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Are you  worried about natural disasters, crime or terrorism? Neil Strauss was. He tried to prepare for everything, but ended up finding himself.
Emergency: This Book Will Save Your Life is an informative, funny, and sometimes disturbing memoir. It details the transformation of the author, Neil Strauss, a music critic and writer who admittedly has few practical skills at the beginning of the book. Strauss’ family lived in a high rise apartment building, so he never learned about nature or how to fix things. By the end of the book, he’s able to care for both himself and loved ones in areas ranging from wilderness survival to hand to hand combat.
The book immediately draws you in with Strauss’ moral dilemma of whether to slaughter a goat in his quest for survival skills. Emergency then bounces back and forth in time, from location to location, and from factual narrative to analysis. This stylistic choice holds the reader’s attention, but is confusing at times. Continue reading Just In Case
 Boston - to move, or not to move? This is another post I’ve meant to do for a while. Raam did a post called 7 Pieces of Advice for My Younger Self back in July, and I found out that Abubakar and Farnoosh were organizing a whole series on this subject. Then I promptly forgot until Bryan at ElevationLife wrote his letter to his teenage self.
Even though I didn’t finish this soon enough to be in the ebook on this subject, I recommend you check it out. It’s free!
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Dear Jennifer,
First of all, break up gently with your boyfriend. I know he’s your first serious relationship, but he ends up costing you a lot of time and money, and the relationship goes nowhere. You make innumerable decisions on what to do and where to go because of him, many of which don’t make any sense in hindsight. Continue reading Advice to My 18 Year Old Self
 US citizens can leave, but they still have to pay taxes. I continue my interview with Adrian S., a married man with a family who sold most of his possessions in search of a better life. He is disturbed about the direction the US is taking, politically, economically, and socially. Links to earlier parts of the interview can be found at the end of this post.
Jennifer Barry: I’m very concerned about the effect of the housing bust on the US. The people who bought near the top could wait more than a decade to see the prices rebound. Too many won’t be able to hold on that long. A lot of these middle-class families aren’t middle-class anymore, they just don’t know it yet.
Adrian S.: Yeah, I feel like a whole new system is being put into place. But people are buying into this idea that it’s all just a big accident, we didn’t realize what was going to happen if we had all these crazy derivatives and such and that the bankers were just a little over-enthusiastic and they’re sorry. Continue reading Stranger in His Own Land, Part 12
 If you regularly shop for food, I bet you’ve noticed the dramatic price jumps over the past year. If you haven’t, it’s because the food manufacturers have shrunk the contents of their packages up to 20% while keeping the price the same.
So what is making food cost so much?
The first problem is that demand for food is heating up. When people become more prosperous in developing countries, the first thing they buy is more food. They buy luxury foods they couldn’t afford before, especially meat. As each pound of meat requires several pounds of grain to produce, the world must grow more grains just to keep up.
Ironically, the desire to “go green” is putting pressure on the food supply. Biofuels like ethanol are usually made from food. Every time you fill up your gas tank with food based fuel, you make it more expensive for yourself at the grocery store. Add government subsidies promoting ethanol to the mix, and you get artificial demand for grains. Continue reading Egypt, Bernanke, and the Rising Cost of Food
My husband David and I have  been together for almost 13 years. It’s hard for me to remember that because it seems like we met just a few years ago. In that time, I’ve seen so many friends and family divorce, even some couples who seemed perfect for each other.
I’ve been thinking about why we’ve lasted so long, and why we are even happier now than we were at the beginning. Here are my 10 keys to a great relationship:
1. Take space – My husband and I spend a lot of time together. However, we don’t do everything together. I don’t go to his makerspace meetings and he doesn’t attend my yoga classes. Even when we are both home, we might be working on different projects and not talking.
2. Communicate a lot - This doesn’t contradict point #1. We check in regularly with each other, especially about important decisions. We also talk about expectations and desires, because plans can change. In 2002, we agreed to buy a house, but in 2005 we mutually decided to rent instead, so we sold our home. Continue reading 10 Keys to a Successful Relationship
 I continue my interview with Adrian S., a married man with a family who sold most of his possessions in search of a better life. He is disturbed about the direction the US is taking, politically, economically, and socially. Links to earlier parts of the interview can be found at the end of this post.
Jennifer Barry: So, do your kids have plans to go to college at some point, or start their own business? What do they think they want to do in their future?
Adrian S.: I’m definitely promoting the idea that life is not about getting a good job. I’m promoting the idea that being able to be entrepreneurial and finding out how to satisfy people’s needs is a better way of going about life.
I’m trying to be honest with them about college too, because I think the landscape of the world has changed. It’s not like a college degree is absolutely essential to have a fulfilling life. And that was the way it was always presented to me, but I suspect that they will want to go to college, but I just want them to go knowing why they’re there. I went to college just because it was just the thing you do after high school. My parents never really explained to me what the point was. Continue reading Stranger in His Own Land, Part 11
 Did you make New Year’s resolutions? Did you decide to be kinder to the environment or save more money towards your dreams? You can do both. I give you some tips on getting around while using less fuel.
1. Carpooling: It’s not easy to sell your home and move closer to work in this real estate market. You probably don’t want to quit a good job in this economy either. So you may already be sharing that long commute with some co-workers who live near you.
Sharing a ride makes sense. Carpoolers get a break from driving and can get caught up on their sleep or have a lively conversation. Many areas also have high occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes so your trip is faster and you don’t have the annoyance of stop-and-go traffic. You’re more likely to stick with it if you find partners at your company whose company you enjoy. Continue reading Be Green, Save Green By Cutting Fuel Use
 Jordan was unhappy in public school. I continue my interview with Adrian S., a married man with a family who sold most of his possessions in search of a better life. He is disturbed about the direction the US is taking, politically, economically, and socially. Links to earlier parts of the interview can be found at the end of this post.
Jennifer Barry: As I remember it, you had moved to that suburban town because it was supposed to be a good school district.
Adrian S.: I guess it was at some level, but I didn’t like the way they treated my kids. I guess what I’m saying is I don’t think any of these school districts, or any of the schools are good, because they are throttling the creativity of these children, showing, I think that schooling has become very scientific. This is one of the things I remember reading from John Taylor Gatto.
JB: Oh yeah, I’ve read his stuff.
AS: I don’t think public schooling is doing many of these kids any favors. One time we went to a fast food place because we were hungry, and Karen needed change. There was some confusion about our bill, and she swapped an item for another. And this poor kid could not do the math even when he took out a pencil and paper, he literally gave up, and he handed it to her, and she figured out what her bill was. And this guy was probably 19. Continue reading Stranger in His Own Land, Part 10
A couple of weeks ago, Kevin wrote Has the Time Come Again to Invest in Real Estate? and made the case for and against investing in this area, making some excellent points. However, I think the majority of people who jump into real estate right now will be kicking themselves in a few [...]
 Retirees cut foreign vacations when the Dow falls. This is an excerpt from the October 2010 issue of Global Asset Strategist.
I continue my interview with Adrian S., a married man with a family who sold most of his possessions in search of a better life. He is disturbed about the direction the US is taking, both politically and economically. Links to earlier parts of the interview can be found at the end of this post.
Jennifer Barry: Bill Murphy has been saying for a while that he thinks the average American’s standard of living is going to fall 30%.
Adrian S.: Yes, I agree that I see that coming. The middle class is being cut at the knees right now. We look at the people that we’re staying with, our family, and they’re working very, very hard to keep things afloat. Looking years ahead, I believe there’s going to be war. It happens when you have these kinds of social cataclysms, and our son will soon become just the perfect age for a fighting young man, and so that’s one of the reasons that we want to get out. Continue reading Stranger in His Own Land, Part 9
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