Okay, I’ll admit it. I am a fan of the reality show/singing competition, “American Idol.” I have been watching it for years, back to the days when Simon Cowell, who everyone loved to hate because he was so frank (and sometimes just plain mean), Paula Abdul (who was too gushy and nice) and Randy Jackson were the judges. Why do I watch it? Because I love seeing a 15-year-old girl with raw talent, who has never performed outside of singing in the shower, bring the judges to their knees. Or, a kid from Texas whose singing is so good, it makes you cry. And, I love how the show makes me laugh and brings a little sunshine to this “gray” time in our lives with the pandemic and so much political division in our country.
I love to tell amusing stories from my travels – using the wrong words, making a silly assumption, putting my foot in my mouth or complaining about the heat, the number of steps, or the choice of hotel on a holiday. These anecdotes make readers smile, chuckle, remember a similar “fish out of water” experience they themselves had while traveling.
Going into the pandemic in March 2020, many investors (rightfully) questioned whether our national economy would be able to recover. As humans, we are designed with a fight or flight instinct that has preserved our species for thousands of years of recorded history. When it comes to investing, resisting this natural survival instinct is paramount to being successful over the long term.
During the last week of January, the price of the GameStop Corporation stock increased from $20/share to nearly $350/share. The GameStop business model was thought to be in trouble as video game purchases moved online. According to the data collection company, Statista, about 83% of video game purchases are currently made online, compared to 20% in 2009.
When it comes to snacking, I am always looking for three things: crunchy, filling and delicious. One of my favorites: roasted chickpeas. A great plant-based source of protein, they are also high in fiber, an excellent source of folate and vitamins B and C, and they contain potassium and calcium among other minerals. Whether savory or sweet, once you get them all brown and crispy with your favorite seasonings, what’s not to love?
Many people have taken to the great outdoors during the pandemic to relieve boredom: walking, ice skating, snow-shoeing, sledding, building a snowman or just getting a dose of fresh air during these trying times. And while winter is not my favorite season, I like to bundle up and take a walk on a sunny but cold winter day.
The farther away I get from my days of traveling abroad, the more I have come to appreciate one aspect of my holidays more than any other. It’s not the beaches, though I definitely long for warm sunlight and rolling waves. It’s not the sight of palaces, carved stone and preserved marble to admire. It’s not even the variety of local dishes that we dearly miss – fresh seafood, freshly made pasta, paella, or a glamorous high tea served with sparkling champagne.
If you are among the legions of Valentine’s Day haters, you will be happy to know that this highly-commercialized, ooey-gooey, annual celebration of hearts and flowers didn’t exactly start out as a love fest.
Between March 2020 and January 2021, the price of a Bitcoin skyrocketed from $6,000 to $40,000. This leads to the question of whether Bitcoin is a “bubble” like the dot com stocks were in the late 1990s and the housing market was in the mid-2000s. It is hard to identify a bubble; just because an asset’s price sharply rises does not mean there is currently a bubble.
As I write this, we are just a few days from the inauguration of President Biden and ushering forth the Biden-Harris administration. To say that the past two months have been interesting, politically, would be an understatement. I had hoped that this election would be a landslide (one way or the other) to give us a feel for our country’s temperament; unfortunately, like the election of 2016, it seems to have further driven the wedge of division. As always, I will keep the new administration in my prayers as they attempt to unite our country.
Whether it’s using that rice that’s hiding in the back of the cupboard, the bag of garden-fresh tomatoes in the freezer or the carefully canned dilly green beans, now is the time to use the produce you put up for winter or bought extra at the beginning of quarantine.
