I go for weeks without reading The Writer’s Almanac. More often than not when I check back in, the perfect poem is just waiting. This is by Peter Pereira, from “What’s Written on the Body.” clipped from writersalmanac.publicradio.org Not so much the desire for owning things as the inability to choose between hunter or emerald [...]

Totally OT post. It poured rain in Minneapolis today. Later, of course, as the day reverted to “winter,” (our Moose are dying off in this state, and snowfalls aren’t what they used to be here) it made for ideal driving conditions. So icy, in fact, that the light rail to and from the airport couldn’t [...]

. Could a bailout to GM and Chrysler have prevented near certain failure of those companies by month’s end? Now a moot point, along with questions such as, “Who’s to blame for the industry’s current state?” A group of Republican senators decided that it was more important to nix the whole deal over whether GM’s [...]

For those of you who love to travel, here’s a quick pointer to a friend’s super nifty site, Trusty Pony. She’s doing an eight-day giveaway of fun stuff like travel games, pillows, etc. Enjoy!

The Carnival of Personal Finance #179 linked to one of my posts from last week. I thought I’d return the favor this week by pointing to this holiday shopping tips post, one of the carnival’s top links, from the Chief Family Officer blog. She’s got some advice about shopping certain online sites that is new [...]

I am Olivia the Pig, in Olivia and the Missing Toy. Waiting for her mother to finish sewing a new soccer jersey, Olivia “waited, and waited, and waited … until she was too exhausted to wait any longer.” (Olivia, on floor, hands splayed in “exhausted” pose.) Is he here yet? Is he here yet? How [...]

In which I try to enumerate, over the course of a one-week visit, the generosity of my in-laws: 9 bottles of wine 36 beers 1 bottle of vodka 1 bottle of whiskey 1.5 pies 2 dozen cookies one quart ice cream two bags of jelly beans various bags of chips crackers and cheese 12 rolls [...]

Aryn over at Sound Money Matters kindly included my most recent post, The 60 Percent Solution and Mint.com, on her site this week as part of a carnival of personal finance, or roundup of posts by other bloggers. (I’m under “budgeting.”) I’ve just started following these carnivals, and they’re a great way to learn a [...]

My parents are in the process of moving in, so things have been a little quiet on the personal-finance front, even as the economic world around us seems to be imploding. Actually. This is not entirely true. We finally had the chance to crunch some numbers last night. I just don’t have them in front [...]