Being Organic (.Net)

I just read an interesting article that has got me thinking... Here is the article: http://onlinejournal.com/artman/publish/article_4274.shtml And my thoughts: We are paying 8% to the banks when our own family members can't even earn 5% on their investments -- and are more likely losing money. I wonder if communities should start pulling money out of the market and investing locally -- loaning their money locally / backed by real property of other people in our community. Bring the money back home before it is all siphoned off! Let me elaborate.... As an example. My sister has a house. Let's say she owes the bank $200,000 and is paying 7%. My Grandma lives in a retirement community, which she pays for off the interest on her investments. They used to bring in maybe 10%/yr. Now, they are losing money. And at the rate we're going, could lose a lot more. What if my Grandma 'invested' in my sister instead of the market. Even if my sister only paid Grandma 5%, ...

You ever get mislead then blamed for it? Like YOU did something wrong? I set up an outing with friends last night and invited my sweetie along -- both to enjoy her company as well as introduce her to some of my other friends. This is something she has expressed interest in for awhile -- getting to know more of my friends. At first, I was just going out on my own with friends to have supper and see a show. Then I realized I really wanted to include her too and for her to meet some of the other people in my life I really like and enjoy. So I arranged for childcare, purchased tickets online (when you pay $50 for a sitter, you don't take risks that tickets will sell out at the door!). The dinner got more crowded than I originally intended when one of my friends suggested combining groups. But I rolled with it, and figured my partner could handle it too (she can feel shy in big crowds, but I focused most of my attention on her). I also arranged (and made reservations) for a sma...

Apparently I'd invest it in healing centers and wellness communities. What a long trip it's been! About 5 years ago we decided we didn't want to rely on the stock market for our retirement... We'd watched 20k in money grow over the previous 10 years to a whopping 20k. Note, this was just the money we were putting in... we also have 401k and work retirements, but we're not confident they're doing much better. Since then, our little 20k nestegg had grown to 30k in 2008... at which point it lost 10k and returned to the original sum we'd invested back in the mid 90s. Pretty pathetic, and certainly not something we wanted to bet our future on. So what to do with our investment money -- not that we had much. [NOTE: if you're offended when people talk openly about money or sex, you may not want to read my blog. You definitely won't want to read this post, because I am about to do some very transparent reflection on our fiscal journey over the past ...

I hit a wall last week. I wish I could say it was figuratively. I really hit it... several times. Unfortunately there was a picture there, and the breaking glass cut up my knuckles a bit. It's so embarrassing. I haven't hit a wall in 35 years. Not that I haven't wanted to, but I've managed to restrain myself over the past few years when I've come close. But not last week. I just snapped. And then I got hold of myself, explained to my boy who had been in the other room that my hand was hurt and went into the bathroom to wash the blood off. I tried to call Nicole, but once again she had forgotten to take her phone, and that's when I totally broke down sobbing. It was so emblematic of how it's been for us for quite some time... not having the support I need, her not being there for me, me killing myself to provide a safe haven for my family and tend to the needs of my communities. And the picture I pounded and splattered my blood across.... a Maxfield ...