- The 7th district in Maryland is the 2nd wealthiest majority black district in the country.
- The wealthiest majority black district in the country is Maryland’s 4th district is just to the south.
- Maryland’s 7th District is the 2nd highest educated in the country among districts with majority black populations. The most educated is in Atlanta, a city which Trump has also attacked.
- Yes, 662,060 human beings do live here. Data from the 2017 U.S. Census shows Cummings’ district is nearly 53% percent black and nearly 36% white. Seven percent of the district is Asian, nearly 4% is Hispanic.
- Maryland’s 7th…
Welcome to My Demise
Some simple steps you can take to put your affairs in order, well before they need to be.
By Brad Beckstrom
It’s An Emergency.
Sounds like the title of every email I get asking for political contributions. No donations requested here. I’m talking about a real emergency, you just kicked the bucket, vanished in the Amazon, or no longer have a solid grasp on your first name.
Welcome to my eventual demise.
Don’t feel bad, it’s something that none of us get to avoid. We all know someone that left us too soon or someone still…
By Brad Beckstrom
If you read enough, eventually you come across some big concepts. Whenever I see one, I like to jot a quick note or clip entire articles in Evernote. Sometimes these ideas just sit there and I later come across them accidentally when searching for something else. One of the things I’ve been thinking about for a while is prestige or, more specifically, Prestige Syndrome. A syndrome is defined as “a group of symptoms that consistently occur together or a condition characterized by a set of associated symptoms”. …
How to save a ton on Amazon without falling into the online consumption spiral.
By Brad Beckstrom
Is Amazon getting too good? We’ve been happy with Amazon Prime, especially the perks of membership like two day delivery, unlimited movies and music, even unlimited photo storage. If you’re going to pay for Amazon Prime membership, make sure you take advantage of all the included services.
Unfortunately, over time we’ve started to see Amazon creep up as a higher percentage of our spending, showing up more frequently on our credit card bills. …
By Brad Beckstrom
Have you noticed a big drop off in any part of your life?
I’ve been noticing a real drop off in the number of (non political) blog posts I’ve been seeing since November of 2016. At first I thought it was the election, the holidays etc. People have been distracted. I figured at some point we would stop discussing politics and get back to talking about anything but that. Well, the drop off has continued. You see, I don’t follow any political blogs or news publications in my feed reader. So, a lot of the blogs I…
By Brad Beckstrom
Do you have it? Have you found it? We all have one. Some long dormant or untested skill just waiting to be discovered. Sometimes we find it at a young age, then the real world, school, work, family become the priorities. As we get older, the skill lies dormant, often gets rusty like an old toy long forgotten.
Schools and family, meaning well, often steer us in a certain direction toward something that fits in a curriculum or is a “viable” skill in the working world. My parents did it, and I find myself doing it with…
By Brad Beckstrom.
“You are too close to the TV, back up, your going to ruin your eyes!” my mom would say. If I were still a kid today she’d be shouting “You’re too close to your phone, put that thing away.” It would be good to hear, as I sit here, flicking, clicking, responding, on my phone then picking up my iPad.
Like many, the problem for me isn’t the iPhone or iPad, it’s the massive flow of information, it’s the screen time. The sensation of being 4 inches from this screen or group of screens that bring this…
How to escape time poverty and join the free.
By Brad Beckstrom
My oldest son came home a bit stressed out the other night. He recently started driving and has started to experience the chaos of rush hour traffic. I enjoy having everyone home for dinner and gave him a hard time about being late. I told him he needed to start managing his time better.
I sounded like one of my first bosses who used to say “We start at 8 Beckstrom, not 8:07 am or 8:11 am” or whatever the exact number of minutes I was late by…
How to hack a quick trip.
By Brad Beckstrom
Last month I visited Portland, OR. I was in town for 5 days attending a conference. The conference included lots of evening events spread throughout the city, as well as daily events downtown. I also had a dinner and a breakfast meet-up with friends on opposite sides of the city and a day long photo shoot, many locations. I did not rent a car, call a cab or set foot in a hotel. I purchased cross country nonstop flights separately on Southwest at a total cost of $391. The return nonstop…
When you start a creative endeavor, secrets begin to reveal themselves. The secrets may be things you had heard about but had not experienced. They may be things that others in your field know, but you’re just beginning to discover.
You can be well read, attend conferences, work in the industry, stand over other’s shoulders and give direction, but the secrets won’t reveal themselves until you begin. Until you begin hands on practice of your craft daily.
Brad Beckstrom
Hi I’m Brad. I write about living lean, working lean, and traveling lean. Find my blog at http://www.thefrug.com
