Jumpin on the 20sb Blog Carnival* Bandwagon: Friends and Money

How do your friends and others affect your choices regarding money?

Given the fact that I diagnosed my wallet with bulimia shortly before I received an e-mail from the 20sb folks announcing the next Carnival topic, I feel it's only fitting that I weigh (heh) in.

To answer the question straight off the bat - my friends may as well take sole responsibility for the poor health of my bank account. Well, my friends and New York City.

Between $10 deli sandwiches, $7-$10 domestic beers (and I'm not even talkin' the handcrafted, artisanal sort - tangentially, I'm dying to try this SixPoint Dr. Klankenstein brew), $20 brunches, $12 movie tickets, and lord knows whatever other astronomical prices I pay for consumer items, the 'ol wallet is a little ragged.

"Budget! Personal restraint! Savings!" you may say. Ha. Impossible. I've tried. No really, I have. May I present, for your consideration, Exhibit A:

The LP (heterosexual Life Partner):

Hello Loves - I was just glancing over the weather report, and discovered that this very Friday we are going to be treated to one of those marvelously idyllic 85 degree and sunny days in NYC. As such, I do believe we are required to celebrate. And of course, as it’s Friday we are mandated to consume copious amounts of alcohol. Therefore, I propose a drinking celebration at one of this great city’s many outdoor watering holes. Frying Pan… maybe, Berry Park… perhaps, Blockheads… always a crowd pleaser. So let me know if you are willing to take up the charge. Will dream go on to live in infamy or will it die embarrassed and withering in the corner.

Me:

I just blew a ton ‘o cash on plane tickets home. I think I might attempt the impossible this weekend – STAYING IN! Dah dah duuuuhn …. Any who, keep me posted on your imbibing plans just in case. xo

LP:

1. A trip back to Texas = Super exciting

2. Boo for spending lots of money

3. This is not an acceptable excuse to avoid fun for a weekend

a. Do you understand that it is going to be 85 and sunny?

i. Are you going to sit in your apt and cry by yourself all night while watching reruns of the Bachelor?

b. Have I taught you nothing

i. Pre-gaming is basically free

ii. Buy a huge pitcher at the bar and drink all night for like $15

c. Did you read my email

i. It was amazing

ii. I sound like an 18th century lord

4. You do not have a choice.

a. You must attend as referenced in my email.

That is all.

Me:

Dear 18th Century Lord, Where art thou imbibing this splendid summer’s eve?

Regards, Wench #6 (per the order of initial correspondence)

You see - impossible, I say!

Good 'ol Charles Schwab spotted the severity of my financial illness from a mile away. This handy dandy financial fitness check-in tool has proclaimed me unfit to be a responsible 20-something adult (which is funny because I also proclaimed myself responsible in the same post that I discussed the horrid state of my finances).

A 24 I tell you! Not. Good. Ah well, perhaps Chuck can help me sort this out. And if not, at least he has painstakingly focused my attention upon the woeful state of my finances.

Thanks friends. And New York.

*Disclaimer: This post is part of the 20SB Blog Carnival: Friends & Money, sponsored by Charles Schwab. Prizes may be awarded to selected posts. The information and opinions expressed in this post do not reflect the views or opinions of Charles Schwab. Details on the event, eligibility, and a complete list of participating bloggers can be found here.

I can make (terrible) boyfriends in my sleep*

*No, literally. You'd think, then, that I could at least make a decent one in a waking-state of being, but whatevs ...

 

The other weekend, determined to make something out of my Sunday now that we're on brewskeeball hiatus until August, I wandered over to the Strand [the (more awesome) equivalent of Half-Price books for any Austinites reading] and then to Union Square to spend some QT with my purchases, one being:

From some of the brightest, dirtiest, most demented but funny minds in America, "You're a Horrible Person, But I Like You" is a compendium of advice from the producers, writers, and actors of The Office, Saturday Night Live, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Knocked Up, Flight of the Conchords, The Daily Show, Arrested Development, Reno 911!, and The Hangover along with other people who should really never give advice.

While it's funny, I was expecting a bit more ... substance. One can only read so many disjointed one-liners in a row before going cross-eyed and/or losing interest.

I did both, stretched out on the grass in the middle of the square, and promptly fell asleep made the conscious decision that I would rest my eyes for a little-minute.

 

When I came to, there was a guy awkwardly positioned within my proximity. I realize that this is New York City, and that personal space is something we compromise by voluntarily living here (and voluntarily dozing off in the middle of a park ...). But there's definitely an unspoken etiquette governing public space consumption. For instance, a few "rules" that people should follow, but often don't:

1. Walk down the right side of the sidewalk as opposed to the left. Mirroring traffic protocol while walking. It makes life easier for us all - just do it. And most people do, minus the crazies and the tourists gawking upward at the pretty buildings.
2. Side note - while walking and texting isn't as dangerous as driving and texting; I think the former should be illegal, too.
3. Don't lean your back against the entire subway pole. Seriously. There are 5 other people smushed around that pole on the L to Brooklyn who would prefer to remain standing as the train careens its way down the long stretch between 14th and Bedford (or vice versa). Don't be an ass - just a hand will do (TWSS).
4. Similarly, your groceries/gym bag/gigantic man-purse don't need their own seat on the bus or the subway. Put them on your lap or at your feet like a normal person so I can sit my tired ass down.
5. And - the reason for this post - now that Summer is here, and we're all seeking a little piece of grass to call our own for 20 minutes while we escape the heat radiating from the concrete, please be considerate of those already lounging when you choose your perfect spot. This means:
• Not mere inches directly behind/in front of/right next to someone.
• And for the love of all things sacred, if you're going to sit in the "next-to-someone" vicinity, leave a little buffer and maybe try to incorporate a bit of "behind-them" or "in-front-of-them" action as opposed to "parallel-and-might-as-well-be-laying-directly-next-to-them-if-not-on-top-of-them" action.

Back to my lazy day in USQ, imagine my surprise when I opened my eyes to find that I had an admirer who chose the "parallel" position I've just described.

Maybe this is just coincidence, I think to myself.

Wrong.

Clearly (because this is how my life works), he decided to strike up a conversation. Before I could maneuver a hasty exit, he interjected a) that he's from Finland and in town for a month visiting his brother and 2. would I like to go show him around some of the clurrrbs sometime?

Ugh. No.

But maybe I should have stuck around long enough to introduce him to P.C. Richard - they would make a very interesting, incredibly awesome, awkward-duo of inappropriateness.

Listicles

I'm a lists kind of girl. Which is funny, because I'm not the most organized person you'll ever meet. Which is even funnier because I may also qualify as one of the most responsible people you'll ever meet.

That is to say, when it comes to duties and obligations involving others, I'm responsible. (e.g. clean communal kitchen: check. clean room: fail)

The point is, I have lists floating around eeeverywhere. On random scraps of paper in my desk drawers at work, stashed in various drawers/notebookes/nooks and crannies around my room at home. Sometimes I'm able to keep tabs on the same list for a while before it disappears and another begins in its stead. Sometimes being the operative word.

One such example is my and the LP's restaurant/bar/going out list. Simply known as THE LIST. You know how it is - you can never remember that one place you wanted to go whenever people are actually asking you where you want to go ... which is where the trusty iPhone comes in:

I give you, THE LIST.

Items are added to the list as we pass by them on the street, or read about them online, in a magazine or in the paper.  

While this works well for the most part, I've recently realized that there are a number of other gems I stumble across on a regular basis while wandering the Internets that are promptly forgotten (after they're recorded on a random piece of paper, of course).

Sure, most of these get forwarded to Momma J (i.e. the time I told her about the rock martinis at Il Matto -she was so intrigued, that she decided to use rocks from her garden to emulate these cocktails [since I told her I refuse to steal rocks from Il Matto to bring to Texas]. The Momma J specialty edition will be called "TX Tea with a Hint of BDW Pee." Get excited.)

Other "gems" I'd like to make a better effort to remember/share generally include but are not limited to:

• recipes I'd like to try (if I had a fatter wallet* and a larger kitchen)
• books I'd like to read (if I had more time)
• blogs I'd like to visit regularly (when and if I can remember them)
• songs I'd like to download (if only I had working wireless at home)
• clothes/shoes/accessories/miscellaneous Gilt Groupe items I'd like to buy*
• shows I'd like see* (musical, comedy, Broadway or otherwise)
• events I'd like to go to (if I had the time and if I could convince others to tag along)
• etc.

*as you'll see, the 'fatter wallet' clause factors in quite often where the plausibility of my lists is involved

So ... here's my proposition to you, blog err, myself. Once a week, I'll take a moment to roundup all of the things that I'm currently coveting. And I'll share them. Maybe in a list. Maybe not.

But, one day when my wallet beats its bought with anorexia (or I guess it's closer to bulimia - whatever goes in, just comes straight back out - but I digress) I'll have all of these things in one spot instead of scattered throughout oblivion.

As Smaddy says, let's do this.

(Come check back on Fridays if you're interested in the latest things I (usually) want but can't have ... Maybe we can commiserate!)

Insulting my injury (I typed this with one hand)

Yes, that is in fact, a finger. My horribly swollen, disfigured, heinously ugly, sausage-shaped right pointer finger. I'm fairly certain that this is not supposed to happen in co-ed beer league softball.

But it did.

Upon viewing this picture, one of my former teammates from the good 'ol glory days of my professional middle school/high school sports career noted that she'd never seen me with an injury this ugly. Ever. Through broken noses, broken ankles, monster bruises, raspberries from the hardwood, oozy scrapes and scabs from the times that sliders were forgotten beneath gym shorts before running the bases.

And then, she congratulated me on a job well done.

Because every "athlete" knows that success is measured by badass battle wounds.

Not evidenced photographically, however, is the fact that - a mere three to four hours later - my insides felt exactly like that finger looks.

You see, I have stubbornly refused to give up on Tony Romo for reasons unbeknownst to anyone. It's just crazy girl logic - sociologists could devote their entire lives to unravelling the mysteries of crazy girl logic and get abso-fucking-lutely nowhere.

So, being the Crazy Girl Syndrome (CGS) afflicted lady that I am, I subtly confronted Tony Romo about our seemingly abundant amount of chemistry during softball-related functions, and lack thereof outside of the softball-league-universe. In the nicest, least crazy way I possibly could, mind you.

And, in the words of Cher Horowitz, was brutally rebuffed.

And, in the spirit of CGS, cried my way home for 60 blocks in the back of a cab.

While battle wounds may be badass in the world of competitive sports, the inverse is true when it comes to the dating game.

In sports, the uglier the better. The more pain, the more euphoria in recounting the details of the wound. People eat that shit up. And you're branded a rockstar.

In love, the uglier the details, the less likely you'll receive any title befitting awesomeness - wounds equate failure and not success. And all you'll have are insides as broken as that finger pictured above.

But the good news is, the finger is slowly becoming less puffy and swollen, and so are the insides.

Which is helpful, because while there are other (better) Tony Romos out there, these are the only insides I've got.

When no news is bad news.

Whoever says “no news is good news” is obviously just an obnoxious, overly cheerful, asshole of an optimist that needs to quit calling the glass half-full instead of half-empty before I grab that glass from their (most likely) well-manicured hands in order to dump it directly upon their head.

Optimism can suck it – I’ve been loyal to it for years with nothing to show for it – kind of like how I imagine Mets fans must feel.

Yes, I’m talking about the “situation,” and no, not the one from the Jersey Shore.

To expound, there once was a boy that hit it off with a girl. Seemingly. Things changed (e.g. no news from the boy), girl moved on. Later down the line, boy (half-heartedly?) tried to re-connect with girl. Seemingly. Things changed.

Repeat cycle.

Too vague? How about this: the allegorical Tony Romo of posts-past has been put on the disabled list.

I mean, this is all hypothetical of course ... Right.

Anyway, I’m going to go ahead and contradict everything I just wrote because, apparently, the saying can sometimes be true.

Like for instance, when you get a text message from that guy that sold you an AC unit at PC Richard who wants to be your new boyfriend - this one qualifies as an instance where no news would have been good news:

I know. You don’t have to say it. You totally envy my dating life. It's cool - you can have it.