July 6th, 2008
Over the past three years I’ve read many financial books across various subtopics. Although I had intended to take a break from the finance books, I couldn’t pass up a chance to read this book.
More Than You Know: Finding Financial Wisdom in Unconventional Places (Updated and Expanded) by Michael J. Mauboussin for me was a tight well-written summary of many of the ideas I was exposed to in other financial and psychology books. The book is broken down into 30 essays in 4 parts.
If you are looking for a good collection of unconventional financial topics (philosophy, psychology, statistics) easily explained, give this book a read. If you’ve already read Taleb, Mauldin and The Wisdom of Crowds, this book will do an outstanding job of tightening up your understanding.
July 5th, 2008
Another yummy lunch creation. Most of my cooking experience has been with seafood. Cooking with lamb is new for me. This dish turned out awesome.
- garlic
- celery
- onion
- red peppers
- lamb
- egg
- brown rice
July 5th, 2008
I’m back from the 2008 Seafair Milk Carton Derby. Saw a boat almost sink. Left after 5 minutes.
July 5th, 2008
While waiting to enter Elliots, I watched an otter show. The mother otter was diving into the water and catching fish for her two babies.
I really do need to get a better camera.
Photo Gallery For Otters
July 5th, 2008
Just north of the Seattle Aquarium there is a fountain sculpture of a nude man reaching out to a nude boy. Maybe I can’t appreciate art, but to me this looks like a prequel to an Amber Alert.
The uproar over this statue happened back in 2005 before I got to town.
Photo Gallery for Creepy Fountain
July 3rd, 2008
Last night I was listening to Elvis singing Promised Land, when these lyrics jumped out at me.
Somebody help me get out of Louisiana
Just to help me get to Houston town
There are people there who care a little about me
And they wont let the poor boy down
Did The King know about Katrina back in 1975? Did he know the hurricane evacuees would be relocated to Houston? And if you listen to the last line closely, it almost sounds like he saying drown instead down.
Nostradamus would have been proud.
July 2nd, 2008
The summer of stir fry continues. This week I did a Thai red shrimp curry, which turned out a notch better than last week’s Peanut Tofu with Yo Choy. I named this recipe rainbow after I did all the prep work. When I looked down at the cutting board I had green, red, yellow and orange peppers all chopped. Basically a rainbow of peppers.
- garlic
- onion
- green pepper
- yellow pepper
- red pepper
- orange pepper
- red curry paste
- coconut cream w/water (cheaper than coconut milk)
- shrimp
July 2nd, 2008
This March in the post IndyMac I’m Never Coming Back, I wrote how as soon as my CD matured I closed out my account.
This morning my CD with IndyMac bank matured. IndyMac has the lowest rating a bank can receive with Safe and Sound ratings. After seeing Bear Stearns implode in days, I didn’t need much encouragement to close that account out immediately.
This weekend I met a friend of a man who had money in a bank that went under. His account was FDIC insured. It took the government two years to get his money back.
Today the Wall Street Journal reported how regulators had arrived at the bank and they are working on:
…a plan to shore up the company’s “safety and soundness.”
Since closing my CD, the IndyMAC stock (IMB) has dropped 86% and is now selling for a mere 74 cents a share. I only wish I had used my money to short that stock.
On June 18th, I hinted that another bank may be in trouble in the post I Wouldn’t Bank There.
There is a bank that is popular with many people here in Seattle. It even has our state name in its name. Well a few of my mutual friends have heard my reasons why I’d move my money to a different bank.
The bank I was thinking about has dropped 15% in value just in the last 2 weeks. Do you know how safe your bank is?
July 2nd, 2008
This morning I was checking my site statistics and stumbled onto a report I had never looked at before on Google Analytics. The Map Overlay report breaks down your web site visitors by country. Here is a numerical breakdown of the number of countries that have visited my web sites in the last 30 days.
Very cool. Now I need to figure out why the good people of West Africa aren’t visiting my coffee site. 
July 1st, 2008
Two months ago I heard David Lynch being interviewed on the Ron and Fez Show (XM 202). In the interview he was discussing a book he had just completed. I’m a big fan the movie director, so I put it on my required reading list.
Catching the Big Fish: Meditation, Consciousness, and Creativity by David Lynch covers a wide range of topics in a broken down essay format. Each essay ranges from one sentence to two pages. Lynch shares his thoughts on creativity and his love for Transcendental Meditation. Along the way he tells how he got the ideas for some of his classic film moments. The character Killer Bob from Twin Peaks started out as a guy working on the set moving furniture.
Fans of David Lynch and film making will enjoy this quick read.
