friday links and idle philosophificationings

I’ve been exceptionally busy this week getting my Bruce Wayne life up and running. As Batman – aka brip blap – I’ve been running this site for a year and a half with my real identity more or less hidden.  I’m not sure why, sometimes.  It seems to be de rigueur for personal finance bloggers to blog anonymously.  My decision to make this blog anonymous was mainly due to my concern about two factors:  the privacy of my family and the possible impact on my corporate consulting gigs.  I’ve written some less-than-complimentary things about some of my clients, so I think that’s an understandable reason for anonymity.  And I think the desire to keep my family anonymous is understandable without explanation, too.

At the same time, if you look at the New York Times bestseller lists (non-fiction) or the biggest blogs you won’t see many successful “anonymous” bylines. Primary Colors was initially authored by “anonymous,” but other than that book I can’t remember a single book in recent years that was famously non-attributed.  I’ve mentioned before that I’d like to be a writer, and I’m concerned that I won’t be able to build up the rep that’s needed if I stay anonymous forever.  I’ve started two more blogs recently, one that’s a straight-up blog in my name (something along the lines of stevediddlypoppop if diddlypoppop was my last name) and another less-serious personal finance blog (that I’ll be rolling out soon).

Sp I’m twittering and facebooking and blogging and digging and stumbling (and so on) under two names. It’s annoying.  Hopefully at some point in the future I’ll be able to put down the batcape.  Like Batman in The Dark Knight, I dream of a day when my secret identity won’t be needed anymore, but recognize that day may still be a long way off.  Until then, I’ll just have to live dual lives.  And hope that my new, non-secret-name blog will take off lacking much help from this one.

On to the links:

• Robert Kiyosaki Writes Something Else I Agree With – Assets Don’t Make You Rich: Oh, Kiyosaki. How you annoy people. But he’s writing something in this case that it’s almost impossible to argue with, although I’m sure someone somewhere will, because being anti-Kiyosaki is almost a profession at this point.
• Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell Reviewed: If you’ve been thinking about buying the book, this is a good rundown to help you decide.
• Suze Orman’s Free Book – Fixing Your Finances in 2009: Free now – must buy later. Suze always has a few good tips buried amongst the shrill sound bites…
• My Financial Goals for 2009 – What are Yours?: Other people’s goals – as I’ve mentioned before – alwasy interest me.
• Emergency Funds On Steroids: Have a few months in savings. Right now I’m living on savings, but let me tell you – if we’d had one month of savings for an emergency, I would have been groveling to go back to work at 50% of my last contract rate in a couple of weeks. Put yourself in a position of strength – you won’t be sorry.
• Millionaire Secrets of the Super Rich: The Big Problems They Keep: Money won’t make you happy, but I would like to be the guy who disproves that statement.
• 16 Ways to Do It Yourself: I am a big do-it-yourself proponent, but I’m also quick to jettison and outsource if I don’t have the skills needed.
• What to Expect and Exploring Expectation for the Future: This post sounds a lot like what I’ve written recently – “Reward them for good behavior and punish (responsibly) for bad behavior.” Radical!
• Do Above Average To Be Treated Above Average: If you want people to treat you well, do well. Simple to say, seldom done in practice.
• 30-Year Fixed-Rate Mortgage Rate Fell to Record Low – Chart of the Day:  Unbelievable. If I had any intention of staying where I live now (and I don’t) for another few years we’d be refinancing. As it is, we’re thinking this might be a good time to move…
• The Life Purpose Lie:  Harsh words for people like me, but worth considering. Believe it or not, I’m still not entirely sure of my purpose. I like writing, but do I love it? Am I consumed by it? No. I like astronomy, too. I like politics. I’m quite anxious, to be honest, to discover my purpose. It’s not obvious yet – and Jonathan says it might not be for a long time. Not what I wanted to hear, but quite possibly true.
• From Russia With Love: Love the show. The blog needs work, but it’s fun to read, particularly if you enjoy the show.
• Carnival of Personal Finance: My post was included at the most recent CoPF.
• Blog Review – Brip Blap – better-trades.com: A neat new interview and write-up of brip blap appeared here at Better Trades – I was pleased to be included!

photo credit: Esparta