Which one is more like you?

I had a poster in my old apartment, that I ended up selling to my landlord.
It was a picture of a bear in the middle of a stream, catching fish that were swimming and jumping out of the water.

In this image, you have two creatures that are clearly in opposition, and both of them are struggling to resist the flow of the water to avoid being caried downtream.

When I ask whether people are closer to the bear or the salmon, I get a lot of different answers, usually related to their mentality or their upbringing, but what I've never heard from anyone else is my own answer and reasoning.

I don't want to be the bear that catches salmon, it's too easy.
I don't want to be the salmon in the clutches of the bear, it's fatalist and we all know what will happen.

I want to be the salmon that gets past the bear, and mates, and lives a good life until he floats to the bottom, spent.

That is what I would choose.

Originally posted on Bubblews.com at http://www.bubblews.com/news/9763171-which-one-is-more-like-you

New Neighborhood

I'm in a new part of town now, and I'm trying to get used to the neighborhood.
I'm taking my bike out for a ride through in an hour or so, so that I can get really familiar with the
streets and the ways around.

If it works out, I'll hopefully be able to get around more easily on two wheels in this neighborhood, and if it doesn't then I'll be in command of a better understanding of the area.

Maybe tomorrow I'll go looking for a grocery store.

I know where the community center is from here, and how to get to work, but it will require some getting used to before I'm comfortable here.

Originally posted on Bubblews at http://www.bubblews.com/news/9766549-new-neighborhood

Intellectual Superiority? Come on down!

I've been chatting online. I don't just use one site to chat, since it is primarily an activity I do for fun and have only lately begun monetizing.

And since the local variety of compensation has been "variable" to say the least, it is not really so important to me anymore to redirect all of my chatting to Bubblews as it once was.

But I digress. I once again had my mental capacity called into question by someone who didn't approve of my particular taste in memes.

Of course, one might respond to such an attack with vitriol and defensiveness. Instead, I merely allowed the individual to flounder in their own ill feelings, and eventually get frustrated and leave.

I've said it before. If you are smarter than someone, it really doesn't matter what you say or do, or they say or do. That will not change. You won't benefit materially from calling someone stupid, nor will you improve them or their lives. Just let it go, or help them with insights.

Unfortunately, when the person who belives themselves to be mentally superior is not, the "insights" are often less valid than the initial expression

What grows in this soil?

When I was gardening with my mother as a child, I quickly learned that the differences between areas of the garden made them better and worse for some types of plants versus other types of plants.

The same can be said for many things.
I am thinking of my own decisions about where and how I ought to contribute, and I am reminded of the time that I spent wondering what should go into the soil.

The ground here is fertile, the weather mild.

Is this place suited for the flower of creative expression, or the knobs and gnarled bolls of cotton?


First posted on Bubblews at http://www.bubblews.com/news/9765478-what-grows-in-this-soil

The End of Two Weeks Off

I've had the past two weeks essentially to myself, and it was pretty great. I "telecommuted" for two days, and the rest of the time I had completely to myself.
I love time off, I just wish that I could get paid more for it.
Anyway, it is a good time right now for me to get started with the long and grueling process of cross posting and promoting content, so that I can build up a backup on my various blogs and start to utilize the masses of content that I've put up on the internet over time.

Hopefully I can make things much better for myself in the process.
This post was initially posted on Bubblews.com at the following address: http://www.bubblews.com/news/9766560-the-end-of-two-weeks-off

Personal Finance Master Class

I am really good at managing my money. The best case scenario would, of course, be that I had more money to manage, but I make do with what I have.

I've actually been reworking this lately.
Every time that I get my paycheck, I'm going to try and split up where it is directly deposited by percentages. A certain amount goes into a dedicated checking account for monthly expenses, and another amount goes into an account dedicated to paying my student loans.

There are a lot of different kinds of accounts, but the ones that I have are pretty much dedicated to spending. I have a pretty nonexistent retirement fund right now, so I should also try to find enough money this year to drop the limit into my Roth IRA.

This was initially posted on Bubblews.com at the following address: http://www.bubblews.com/news/9766519-personal-finance-master-class

I need new socks

I've been using the same pair of socks for the past month or so.
Since it's now the new year, I think that I should avail myself of some gift cards and get a new bag of them.

I have a lot of clothes, and they usually allow me to wear them only occasionally. That said, there is a problem with having only one pair of socks: it can start to smell if I'm not careful.

Hopefully they are all on sale, and I can get a zillion pairs of socks!
Just kidding, I think that I only want six pairs. That should be more than enough for me.

This post was initially published on Bubblews.com, at the following address: http://www.bubblews.com/news/9766567-i-need-new-socks