THE LEFT LANE
Dollars and sense

Advertiser staff and news services

Yet teen spending is on the rise, an average of $135 per month on clothing in spring 2002, up from $110 in 2001, the report says. Northwestern Mutual says the facts highlight a need for educating teens and even their parents about the importance of personal money management. The National Council on Economic Education has developed www.themint.org , which features games, calculators and activities to make learning about money management fun.

Wacky work titles

All these are profiled in "Odd Jobs: Portraits of Unusual Occupations," by Nancy Rica Schiff (Ten Speed Press, paper, $16.95), a nifty book filled with striking portraits of people in unusual professions, each accompanied by a succinct description. There's the duckmaster, who wrangles the waterfowl who parade daily through the lobby at the Peabody Hotel in Memphis, Tenn. And a diener? Pronounced "deener," it's someone who works at a hospital preparing cadavers for the pathologist before autopsies are performed.

Whatever you do for a living, it's got to be better than that.

Jeans improvement

Think do-it-yourself denim: faded jeans done your way, courtesy Armani Exchange.

The Custom Sanded Jeans come with a sandpaper pocket swatch and sanding block, allowing individualists to scuff patches of the indigo-washed denim wherever they please, be it the pocket, knee or booty areas.

The people at Armani Exchange expect these to be a popular item, "just because of the trend of customizing things and making things your own," said Patrick Doddy from the company's corporate office in New York.

The jeans are $88, available in low-rise boot styles for men and women at the A/X stores in Waikiki (923-1663) and Ala Moana (942-8147).