Whoops again!

I forgot to post Saturday. I guess I need to upload some more excerpts from my bankruptcy memoir. I also need to work on that, but I'm intent on getting my erotic romance novel done. Plus I'm going to school and working, so obviously, I need a schedule and some willpower!

Music For Free

The library is a great resource, and here in Fort Wayne, our library is awesome! In addition to books, and books on tape/CD, there are movies and music. I recently checked out Pet Sounds, the Beach Boys "epic" album. I ripped it to my computer. I mainly wanted it for the songs "Wouldn't it be Nice" and "God Only Knows." No one can harmonize like the Beach Boys. I plan to listen to the entire album eventually.

I also checked out Adele's 21. The only song I really like from that CD is "Rumor Has It."

I also got Smashmouth's Astrolounge. I really enjoy music from the 90s, as that was a very pleasant time in my life. It brings back good memories. I was fairly happy, I was able to travel, I had friends to do stuff with, and it seemed there was always something to look forward to. My niece and nephew were young and I took them to do stuff, and both my parents were alive. Things in general seemed more mellowed out and happy and optimistic.

So, if you want music for free, borrow the CDs from the library and rip them to your computer. As broke as I am, I can't afford to buy a CD every time I hear a song on the radio that I like. Thanks to the record industry, for the last 20 years or so, if you heard a song on the radio, you had to buy the CD (priced anywhere from $10 to $20, depending where you bought it). I bought a CD just to get that song, "Standing Outside a Broken Phone Booth with Money in My Hand", and the rest of the CD wasn't worth it. Imagine how you'd feel paying $15 for ONE SONG. That CD is what stopped me from buying CDs from new artists. And then we had Napster and now we have iTunes and Allen County Public Library cardholders can download three free songs a week from Freegal.

So if you're poor, or a Recovering Bankrupt like me, check out your local library. You'll be glad you did!

An Excerpt from My Book

I've decided to upload excerpts of my bankruptcy memoir. It's not done, this is just what I have so far. So enjoy!

Disclaimer

This is a book about my time spent in Chapter 13 bankruptcy. However, it is not a how to declare bankruptcy book. State laws vary, so the situations I talk about in this book may or may not apply to you. The poverty and scraping by will, so pay attention to those parts.

If you are curious about what it's like to be in Chapter 13 bankruptcy, this book IS for you. Bankruptcy is a word that gets thrown around frequently. People are close to it, teetering on the edge, or have been through it, but no matter how you've come to it, people feel ashamed to have to declare it. I was no different. I declared bankruptcy to save the little I had. And to perhaps salvage something for the future. I had fucked up, and I wanted to make amends. Considering I don't even make $30,000 a year working three jobs, it was certain that it would have taken me a looooooong time to pay off the more than $100,000 I had in debt. If, by some miracle, I had been able to pay it off, I would have been much older, and have had nothing saved for the future. But since I probably won't be able to retire, one can argue I should have paid my debt off anyway. Having known an older couple who did just that, and then went out and bought a home costing more than $100,000 right around the age they should have been retiring, I'm glad I declared bankruptcy when I did. There is no way I want to be 75 years old and have to work retail in order to survive. (Which is what that older couple is doing—the wife is 65, her husband is 75.)