• On Life and Love

    A Financial Advisor: What Am I Even Looking For?

    I spoke with a financial advisor last week. I really don’t trust other people with the future of my money. I especially don’t trust most people’s advice when they offer it broadly. Most big-name finance people seem to either hand out advice that’s uselessly bland for someone geeking on the topic (that’s me!), or so tailored to a particular world-view, product, or life situation that there’s barely even a gem worth digging out of the morass. Plenty of simple things don’t get accounted for in books and writings on the topic: What if I don’t have employer matching in my 401(k) and have lousy investing choices there? What if I’m…

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    What Is This Thing Made of Paper and Glue?

    All the reading I need to do can happen in Google Reader, right? I read a lot of books last year. Like, maybe 50. I didn’t post or write about many of them, because plenty were über-pulpy and just time-killers. All but the couple of technical books were electronic. Being unaware of what I was reading made it pointless. Why’d I pick those books? What’d I learn from them? Meh.

  • On Life and Love

    A Letter to 2011

    Hello, 2011, I’ve taken to writing to you in my personal journal, and in three days it’s already stopped being cutesy and creepy and started being fer skerious. We have words to exchange, 2011. More than words. 2010–bless her heart–was a year of fractured interests: I set a date for my wedding. I changed jobs. I branched out in role-playing. I attacked the hell out of my debt. I wrote in public. 2011, you’re the year of finishing: I’m going to finish my last sliver of debt. I’m going to finish not having a long-term financial plan. I’m going to get married. I’m going to finish my novel. I’m going…

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    Jingle Jog: Race Report and Future Training

    In summary: it was awexsome. Saturday morning, I got up at the butt-crack of dawn and ran in the Jingle Jog, which I’ve mentioned training for before. I’m out of practice with first-thing-in-the-morning runs these days, so I was up at 06:00 even though the race wasn’t until 08:15. I had about a third a cup of coffee and some yogurt, and spent a little time just waking up–a bit of reading, a bit of writing.

  • On Life and Love

    All 5 of Dem There K’s

    It was marvelous. It was exhausting. I’m still sore. With everyone’s help, I raised $660 in the Hopebuilders 5k fundraiser. Thank you! Saturday, at the surprisingly early-feeling 08:00 EST, me, Greg, Scott, Shelton, and Kim gathered in the morning chill. I was already leg-sore from a Jillian Michaels workout Friday night. (I do that workout on mute–something about her manner is so off-putting.)