2001-05-31 | 10:56 p.m.

corduroy licorice had a hard time filling his grandpa's shoes. grandpa licorice had once been an NBA hopeful and wore sneakers the size of an SUV.

***

life, she is a funny thing.

since my return from maui, i've been rethinking my way of life. i've been rethinking my financial plans. i've been thinking about how so many people live out their lives in front of inane television shows, eating at so-so chain restaurants and shopping for things they don't need.

life, she is a short thing.

i don't want to waste a moment. i don't want to be retired with time and money to do cool stuff, but without the physical ability to get out and do cool stuff.

life, she is a plaything.

so many people follow a set pattern...go to school, get a good job, buy a home and car(s), start a family, go to amusement parks for a self-contained good time, upgrade to a bigger house and better cars, get a second mortgage to put a pool and gazebo in the backyard.

i'm starting to think of the vacation value of things i buy. purchasing that vanity fair to read about j-lo means $5 less for my next trip. do i really need to plop down $3 for a latte? do i really need that spiffy new halter top for $18? by the way, unlike that blonde chiquita in the old navy(?) commercial, i don't live for a good halter top. however, i have lived to shop. i accumulate things like a museum curator on speed. i look around my apartment and realize how much stuff i have that i don't use or need. i gotta cool my jets, man. realign my priorities. put my money where my airline ticket is.

my credit card debt is my biggest downfall. if i think about it too much, i get blue about my spending missteps. i've decided to think of paying off my credit card debt as if i was paying off a college loan from the school of hardknocks.

i've also started thinking of new ways i could get more financial freedom...marrying a rich dude, for starters (heheh), maybe writing the script i've been thinking of for years and selling it for six figures. good plan, aye? then there's the lottery...that's probably the most realistic option of the three.

so yeah, my brain's been a'working on how to change my lifestyle to open my world. taste the earth and such.

ironically, i got a link from a friend for an article on theonion.com that played off the very things swirling around my cerebral cortex of late. it made me laugh outloud. so since this entry has been lacking in the chuckle department (and you know how i love to make you laugh), here is the onion piece for your amusement.

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