"I like money. I'd like to have more of it. I keep it in a jar on top of my refrigerator."
Mad props to you if you can quote which beloved movie the above sentences are from. But in all seriousness, last New Year's I made a promise to myself: that every January I would do something a little more fiscally responsible than opening a GAP charge card to save 15 percent on that really cool sweater.
Anywho, I digress into a more serious note on investing. Now, I'm no Diamond Jim Brady, but, I do believe in the power of time. And the power of being disciplined with saving as much money as you can based upon your income. (Seriously even if it's just $20 a month.)
Last year in January I opened up an ING account. (Which, by the way I highly recommend to anyone and everyone who is looking to make the same "cents" when it comes to savings...the interest rate is so appealing, why wouldn't you have one?)
Over the course of the last 11 and a half months, I have been cultivated (and sometimes taking from) my account here and there, and I must say that while catching a great sale makes me smile, taking a look monthly at my interest paid (literally free money--or at least the closest thing to it) is even cooler.
The coolest thing (in my opinion anyway) about my online savings account is that money is there if I really do need a bit of a safety net, but just inaccessible enough that I'm not tempted to dig into it all of the time.
So my big fiscal decision for '08? As I sit here on Dec 28 I'm still not sure. Perhaps a Roth IRA, (never too young to start!) but probably on the for-front of my priorities is to find a job with a higher income. In a city that could be described as "the seat of the western world." Those who know me know what I'm talking about. Those who don't, well f$%& off.
Just kidding. Happy New Year!
Friday, December 28, 2007
Monday, December 10, 2007
gnocchi doesn't opt for plastic bags, so neither should you!
Alright, so the title has nothing to do with the actual content of this post. But, in my recent obsession with all foods of the Italian decent, (and bazaar-o pronunciations)I decided it would be fun.
In light of keeping with the character of my third-to-last blog entry (the ranting one about the end of civilization as we know it) I have been proud to say that I have been plastic bag free for one week precisely.
And how, do you wonder, have I been able to achieve such a feat? By simply taking a canvas bag to do some grocery shopping (paper is cool sometimes too, I don't know if what degree of earth-pilaging goes into creating one, but I know that they are far more bio-degradable than plastics) and re-using small plastic sandwich baggies.
I'm convinced that being more earth friendly is like how you would look to get into shape--by taking the stairs instead of the elevator, by parking further and walking, or by opting for the apple instead of the fast-food apple pie.
I guess MTV was really hitting their mark dead on when they came up with the PSA "Decrease your daily impact, improve your life" campaign.
In light of keeping with the character of my third-to-last blog entry (the ranting one about the end of civilization as we know it) I have been proud to say that I have been plastic bag free for one week precisely.
And how, do you wonder, have I been able to achieve such a feat? By simply taking a canvas bag to do some grocery shopping (paper is cool sometimes too, I don't know if what degree of earth-pilaging goes into creating one, but I know that they are far more bio-degradable than plastics) and re-using small plastic sandwich baggies.
I'm convinced that being more earth friendly is like how you would look to get into shape--by taking the stairs instead of the elevator, by parking further and walking, or by opting for the apple instead of the fast-food apple pie.
I guess MTV was really hitting their mark dead on when they came up with the PSA "Decrease your daily impact, improve your life" campaign.
Monday, December 3, 2007
oops
I meant to say in that last post that it IS cool to be asked questions.
Sorry. Either I have grown far too accustomed to the copy editor's extra pair of eyes, of I'm just le tired.
Adios
Sorry. Either I have grown far too accustomed to the copy editor's extra pair of eyes, of I'm just le tired.
Adios
and how does that make you feel...
So in light of recent events, (which shall not be mentioned on this public forum for sake of protecting everyone's privacy) I'm seriously convinced that I should have become a psychology major. Laura, if you read this, then yay for you, you're on a life track that is incredibly valuable in our ever-increasing emotionally screwed up society.
But, it's not all negativity (far from it actually!) because this makes me feel incredibly happy that my friends (let's not forget co-workers) come to me for sage advice. Which I start by saying "Young grasshopper" in my best sage-elderly Japanese mastery voice. Just kidding.
So yeah, suffice it to say that being asked questions (when normally I'm the one doing the asking) isn't groovy with me. And I think it comes full circle right about here because I'm telling the all the blogsphere the way I'm feeling about people asking me to talk them throught certain emotions to get to how they're ultimately feeling....crazy ain't it?
Alright, enough of the psycho-bable bullshit, I'm buying a plane ticket to California in 5, 4, 3, 2, .........
But, it's not all negativity (far from it actually!) because this makes me feel incredibly happy that my friends (let's not forget co-workers) come to me for sage advice. Which I start by saying "Young grasshopper" in my best sage-elderly Japanese mastery voice. Just kidding.
So yeah, suffice it to say that being asked questions (when normally I'm the one doing the asking) isn't groovy with me. And I think it comes full circle right about here because I'm telling the all the blogsphere the way I'm feeling about people asking me to talk them throught certain emotions to get to how they're ultimately feeling....crazy ain't it?
Alright, enough of the psycho-bable bullshit, I'm buying a plane ticket to California in 5, 4, 3, 2, .........
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
well, ok
I think I may have been a little too harsh with last night's feverish and emotional post. But hey, sometimes you gotta just capitalize on the creativity that springs from anger, passion, happiness.
I still need to get out of suburbia.
That is all.
I still need to get out of suburbia.
That is all.
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
catastrophic calamity, world wars, or just too much red bull?
Okay so. I promised myself when I first created this blog that I wouldn't use it as a soapbox for means of proto-typical non-conformist policital purposes, but I think that having my own blog, by right, enables me to break this guideline.
So here goes.
Tonight, I went to cover an environmental commission meeting for one of the towns that I cover. The meeting was actually going to be a viewing of the documentary "The End of Suburbia: the demise of oil and the collapse of the American dream" by Jeffrey Greene, followed by a discussion. YAY. As I headed into the community center where the film was to take place, I first made a quick detour to the store to grab a sans-sugar Red Bull. I wasn't quite sure how engaging this was going to be, and after a deadline day at the office ridden with last minute state Supreme Court decisions (turned into an article in record time I'll have you know) I wasn't about to be messin.'
So into the community center I head. Mystified all the while by the television-less end of the room that lay beforth us. (I
seriously sat there for like 5 minutes trying to figure out where we were going to watch the movie without a television until I saw the projector sitting on a desk in front of the blank, white wall.)
But I digress, and the documentary started. And from the moment that it did, I was transfixed. In case you couldn't guess, the basic premise was pretty much about the end of life as we know it, (because we are so deeply and horribly addicted to oil and natural gas, and the likes) and what that's going to mean for life as we know it in the future.
And let me tell you, I really think that viewing this documentary could make a pessimist out of the most optomisitic of the glass-half-full people out there. And with just cause. This is seriously alarming. I mean, pretty much in 20, hell, 15, hell maybe even 10 years life as we know it will not be the same.
The film asked the average consumer to imagine a day when the mass suburbs of America become slums-and there is massive regression of the human race. The film projected that there will be such massive regression that it is not your choice to do so, but this is rather dependent on our survival.
Which, within itself is a very interesting thought. We, as 21st-century humans really don't have a good grasp on what survival entails, which is quite frightening to me. I'll admit, if I couldn't get into my car (okay, or get on my bicycle) and go to the local supermarket in the middle of the winter in Central NJ I wouldn't know how to get food. Think about that for a second: what if the commodity chain was virtually haulted to a stop indefinetly? Think of the competition, the violence, the scramble that would ensue over a quart of milk or a loaf of bread? Scary to think. Even scarier to think that that may be something that I will have to worry about over the next 50 years of my life. What's even worse is that at this point, my parents, pretty much the entire Baby-Boomer generation that basically has feed off of this suburbia model all of their lives stand to lose alot-if not all of the capital that have worked so hard for all of their lives for, and perhaps too feable to acquiesce.
What really worries me the most over this whole thought of the end of suburbia (not that I was really enjoying all that much to begin with-though my current economic state doesn't really permit me to live in a city on my own--but I am working very hard to change that situation shortly) is that people-myself included-like to believe that there is no immediate problem. Or that if there is, there is a highly-organized team of professionals with doctorate degrees toiling away in some laboratory somewhere combating the problem while I comfortably sleep each night. Or that people of an older generation actually DO realize the calamity-and that my generation is too busy being obsessed with what kind of sleek and sexy gadget Apple is spitting out to really grasp the issue at hand. (And I am one of these people too!!!)
One thing was crystal clear after viewing this documentary tonight: that being dramatic and deploying desperate attempts such as shocking the American public with information that makes them uncomfortable is, in my opinion, necessary.
I know that it's currently trendy to be "green," but I think that this mass-distribution of ideas needs to expodentially increase with a depth that undercuts the current constant desire for what's bigger, shinier, and faster.
It's weird because growing up I'd heard people say to me that they wanted to move out of the United States when they grew old enough, and that they couldn't be associated with a system that just seems to be built on a retro-fantasy of post WWII utopia.
I wish I could say that Canada, hell, even Europe has the answer, but unfortunatley, I don't think it's that simple.....
So am I totally hating on America, or our economy, or in going to the mall on Saturday afternoons? Certainly not. I happen to love New Jersey, (okay you out-of-staters, hold your jokes) this area of the country is where I live and where my loved ones live. I happen to stimulate the economy alot, (once again, slow your roll on the jokes here too please) whether it be shopping locally or going to a chain store. I also agree with the documentary that with times of great stress comes great inguinuity. Maybe we'll get through the peak and fall of fossil fuels just fine.
What I do know for sure is that this documentary has inspired me to want to be, myself, faster, stronger, and more educated about not misleading ourselves to negligent means to an end. To keep one eye fixated ahead on the future, while being mindful of what you're doing right this second to conserve and protect. And to involve others in simple local inniciatives to develop a stronger local economy, and most of all to foster a healthy social environment that I feel we are in DESPERATE need of in America.
And what now know with absolute certainty?
I am moving out of the suburbs as soon as I possibly can.
So here goes.
Tonight, I went to cover an environmental commission meeting for one of the towns that I cover. The meeting was actually going to be a viewing of the documentary "The End of Suburbia: the demise of oil and the collapse of the American dream" by Jeffrey Greene, followed by a discussion. YAY. As I headed into the community center where the film was to take place, I first made a quick detour to the store to grab a sans-sugar Red Bull. I wasn't quite sure how engaging this was going to be, and after a deadline day at the office ridden with last minute state Supreme Court decisions (turned into an article in record time I'll have you know) I wasn't about to be messin.'
So into the community center I head. Mystified all the while by the television-less end of the room that lay beforth us. (I
seriously sat there for like 5 minutes trying to figure out where we were going to watch the movie without a television until I saw the projector sitting on a desk in front of the blank, white wall.)
But I digress, and the documentary started. And from the moment that it did, I was transfixed. In case you couldn't guess, the basic premise was pretty much about the end of life as we know it, (because we are so deeply and horribly addicted to oil and natural gas, and the likes) and what that's going to mean for life as we know it in the future.
And let me tell you, I really think that viewing this documentary could make a pessimist out of the most optomisitic of the glass-half-full people out there. And with just cause. This is seriously alarming. I mean, pretty much in 20, hell, 15, hell maybe even 10 years life as we know it will not be the same.
The film asked the average consumer to imagine a day when the mass suburbs of America become slums-and there is massive regression of the human race. The film projected that there will be such massive regression that it is not your choice to do so, but this is rather dependent on our survival.
Which, within itself is a very interesting thought. We, as 21st-century humans really don't have a good grasp on what survival entails, which is quite frightening to me. I'll admit, if I couldn't get into my car (okay, or get on my bicycle) and go to the local supermarket in the middle of the winter in Central NJ I wouldn't know how to get food. Think about that for a second: what if the commodity chain was virtually haulted to a stop indefinetly? Think of the competition, the violence, the scramble that would ensue over a quart of milk or a loaf of bread? Scary to think. Even scarier to think that that may be something that I will have to worry about over the next 50 years of my life. What's even worse is that at this point, my parents, pretty much the entire Baby-Boomer generation that basically has feed off of this suburbia model all of their lives stand to lose alot-if not all of the capital that have worked so hard for all of their lives for, and perhaps too feable to acquiesce.
What really worries me the most over this whole thought of the end of suburbia (not that I was really enjoying all that much to begin with-though my current economic state doesn't really permit me to live in a city on my own--but I am working very hard to change that situation shortly) is that people-myself included-like to believe that there is no immediate problem. Or that if there is, there is a highly-organized team of professionals with doctorate degrees toiling away in some laboratory somewhere combating the problem while I comfortably sleep each night. Or that people of an older generation actually DO realize the calamity-and that my generation is too busy being obsessed with what kind of sleek and sexy gadget Apple is spitting out to really grasp the issue at hand. (And I am one of these people too!!!)
One thing was crystal clear after viewing this documentary tonight: that being dramatic and deploying desperate attempts such as shocking the American public with information that makes them uncomfortable is, in my opinion, necessary.
I know that it's currently trendy to be "green," but I think that this mass-distribution of ideas needs to expodentially increase with a depth that undercuts the current constant desire for what's bigger, shinier, and faster.
It's weird because growing up I'd heard people say to me that they wanted to move out of the United States when they grew old enough, and that they couldn't be associated with a system that just seems to be built on a retro-fantasy of post WWII utopia.
I wish I could say that Canada, hell, even Europe has the answer, but unfortunatley, I don't think it's that simple.....
So am I totally hating on America, or our economy, or in going to the mall on Saturday afternoons? Certainly not. I happen to love New Jersey, (okay you out-of-staters, hold your jokes) this area of the country is where I live and where my loved ones live. I happen to stimulate the economy alot, (once again, slow your roll on the jokes here too please) whether it be shopping locally or going to a chain store. I also agree with the documentary that with times of great stress comes great inguinuity. Maybe we'll get through the peak and fall of fossil fuels just fine.
What I do know for sure is that this documentary has inspired me to want to be, myself, faster, stronger, and more educated about not misleading ourselves to negligent means to an end. To keep one eye fixated ahead on the future, while being mindful of what you're doing right this second to conserve and protect. And to involve others in simple local inniciatives to develop a stronger local economy, and most of all to foster a healthy social environment that I feel we are in DESPERATE need of in America.
And what now know with absolute certainty?
I am moving out of the suburbs as soon as I possibly can.
Saturday, November 10, 2007
LAST walking tour day!!!
So we started out the last walking tour day with a little round-about excusion around to the other side of the bay that we had spent the previous night on.
The last day was alot of road walking, which I'm not going to lie, was okay with me. Although, we did get very efficient at our "CAR!" chant which would send us marching like soilders single file along side of the road every few minutes.
Sometime around lunch we decided that we would stop for a quick "map check" stop which turned into a very impromptu lunch that Pam, Kyle, Tim, Sarah and I shared, which I may add was very enjoyable.
Back on the road again, we talked of many things. Often times mundane, the conversation would turn to a gossip session, which would morph into a debate, which would yield to varying degrees of heavier topics. Honestly, the content of the conversations wasn't really what mattered. I mean, we could have been talking about beef jerky for pete's sake.
(Okay, editoral note: I'm just warning you, I'm going to get sappy for a second.)
Walking with these people that (for some of them have been my friends since freshman year of college) it gave me a very strong, positive feeling. This little jaunt that we went on wasn't for the light hearted. It wasn't for the pampered. It was for people who are into creating their own, positive and active experiences with one another, all while taking in the breathtaking scenery that Ireland had to offer. It was such a feeling of total acceptance, (and yes, after a week of being out on the road and peeing in some very bazaar places may have fostered all of the bonding) and knowing that this was something that we will truely remember for the rest of our lives.
Okay, so no more cheese. But as we climbed that last ascent that we had climbed the very first night (to go down to take a peek at Tralee Bay) and as the pub loomed closer and closer, I knew one thing for sure....that there was a Bulmers (possible with a shot of Jameson?) with my name on it inside.
As I retired to the bedroom of the Finglas House Bed and Breakfast, (the one that we had stayed in a week prior when we began the tour, I had a dream of Dublin in my mind, and a taste of the whiskey from our victory shot on my breath.....
The last day was alot of road walking, which I'm not going to lie, was okay with me. Although, we did get very efficient at our "CAR!" chant which would send us marching like soilders single file along side of the road every few minutes.
Sometime around lunch we decided that we would stop for a quick "map check" stop which turned into a very impromptu lunch that Pam, Kyle, Tim, Sarah and I shared, which I may add was very enjoyable.
Back on the road again, we talked of many things. Often times mundane, the conversation would turn to a gossip session, which would morph into a debate, which would yield to varying degrees of heavier topics. Honestly, the content of the conversations wasn't really what mattered. I mean, we could have been talking about beef jerky for pete's sake.
(Okay, editoral note: I'm just warning you, I'm going to get sappy for a second.)
Walking with these people that (for some of them have been my friends since freshman year of college) it gave me a very strong, positive feeling. This little jaunt that we went on wasn't for the light hearted. It wasn't for the pampered. It was for people who are into creating their own, positive and active experiences with one another, all while taking in the breathtaking scenery that Ireland had to offer. It was such a feeling of total acceptance, (and yes, after a week of being out on the road and peeing in some very bazaar places may have fostered all of the bonding) and knowing that this was something that we will truely remember for the rest of our lives.
Okay, so no more cheese. But as we climbed that last ascent that we had climbed the very first night (to go down to take a peek at Tralee Bay) and as the pub loomed closer and closer, I knew one thing for sure....that there was a Bulmers (possible with a shot of Jameson?) with my name on it inside.
As I retired to the bedroom of the Finglas House Bed and Breakfast, (the one that we had stayed in a week prior when we began the tour, I had a dream of Dublin in my mind, and a taste of the whiskey from our victory shot on my breath.....
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