linklings, shock the monkey edition
If this is your first visit to brip blap, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed and visit my about page.
I recently saw “Growing Up On Tour“, a documentary about Peter Gabriel. I’m no huge fan of Gabriel - like everyone else who grew up in the 80s I knew his big hits - Sledgehammer, Red Rain, In Your Eyes and so on. But I like his music well enough. He’s one of those guys who drifted out of the mainstream although he seems to still fill up arenas.
He looked much older, of course - bald, gray beard, heavier. But what struck me about him was how enthusiastic he still seemed to be about music. After touring and writing and playing and so on endlessly for probably 40 years, he radiated enthusiasm for his “job.” He also balanced his work and life, bringing his whole family - including a little baby - on tour with him. So although one might be quick to dismiss all of that - “he’s rich”, “he has lots of help”, etc. - it’s just one more source of inspiration to me that it is possible to have a fulfilling career that’s interwoven with one’s life and family. It’s worth watching - if you have the Documentary Channel I believe it’s on again soon.
Here are some bits I picked up this week, from The Money Writers and others:
Blockbuster Total Access free trial: I have Netflix, and we don’t have a Blockbuster nearby, but if we did I’d give this a shot.
EverBank Offers Better Rates: 4.76% Intro APY: I think we’ll see rates start edging back up a bit - here’s a good example.
And speaking of higher rates, WaMu Free Checking’s high APY may be worth checking out. And by high, I mean high, dude.
Is There a Cure for the Economy? The Spending and Saving Catch-22: This is a good question: by fixing my coffee at home and using the office coffee sludge at work, am I a bad American because I’m not upholding one of the shining titans of capitalism, Starbucks? My answer: everyone gives mouth service to capitalism and no-one wants to LIVE capitalism. I buy sassy buffalo chicken tenders at Houlihan’s because I can’t duplicate that stuff at home. I CAN duplicate coffee swill at home. Starbucks sells me convenience at a high mark-up. Let it die. According to Yoda, “there is another”. Maybe we’ll have Tim Horton’s everywhere in the States in 10 years.
From the Front Lines: Investors Selling Stocks in Favor of Fixed Accounts: I would commend this post, except that I understand human behavior. Think long term, think cause-and-effect, think patience. Eh, screw it - Kudlow says sell, drop my stash, baby! Really, invest and forget. I like to think I’m in the .001% of people who really understand investing but I think - and I waver on this - that I’m in the 99.999% that ought to stick to index funds and a grinning-Joker-like confidence in the stability of the US economy despit having a madman at the helm for the last eight years.
How to Improve Your Credit Score: And let me guess - you want to improve your credit score, don’t you? I could probably even stand to improve mine, even though last time I checked it’s up there.
10 Step Plan for Debt Elimination: Please, please, please - if you have any debt read this and follow these steps. Common sense - pay off high-interest balances first and squeeze back on your squeeze-ees.
Long commute causes buyer’s remorse: how gas prices are affecting life in the exurbs: It was bound to come. Let’s hope that one of the positives to come out of the rising price of gas is a more sensible urban policy and more sensible choices by consumers about sprawl. I know it’s going to be painful for people who already made a choice to sacrifice proximity to cities in exchange for more space, though.
‘WALL-E’ and Shiller’s new ‘irrational pessimism’: This isn’t a blog post, strictly speaking, but a very insightful piece from Marketwatch. Is Wall-E just fantasy, or is it a chilling prediction of where we are headed as a world…
Overnight Success: Hunter points out that overnight success is often the result of a long struggle. Even lottery winners usually don’t win on the first ticket they buy in their life, after all.
Seven Traits of Successful People: I think #1 is far and away the most important - it’s certainly something that I lack that handicaps some of my efforts.
Popularity: 2% [?]
Related Articles
Add New Comment
Viewing 10 Comments
Thanks. Your comment is awaiting approval by a moderator.
Do you already have an account? Log in and claim this comment.
Do you already have an account? Log in and claim this comment.
Do you already have an account? Log in and claim this comment.
Do you already have an account? Log in and claim this comment.
Do you already have an account? Log in and claim this comment.
Do you already have an account? Log in and claim this comment.
Do you already have an account? Log in and claim this comment.
Do you already have an account? Log in and claim this comment.
Do you already have an account? Log in and claim this comment.
Do you already have an account? Log in and claim this comment.
Do you already have an account? Log in and claim this comment.
Add New Comment
Trackbacks