Jitterbug...
Jitterbug...
This goal had nothing to do with Wham!(period) It is however about a book that put the boom boom into my heart.
My not-best-friend, Mary, turned me on to Tom Robbins' Jitterbug Perfume one sunny day on the beach at LBI. I can safely say that discovering the book was the best part of that weekend, somewhere in between the cripplingly painful sun poisoning and finding sand in all my nooks and crannies.
The epic love story, replete with it's haunting naughty passages and clever metaphors, quickly jumped to the top of a list that includes Lolita, A Clockwork Orange, and Brave New World. (Not to sound too academically pretentious, I've also developed a more recent passion for the Harry Potter series and the Twilight Saga.)
Just a week or so ago, I stumbled into a used book store on Prince Edward Island in a vain attempt to get a few moments of quiet time during a family vacation. Moments before my mother found me and dragged me back to 24-hour-a-day family bonding, I found a hardbound copy of Jitterbug Perfume. The surprise was opening the cover up and discovering that it WAS the illusive First Edition, First Printing that I'd hoped to stumble on one day. I took my lucky strike, and my $10 (Canadian), and walked out with a new prized possession.
The book seems to retail around $65 in mint condition, which mine is not. But this copy does have the worn, Velveteen Rabbit quality that I always love to call my own.
20090805
015: Wake me up before you go go
20090217
050: Home, where my thoughts escape me
As I am currently in pursuit of real estate advertising, AND I've got these pesky 101 goals to complete, I double dipped last night at a First Time Home Buyers' seminar for one of my clients. It just so happens that this would have been the seminar I attended anyway given that it was run by Trish Kelly, "Agent to the Stars," who reps all the homeowners in the local theatre community. I love it when a plan comes together.
My ears are still ringing with things like "Private Mortgage Insurance," "80/10/10," "money" and a host of other foreign words, but I do feel much more informed than I did 2 days ago. I also realize now that it isn't completely out of the realm of reality for me to purchase a home in the not so distant future. Anna attended with me, and I know she spent all day window shopping on Realtor.com, but I somehow doubt I'll get very far on my grand total $700 in savings. My future is also so fluid that I'm scared to even consider a $100K+ investment when I don't know if I'll have to pick up and move to grad school in a couple years. On the other hand, an investment like a starter home could be a brilliant move pre-grad school. Grad students, as I understand it, have a hard go of it trying to work. A nice little investment property that I rent out and turn a profit on could be a smart idea.
I guess the punchline is that with an investment this big, there are a ton of reasons to move forward... and stay back.
20090207
035: Coffee Talk
Somewhere in my recession depression I started saving every spare cent I had, and that meant that I could no longer afford the $6.25/week coffee habit. I also couldn't stop drinking coffee. It isn't just the headaches - there is something uniquely morn-ing about a cup of hot coffee. The start of my day is so sinfully WITHOUT routine that I wasn't about to let a little penny pinching ruin the only ritual I had.
And then Michael got a coffee pot. Now, every morning I wake up, grind some beans, and slowly revive myself with the scent of freshly brewed coffee. I've been doing so for sometime, and I completely forgot that it was one of my goals anyway. So, there it is. Goal #35 - now a treasured part of my morning routine.
20081123
007: Everything I needed to know, I learned from my family
I'm not entirely comfortable checking this one off the list since my mother did most of the work, but I guess it was a joint effort nonetheless.
I'm just glad that we will now have a complete collection of recipes from the Sisak/Diener family. I've made several jokes lately about this, but I actually AM excited that I have all my grandmother's Depression recipes. Not because I just took a giant paycut and I have to start tightening the purse strings, but because the taste of egg noodles, browned butter, cottage cheese, and sauerkraut really grounds me.
20080930
030: Mo' Rockin'!
I'm starting to believe the story I'm telling people:
"When I was a wee girl of 4 years, my family took me to Disney World. I have 3 distinct memories from that trip: meeting Jiminy Cricket, being given a stuffed Winnie the Pooh bear that was larger than I was, and eating couscous at the Restaurant Marrakesh in Epcot Center. Since then, I've wanted to travel to that far off land of Morocco where, if Disney World taught me anything, all the people eat couscous and all the women are belly dancers."
Or perhaps, I believe this story:
"For my 9th birthday, my mother and I planned an International Themed birthday party. We made sure each continent was equally represented: First, Moroccan dinner in Philadelphia at Fes, followed by Patriot-friendly Lady Liberty cake, then snacks (Euro-fondue, Chinese egg-roll, Baked "Antarctica") and a showing of everyone's favorite daddy-from-down-under, Crocodile Dundee! (It was 16 years ago - I don't remember what we did from South America.) I was such a huge fan of the Moroccan restaurant that I've always wanted to travel to that far off land where, if Fes Restaurant taught me anything, all the people eat couscous and all the women are belly dancers."
Either way, I am about to fulfill a 21 (or 16) year old dream of traveling to that couscousin', belly-dancin', North Afican far off land. In fact, somewhere inside of 96 hours from now I'll be elbow deep in Casablanca and I can't wait.
EDIT: I went.
20080927
039: So this is a trinity?
It seems like a lifetime ago when Anna, Scott, and I were cohabiting in that giant So Phi row home. Now that my bedroom is stacked on top of my wee living room and kitchen, it seems less likely that I will be able to cram a large audience (or even large cast) into my home for some potluck and play readings.
Therefore, I am editing this goal in light of the move to read "Engage in Play time at least thrice." Same idea - to invite friends over to socialize and create. But in a less claustrophobic sort of way.
20080919
003: You weren't the only one, two, three, four (oh! won kay...)
How am I going to save enough money to self-produce for the Fringe next year?
How am I going to save enough money to go to Nova Scotia one month and Minneapolis the next?
How am I going to save enough money to pay off my student loans?
... buy a house?
... start a business?
... get a dog?
If you ever walk by me and notice a thin veil of sweat on my brow, chances are that I'm mulling over the sordid details of my financial future.
However, as of today, I have $132.66 in my retirement fund! According to Fidelity, I will have enough money to retire in 2045.
Retirement Countdown: 37 years!
EDIT:
9/22/08 - $138.10!
9/27/08 - $133.10... so this is what the shirt-and-tie meant when he said "aggressive investment" and "lose money in the short term."
1/5/09 - $1011.23!!
2/7/09 - $1184.09