After doing practical things with my money like investing, donating to charities and following my dreams, there a so many things that I would buy with a million dollars:

1.) a whole new wardrobe with five more outfits and a subscription to the dry cleaners.

2.) a car... maybe one of these:


(hatchback storage FTW!)

or maybe a chauffeur... that would be awesome

3.) a house:



or/and



4.) a nice lot to put it on.

5.) a thousand copies of my first book to sell.

6.) a dog



or maybe some dog(s)



7.) a personal assistant?


so long as I didn't have to remember anything.

8.) possibly a cat...



... a hypoallergenic rescue cat?



Okay, so maybe not.

9.) an audible.com subscription...


10.) a trip to some exotic tropical island...



Which... probably wouldn't be covered by a million dollars... maybe a couple million dollars...

So, what about you? IF all the charities and future investments in your life were taken care of, what random stuff with you buy? (I'd love to see you links, too)

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Petfinder is having a thing on cats. You see, cats are a big problem in rescueland. Kittens pour into shelters every year, but adopting them out is rather difficult. People are also less likely to spay and neuter their cats, which just exacerbates the problem. In honor of that, petfinder is making a push to adopt out more cats:

http://www.petfinder.com/pet-adoption/cat-adoption/iamacatparent-gallery-proud-cat-dads/#image-1

I like cats, alright. I mean, if I have a cat loving kid, I think it wouldn't be too hard to twist my arm on that front (guinea pigs, rabbits and tarantulas are a different story. Those are, 'if my roommate happens to have them I'm not going to freak' pets). Cats like me. Its one of those weird things I've always been secretly proud of, you know... like being proud of being able to sing the ABCs backward or still being able to lift your leg over your head. I am afraid I am susceptible to the flattery which prompts cat owners to tell me, "He doesn't do that with... anyone." Although, just like saying the ABCs backwards, getting cats to like you isn't really that big of a deal. You let them sniff you and then you pet them. When they're not fun to pet anymore, they don't want to be pet. It's symbiotic.

Anyway: PSA, consider a cat. Especially if you have a camera. Then you should video your cat doing ridiculous things, because that's what cats are funny... no matter what this PSA says:

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Now, in the second millennium, we are seeing a world in flux. While, as it is founded on the innovation of man, we can say that we are responsible for the face of it, for many, it is as if the rug has been torn out beneath them and they are set adrift. We are seeing a shrinking middle class and the difference between the money made by the richest of our country and the poorest of our country is widening. This is not the first time that our technology has changed our world. The industrial revolution marked the beginning of an era, an era that marked the rise of the machine. Like today, many people resisted the changes as cold and dehumanizing, and once the machine was here, people mourned the passage of the hand-made articles of the past.

Then something switched. We stopped mourning the hand-cobbled shoes and the hand-sewn dresses, but realized that we missed the people and the place that they had in society. The merchant class had been obliterated, the middle-man of the middle-class take out to improve productivity, and that middle class man needed to find a new niche. Hence, the rise of the service commodity. It was no longer what a person could sell that made him/her valuable, it was the care that they took with you, the way they could help you find your way in the maze of bulk processed merchandise, it was that human touch. Marketed as such, the middle class road on the coat-tails of these salesmen for the past century, something which could mark a partial metamorphosis of the middle class.

Then came the age of the computer. Again, our machines were being taught to take over the very tasks that the middle class had become accustom to providing services for. Self-checkout machines eliminated many of the lower education, entry level positions and then it started to encroach on other fields. Computers started to compile and assimilate information. Informational professionals of all kinds started to lose their jobs: map makers, booksellers, librarians, were all under fire. However, these professions have not diminished, but as in the industrial age before it, they have become more human.

Going forward, I am not sure what I see. I think we will need more shepherds for our flocks of machines, that is certain. Where the engineer was the king of the industrial age, the computer engineer and the computer scientist will be the king of the information age. The rest of us must make a decision. Either we rise up and make engineers of ourselves, or we drift downwards and open our hands to the world, allowing ourselves to become more human than ever before and thus retaining our inherent value.

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That is why we need God
Because we are dreams trapped in clay jars
And what a terror that must be
Not just to know that you are trapped
But that someday you will be freed.

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So, I did my first race, yesterday. It was a lot of fun. I think... for the first ten minutes or so I might've been thinking "Dear God, what have I done," but then my treadmill training (and the long downhill part) kicked in and I was wide awake feeling great, feeling perfect in every way. We clocked in around 35 minutes... which is not great, but not terrible. A lot of people were coming in through the finish line after us. I think I might do another one. It was... a fun, run.

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I have been listening to Cat Stevens, again. By some kind of fluke, Amazon gave me the MP3s and I've been playing them while I get back into design. When I was in Elementary school, I used to listen to Cat Stevens all the time. I think I had half of his songs memorized. It's startling, because (and I know it sounds corny), but I really feel as though his music really shaped how I think. Anyway, some lyrics.

Moonshadow -

Yes, I'm being followed by a moonshadow
Moonshadow, moonshadow
Leaping and hopping on a moonshadow
Moonshadow, moonshadow

And if I ever lose my hands
Lose my plow, lose my land
Oh, if I ever lose my hands
Oh, if - I won't have to work no more

And if I ever lose my eyes
If my colors all run dry
Yes, if I ever lose my eyes
Oh, if - I won't have to cry no more

Yes, I'm being followed by a moonshadow
Moonshadow, moonshadow
Leaping and hopping on a moonshadow
Moonshadow, moonshadow

And if I ever lose my legs
I won't moan, and I won't beg
Oh, if I ever lose my legs
Oh, if - I won't have to walk no more

And if I ever lose my mouth
All my teeth, north and south
Yes, if I ever lose my mouth
Oh, if - I won't have to talk-

Did it take long to find me?
I ask the faithful light
Oh, did it take long to find me?
And, are you going to stay the night?

I'm being followed by a moonshadow
Moonshadow, moonshadow
Leaping and hopping on a moonshadow
Moonshadow, moonshadow

Moonshadow, moonshadow
Moonshadow, moonshadow

Oh Very Young-

Oh very young
What will you leave us this time?
You're only dancing on this earth for a short while
And though your dreams may toss and turn you now
They will vanish away like your daddy's best jeans
Denim blue fading up to the sky

And though you want them to last forever
You know they never will
You know they never will
And the patches make the goodbye harder still

Oh very young
What will you leave us this time?
There'll never be a better chance to change your mind
And if you want this world to see a better day
Will you carry the words of love with you?
Will you ride the great white bird into heaven?

And though you want to last forever
You know you never will
You know you never will
And the goodbye makes the journey harder still

Will you carry the words of love with you?
Goodbye, goodbye, goodbye

Oh very young
What will you leave us this time?
You're only dancing on this earth for a short while
Oh very young
What will you leave us this time?

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