Blogging as Community

Dylan drives to the basket for a layup under the watchful eyes of his coach, Sogolon

I'm preparing a course on the topic, Blogging as Community, to teach at U-C, Berkeley's adult education center, OLLI*, later this spring.

Meanwhile, this blog has gone through many stages, but I am proudest of it when it is an exclusive source of information on something that matters.

At times, that has been the awful aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Search as I might, I could not find any other blogger who was trying to stay on top of the unending post-storm disaster that is the Mississippi Gulf Coast.

More recently, the passing of my dear friend, Ken Kelley, strangely remains unreported elsewhere. Therefore, those wishing to find out details about the end of Ken have nowhere else to turn but here, for now.

I can tell you that a group of us are gathering Ken's work with an eye to staging a retrospective, or publishing an anthology. There will be more news about that here, once our plans solidify.

After their victory, the JVs sit

I'm also proud of our political coverage. You could do worse than to check in with us on election days. We sort the data from exit polls, pre-election polls, demographic information, previous voting patterns, and other sources to provide early predictions, when we can. Our record is about 95% accurate to date.

The Varsity boys watch and hang out with girls

I wish our ability to forecast the stock market was even close to that figure. Alas, now that the press, public, and politicians have all decided we are going to have a recession, I suppose we have no choice, collectively, but to go ahead and have a recession!

ditto

My favorite stock, Apple, has nosedived from the heady territory of $200/share to (at one point today) $126, though it later recovered to ~$139. My second favorite, Amazon, has dipped from the $90s to the $70s.

More fans

If, like me, you are at or near retirement age, you probably are scared. After all, the average IRA seems to have lost around 20% of its value in just the past month. At this rate, our net worth will be better described as "net worthless," right?

Sogolon sends Aidan back into the game

Don't fall for it, my friends. Here's what to do, in three easy steps:

1. Ignore your accounts. Just don't look, for now.
2. Get ready to buy. What? That's right, think of what a bargain Apple, for one example, is right now. It will certainly go back up once this market correction reverses course.
3. Diversify into bonds. The older you are, the more bonds and bond mutual funds you should hold.

If you follow this advice, which is synthesized from the best financial experts I can find, you'll ride out the market storm we are witnessing right now.

There is one cardinal rule -- don't panic. Don't sell anything now; if you do, you will be selling low, and later on, no doubt, buying high. This is how the rich get richer off the rest of us -- because we panic when a market correction occurs. Let's not do it this time, okay?

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It is a great time to cut your monthly expenses and stick to a strict budget. Combine it with dieting and our planet will be the better off for it, as will your heart.

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As for the other narrative running through this post, the kids' basketball games, our JV's are headed to the playoffs after another win, but our Varsity, at 1-6, will have to wait for next year.

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*OLLI = Osher Lifelong Learning Institute