Times are tight

yes, the economy blows. prices go up as salaries go down. every month, i live the life of poverty til i make my rent (being a free-lancer can suck at times) which means i go to the market, only buy what's on sale, and attempt to make a meal out of it. sometimes the result is quite good. other times it sucks balls.

as times have grown tighter, i have also begun to eat the stuff in my pantry. i get a mysterious thrill from trying things that are either past their expiration date or have no expiration date at all. i've discovered some stale cookies and crackers, some chocolate that's gone bad, lots of dried seaweed, and heaps of tea. the unfortunate thing about this combination is that it does not yield a meal of any kind. i inevitably have to go to the market and get supplemental groceries which defeats my purpose.

entertainment is also limited when you are frugal. not that i'm a party animal (the last time i did all night karaoke was 3 years ago) but when you are poor (and so are all your friends), it's harder to get together to do things that don't cost money.

in an effort to entertain myself, i've started taking all these online tests: are you normal? no. how romantic are you? not very. are you hot? no. what's your IQ? 136 what's your personality type? ESTJ which basically means i have the personality of Stalin. My friends, run for the hills. my family, i'm sorry, but you're stuck.

i would like to extol you with the virtues of frugality but right now i'm too poor and bored. the only upside i can see is that my house is pretty damn spotless right now. i guess its better than nothing!

we can all blame Bush. not only because he's an asshole but because i truly believe that most of this is HIS FAULT. why can't he just be a quitter like Japanese Prime Ministers? my friend and i went to a cheap conveyer belt sushi joint last week and a lady asked where we were from (cuz we were speaking English). we told her we were from America and this was exactly what she said:

I HATE BUSH.

so i says, "yeah me too."

sushi lady: "no money. i blame Bush. he's very bad."

me: "yes, i think so too. sorry."

sushi lady: "yes, I HATE BUSH."

the poor woman had a bowl of miso soup and two plates of sushi. i think once his presidency is over, Bush will never be able to step foot outside Texas unless he wants his ass severely whooped. by me or sushi lady. but what's left of my money is on her.