Oscar Wilde Thursday and Happy Chinese New Year

"We live in an age when unnecessary things are our only necessities."

--Oscar Wilde

Even though I collectively slept almost nine hours last night, I have a headache and my eyes feel kind of stingy like they do when I am suffering from a lack of sleep. 

It's because I interrupted that sleep at 2:50 a.m. so I could get up to order an iPhone. 

Yup, I was one of those people. I was texting with my friend Rach last night, who has an iPhone by the way, and when I told her Verizon changed their midnight ordering to 3 a.m. and that I still planned on getting it, she made some sort of reference to me being a crazy person. You're the one who wants to play games with me, love! (Seriously, I want to play them with you too. Cannot wait.)

I just wanted to make sure they didn't sell out. I obviously have no idea how large their iPhone inventory is, but I had to get mine. I had it in my head for a couple weeks I wanted it, so that was that. Getting up in the middle of the night to order something from my own home was way better than getting up in the middle of the night to camp out in front of a store next week.

So anyways, I thought Oscar Wilde's quote today was fitting. What else have I bought because I felt I had to have it? Well, I don't want to make a list. But I do own a lot of things that seem so necessary but aren't at all. I certainly enjoy them, but I also know I'd survive without them. I also know I am blessed that I can have these things.

I'm going to take this opportunity to point out that I have gotten up in the middle of the night for non-material things. When I studied abroad in Thailand, only about a handful of my group chose to wake up around 3 a.m. so we could get in a car and drive to see the sun rise in Khao Yai National Park. That's the kind of thing you can never do again, so it balances out the iPhone thing right?

I partly bring up Thailand because I lived in Bangkok in 2005 and was there for the Chinese New Year when it became the Year of the Rooster... and today is also the Chinese New Year... so Happy Chinese New Year!


Even though it was Thailand, there was still a crazy celebration. I remember it being so packed downtown with beautiful bright red lanterns and delicious food and people mashed up against each other looking so happy.

In this photo, I'm wearing my Chinese New Year shirt. The man I bought it from told me it says "good luck." This photo was not taken in Bangkok (can you tell by the Indiana Jones-style bridge?) but also in Khao Yai National Park where I saw that sun rise.

Happy Year of the Rabbit! According to a quick Google search, the Rabbit brings a year for catching your breath and calming your nerves. A good goal for this year is creating a safe, peaceful lifestyle. I can't help but feel a little creeped out by this (in a good way) because that is totally my goal for this year (and, well, forever).