Hot Hot Heat

Apparently acting like an adult involves a lot of walking in the hot, hot heat.

On the up side I totally don’t have to sign up for a Spanish class this semester. :)

Kudos if you caught the inadvertent band reference in this post, I’m going to bed.

Ack

Ack! Trekking out to campus today to meet with my graduate adviser.  I have to pretend I’m an adult now. Wish me luck!

Favorite Headlines of the Day

When I get bored at work I peruse news sites. This is partly because I have a genuine interest in what’s going on in the world and partly because most of the other sites are blocked where I work. So here’s a little sample of what I found today.

U.S. blacks face harsher climate change impact

Unwitting gardener man tends marijuana plants

World trade talks end in collapse

China defends human rights record

And to all of these I ask a pertinent question: Really?

Dave Says…

Dave Ramsey, debt guru and a personal podcast favorite, says the following about my current situation:

Student Loan Backlash

Getting a student loan can hurt you much worse than just a monthly payment.

Nowadays, many people think you can’t be a student without a student loan. It’s easy to get a federal student loan or even go to the local bank to pay for your education, but doing so hurts both you and the economy in the long run.

The Rise in Lifestyle

Unfortunately, people are borrowing more than ever before. In 2001, $4 billion in student loans were taken out. Last year, that number jumped to $17 billion. Some people may say it’s because of higher tuition costs, and yes, that is part of the reason. But more than likely, a lot of it is lifestyle choices. When some people to go college, they want to live in the off-campus apartment and eat at restaurants instead of living in the dorms and eating dorm food.

At this point in your life, it’s time to face some facts. You don’t make any money, so you don’t need to spend any money. When you get out of college, you won’t still be feeling a meal in your belly from your junior year. But if it’s one of the many things you bought with your student loan, then you’ll be paying for it for years to come. That’s stupid! Which would you rather be – a debt-free graduate or a new graduate with tens of thousands of dollars in debt?

Borrowing Hurts Us All

The numbers are convincing. Let’s say you borrow $47,000 for a student loan. At a 5% interest rate, the payments are about $500 over 10 years. After 10 years, you’ve SPENT almost $60,000. If instead, you invest that money in a good growth-stock mutual fund averaging 12%, after 10 years you will have saved $115,000! Which do you think is better?

Borrowing so much hurts the economy in multiple ways. More debt means less money invested. If money isn’t invested, the economy doesn’t grow as well. More debt also means less money to outright buy things, which leads to more financing to buy things.

The sad part is that after you’ve gotten a student loan and paid on it for a couple of years, that’s when the reality hits you. That’s when you realize that you have obligated yourself to pay thousands of dollars in interest over several years, instead of keeping that money for yourself and investing it, or giving it away, or even saving up and buying things with cash.

Well…THIS IS YOUR WAKE-UP CALL! Don’t take out a student loan. You can apply for scholarships and grants, work part-time or go to a cheaper school. But it’s not worth it to take out a loan and start behind the financial 8-ball in life when you graduate.

If you are paying on a student loan, get on a budget today and start paying it off. The sooner you pay it off, the more money you’ll save in interest. Make it happen!

Provided by MyTotalMoneyMakeover.com

I’m Just Saying…

Facebook: Creating Stalkers Since 2003

July 18, 2008, By Jill-University of Wisconsin

When it comes to Facebook, you would be lying if you said you never found yourself looking at the pictures your winter vacation hookup (from 2001) just posted… or at the girl that annoyingly keeps writing on your boyfriend’s wall (and at all of her friends). I know, I know, you just randomly, somehow, stumbled upon them; you really, truly, only logged on to check your messages…3 hours ago. And now you are searching for that cute guy you met last night whose last name you don’t know (why did his name have to be Aaron?!).

Let’s face it; we’ve all stooped a little bit lower than we like to admit (logging on to a friend’s account to look at someone not in your network). Posted something for the sake of ONE person seeing it (an ex boyfriend perhaps? This picture totally screams “I am SOO over you”), or for the whole Facebook world to see (Look! I met Vince Vaughn! We sat at his table! This totally validates that I am cool. Take that all you who shoved me in a locker in high school!).

Every now and again, we all do a bit of random stalking or, as I chose to call it, investigative journalism. (The dictionary of my life says an email to my friends reporting my findings completely counts as journalism… “He’s single! Scooore!”) But with all this quasi-stalking that we do, we never really think that we are that important or fascinating enough that total randoms would waste their time looking at our photos from Halloween 2006.

That is, until it happens to you… and you find out.

And then, Facebook becomes really creepy.

After being tracked down (AND friend requested) by the ex-girlfriend of my current boy-toy (through a mutual friend that we share) I felt a range of emotions. First, I was in shock that she even found me and added me as a friend (the boy is not even on Fbook- how would she even know?). Then after I put it all together, I was embarrassed for her… that she still cares years later to friend request me just to look at my pictures and/or relationship status to garner more info on her ex’s life (all the while judging me). It’s all so pathetic- and sad- and desperate-and psycho- and pathetic (I mean, there are other ways to stalk me then to friend request me! Do you know no one in my network?! Crazy lady, this is just poor investigating!).

But mostly I was a little (lot) creeped out. Why is someone spending her time looking at my pictures, at people she doesn’t know, passing some sort of judgment about who I am and if I am cuter/smarter/funnier than she is? And in turn, why am I looking at hers and doing the same thing? Sure, I post pictures of my college reunion or my birthday, I write on people’s walls, I have a semi-filled out profile- and while I am soo not a fan of all the new applications, I guess I’m your typical Facebook user.

So after evaluating all these things that I actively do, I realized, I have no right to be creeped out.

The intention of this article at first was to call this girl to the carpet for her crazy-ness. And while I still think she crossed a line (and is one craaaazy cat), I realized that by posting ANYTHING on Facebook- you are sending an open invitation saying “Hey future boss/ex best friend/new boy I just met/or in my case, chick I don’t know who dated the guy I’m dating years ago… look at me and my life!” Sure, we all say we are only posting these pics for our friends to see- but if that’s the case, why not load them on Ofoto and send them the link? Or email them out? It’s plain and simple: we broadcast our lives on Facebook because a part of us wants it to be broadcasted…. to certain people.

Lesson to be learned: people are crazy. People with nothing but time on their hands are even crazier. Ex girlfriends/boyfriends are almost always crazy. It took one of these crazies to stalk me down to my knowledge for me to think about all the others who have done it in a smarter/sneakier way. Does this mean I’m going to quit Facebook? Hellllll no. I need something to do when I am bored at work. Not to mention my life isn’t that cool that it needs to be kept on the uber-private.

BUT it did teach me that someone is always watching/looking/stalking me down and sending out a piece of “investigative journalism” of their very own.

Guilty As Charged

Oversharing, Feminism, and the New American Twenty-Something

July 23, 2008 By J-NYU

The summer of 2008. A summer drowning in recession, debt, ridiculous gas prices, and boring, trashy television (I mean, Greatest American Dog??). Lots of things seem to be going wrong…or at least…discussed to the point of having us all believe they’re going wrong…and many teens and twenty-somethings are turning to the web to air their grievances.

Because 2008 isn’t just the summer of expensive corn and Obama-rama, it’s also the summer of TMI. Over-sharing has become a form of communication for our generation; from blogging about bad dates, to blogging about our self-indulgent issues, to blogging purely to become famous. No matter who we are, we can become stars overnight by uploading naked photos, name-dropping about a wild party, or simply having an ounce of literary ability and a snarky way with words.

By late July, 2008, the percent of people in the US who haven’t seen a celebrity vajayjay flash or heard someone say, “dude, I’m gonna blog about this!” is monumentally small, and it seems like every day a new gossip or 24 hour news site pops up. However, amidst the clattering of fingers on keyboards and snapping of flashbulbs, I can’t help but wonder if this constant need to be seen and heard is actually doing us any good.

Is all this over-sharing about our drug, drink, and sexual exploits really helping women cultivate a strong, intelligent persona? Do we feel more empowered now that Britney, Lindsay, and Paris have made trashy the new black? Are our lives more complete now that we know what David Beckham had for breakfast?

These aren’t rhetorical questions. As a twenty-something myself, I really want to know.

Answer: Not Much.

In between carting boxes up and down stairs today, I’ve taken time to poke around one of my favorite web sites: collegecandy.com. What follows are some of my favorite articles of the day.

How Much is Your College Degree Worth? Not as Much as You Think

July 21, 2008 By J – NYU

When I was in high school, my parents always told me that the only way I was ever going to do anything in life is if I went to college. NOT going wasn’t even discussed. You had to go to college if you wanted a job. If you wanted to work at McDonald’s or WalMart forever, then fine, you could skip out on college – but everyone knows (at least according to my parents back then) that working at WalMart wasn’t really a job as much as it was a sentence to the worst life ever.

Well, I went to college, and I even did my parents one better and went to graduate school. Armed with both a BA and MFA, I was certain I could pretty much get any job I applied for, and would get paid 35K at the minimum.

Ha. Ha. Ha. And I’m not alone. Not only have most of my friends with MFAs scrambled to find anything to pay the bills post graduation (working at Borders, in a file room…with freaking MFAs!!), but it seems like degrees in general are losing the battle to inflation.

According to this really long and slightly boring article from the Wall Street Journal, college degrees no longer carry a promise that you’ll immediately grab a job and get paid in awesome wages.

“What employers want from workers nowadays is more narrow, more abstract and less easily learned in college.

To be sure, the average American with a college diploma still earns about 75% more than a worker with a high-school diploma and is less likely to be unemployed. Yet while that so-called college premium is up from 40% in 1979, it is little changed from 2001, according to data compiled by Jared Bernstein of the Economic Policy Institute, a liberal Washington think tank.”

So yes, going to college is better than not going to college, but your diploma just ain’t worth what it used to be worth — especially in today’s economy. What it comes down to in 2008 is a small group of skills that sets you apart from other applicants, not just the fact that you have 4 years of psychology classes under your belt.

The moral of the story? If you know what you want to do once you graduate, get real world experience now. Internships and extracurriculars have never been more important, and fostering relationships with people who might hire you in the future is a great way to be sure you won’t be working minimum wage with four years of a good, quality school under your belt.

Moving Sucks

Moving sucks.  It sucks when you’re moving out of a 4th floor apartment (although moving in was no picnic either).  It sucks even more when the apartment building you’re moving out of is under construction and 5 people have to move every time you carry a box down the stairs.  And it really sucks when it’s 99 degrees outside. I’m not done, but I’m sure done for the day.

Top Top

katharine: where did i park?

me: i don’t know, where are you?

katharine: the des moines airport…i parked on the top top floor.

me: is that topper than the top floor?

katharine: it is.

me: well then you should go all the way up.

katharine: i see a skywalk. but its on the second floor.

me: how many floors are there?

katharine: four.

me: fail. that skywalk is definitely not a skywalk.

katharine: ooh i found it!

New Plan

Plan #126,684,947,662: There is no plan.

I will be in class in a few weeks, and if that doesn’t work there’s always plan #126,684,947,663 to look forward to.

90% is an “A”

I’m about 90% sure I was NOT made to live with people.  I’m not an undergrad anymore, there are some things I just shouldn’t have to put up with anymore, that’s all I’m saying.

Things Taken out of Context, Cont’d

katharine has joined

Vince has joined

katharine: hello!

Vince: yo

me: heyyyyyyyyyy

i am so retarded

and i love it

Vince: wow, anyone else feel like we’re back in junior high?

me: yup!

katharine: joss i love that we are also on the phone…

very much so

Vince: OH WOW

should we threeway on there too?

katharine: 3sum what

me: threeway…hehe

katharine: ice

Vince: MMmmm

me: kitty kat i love you

katharine: i love you

Vince: OOOooo in denmark they have ice bars

where everything, even the glasses are ice

wait- no love for me?

katharine: LETS GO!

i love you vince

Vince: only a bomb sandwich and check this- creme brule french toast

me:creme brule?

Vince: yup

me: i’m confused…

Vince: and that’s different from normal how?

me: you’re right…

katharine: i want it!!

Vince: i’s fucking good!

me: i used to have a creme brule torch…i wonder what happened to it

katharine: i like fire

me: }:)

haha, this one is retarded

Vince: if you lived with me or close by there’s a huge chance that i would have thieved it

but alas…

me: sigh

Vince: :(|)

MONKEY

katharine: we all need to live in the same state

move to chicago everyone!

Vince: fuck that- CA or bust

me: if i’m going to move thousands of miles i wanna live somewhere wher i don’t have to shovel in the winter…

katharine: but i just got a jon

Strike Two

Vince: oh and one major strike against this guy

me: ?

Vince: he doesn’t like coffee

katharine: what

Vince: i realized coffee, wine, and drinking are a must with me

me: um yeah

as it should be

Vince: and the order depends on the day

hahah

me: haha

katharine: i agree

me: mine are tea wine and cheese

Vince: well coffee and tea are the same in my head

gotta love both

and cheese is a WAY must

katharine: i like cheese

me: that’s cause you’re a kat

Special Topics in Literary Study

Jane Eyre: (n)

1. a novel (1847) by Charlotte Brontë, originally under the pseudonym Curer Bell

2. a Romantic literary heroine

3. a pseudonym adopted by writers not wishing to be called Curer Bell

jester: (n)

1. a professional fool

2. a buffoon

amusement: (n)

1. the state of being amused

syn: diversion, entertainment, recreation

Produce is Pretty Much Just Another Word for Squash

I’ve been in this low-productivity funk since I graduated.  My entire life I’ve been told that, to amount to anything, to be of any value to the world whatsoever, I have to do.   I have to go to school, study hard, say the right things, want the right things.  But most of all, I have to produce…something.   A book, a film, a spot at a top law firm, a degree, a new church, children.  And I have to do all of this so that…

…

…

what?!

I don’t even know why.

Because anything less is simply unacceptable, I guess.  But to whom??  What’s so wrong with working at the Post Office or waiting tables, anyway? They pay the bills just the same.  Sure, if you’re slinging lattes at Starbucks when you’re 35 you probably won’t be able to afford that BMW, but the chances are good that you’ll actually be listening to your kids at the dinner table rather than mentally preparing for tomorrow’s pitch/meeting/sales call.  And besides, who, exactly, are you trying to impress with that Beemer with the 60-month payment plan?  Because, to me, most of them are simply saying “I’m still going to be paying this off when my grandchildren are born.”  And that, my friends, is not the future I want.

This is not a condemnation of productivity.  I love the sense of satisfaction of a job well-done. This rant is simply an examination of motives.  What is driving us to do? Why do we feel so compelled, so stressed to produce?  Sure, “it has to get done.”  Yes, “someone’s got to do it.”  But shouldn’t we be thinking more about how to be?  Being happy, being a good friend/sibling/girlfriend/boyfriend/husband/wife/parent, being a good person, being who we were made to be…?  I don’t think I”m crazy to believe that, if we learned how to be, we would learn how to live, and all the doing stuff would happen naturally.