"The most common misperception about financial planning that many Americans adhere to is that you can't afford to retire if you don't have a million dollars in your retirement account. That assumes everyone needs a million dollars to retire. The most damaging effect of the statement is to cause the average citizen to throw up his or her hands and say that a million is unreachable, so therefore they will save nothing! The implications for our economy and political environment are monumental." William Gustafson, Ph.D., senior director of the Center for Financial Responsibility at Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Texas NOTE:…
When I first came on the slam scene, I ranted a lot. In my poetry, I mean. Or what I was passing off as poetry. :-O My free write from yesterday was turning into something interesting by the end of the day, too complex to finish before Urbana, and I wanted to read something new in their open mic. Sitting in my old home, Botanica (bizarre now, sans smoky haze), I scribbled out a good ol' rant while thinking of the morons lined up outside of Tower Records the other day for Madonna who pulled her video American Life from…
This is what happens when you take a notebook with you to lunch... "The View From Airplanes" (1st draft, free write) From the air I remember the city of brotherly love mostly for the fact that I don't remember it at all. Like movies filmed in Vancouver non-descript vague images of buildings not tall enough to be New York I do remember how close they seemed when we hit the air pocket dropped a couple of hundred feet and wondered what the news coverage would be for a commuter plane crash killing six of the United States Army's newest recruits…
Good thing: one stop commute to work this morning, got in at 8:45am! Bad thing: parking in Brooklyn Heights sucks as bad as anywhere else. Ended up in a corner spot, crossing my fingers that we don't get another ticket! Tonight's Urbana semi-finals has the potential to affect our Finals. If Shappy or Dawn win tonight, they're in Urbana's Finals next Thursday. Dawn's already in our Finals and most people would bet Shappy will be in the top three next Monday and also end up in our Finals. Shawn Randall is already qualified for both of our Finals, too. While…
What ever made me think that I'd find convenient parking when I decided to drive in this morning? Ended up in a parking lot after driving around for 20 minutes looking. Planning to avoid Hartsdale while Salomé and the kids are gone so I had to pack a bag this morning to get me through Saturday at least. Was planning to go to the Mets game tonight but it's kind of cold and I'm barely avoiding being sick as it is. Went to Acentos last night, tired as hell. Mondays are killer and Tuesdays should have me in bed early…
In the breakup with my last girlfriend before Salomé, I left a trunk full of personal items behind that my ex threatened to throw out. She never actually did throw it out but I never got it back either. There were a lot of things in that trunk I'd like to get back, not the least of which are a bunch of my grandfather's poems and lyrics that my mother gave to me after he passed. Isaac LeCharles Harper was a small-time record producer in the 60's, back when people weren't properly credited and were regularly cheated out of royalties.…