New Hampshire – Home
A couple of weeks ago we made it home from South America.
It was the best of times. It was the worst of times. With apologies to Mr. Dickens.
While I’ve been meaning to resume posting here it always seems to take me a while to re-engage. Writing is hard work for me. Plus returning from a trip means wading thru phone messages, mail and emails (I don’t travel with a laptop or smart phone. Don’t own either in fact.)
If you’ve posted a comment or asked a question on the blog while I was gone, take a look. I’ve responded to all those now. If you are just curious, on the left side of the blog, below the list of posts, you’ll find links to the recent comments. BTW, some of the best stuff is in the comments.
I’ve also managed to catch up on some of my favorite blogs and have even taken time to comment on a couple of their recent posts:
Mr. MM Like me, Mr. MM was also on vacation this summer. Unlike me, he carted along his laptop (which as you all now know, I don’t own) and continued to post. Making me look bad. 🙂
Quite a few readers migrate over here from MMM and I’ve noticed jlcollinsnh has been the topic on a couple of the discussion forums there:
http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/forum/ask-a-mustachian/any-post-fi-blogs-out-there/
On this one, gestalt162 does a nice job of clarifying some of my points — so thank you sir. Let me just add, while I would prefer to be a renter now, I am not saying one should never own a home. As a careful reading of my piece shows. But run the numbers as I show you. Most often, they will show owning is the more expensive option. But not always and not in all places. And that’s fine if that’s how you want to spend your money. But do it with your eyes open.
Here’s some more mentions if you care: http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/forum/search2/
ERE Great site and, BTW, Jacob over there even tipped me my for my post: stocks-part-vii-can-everyone-really-retire-a-millionaire? Of course I have no idea how to collect this tip, but the acknowledgment from a blogger of his calibre is enough.
Lacking Ambition Superbly written by a recent law school graduate, entrepreneur and real estate mogul. Lacking ambition, indeed.
Street Smart Finance Shilpan is a brilliant guy who’s actually walked the walk. The rare times I disagree with him makes me sit back reassess what I think I know.
Renewable Wealth In his blogroll, in which Sean is kind enough to include jlcollinsnh, he mentions we met over a disagreement on MMM. I don’t recall that, but I have learned he’s a guy worth reading.
I do recall disagreeing with Dividend Mantra. Still do. Basically I don’t believe we can constantly pick winning individual stocks. He does. That doesn’t keep me from reading and learning from him and, if you’re going to try that path, you should to. His approach is thoughtful, careful and though. You’ll need all those to stand a chance. But please, read this first: http://jlcollinsnh.wordpress.com/2011/12/27/dividend-growth-investing/
101 centavos Ranges wildly and never fails to capture my imagination.
Wine and Work combines travel and wine, two of my favorite things. In this post, Tom tracks down and educates me on a little Peruvian wine we discovered a few weeks back in Arequipa. I’ve never been famous on a wine blog before! 🙂
As if all those weren’t enough distraction, my local library also had several requested books waiting upon my return. Reading them has provided a further excuse to avoid writing.
Given my interests, I was really looking forward to this one. Mostly a disappointment and I found myself skimming large parts. Maybe I’m the wrong audience, but better and clearer info is available elsewhere. Still, Ramit has done a great job of marketing himself and he’s sold a ton of books. If I ever get mine done…
This is another that was recommended on one of the blogs I follow and no disappointment here. I’m only sorry I can’t remember where to offer my thanks. It is an engaging discussion of the usefulness of having a philosophy of life and why that of the Stoics is worth consideration. Many would say it is a little late in life for me, but everyone should take a bit of time to think about how to live their life and why. Seems I stumbled upon Stoicism along the way. So this is filling in some blanks and assuring me that if indeed I’m crazy, so were some pretty smart Greeks and Romans. Oh, and Stoicism isn’t what I thought it was. Might not be what you think it is either.
Boris Johnson is the mayor of London, known for his quick wit in the British fashion, and, as it happens, a very entertaining writer. Life of London is the city’s history told in chronological order with vignettes of the key people, places and things that made the place the city it is today; starting with Boudica. No, I didn’t know who she was either. But now I can tell you there were a lot of Romans at the time who came to wish they didn’t either. As another Johnson (Samuel) once said: “when a man is tired of London, he is tired of life.” Boris tells the story as to why.
Writing is tough work. At least I find it so. As such I am always intrigued when authors seem to go out of their way to make it tougher. Like when a male author presents his novel in the first person voice of his female narrator. This is the story of Karen Hollander, who at the pinnacle of a brilliant career steps away from consideration for a nomination to the Supreme Court. That she would be one year older than I and she recounts growing up in Wilmette, the same Chicago suburb as did I, makes this one especially fun for me. But it’s also a page-turning story that would hold my attention anyway. Anderson has a great ear for the attitudes and beliefs across generations. And genders.
So there are my excuses and some options to maybe keep you entertained. Later.