Think Outside The Piggy Bank

permanent hiatus?

As you may have noticed, I haven't posted anything for more than two months, so I've decided that it might be time to retire this blog. It's certainly not because I'm no longer interested in money, or am no longer a "frugality freak", snort, but I suppose my energy has gone in different directions. My two passions these days can be summed up in the words vintage and vegan, and of course because money is tied to just about everything, finance is not far away from these two areas either. My latest vintage obsession is Pyrex, and you can be sure that I delight in finding thrift store deals as much as ever. But what I'm also doing is trying to sell some of the treasures I find in my Etsy shop Tins And Things, and you're welcome to visit me there.

As some of you know, I've been vegan for two years this summer (almost as long as I've had this blog), and in that time I've come to believe that if the love of money isn't the root of most evil, then certainly greed (whether for wealth, status or power) is the likeliest contender. Whether it's the grinding up of male chicks at birth because they're economic liabilities, or the skinning of cows while they're still alive because it's not cost effective to make sure they're all unconscious first, money is at the heart of a lot of animal cruelty. And when this cruelty is ignored, condoned, or even actively encouraged by both individuals and institutions representing commerce, science, medicine and entertainment, then as far as I'm concerned the acquisition of money can no longer be viewed as a positive or even neutral endeavour. And it's not just related to how we view and treat animals as property. Common to how we treat the environment (think BP), and each other, many if not most of the social injustices continue to exist because of the economic gains from them. As you can no doubt tell by my indignation, animal rights (which I view as an extension of human rights) is where a lot of my energy goes these days, so if interested, you can read more at my So I'm Thinking of Going Vegan blog.

But I'm straying from what I originally wanted to say. This blog is most likely ending, but for those of you who ended up here Googling Bell Canada (I'm now with Teksavvy by the way) or any other topic for that matter, I've put a search bar in the right hand column underneath the subscriptions, so search away! Also, there are separate pages for Maxine, money quote posts, etc., that you can access in the line underneath the banner. 

And in case this IS the last blog post, many thanks to everyone for visiting, reading, and commenting. It's been a fun ride! :)

7 links to keep you busy

I promised you links to worthwhile sites a couple of posts ago, and they're up and running now. Just scroll down the left-hand column until you hit Smart Reading. Here you'll find tons of ideas covering creativity, productivity, personal development, happiness, organization, purpose, passion, growth, and ways to keep more of your dollars in your wallets. There are of course countless blogs devoted to any one (or all) of these topics, but if you're like me and easily get overwhelmed by the sheer number of sites you could potentially follow, then these select few are all you'll need to get started. Enjoy!

I might go back to school!

Yep, the idea hit me last week, and I'm investigating options. What brought this on you might ask? And a good question it is as I graduated over twenty years ago and never once thought about going back until now. I guess what may have triggered it is the test I took last Monday in order to become a certified food handler. Consisting of 50 multiple-choice questions (you had to get 35 right in order to pass), it was trickier than I thought it would be, and I had to really think through the 15 that I initially left blank. Of course leaving 15 blank made me a bit nervous at first as it occurred to me that I could only get that many wrong if I wanted to pass. But as I was going along, I realized that I was actually having fun trying to figure out the right answers. So much fun that I didn't care that almost everyone had left already, including the ones who started after I did. And taking that much time to complete the test actually paid off because the instructor offered to mark it for me right on the spot rather than having me wait two weeks for the results. What WAS the result? I only got 1 answer wrong! Couldn't believe it.

As I was walking home, and still not quite believing that I had gotten 98% on the test, I remembered how much I actually liked taking tests when I was at school, liked studying, and liked getting good marks. So what happened when I went to university? I started a four-year Honours Sociology degree, did well the first two years, and then my personal life got really messy before depression took over. My A's and B's quickly turned into D's and F's because I couldn't be bothered with writing term papers. I literally didn't care. In fourth year I picked myself up somewhat, and managed to take a couple of courses and get enough C's to at least earn a three-year general BA. But it always felt like I hadn't really completed what I set out to do, and I didn't even go to my graduation. Maybe because I felt I hadn't earned it?

The other factor is that a couple of nieces are now attending my alma mater! And another niece (of whom I'm extremely proud) was invited to study and teach Linguistics at UCLA. So I think these youngsters (now if that doesn't make me feel and sound old, snort) have maybe stirred up educational longings that I long put aside. But for whatever reason, the thought popped into my head that I should see whether I can go back and get that Honours degree after all. I would have to make up a couple of prerequisites, but then I'd get to take a bunch of fun-sounding 4th year Sociology courses. I'd do it part-time (because I don't like doing ANYTHING full-time), and even if it took five years or so, taking one course per semester would no longer break my piggy bank.

So yeah, I might go back to school! Let's see, I want to take at least a few of these fourth-year courses:

• Selected Topics in the Sociology of The Family
• Selected Topics in the Sociology of Culture
• Issues in the Sociology of Aging
• Individual and Society
• Sociology of Cyberspace/Internet, and
• Self and Identity

That last course sounds especially good: A consideration of theoretical and empirical questions relating to self and identity viewed from historical, cross-cultural and cross-disciplinary perspectives.

Neat huh? I'm hoping that maybe I can start next September. After that, who knows!

anything is possible

If I were to wish for anything, I should not wish for wealth or power, but for the passionate sense of potential, for the eye which sees the possible. Pleasure disappoints, possibility never. --SØREN KIERKEGAARD