I've actually spent a little money on lottery tickets, even though I know I've a better chance of being struck by lightning than actually winning. (Though I've still a better chance of winning than ever going out on a date again.) (I actually won something like $500.00 once.) Always the rule is to take the single lump sum. The 50% that goes to taxes all at once will be less over time than if you play games with trickling it out. After that, 50% -- 75% goes to setting up endowments at the colleges I've received degrees from. Enough of the remainder goes into a conservative, interest bearing fund that I can live on, and the rest into a charitable foundation that I can fool around with as time and tide permit. Having been born and raised totally bougie, the temptation to give away money to family is non-existent. (I despise those people in any case.)
On the other hand, if it was a fairly modest sum, fixing up the house would be the priority. Getting the lawyers and courts to quit effing around and simply establish ownership once and for all would be top priority. (I'm not going to spend one penny on this place until and unless I'm declared the legal owner.)
"If only we could stop confusing happiness with pleasure." That, my dear, would be the definition of wisdom...and most of us are too dumb to be wise. We keep chasing that one moment, the climax, that is pleasure. We don't realize that happiness is a state of mind, a state of being. It does't come and go, and it's not dispensed by a hooker with a bottle of Astroglide and a strong pair of hands.
I've long thought about what I'd do if I won the lottery (I rarely buy tickets anymore), and my plans mirror yours almost word for word. I harbor no desire to be rich, merely comfortable. I can be, and am, happy living in jeans and t-shirts. Money is a means to an end, not something that will get me that fleet of Maybachs and the Gulfstream IV I've (never) dreamed of.
Of course, being faced with sudden wealth would mean that things would change and probably drastically, but I'd hope that I have my head on straight enough to keep things together.
If you need me, I'll be swimming in a pool filled with Cristal and being ravaged by the Swedish Bikini Team....
The lottery curse has tentacles that extend far beyond the winner's reach. In doing research for a book (ghostwriting project), I've come across a small manufacturing company in the country's mid-section that was effectively put out of business when a large group of employees from multiple departments played the lottery (Powerball, I believe), won many millions each, and quit. All of them.
Operations on the shop floor were paralyzed. No one was left to fill orders or deliver them or manage inventory and supplies. And labor allocation was halted because there was no one to handle scheduling or even hire replacement talent. Of course, one has to wonder about the culture of the business and tenor of management when employees are so willing to walk away and do so without compunction or fair warning.
WOW! Dammit, Kelly, now I have to read this book you've ghostwritten. And I'm so behind in my reading.
Quitting some ass-lick job has got to be one of the strongest motivators for people to play the lottery, don't you think? What a fantasy it must be for folks to walk into a boss's office and say, "Suck it."
The book (Forbes/Advantage Media), as yet untitled, is still a work-in-progress and won't be out until Q1 2023... and, quite frankly, unless you're a small to medium manufacturer in North America trying to survive in the global marketplace, I don't think it would hold much interest for you. Ghost-written for a couple of manufacturing process improvement (yawn) consultants, it's not my best work by any stretch. Puts me to sleep just thinking about it.
Jun 8, 2022·edited Jun 8, 2022Liked by Stacey Eskelin
OOooo, Stacey, one of your best pieces, well-done. Reminds me of Jessica Mitford, no higher praise.
Bunky Bartlett, whose real name is Ellwood, was a Witch originally from Baltimore. He won the lottery in 2007. His former High Priestess is still my best friend.
He was already notorious for his stupidity, and bad behavior, *before* winning the lottery. One of the sore points: he wanted everyone to keep their clothes on at Pagan gatherings. Um, that would be a DOA concept. Keep our clothes on??? Fascism!
Bunky did two good things: he paid off the mortgage the ADF Druids had on their multi-unit parsonage and temple space in Baltimore, and he bought some Baltimore townhouses for a women's crisis center for DV survivors. So those actions were admirable.
But he also made a fool of himself seventeen ways plus tuesday, he disgraced himself so badly that a letter went out to every single British Traditional Witchcraft tradition on the East Coast, warning them not to grant him any initiations, he tried to become a local celebrity but only succeeded in become a local fool. Bunky created a record company that failed, he bought a mansion, the list goes on. He hired friends so he could have a posse, and cross-dressed at the local Renaissance Faire, because everyone in Maryland knew what he looked like by then.
Eventually, Bunky moved to Costa Rica with whatever shred of millions were left, and the Balto-Wash Pagans and Witches never heard from him again.
I am proud to say that he detested me. Bunky interpreted my good manners as being fake, since he knew I was his opponent in community matters. Nope. I'm just habitually polite to people, including when I am carefully undermining their stupid agendas for our community.
WHAT A STORY, Caroline! You know, with your considerable skills as a writer, you have got to be writing these down. Yes? A book about being a witch? Tell me there's one in the works. It would be a smash bestseller.
Yes! I am on the verge of a Kickstarter for a companion guide accompanying a Tarot deck.
It's 200 pages, and the review copies are being printed now. My creative partner, Paula, designed the cards and came up with the deck concept. It's called Boadicea's Tarot of Earthly Delights. Paula is one of the chiefs of design at a museum system in the DC area, specializing in traveling exhibitions.
We have dared to be witty--both visually and in words-- instead of platitudinous. The deck features squid and octopi in starring roles, much less nudibranchia and narwhals.
And I have all of my research materials for a book on ornithomancy, divination by watching birds, a universal practice of humans on all continents. That's up next.
Miserably, this is a solid argument against reparations for the descendants of slavery. In Canada, the First Nations people have won reparations from the government for decades of systemic abuses. But that money can be managed by tribal councils who will hopefully use it to do some real good. Giving lump sums to individuals who've been deliberately deprived of both comfort and education for generations is fraught with peril.
As you might expect, I'm all for reparations. But it would lead to WWIII in the United States, and that's no exaggeration. Aggrieved white folks already feel as though racism doesn't exist anymore because of Beyonce and Obama. They have no idea how racism not only still exists, it's gotten (in some ways) exponentially worse.
If reparations ever did happen, however, I love this tribal council idea. That's the better part of wisdom for any group of folks.
I've actually spent a little money on lottery tickets, even though I know I've a better chance of being struck by lightning than actually winning. (Though I've still a better chance of winning than ever going out on a date again.) (I actually won something like $500.00 once.) Always the rule is to take the single lump sum. The 50% that goes to taxes all at once will be less over time than if you play games with trickling it out. After that, 50% -- 75% goes to setting up endowments at the colleges I've received degrees from. Enough of the remainder goes into a conservative, interest bearing fund that I can live on, and the rest into a charitable foundation that I can fool around with as time and tide permit. Having been born and raised totally bougie, the temptation to give away money to family is non-existent. (I despise those people in any case.)
On the other hand, if it was a fairly modest sum, fixing up the house would be the priority. Getting the lawyers and courts to quit effing around and simply establish ownership once and for all would be top priority. (I'm not going to spend one penny on this place until and unless I'm declared the legal owner.)
I know you would do ALL of that with your money. Actual good. Actual philanthropy. Meanwhile, the Kardashians are working on their next billion.
"If only we could stop confusing happiness with pleasure." That, my dear, would be the definition of wisdom...and most of us are too dumb to be wise. We keep chasing that one moment, the climax, that is pleasure. We don't realize that happiness is a state of mind, a state of being. It does't come and go, and it's not dispensed by a hooker with a bottle of Astroglide and a strong pair of hands.
I've long thought about what I'd do if I won the lottery (I rarely buy tickets anymore), and my plans mirror yours almost word for word. I harbor no desire to be rich, merely comfortable. I can be, and am, happy living in jeans and t-shirts. Money is a means to an end, not something that will get me that fleet of Maybachs and the Gulfstream IV I've (never) dreamed of.
Of course, being faced with sudden wealth would mean that things would change and probably drastically, but I'd hope that I have my head on straight enough to keep things together.
If you need me, I'll be swimming in a pool filled with Cristal and being ravaged by the Swedish Bikini Team....
It IS possible we were twins separated at birth, you know.
I'm pretty sure if we were all kinds of rich, practically no one would know it. No designer shit for either one of us.
Except a Frenchie. That's the first thing I'd buy. And then maybe a lil sailor suit for him.
Yeah, ‘cept you got the looks AND the brains. 😝
LOL! If only!
The lottery curse has tentacles that extend far beyond the winner's reach. In doing research for a book (ghostwriting project), I've come across a small manufacturing company in the country's mid-section that was effectively put out of business when a large group of employees from multiple departments played the lottery (Powerball, I believe), won many millions each, and quit. All of them.
Operations on the shop floor were paralyzed. No one was left to fill orders or deliver them or manage inventory and supplies. And labor allocation was halted because there was no one to handle scheduling or even hire replacement talent. Of course, one has to wonder about the culture of the business and tenor of management when employees are so willing to walk away and do so without compunction or fair warning.
WOW! Dammit, Kelly, now I have to read this book you've ghostwritten. And I'm so behind in my reading.
Quitting some ass-lick job has got to be one of the strongest motivators for people to play the lottery, don't you think? What a fantasy it must be for folks to walk into a boss's office and say, "Suck it."
I love what you wrote here. Just love it.
The book (Forbes/Advantage Media), as yet untitled, is still a work-in-progress and won't be out until Q1 2023... and, quite frankly, unless you're a small to medium manufacturer in North America trying to survive in the global marketplace, I don't think it would hold much interest for you. Ghost-written for a couple of manufacturing process improvement (yawn) consultants, it's not my best work by any stretch. Puts me to sleep just thinking about it.
Yeah, but you are a badass writer. If anyone could make dry fare interesting, it’s you. Tell me--what book of yours is your favorite?
For the moment, the one I've put aside to focus on a couple of ghostwriting gigs. What's yours?
I’m busy LOOKING for those ghostwriting gigs. The lull between jobs has turned into an uncomfortable abyss. I have no idea why.
OOooo, Stacey, one of your best pieces, well-done. Reminds me of Jessica Mitford, no higher praise.
Bunky Bartlett, whose real name is Ellwood, was a Witch originally from Baltimore. He won the lottery in 2007. His former High Priestess is still my best friend.
He was already notorious for his stupidity, and bad behavior, *before* winning the lottery. One of the sore points: he wanted everyone to keep their clothes on at Pagan gatherings. Um, that would be a DOA concept. Keep our clothes on??? Fascism!
Bunky did two good things: he paid off the mortgage the ADF Druids had on their multi-unit parsonage and temple space in Baltimore, and he bought some Baltimore townhouses for a women's crisis center for DV survivors. So those actions were admirable.
But he also made a fool of himself seventeen ways plus tuesday, he disgraced himself so badly that a letter went out to every single British Traditional Witchcraft tradition on the East Coast, warning them not to grant him any initiations, he tried to become a local celebrity but only succeeded in become a local fool. Bunky created a record company that failed, he bought a mansion, the list goes on. He hired friends so he could have a posse, and cross-dressed at the local Renaissance Faire, because everyone in Maryland knew what he looked like by then.
Eventually, Bunky moved to Costa Rica with whatever shred of millions were left, and the Balto-Wash Pagans and Witches never heard from him again.
I am proud to say that he detested me. Bunky interpreted my good manners as being fake, since he knew I was his opponent in community matters. Nope. I'm just habitually polite to people, including when I am carefully undermining their stupid agendas for our community.
WHAT A STORY, Caroline! You know, with your considerable skills as a writer, you have got to be writing these down. Yes? A book about being a witch? Tell me there's one in the works. It would be a smash bestseller.
Yes! I am on the verge of a Kickstarter for a companion guide accompanying a Tarot deck.
It's 200 pages, and the review copies are being printed now. My creative partner, Paula, designed the cards and came up with the deck concept. It's called Boadicea's Tarot of Earthly Delights. Paula is one of the chiefs of design at a museum system in the DC area, specializing in traveling exhibitions.
We have dared to be witty--both visually and in words-- instead of platitudinous. The deck features squid and octopi in starring roles, much less nudibranchia and narwhals.
And I have all of my research materials for a book on ornithomancy, divination by watching birds, a universal practice of humans on all continents. That's up next.
Love and blessings, Stacey! Thanks for asking.
Miserably, this is a solid argument against reparations for the descendants of slavery. In Canada, the First Nations people have won reparations from the government for decades of systemic abuses. But that money can be managed by tribal councils who will hopefully use it to do some real good. Giving lump sums to individuals who've been deliberately deprived of both comfort and education for generations is fraught with peril.
As you might expect, I'm all for reparations. But it would lead to WWIII in the United States, and that's no exaggeration. Aggrieved white folks already feel as though racism doesn't exist anymore because of Beyonce and Obama. They have no idea how racism not only still exists, it's gotten (in some ways) exponentially worse.
If reparations ever did happen, however, I love this tribal council idea. That's the better part of wisdom for any group of folks.