Mint.Com

So my friend Jill Apple introduced me to this website called mint.com. It's a personal finance website. Why am I interested in it? It takes all of your accounts, bank and credit, and looks at how you spend money. How much you spend on food, or shopping, or rent, or coffee. It can tell you how much you spend a week on coffee. Depressing. And you can compare yourself with other people in your region and see how you measure up.  I'm hooked.  It also lays out budgets, saving options, plans to pay off debt, and recommended credit cards. It's good for these times we're living in. Check it out. www.mint.com

The Wire

Ok, so I know I'm late getting on this train, but JEC and I just finished watching season 4 of The Wire and I think it may be the best television series ever. Or at least in my top three (up there with The West Wing and Six Feet Under). It is not a fun, easy series to get into. I could barely understand what was going on in the first three episodes. But I stuck it out and the rewards are enormous. This last season we finished, #4, deals with the Baltimore Public School system.  Growing up in Detroit and going through the public schools, this season hit so close to home. My experience was nothing like what the kids depicted on that tv show go through, but my mom taught a lot of kids who came from similar backgrounds. Our public school systems are broken and no one seems to know what to do about it. I think a place to start is with Geoffrey Canada and his concept of education reform that begins with Baby College. Listen to this feature, it's really great: http://www.thisamericanlife.org/Radio_Episode.aspx?episode=81. Oh, and watch The Wire.

Starting Out In Spring

Well, I can't really believe I'm doing this, but I love having sites to go to while I am procrastinating, searching, or enjoying some computer time. So let's see how this goes.   I don't really have a theme yet but maybe I'll come up with something as we go.