That’s the End?

Sometimes the end of an interesting movie or book seems to come suddenly…and with little satisfaction. There are of course rare times where this is kind of ending is appropriate and makes sense (at least to me), but most of the time it frustrates me and I just throw my hands in the air and say “What! That’s it?"

It’s really disappointing when an ending feels unresolved because you’ve invested time and energy into seeing how a character and story develops so you want to feel as though that time was worth it, but instead you feel gypped. Betrayed that your expectations of a satisfying ending were dashed, and that you’re only left with a hollow feeling of discontent.

With a bad from the beginning movie or book, I’ll quickly realize I don’t want any part of it and will set it aside before I waste too much of my time. But a seemingly good movie or book with a bad ending is like a bait-and-switch, because you were prepared to enjoy the story all the way through but instead you’re given an ending that sours the entire story (and even when you recall it later, what stays in your mind is how disappointed in the ending you were). It’s like finishing a delicious meal with a dessert that leaves a bitter aftertaste—and you just can’t seem to get rid of that bad aftertaste.

DIY: Tiered Paper Fan Flower Ornament

This tiered ornament is based upon the Paper Fan Flower Ornament and can be used as Christmas ornaments or as party decorations.

Does This Make Me Look Fat? ...Probably.

Some questions are better left unasked, like “Does this make me look fat?” First off, it’s a poorly phrased question that immediately brings to mind the “fatness” level of a person (which isn’t necessarily the reason why something looks good on someone or not). The question should be: “Is this flattering on me?” Because it’s the cut of the garment and how it fits on you that makes all the difference of whether or not it looks good.

“Does this make me look fat?” is a question no one wants to answer because it’s a dumb question. You just can’t win. If they look terrible, do you tell them? Or do you lie and “spare their feelings,” even though that doesn’t really help them at all (it just helps you avoid an unpleasant conversation). And even if they happen to look great and you tell them so, often they just don’t believe you because they’ve already made up their mind…and usually it’s not good.

When people love what they’re wearing they don’t ask: “Does this make me look fat?” because they know they look fantastic. They tend to ask this dreaded question when they already think they look bad in something. So instead of asking someone else whether a garment makes you look fat, just look in the mirror and decide for yourself whether you feel comfortable and think it looks good (since after all it’s only you that’ll be wearing it). Because no one enjoys answering the rigged question of “Does this make me look fat?” And you don’t really want to hear, “Yes, it does.”

DIY: Paper Fan Flower Ornament

This ornament is based upon the Paper Fan Flower I created for packaging decoration. It’s simple and can add a pop of color as a Christmas tree ornament or as party decorations hung on the wall or hung from the ceiling.

DIY: Glitter Christmas Ornament

Used gift cards are made of a sturdy material so they’re a good base for glue and glitter. This is a simple and inexpensive Christmas ornament to make and I think the glitter helps make it feel quite festive.

Idiom Postcard Set

I love idioms; they’re like a coded part of language in that they often stem from historical or pop-culture references specific to that country. Even native speakers of a country are unlikely to know all idiom references for that country (especially if they’re more regional or they pertain to a specific time period).

Idioms are such an ingrained part of culture that mean so much with so few words—and everyone uses them. They’re in our everyday conversations, in TV commercials and TV shows, in songs and books—they’re pretty much inescapable. Everyday I must hear and use idioms dozens of times because using idioms are often a short cut to what you’re trying to say (assuming that all parties have knowledge of the meaning of that idiom). Instead of saying “You need to slow down and start enjoying life,” you can just say “Stop and smell the roses” and the underlying meaning is understood.

DIY: Paper Circle Christmas Ornament

I realize that Christmas is still somewhat far off (and I know have complained before about how early Christmas paraphernalia starts showing up in stores), but I’ve decided to post a Christmas project anyway (because sometimes you can’t control when you have ideas).

This is a very simple flat circle paper ornament that’s easy to make and easy to personalize.

“Good.” Period.

Often opinions are qualified because it softens the strength of the opinion. Not everyone likes the same things, so sometimes you take another’s point of view into consideration as you give your opinion, or you just don’t feel 100% about something so you tack on a disclaimer. "It was a good taco…for the price." "It was a good movie…if you like suspense." "It’s a cute skirt…if you like yellow."

You just don’t want to take full responsibility for something if you don’t feel entirely sure about it. The range from bad to good is quite wide, so everything can’t be black and white good or bad; most things are just in the middle range of okay. So when someone (who’s opinion I trust) says “It’s good.” And there’s a period to that statement with no qualifications, then that means something—it means it’s actually good.

But this doesn’t happen very often (and it shouldn’t because that would diminish how good the really excellent things are). Not every book or TV show or restaurant is going to be “good” with a period. Most of the time “good” is followed by qualifications that don’t incite excitement. It’s just good…for what it is.