Making More Money

Its been in the news a lot lately, and I've become interested myself in the best ways to make extra money on the side. As I was logging into my work email I noticed this article:
18 ways to earn $100 a month
Last week, or maybe two weeks ago, I was reading erica.biz and read about
20 Scam-Free Ways to Make Money Online Fast
The first item in that list was one that I actually tried. I spent about 5 minutes checking it out, and in the process made 15 cents. Obviously that's not going to make me rich any time soon, but it works.

The reason I'm interested in this is to assist me paying off my debts as quickly as possible, then hopefully retiring early.

The Sweet Science

The latest Lessons in Manliness post from the artofmanliness.com web site was about James J. Braddock, otherwise known as the Cinderella Man. Inspired by the post, I added the movie of the same name to my netflix queue and watched it last night. I really enjoyed it, and would definitely recommend it. It made me want to watch Rocky or something else right after, but it was getting late.

I can't recall the exact sources, but a lot of the reading I've done on the internet over the last year or two sings the praises of Boxing as more than just two guys with big gloves punching eachother in the face. Some people would even refer to it as a metaphor for life. I don't know if I'd go that far, but I'm certainly interested in it even more now. I think about the movie Annapolis, and how the graduates of the institution have to take boxing lessons. They see it as an educational tool.

Maybe there's something there that would be fun to learn. I'll have to look into it.

Uncomfortable Movie Plot Summaries

This is hilarious:
Uncomfortable Movie Plot Summaries

A few of my personal favorites:
BATMAN: Wealthy man assaults the mentally ill.

BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA: Redneck trucker kills Chinese immigrants.

DIE HARD: Dysfunctional cop saves marriage by murdering foreign national.

FRANKENSTEIN: Scientific advancement proves unpopular with general public.

LORD OF THE RINGS: Midget destroys stolen property.

SE7EN: Homicide detectives unable to prevent even a single murder by admitted serial killer, killer gives cop head.

And et cetera. Check it out.

Organic Food Not All Its Cracked Up To Be?

One of the people I follow on Twitter is Penn of Penn and Teller. He recently posted this article:
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/booster_shots/2009/07/organic-food-no-more-nutritious-than-conventionallyraised-study-finds.html
Apparently it is a topic they will be discussing on their show "Bullshit".

Also, I got an 8GB iPod touch for free using my Marriott Rewards points. Unrelated, but cool.

I signed up for DailyBurn.com

I signed up for this web service that helps you track your weight, what you eat, and how much you exercise. Its called DailyBurn.com. It will let you invite friends so you can see how everyone else is doing, as well as have people to motivate you to reach your goals. Hopefully this goes well, today is really the first time I'm using it even though I signed up before I went off for vacation.

Classical Reading?

While I was crushing everyone else on the plane from ATL to SD on in flight trivia I noticed the man sitting next to me readying Tolstoy's Anna Karenina. I don't know the book myself, but I'm sure most people recognize the author.

It makes me wonder what I've been missing. I can't say I've read anything considered 'classic' by academia besides what I read in high school. Maybe "The Great Gatsby" and "The Grapes of Wrath"? I've certainly read plenty of sci fi and fantasy classics, but academia doesn't give a shit about those genres.

I found a new blog

Among other things, I've been reading http://earlyretirementextreme.com/. It has become pretty fascinating to me. I already shared one post in particular to Seth which started an interesting conversation. The gist of it from my side was "If I didn't have all these bills because of lifestyle inflation I'd be rolling in money."

It sucks when you're actually forced to look back at what you've been doing and realize how stupid you have been. I could be saving/investing almost $2,000 a month even if I still had the mortgage if I was doing this right. . . :(