to love, and then hate the holiday season

By On 7 December, 2011 · Leave a Comment · In culture and society, food, life

Thanksgiving has always been, and will continue to be my favorite holiday. But it has also become one of the worst weekends I look forward to thanks in part to the mind numbing shopping extravaganza that is Black Friday, which inevitably stretches into one month of hellish weekends.

Having been raised in Japan, which I think has a heavy materialistic, consumption culture like the U.S., the concept of frenzied all-out sales events is nothing new to me. Black Friday is. This day of

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Just a pretty face

By On 18 April, 2011 · Leave a Comment · In articles, life

My 3rd grade teacher explained to me on a field trip back in the day that freckles were angel kisses. Now as a 24-year-old, most of those childhood freckles have all but disappeared. But in the summer, my face does get peppered with tiny spots along the cheek and nose. If anything, my face looks [...]

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You are what you buy

By On 3 June, 2010 · Leave a Comment · In articles, life

Do the brands we consume influence who we are? Or is it our personalities that determine which brands we buy?

I hated shopping as a kid, and I hate shopping now. I was my parents’ worse nightmare when it came time to buy things, and now I am my own worse nightmare. [...]

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