The bookshelf has gotten stuffy lately, I have some clothes to get rid of, and some of my unused kitchen crap is slated for sacrifice to the thrift stores. I’m eager to find things to get rid of. These cycles. Why do they happen? The only reason the quantity of my possessions is fairly stable […]
Category: Culture
Reflections on Anger
Several weeks ago, I started thinking about the anger in my life. I’d written my fill of words on this blog expressing several of the things that really make me angry, but the only thing to return back from the great void of expression was a simple question: now what? At the macro-scale, the things […]
White Savior
Many years ago I signed up to volunteer with a refugee organization in Denver. I guess I had this idea of which ethnicities I preferred to work with, like picking things out of a catalog, or browsing which classes I wanted to take next semester. So I was surprised when instead I was assigned to […]
Thoughts on History
The difficulty with reconstructing history is man-hours. For example, let’s consider the world right now. The interwebz tells me that there are about 7.7 billion people in the world, and 1.3 billion work full-time jobs. Even forgetting that there are competing definitions of full-time work, and not all work can be accounted for, this means […]
Adventures in Tax Law! – International Part 1
If I were any good at cartooning, I would draw the following scene, stick-figure style: an agent stands guard. Out of nowhere he’s attacked by a mysterious enemy. He fights back. The struggle intensifies. It takes the two up flights of stairs and near harrowing ledges. Finally they are on the rooftop. With a split-second […]
Savings Burnout
Well, it was bound to happen at some point. I filed my taxes last week, and I’m expecting a decent return. Now, there are a few things I could do with that money: dump it in my Roth IRA, add it to one of my savings buckets (personal? car? emergency fund?), give it away, or […]
Comfort and Boredom
My favorite weather is “impending doom”. I use this term to describe the approach of massive storms, such as when thunderheads are rolling toward Denver over the eastern planes, or when a snowstorm is approaching and the plows are out in unison, preparing for the battle ahead. It’s exciting. A small part of me comes […]
Low Paying Jobs
Michael: “Francesca is my oldest brother’s daughter. He died many years ago, and ever since I’ve felt much more of a father than an uncle. I love her very much. I’m pleased and impressed that you had the thought to come to me before going on with your plans. It shows me that you’re a […]
Poverty Thinking
I’ve spent a lot more than I planned these past two months. It started with a phone and a refurbished laptop, then continued with a pair of blu-tooth headphones, several television blu-ray sets, and finally ended with some gifts for family and car parts. Spending large amounts of money usually makes me feel a bit […]
Frugality is Not a Competition
…it is merely a strategy. I’ve never had a particularly positive view of competition, probably because I have most often seen it used for selfish reasons. I think of some of the less-reputable athletes at my high school who thought it was fun to dominate those less-athletic in gym class. There are some very good […]