Sailor Moon

Despite my love for Gossip Girl, I rarely watch TV shows on television or on the internet, and watch tv even rarer than that.

One TV show I absolutely loved when I was younger was Sailor Moon (dubbed in Cantonese).  The episodes would mostly focus on the five characters to the left (Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Moon) so my knowledge of those other five to the right (Chibi Moon, Neptune, Saturn, Uranus, Pluto in whichever order...) is lacking.

I remember that little phrase that Sailor Moon would say when she transformed, and her hair curls changed, and she had a tiara looking thing, and her dress changed.  I looooved that show: I haven't been able to find it anywhere to download (not that I have looked too hard) and especially in Chinese.  I stumbled across an episode once whilst flicking through Sky channels, and it was in English, and I couldn't understand why it was in English.  To me, it was a show that was Chinese, it helped me to learn a lot of conversational Cantonese during a time when I found it hard to absorb more Chinese vocabulary.

I don't even remember the content of the episodes.  The main 3 characters at first were schoolfriends and argued a lot, and there was a cat.  New people joined the group, like Sailor Jupiter and Sailor Venus, and they fought magical type crime together.  Maybe I should wikipedia it.

Edit: found a youtube channel where all 200 episodes are uploaded.  Made my night, that did :)  Having watched a couple of them, I am a little confused about which language I watched SM in - Japanese or Cantonese.  Not that they are similar, just that I don't remember the voices as well as the scenes.

anthropomorphic

This may or may not have happened when I was younger.















PS. Happy Chinese and English birthday to my dad!

i don't care if you don't care

I remember the days when I knew all the words to this whole album, and this CD was always in the CD player, and this was my favourite song.

Oh how much I have changed. #nostalgia

a childhood memory

Remember when Pokemon was a massive thing when we were children?  People had the cards, toys, games, clothes, went to conventions, collected all the Pokemon.  I personally only played Pokemon Yellow - and I was rather good! - on a gameboy emulator on my computer.


Googling indicates that the Pokemon above (an egg) is not from the Yellow game, but it was cute. This image is from Reddit, which the boy found.


The only other Pokemon I still remember are Pikachu - the yellow mouse, and Jigglypuff which sings and draws on people.


Ah memories.

the key that opens holy doors

Just found out there's a school reunion, of my sixth form class, in a few weeks.  I won't be able to go because of school and stuff, but I am not sure I would want to.  There are some people I would dearly love to see, and some others who I am indifferent to.  Sixth form, particularly the latter months, are a bit strange.  I can't remember if I have ever written about this here before, but when I chose my intended career path, it was for quite a few reasons, unlike my other friends, whose parents/family members were already in this field.  I didn't want to be tied to any assumption, I didn't want people to think, oh she's Chinese, she's got to do this career.  I did lots and lots of experience in order to find out what I wanted to do, and in the end, I couldn't think of anything else I wanted to do!


Thinking about it now, I am not sure what other degree I would have loved to do, to be honest.  I loved French, and all things French.  I don't understand English people's animosity towards France, partly because I wasn't alive during the times when Britain had issues with France, partly because I don't believe my country deserves to be better than France and partly because I love the French.  (I keep meaning to write about why I like French things so much, maybe one day.)  I had a love for languages, although I had a huge fault which is reflected throughout all my language learning experience.


I had a lot of friends at school - I am not being boastful.  A lot of people had a lot of friends.  (You know you did.)  Some I was close to in some years, some not.  The way my school worked was that in the first three years, you would do all the subjects together as a class, and then when you chose your GCSE options, the four classes in each year would be divided firstly by common subjects so those who did certain subjects always ended up in the same group, then by ability (Maths) and then randomly.  I maintained close friendships with a few people throughout my school career, and then normal friendships with others.


There were about 15 girls in my group (I went to an all girls' school) and I was close with about 6 of them.  Some of them were because we did the same subjects or very similar subjects.  We have all chosen the same career path, but I feel like it might have been a detriment to any lasting close friendship.  It was quite hard, because I was the very last one of this group to get a university offer (except the Czech university, which I believe I never formally declined....) and so whilst they were making plans for university life, I was left on my own (figuratively) to worry about my future path and what I would do next.


I worry that if I were to see these particular friends again, there would be some sort of hidden agenda type rivarlry, with trying to tell stories to one-up each other.  I have no interest in doing so, I don't regret any decison I've made so far about where my life is going. I won't be swayed by stories of other cities and other universities.  As far as I am concerned, the university I am at has given me so much and continues to do so (even though fellow school-goers do not express the same opinion).


I feel like there might be silent judging; what else would you expect with a class of around 70 girls?  Some people have gotten to exciting places, others may not.  Some have fallen off my radar and I have no idea what happened to them after we left.


A couple of girls I still count among my best friends; we keep in regular contact even though meeting up is always difficult.  They've been through a lot with me, and I truly respect them.  I would love to be able to see them at the reunion!  One of them has been my friend since I started that school, and we would always have our crazy ideas together.  She saw me through my crushes and I through hers.  I miss her a lot.  We haven't beenout for ages.. I'm still studying and she's almost a language assistant / serveuse at Disneyland (I think the latter is a summer job?)  She brings out my ditziness and a bit of recklessness, I would say.  The other of my best school friends has always been, and remains, very wise and very knowledgeable and practical.  I went to see her recently: she is making a very interesting living working for a branch of the government in a lovely part of the country.  She is very independent, and I admire her very greatly.


My girls' school had a boys' school counterpart, across the road.  Lessons weren't mixed when I was at school, but I think they became mixed in the year below me, for only a few subjects.  Sixth formers were allowed in each others' common rooms only at lunch, but some boys and some girls went to the other's school during free lessons or breaks or whatever.  I was alright friends with some of the boys, in both years.  (Sixth form is made of two years, year 12 and year 13, or as they were known as my school, Lower Sixth and Upper Sixth.  We had an old fashioned way of naming the years)  I do not know if the boys' school is having a reunion actually.  I met up with one of my friends, which I mentioned last week (?); we went to the same school, although he was there from all the way through, and I joined in year 5.  I'd heard about him, and to be honest, his infamousness, and we became acquainted through a mutual friend, who was going through a bit of a self destructive period.  In some ways, he is exactly the same as he was a few years ago, and in some other ways, he is different.


So these three people I have described are the ones I like to keep in touch with.  I respect them the most, in their own way, and they have helped me learn a little more about who I am, whether they realise it or not.  I keep going on about how I don't regret anything every once in a while (hey, if you don't like it, don't read it) which is one of the most important things I have ever been told (life lesson wise).  Each of these three people have helped show me that this is true.


Of course there are others I'd like to see, and equally, there are some girls I feel indifferent towards as I wasn't close to them.  It's such a contrast; I used to have loads of female friends at school, but now at university, I feel as though I don't have many girl friends, but more guy friends / acquaintances.  This is partly due to demographic.


Part of the reason I love watching Gossip Girl is that it reminds me a tiny tiny bit of a very overblown and exaggerated version of my school.  But mostly, I miss the school environment.  I miss lessons with teachers who would go off topic, I miss being asked, "isn't that right, Carol?" every two minutes by my Physics teacher.  I miss how everything seemed so simple then, and everything seemed within our grasp.  I miss how silly I used to be, and think once in a blue moon about the mistakes I made.  Every once in a while, when I look at my facebook newsfeed, I see news about a girl I went to school with.  But I wouldn't want to go back to a situation similar to my school.  I led a very sheltered education, (if such a thing makes sense).  The teachers always encouraged us, and never let us believe that we couldn't achieve something (which is a good thing, I know).  A lot of the good teachers are gone now, and a few years ago, I went back to the school.  So much had changed.  The whole school comes under one name, and is split into 5 schools across a fairly sizeable bit of land.  There is a mixed Kindergarten (nursery / year 1 + 2), a boys' junior school (whose years were named oddly, after Latin words!), a girls' junior school and a boys' senior and girls' senior school.  The sixth forms were attached to the respective senior schools.


Whilst I miss a lot of things about school and the things it taught me, and how different I was then, I don't really miss the old me.  I made mistakes that both allowed me to see who were my real friends and who weren't.  I learnt firsthand what the power of gossip could do.  A few months ago, I went through the posts I had written on my blog, and took steps to delete all my past online blogs (I only joined blogger in November 2006.  I deleted all entries until October 2007, not because it is a time I don't wish to remember - I had some fond memories, but because my writing style was so disjointed and there was a lot of personal information.  And whilst I may have made mistakes during that first year, I do not regret anything.) although some of them were about my time at school.  I wrote a blog about my style of dress once, right?  I was known for dressing a particular way - I won't really elaborate here - I'm not being boastful; every girl had her distinguishing feature.  I suppose I was one of the ones who could get away with any style of dress.  Yes it was always appropriate.  And centred around pink and black.  How emo of me.


One of the best memories I have of sixth form (most of what I have written so far is about my time at sixth form, which is totally different from senior/high school) was when we went on a "school trip" to London, without teacher supervision.  For some reason, the teacher couldn't come, so we 5 went off on our own, joined by 3 other girls who didn't take the subject of the focus of the trip but were there to enjoy the social aspect.  I go back to the places we went to over 5 years ago, and think how much has changed and what memories I still have.  Like how I got excited that Jude Law waved at us.  To this day, I maintain that he DID, and in all honesty, I'd still be excited if he waved at me right now.  Like how I held Matt Dillon's hand (wikipedia him).  Like how my friend blinded Pierce Brosnan.  Like how I tipped half a tub of Bailey's ice cream into a bottle when it had melted.  Like how I got told off by a lady at the Lancome counter in Harrod's.  Like how we'd have midnight conversations that lasted ages.


Coming to university made me realise what a big change life was taking, and it forced me to grow up in a way that I feel that some people my age and/or in my school year currently have not.  Whether or not I act like an adult, I would like to think I have matured a bit, learnt (some) common sense (I was known for being ditzy, and still am) and learnt a lot, both about life, studies and mostly, myself.  Of course everyone changes at university: it is one of those things that is bound to change you.  Some aspects of myself have definitely changed, some have subtly changed and some have not at all.  Some have just been enhanced by my time thusfar at university, and some dulled.  But I wouldn't want it any other way.


Carol xxx


If you truthfully made it to the very end of this very long post, having read everything (although, I'm not sure why you would want to.  I hardly read over my own posts myself!) you are now at liberty to ask me anything you like about anything I have written in this post in the comment section.  If you know me in real life, please feel at liberty to ask me in real life.

it's like looking for a treasure when it's already mine

So with great enthusiasm, I watched the Royal Wedding; had made plans to watch it at a friend's house but it fell through and so just ended up watching it at my boyfriend's house, streaming it on the BBC and/or youtube.  Me and a couple of other friends who have twitter were tweeting during the ceremony - there were so many people doing a live commentary!  The hashtag, if you care, is #royalwedding .  It goes without saying that I loved it immensely!!!

Been sort of... down recently for many reasons.  I guess it's the study getting to me.  I wish I could cope better, and that I believed in my (small) ability better.  It's just.. too many things and I sort of withdraw and shut down if I feel down about too many things.  It lead to me writing the post which I published just before this one, then removed it.  The first paragraph is the same though.

Met one of my friends from school last week - he had an interview with Accenture, who gave me free stuff once for winning a prize (long story), so I approve.  Basically, I have had conflicting views about viewing our friendship in the past and have acted with my heart rather than my head on multiple occasions.  Suffice to say that I am now glad that we are mature adults who have coffee together in Paul. (I love Paul.  I always say "I love Paul" when we talk about that store - guaranteed).  Hopefully it will not be several years before we speak again!

This Live Below the Line thing is incredibly hard.  I have relied on donated food A LOT and not included it in my budget.  I realise this is not within the rules, but I intend to do the five days.  Just not all at once, maybe one day at a time.  The reason for this is because of social occasion, and my circumstance.  I am a small BBC/V girl, with a fast metabolism.  It gets a bit scary sometimes and almost GP appointment worthy.  My boyfriend and I were talking about fasting - he can fast for 4 days without food (just water and some disgusting olive oil/liquid thing mix) and I can fast for 22 hours.  I tried it once during BSc revision time, just for fun really.  I went 22 hours without food, and suffered psychosomatic symptoms of blacking out and fuzzy vision.  I know I know they are psychosomatic symptoms and it's because I can't handle the idea of not eating food for a long period of time.  Apparently, the way I view hunger is basically out of proportion to my situation and if I calm down, then I can go longer without food.  I wouldn't like to, and I thank my lucky stars every single day that my parents came to this country.  (The story of how they ended up here is quite long too, and not for public reading).  I thank my lucky stars every day that I live in a society where I can live with freedom and have the choice to eat a varied diet.  I am incredibly thankful - a massive sequence of events had to happen so that I can live this way (not in a societal way, in my parents' timeline).

Anyway, I am rambling.  I can't go without food for more than 24 hours.  Believe me, I have tried.  More than once.  It's desperately unhealthy, but I like (weirdly) to set myself challenges to push myself.  The not eating thing was one of them.  The weird eating habits was one of them.  The decision to stay up for over 30 hours on three separate occasions in 10 days was my choice - I wanted to prove to myself that I could pull an "all nighter" and not suffer badly.

So I am doing the Live Below the Line challenge, but slowly and my own way.  But I am doing it!!  I have spoken to some people about it actually and I think they're just unwilling to break out of their comfort zone and think about the cost of food they eat.

I anchor values quite a lot - this is obviously evident when you ask me how much I spend on food, or what is a "good salary" and a "bad salary", and what is an "expensive house".  My ideas about money and price are distorted because of my anchoring - it is what I have known and what I have seen.  But it has shown me what money can do to people, and just how important it can be, and how unimportant it can be.  A lot of my attitudes towards buying things has come from my upbringing - I do not regret it at all and I have never been able to properly explain what I mean by my attitudes towards money.  As with most of my procedural memory, I cannot explain what I mean......

maybe he won't find out what i know

I am feeling out of sorts today and I have no idea why.  I feel as though I haven't achieved anything, when in fact I probably have and I am just kidding myself.  Studied and did some house chores and ticked things off my 'to do' list.  I realised that I am a hoarder.  I think I am probably part of the reason why Sainsbury's have instigated a limit to x number of items on certain things when they are on offer.  Every so often, when I am low on house supplies, I buy loads of soap / shampoo / washing up liquid / food, and end up spending a lot of money but then they last for ages.  And now I go to the shop to do so, and find that you can only buy 6 soaps, for example.  Not that I have ever done that... *cough*


Went to A's house last night and had a nice chat about all sorts of things.  We had the intention of discussing a certain topic, but it didn't happen.  On a slightly tangential note, there was a BMA student online debate about students basically, and how people think that students ate going into medicine just for status and money, rather than caring about patients.  Whilst this may be true for some people, that doesn't mean you can generalise.  I feel like people have negative views of medicine, and maybe they don't appreciate all the good things, instead focussing on the bad things.  Being a doctor still commands respect in society, and some people, I guess, want that feeling of being respected and looked up to.  People I know and see are people I can imagine doing it for money/status but for a lot of others, that doesn't ring true.  I can't imagine wanting to do it for the money.  As long as I had job security, I would be fine doing it for very little money.


I feel like people have different views about money, depending on how they viewed it when they were growing up.  The whole "Carol hoarding" thing probably stems from this too.  I grew up in a household where money did not flow very easily and the importance of saving and investing and not spending a lot of money was impressed upon me very strongly.  I mean, I live a relatively comfortable lifestyle at the moment, as in I have a rented flat, I can afford to buy supermarket food (mostly supermarket brand stuff) and I can afford to travel, and buy things that I need.  I mean 'comfortable' in the sense that I am not (student debts excepted) in debt, and if I budget, I can afford things I want, as opposed to need.  P makes light-hearted fun of me a lot because of my thrifty ways.  It's a bit ridiculous sometimes, but that's the way I have always been.  For example (I can't imagine what ever possessed me to do this) but I used to go to P's house by bus, and I would get the bus for like 15 minutes and then walk for 15 minutes and it would cost me 90p.  A faster route would be to take the tube (5 minutes) then walk for 5 minutes.  And it would cost £1.  Yet somehow, I got it into my head that I was making a huge saving by spending an extra 20 minutes travel just to save 10p. :/


I actually get a bit ridiculous about soap.  I only ever buy it when it's on offer, like 3 for 2, or it's £1 for a limited time or whatever, and I won't ever buy it full price.  I stand there in the aisle for ages trying to work out which brand of 250g liquid soap is cheapest, and I work out which offer works out the cheapest. (ask P.  He's found me in the soap aisle with a determined thoughtful look on my face and a basketful of things I worked out to be the cheapest many times)  Yes, I know I could buy solid soap, but I don't.  I mean, those offers are there for a reason.  Why would I pay £1.49 for soap when I could get it for £1 if I used my brain to work out which was cheaper? (Told you it was a bit ridiculous)


Anyway, I suppose the point I am trying to make is that the way I view money is probably because of my upbringing.  I am not saying that my parents did/do the same as I do (I only started the whole soap calculating thing a few years ago) but they instilled a lot of good ideas about money in me.


Does anyone else think the same?  The way money flowed in your household affecting your views about money now?


One of my friends believes in spending when he feels like it, because he is used to having no money.  I am also used to having no money (or not letting myself spend any money) so that's why I save.  People find it weird that I don't always have my purse on me.  And my answer is that I never let myself get in a situation where I am out somewhere where I need money and there is no way for me to access it.

from google

that you were the last good thing

about this part of town

~ Fall Out Boy

jour vingt trois

Day 23: a photo of you as a child

:/


Carol


More of the 30 day blog challenges here

2010 memories

2010 was a year full of many memories, without that many photos.  Every year seems to get better (compared to the previous year) in its own way but a while back, I made a list of goals I want to achieve before I am 30.  This year, I ticked some of them off :)


Anyway, these are some of the memories I'd like to share with you... the ones I can remember right now anyway!


I feel as though I have grown up a lot (though it may not be obvious on first/second/third etc glance).. I've lived alone for several months, without my best friend, and I came to realise how much I came to depend on him, and after being apart for a long time, I realised I can be self sufficient (to the extent that my lifestyle allows).


Along with many of my friends, I graduated.

I fell in love with Russell Square, when I went to slave over archived material at the Senate House Library.  I feel that SHL does not respond well to people wearing clothing from universities that are no longer affiliated with UL.  I don't know... Russell Square just seems to be a place of calmness in a very busy place.  It makes me happy.

I went to my first wedding - P's brother married a psychiatrist who works near where my parents live (sort of); I'd never seen her before, and I don't think P had.  It was held in the place where I had my U6 prom (which P refers to as 'debs') and so it was lovely to see all the familiar places and rooms and grounds.

Vivienne Westwood held a shoe exhibiton in Selfridge's, which I guess was to advertise her many shoes and to coincide with the shoe gallery - there were many fluttering hearts and reluctant boyfriends/husbands.  I hardly left the house on Sundays when P was away - it was my day of lounging about with my books or magazines or files or laptop in bed, but I made special effort to see VW's creations.  I've long wanted a pair of her shoes now, but as with most things I want, I find that the 'want' is transitory, and after a few weeks I don't want them anymore.  But the Westwood shoes have an intermittent want.  I also have a fashion-ful weekend, going to London Fashion Weekend.

My mum had a huge operation, called a microvascular decompression - there are youtube videos.  She is thankfully now okay :)


I had a great birthday celebration with my friends!  It was a joint birthday celebration, with one of my friends

I ate many many Easter eggs... the last one survived three months, but only because I hid it!

excuse the blurriness!

I went to the Hunterian Museum, to look at strange, weird and wonderful specimens, and The Evelyn Tables... I saw The Comedy of Errors at The Globe and have great chat after, which still makes me laugh.


This post and this post become the most viewed posts I have ever published. Blogger has this thing where you can see what people have googled to get to your blog.  Well, the searches people have used for these posts have made my blog first on the google page for one consistently.  Thankyou P.


These videos make the rounds, stereotyping medical specialities...  I have inexplicable love for this song.. if I have my music player on, I play it at least 5 times.  Oh, and this song too.  I saw Xiaxue sing it in one of her tv show videos.  I get a bit flaky and have weight issues and food issues and image issues.

Hmm.. an interesting year.


How was your 2010?


Carol
x x

my 2009 and my hopes for 2010

 2009 has gone by very quickly!  I'm going to try and list all the big (and little) things that happened, but I am sure I'll forget lots of them.  2009, according to that fountain of wisdom, Wikipedia, was The International Year of Astronomy and Of Natural Fibres.


JANUARY
- New Year :)
- Gaza War continues :(
- Obama becomes President.. America breathes sigh of relief, hoping their worldwide image will be restored
- back in London on 3rd Jan, ready for pretty much 20 weeks of firms in one go
- get organised... buy a real size Cheese and Onion, a bag to carry it around in, have a jumper to wear on firms, start working for real

not so hard at work

- see Cirque de Soleil.... great acrobatics and scenery!

from google images

from google images

- do my first whole day on call, a week later followed by a whole night on call... realise I am missing Boys Like Girls, but would put my night on call experience above any concert
- see my very first C sections :)
- visit and dislike Westfield

FEBRUARY
- snow day!  2-2-09...  I was practically the only student who went into firms that day... it didn't occur to me that I should just stay at home, when my jeans were soaked all the way through and my socks and trainers were drenched... took me 2 hours to get in, and 2 hours to go home
- on same snow day, buy first 3 twilight books, proceed to fall in love
- lovely Valentine's Day
- I's birthday... enjoy Confessions of a Shopaholic very much and feel closer to Isma again after not seeing her for so long and feel less guilty that I didn't keep in better touch

Pizza Express

MARCH
- N's amazing 21st birthday dinner in Hampstead.  I think everyone put so much effort in because the dinner was free!

L-R: Pink Lady, Cowgirl, gangster, Sailor Mars, gangster #2, detective

- London Fashion Weekend - buy Juicy Couture shoes :D
- end of first 10 week firm... got on very well with them all

sleeping after long day's work.. that IS actually me

- summer electives sorted


APRIL
- get #1 score on webct - enough time has passed so I can tell people.  Hope Prof M does not realise it is me on his firm and that I am the one who got #1
- M begins to call me number 1, with his itouch lighter flame

M in SAF

- realise I have become less tolerant of people who annoy me
- realise who my true friends are
- become closer friends with T, who I knew before but not that well.  I hope I have been as good a friend to you as you have to me
- exam panic (first of many)
- swine flu comes, initially is a big threat.  I was never scared of it


MAY
- buy tons of emergency food :)
- discover beauty department at the whole foods market
-  p goes away around exam time, find it very difficult to balance life and stress
- exams


JUNE
- Britney at the o2!

 


- As You Like It at the Globe
- Milan :)  Best holiday ever.
- decide to learn dance to Gee by SNSD... only actively do something about it in December

JUNE
-  see Star Trek :) one of the best films of the year
- stupid tfl strike disrupting my birthday dinner
- time to read all the books that have been piling up on my table
- break phone #1
- have a great time in chelwest A&E (as in, service was good)
- Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett pass away :(


JULY
- find out results of exams sat outside Pret on Regent Street, using M's itouch
- anaesthesia elective - fun helping people anaesthetise.... see loads of babies being born, get to do loads and loads and meet some cool people :)

- 21st birthday :D

AUGUST
- O&G elective - even more babies, get to be "assistant surgeon" in the records, clerk gynaecology patients, despite having no knowledge of said speciality
- make goals to do before I'm 30
- some American disses our NHS :(


SEPTEMBER
- boyfriend finishes thesis
- start BSc - initially exciting, initially do no work
- see District 9 - good but too graphic, challenged my ideas of prejudice


OCTOBER
- learn to belly dance
- start to rectify lack of ever attending a wedding, encourage friends to get married
- see Disney on Ice :)
- realise who my true friends are, part 2

NOVEMBER
- break phone #2
- get coat that will protect me from the rain
- P becomes doctor... one of the best candidates his examiner has examined

DECEMBER
- Christmas
- got proper phone :)
- Brittany Murphy passed away
- too much snow... freeze and shiver half a stone off




- - - -


I saw this "10 years ago..." thing on someone's facebook status, and thought I'd do it here. So... 10 years ago.....


I had no computer or mobile phone, having no real need of them.  If I needed to find out something, I used to go to the school library.  I only had a vague concept of the Internet and had hardly ever used it.  I had never kissed a boy.  I had short hair and didn't think I was fat.  I had no idea what I wanted to do when I was older, just that I wanted to be happy.  I kept a diary, all of which I still have somewhere.  I loved pop music and thought that only bad people used swear words.


How times have changed.


In 2010, I want to do something fulfilling, have fun, work hard, enjoy life and carry on learning to bellydance.  I will learn the beginning of the dance to Gee.  I'll try to enjoy Pathology.  I'll keep in touch better with my friends, and be a better daughter, and a better girlfriend.  I will also try to realise that taking time off from working does not always mean slacking.


In 10 years time... I will be 31 (old :( ).... I want to attain all my "before I'm 30" goals (see sidebar) and I want to look back and think how good this decade was.




All photos are my own unless stated.