Investing money

A couple of my friends do the stock market thing. I've thought about looking for a futures broker to discuss any opportunities we might have. However, I keep thinking that we don't have enough money to invest. It's a difficult situation. You hear "experts" saying that you need to invest your money properly and that you should be able to squeeze extra money out of your paycheck but I don't know how that is possible. Not all of us make tons of money. Some of us just scrape by and I know I'm not the only one. This will just be another one of those things that sits on the back burner in my head.

Game review: Magic Farm

On one hand, I had a lot of fun playing Magic Farm. On the other hand, looking back on it, I didn't do a whole lot while I was playing it. Basically, your parents are missing. In order to travel to various towns looking for them, you need to raise some funds. To raise the money to travel, you plant three different types of plants, raise them, harvest their flowers and sell bouquets. While this sounds like a lot of fun, and it is fairly enjoyable, it gets very tedious. It's difficult to raise enough money to move onto the next level because you need to keep spending your money on water and upgrades. In most games, upgrades will help you make money more quickly. That doesn't seem to happen here. It took me the entire 60 minute demo just to get to the second level. I should have been able to get a lot farther than that.

I'm sad that it takes so long to get through one level on the game because it was fun. I liked being able to grow plants and figure out which plants make the best bouquets. However, the game could use some improvements. Maybe make the water or the upgrades less expensive. It's annoying to have all of my money go to keeping the plants alive instead of going to find my parents. Hopefully this is something that can be fixed for the inevitable sequel.

Working towards being a stay-at-home mom!

I'm not sure that I have talked about wanting to be a stay-at-home mom before. My daughter recently turned six and in September she'll be starting first grade. While I don't think I'll be able to be a full-time stay-at-home mom by then, I do need to find some way to be at home before and after school. I think SocialSpark might be able to help me reach that goal. Obviously I need to find some way to make up for whatever wages I lose by staying at home. Even if I take a part-time job, I won't be able to make as much money as I would working full-time. This is where Social Spark comes in. I can make money posting here on The Geek Within while being able to be at home when my daughter needs me. That would definitely be awesome.

Who knows? Maybe I'll get lucky and make enough money to work at home full-time. That would be even better because then I could fix up our house. I know I keep talking about it but we haven't had the time to do it yet. Right now, both my husband and I work long hours and just don't have the energy to work on the house when we get home or on the weekends. We just want to relax. However, if I can be at home all the time, I can get a lot done.

I know, I know. I'm a dreamer. But I will work hard at this. It would be really good for my daughter if I could achieve this goal. Not to mention that we'd save a lot of money on after-school care for her. Here's to being a stay-at-home mom!

Sponsored by SocialSpark

Music review: L'arc~en~Ciel - Blurry Eyes

Artist: L`arc~en~Ciel Members: Hyde (vocals), Tetsu (bass), Ken (guitar), Sakura (drums) Album: Tierra Release date: 7/14/94 Video link: On YouTube

English translation: Carried on a wind from far away, no matter how many times I try to say these words, they never reach you. Once again, my eyes stare somewhere out the window.

This foreboding hasn't changed, I still feel it. Those days are getting blurry...

Seeing through blank eyes like a caged bird, the light of the afternoon sun is just like the light that shines on you from outside.

This foreboding hasn't changed, I still feel it. Those days are becoming blurry...

I feel the changing season will see my promise broken. Even if I reach out with my hands, my heart will stay distant.

(Why do you stare at the sky with your blurry eyes?)

I feel the changing season will see my promise broken. Even if I reach out with my hands, my heart will stay distant.

In the changing season, the one precious to me looked back toward me with those eyes, sighing softly.

(Your blurry eyes) ...your blurry eyes (Your blurry eyes) ...My heart (Your blurry eyes) ...will stay (Your blurry eyes) ...distant. About the song: The best part of this song is the music video. It has a very 80s Madonna feeling to it. Hyde is wearing a long flowing white dress with a leather jacket and gloves. Halfway through the video, they go to an amusement park where a carousel is the main attraction. It would be an awesome video...if it had been filmed in 1985 instead of 1994.

The song itself is a decent pop song. It's got a catchy guitar line and it's fun to sing along with Hyde. While it may not be the "cool" song at the party, it's definitely the "fun" one.

Jdorama review: Nodame Cantabile Shinshun Special in Europe

Title: Nodame Cantabile Shinshun Special in EuropeBroadcast date: 1/4/08 - 1/5/08 Genre: Romantic Comedy Number of episodes: 2 Cast: Ueno Juri, Tamaki Hiroshi, Becky, Wentz Eiji Plot: Nodame and Chiaki have moved to Paris to continue their musical schooling. Chiaki competes in a conducting competition while Nodame tries to figure out what she wants to do with her talent. What is good: Watching both Nodame and Chiaki evolve into a true couple What is bad: The secondary characters aren't nearly as interesting as the ones from the series. Letter rating: A- Overall: This was a very good ending to the live action series. It has a definite ending that doesn't leave any questions beyond "where will their lives go now?" I thought that both Ueno Juri and Tamaki Hiroshi did fabulous jobs as Nodame and Chiaki. While I am now addicted to the show and would love to see more, the specials did give us a definite ending that I am happy with. I can definitely see myself watching the entire series over and over again.

Hoodia

I'm not sure if I mentioned it here before but I am working on losing weight. My family has been eating a lot healthier and I've been trying to exercise more. One thing I haven't looked into is hoodia. I'm wary of weight loss drugs. I always hear horror stories of people becoming addicted to them or having horrible side effects. And those are for the ones that work in the first place! I suppose I could try to read more about it....I'm just not overly optimistic about it.

Game review: Animal Agents

As either Anna or Justin, it is your job to find lost animals. Animal Agents is a pretty typical hidden object game. The game play is pretty basic and I've found that my six-year old daughter has no problems playing it by herself. My only problem with the game lies in the locations. There seems to only be a handful of locations that you search them over and over. While this isn't necessarily a bad thing, it can be a little tedious. However, it is good for younger players who need to look at a location a couple of times in order to really see what is there. This is why I think it's a good family game but not really a good adult game.

Game review: The History Channel Lost Worlds

By now, it should be pretty obvious that I'm a sucker for a good hidden object game. Bonus points if I can play the game with my daughter! I downloaded the trial version of The History Channel Lost Worlds because it touted itself as a hidden object game. While there is a hidden object game involved, it is only one small part of each level. The game mostly revolves around jigsaw puzzles and trivia questions. It was nice learning a bit about ancient cultures but it was definitely not the game that was promised. I probably would have enjoyed it more if it didn't claim to be a hidden object game.

Music review: Barenaked Ladies - Adrift

Artist: Barenaked Ladies Members: Steven Page (vocals), Ed Robertson (guitar/vocals), Tyler Stewart (drums), Jim Creegan (bass), Kevin Hearn (keyboards) Album: Barenaked Ladies Are Me Release date: 9/12/06 Video link: Via YouTube

Lyrics: Ever since we said our good-byes The onion rings, the phone makes me cry Something isn't right Like the Deep Blue without the Great White

In the morning open your eyes The waterfalls, the fire flies You're an abacus And my heart was counting on us

Your heart's got a heavy load There's still a long way to go Keep your eyes on the road

Crescent moon sings me to sleep The birches bark, the willows weep But I lie awake; I'm adrift without a snowflake

Your heart's got a heavy load There's still a long way to go Keep your eyes on the road About the song: While Steve has the stronger voice, I think it was a perfect choice to have Ed sing lead on this. His voice is a bit softer which gives this sad ballad so much emotion. It's a wonderful song though I'm not sure I agree with their choice to lead the album with it. It sets the entire album off with a melancholy feeling instead of something a bit happier. But it still a good song on its own.