[ DISCLAIMER ] Living within your means is a personal principle regarding the financial practice of spending less money than you earn or, more broadly, spending only on what you can afford. Concerning this helpful practice, I stated in We Buy Things We Don’t Need, to Impress People We Don’t Like : In adolescence, I [tried] to impress girls with tangible items. For example, in high school, I made contact with a Bomb City hustler (“T-Bone”) who negotiated a payment plan f

[ DISCLAIMER ] In common parlance, the term “realistic” relates to being able to see things as they really are and to deal with them in a practical way. For instance, it isn’t realistic to train (to make prepared , as by exercise, for a test of skill) in unrealistic settings (e.g., training to swim while lying in sand). As well, the American Psychological Association (APA) defines “training” as systematic instruction and practice by which an individual acquires compete

[ DISCLAIMER ] When I was in high school, R&B group TLC (singer Tionne “T-Boz” Watkins , singer Rozonda “Chilli” Thomas , and the late singer and rapper Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes ) released their second studio album CrazySexyCool (1994). It was my favorite anthology by the group! On the album was the song “ Sumthin’ Wicked This Way Comes ” that featured lyricist André 3000 (of Outkast fame). Noteworthy, the song’s namesake is derived from William Shakespeare ’s The Trage

[ DISCLAIMER ] When attending United States (U.S.) Marine Corps Recruit Training at Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego , the recruits with whom I attended boot camp also trained at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton (1996). There, we learned about warfighting from World War I (WWI). Specifically, recruits were taught about the gory endeavor of trench warfare and how as a last resort fixed bayonets (attached stabbing blades to the muzzle of a rifle for close-quarters

[ DISCLAIMER ] When at Camp Kinser in Okinawa, Japan (1997-1999), serving as military police (MP), I learned quite a bit about rescue —responsive operations that usually involve the saving of life, removal from danger, liberation from restraint, or the urgent treatment of injuries after an incident. For instance, hypothetically speaking, imagine there were thousands of military personnel, their dependents, and local national employees on a major logistics base at any gi

[DISCLAIMER] Pimpin’ In 1997, Suga Free released an album entitled Street Gospel that featured the song “If U Stay Ready” which became my...