Beauty Personified 2011 - The Great Decline

My blogshop Beauty Personified did not do as well as I had hoped in 2011. In fact, it reverted to how it did in 2010, which is a drop of about 46%. At a profit of $4652.41, it's about $2200 less earnings than the all time high in 2010. The truth is, the blogshop was doing well all the year till the last quarter of the year, then came a drastic decline that came from nowhere.

I did think of quitting the blogshop but realistically speaking, more than $4k of spare change is still respectable money that helps offset my ever-increasing taxes and with excess to sponsor me on a short trip yearly.

I think it's important to think about why the great decline came.
1) The exponential growth of plus size blogshops is alarming. I used to enjoy some sorta oligopoly, but the number of players in the field has outgrown the growth of this rather niche market of customers. With more choices, customers can now compare prices and value-added services, so it's natural that they will tend to flock to cheaper options, and if they are not happy with that, they may return to me. Hopefully.

2) Competing with lower prices of my respectable peers has been difficult. Because there is no market yardstick, the same item can sell between a range of $20 in the online sphere. I have to say that the profit margins of some of the competitors are quite remarkably low. Possibly they are setting shop for the sake of pursuing a hobby rather than to profiteer. For the amount of work I invest in my blogshop, it's hard to move downwards. Therefore, in order to charge a little lower, I've decided to scale down my work on the blog.

3) Departure of bulk-buying customers. 2011 saw the departure and decline of a handful of most loyal customers of my blogshop. Perhaps due to the economic downturn, i do notice that many customers have cut down on the number of items ordered. There's nothing much I can do about this, except to showcase more special items, whilst keeping the price of items in mind.

4) I did some reflection and felt that perhaps some of my sprees which take too long to end. I'm an online shopper myself and I do hope to get my purchases asap too. So the logical solution would be to have shorter sprees with small orders to create faster deliveries.

I would still like to continue with the blogshop since it's been 4 years of labour, and it truly is, a hobby.

我不要聲嘶力竭的情歌， 來提示我需要你的時刻

孤獨患者

填詞：小寒


歡笑聲　歡呼聲
炒熱氣氛　心卻很冷
聚光燈　是種蒙恩
我卻不能　喊等一等

我真佩服我　還能幽默
掉眼淚時　用笑掩過
怕人看破　顧慮好多
不談寂寞　我們就都快活

我不唱聲嘶力竭的情歌
不表示沒有心碎的時刻
我不曾攤開傷口任宰割
癒合　就無人曉得　我內心挫折
活像個孤獨患者　自我拉扯
外向的孤獨患者　有何不可

笑越大聲　越是殘忍
擠滿體溫　室溫更冷
萬一關燈　空虛擾人
我卻不能　喊等一等

你說你愛我　卻一直說
說我不該　窩在角落
策劃逃脫　這也有錯
連我脆弱　的權利都掠奪


我不要聲嘶力竭的情歌
來提示我需要你的時刻
表面鎮定並不是保護色
反而　是要你懂得　我不知為何
活像個孤獨患者　自我拉扯
外向的孤獨患者　需要認可

###
新加坡把歌词写得好的，实在少。小寒便是其一。写寂寞的歌很多，也容易引起我的共鸣。记得“寂寞”是当年我写歌的重要题材，因为我的歌都是在我最寂寞时，才写出来的。人多时也感到寂寞，就是真正深透到骨子里的孤单，是一种心病。强颜欢笑是伪装痛苦的出口，这也是我当年有过的感觉。如今，我不再写歌，也不是因为没了寂寞，只是学会了与它相处，与它独处。快乐也逐渐回来。

步步惊心之当年的偶像

看《步步惊心》部分的感动来自见证吴奇隆和郑嘉颖从高处而降，又从低谷翻身。曾经的偶像蜕变为有层次的好演员。后天的努力终于匹配了先天的条件。如今再红，红的有理。

吴奇隆当年真是大红大紫。才华有限，但凭着外形虏获多少少女芳心。我小学毕业还和同学们大合唱他的《祝你一路顺风》呢。怎么转眼就20年了！长江后浪推前浪，90末期流行优质偶像，吴奇隆放弃了歌坛，进军影艺界，先去香港，后往大陆，一路浮浮沉沉，直到近年。再次窜红，吴奇隆反而以平常心对待。郑嘉颖也是。当年曾是歌坛力捧的新星，后来与师傅闹翻，转战台湾，出了首单曲《因为爱上你》就没下文。好像是演了一出大陆戏意外红了，无线热切重新追求，就这样慢慢成了视帝。事业又如日中天。

见他们又有好成绩，我宛如与失散多年的好友重逢般开心。永远不要小看命运。它能让你在绝望时，起死回生，再造奇迹。

享受孤独，害怕寂寞

其实我蛮喜欢一个人的。享受一个人的时间，以我的速度，做我喜爱做的事。我不喜欢被人或突来事牵绊。

上个月，在没有学生陪同下，偶尔独自闲逛台北，看得和逛得更多。我并不怕孤单，更曾想过如果今后终究单身，就必须要习惯孤单、享受自由。我觉得这个可能性颇大，因为我对结婚生子兴致缺缺。

喜欢那份独来独往的惬意，但无法否认，有时看到新奇的事物，当下希望有个朋友在身边同我见证。

矛盾的心情，依然我行我素的行径。我享受我的孤独，也乐于承认偶尔害怕寂寞的心情。

心動

十二年前第一次在MTV频道听到这首歌，就十分喜欢。那是一部新电影〈心动〉的宣传曲，由我喜欢的莫文蔚主演。MV中的金城武演出年少轻狂的音乐浪子，帅毙了。

重新演绎经典并非易事，陈洁仪凭着深厚的舞台剧底子做到了。如果林晓陪唱出的是初恋的遗憾，陈洁仪唱出的时过境迁后“怀念的勇气”，少了悔恨，多了一份云淡风轻的释怀。

同样是曾经心动，不同的时间点回想，已是不同心情。



心動

詞：林夕　

有多久沒見你　以為你在哪裡
原來就住在我心底　陪伴著我的呼吸
有多遠的距離　以為聞不到你氣息
誰知道你背影這麼長　回頭就看到你

過去讓它過去　來不及
從頭喜歡你　白雲纏繞著藍天

哦 ~
如果不能夠永遠走在一起
也至少給我們懷念的勇氣　擁抱的權利
好讓你明白　我心動的痕跡

總是想再見你　還試著打探你消息
原來你就住在我的身體　守護我的回憶