Jana Says

Living life from cover to cover

Money Tune Tuesday: Subdivisions

by Jana 7 Comments

I grew up on Long Island. Long Island, while set underneath the glowing lights of Manhattan (and downwind from the smells of Staten Island), was nothing but a boring pit of dissatisfaction. More than anything, I wanted to leave my town and move on to bigger and better things (which happened, of course, when I moved to Delaware. How’s that for ambition?). As a teenager, I was immersed in all of the typical suburban teenage feeling of loneliness, isolation, boredom, sadness and angst.

I was also a teenager during the time of Nirvana. I distinctly remember the impact that Smells Like Teen Spirit had on my friends and I remember the atmosphere in the halls of my high school the day we found out Kurt Cobain had committed suicide. And while I knew it was sad, and significant, I really wasn’t impacted all that much. Because I identified with different music. I identified with Rush.

For some reason, Rush’s music spoke to me in ways that other music didn’t. When I heard their song Subdivisions, I had found the song that completely encompassed how I felt about where I lived. What interesting is that the song’s lyrics still resonate with me, not so much because I’m full of teenage angst and sadness but because they’re just that good. What I like about this song is that it reminds me of where I came from, where I am, where I want to be and all the things that fall in between.

While today’s Money Tune is not so much about money as it is about hopes, dreams, discontent and the power that those have over our lives.  I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

http://youtu.be/Lu9Ycq64Gy4

Money Tune Tuesday: Livin’ On a Prayer

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I’ve tried to avoid posting this song as much as possible. Living near New Jersey and Philly, and being in my thirties, I have had my fill of this song. More than my fill. In fact, I have heard this song so much that if I never hear it again, I still will not be able to forget it. I will be 80 years old, still humming along to Bon Jovi’s Livin’ On a Prayer.

But try as I mightl to avoid it, I had a conversation at the Financial Blogger Conference this past weekend and there was no way I wasn’t sharing it (at least it’s not Don’t Stop Believing, right?).

And for the record, Runaway and Bad Medicine are far superior.

Money Shuffle: FinCon11 edition

by Jana 9 Comments

This past weekend was the Financial Blogger Conference. I wish I were articulate enough to convey how astonishingly amazing was but since I’m not, I’ll express it in song. Which is why I now present Money Shuffle: FinCon edition.

The rules are the same: put my iPod on shuffle, get the first 5 songs and relate a story or recap an event. The story can relate to only the title; it does not have to relate to the subject matter of the song. In today’s round, the focus is on the conference. Let’s get started.

The Approaching Curve by Rise Against. I think it’s interesting that this was the first song that came up because it really encompasses what I feel was one of the general themes of the conference. Financial bloggers really are changing the way that people look at money and I think that in a few years, we’re going to be the standard. We are the approaching curve.

Pulling Mussels (From the Shell) by Squeeze. In my opinion, one of the purposes of the conference was to get us, as bloggers, to extract the best parts of ourselves and put it into our blogs. On another and slightly opposite note, I thought that since we’re all a bunch of writers who are very comfortable behind a computer (and working without pants), and I’m also painfully shy, it would be hard to pull conversations out of each other. So not the case.

Mama I’m Coming Home by Ozzy Osbourne. I actually did not think this was going to happen. My flight, originally scheduled to take off at 1:50, did not actually leave the ground until somewhere around 6. Then I had to wait for my luggage which really didn’t need to be checked but the airline staff panicked and thought there wouldn’t be enough room on the plane for the carry-ons but clearly they need their eyes checked because they have problems assessing spacial concepts. Then there was the 1/2 hour it took to find my car (another story for another day) plus the 1/2 hour drive home, not including stopping at Wawa for a much needed sandwich. Also, neighbor, when you’re watching my kid, can you please not drink Miller Lite? Thanks.

Gives You Hell by The All-American Rejects. So, yeah. I could probably talk about the amount of alcohol that I consumed that gave me a hell of a hangover. But instead, I’ll talk about the speakers that gave me hells of ideas (not sure if this is a phrase but I’m going with it) and Phil @ PT Money who organized a hell of a conference and the up and coming Money Bitches (or Bitches of Finance. The name is pending) who are going to give your money hell. Related: If you’d like to be a Bitch, we’re taking applications.

Safety Dance by the cast of Glee (originally by Men Without Hats). So this is absolutely my most favorite performance from all 3 seasons of Glee and I love that it’s in this edition of Money Shuffle. Because I? Got to meet some of my most favorite bloggers. Also, the party on Saturday night was full of dancing. Financial bloggers? Have rhythm (sort of. I can neither confirm nor deny that alcohol may have been involved).

Bonus song: What Will You Do With a B.A. in English? from Avenue Q. I think the title says it all.

Thanks for playing this round of Money Shuffle. I can’t wait for Money Shuffle: FinCon12 edition!

Money Tune Tuesday: Simple Man

by Jana 12 Comments

Decrease your possessions. Increase your own self-sufficiency by gardening and sewing. Become satisfied with needs instead of wants. Focus on what’s important instead of the material. All of these are components of voluntary simplicity.  Website, books, online forums, blogs–voluntary simplicity has become its own industry. But there was a song, written in 1973, that extols the virtues of simple living long before it became mainstream lexicon. That song? Lynyrd Skynyrd’s Simple Man. Which happens to be today’s money tune.

I wanted to include Shinedown’s version which is, hands down, one of the best covers I have ever heard (even better than Steel Panther’s cover of Don’t Stop Believin’ or Tesla’s cover of Signs, which actually happens to be one of my all-time favorite songs). But sometimes you just have to go with the original.

My favorite lyric? Is this:

“Forget your lust, for the rich man’s gold,

All that you need, is in your soul”

Money Tune Tuesday: If You’re Going Through Hell

by Jana 17 Comments

It’s no secret that the last few years have been hard, financially, on a lot of people. People have struggled with unemployment, hunger, homelessness and poverty that are fairly staggering.

It’s also no secret that every day, millions of people are going through they’re own struggles that have nothing to do with money. Whether it’s loss or grief or depression or illness or infertility or infidelity, these struggles are just as hard as having little to no money.

These difficulties create emotional, spiritual, physical, and mental crises. Sometimes it takes the power of a song to help relieve that stress, even for a few moments. Which is why I’m presenting Rodney Atkins’s If You’re Going Through Hell as today’s money tune.

When I first heard this song a few years ago, it stuck with me. A rocker at heart, I don’t take to country music easily. But over the years I have turned to this song many times to help get me through some pretty dark periods and it’s since become one of my favorites. I hope you like it, too (also, he’s pretty nice look at):

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