Zopa Oct 31, 2006
Zopa is another peer-to-peer lending website offering online loans to online people.  It's pretty similar to Prosper in that it enables humans to lend money to other humans without the need for a bank or other lending institution.  CNN's Business 2.0 wrote an article a few weeks ago calling Zopa one of 11 major "disruptors" in the world today.  It disrupts the huge profit margin made by banks by competing with their 19% interest rates for credit cards and their 2% interest rates for savings accounts.  The average interest rate for Zopa loans is around 7%, making it a nicer investment than a CD (for lenders) and a better rate than a credit card or bank (for borrowers).  The main problem I see with it is that it's probably not as reliable or trustworthy as a bank that's been around for 100 years and has billions of dollars of assets and is FDIC insured.  Their FAQs give a little insight as to how the company is currently being regulated and what would happen if the company failed.  It offers a little comfort, but I'm still a little skeptical.  Awesome idea though, and I'd be much more willing to participate if I had more money to throw around and if I heard from people who've used the service successfully in the past. 

This is a sponsored post. #money
Scattered Oct 31, 2006
Sometimes when I'm writing things here, I feel very mentally scattered.  I usually have some idea of what I'd like to write about, and I usually have two or three points that support the idea.  But sometimes the points don't all make sense or relate to the main idea, and other times I can't quite get the points organized in a coherent way.  So I either end up writing things down in an almost stream-of-consciousness spill, or I toy with wordings and organization for hours before finally settling for mediocrity.  Even writing this post has proven to be a pretty laborious process.  It's weird how some things just come out so naturally, whereas others require more thought and effort.  Most times, if a post takes more than a few minutes to write, it exponentially reduces in quality until the point where I click "Publish" just so I can move onto something else.  And if I happen to get distracted in the middle of writing (it's virtually impossible for me to not get distracted), it usually makes the writing process even more difficult.  I usually get pretty scattered with planned posting. #psychology
Halloween Oct 31, 2006
By far, my favorite thing about Halloween is watching kids and animals paraded around like little circus acts.  I think it's hilarious.  I'm sure the folks in PETA might be against some of the stuff on Cute Overload and Stuff On My Cat (such as cat lizard, cat Superman, cat Snow White, cat lobster, dog Batman, collection of dogs, dog Superman, dog bus), but I'm a huge fan.  I wish I had a pet that was ok with wearing costumes.  Whenever I try to put anything on Dilbert or Nemo, they collapse like a magical switch just turned off their motor skills. 

All babies are required to go through a series of embarrassing costume endeavors, most of which consist of being a baby animal for Halloween, a baby animal for Christmas, a baby animal for Easter or some other spring holiday, and the classic "passed out next to an empty beer bottle" for any holiday not previously covered.  I was just at ShopRite and saw a mom with her daughter dressed as a little lady bug.  As I was driving to work this morning, I saw a bunch of kids in their costumes getting on the bus to go to school.  I'm amazed at the quality and ingenuity of costumes these days.  My parents never bought us Halloween costumes.  We always wore some combination of random garments found in the attic.  Every year, at least one of us was some sort of bum or other related oversized-unmatching-old-clothing gig.  The kids these days really have it made.  Stores like Walmart have a huge selection of all kinds of costumes, ranging from classic superheroes to ghosts and dead things.  It's great to see parents acting out their childhood wishes with their children or pets.  When I have kids, I'll do the same.  Tis the reason for the season. #sociology
WordPress 2.0.5 Oct 31, 2006
I upgraded to WordPress 2.0.5 and installed Mark's plugin.  This new version follows the same pattern as last time:  It comes out while I'm on vacation (this time in California; last time in Washington).  Clutter Free now works wonderfully. #technology
Pumpkin candy Oct 31, 2006
Brach's Mellowcreme Pumpkins are my favorite candy.  Unfortunately, they only come out during Halloween season, so I've been getting my fill for the past few weeks. 

#food