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Wednesday, 31 May
~Links~ | Cat Connor | 31 May, 2006 |
Tuesday, 30 May
~Links~ | Cat Connor | 30 May, 2006 |
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Monday, 29 May
~Links~ | Cat Connor | 29 May, 2006 |
Sunday, 28 May
~Links~ | Cat Connor | 28 May, 2006 |
Saturday, 27 May
~Links~ | Cat Connor | 27 May, 2006 |
Friday, 26 May
~Links~ | Cat Connor | 26 May, 2006 |
Thursday, 25 May
~Links~ | Cat Connor | 25 May, 2006 |
Wednesday, 24 May
~Links~ | Cat Connor | 24 May, 2006 |
Tuesday, 23 May
~Links~ | Cat Connor | 23 May, 2006 |
Sunday, 21 May
I've always had a soft spot for that surreal tower of cement, looming 500ft over the river. It is no more. Here are some pictures. A couple of amateur videos, and CBS News' very nice video, though no sound, and you have to sit through an ad.
~Portland~ | Cat Connor | 21 May, 2006 |
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~Links~ | Cat Connor | 21 May, 2006 |
Saturday, 20 May
~Links~ | Cat Connor | 20 May, 2006 |
Friday, 19 May
As I sit munching on my second veggie-loaf sandwich of the evening, I realize I must try to remember what I put in this amazing stuff, in hopes of recreating it someday. Amounts will be vague. I had just cooked a batch of a dozen onions until they were just caramelized, and tonged them into various foodstuffs. Pre-cooking: 3 medium onions, sliced, cooked just until caramelized Blade-process in batches: 2 red bell peppers, chopped Put everything in a huge-ass bowl. Stir in: ½ cup cheddar cheese, grated Spice generously with: Salt Bake in a 350° oven for about an hour. I used a pan that produces six mini-loaves, and had a little mix left over. While the loaves hold together more or less, it is more like a pate than a loaf. I wrapped each loaf in wax paper, and they are very handy for making sandwiches.
~Food~ | Cat Connor | 19 May, 2006 |
~Links~ | Cat Connor | 19 May, 2006 |
Forgot to cross-post this from GIMB, and it's definitely worth a cross-post: We had a surplus of onions this weekend, so I cooked up a mess of them and did various things. This was the tastiest, and it's good hot or cold: Extra-virgin olive oil Spray a glass pie pan with nonstick coating. Preheat oven to 350°. Sautee the onions and garlic in the EVOO until they just begin to caramelize (I actually did them separately because I was doing batches of both ingredients, but I don't think cooking them together will hurt, just put the garlic in later so it doesn't burn). Place the onions and garlic in the pie pan and spread them out so they make an even layer on the bottom. Sprinkle cheese evenly over onion layer. Mix salt, pepper, dill, and tabasco with the eggs, and pour mixture over the onions and cheese. Bake for 45 minutes. *** We made this again last night. I don't think I'm going to eat it hot any more, because it's actually better cold, the next day, after the flavors have intensified. Mmmm. *eats*
~Food~ | Cat Connor | 19 May, 2006 |
Thursday, 18 May
~Links~ | Cat Connor | 18 May, 2006 |
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Wednesday, 17 May
~Links~ | Cat Connor | 17 May, 2006 |
Tuesday, 16 May
~Links~ | Cat Connor | 16 May, 2006 |
Monday, 15 May
~Links~ | Cat Connor | 15 May, 2006 |
Dear people who decide what English name to give French movies: even here in the U-S of A, we would spell it En Garde. This is the second movie I've seen that uses the plot device of a man raising a girl baby that is not his own, then falling in love with her when she reaches, oh, sixteen or so. I can't remember the name of the first movie, I just remember being CREEPED THE FUCK OUT. EW! EW! EW! Otherwise, Le Bossu is a fun movie with some great moments between Auteuil (aka "He Whose Name I Shall Never Be Able To Spell") and Perez, both old faves of mine. Crazy as Hell was the latest installment from the WILLIAM SHATNER DVD CLUB, and one of the best selections so far. Eriq La Salle is a super-sassy Satan in this psychological twister about an ego-driven doctor in an asylum. Big peeve: Jeremy Leven should have done a lot more research into mental illness, because his ignorance is painful, though the rampant unprofessionalism of the doctor is understandable in the context of the film. An American Haunting is...just really bad. Cheap tricks, cliches, and utter, utter bullshit abound. I'm astonished this made it to theatres. Sissy Spacek, what were you thinking?
~Movies~ | Cat Connor | 15 May, 2006 |
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Sunday, 14 May
~Links~ | Cat Connor | 14 May, 2006 |
Saturday, 13 May
I had a dream last night that's been bothering me all day. I discover my mom has just been hiding out for 23 years. She's got a funky apartment that she's decorated Austin-Powers style, a cute girlfriend named Betsy, and a great little life. I pick up my brother to meet her. He is over the moon. Everyone is so happy. Then I wake up. Shit.
~~ | Cat Connor | 13 May, 2006 |
~Links~ | Cat Connor | 13 May, 2006 |
Every year I try to review the steps in Your Money or Your Life to see how we're doing. It's been about two years since my last review, but much to my delight, I found we are following most of the steps well, and I just needed to update some numbers. Step 1: Making Peace With The Past A: Determine your total lifetime earnings B: Determine your net worth Step 2: Being in the Present; Tracking Your Life Energy This is a touchy-feely way of asking how much sweat you put into the things you buy. It's about learning to think of money as an investment of life. A: Establish your real hourly wage B: Keep track of every cent that comes into or goes out of your life Step 3: Where Is It All Going? The monthly tabulation. Each month, get all that spending into a categorized table. Balance your incoming and outgoing. Then convert the amount spent in each category to hours of "life energy"--your real hourly wage. The idea is to see how much of your life you spend to buy books, movies, housing, etc. While we do the first two parts, and we review each category to see if we're satisfied with the amount we're spending, we don't do the last step of "life energy" conversion. I did this conversion for a few months, just to get a feel for how much I was working for my spends. While I no longer find it necessary, it is a good step to do for a while, as it brings home the true cost of living. Step 4: Three Questions That Will Transform Your Life 1. Did I receive fulfillment, satisfaction, and value in proportion to life energy spent? 2. Is this expenditure of life energy in alignment with my values and life purpose? 3. How might this expenditure change if I didn't have to work for a living? Step 5: Making Life Energy Visible Create a wall chart plotting your total monthly income v. expenditures. In the book, the difference between these is supposed to be savings. I cheat a little, and add a savings line. The idea is to see your expenditures going down while your income goes slowly up. I love, love, love our wall chart. Our expenditure and income lines are still way too close together, but the savings is marching up the wall nicely. Step 6: Valuing Your Life Energy--Minimizing Spending This step is certainly about frugality, but it's also about awareness. Keep your real hourly wage in your head. When you pick up a DVD, do a quick calculation. Is it worth two hours of your life? This habit has become ingrained for me, and it's been extremely useful. That doesn't mean we're perfectly frugal. I think the biggest thing we could do to minimize spending right now is cook, cook, cook. Step 7: Valuing Your Life Energy--Maximizing Income This is not just about earning more money, it's about giving your life energy for something that lines up with your goals and values. Think about what you get out of work. Money, sure. How about security? Community? Enjoyment? Are you squeezing your work hours for all they're worth? The answer for both of us is a resounding yes, which we realize is a rare and fortunate thing in a world where most people have jobs they hate just so they can get by. Step 8: Capital and Crossover Point Figure out your total capital, multiply it by the current long-term interest rate (they use 30-year treasure bonds), and divide that by 12. That gives you your monthly investment income. This number goes on your wall chart. When it crosses your monthly expenditures, you've reached financial independence. At the end of Lee Eisenberg's The Number (review coming soon), the very rough assumption is that you can safely withdraw 4% of your investments to live on. This YMOYL step is about tracking your investments to see how close you are to, well, retiring. I'm not into retiring, but it's still an inspiring step. One I admit I'd missed, but I've officially added it to the wall chart as of this month. Step 9: Managing Your Finances Become knowledgeable about long-term income-producing investments. This is an ongoing process. When I first read YMOYL, I didn't know a mutual fund from a wombat. Now I'm pretty sure one of them is a furry, ill-tempered critter. Which one I leave to your discretion. I read Your Money or Your Life after reading The Overspent American, and realizing I needed serious help. At the time I made about $24k/year, and would go to work in $400 suits. I couldn't figure out why it was so darned hard to make the rent! I've come a long, long way since then. I've repaired my awful credit, de-cluttered, bought a house, and I've learned what stuff is really worth to me. It's been a great journey. The Spousal Unit thinks I'm crazy for reading all these finance books and blogs, but my own progress has made the subject fascinating and inspiring. Here's to next year's YMOYL assessment. Cross-posted at Get Rich Slowly.
~Money~ | Cat Connor | 13 May, 2006 |
| [Comments](3)
Friday, 12 May
~Links~ | Cat Connor | 12 May, 2006 |
Thursday, 11 May
~Links~ | Cat Connor | 11 May, 2006 |
| [Comments](1)
Wednesday, 10 May
Just finished David Bach's Start Late, Finish Rich. At 42, I thought it would be a good intro to Bach's many treatises on personal finance. I'll come right out and say I highly recommend this book. It was full of great information, and took an optimistic, yet realistic tone. I'll try to touch on some key points. Yes, because you started late, you are going to have to work twice as hard to put away some cash for later, but there are ways to make it less painful. Look at your every day expenditures. Is there something simple you can do without? He calls this the "Latte Factor", because so many of us spend a few bucks a day on fancy coffee. My personal Latte Factor is buying lunch and snacks, instead of bringing them from home. I can spend up to $12 a day on soda, breakfast, lunch, etc. I've cut that down to once or twice a week, and it's making a big difference. Not to mention the fact that my own meals are more healthy and delicious than anything I can buy. Credit cards: it's the interest. Bach gives instructions on how you can call your credit card company and get them to lower yours, or how to transfer your balance to a card with a no-interest introductory offer, and make a big dent in the debt before fees and interest kick in. That last idea is a particular winner. Imagine you have $3000 credit card debt, at 18% interest. Your minimum payment is $50/month (always pay more than the minimum! But for this exercise, we'll stick to it). At the end of the year, your debt is $2940. Yes, you've just been paying interest. On the other hand, if you transfer to a card that offers no interest for a year (and don't forget to cancel that first card!), and make those same $50, at the end of the year your debt is reduced by an additional $540. Maybe it's time to take a closer look at those ubiquitous credit card offers. Don't put off saving! Yes, it's important to pay off debt, but you still need to pay yourself first while you are digging out. There are a couple of reasons for this. The first is psychological. Saving feels good. Seeing your savings grow is a huge motivator to continue improving your financial health. If you tell yourself you must pay off all your debt before you begin saving or investing, the road may seem impossibly long. Giving up does no one any good. The second reason is financial. My math-fu is weak, so I'm going to use an example from the book: Let's say you had $300 a month you could either save or use to pay down credit card debt--or both. Assuming a 10% annual return on your money, if you used it all to pay down credit card debt for 10 years and then, once the debt was paid off, started saving the full $300 a month for the next 20 years, you'd wind up with a nest egg worth $227,811. On the other hand, if you allocated just $150 a month to paying down your debt and at the same time started saving $150 a month, after 30 years you'd have no debt and $339.073. In other words, waiting 10 years to start saving would reduce the size of your potential nest egg by NEARLY A THIRD!And these numbers become even more important as you have less time in which to save. Buy a home. Bach talks extensively about not only why you should buy a home, but how you can get into that first home if you are a renter. This is something we realized a couple years ago, and we finally took the plunge last year. I can't tell you how gratifying it is to be living somewhere that is an asset for us, instead of just throwing money to the wind every month. There's much, much more packed into Start Late, Finish Rich. If you're in your thirties or beyond, I can't recommend this book enough. It's a great source of ideas and inspiration. Cross-posted to Get Rich Slowly.
~Money~ | Cat Connor | 10 May, 2006 |
~Links~ | Cat Connor | 10 May, 2006 |
frytopia is SIX today. Every time I get interested in something new, or start a new project, I worry about losing interest or giving up. Then I remember this place. Proof that I can stick with something.
~Site Updates~ | Cat Connor | 10 May, 2006 |
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Tuesday, 09 May
~Links~ | Cat Connor | 09 May, 2006 |
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Sunday, 07 May
~Links~ | Cat Connor | 07 May, 2006 |
Friday, 05 May
~Links~ | Cat Connor | 05 May, 2006 |
Thursday, 04 May
~Links~ | Cat Connor | 04 May, 2006 |
Wednesday, 03 May
~Links~ | Cat Connor | 03 May, 2006 |
Tuesday, 02 May
~Links~ | Cat Connor | 02 May, 2006 |
Monday, 01 May
~Links~ | Cat Connor | 01 May, 2006 |
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