Thoughts About The Hobbit

I woke up today absolutely elated because the very first thing we did this morning was watch The Hobbit, and it was totally something I was looking forward to.  It lived up to my expectations.  Then I came home and heard about the shooting in Connecticut, and that kind of killed my awesomely good mood.  I couldn't deal with much of anything after hearing about that.

But after going into hiding for much of the day, I'm trying to piece back together some sense of normalcy.  I'm going to go ahead and talk about The Hobbit, not to be insensitive to the families in Connecticut...but because it hurts too much, and too many have already spoken about it, and I know I for one need a respite on the Internet away from that conversation.

So, um, The Hobbit!  I'm not going to write a real review -- my brain is too frazzled! -- so I'm just going to spew thoughts out into the ether.  There will be some spoilers.  Tread at your own risk, and feel free to comment!

• The Hobbit is kind of a filmmaker's nightmare.  The book is not structured properly for film at ALL, and the tone is so light and tongue-in-cheek (but at the same time so dark).  Jackson was reluctant to make it at all, and I totally understand that, but oh man am I glad they did it.  Personally I think three movies isn't quite the right way to approach the story -- I think a six-episode miniseries would've been just about right -- but I think it's better than trying to cram everything into one big movie.  
• I LOVE that it's so lore-heavy.  Love, love, love.  The LOTR geek in me is delighted to see all of these little bits and nods and fan service.  I think the primary audience of The Hobbit is "People who loved LOTR," so that seems appropriate.  I doubt that a lot of people are going to the movie who have never heard of/enjoyed the films before.  I mean, it'd be awesome if a whole generation of kids fell in love with The Hobbit from these movies the way I did the old animated one, but I don't think that's necessarily going to happen.  
• I need this soundtrack, post-haste.  I have all three LOTR film scores, and they taught me so much about music.  Weird, but true.  Also, it filled me with an inexpressible amount of joy that the "That's What Bilbo Baggins Hates" song makes an appearance.  
• Dwarves have never been so sexy.  Like, seriously, omg.  Not only do I have an enormous crush on Thorin (who is DELICIOUS, oh my god, those smoldering eyes!), but Fili and Kili are also super attractive.  My "inability to be attracted to men without facial hair" is reaching new heights.  (And did I mention Thorin's smoldering eyes?) 
• Radagast the Brown!  One of my favorite characters from the books, I was glad they found a place for him in the movie.  He's weird and off-kilter and adorable and I wanted to cuddle him.  Even if the CGI animals looked kind of dumb, but I think that might have had more to do with the heightened framerate than anything else. 
• Is there anyone on this earth who is more of a hobbit than Martin Freeman?  Absolutely perfect.  
• All the monsters are so lovingly crafted.  The trolls are hilarious and personable.  The Goblin King is AWESOME.  I didn't like the wargs so much, and it seems that the eagles have probably lost their sentience, but I guess that fits in with the world that was already built.  

The thing I've always loved most about Tolkien -- the thing that makes him stand out and makes his books truly classic -- is his ability to capture scope.  Here was a writer that understood that huge changes take a long time to happen, but they are powerful and inevitable and little people get swept up in things that are so much bigger than them.  I don't know if any writer before or after has ever been able to truly capture the essence of "Small, normal people getting pulled into a world so much bigger than themselves" as well as Tolkien.  There's a lot of that happening in The Hobbit movie.  The Hobbit as a book is largely told from Bilbo's perspective -- a narrow, small, hobbit-sized perspective.  The film has a larger scope because it's showing us the details of the bigger world...a world that soon will be the source of an epic quest and battle against the apocalypse.  But I think it works.  

Problem Solving Strategies from my Mom

Here's the first installment of what I hope to make a regular feature of the blog:  Critical Thinking Thursdays.

I was very fortunate to receive an excellent education.  I was home-schooled, and the curriculum came from Calvert, a top-notch private school in Baltimore.  When I went to college, I realized that I was better-prepared than most of my peers.  In large part, this is because Calvert's curriculum was focused largely on teaching critical thinking and problem-solving skills.  Instead of teaching us what to think, Calvert taught us how to think for ourselves.  And that's a skill that I noticed was sorely lacking in public school for the few years I did attend (three years of high school -- I graduated early).

Anyway.  Lack of critical thinking skills doesn't mean you're stupid.  It just means that you haven't been taught how to do it.  So I'm going to share some of the wisdom I have on the topic every week, hopefully, and maybe it'll make a difference in somebody's life.

Problem Solving Skills (As Taught By My Mother)

One of the very first things my mom taught me was how to approach problems logically and calmly.  I don't remember when we first learned this particular skill, but I was quite young -- so young that I hadn't yet learned the scientific method, which made it particularly delightful when I later discovered that the two processes were very similar. 

1. Step One:  Whose Problem is it?  This is a crucial first step.  Before you get worked up over something, ask yourself, "Is this my problem?  Is this something I can affect?"  If it's not -- if the problem is something that only someone else can solve or that doesn't actually affect you, don't even waste your time worrying about it.  For example: Your friend is having an argument with her boyfriend.  It's not your job to solve that problem.  You may want to offer a supportive ear, a couch to sleep on, or some advice -- but solving the problem is not actually your responsibility, and you shouldn't waste time trying to do so because you will only get frustrated.  Let it go.  
2. Step Two:  What, exactly, IS the problem?  Think through this carefully.  Write it down if you have to.  Figure out exactly what the issue is and why it's bothering you.  Dig beneath the surface.  Your emotional response to something may not be logical, but a logical event may be underlying it.  For example: Your husband fails to take out the trash in time for trash collection, and you get angry.  Are you angry because you now have smelly trash in your garage for another week?  Or are you angry because you asked him to do it and he didn't, so you feel disrespected?  Is it both?  
3. Step Three:  Brainstorm possible solutions to the problem.  Think up as many solutions as you can.  Some of them will be ridiculous, but that's fine.  It helps to write them all down.  If you're upset because the trash is in the garage, there are some solutions:  Take the trash to the dump yourself; put the trash somewhere you can't smell it; buy an odor-locking trash can; clandestinely dump the trash in someone else's dumpster.  If you're feeling hurt because your husband disrespected you:  Talk to your husband about your feelings; ignore him until you stop being angry; punish him in some way.  
4. Step Four:  Choose the appropriate solution.  After you've brainstormed all of your solutions, figure out which one is the best.  Maybe you just don't go into the garage this week, or maybe you send dear hubby out to the dump to get rid of the offending trash.  Whatever seems like the most reasonable, simple solution -- go with that one.  
5. Step Five:  Assemble any necessary materials to implement the solution.  Sometimes solving a problem seems insurmountable because you don't have the tools necessary to handle it.  Taking the trash to the dump can seem impossible if you don't have a car -- but do you have a friend who could take you?  Could you bribe them with beer and cookies?  Talking to your husband can seem impossible if you don't know what to say -- but would it be easier if you wrote it out first? Maybe you could email him all of the points you want to make so he'll have a primer before you start talking.  
6. Step Six:  Implement your solution.  Now that you have the materials you need and a plan for solving your problem, solve the problem.  Dispose of the trash.  Talk to your husband.  
7. Step Seven:  Did that solve the problem?  Look at the situation and see if you are satisfied with the solution.  If you only threw away the trash but didn't confront your husband, do you still feel angry?  Maybe the problem has multiple aspects that all need to be dealt with.  Repeat steps 1-6 as many times as necessary until your problem has been solved.  
8. Step Eight:  Plan for the future.  After you've solved the problem, brainstorm some ways to prevent it from happening again.  Put sticky notes on your husband's computer, or make him buy a whiteboard so he can keep track of his chores.  Store your trash in a way that won't be disastrous if it doesn't get picked up.  Start taking the trash out yourself.  Hire a neighbor kid to take your trash out for you.  Dump your husband and marry a trash collector.  Whatever -- it doesn't matter.  The important thing is that you take an active role in preventing the problem from happening again.  

And there you are, kids.  An eight-step problem-solving strategy.  As you gain more experience, you will be able to implement these steps without having to think too much about them -- they'll become second nature.  The important part is to remove your emotional response from the logical aspect.  Recognize that, yes, you're upset, and that's OK.  But being upset won't solve the problem.  Let yourself feel it, then let it go -- and work on fixing your problems.  

Updates From the Land of Scrap and Nonconsumption

The Great Scrap Metal Experiment is going well, although it did experience a brief hiccup after David decided to sell most of his bulkier items to another professional here in our neighborhood.  He felt bad hoarding the big items because the other guy is doing this for a living/sole support of his family.  I grumbled at him about it, but honestly he's probably right to be sticking to electronics instead.  They're easier to store, for one.  

Anyway, he has several jars of various types of metals sitting on his work table.  At the moment, he's dissecting a pair of blown-out computer speakers.  I'd always wondered what the inside of a speaker looked like (the answer: a big magnet and a whole crap-ton of copper).  He also picked up a bunch of brass fixtures from the thrift store that are either being scrapped as-is or repurposed into...something.  I've been trying to explain to him that "found object" and "upcycled" jewelry and sculpture and whatnot really is a thing.  He didn't believe me, so I had to drag him over to Etsy and Pinterest and show him.  That was fairly mind-blowing.  

I got him a few jewelry-making materials (clasps, cord) so he can practice and see if he likes doing it.  I'm pretty excited to see what he comes up with. 

Anyway, the other benefit of scrapping is that we get all kinds of very cool free and totally functional stuff.  We've also lucked out with some really awesome Goodwill and Craigslist finds recently.  Here's some of the stuff we've gotten:  

• A free CRT big-screen TV that was abandoned when its old owner moved away.  The screen flickers a bit when you turn it on, so the cathode ray tube is on its last legs, but for a huge free TV, it's pretty awesome.  
• Two laser-jet printers with cartridges.  We actually had about six printers at one point but downsized to these.  These were also free, and once we manage to get them plugged in (they're a bit bulky and thus won't fit on the computer desk, so we need a longer cord to connect them or find a way to do it wirelessly) they'll be awesome because we'll be able to print coupons/specials.  
• A couple of free lamps -- one for the floor, one for the bedside.  I especially LOVE the bedside lamp because it means I can curl up in bed and read without having to get back up to turn off the light.  It's also really pretty -- the lampshade is stained glass and it casts gorgeous colors all across the ceiling and walls.  
• An extremely cool-looking brass lantern that David found in the trash.  It needs to be cleaned up a bit,  but it's not broken or anything.  There's some talk about sprucing it up into an art piece.  His plans for it are very cute, so I'll hold off until he does it so I can show some pictures ;) 
• Several free computers.  They weren't very good computers, and mostly we've gutted them to sell for parts.  The last of them is in the living room waiting to either be re-sold as-is or gutted.  
• A nice gaming computer picked up off Craigslist for $250.  This thing came with a wireless keyboard & mouse and the graphics card alone is worth about $100.  The computer itself would be worth at least $500 if you bought it from a store.  
• A lovely pair of speakers for $5 at the Goodwill.  These things are worth about $25 retail and they work great.  It's nice to be able to actually hear things on my computer for the first time in months.  
• I got $10 in gift cards to Amazon from Swagbucks, which I used to fund the purchase of a few new e-books to read on my salvaged Android :) 

I'm probably missing some stuff, but those were the highlights I've been most pleased with.  It's so cool seeing what you can get for nothing or next-to-nothing when you're willing to wait instead of running out to buy something right away.  

Black Friday and a Time to Give Thanks

I hope everybody had an excellent Thanksgiving and is enjoying the start of an awesome long weekend!  David and I had a great, quiet holiday.  We went and spent the day with his cousin and her husband, who just recently got released from the hospital after a devastating car accident; it was so nice to just hang out and swap stories and have a relaxing holiday with a few very cool people. 

When we got home, we somehow ended up being invited over to our neighbor's Thanksgiving party.  This would be strange enough on its own, but it's also important to understand that my neighborhood is 95% Latino and my neighbors speak only a little bit of English.  I speak a little bit of Spanish, but I haven't had the occasion to use it in about six years and my vocabulary is pretty limited.  Still, I made a valiant attempt, and they all seemed to find that incredibly endearing, so they invited us to a birthday party on Saturday.  I suspect I may be part of the tamale assembly line by Christmas. 

Anyway.  That was fun and magical and reminded me of one of the things I really, really love about living in "the ghetto" here in Austin: the sense of community and friendliness.

So now that Thanksgiving has come and gone, today of course is America's favorite consumerist holiday: Black Friday.  Needless to say, we're not participating.  We never did, even when we were still buying things, and I don't foresee that changing much in the future.  Tomorrow, however, is Small Business Saturday, and if I were buying things, I might be more tempted to partake in that. 

On that topic, I found this interesting blog post about the moral dilemma of "buying local" vs "buying American" and how the two often do not intersect.  Being a conscious consumer is harder than it might look at first glance. 

So -- how 'bout you guys?  Any fun Thanksgiving anecdotes to share?  Did you try any Black Friday adventures or stay cozy at home? 

Are You Missing Hostess Yet?

I'll save the in-depth discussion of Hostess Company's long-awaited demise for people who are better-equipped to provide that opinion, but I will say this:  Every time I hear the phrase "union greed," my eye starts to twitch. 

I admit to being both passionate and biased on the topic.  I'm fourth-generation in a union family.  My great-grandfather, grandfather, father and brother were/are all union workers, and my grandfather was even named for Eugene Debs. 

Anyway, I can't say I'm exactly sad about the end of Hostess.  They are certainly an iconic American brand, but that's  not necessarily something to be proud of -- not something to strive for, if you follow me. 

Besides, how can the Nonconsumerist support a food with so many ridiculous ingredients that it takes an entire book to deconstruct the recipe?

Nevertheless, if you're really aching for a little taste of Americana, I've got your back.  Here are some recipes for homemade Hostess products.  These are made with real food (or at least approximations of real food) and are available any time you like, and I guarantee they're way better than the over-processed efforts of underpaid factory workers. 

Homemade Hostess Recipes Listing 

• Homemade Twinkies recipe from Instructables.  Twinkies are essentially pound cake with a cream filling.  This recipe uses hydrogenated vegetable oil for the filling, just like the Hostess brand; the result will be very authentic but not necessarily healthy.  If you'd like a more real-foods approach, substitute it with sweetened whipped cream.  
• Homemade Little Debbie Oatmeal Cream Cookies.  These were my personal favorite Hostess product.  These use marshmallow cream and shortening in the filling.  I'm willing to bet you could sub out nearly anything in the filling; the real trick is making a soft, chewy oatmeal cookie. 
• Homemade Hostess Cupcake.  This is David's personal favorite Hostess product.  As an extra bonus, this recipe looks positively delicious and does not use Crisco, which I count as two major benefits.  
• Homemade Hostess Snowballs.  These give me fond memories of eating out of the vending machine at work on days I forgot to pack a lunch.  Chocolate cake filled with fluffy cream and rolled in coconut -- is there anything better?  (or, y'know, more packed with calories)
• Homemade Moon Pies. These were never as popular as the others, but they're a popular Southern treat (and this recipe looks positively amazing). 

Did I miss one of your favorites?  Let me know and I'll track down the recipe.  Better yet, when I get some free time, I'll hit the kitchen and experiment with some real-foods recipes evoking the heart and soul of these snack foods without partially hydrogenated anything.  Until then, happy snacking. 

The Undeserving Poor

The "Welfare Queen", courtesy of MemeGenerator

Allow me a moment on my soapbox, here. 

So, I've been eagerly following Strike Debt's Rolling Jubilee movement.  In just a few days, they've already abolished $5 million in debt and counting.  That's huge.  And I can only imagine what might happen once the people whose debts have been relieved learn what happened and begin paying it forward. 

The unfortunate thing, though, is as I eagerly read more updates and follow the news, I see a whole lot of nastiness spewed all over the Internet.  It ranges from the polite, "I think this is good for some people, but what about the ones who were irresponsible and just bought a lot of unnecessary junk on their credit cards?" to the rather nasty, "If people are too stupid to know how to pay their debts, they don't deserve help." 

This notion of the "undeserving poor" really upsets me.  It's the same as the (equally upsetting) complaints about the "welfare queens" or those people who have shiny new cars and iPhones but buy food with food stamps.  It's ridiculous.  Yes, some people are probably gaming the system.  I won't deny that: Some people are jerks.  But the vast majority of people aren't, and if you took a moment to get to know them you would understand that.

"If You're Poor, Why Are You Wasting Money?"

But here's something in particular I wanted to touch on.  One comment I read recently really struck a chord.  It was from someone who use to work in a check cashing place in a convenience store, and he was saying how he used to see the same poor people coming in every week to cash their paychecks, then waste that money on lottery tickets, cigarettes and beer.

I've seen a lot of people point out that same thing -- people who are broke spending their money on frivolous things -- and use that as a defense for why those people don't need anything.  So let me just take a moment to explain why that happens, and why the "If they're so stupid, fuck 'em" attitude just doesn't work.

"I Need to Use This Money While I Still Have It." 

When you're broke, saving money is next to impossible.  Payday is the only time of the week when you know for sure that you'll have money.  For a few, ephemeral moments, you have purchasing power.  Soon, that will all go away because the money will be eaten up not just by bills, but by debts -- sometimes debts that have already gone sour, have already destroyed your credit and you've been carrying like a rotten albatross for years.  Worse, that money may get eaten up by overdraft charges.  

When I used to work for Petsmart and made a pretty stunning $150 a week  (if I wasn't getting my hours cut), I would sometimes lose whole paychecks to overdraft fees.  Thanks to the way Bank of America would process its transactions, you could end up earning $35 fees on several transactions all back to back even if you'd only really gone over your balance by a couple dollars on one single purchase.  They've since been sued for that, by the way.  Anyway, I finally ended up canceling my bank account and lived on a prepaid debit card for a while -- but the feeling of "If I don't spend this on something right away, it will be taken from me" is hard to get rid of. 

That's the first thing people who have never been poor need to understand, because it may not be intuitive.  If you give someone $5 and say, "Either you can spend that $5 now or hold onto it for a year and I'll give you $100 if you still have it," the obvious responsible choice is to hold onto that $5.  But when you're poor, the answer is often like, "If you still have that $5 in a year, I'll give you $100, but I might also punch you in the gut and take your $5 away at any time randomly throughout the year and there is nothing you can do to stop me." 

"I Deserve to be Happy Sometimes, Right?"

Here's what it comes down to, the single greatest difference between people who live paycheck to paycheck and people with low incomes who never get into financial trouble:  Hope. 

Well, hope, and also education.  If you don't know how to get out of debt, no amount of hope will help you.  But even if you know all the steps, even if you know exactly how to get out of the situation you're in, that knowledge isn't going to help you if you don't genuinely feel, in your heart, that things are going to get better. 

For a poor person, the odds of winning the lottery might seem pretty similar to the odds of paying off debts and achieving financial security: In other words, not fucking likely.  If that's the case, why not just buy the lottery ticket? 

For a poor person, the choice between "Have something right now that will make me feel better about my life instead of taking a chance that I will lose everything to some stupid charge later" doesn't seem too hard.  Instant gratification is, well, gratifying.  Especially when you combine instant gratification with addictive substances -- nicotine, alcohol, cocaine, fast food. 

A Gift of Hope

But if these people are given hope -- real, genuine hope for the future -- maybe it will help to undo some of that self-destructive skepticism.  If they can start to believe, "If I set this money aside, nothing bad will happen to it.  In a year, I really will have $100," then they can finally start making some changes in their lives. 


One of my goals here at the Nonconsumerist is to provide education and real, usable tips that can help people achieve some financial freedom -- or at least financial breathing room.  But all of that education in the world won't do a damn thing if the people who need it most don't believe that life can get better.  And it's especially hard to tell people that life can get better if you're simultaneously telling people, "You're lazy and stupid and worthless." 

When people are already without hope, is it really fair to take away their dignity? 

Rolling Jubilee: Real Answers for Real Problems

A friend linked me to Rolling Jubilee, a social movement that essentially crowd-funds debt relief for people who need it.  Not only does it have a rather cheerful-sounding moniker, this extension of the Occupy movement is actually taking steps to help real people, which automatically makes it pretty awesome in my book.

So, first off:  What exactly is it doing, and how does it work? 

When you have unsecured debt (like a credit card) that goes unpaid, the original lending agency will try to collect that money from you.  Meanwhile, they'll be reporting you to the credit bureaus.  After a few failed attempts to collect the debt, they'll sell your account to an outside debt collection agency (aka, "Collections"), who will badger the hell out of you until you pay them some money.  

Now, here's a few important things to know about collection agencies: 

• They bought your debt for a few cents on the dollar along with multiple other debts.  They can then buy and sell those same debts to other collection agencies. 
• The reason why the debts are bought and sold for a low price is because they assume that they won't get much, if any, of the money back.  
• The longer the collection agency tries to get the money from you, the more it will continue to affect your credit.  This ends when the owner of your debt reports the account either paid or forgiven.  
• Because collection agencies make their sole profits by convincing you to pay them money, they can get really nasty.  Really, really nasty.  They'll call you at odd hours.  They'll threaten you.  They'll demoralize you.  They'll be, in short, really really nasty. 
• If the debt is high enough, they'll take you to court.  For amounts under $1,500 or so, they usually won't bother -- but for large sums, you can bet you'll be served with papers some day.  

So, how does this Rolling Jubilee thing work?  

Pretty simple:  The group buys up debts -- in bulk, just like a collection agency would -- and then makes them go away.  The debts stop being reported to the credit bureaus, you stop getting harassing phone calls, you stop needing to pay for things.  Of course, your credit is still going to be damaged from the time it did spend in default, but at least you won't be continuing to pay off defaulted bad debt for a bazillion years.  

Why this is Really, Really Cool

In an ideal world, of course, people would pay off their own debts -- or never go into debt in the first place -- and these bail-outs would be unnecessary.  In the real world, though, sometimes life sucks, and sometimes it's not your fault.  Let me give you a real-life example from my own finances:  

I used to have a part-time job with insurance, which was a blessing considering how rarely that happens. I made about $600 a month and was living with a couple of roommates. I got very, very sick -- a sinus infection with a 105 fever that caused hallucinations, among other things -- and went to the urgent care. I gave them my insurance card and paid the co-pay on the back of the card. The doctor them prescribed me some drugs which I couldn't afford (no prescription coverage), so I took the only prescription I could afford (antibiotics) and crawled home. So imagine my surprise when, several weeks later, I get a letter from the insurance company informing me that the urgent care visit wasn't actually covered and I owed them $300. Remember, at the time, that was half a month's wages for me. That was my entire share of rent. And, no, they wouldn't take payments. (The worst part of this? If I'd been uninsured, the visit would've cost me just $25 thanks to the policies of the urgent care facility.)

 So what do I do at that point?  Do I borrow money from someone to cover for it?  What if nobody can pay for it?  Do I take out more debt to pay for it?  Do I skip out on rent?  Stop paying my utilities?

The truth of the matter is that for many people, living paycheck to paycheck is a reality, and emergencies -- even emergencies that cost as little as $300 -- can be completely devastating.  When people think of debt, they often think of some irresponsible kid running out and buying a bunch of pricey electronics on a credit card, but the truth is a lot more nuanced than that.

Here's the other reason helping people out of debt is a good idea.  People who are struggling to pay off debts can't buy other things.  That means they can't, say, use that money to buy from a local small business.  They can't invest use it to buy a better car to commute to work.  They can't use it to buy materials or capital for a new business.  In other words, they can't use their money to help stimulate the economy.  They're still paying off purchases (or education, or unexpected medical expenses, or whatever) from years ago -- and that hurts every single other person in the economy who doesn't get to benefit from the money they could otherwise be spending.

Where Are They Getting the Money for This?

They accept donations from private consumers who want to hand over their cash for the cause.  They don't make a profit on this, they don't take a cut from the top, and they're all volunteers.  They're just crowd-funding debt relief for anonymous people.  This means that if you dislike the idea or are against it...well, you don't have to give them any money.  Yay!  Think of it sort of like every time a project you think is really dumb goes up on Kickstarter: Other people might fund it, but you can happily ignore its very existence and get on with your life.  

As an added bonus of this Rolling Jubilee, you may even find your defaulted debts paid off for you even if you're not involved -- because the debts are bought in bulk off the open market.  Happy holidays.