• On Life and Love

    Showing Support: Where’s the Money?

    I find myself saying things like, “I support the alternative fuel (particularly electric) car movement. I’d love to test drive a Volt, or own a Prius. Some day, when they’re cheaper, I will.” (Or, in a variation: “No way would I pay $35k for a car, but I mos def support the move away from gasoline.”) But what’s the point of believing I support the direction of the industry (despite its flaws) if I’m not putting money into it to actually support it? It won’t go anywhere if people don’t spend money on the things. Fer skerious, though, there’s no way I’m spending $35k on a car. Not sure what…

  • On Life and Love

    Actually Kinda Clever

    Upon reading “The Biggest Stock Scams of All Time” (an ambitious title, perhaps), I decided to update my non-existent knowledge of these scams and failures—including the 2008 business failures. Holy crap. I know, I’m so late to the party. I get the housing market failure. As Elf says, it’s not rocket science. But when Enron occurred (2001), I was a junior in high school, immersed in the IB program, and only cared about grades and college, not about the business/financial world. Reading up on Enron and WorldCom/MCI (who blatantly put expenses on the books as income) was only the start. (MCI was taken down by a little team of auditors…

  • On Life and Love

    Wednesday Weekly Winkage

    Not, of course, limited to Wednesdays. Today just happens to be one. …Barely. I shall open with a video of Nayna, my belly dance instructor, from a couple of months ago: I’m somewhere off to the left, wishing I’d brought my own camera. This was after class, so I don’t feel bad about watching my instructor dance instead of dancing myself. Posie Gets Cozy: Well, Things Fell Apart – Sadness.”For six days, as we waited for the results of the DNA test, we loved her with our whole hearts…” 10 things the iPhone Siri will help you get instead of an abortion | The Raw Story – “Ask in New…

  • On Life and Love

    Weekly Linkage: Art, Science, and Spirituality

    It’s been a hot minute since I posted any links. Apparently this is also the Elf Sternberg addition, since three of his posts appear here. Good stuff. Lands of Dream Donation Drive – Jonas is doing one of the coolest donation drive ideas I’ve seen. Donate, and receive a detailed description and beautiful picture from the Lands of Dream. What in the hell is the Lands of Dream? Go play The Book of Living Magic. Took me about an hour (I read every description!), and everything about it is gorgeous: the art, the writing, and the music. Then take a look at some of the art/writing that Verena and Jonas…

  • On Life and Love

    Know What’s Difficult?

    Crafting a business. Duh, right? I don’t mean writing software on the side while you have a full-time job and dreaming that someday you’ll be your own boss. I mean sitting down with a spreadsheet and some historical data, and projecting real-deal income and expense numbers. Figuring out how to create every penny you need to make something successful and sustainable. Okay, that’s not actually the business itself. Doing the work to make those numbers work is the business. Bookkeeping is the business. Putting fingers to keyboard and phone to ear, day in and day out, is the business. But those numbers are crucial, and your eyes must be open…