Life in Suburbia

There is perfection, and there is realism. This is what I'm thinking, as I look on my mess of a front lawn full of weeds. And wondering, I should get a fake lawn.

Then no watering, no mowing. Good for the environment, good for my wallet. Then I think, if I owned a fake lawn company, I would offer the most realistic fake grass around by installing a sod with a fake weeds like a dandelion in the middle.

Ah, life in the suburbs in your early 40s. Gotta love it.

E.'s Chalk Art

Pic taken by E's teacher. Apparently, E. spent about 40 minutes on this. (Far left: lil G. holding hands with E. Far right: Me (in yellow), and her mommy in blue).

Do I Brag Too Much About the Brilliant and Amazing E?

She just turned 4.

Emotionally, E. is normal, average, about where all the other kids are.

But intellectually, she leaves all the other kids behind.

She makes a joke
At pre-school, they do the dates every morning. "What month is it?" "March."
E. gets up, and marching in place, and says, "You mean, march?" and laughs.

At pre-school, they do the ABCs. At home, she reads books about Picasso and Cubism. She rhymes and alliterates, knows her nouns and adjectives.

And now the government won't let me home school her. Do you really think they are going to challenge her?

My Two Cents on the Brave One

Just finished watching the DVD of Brave One starring Jodie Foster. Is it my imagination or has she been making the same movie over and over again since the Accused? And calling it by a different title?

Bad thing happens to Jodie. She kicks ass.

Besides that, I also had a problem with the ending, and this is why Hollywood does not make great movies any more. Jodie does not get arrested in this pseudo-happy Hollywood ending. The Terence Howard cop character should have busted her ass. I don't care if he has feelings for her or not, he should have arrested her. Bogart would have.

That alone would have elevated it above all the other forgettable Jodie movies.

Really. What is is all About?

So what should I do with my life? The family is good, the kids are great. But what about me? All this chasing money to set up my family is good and all, but what should I really be doing? What is my purpose?

• Should I start my own business?
• T-shirts?
  
• Make books?
• Teach?
• What? What?
  

My Unscientific Road to Six-Pack Abs

This is what happens when you turn 41. That and watching too much infomercials at 3a.m.

Routine

• Pushups
• Planks
• Crunches
• Pull ups

Diet

• Given up beer.

How serious am I?

• Took a "before" photo
• see Diet above.

Prosper has been pretty good to me

Prosper (my own little private banking adventure) has been one of couple things I haven't posted about. The other being my real estate ventures.

I joined in August 2007. It's not for everyone. Then what is? I did some research and I've created my own set of screening criteria and preferences. It seems to work so far.

• I started small, and gradually added more to my Prosper account. I make about $25-30 a month in passive income.
  
• I bid manually, and my minimum return must be 12%, with each bid about $100.
  
• Credit grades must be C or better, no delinquencies.
  
• Loans under $10,000.
• I don't loan for cosmetic surgery, re-investing in Prosper, vacations, or real estate flipping.

If you're interested in borrowing or lending, here's the link: