And linked to Nina Kalanithi, can I just saw how weird it feels whenever I see unexpected dotted lines like when a blogger I read for a long time turns out to be related to someone I’ve known for a long time. I read an excerpt of A Breath of Air a long while ago and always intended to finish reading it. I’ve read Jo of A Cup of Jo for years, on and off, and had completely missed that Nina was Jo’s sister.
I love Tawcan’s Dividend City. I had the “buy what you love” philosophy in mind but definitely didn’t think it through this way! I think this analogy makes so much sense. Now we just have to build an ethical Dividend City. Unless I chuck it all for ETFs.
The Skype sex scam – I had no idea this was a thing but it’s disgusting and worrisome. We live so much of our lives online, and I feel the tremendous weight of the responsibility of teaching JB to protect zirself from falling for any of hundreds, or thousands, of scams online. Related scams discussion.
Families!
This mama dog was keeping her puppies warm inside a doghouse when someone else decided to join her 💞 pic.twitter.com/GTMy8o0aZz
Cross-device tracking technologies: yet another invasion of our privacy. They say “The only factor that hinders the receipt of an audio beacon by a device is distance and there is no way for the user to opt-out of this form of cross-device tracking.” I wonder if that still applies if the audio is turned off. I switch my volume on my computer off when ads play. Maybe I’ll have to turn my phone off as well… must look into this further because I refuse to be this easily tracked without doing something to thwart it.
Invisible stripes: “Each one of us started out as a single cell, and then a little glob of cells. As the cells divided, they differentiated. Some became muscles, others bones, still others organs. And some became skin. As those skin cells continued dividing, they expanded and stretched to cover a quickly growing body. One cell line pushed and swirled through another like steamed milk poured into an espresso to make a latte.”
I tried to leave a comment on Four Pillar Freedom’s post about meaningful lives but it rejected me so here are my thoughts: I loved that documentary as well, though as a small person with a big appetite, I slightly took exception to the idea I’d be served a smaller portion since I can eat as fast as my bigger dining companions. I hope that if we ever had the pleasure of dining at Jiro’s, he’d notice and adjust accordingly. 😉
As a longtime money blogger, I’ve noticed the trend of romanticizing the digital nomad life. I think it works wonderfully for Michelle from Sense of Cents who works from an RV, who has also had resounding success with her money blog, but the most important component of building a successful life is to know yourself. I love the digital part of her life, and have made that happen in my life, but I’m not built to be a nomad so I’ve instead built a home base that I love working from and living in. I enjoy short stints on the road but not much more than that!
Interesting: Hungarian mushroom soup. For completely random reasons (which I don’t remember), I was trying to think of Hungarian culinary specialties. Maybe it was floated as a possible vacation destination? That would make sense. I travel by stomach so the first thing I’d do is research the foods of the region to see if I must eat there.
Looks like neither Linda or we will be able to fully deduct our SALT and property taxes with the new cap. Neither of us deliberately chose our homes at the prices they were because we counted on the deductions, but having them did help relieve the sting of our HCOLAs.
GYM on finding happiness after heartbreak. In relationships, I think it’s always important to value yourself more than you worry about whether you can find someone else, lest you settle.
First glitter, now microfleece? Should we just assume that anything synthetic and manmade is going to make it’s way into the environment and our food? Seems like the safest bet. Also yuck.
Many thanks to Emily for sharing this article about Jolabokaflod. I’d love this to replace our Christmas gifting tradition, I’d even accept it in the face of my stocks-only rule.
Ew, no thank you: The principal’s words of praise were directed entirely at his adult listeners: If our children were prepared for Stuyvesant, he told us, it was because we had been “preparing them for academic excellence since they were in utero.”
This made me laugh a little: Nobody Wants to See your Dick — A Guide to Handling your Newfound Wealth and Influence. “You may not have noticed during your climb to the top, but your dynamic with others in your field has undergone a significant change (you may feel like the Zack Morris of your industry, but you’re actually Mr. Belding — keep that in mind at all times). ”
Debuting at 42 reminds me of my favorite English teacher: keep writing. Keep trying. It’s never too late! Look at Amy Tan.
I love that we have other examples of writers starting out later in life. Right now, I’m around this stage: “Why even try? No one wanted stories like mine.” My life is what I know. But my life is boring. The stories of my family were interesting to me but they may yet be poison now.
We need farmers to grow our food, so why are we ignoring their well-being? Even if I didn’t have farming friends, which I do, this would be important.
Carb emergencies are real. Don’t believe me? Let me regale you with the tale of running out of carbs one day. I went to Trader Joe’s just to get a load of bread and some English muffins so we could breakfast like civilized humans and returned with every single carb they sold from hash browns and French bread to something called a babka that doesn’t remotely resemble a Russian grandmother so I don’t know what they’re talking about but it had flour, butter, and chocolate and in that extended moment of carbohydrate-deprivation enhanced madness it had to come home with me. *deep breath* Don’t be like me, y’all. Keep your pantries reasonably well stocked. Also your bank accounts because that part was more the whole point of the linked post. On that note, we’ve only used our emergency fund to buy and renovate this house which was absolutely not its purpose but it’s back to being lonely liquid cash that’ll never know the warm touch of human hand so long as we are hale, hearty, and employed.
I like checking into the habits of rich folks to see if I have developed any of the same habits or signs. We’re not into the status symbols life but we do have a really expensive home simply by virtue of living in the armpit of Silicon Valley. Anatomically inaccurate but accurate insofar as the location’s value is concerned. I’m good on the clothing front – we spent an average of $100 per person this year, and I spend about 3 minutes deciding what to wear each morning. Grey or blue jeans, or purely at home lounging pants? And short sleeve or long sleeve? I’m working on the multiple income streams, though. We have 2 jobs, a rental property, and dividend income, but the day jobs are what keep the lights on and food in the fridge. (*cough* carbs)
To this, I can only say, duh? That women are “inferior” is pretty much their platform and belief system: “Alt-right” women are upset that “alt-right” men are treating them terribly. Also, no kidding they’re part of the alt-right, or more straightforwardly, white supremacist movement:
“By the end of the thread, McCarthy made it clear that these trolls are part of the “alt-right.” “The problem I’m stating here is not that ‘there are trolls on the internet’ but that people who proclaim to be on our side are trying to tear down women in our in-group,” she wrote.”
YOUR DEBT IS NOT SLAVERY, SO STOP SAYING IT IS. This should go without saying but it really doesn’t.