Improve Your Life: Vampire Hands Over Vampire Weekend

I really love the band Vampire Hands; Vampire Weekend? Not so much. Vampire Hands' latest album is called Me and You Cherry Red. "Safe Word" and "No Fun" are by far the best tracks on this album, and man are they good. Vampire Hands is a local band (Origin: Minneapolis, MN), and they have a wonderful raw and dirty, bluesy rock going on. Overall the sound is a bit more fun than the Black Keys, not to mention a bit more full (bass is included). My friend recently made a movie called Bits, and Vampire Hands' music was also in the movie--score! The band played at the movie opening and it was rad as hell.

Vampire Weekend and Vampire Hands don't have a lot in common, besides the fact that they are both actual rock bands--pretty hard to come by now-a-days. Anywhoo, Vampire Weekend seems to hang on by their teeth to Paul Simon's legacy (sorry). Besides the opening rift in A-Punk, I'm really not into their novelty (indie prep), or their style and subject of their songs. Please, please, check out Vampire Hands--you won't be disappointed!

Mixed Feelings: Warren Buffet

I really have mixed feelings about Warren Buffett. As a fellow midwesterner, I relate to his modest lifestyle and conservative investment advice, but as of late I came upon some disturbing information information relating to him and his granddaughter. His granddaughter Nicole was recently disowned from the Buffet Family, which you can read more about here. The world in which she lived (Warren's), was fanatical about frugality and the only expenses that Warren Buffet covered for his grandchildren were their college tuition. When Nicole appeared in Jamie Johnson's film Born Rich, Warren ceased to recognize her as part of the family. As of now, Nicole makes money from the sale of her art and works at a clothing boutique to supplement her income. She no longer can afford cable and health insurance and this leads me to think that while a man who is larger-than-life like Warren Buffet still has a long way to go in the acceptance department, I hope he finds what he is looking for--if not love for his family.

Warren Buffet's Omaha abode:

Book Review: America's Cheapest Family

This book is all about the Economidies family who have managed to raise a five person household with one income for almost their entire adult lives. The extraordinary thing is that this income happens to only be around $35,000-40,000 a year. What this book does is detail the lengths they go to maintain their high standard of living on such a low salary. What I find most inspiring about their story is the one income part. Sometimes I imagine what it would be like to be a stay-at-home mother, but I inevitably think that the downsides would outweigh the benefits; not to mention that I want my husband and I to have a good head-start on saving for retirement.



The specifics of "America's Cheapest Family" deal with their budgeting system, which is the key to how to manage to afford everything they need. Every expense is tracked and a certain amount is allocated to every category each payday. This family saves the most money at the grocery store and by buying their clothing and such at thrift stores. A site that I like to go to to get money-saving ideas is Money Saving Mom. Just this week from this site I scored a free sandwich from Quiznos and a free Redbox movie--just to name a few.

After reading "America's Cheapest Family" I decided not to implement their budgeting system because I already save enough money and I don't want to feel like I'm on a "budgeting diet" for no reason. I do pick up this book for inspiration from time-to-time, and I think they have a lot of good tips for people who don't check the prices when they go grocery shopping or spend too much money on clothes.

Free Business Cards

Last week I attended a student auditing convention and picked up a few job-searching tips. Ah, the eternal question of how to stand out from the crowd while still being completely conventional. Here's one tip: Make your own business card. It really doesn't matter that you don't have a job, title, or anything else to prove your credibility with, but a business card may be just the ticket for you! The presenter's tip was to get a free business card from Vistaprint.com (shipping is not free) and put on it your name, school, major, and contact information. I ordered by 250 free cards a few weeks ago (shipping was around $5). The intended use of these is to hand one to the person interviewing you at the end of the interview. Will it help them remember you? Perhaps. Will it hurt your efforts to get hired? Not bloody likely (unless you have a typo on said business card). Good luck fellow Grad, No Jobs!

Justice David Souter: Old-Fashioned Thrift

I had never known very much about David Souter until he announced his retirement from the Supreme Court. His actions and lifestyle are from a bygone era of continual personal improvement, unwavering thrift, and a private life without any frills. His appointment was controversial as he was considered a victory for the republicans, but ended up being an Justice with unpredictable leanings. If his life had been examined at all by his backers, they would have realized that he was a conservative in the old Eastern tradition, not the modern Texas tradition of George H.W. Bush.


David Souter is a bachelor, which helps in the simplicity department, but the only home he has ever owned is his rustic family homestead in rural New Hampshire. While working in D.C. Souter lived in a sparce apartment and ate only yogurt and an apple for lunch every day. Because of his thrift, and a shrewd investment in a bank, he was one of the wealthiest members on the bench of the Supreme Court.

This brings to mind the perennial plea of Justice Roberts to raise the salary of the Supreme Court Justices that wavers around the $200,000 mark. This salary, of course, is in addition to a lifetime appointment and a very generous pension. In light of Souter's thrift, however, Robert's request for a standard of living adjustment seems a little absurd.

P.S. Doesn't Souter in the above picture resemble Bud Court in Harold and Maude?

Your town may be F***-Up

My significant other is a very qualified job candidate. He earned his college degree in the town we currently live in, and he grew up here as well. It also doesn't hurt that he knows a few people around town and generally has a good reputation. On top of this, he also has more than a year of experience in his field and also has a few professional certifications. The only problem is, we are led to believe that something is wrong because people in our town do not follow polite employment procedure.


My SO has applied to about three relevant positions in our area during the past six months and has not even gotten a call/email/or letter that he has been excluded from getting an interview, etc. He has followed proper protocol in following up on appliations and the like, but it has gotten to the point where the town, and possibly the recession are to blame. Our question is, who could possibly be more qualified in the area (over-confident? we think not.), is more willing to accept an entry-level positions (if there are indeed more qualified applicants), and has a more significant connection to the area than he? Conclusion? This town is f****-Up. We are talking a town here; not a big city.



Last week I had the opportunity to attend a conference the field I am hoping to enter (accounting and auditing). I only handed out two resumes because I thought they would could lost in a sea of resumes and I wouldn't stand out. Well, yesterday, lo-and-behold, I received an email (without any follow-up on my part), for further information in order to be considered for an internship! Yes. One more reason why our town is f***-Up. The plan now is for my SO to apply to jobs in the more metropolitan area of our state and hope for the best. Ta ta.

Grad No Job: Jewish Rosaries plus Art

One of my dream jobs is to make art in my house and sell it on the internet. Recently on the internet I stumbled upon a graduate from my alma mater who is doing just that. Her name is Carlen Altman and she lives in Brooklyn, New York. Her product is a necklace in the style of a Catholic rosary with the crosses replaced with Stars of Davids and the like. The style is Brooklyn Jewish hipster (or not), and the manner in which her product took off was when her necklace was photographed around the neck of model Agyness Deyn. On the side Carlen is also a comedian and also does random other art projects on the side when she's not assembling Jewish rosaries. How to accomplish this feat, you ask? A few steps to consider.

1.) The Idea
Is your artsy idea practically made in the confines of your home? Can the design be efficiently made? Is there a niche for what you're selling? Are there already multiple sellers of the same object on Etsy or Ebay?

2.) The Business
Are you willing to make your enterprise legit? Are you willing to advertise and get your name out there in the sake of your art? Will you make a profit?

3.) The Execution
This part is up to you, unfortunately.

Choose Your Own Adventure Story

This news article is about a local young man who lost his life on an Alaskan backpacking trip. His life centered around learning and travel. It is truly unfortunate the outcome of this young man's life, but he seemed to have lived a full life, despite the brevity of his time on earth.

As someone who lives near the headwaters to the Mississippi, every once in a while there is a story about someone trying to charter the entire Mississip. Here's the latest.