I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do!
Guess who got married?!?!
A Cause For Applause
November was a busy month. I celebrated a birthday and a few days prior, I helped celebrate the second anniversary of Capital Cause.
Capital Cause is a Washington, DC based non-profit organization which encourages its members to donate time and money to charitable causes, and members vote to determine which causes the organization will collectively support.
A STAR is born…
Last December, I received great news regarding The Time Value of Life from iUniverse. After receiving the Editor’s Choice Award in 2009, The Time Value of Life received the STAR Award!
The STAR Program “identifies, celebrates, and supports authors who have achieved relatively high levels of editorial and bookselling success. In order to be eligible for the program, books will be evaluated based on two key standards: editorial quality and commercial success.”
It took from December of 2010 until July of this year for me to receive my first copy of the new version of my book. Mostly due to the fact that I insisted upon reading the book dozens of times before finally signing off on the new edition. Take a look at the original cover (below) versus the new one (to your right in the sidebar). A bit of a facelift, and a change of colors to a scheme which coincidentally matches the colors of my alma mater, the University of Delaware.
The original
So, after a few edits, a new cover, a new imprint and now, a new edition of The Time Value of Life, what is next?
Saying “Bye!!!!” to UD
What made this moment a highlight of 2011 was not the fact that it marked my exit from the University of Delaware, it was that I gave my lecture entitled, “Bye!!!!: Tips for Life After UD.”
In creating this lecture, I asked myself a couple of questions:
What are some of the most valuable non-academic lessons you learned while in college? Which lessons would you have preferred to learn while in college instead of after?
A Running Talley of Thanks
As 2011 comes to a close, I have been thinking about some of the most memorable moments of my year. I tried to narrow it down to 11 but there are just too many! I will share what I can over the next few days, in no particular order.
My first memorable moment of 2011 actually stems from a visit to Wilmington, Delaware in the fall of 2010. I had the pleasure of visiting Talley Middle School to speak with several students from the school’s AVID Program. They were a great bunch of kids and even though it has been over a year since my visit, I still remember several of them by name.
Earlier this year, I received a thank you card from the school’s principal, Dr. Richard Carter, along with essays from several students about my visit.
There is more to financial literacy than Wall Street
Last week, I read a MarketWatch post by Paul B. Farrell entitled, “Financial literacy is a big, fat Wall Street hoax.”
As an educator and advocate of financial literacy, I can tell you from first-hand experience the assertion in this article’s title is simply untrue. However, I found plenty of truth in the subtitle, “7 reasons the pros don’t want investors to be savvy.”
If every investor knew and accepted that with Wall Street there are (1) no guarantees, no perfect forecasters and not even a solid history of professionals who “beat the market,” and (2) a plethora of professionals with ever-changing expectations acting upon educated guesses, then what would be the point of paying for certain services of a Wall Street professional?
TVL with Tisa: Recognize Time As A Limited Resource
What happened to TVL with Tisa? A little thing called life.
February’s topic was Chapter 8: Recognize Time As A Limited Resource. I did not interview anyone online, because the first few months of this year gave me more than enough material in real life to remind me (once again) of this truth.
Right around the end of last year, a relative (who had been diagnosed with cancer a while ago) went into the hospital. Within a week or so, he was transferred from the VA to a hospice.
Share the Word About Capital Cause
Last month, I joined Capital Cause a non-profit organization which recruits people to invest their time and money to support worthy causes in the Washington, DC metropolitan area. The cause for 2011 is education, one of my favorites! I took the pledge and I am looking forward to investing with Capital Cause this year.
Recently, Capital Cause became a finalist with K-Mart’s Share the Word campaign, which is a celebration of the work organizations are doing in their city to make their community special. The winner will receive a $1,000 grant and also an expense-paid block party thrown on their behalf and hosted by Steve Harvey.
As the founder and president of a public charity, I understand the importance of grants and donations. A gift of $1,000 can go a long way and in less than a minute of your time, you can help Capital Cause secure this gift. A block party to celebrate the victory and promote community service would be nice, too. 
You can vote every day between now and March 6 by using this link: Vote for Capital Cause.
Remember, an investment in education is a wise one.
Celebrities, Press and Prepaid Plastic
Last month, I decided to write a letter to the editor of The Washington Post in response to an article entitled, “Uncle Sam follows the Kardashians into prepaid card market.”
Prior to reading the article, I had seen several anti-Kardashian headlines (mostly regarding the card) on the web, but after a cursory glance, I decided not to explore the headlines any deeper…until news of the government’s prepaid card pilot program hit my Sunday paper.
There were a couple of points in the article which I wanted to address, the first of which dealt with fees charged by prepaid card providers. The second issue was the bad publicity surrounding the ill-fated ”Kardashian Kard.”
The Post printed my letter, but only the first paragraph. Here is my letter in its entirety, as it was originally submitted:
Closing the Books on 2010: Clear Your Name
I often joke with my college buddies about my undergraduate troubles with the law…meter violations! Between the City of Newark and the University of Delaware’s campus, I probably paid a semester’s worth of tuition in fines. I may be exaggerating a bit, but I ran up a sizeable tab of tickets.
None of them were intentional, they were just a result of poor planning (or no planning at all). I underestimated how much time I would need and on many occasions I had several dollars but not enough quarters. Either way, I had to pay the price for my lack of preparation.
These minor violations can have stiff penalties depending on your location. They may increase or double if left unpaid beyond a certain amount of time. A large balance owed to a municipality could result in your car being booted or impounded, both of which are far more expensive than simply paying a ticket on time.
