a winter coat. Yes, one winter coat, at most two. How many does one need for one season? And sure, maybe you have children, which adds to the amount of winter coats, but you’re probably holding on to clothes of theirs that they no longer need too. Storing these things away is only temporarily solving the problem, and in a very bad way because it encourages you to get yet more stuff while forgetting about the massive amount of stuff that you already own.

And cutting back your wardrobe is only the beginning. You can get rid of other things that you don’t use or need anymore, especially expired medicines and makeup. (I think it’s recommended to toss makeup that you’ve had for longer than six months.)

Possessions are like body weight–there are good and bad types. The bad types are easy to acquire and hard to get rid of, but once you make the effort and finally do get rid of them, you’ll feel liberated and realize that all of that hard work was worth it.

I was in my room reading blogs on Google reader on my phone in the dark (bad for my eyes, yes I know). Suddenly I heard a multitude of shots being fired and at first I thought, “Is someone being murdered so close to my house?” Then I realized that the shots were comimg from all sorts of directions. I looked at the time. 12:01. “Oh, it’s 2012,” I thought to myself.

New Year’s Day is one of those holidays that people celebrate with gusto. But then again many people celebrate many other holidays almost obsessively with their family traditions, feasts, and decorations. Every year it’s the same thing. I don’t understand the appeal of celebrating holidays, but I digress.

I’m quite the night owl so I’m usually up past 12am. Unintentionally I had stayed awake to witness the new year. Wow! How exciting!

Not quite. See, I just don’t find it thrilling. I’m happy that it’s a new year but the countdown to a new year had taken place multiple times before it had in my time zone, and it took place multiple times after. It’s just not that special. Not to me anyway.

But maybe I just feel that way because I don’t understand the celebration of holidays. To me, holidays are simply days when I don’t have to go to school. So yeah, I like holidays, but only for that reason.

It seems like this is necessary based on social standards, so Happy New Year.

I have opinions but am very open-minded, and I have no qualms about exploring what I believe and changing my opinions in light of revelations or a really good point that someone made.

That being said, I really enjoy thought-provoking subjects like those that deal with spirituality and personality. I especially like exploring spirituality because, as an agnostic, I’m not sure what exactly is going on but maybe someday I’ll come across a religion or way of life that really appeals to me. (I have already come across minimalism, which does appeal to me and has really changed my way of thinking.)

So of course when I came across the video series Spirit Science, I really enjoyed it, and I still look forward to upcoming episodes.

A brief introduction from the website:

Spirit Science is a video series starring Patchman, who takes you on a journey into the unknown as we look at many basics of what it means to be spiritual. Chakras, Thoughts, Sacred Geometry, and even Atlantis, in Spirit Science we look at and discuss many of these topics.

The topics are very interesting and discussed in detail. I had heard of many of the topics before but never in the way that Spirit Science  presents them. This series may seem a little far-fetched and you don’t necessarily have to believe everything that’s said (and I’m not saying that I myself believe everything that’s said), but it’s a new way to think about spirituality and science, and about how they can be combined. Even if you don’t completely change your perspective after watching, at the very least it’s thought-provoking.

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I decided to pretend that I was going on a trip and packed. I didn’t actually get a bag and put stuff in it. I just came across this article and wanted to try the packing technique. It’s called bundle wrapping.

And I’ve got to say: what a technique it is! I don’t know about preventing wrinkles because I didn’t keep them folded for long, but it really does reduce the size of the clothes (also I have no qualms about wearing wrinkled clothing).

My packing technique used to be to fold pants as a base layer in the suitcase, then roll anything else and place them on top of the pants. I’m not sure if this really saved me any space, but I’m switching to bundle wrapping.

I photographed the individual layers plus the end product (the gallery is below). There are details about each kind of clothing I used if it matters.

A couple notes:

• I didn’t fold them as carefully as I would have if I were actually packing. I didn’t smooth out the clothing much (which prevents wrinkles).
• My chosen core object was too small. I should have used something a little longer but it worked out pretty well.
• I would use something to secure the bundle.
• You can also roll the bundle if you wish (not pictured).
• It’s so thin that there’s lots of space for more bundles and/or to place other items like shoes and toiletries on top.
• It really didn’t take that long for me to do (even with stopping to take pictures).

A lot of people bring way too much stuff when they go on vacation. The key is to bring simple pieces of clothing that you can easily mix and match and accessories to change up the look, to realize that unless you sweat profusely you can get multiple wears out of an item, and to pack some travel size detergent and a travel clothing line if you wish to wash your clothes.

There’s one thing that really confuses me. Of course, I’m not actually going to tell you upfront what that thing is. Just a heads up: I’ll be beating around the bush for pretty much this whole post.

On a side note, I’m not one for religion bashing. As a matter of fact, I’m an agnostic and I have lots of religious tolerance. I believe that everyone can believe whatever it is they want to believe. Now, let’s continue.

I’m quite a fan of Ancient Greece–their culture, civilization, and language is all very fascinating to me. However, the one thing that always draws me to the Ancient Greeks is their religion. They believed in a great array of gods and goddesses. Back then, these gods were mainly created to explain something they didn’t understand. And the Ancient Greeks weren’t the only ones who did it either.

For example, if you were living in a time period where science hasn’t yet explained anything and all of a sudden there’s water falling from the sky, how would you explain it? It must be some kind of superior force or being!

But anyway, there’s this religion today called Hellenic Polytheistic Reconstructionism, which, as the name suggests, recreates the religion of the Ancient Greeks. Just a fun fact.

Also today, their religion is called mythology, as with any other ancient civilization. There’s Norse mythology, Celtic mythology, Egyptian mythology, and then Greek and Roman mythology.

You can go up to anyone and tell them the stories of the Olympians, filled with bloodshed, bravery, and a whole lot of incest. But if I tell someone:

Following the battle between the Titans and the Olympian gods Zeus, king of the gods, lay with the Titaness Metis. When Metis fell pregnant, her parents (Oceanus and Tithys) told Zeus that their child would have bravery and wisdom to rival his own, provoking Zeus to transform Metis into a fly and swallow her in order to prevent the birth of such a powerful, possibly threatening, child. During the battle between the giants and Olympians (gigantomachy), it is said that Zeus suffered an unbearable headache and bade his son, Hephaestus, cut his skull open to discover the source of the pain. Hephaestus did so, revealing the fully-grown and armed goddess Athena, who sprung from her father’s head brandishing her spear ready to join in the fray.

This is the story of the Greek goddess Athena’s birth (there are many variations as well).

So imagine that I told someone this story but added that I think it’s true. What would this person’s response most likely be?

First of all, they’d probably think that I’m crazy but then ask me a few questions like:

• How did Zeus transform Metis into a fly?
• Wouldn’t cutting Zeus’s skull open be risky? Did he heal afterwards? (They were in the middle of a war for crying out loud!)
• …Giants? Do those even exist?
• Where’s the evidence that such a battle took place?

But the most provoking question is how was there a fully grown and armed woman in Zeus’s head?!

Okay, so I’ll admit that the story is rather far-fetched, but who’s to say that everything that you believe in isn’t far-fetched either?

Let’s face it, each religion has some pretty crazy stories! “A virgin had a baby”? What? How?

But to you, it seems so clear that the story I told is obviously false.

And to you, it seems so clear that there are no Olympians, no Titans, no Ra, no Vishnu, no Odin, no Thor.

But, if you’re Christian, of course God exists. If you’re Muslim, of course Allah exists. Whatever religion you follow, you most likely believe that your god(s) exist, but those of other religions do not.

My question to you is how do you know? And I’m not asking in a condescending way. I’m not making fun of you. I’m just curious, is all.

It’s amazing how one can know that something is good for oneself, yet there’s always that brief hesitation–consideration for the bad thing.

Some have it worse than others, and it applies in many different situations.

My personal dilemma is choosing water over juice. I know that water is good for me. It hydrates the body and it’s thirst quenching too without the calories. But it doesn’t taste that great–it doesn’t have a taste at all.

I know that it’s okay to drink juice with meals, but in between meals when I just need something to drink, I mostly end up choosing juice or tea–anything but water.

Sure, some juices are enriched with all these vitamins and such, and sure, juice has some water in it. But juice also can contain a lot of sugar. Overall, water beats juice with the benefits.

And I know these things. I know all of these things. So why do I keep choosing juice?

The same goes for just about anything. You know you shouldn’t eat those greasy french fries with loads of salt… but it’s so good. How can you resist?

You know you should go for a walk instead of sitting watching television… but this is your favorite show! How can you miss it? *hours pass*

We all seem to know what’s right. We all know the benefits of the good things and the detriment of the bad.

Our minds are constantly aware of what we should do, but what we shouldn’t do just seems so easier.

Ultimately, the choice is yours: good or bad?

It is easier to prevent bad habits than to break them.
- Benjamin Franklin

This is an interesting topic to me and I hope someday to become one. And by one, I mean a minimalist.

Basically a minimalist is someone how limits their paraphernalia to only what’s necessary.

Wow, I love the word paraphernalia.

Anyway, often the common image of a minimalist is someone living out of a backpack with, for example, 100 items or less. I used to think too that the less possessions you had, the more of a minimalist you were, but that’s not necessarily true.

Minimalism isn’t literally defined as how many possessions one has. It’s a philosophy–a way of life–and even if you have a million things you can still be a minimalist, as long as you truly believe that you need those million things.

According to this guy,

A minimalist is simply one who questions the necessity of things, and who tries to live with what’s necessary, rather than with consumerism.

The 100 thing challenge is just a tool: by trying to reduce your possession to 100 things, it forces you to look at them and ask, ‘Is this really necessary? Can I live without it?’

So forget about the 100 things challenge, and instead just ask yourself the questions. Is it really necessary? Can you live without it?

So, let’s stray a bit.

I’ve always favored multi-functionality. I tend to buy things that I like, but that also have more than one purpose, especially when it comes to clothing. Having a top that can be worn as either casual or formal expands your options without adding another item.

In a way, this relates to minimalism because if you are able to find multi-functional things, then you can cut down on your possessions without sacrificing some things.

Also, with less things I’d imagine it would be easier for people to get organized. After all, you’d have less things to organize.

But as a teenager, I do have quite a bit of paraphernalia, most of it being things like books, clothing and desk supplies that I don’t have the heart to throw away.

For me, it’s not about being attached to the item–there really aren’t any emotions involved. It’s just that there’s always the thought that someday I may wear these shoes again or someday I may need a basket full of colored pencils and markers (when really, unless you’re a professional artist, you can make do with basic colors).

This also happens to me with music. Even though I deleted it from my iTunes, I keep it on my computer because I did like the song before. Perhaps I’ll want to listen to it again someday…

I think overcoming these kinds of thoughts is also what minimalism is about because honestly, if I were ask myself I can live without most of these things, the answer would be yes.