"This life is a short journey"

You probably have no idea who Dave Freeman is, but I'm sure you've heard of his "100 Things to Do Before you Die" -- the guide on places to go and things to do to live your life to its fullest.

Sadly, Freeman died at the age of 47 after a fall in his California home, his father told press Monday.

Items in the book include Running of the Bulls in Pamplona, the Iditarod Sled Race, New Years Eve in NYC, Brisbane's World Championship Cockroach Races and more.

Family members said the author had done/seen about half of the things on the list; you've gotta admit, his untimely death is a bit ironic, and I'm sure there's an obvious joke in that somewhere, but I'm not heartless enough to make it. Think good thoughts for his family and friends, and maybe try out some of the things in the book - you never know how much time you'll have to do all 100!

Mars erects!

(from Reuters.com) An image from Mars taken by NASA's Sprint Rover shows an image that resembles a figure walking among the planet's rocks.

Maybe it's just a rock, but I personally like the commentator taking bloggers' observations seriously, including the mention of a lost garden gnome. Check out the video here.

It does kind of creep my out though - it totally looks like some martians erected a statue of their female goddess.

Throwing your financial future away for a t-shirt

I stumbled across this Consumerist article listing some statistics on young adults and credit card debt, and it brought me back to those days in college where I'd sign up for a credit card just to get a free t-shirt (just like the one below) or chat with the cute frat guys.

...But thank God I never gave them my real information. I'm not sure where exactly these numbers came from, but they sure are pretty grim!

• 56% of all undergraduates report obtaining their first credit card when they were 18
• 83% of all undergraduates in 2001 had at least one credit card.
• The average student has four credit cards.
• College students' balances have gone up 134% in the last decade.
• Three out of five students with credit cards maxed them out during their freshman year.
• 71% of young adult cardholders do not pay their balance off in full each month.
• The average undergraduate credit card balance is $2,169.
• College seniors graduate with an average of $4,000 in credit card debt.

Three out of five students max their cards out during freshman year? Some of these kids don't even know how to make scrambled eggs, but they're given "free money" to piss away on booze and burritos.

I didn't get my first real credit card (not check card) until right after college, and I'm probably a credit card company's worst nightmare: a young adult who doesn't buy anything she couldn't buy with cash, and pays each balance in full, on time, every month. Boy am I glad my parents installed the fear of debt in me at a young age.

World AIDS Day

Dec. 1 is World AIDS Day. This year's theme is leadership.

According to estimates, there are now 33.2 million people living with HIV, including 2.5 million children. During 2007 some 2.5 million people became newly infected with the virus. Around half of all people who become infected with HIV do so before they are 25 and are killed by AIDS before they are 35.

To learn more, visit the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services website.

Living the average American dream

With all the DUIs, campaigning, paparazzi and sex tape scandals, sometimes it's nice to sit back and say, "Ahh, it's nice to be a good ole average American."

And if you don't ever think that, read this article from Time. It tells of the average averages of average Americans, and while it may be horrifying to find that you may actually be {gasp} average, it's really not what you think.