Sunday, October 26, 2008

Two Score And Five Years Ago

A J-Bird was born.  Well, plus 4 days, I'm a bit behind here.

This is going to be quick, because I'm a bit tied up at the moment.  But re: nothing at all:

I (kind of embarrassingly) am quite enjoying both Katy Perry's Hot n Cold and Pink's So What.  I know, but I can't seem to help it.

I've had many many Lee's donut holes this weekend.  Powdered donut hole, thou art the sweetest poison.

30 Rock starts up this week.  I'm SO EXCITED.  I've decided that's my birthday present from the universe, and even though the universe is a week and half late, it's such a good gift that I can't help but forgive it.

Friday, October 17, 2008

And Now, to the Americans...

It's your election, and your country, but it's everyone's planet.  So please, please don't elect a an elderly man who chose as his running mate a woman as entirely unqualified as Palin to be President.

These elections are just so stressful.

Thursday, October 16, 2008

All Quiet on the J-Bird Front

Booked my ticket!  I am definitely going to Europe, I leave on the 7th.  Woo!  I still have to book all my intra-Europe flights, but hey, now I'm guaranteed to make it to the continent.  Score!

Go check out Mindy Kaling (Kelly from The Office)'s blog, Things I Bought That I Love.  It lists adorable things, and is also consistently amusing, with just enough "made me choke from laughing" to keep me reading for about 3 hours today.  Amazing.

And that is actually it.  I'm boring, y'all.  Bedtime for J-Bird.

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Election Day

I hope all you Canadians voted today; I sure did, and though the election isn't going my way, I at least feel like I have the right to complain about it.

Saturday, October 11, 2008

It's a Pretty Tight Summary

"Nineteen people flew into the towers.  It seems harder for me to imagine that we could go to war enough to make the world safe enough that nineteen people wouldn't want to do harm to us.  It seems like we have to rethink a strategy that is less military based in general"


Jon Stewart, speaking with Tony Blair

Tuesday, October 07, 2008

I May Be Getting Old...

Because I've started to think further in the future than the next 3 months.

Don't get me wrong; I've had plans in my head of things I'd like to accomplish and experience "one day" for as long as I can remember, but I never planned anything out in specific terms.  Until now.

Today, I thought a bit about where I want to be in 5 years.  Not things like "I want to be on a beach, sipping a mojito with a hot cabana boy fanning palm fronds over me" (though that would be nice), or even "I want to be doing X job in Y city" (since as I wrote earlier, I have no idea), but financially, where I want to be and where I'd be comfortable being.  And then I priced it out, to see if I could do it.  And I think I can.  So here are the goals:

In five years, I'd like to
  • Have saved up at least $30 000 for retirement
  • Have saved enough to put a downpayment of at least 20% on a home (I've priced this at $60 000 for now.  In light of today's market in Vancouver, this is a pretty optimistic idea of 20%, but I'm also hoping that the market drops a bit.  Plus, as discussed in an earlier post, I don't know where I'll be living; however there aren't too many places that are more expensive than Vancouver, so while this number is up for revision I think it's as accurate as it can be for now)
  • Save $2500 a year for traveling
  • Donate $500 a year
That's the "big picture", at least for now.  Assumptions I'm making that may not apply to others: that in five years I'll still be single, and I won't be having any kids.  With some quick calculations, it means I would need to save $18 000 a year.  That's a lot of money.  But hopefully I'll be making more money as I get older, and will be able to save more.  Is it daunting?  Yes.  But I'll never be able to meet a goal without having one in the first place, so here goes.

(oh god, help)

Thursday, October 02, 2008

LOOOOOOOOO!

At the Canucks game last night:

T: Why does the crowd boo every time Luongo makes a save?  Do they not approve of him being captain?
J-Bird: I...don't know?  I'm sure it's nothing, you must be misunderstanding.
T:  They're doing it again!  I hate them!
J-Bird: Okay, I'm asking Pretty.  Hang on. [Texts Pretty]
Pretty's response: It's not "boo", it's "looooo".   As in Luongo.  They're cheering for him.
J-Bird: See?  I told you you were-
T: LOOOOOOOOOOOO!