25 Things About Me

I have been tagged by at least three people on Facebook for the latest viral craze, which is: write 25 things about yourself. They can be things, facts, hobbies or goals.

So here goes.

1) The first Christmas I spent away from home was in Japan.
2) I used to be really afraid of the dark.
3) I wrote my Masters Thesis on Zen and Agents of Grace in the Uncollected Short Stories of JD Salinger.
4) JD Salinger tried to block the acquisition of several of his uncollected short stories.
5) Meeting Romeo Dallaire was a religious experience for me.
6) Few things in life rival the experience of seeing the Rift Valley for the first time.
7) Three places I'd love to go, but haven't been, are: Nepal, Tibet and Bhutan.
8) I still believe in forever, despite ample evidence to the contrary.
9) Laughter is the ultimate aphrodisiac. Followed closely by loneliness.
10) I meditate every morning and I'm often in bed before 10.
11) I watched about 7 hours of TV a day when I was a kid and can probably tell you the plot of every Partridge Family episode based on the opening scene.
12) I call my Mother every day.
13) My mother has no idea what I do.
14) I'm taking salsa lessons.
15) I used to teach kindergarten.
16) I lost my desire to teach kindergarten when I caught the chickenpox.
17) I am an only child.
18) My signature karaoke tune is Alanis' "One hand in my pocket".
19) I think everyone should live in another country as a visible minority for some time.
20) I think having worked as a waiter makes you a better customer.
21) I believe my vocation in life is raising money for worthy causes.
22) I have a solid group of friends who refer to ourselves as Slippers because, no matter where we live, when we get back to together...it's as comfortable as an old pair of slippers.
23) I was once seated in a table beside Woody Allan and Soon Yi at a New York restaurant.
24) I've lived in North Bay, Kingston, Ottawa, Montreal, Higashi Urawa, Nairobi and Canberra.
25) I'm extremely adaptable.

Money-Saving Tips

Being raised by a man born in 1928 at the start of the Great Depression has some decided advantages when it comes to living in a budget.

I have been raised to expect the fiery hand of God to descend should I ever allow credit card debt to get out of hand. I believe it's a venal sin not to wash and re-use plastic Glad bags. I negotiated hard for an excellent mortgage rate and I pay more than my minimum payment. I pay my bills on time and, in truth be told, often before the bill even arrives at my house.

With all these checks and balances in place, I watched, with interest, as Oprah interviewed some ordinary people who are extraordinary savers.

One couple had a combined income of $58,000 a year, four children, owned their own home, and savings of over $70,000.

How do they do it?

It's pretty simple, really. Mindful spending.

Almost everyone she interviewed said the same thing. Become more conscious of what you spend. Use cash or debit, instead of credit cards. And ask yourself, "Is that a want or need?"

Many of them cited how just 30 minutes of research resulted in savings of $50 or $100 a month on their home phone/internet/and cable bills.

As someone who works on these kinds of accounts, I can tell you that there is often wiggle room. As the Aussies are fond of saying, "The squealing pig gets fed."

Does this mean we all have to lead sullen, Amish lives? Not at all. In fact, most of the families interviewed realized, very shortly, that making the distinction between want and need actually freed up more of their time for the really important things in life. The super-expensive family holiday gave way to a Staycation, where they happily camped in the backyard, under the stars. Moms and kids got free DVDs at the library, instead of buying them the day they were released. They played board game.

In short, they turned their attention to things that money couldn't buy -- time together.

Listen to your Mama

I thought I'd share two little pieces of maternal wisdom imparted to me during my Mother's weekend visit.

If these sound bites appear random, they probably were. When Mom can't think of anything to say, she doesn't let that stop her.

1) "Your house cleans itself."

2) In observing the four or five people who had already lined up for the bus, and were potentially vying with her for her desired front seat, my Mother indicated the front of the line and said, "I think I'll stand here."

Return on Investment

The Globe and Mail's Report on Business reported this remarkable fact this morning. While people's pensions are plummeting, you would have seen a 6.4% return on your investment if you'd bought subway tokens in 1974.

1,000 words for snow

I realized something profound while I was Billy-goating over innumerable snowbanks this morning.

The word "snow" actually has the word "no" built right into it.

As one of my co-workers said, after having taken the subway a single stop to avoid the slush of the city, "This is not the winter that global warming was supposed to produce."

Amen, brother.

Fond Memories

While I was killing time in the book store Saturday night, waiting to meet up with my friend for Frost/Nixon, I came across Still Alice.

The author, Lisa Genova, has a Ph.D. in Neuroscience from Harvard. She's also an online columnist for the National Alzheimer's Association.

But this isn't a text book.

Genova has written a compelling narrative about a 50 year-old woman's descent into early-onset Alzheimer's Disease.

That the novel's protagonist is also a Harvard professor, makes the story especially engaging.

It's a serious topic, but the novel isn't depressing.

Genova manages to do for Alzheimer's what Mark Haddon's Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time did for autism. It sheds important and compassionate light on this unpredictable and frightening disease. You'll learn a lot, while being transported along one family's journey.

The novel is gripping. I started giving myself memory tests about page three.

Even if you've never spent any time around anyone suffering from some form of dementia, the novel is a good primer for the inevitability.

Alzheimer's Disease is a fatal disease, with no known cure. It's a disease where the mind dies, leaving a shell of a body.

As many as 5 million Americans are suffering from the disease. 10 million care for someone with the disease. And every 71 seconds, someone develops Alzheimer's.

Read this book. It might just make you an advocate.

Travel

Those who know me, know that I believe there are only two compelling reasons to work full time: to buy books in hardcover as soon as they're released, and to travel.

So, it shouldn't come as a surprise that I'm planning another trip. This one's to Zambia.

Okay, it's not on everyone's top 10 (or maybe 100) list, but I'm pretty psyched about it.

Great friends from my international development days are posted to Lusaka so, once the flight is covered, lodging won't be much of a problem.

(Everyone should work in international development for at least part of their life so they'll forever have someone to stay with in the world's out of the way places. How better to see beautiful downtown Ougadougou.)

Years ago, while I was helping orchestrate a Southern Africa Regional Strategy Conference in Harare, several of my colleagues jetted off to Livingstone to see Victoria Falls. It's one of the great wonders of the world.

At the time, I didn't have the $200 to go along with them. I've always, always regretted it. In fact, it's become the story I hold up to say -- when you get the chance, you just need to grab it and go. Two hundred bucks, twenty years later, seems like a paltry reason not to have done something so inspirational and life-changing.

So I'm grabbing it and going.