College: exploitation?

Great article on how universities collaborate with lenders to encourage unwitting students (and their families) to spend huge sums of money on educations that the students will spend far too long trying to pay back.  The incentives are not in the students' favor.

Op-Ed Contributors - A Degree in Three - NYTimes.com

Op-Ed Contributors - A Degree in Three - NYTimes.com

Ha ha. Do these guys actually think that professors would give up their summers off? That's one of the huge perks of being a professor.

24

Lame ending to what started as a powerful series.  Jack's imperturable sense of (a)morality finally causes the POTUS to give up on realpolitik and destroy her own presidency.  But they left the ending open for a movie where Jack has to stay alive, since everyone is now hunting him.  Sure sounds like The Bourne Ultimatum...

Lost

Well, Lost is finally over.  The long (especially with all the extended advertising breaks) final episode was quite satisfying emotionally; the 6-year series clearly was structured as Jack's, especially with the symmetry the writers set up between the series' opening and closing shots.  The resolution of the "sideways" storyline was a bit surprising, but it worked pretty well.  All in all, a worthy close to a 6-year drama.

Legend of the Seeker

Well, it's over.  Watching this while trying to care for a fussy baby is interesting, but it also made it more humorous: it is hard to take such a poorly written (albeit entertaining) series too seriously.  The final episode of season two starts with an "undo" of the whole previous episode (which they should have done at the end of that episodes, not as a "To be continued...").  Then they finish with another deus ex machina.  And of course the Seeker has got to be the most gullible character on the planet (or, at least, in D'Harra).

But, nonetheless, I'll miss the series.  Campy, illogical plots, unrealistic costumes; but it was still fun, like TV is supposed to be.  If I ever get the time to read again maybe I'll skim the books by Terry Goodkind.

Taxes

I've spent a bunch of hours figuring out the maze of tax forms I need to report the so-called "nanny tax" as a household employer in NY State. In case this is useful to someone else, I thought I'd post that information here:

Federal:

1. one-time: get a federal EIN by filing an SS-4
2. quarterly: pay estimated taxes
3. file W-2 and W-3 yearly
4. Form 1040: file Schedule H

NY State:

1. one-time: register as a new employer www.labor.state.ny.us
2. register a new hire within 20 days of employment www.nysnewhire.com
3. quarterly: file NYS-45
4. Upon termination of employment, give employee a NYS IA 12.3

Penelope

Well, life is (somewhat) returning to some semblance of normalcy after our daughter Penelope arrived. I feel almost human again, after slowly catching up on sleep and getting used to taking care of a baby!

My friend Elaine gave me the idea of creating a blog for our daughter.

Lost

I watched bits and pieces of the episode "Across the Sea" when it aired, and caught up on the rest on Hulu. So the Man in Black and Jacob had mommy issues? Seems almost funny/trite, but it didn't bother me too much (maybe because I'm sleep-deprived?). I wonder if they will explain the real meaning of the light in the cave?

Ira and Abby

We watched while waiting for labor contractions. It's a very NYC movie: in location, actors, and sentiment. Quirky and funny; I recommend it!

The Evolution of Privacy on Facebook

The Evolution of Privacy on Facebook

All I can say is "Wow".

Legend of the Seeker

I've been watching Season 1 on streaming Netflix (to a Wii). It's just like TV, but better (streaming Netflix, not the show itself). The show is predictable and goofy (how does the Mother Confessor keep her clothes so white while tromping through the forest and fighting bad guys?), but entertaining nonetheless. Hopefully they renew it for a third season.

That Hamilton Woman

This movie is about an interesting historical figure, Lady Emma Hamilton, the mistress of Admiral Horatio Nelson. Vivian Leigh and Lawrence Olivier play the lead roles. We mostly had it on in the background, so I can't say it was compelling. It was mildly interesting to learn about this corner of British history.

The Breslin

We had brunch at this apparently hip restaurant next to the Ace Hotel. Very conservative decor, and a simple brunch menu: I found the food to be very good (despite what a bunch of online reviews say). No wait at 9:30am, either! Not cheap, but not expensive by NYC standards. I had the lemon and ricotta pancakes with candied orange syrup, which were delightful.