My First Meme

My first meme, from Valentine.

1. What’s the total size of music files on your computer?
19.7 GB and growing.

2. What is the last CD you bought?
I think it was Pink Floyd's "The Wall."

3. What is the last song you listened to before you read this post?
Nina Gordon - "18 and Life"

4. Name four songs that you listen to a lot or that mean a lot to you.
Damien Rice - "The Blower's Daughter"
K-Os - "Man I Used To Be"
Madonna - "X-Static Process"
Allison Crowe - "Hallelujah" (by Leonard Cohen)

5. Which three people are you passing the baton on to and why?
Most of my friends don't have blogs and constantly complain that I don't update mine enough. So here's my chance to turn the tables. Leave a comment with your answers to the above quiz. Ahem, I'm talking to you Priya! :)

Choices

I read this article today -- an interview with Barry Schwartz, author of the book "The Paradox of Choice." Very timely as a conversation I had with my mother last night touched on a lot of these same issues -- particularly noticing what you're grateful for more and comparing what you're doing to what other people are doing less. I really need to learn that, as he says, "good enough is good enough." I'm one of those people that wants to research every option in order to make the best decision, but then end up totally overwhelmed by the endless barrage of choices.

Take my digital camera purchase, for instance. When I first started looking, I did a lot of research but was unable to find a clear winner. Paralyzed by indecision, I waited. Then I went through another round of research, finally bought a camera, and guess what? I'm not even that happy with it. I probably would have done just as well to go to one store and buy the camera that the salesperson recommended.

Is it really worth it to dedicate all that time and effort to decisions that, at the end of the day, really aren't that important? I think not. Wow, that's a big paradigm shift for me.

18 and Life

JohnO at work pointed to me to some cool tracks by Nina Gordon, who you probably know as one half of Veruca Salt. In particular, I'm loving her cover of Skid Row's "18 and Life". Thanks to music (for robots) and stereogum for the posts.

A Killer Site

I stumbled upon a totally killer site today, the Napoleon Dynamite SoundBoard. I was navigating through it and couldn't stop laughing. Your wildest dreams will come true if you visit the site. Heck yes!

Back to school

Today I wish I was back in school...SFU was closed due to the snowfall.

The Best Hummus

My vote for the best hummus out there is Tribe of Two Sheiks, available at Costco. I've tried a number of other kinds, none of which even come close. Yum, it's so delicious.

One down, one to go

Ah, that felt good. I just mailed a cheque to pay off my entire Canada Student Loan in one fell swoop. Mind you, I still have my BC Loan burning in my pocket (which, thankfully, is smaller), but at least one is paid off. I suppose I can't complain too much though, my loans aren't as huge as many students I know (being the mega-nerd that I am, I managed to get scholarships throughout university). Anyways, now I'm in money-saving mode so I can pay my other loan off ASAP and be totally debt-free.

It's weird though, I never really thought of my student loans as debt until just recently. They are really easy to ignore. I know that sounds stupid, but the student loan people really don't do a whole lot to educate loan virgins like me about things like the grace period (which sounds nice, but they are actually charging you interest during it), consolidation, early payment options, etc. Maybe they figure that since they are loaning to educated people, they don't need to explain these terms in great detail. Or maybe they are trying to suck more interest out of the pockets of poor students. Or maybe they put all that information on a website and think that everyone will read it there. Who knows.

Resolutions

Well, it's a new year and I, like so many others, am making a resolution to lose weight and get fit in 2005. Have I made this resolution before? Yes. Did I keep it? For a while. Is it stupid to continue making the same resolution every year even though I never seem to keep it? Maybe. But why the heck not? Why dwell on my past missteps when I can jump on the bandwagon of ignorant optimism.