2001-11-12
i'm a grown-up?, posted at 11:59 a.m.
Epiphany in Baltimore has moved to epiphanyinbaltimore.blogspot.com So, today I officially signed up for a 401-B. I said I had done it before, but today it makes it official. $146 (tax-free) of my money every pay period will now be invested in a diversified stock portfolio. Yes, I even know what a diversified stock portfolio is, at least for the most part (10% of it will go to way-conservative bonds, 30% of it will go to somewhat risky small-company stocks, and 60% will go to fairly conservative large-company stocks). It will cost me about $99 from every pay period, which I can handle. It will probably help curtail some of the extraneous spending I tend to partake in.If all works out, then I could be a millionaire by the time I am 55. There is not much risk involved.
I feel very grown up right now. I am thinking actually planning ahead and thinking about retirement. Yay for me.
On the other hand, I'm feeling quite overburdened with my old debt - the $7K in credit card bills, the $20K in student loans. But I was talking with my financial planner (I have a financial planner!) and he says I can get out of it, that I should call the credit card and ask to settle.
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Okay, so with Megan's message in my guestbook, I pretty much am convinced that I should go ahead and show Dead Poet's Society to my sophomores. I think I can get away with it, since it heavily showcases both Thoreau and Whitman, and we just got done studying both. Now, I just have to think about what to do with my freshmen. We're finishing up To Kill a Mockingbird and starting Their Eyes Were Watching God, so I was trying to think of a film that matched either of those - something they could write a compare/contrast essay on. I was thinking about pairing A Time to Kill with Mockingbird, but I just looked it up on imdb.com and it's rated "R." Plus, I don't think it's that great of a movie (based on my memories from seeing it four or five years ago)- the kids could probably problemetize it a little while they compare it to Mockingbird, but I'm not that confident they can do it with a sub here and not me. Still, I think the film offers a neat comparison (racially charged courtroom trial in the South, idealistic white lawyer fighting the good fight, the time period difference). The R rating probably excludes it all the way. So... any other ideas?
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My 5/6 period cracks me up. They have me wrapped around their collective little finger. They're good kids. They asked me today if I taught English 3, and said they're gonna recommend me to teach it. I hope it's not just cuz they think I'm easy. I only gave out 9 A's in my three class (90 kids or so) in my grades that I finally got turned in today, so I hope that isn't it.
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I missed Suzanne Vega's performance near here. What a bummer. The woman only tours once every few years, and * missed it. Ugh. Lisa Loeb is in town tonight, or at least the next town over, but I don't think I can make it... I'm still feeling kinda sick, and Thursday's concert probably is enough for one week.