Inflation vs Reality

Politically the United States seems more divided than ever before; the ineffectual congress of late is just one sign of that.

I'm sure there are experts who have given much more thorough and well-researched information on that, but I thought there might be value in sharing a few anecdotes about the cost of things and how that's changed in my adulthood.

I'm fairly certain experts speculate that inflation is at or should be at 5% each year. Since I'm approximating 12-14 years, the delineated prices should be 60%-70% higher in 2014 than in 2002. Have a look and let me know what you think.

Mailing a 5 oz CD or DVD, USPS cheapest/first class mail (I did this a lot because I used to sell mail-order albums, so I remember the weight and cost).

In 2002:       $1.01-1.15

In 2014:       $2.32

Increase in price: over 100%

University of California San Diego annual tuition, in state (prices same throughout UC system, including UCLA, UCSC, UC Irvine, etc.)

In 2002:     $3834

In 2014:      $12,192

(Note: $12,000 is just for tuition. It doesn't include rent, food, books, or other living expenses.)

Increase in price: over 200%


Community College in California, per credit, was the following:

In 2000:      $11

In 2014:      $46

Increase in price: over 300%



It kind of bums me out for the young people who are about to enter college and/or (trying to) enter the workforce now or soon. Seems bleak if you're trying to educate and gainfully employ yourself... Didn't even touch on credit card and housing prices - I have a feeling their numbers are even more dire.

I've spoken with a few people from the baby boomer generation (or older), and this is hard for them to grasp. They come from a time where hard work and education did EQUAL the American dream of owning your own home, supporting and raising a family, and retiring with benefits that allow comfort and care into old age.

But within 10-15 years, my generation and those after me, are seeing our expenses double, triple and quadruple. Increasingly, it seems the deck is stacked against achieving what the American Dream used to be. What's the new American Dream?

Pseudo-Insomnia

I woke up over three hours ago at 4:31am.

4:31am

For no good reason.

With no 6am call time, early-morning romp, or otherwise worthy (albeit annoying in the case of the 6am call) reason to wake up, 4:30 is just, well, silly and frustrating to this fem-bot.

This happens from time to time for me. Nowadays, probably once every 6 months if that. It used to be more frequent.

I take this as a good sign. A sign that I'm either some combination or all of the following:

• Healthier physically, likely due to better nutrition and physical fitness 
• More peaceful, a happy thought indeed, as I recall more restlessness in the past (thankfully in the past)
• Happier in my relationship, because if memory serves, a good percentage of my sleepless nights in the past were due to lying next to an ultimately doomed (albeit a mostly cordial & civilized death) bedmate and/or just waking up wondering what the fuck about whatever relationship was troubling me at the time...
• More spiritually...connected (or something). This one surpasses even the aforementioned past relationship woes and general restlessness, and is the hardest to describe, quantify and understand. Let me 'splain. There is too much. Let me sum up. Basically, I suspect I sleep better lately because I've connected more deeply* with the non-physical.

(*I use the words "more deeply" because to think that I was ever not connected would be a gross oversight. We are always connected it is only thinking we're not that creates the illusion that we can be disconnected from the essence of which all things are made of and a part of.)

So one or more of the above reasons has helped me, tremendously, in sleeping better. None were sought-out or had as a means to the end of sleeping better, it's just a happy side-effect. But tonight, I awoke at 4:30am. 

Why? Not sure yet. What did I do? I read a few pages from two of the books I'm in the midst of reading. Sometimes I read one book at a time; right now I'm reading four simultaneously. Library due dates and my own diffused attention have caused this book-polygamy. My two favorites of the four and my bedfellows of this morning were Bite Me and The Four-Hour Work Week.

After reading, I decided to transcribe the last chapter of the book. The. Book. 

What Women Never Tell You

It's a relationship book about all the things women never tell men, but that are vitally important and that men desperately want to know about how to have more success and better relationships with women. Strong enough for a man, but pH balanced for a woman.

Marcus and I are writing this book together, but I type like a cheeta, and he types like a panda...a panda with one hand full of eucalyptus leaves. So I've assigned myself the typing portion, and we both record the copy for each chapter (which we completed a few months ago).

But let me reiterate. I typed the LAST CHAPTER of What Women Never Tell You just before I started writing this blog for all of you. 

We still have to edit. Of course. And we still need a publisher, though we'll self-publish if necessary until we get a publisher and are on the New York Times Bestseller List.

But I must admit, it feels...odd

Relieved, but also uncertain. Did I really just finish my first book? 

Maybe that's what caused my insomnia today. Something in me wanted to get up and get it done. So, that's what I did.

I thought there'd be more fanfare and fireworks. But right now I'd settle for some more sleep.

Also, for anyone wondering about my marked absence from the blogosphere for the past several months, my writing energy that was reserved in the past for blogging went towards finishing this book. Hopefully I'll be back blogging away to all of you more frequently. But we may also do a What Women Never Tell You blog and we also may start working on our second book. We'll see. But it is good to be back and I hope you've missed me as much as I've missed all of you, and writing for all of you...this kind of writing - as it's more reflective and cathartic than What Women Never Tell You writing.

Though I am very pleased that I just finished the first full draft of my first book. Maybe there'll be fireworks and fanfare when we really finish it - as in the final edit is done and we send it to the printer. Maybe when we get it back from the printer then we'll have a real party.

Ah, hell. How about I just be happy with this stage of accomplishment.

That's better.

I'm feeling kind of sleepy.

These books are made for laughing

 

My blog the other day about laughter and television got me to thinking about my favorite funny books.

At times being a voracious reader, and at other times taking a sabbatical from reading, I admit that I sometimes forget books that I loved when I read them. In retrospect, I wish I'd kept a complete list as it's own journal, separate from my regular journals, dedicated solely to books read.

Alas, I'll just have to go off memory.

One of my favorite things is to take one of these funny books on a plane ride. I do enjoy a good movie on a plane, but if I'm into a really good book on a flight, time moves much more quickly. (I think it was Einstein's incomplete last law of time and space: Clever and funny book reading on a plane makes time and space move faster and leg room appear a few inches greater...)

• Forrest Gump by Winston Groom. The movie starring Tom Hanks made the titular character of this book a household name, but the book is hilarious. Similar in many respects, different in others - the Forrest in the book is still hero, but slightly more...of a screw-up or something, but no less lovable. It's been years since I read this book, but I remember laughing aloud on several instances. I passed it on to my father who tells the story of reading it one night while my Mother was sleeping next to him, and he was laughing so hard he had to leave the bedroom to avoid waking her up. He went and cried (laughing) in the bathroom. (Note: This is the second story of my father crying in the bathroom in because of me - the first was the day of my birth - relief I was okay; the second - Forrest Gump. Those who know my Dad have a great image in this - retired football coach whose stature is as big as his heart crying in the bathroom of a hospital in relief that his first born child is alive and well, and crying in the bathroom of the home he built so as not to wake his sleeping wife. Sums my father up very well.)
• Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal, by Christopher Moore. Any book where the title makes you chuckle to yourself is likely worth looking into. This book does not disappoint from the title. Entertaining, clever, and a bit of a journey, I laughed, quoted passages to friends, and cried at the end (we all know how it ends, right?). Moore spins a tale of a missing disciple from the bible, Biff, who gets resurrected so that he can write his gospel. He was, after all, Christ's best friend. From fornicating so he can tell Joshua (another interpretation of Christ's supposed name) about it, to composing the sermon on the mount and leaving out "dumb-fucks," as one of the groups who receive something, i.e., "The kingdom of heaven," this book is pure adventure, pure hilarity, pure delight. Well done, Christopher Moore! (Warning: If you're easily offended or sensitive about the "facts" of the bible, you may not like this book but it may expand your horizons so I suggest you read it no matter what your religious persuasion.... Who the heck am I kidding? You wouldn't be reading my blog if you were a thumping bible-belter, would you?)
• Dave Barry's Guide to Guys, by Dave Barry. It has been over ten years since I read this book. Writing this blog actually reminds me to go back and check it out when I need a little literary pick-me-up. What I do recall is meeting this girl Brooke at the Barnes & Noble in Manhattan while she was sitting on the floor laughing and reading this book. Or maybe my Mom met her for me. I don't remember, but she turned me on to Dave Barry, who, while simple and relatively easy to read, is also quite amusing. Unlike Moore, Barry isn't necessarily weaving an adventure, but he never fails to amuse. This book stands out in his collection for me, though I haven't read everything he's written. Probably a good summertime, sipping lemonade on the front-porch-rocker read. 
• The Princess Bride, by William Goldman. Don't let the book-turned movie thing of this book or Forrest Gump dissuade you. There is more to the story than what the movie shows in both instances. This is one of my favorite books, without a doubt. I've given it away several times and I always replenish my copy. Goldman is a brilliant writer, and the characters get even more attention in the book - you get more background on Fezzik, Inigo Montoya (You killed my father, now prepare to die...) and his relationship with his father, as well as more interaction between Buttercup and Westley during their brief courtship - an amusing and heartwarming section of the book in it's own right. This is a great book for road trips, as I've read it aloud with people and they're always amused (much like Columbo's grandson, the Wonder Years kid, from the movie.) Of all the books on my list, this is an absolute, must-read!

That's it for today. If I think of more, I'll let you know and if you have any recommendations for me, please share.

Go, laugh - be it by plane, train, automobile, book or tv show. Bring a friend, too. Laughter is almost always better in droves.

 

More Interesting Katie Strand World Posts

•  Laughter every day keeps the doctor away
• Worry vs Choice
• A New Homeostasis, the third installment
• Memorial Day Dreams 
• A New Homeostasis
• Boobies & Kittens...especially for overcast days
• The One-Minute Happiness Quiz
• Qi Pao! My hips in China
• Raw Milk has been pulled from Whole Foods shelves
• How Betty White deals with the Census
• Anxious or calm?
• Sunscreen may increase the risk of skin cancer!
• What happened to Kathleen Turner?
• Hairiosity!
• And All the Cows Said Moo, TWO!
• A Luke-warm Mess
• Let Go! Your Children Know More Than You Think
• Are you hungry for change? So is Food, Inc.
• Liberating yourself from your own fears
• The smallest non-child, non-midget person I've ever seen
• Stupid trumps hot
• The 15 Things that Pasteurization Kills
• A hugging, laughing, happy mess
• The HPV vaccination could be more dangerous than what it "prevents"
• Is Jake Pavelka a douche bag?
• It's all about interpretation
• Have you forgotten how glorious you are?
• The best reason for DONUTS
• Dr. Mercola recommends raw milk!
• We'd all be pillars of salt
• James Cameron was robbed!
• What do you want?
• The Real British Invasion or...Hey there Brit, how's your American accent?
• Andre Agassi is now Open
• Farts
• Love & Hate. Drugs & Rebellion.
• Occam's Razor - It's a Life & Faith Principle
• If Richard Pryor had a period...
• If you're prone to nudeness...
• Hello, my name is Temple Grandin.
• Blog tease, yelling to no one & the secret to long...
• My Addendum to "Choose a Job You Love..."
• The Primal Diet & Running
• Chop Wood, Carry Water, Do Taxes
• The male member revealed
• Play with the Girls
• How to tame the psycho hose beast
• Oh boy, that's a good question! or How to Deal with the Census
• These boots were made for walking
• If I were a Ninja, I'd wear these shoes
• How my friend Sally became the new First Lady
• My Boyfriend has Autism...Maybe
• Raw Primal Papaya Custard - The Nectar of the Gods
  
• And All the Cows Said Moo!
• If you were John Mayer, you would too
• Tiredness - Varieties of and unforeseen side-effects
• Foreplay is overrated
• Food should be As God Intended or Why isn't everything we eat organic?
• Yelling - One of the Highest Forms of Compassion
  
• The Cove - Louie Psihoyos' Oscar speech & a guide on how to create change...
• My Favorite Things...Arrabiata Recipe - Fresh, Organic, Vegan or Primal
• My Favorite Shows on Television...or how David Duchovney & Jesus are likely Good in Bed
• The Hawaiian Islands and Washington D.C.'s sand-paper circle-jerk about Health Care
• My Buddha has Termites...A Lesson in Infinite Joy
• The One-Date-Wonders!
• I had to learn SIGN LANGUAGE when I moved to Los Angeles
• Guys can make a game out of anything
• Hello? The power of CONNECTING and how technology has changed things
• Popping the question is better than porn!
• Bravo, Stephen Colbert & Co! and your Olympic Vancouverage
• Songwriting is like SEX
• Born To Run by Christopher McDougall - Inspiring a inspiring all of us to be more in the FLOW
• A moment of silence for all the plastic surgery casualties
• Ricky Gervais should be the new Simon on American Idol
• Muscle SURPRISE! The key to physical, mental & emotional fitness
• I think my boyfriend's a snake...
• Release... Sweat & Power
• MY FAVORITE THINGS! - Vibram's Five Fingers
• Dick Morris... How do you sleep at night?
• Rusty DePass, Gorillas, and Obama, oh my!
• Michael Jackson - Troubled Genius

New Music

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at
Katie Strand Music

• To Make You Feel My Love
• Please Don't Leave Me
• Going To California
• Come Back
• Home

Andre Agassi is now Open

How reading about tennis made me a tennis fan

I just finished the Andre Agassi book Open. It actually got better than the first third I had under my belt when I wrote the last blog about it, Love & Hate. Drugs & Rebellion only a few days ago.

Agassi, and his ghostwriter J. R. Moehringer did something difficult, though not impossible, and it is something essential for the captivating portrayal of a compelling life's story. And I must note here that by life's story I mean Agassi's professional tennis career, since his life is far from over, and I suspect, his best, most personally significant years are still taking shape as his school and family grow and mature. This essential thing is simple, but not always easy to accomplish. I suppose it may be the same reason fans cheered for Agassi all those years he played. With Agassi's Open, throughout moments that make you groan with the knowing that only a spectator can have as he throws tantrums and subjects himself to self-destruction and loathing; throughout experiencing stories of his poor decisions, poor judgment, and poor self image, you still root for the guy. 

I literally cheered aloud at some of his wins, laughed at his life's idiosyncrasies, and wept during his most poignant personal triumphs. His brief summary of his speech at his wife Stefanie Graff's induction into the Tennis Hall of Fame had me wiping my eyes so that I could see properly to continue reading. I was delighted every time he spoke of their courtship, and read the majority of passages about the Stefanie and Andre love story to Marcus. Like any good voracious reader in love in my own right, I relate their story to my own with my love Marcus. The way our lives lined things up for us to meet reminds me of Stefanie and Andre.

Relate-ability is another essential in the telling of a compelling life story.

My hunger for this book is especially impressive considering I'm not even a tennis fan. Well, I didn't used to be. I was honestly riveted by the retelling of tennis matches, which I hardly even understood at the beginning of the book because tennis was still somewhat a mystery to me (Those Brits love to make things more complicated than necessary - it's a British game, right?)  Marcus helped to explain the rules and mechanics of the game, and I started watching highlights of old matches online. I may even try playing. An alarming proposition as it's been the retort I've joked about for years when people scoff and say, is there anything you can't do? Tennis, I often say. I'm a terrible tennis player.

Also, the part that inspired my previous blog, about him hating tennis and the drugs and rebellion of his youth. While the first third of the book had me hooked and contemplating, finishing the book has given me a wider lens. I'm reminded of something I shared with a female friend the night before her wedding. I said, You're choosing this man to marry. That's as powerful as love and commitment and romance. Choice. You choose him. I believe she used it in her vows. I said it partly out of support of her finishing the writing of her vows, and partly out of my own fascination with how people come to the point where they know they want to marry and at that moment I realized choice is the primary ingredient of that milestone in a person's life. Flour to life's sweetest cake.

The last third of the book illustrates a man who still may "hate" tennis, but is choosing his life and his job of playing tennis as part of what his life is about and part of what gives him power - to open his school, have the notoriety to gain attention and funding for said school, and support his family. Also, it seems, it's what he knows how to do best, and sometimes that's stronger than hate and professions of hate, especially when we come to a point in our lives where we choose the thing we thought we hated most.

I'm inspired most by his school, since it's been a lifelong dream of mine to open a school. Marcus' too. It seems this is something we will do together, somehow, someday in the not too distant future. My parents are both teachers, retired, and as Agassi's dad valued tennis (and greatness and competition) above all else, my parents valued teaching and education and choice above all else. I'm lucky they both taught with less urgency and a softer tone than senior Agassi did with Andre and Andre's siblings.

How funny that my next trip to Vegas will likely include a trip to Andre Agassi College Preparatory Academy. Heck, my next trip to Vegas might be all about a trip to AACPA. I've never gambled in Vegas, despite over a dozen trips for work (largely as a reality television producer for Rehab - party at the Hard Rock). My Texas Hold'em and Blackjack playing has largely taken place with friends and at local Los Angeles casinos. Strange, I know, but the gambling in Vegas is so blatant and unapologetic, I'm instantly turned off. Like those old suitors who came on too strong. I never responded well to overly aggressive men, and Vegas feels that way to me about gambling. So it's settled. A visit to Agassi's Academy is in my near future.

Clearly, this book inspired me.

If you like to be inspired, read this book.

Thanks to Andre Agassi, his children Jaden and Jaz for inspiring him and giving him reason, to Stefanie for saying yes, to all the players in the book, and to J. R. Moehringer, for weaving the stories so beautifully. I feel so tremendously grateful for good books and good stories. Thanks to my parents for that. Another enormous gift my parents bestowed upon me, among many, giant, innumerable gifts.

More Interesting Katie Strand World Posts

• Farts
• Love & Hate. Drugs & Rebellion.
• Occam's Razor - It's a Life & Faith Principle
• If Richard Pryor had a period...
• If you're prone to nudeness...
• Hello, my name is Temple Grandin.
• Blog tease, yelling to no one & the secret to long...
• My Addendum to "Choose a Job You Love...
• The Primal Diet & Running
• Chop Wood, Carry Water, Do Taxes
• The male member revealed
• Play with the Girls
• How to tame the psycho hose beast
• Oh boy, that's a good question! or How to Deal with the Census
• These boots were made for walking
• If I were a Ninja, I'd wear these shoes
• How my friend Sally became the new First Lady
• My Boyfriend has Autism...Maybe
• Raw Primal Papaya Custard - The Nectar of the Gods
  
• And All the Cows Said Moo!
• If you were John Mayer, you would too
• Tiredness - Varieties of and unforeseen side-effects
• Foreplay is overrated
• Food should be As God Intended or Why isn't everything we eat organic?
• Yelling - One of the Highest Forms of Compassion
  
• The Cove - Louie Psihoyos' Oscar speech & a guide on how to create change...
• My Favorite Things...Arrabiata Recipe - Fresh, Organic, Vegan or Primal
• My Favorite Shows on Television...or how David Duchovney & Jesus are likely Good in Bed
• The Hawaiian Islands and Washington D.C.’s sand-paper circle-jerk about Health Care
• My Buddha has Termites...A Lesson in Infinite Joy
• The One-Date-Wonders!
• I had to learn SIGN LANGUAGE when I moved to Los Angeles
• Guys can make a game out of anything
• Hello? The power of CONNECTING and how technology has changed things
• Popping the question is better than porn!
• Bravo, Stephen Colbert & Co! and your Olympic Vancouverage
• Songwriting is like SEX
• Born To Run by Christopher McDougall - Inspiring a inspiring all of us to be more in the FLOW
• A moment of silence for all the plastic surgery ca...
• Ricky Gervais should be the new Simon on American Idol
• Muscle SURPRISE! The key to physical, mental & emotional fitness
• I think my boyfriend's a snake...
• Release... Sweat & Power
• MY FAVORITE THINGS! - Vibram's Five Fingers
• Dick Morris... How do you sleep at night?
• Rusty DePass, Gorillas, and Obama, oh my!
• Michael Jackson - Troubled Genius

New Music
&
Posts 

at
Katie Strand Music

• To Make You Feel My Love
• Please Don't Leave Me
• Going To California
  
• Come Back
• Home