describe today in one word

kablooey

economic stimulus checks

has everybody decided how they're going to spend theirs? i'm torn between applying the money to some debt (boring), saving the money for general purpose, saving the money specifically for a new laptop for when i likely start grad school in the fall (also sorta boring), or buying something semi-frivolous (new digital camera?). any suggestions, ideas, or plans of your own?

the irs website has information on the rebates, including a calculator to see how much you'll get (really only deviates from $600 single/$1200 married for people who make over $75K or didn't file taxes or something) based on your 2007 tax return.

it also has a schedule of when the payments are expected to go out. they're basing it off the last 2 digits of your social security number. seems random, but as good a way as any to me. it will also depend on if you filed your taxes requesting direct deposit or a paper check. mine's scheduled for may 9, which is fine by me. time to start spending it in my head!

walk score

the walk score website was linked on freakonomics today. it only takes a second, and is worth checking out. i plugged in a few addresses to see how walkable a few familiar places are. the website calculates how far you live from destinations you'll likely need (grocery store, restaurants, movie theatre, schools, libraries, and so on), and give you a score from 0-100. the idea is that it's good for your health and for the environment to live in a place with a higher walk score. the site even encourages realtors to post the walk score on their listings.

my current address is a 77, which according to their website is "very walkable," meaning that it's possible to get by without owning a car. i think this is quite true. heath and i can easily walk to the grocery store, movies, restaurants, the lakefront, bars, etc, and when the weather is good, we do. in 12 inches of snow, however, we usually end up driving.

i also got the score for the house i grew up in, and it was a lowly 9! that's considered "driving only," which means that there are virtually no neighborhood destinations within walking range. ouch! but not surprising if you've ever been out there. however, there's definitely something to be said for the solitude and quiet of living in a "driving only" area that counters at least a portion of the convenience of being able to walk to the coffee shop. the house heath grew up in got a 20, which is better than 9, but still considered "driving only." gibson's and that bright blue thrift store must've really bumped the score up! ;)

current home

my childhood home

amazing

been awhile, i know. things have been crazy busy at work and otherwise, but i'm hanging in there. i got an email from my uncle dan last week and finally got around to checking out the links he sent. i was so blown away by this that i thought i'd post and share. too often you see diva-types or other annoyances on talent shows, so this was utterly refreshing.

instapaper

okay, i've been super duper busy. i can barely find time to even SCAN by google reader feeds, let alone actually read the entries of interest. but lo and behold a miracle! after you register (basically enter your email address), instapaper (free!) allows you to add a little button to your bookmarks toolbar. you just click the button when you are on a page you want to read later, and it saves it to your instapaper. you log back into instapaper and read the articles like your own custom newspaper. i love the little bit of it i've seen and it seems to work quickly and easily. this way, if i see something i want to read but am too busy at work, i can save it to instapaper and read it when i get home or whenever i have time. this way i don't have to clog up my bookmarks, which is what i've been doing up until now (not a good approach).

mmm

i could SO go for a cadbury creme egg right now...