Sunday, September 14, 2008
The Road Not Taken - 5:22 PM
The Road Not Taken
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And look down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads onto way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence;
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
Robert Frost [1926]
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And look down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads onto way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence;
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
Robert Frost [1926]
******************
The first time I came across this poem, I was in my last semester at Michigan State... in what is probably the most rigorous class I have ever taken in those 7 semesters. Advanced Marketing, by Dr. Bonnie Knutson an energetic grandmother who serves on the board of the Wharton Performing Center of Arts, works out with a personal trainer, wears clothes that matches her shoes and jewelery, and drives a cool car. A hip person, basically. Instead of a conventional greeting, she introduced herself as Dr. Bonnie, or simply Bonnie. We were watching Dead Poet's Society, a film made in 1988 by the great Robin Williams.
The relevance between the show and the class was Dr. Bonnie's way of telling us how in marketing, crazy is not always bad, and why the norm is not always good. How would you stand out if you were in a marching band, she asked us one day. Why... MARCH IN THE WRONG DIRECTION, OF COURSE!
Obviously we didn't just watch the movie 'for fun', we had to based on the movie, come up with a presentation, in the form of a skit. Alright now.... I hate skits. I don't like to go in front of a class, and ACT. Not an oral one...do something crazy, thats what she said. My group threw ideas around...skits? Thats just .... not me. In the end, we settled for something in between.
The morning of presentation day, we handed out black felt fabric as blindfolds to the entire class. We turned off the lights, and had everyone read Robert Frost's above poem.... each of the readers standing in a different part of the room. Relaying back to the movie, how the young Ethan Hawke was made to read out a poem while wearing a blindfold. By blindfolding our entire class, we figured they would HAVE to listen more intently to our words.
I don't know whether we succeeded that day, but Dr. Bonnie's classes were always deeply memorable. Third day of class, she made us make up our own phrases, something that should be romantic, and turn it to something completely opposite. Something like 'Roses and Red, Violets are Blue, I See You, and I want to Poo' (not kidding, really something like that, the more outrageous the better) and SHARE THEM WITH THE CLASS. It was kind of intimidating, having to shout out silly phrases in class, but it made a fun morning. Next class, she made 6 of us go to the front of the class at each time, gave us a piece of ribbon, two tennis balls, a frisbee and what not, and made us use our imagination and said what that thing could had been. Of course we had to add our own actions. For instance, the ribbon could be a jump rope, and pretend to use it for rope-jumping. In Dr. Bonnie's class, we had to think quick, think crazy, and think NOW.
I came across this poem again today, while reading 'Rich Dad, Poor Dad'. My parents and my uncle have been pushing us kids to read it since forever, but since I (or rather, my parents) were always financially secure... I didn't see a need to. Now?? Oh my how tides have changed.
Fast forward 9 months after Dr. Bonnie's class... I am a working adult. I earn a fixed wage, pay taxes dutifully, put gas in my tank to take me to work, have rent take up a huge portion of my paycheck, and save whatever is left. Oh, what about utilities, bills, insurance, this and that? I am overwhelmed, and pretty much in deep shiet if I don't practise some creative and vigorous budgeting. And let me tell you, it ain't easy because there are always new, shiny things to spend on!
And let me just say another thing I'm very proud of, I haven't had a single manicure since I got here (oh what a difference from when I was in Singapore where bi-weekly manicures and pedicures were considered a necessity such as say, air-conditioning and the internet... and slightly chipped polish was a legal excuse to warrant an A&E trip to the manicurist). I found a beauty supplier store, bought all the stuff I need to give myself a semi-professional pedicure every 2 weeks (uh-hum, I have after all taken classes and have certification to prove it). I may not be able to afford the $25 pedicure and $5 tip, but it does not mean I allow my toes to look like crap. Every impending trip to Target develops into an internal struggle because dammit Target, you sure have some cute things. A trip for shampoo may turn into 'oh yes I'm sure I need this ummm, fish server that I have no use for other than a decoration but looks cute' or 'hey look toilet paper is on sale!'
But luckily, my 2 year old-but-still-going-strong on-sale $50 Aldo bag serves me well for work and Banana Republic is always on sale. I have since departed from my unhealthy eyeshadow habit (15 pans of M.A.C etc), and graduated from my irresponsible and frankly, kind of dumb spending behavior. I save a chunk on food because meals are provided at work and I only have dinner to take care of. And I don't have much recreation expenses because I have no friends so I'm able to save on that. But I hardly say that with pride, I just see it as my compensation to make up for my lack of human companions.
I look in my bank account religiously, and I mean RELIGIOUSLY, peeping to see whether my meager savings have grown. Unfortunately, the pace in which they are growing is nowhere near how often I check my account and I officially earn 7cents in interest a month. WOOPIE. Needless to say, I have been thinking of ways to secure a financial future. And since selling firearms and drugs are dangerous, too risky, and whats that word... ILLEGAL, I need to look somewhere else. Especially since I don't have CPF and my portion of what could had been CPF has become funds for Iraqi civilians. Without my consent of course, but does anyone ever listen to me? Plus I actually had to borrow money to come to Vegas for work. What? You think building home is free hah! Everything needs money, from the floor lamp to the laundry detergent! People invest in working clothes, I had to borrow money to pay for the air ticket which I otherwise wouldn't be able to afford, and for money to buy necessities like a mattress and hangers. I owe my sister $5,000 which I will announce here so she knows I'm committed to returning it to her within the next 8 months and she can come after me if I don't. And I owe a lot to friends and family who donated money and things to me to start a new life and its all because of Uncle's mattress money, Shiyun's dishes, Justina's shower curtain, Peishan's iron, Pa's car and Godparents' TV that am I able to live properly now. Don't worry, I have not forgotten.
I don't know, but this book is a start. I'm on page 5, but I can tell it will be very enlightening. So over the course in which I read this book, I will share some important tips Kiyosaki imparts.
Oh, and if you are wondering, no worries I'm not this money-crazed girl devising plans to make/cheat money to buy bags. Not to be judgmental, but I am not like that. But this, this is important. This is about whether my kids will be able to have piano lessons, go to college, I don't have to fry fries at Mcdonalds when I'm are 90 yrs old (on a second thought, I probably wouldn't mind if they provide meals... but then again I doubt I'll live to 90 with that kind of mentality), and also whether I can retire young and not worry about mortgage. is So, stay tuned for more!
The relevance between the show and the class was Dr. Bonnie's way of telling us how in marketing, crazy is not always bad, and why the norm is not always good. How would you stand out if you were in a marching band, she asked us one day. Why... MARCH IN THE WRONG DIRECTION, OF COURSE!
Obviously we didn't just watch the movie 'for fun', we had to based on the movie, come up with a presentation, in the form of a skit. Alright now.... I hate skits. I don't like to go in front of a class, and ACT. Not an oral one...do something crazy, thats what she said. My group threw ideas around...skits? Thats just .... not me. In the end, we settled for something in between.
The morning of presentation day, we handed out black felt fabric as blindfolds to the entire class. We turned off the lights, and had everyone read Robert Frost's above poem.... each of the readers standing in a different part of the room. Relaying back to the movie, how the young Ethan Hawke was made to read out a poem while wearing a blindfold. By blindfolding our entire class, we figured they would HAVE to listen more intently to our words.
I don't know whether we succeeded that day, but Dr. Bonnie's classes were always deeply memorable. Third day of class, she made us make up our own phrases, something that should be romantic, and turn it to something completely opposite. Something like 'Roses and Red, Violets are Blue, I See You, and I want to Poo' (not kidding, really something like that, the more outrageous the better) and SHARE THEM WITH THE CLASS. It was kind of intimidating, having to shout out silly phrases in class, but it made a fun morning. Next class, she made 6 of us go to the front of the class at each time, gave us a piece of ribbon, two tennis balls, a frisbee and what not, and made us use our imagination and said what that thing could had been. Of course we had to add our own actions. For instance, the ribbon could be a jump rope, and pretend to use it for rope-jumping. In Dr. Bonnie's class, we had to think quick, think crazy, and think NOW.
I came across this poem again today, while reading 'Rich Dad, Poor Dad'. My parents and my uncle have been pushing us kids to read it since forever, but since I (or rather, my parents) were always financially secure... I didn't see a need to. Now?? Oh my how tides have changed.
Fast forward 9 months after Dr. Bonnie's class... I am a working adult. I earn a fixed wage, pay taxes dutifully, put gas in my tank to take me to work, have rent take up a huge portion of my paycheck, and save whatever is left. Oh, what about utilities, bills, insurance, this and that? I am overwhelmed, and pretty much in deep shiet if I don't practise some creative and vigorous budgeting. And let me tell you, it ain't easy because there are always new, shiny things to spend on!
And let me just say another thing I'm very proud of, I haven't had a single manicure since I got here (oh what a difference from when I was in Singapore where bi-weekly manicures and pedicures were considered a necessity such as say, air-conditioning and the internet... and slightly chipped polish was a legal excuse to warrant an A&E trip to the manicurist). I found a beauty supplier store, bought all the stuff I need to give myself a semi-professional pedicure every 2 weeks (uh-hum, I have after all taken classes and have certification to prove it). I may not be able to afford the $25 pedicure and $5 tip, but it does not mean I allow my toes to look like crap. Every impending trip to Target develops into an internal struggle because dammit Target, you sure have some cute things. A trip for shampoo may turn into 'oh yes I'm sure I need this ummm, fish server that I have no use for other than a decoration but looks cute' or 'hey look toilet paper is on sale!'
But luckily, my 2 year old-but-still-going-strong on-sale $50 Aldo bag serves me well for work and Banana Republic is always on sale. I have since departed from my unhealthy eyeshadow habit (15 pans of M.A.C etc), and graduated from my irresponsible and frankly, kind of dumb spending behavior. I save a chunk on food because meals are provided at work and I only have dinner to take care of. And I don't have much recreation expenses because I have no friends so I'm able to save on that. But I hardly say that with pride, I just see it as my compensation to make up for my lack of human companions.
I look in my bank account religiously, and I mean RELIGIOUSLY, peeping to see whether my meager savings have grown. Unfortunately, the pace in which they are growing is nowhere near how often I check my account and I officially earn 7cents in interest a month. WOOPIE. Needless to say, I have been thinking of ways to secure a financial future. And since selling firearms and drugs are dangerous, too risky, and whats that word... ILLEGAL, I need to look somewhere else. Especially since I don't have CPF and my portion of what could had been CPF has become funds for Iraqi civilians. Without my consent of course, but does anyone ever listen to me? Plus I actually had to borrow money to come to Vegas for work. What? You think building home is free hah! Everything needs money, from the floor lamp to the laundry detergent! People invest in working clothes, I had to borrow money to pay for the air ticket which I otherwise wouldn't be able to afford, and for money to buy necessities like a mattress and hangers. I owe my sister $5,000 which I will announce here so she knows I'm committed to returning it to her within the next 8 months and she can come after me if I don't. And I owe a lot to friends and family who donated money and things to me to start a new life and its all because of Uncle's mattress money, Shiyun's dishes, Justina's shower curtain, Peishan's iron, Pa's car and Godparents' TV that am I able to live properly now. Don't worry, I have not forgotten.
I don't know, but this book is a start. I'm on page 5, but I can tell it will be very enlightening. So over the course in which I read this book, I will share some important tips Kiyosaki imparts.
Oh, and if you are wondering, no worries I'm not this money-crazed girl devising plans to make/cheat money to buy bags. Not to be judgmental, but I am not like that. But this, this is important. This is about whether my kids will be able to have piano lessons, go to college, I don't have to fry fries at Mcdonalds when I'm are 90 yrs old (on a second thought, I probably wouldn't mind if they provide meals... but then again I doubt I'll live to 90 with that kind of mentality), and also whether I can retire young and not worry about mortgage. is So, stay tuned for more!
Labels: managing your moolah