http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/38794527#38794527 Dateline featured my hometown on TV, a small town of 500 people. You can see pictures of where I grew up if you want to watch it.

He lived across the street from me. When I was a kid, sometimes my mom made rolls or cookies and had me take them over to him. He always felt obligated to give something back, even if it was just a pile of old useless magazines that were covered with dirt. He was a cantankerous old guy, last time he went across the border to Canada he was so feisty they kicked him out and wouldn’t let him back in. He was old-school, the kind that if you ever needed help, he would try to help you. Now he’s dead.

I have never met a paid pastor who wasn’t caught up in the trap of pride. I’m sure there are some, but I haven’t met any. They start to believe that God is on their side, and forget that actually they have to stay on God’s side, because God doesn’t change. This one took it a little farther than most.

Here is the link again: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/38794527#38794527

Today I was talking to my mom, about one of those stupid contests you get in the mail, to win $1 million. I told her, a million really isn’t that much. Used to be you could retire with that. Now you can’t (unless you’re old).

She said, “I would take a million dollars!! I would take ten dollars if it were free!!!”

She was so excited about winning ten dollars, it gave me an idea. I said, “what about 50 cents?” She said, “Hey, if it’s free, I’ll take it.” So I took three dollars out of my wallet and threw it up in the air for her to catch. She was happy, it reminded her of when she was little and her mom would give her money to go take her siblings and get McDonald’s. An event that triggers emotional memories of the past. What can I do with this?

So, my new plan is: every time I come visit her, I will give her money in small random amounts, like $22, or $17.50, or $25. The excitement will drive her crazy. Random amounts of money at around $20 is such a small price to pay to make your mom crazy with happiness.

I was inspired to write this post after talking to my cousin, who is thinking of getting boob implants. It surprised me because her breasts aren’t small, but she’s worried they are sagging. She looks fine, but wants to make sure she looks good enough to hang on to her guy. I told her, “no one ever falls in love based on how someone looks naked.”

And it’s true. People put all this effort into external appearance, and a hot woman can capture a man’s attention, but as soon as the next hot woman comes before his eyes, the previous woman is forgotten. It is a temporary thing. You will never be able to capture a man’s (or woman’s) heart with beauty alone. I can understand this. I used to be obsessed with dressing more nicely, and I kept wanting to look better and get better clothes, until one day I caught myself trying to buy a $3000 suit. That was the day I realized it was getting out of hand. No one needs a $3000 suite to look good unless they are on TV or something (I still like $3000 suits but I’d rather spend my money elsewhere).

You don’t have to be beautiful, all you have to do is not be ugly, and even if you’re ugly you can make up for it by taking care of yourself, having a nice hairstyle, smiling. Some women get caught in the same trap I was in, always thinking they are not beautiful enough, and then get frustrated.  If you are not ugly, stop focusing on that so much and work on making something else better, like your personality.

Girls, and guys, sometimes focus so much on the physical that they don’t know how to get close to someone. Do you know how to look into someone’s eyes and heart and see what they are feeling? Do you know what things worry them, what they dream of, what they fear? Each person has their own set of strengths and weaknesses, do you know what they are? It is so important to learn how to get close to someone…..and, it is super-attractive.

Yet still people focus everything on improving their superficial side.

Note: I don’t think it’s very clear, but the fourth paragraph is the most important paragraph of this, so even if you don’t read anything else, read that.

I just got a new hat from San Diego Hat company.

Here it is:

I am quite happy with it.

Actually it will probably be the only economics blog I do all month.

The keyword today is inflation, if the money supply goes up, inflation goes up, and prices go up.  If the money supply goes down, inflation goes down, and prices go down.  Inflation means prices go up, deflation means prices go down.

So, doing some research I found that it usually takes two years from the time the money supply changes to the time it affects prices.  That means if the money supply grew a lot two years ago, we will start to see inflation now.

Well, guess what happened two years ago, this month?  The money supply started growing drastically.  (You can find it here: http://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/h6/hist/h6hist1.txt from the official source, look at around July 2008).  July 2008 is when the Federal Reserve started bailing out banks. (You can see that dramatically illustrated at the Wall Street Journal: http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2010/06/15/a-look-inside-the-feds-balance-sheet-2/tab/interactive/).

I don’t know how much inflation we are looking at, but if it is a direct relationship, we can look at 15% to 20% increases in prices over the next two years.  Maybe less, maybe more: hard to say.

Recently in the US a lady named Sarah Palin called herself a feminist (she was candidate for vice president of the US).  This made other ladies upset, and caused a huge debate, because they said she couldn’t be a feminist.  It is impossible to be a Republican and a feminist!

I’m not going to enter that debate, but I thought it was funny, so I mentioned it to my mom, but I realized there is a generational gap between her idea of feminism and my idea of feminism.  For me, ‘feminism’ basically means equality and freedom for women.  Who doesn’t favor that? In my generation, pretty much everyone is a feminist: no one wants to oppress women, at least, no one who isn’t crazy.

In my mom’s generation, feminist meant a woman had to have a career.  Go out in the world, accomplish something, wear a blue power suit, be equal to men.  This was actually a huge problem for my mom, because she wanted to support women’s rights, freedom and equality, but on the other hand she wanted to raise a family and take care of her kids.  That was her choice.  But still, it seems part of her felt she was betraying her gender.  I think there were even people who told her that she was betraying her gender.

In my generation, feminism is more about choice.  If she wants a career, or a family, or embrace her sexy feminine side, or act like a tom-boy, it is up to her.  Being sexy or taking care of kids doesn’t mean she is betraying the feminist cause, because it is her choice.

Choice, freedom, and responsibility.

Life is just a training session. We are here on Earth, and God keeps on hitting us, making us suffer until we learn the lesson.  That sounds brutal, but so is life.

This is Tao…

Hard work over time to accomplish skill.
A painter can have kung fu.
Or the butcher, who cuts meat everyday with such a skill that his knife never touches the board.

Learn the form, seek the formless.
Hear the soundless.
Learn it all, and forget it all.
Learn the way, and then find your own way.
The musician can have kung fu, or the poet, who paints pictures with words and makes emperors weep.

This too is kung fu.
But do not name it, my friend. For it is like water.
Nothing is softer than water, yet it can overcome rock.
It does not fight, it flows along the opponent.
Formless, nameless. A true master dwells within.
Only you can free him.

Here are some pictures of my family, cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandparents (and first cousins once removed but I just call them cousins):

Dang, I just saw this movie on youtube, it is hilarious. So depressing how many of those things actually apply to me! lol