7:37

is the time. the place, my chair. me, sitting. it’s time to write a paper on global population growth.

but first i have to admit mild failure in my week of no money spending. i didn’t think it counted, but B. did, and he is usually right. but i spent a dollar that i found in my pocket on, of all things, a dr. pepper (bad! i know!). my logic was that i never have cash and so a random dollar in my pocket didn’t reaaaally count as part of my “funds”.

bad logic. i could have put that dollar into a savings envelope and been one dollar closer to my goal, and about 50 gallons of high fructose corn syrup farther away from obesity. it’s hard to think of money like that when you’re not in the habit. but as ol’ ben franklin said – “beware of little expenses – a small leak will sink a great ship.”

yikes, right? i’m guilty of causing my fair share of small leaks.

with money and time – so here i go to write…

spending no money week!

Doesn’t that sound fun!?

This week B. and I have decided to try to spend $0.00. I think this is great practice in being cheapo, which is something I strive to be. Generally speaking, most of the money I spend outside of BILLS is unnecessary spending. And as I am on a verrrrry tight budget – this is really something I should do every week. But I guess I have to eat. Which is inconvenient.

Anyway…we’ll see how it goes! Zero Dollars!

good morning starshine

firstly, it’s 7:30.  and 7:30 is late for me.  i’ve been getting up at 5:30 every morning.  i love it.  so i have all these extra hours and the unfortunate part, so far, is that i don’t use them for anything.  i have a productivity problem.  which i want to fix.  like right now for example there are approximately 43 things i should be doing that are not this.  yet here i am.  that is the mystery of life.  

secondly, i love my aeropress coffee maker as if it were my own son.  and no, i am unfortunately not being paid to say this.  yet.  i will gladly accept payment though.  you have to use gross tonnages of coffee and it looks like a giant plastic syringe but it is all worth it.

thirdly, i’m sick of college and this is in part due to the aforementioned productivity problem.

fourthly, i want to fix this problem.  if it doesn’t (or if it does) come naturally to you, how do you make yourself get everything done and stay sane and happy?  i want your tips etc.

unproductivity

is it discouraging that a good chunk of the time i waste is spent reading about how to become more productive and organized?

a little.

but i’m still trudging along.  i think my biggest problem in the past has been trying to do too much at once.  then of course it gets so overwhelming that i end up doing nothing.  but i feel that there are a lot of small simple things that could improve my life.  

number one in the process is getting my CLOTHES under control.  those of you who see me regularly know that i pretty much wear the same pair of pants and the same three or four shirts all the time.  but little do you know that in my bedroom lurks a terrifying monstrous mound of clothes that threatens to take over my life.  i don’t know what they are or where they came from.  but somehow, every time i attempt to go through them with a discerning eye, they all seem to be something i will definitely and assuredly need to wear again.

it started, i think, with thrift store shopping.  thrift stores are my enabler.  i can amass a collection of clothes that i only wear once or twice very quickly and cheaply.  but NO MORE.  i’m giving it back and starting afresh, if you will.  though i do enjoy the occasional seventies men’s dresswear or band t shirt, i feel in my whole life a need to simplify, including my clothes.  several reasons, being:

-i am most happy and bestlooking when wearing a well-fitting, nicely colored, not too short, plain tshirt.  and well-fitting, not too short, not too tight jeans.  ok this never happens but it sounds nice.

-laundry time should not be stressful.  at the moment, it’s something that generally involves weeping and gnashing of teeth.

-the time in my life when i think i was happiest with my clothing was when i had to wear a school uniform.  excepting the forced shirt-tucking and the pleats of the pants, of course.

what i’m getting at is that my goal is to pare down my wardrobe to good quality basics that can be easily managed and make me happy to wear.

i bought two nice t shirts from american apparel as my start. as punishment (or reward, perhaps) i am going to make myself get rid of ten things.  clothesy things.

stay tuned.

water, water, everywhere…

so i’m writing a paper about bottled water.  and by writing a paper, i mean typing in my blog about the vague, distant idea of writing an actual paper.  i am having real trouble with this one.  and oh yeah, the other one i’m supposed to be writing.

oh, other thing-i’m 22!  weird eh?  i get this feeling that i should be more grown up and responsible and organized and able to pay attention to something for more than 5 minutes.  i think the internet has screwed me up in the head.  or, i don’t have any willpower.

i’m looking forward to summer, reading books, taking pictures, new and exciting work opportunities (hint, i need a high paying job, help me.  no seriously.  help me.), and a myriad of other wonders.

why am i so thirsty all the time?

oh yeah, i forgot.

that i had this website.

as the semester draws to a close, i have several points to address:

-Married to the Sea is a valuable timewaster. nothing can lift your spirits on a cloudy afternoon like victorian images with inappropriate, political, confusing, and otherwise hilarious captions. sensitive viewers proceed with caution. in fact, i’m inspired. i think and draw things this stupid all the time…why not make some money off of it? maybe after school’s out i’ll upload some of my more genius work to my languishing cafepress site. only time can tell.

-i am starting a list of books i want to read this summer. if anyone has suggestions, feel free to suggest. i may or may not take your suggestions, but i’m going to need something other than the entire Confessions of Georgia Nicolson series.

-i’m tired. let summer commence! i can think about nothing else!

cafe o te?

So I went to Starbucks for the first time the other day. Stop gasping and fainting in surprise. I mean the one in town. It’s pretty nice. They have coffee. It was the day of the super bowl, so it wasn’t filled with Caramel Machiatto People or anything. I don’t have any reason for typing this other than that I’m thinking about coffee. And how I have cold coffee in my cup but apparently you’re not supposed to microwave travel cups? I can’t anyway because I got a picture stuck in mine. I’m not going to take the time to explain that. I’m trying really hard to make my own coffee and take it with me instead of buying it while I’m out…part of my Personal Finance and Consumption Revolution (which will be discussed at a later date).

I’m having one of those days where I feel like everyone is LOOKING at me. So I keep like subtly trying to figure out if there is something on my face or my pants are unzipped or something…but I have no idea. I mean I’m not wearing makeup today but I don’t think I’m that shocking. Whatevs.

I have to go watch a two hour film about Martin Luther. I mean get. I GET to go watch a film about Martin Luther. Why am I a history major again? Just kidding. I love Martin. And according to Dr. L, he invented “E-Nail” (ecclesiastical nail). Hahaha.