Sounds like a very overly melodramatic title doesn't it. Forbes describes how shaky things are right now in this article by that very name.
Remember how life was just 20 years ago. what about 30 years ago in the US. We weren't this opulent.
I think we are on the brink of a global depression. Why would Greenspan say there is a high likely hood of a recession in the US? What would motivate him to say that?
Feb 28, 2007
cheap street credo under construction
You have heard this stuff before...
I am not my job.
My self-worth is not connected to my net-worth.
My job is there for me, I am not there for my job.
I will not spend money to meet emotional needs.
Well, I have heard it all before too. But I have never made it my own. That's about to change. I am going to develop my own cheap street credo. End result?
Freedom!
I know freedom is a state of mind, because some days I am closer to it than others, even though very little has changed in my life. Funny thing is I am closest to freedom, when external physical dependencies are the least! IN other words, I have the least stuff in my life...
I am not my job.
My self-worth is not connected to my net-worth.
My job is there for me, I am not there for my job.
I will not spend money to meet emotional needs.
Well, I have heard it all before too. But I have never made it my own. That's about to change. I am going to develop my own cheap street credo. End result?
Freedom!
I know freedom is a state of mind, because some days I am closer to it than others, even though very little has changed in my life. Funny thing is I am closest to freedom, when external physical dependencies are the least! IN other words, I have the least stuff in my life...
Feb 27, 2007
remember SARS
Remember SARS?
Remember how China tried to cover up that they were even having difficulty dealing with an outbreak?
Now replace SARS with a crack in the economic fortress of China. What if China was an Enron of nations?
I know there are a lot of what if's, but what if it's true?
Remember how China tried to cover up that they were even having difficulty dealing with an outbreak?
Now replace SARS with a crack in the economic fortress of China. What if China was an Enron of nations?
I know there are a lot of what if's, but what if it's true?
Feb 26, 2007
sauced by apple
okay, my brand new ipod i thought i was getting when i returned my bad apple. well, i suspect it wasn't brand new because it died two weeks later.
I just brought it back to the apple store again and they issue me a 'new' ipod. My girlfriend was really funny. I was at the 'genius bar' already when she came in and she said,
"what are they doing? giving you another dead one?"
really funny...
so we wait and see.
But i realized, apple has it's own secondary market in returned ipods. when you bring your ipod back before the end of the warranty period (1 year from date of purchase) you get a 'recycled' ipod or factory refurbished ipod. aka one that was already brought back. you enter in the secondary ipod market.
i think they make these things with such tight tolerances (i mean they are pretty small) that their failure rate is pretty high. the only way they can keep costs down is to recycle these things.
it's pretty smart...now if only they served beer at the genius bar...
I just brought it back to the apple store again and they issue me a 'new' ipod. My girlfriend was really funny. I was at the 'genius bar' already when she came in and she said,
"what are they doing? giving you another dead one?"
really funny...
so we wait and see.
But i realized, apple has it's own secondary market in returned ipods. when you bring your ipod back before the end of the warranty period (1 year from date of purchase) you get a 'recycled' ipod or factory refurbished ipod. aka one that was already brought back. you enter in the secondary ipod market.
i think they make these things with such tight tolerances (i mean they are pretty small) that their failure rate is pretty high. the only way they can keep costs down is to recycle these things.
it's pretty smart...now if only they served beer at the genius bar...
Feb 25, 2007
hungup on outsourcing
I was just reading an article in Fortune magazine on a wire hanger manufacturer in Monticello, Wisconsin. The company was founded in 1917 in Peoria, Ill by a guy named Laidlaw. Until recently, it was one of the last companies making metal coat hangers in America. The jobs were unusually good paying for people without a high school degree and included health insurance for a family for $192 per month. It was something...something pretty good...
The company will or has packed up its machinery for shipment to China. The company was employee-owned but decided to outsource. The article goes on to say:
"Why Laidlaw's American employee-owners would think wise to invest $2.8 million to shift production overseas is not clear, but it get even weirder. In 2002 some of Laidlaw's domestic competitors petitioned the US government to impose a tariff on Chinese imports. Laidlaw wrote checks to lobbyists totally $441,000 to try to block it. President Bush killed the measure. Whatever your feeling about free trade, it's hard to escape the conclusion that Laidlaw's employee-owners became agents of their own demise."
I feel bad for the employees. It just seems sad...
It seems the surge of resistance against outsourcing has passed. But the trend is continuing.
I suppose we have accepted there is no use in swimming against these currents in the changing swells of global economics. You just get tired. Putting up resistance to forces that are bound and determined to make change is fruitless.
Trying to stop the tides is a good analogy. You can't stop the tides, but then again why would you want to? To continue with the analogy, if your house is built too close to the shoreline, move your house. Better yet, make your house float. Stay flexible. Be resourceful. Enjoy the challenge. Look ahead. Your house doesn't have to float forever, just long enough for the tides to change or for you to find a new house...
Outsourcing isn't going to last forever. Rather than fight it, make it work for you. On both ends. ON the outgoing economic tide that is pulling capital and labor away from American shores...and when the time comes...the incoming tide that will return many of the efforts we are now sending to China...
Outsource what you can of your own during the out tide. For a while, before joining peace corps, I was joking about outsourcing my family. It was a great rebuke to the republican/free market support for outsources, while at the same time promoting and standing behind good old fashioned American family values. Find a nice Indian woman to make a nice mom to my kids and raise my kids in India. Mail money over. Everyone wins. I import my American family experience via pictures, emails and cell calls. I joked but, to a certain extent you can outsource aspects of your life...
For instance, try and land a contracting position here in the states. Something which requires intellectual capital. But that needs a American to tap into the funding spigot. You act as the conduit. The eyes and the ears. The data gatherer. Send the 'data' for processing overseas.
Next time you speak with an Indian customer service rep, give him your own sales pitch. You already know he can speak English. Ask him or her,
"Hey, i have a personal business. What's your email. I'll send you some 'test' data and see how you analyze it."
Start a consulting business and find your own Indian outsourcing partner. It's combining globalism and 'localism'. You and an Indian working side-by-side. Both benefiting and cutting out the middleman. The middle man in this case is the multi-national corporation. Make life work for you. Make outsourcing work for you!
Eventually, during the incoming tide. Many jobs and resources that left the country will return. When cheap Chinese labor dries up. When Chinese standards of living rise dramatically, be open to opportunities that reemerge domestically.
Additionally, think of how you spend your money. Think of how multi-national corporations think. Apply the same logic to your own life. If consumers employed the same tactics as corporations, we would be a force with which to be reckoned. If we employed the same cost saving efficiency protocols a company such as Toyota employed, think of how much money you could save.
Right now, business has a singular focus. To efficiently tap the consumer, you and me, for all that it can. It mounts an all out assault for our resources. Business benefits from our inefficiencies because we are distracted by things like...say...living a life...
I think it is jut a matter of time before the 'efficient consumer' movement emerges. There is and has been no organizational, all-encompassing push for consumer efficiency.
One could make the argument that consumers just naturally are efficient. Always looking for the best deal. Which is true. But that is like saying companies just naturally are always looking to make a profit and do it naturally. However, look at the changes that has happened in the last 50 years in the business world. Business has gotten smart. Implemented technology. And new organizational models. The consumer has sat still. To use another analogy, business is utilizing modern weapons while we, the consumer, are still fighting a war of attrition. Witness the evolution of the MBA.
Perhaps, consumer efficiency and tactics will evolve. Perhaps their will be an MBA for consumer efficiency. A Masters in Consumer Efficiency, an MCE, which will combine an MBA and consumer advocacy non-profit interests?
Until then, the ability to look for opportunities and for empowerment rests with you. It is sad that the employees of the hanger company seemed to sink their own ship. I do not understand what happened to them or their intentions completely, but it is nice to think that maybe we can learn from their fate and maybe...well, maybe...outsource some lifeboat construction.
The company will or has packed up its machinery for shipment to China. The company was employee-owned but decided to outsource. The article goes on to say:
"Why Laidlaw's American employee-owners would think wise to invest $2.8 million to shift production overseas is not clear, but it get even weirder. In 2002 some of Laidlaw's domestic competitors petitioned the US government to impose a tariff on Chinese imports. Laidlaw wrote checks to lobbyists totally $441,000 to try to block it. President Bush killed the measure. Whatever your feeling about free trade, it's hard to escape the conclusion that Laidlaw's employee-owners became agents of their own demise."
I feel bad for the employees. It just seems sad...
It seems the surge of resistance against outsourcing has passed. But the trend is continuing.
I suppose we have accepted there is no use in swimming against these currents in the changing swells of global economics. You just get tired. Putting up resistance to forces that are bound and determined to make change is fruitless.
Trying to stop the tides is a good analogy. You can't stop the tides, but then again why would you want to? To continue with the analogy, if your house is built too close to the shoreline, move your house. Better yet, make your house float. Stay flexible. Be resourceful. Enjoy the challenge. Look ahead. Your house doesn't have to float forever, just long enough for the tides to change or for you to find a new house...
Outsourcing isn't going to last forever. Rather than fight it, make it work for you. On both ends. ON the outgoing economic tide that is pulling capital and labor away from American shores...and when the time comes...the incoming tide that will return many of the efforts we are now sending to China...
Outsource what you can of your own during the out tide. For a while, before joining peace corps, I was joking about outsourcing my family. It was a great rebuke to the republican/free market support for outsources, while at the same time promoting and standing behind good old fashioned American family values. Find a nice Indian woman to make a nice mom to my kids and raise my kids in India. Mail money over. Everyone wins. I import my American family experience via pictures, emails and cell calls. I joked but, to a certain extent you can outsource aspects of your life...
For instance, try and land a contracting position here in the states. Something which requires intellectual capital. But that needs a American to tap into the funding spigot. You act as the conduit. The eyes and the ears. The data gatherer. Send the 'data' for processing overseas.
Next time you speak with an Indian customer service rep, give him your own sales pitch. You already know he can speak English. Ask him or her,
"Hey, i have a personal business. What's your email. I'll send you some 'test' data and see how you analyze it."
Start a consulting business and find your own Indian outsourcing partner. It's combining globalism and 'localism'. You and an Indian working side-by-side. Both benefiting and cutting out the middleman. The middle man in this case is the multi-national corporation. Make life work for you. Make outsourcing work for you!
Eventually, during the incoming tide. Many jobs and resources that left the country will return. When cheap Chinese labor dries up. When Chinese standards of living rise dramatically, be open to opportunities that reemerge domestically.
Additionally, think of how you spend your money. Think of how multi-national corporations think. Apply the same logic to your own life. If consumers employed the same tactics as corporations, we would be a force with which to be reckoned. If we employed the same cost saving efficiency protocols a company such as Toyota employed, think of how much money you could save.
Right now, business has a singular focus. To efficiently tap the consumer, you and me, for all that it can. It mounts an all out assault for our resources. Business benefits from our inefficiencies because we are distracted by things like...say...living a life...
I think it is jut a matter of time before the 'efficient consumer' movement emerges. There is and has been no organizational, all-encompassing push for consumer efficiency.
One could make the argument that consumers just naturally are efficient. Always looking for the best deal. Which is true. But that is like saying companies just naturally are always looking to make a profit and do it naturally. However, look at the changes that has happened in the last 50 years in the business world. Business has gotten smart. Implemented technology. And new organizational models. The consumer has sat still. To use another analogy, business is utilizing modern weapons while we, the consumer, are still fighting a war of attrition. Witness the evolution of the MBA.
Perhaps, consumer efficiency and tactics will evolve. Perhaps their will be an MBA for consumer efficiency. A Masters in Consumer Efficiency, an MCE, which will combine an MBA and consumer advocacy non-profit interests?
Until then, the ability to look for opportunities and for empowerment rests with you. It is sad that the employees of the hanger company seemed to sink their own ship. I do not understand what happened to them or their intentions completely, but it is nice to think that maybe we can learn from their fate and maybe...well, maybe...outsource some lifeboat construction.
Feb 24, 2007
yesterday's measure of a man
The traits and qualities we, as a society, will value in people tomorrow will be drastically different that what we value today...sort of. The qualities we will want in ourselves and our children are changing...
Thousands of years ago, the measure of a man was vastly different than it is today. However, I am sure the ability to relate to others, a sense of humor and a general resourceful were as respected then as they are today.
Today's man is most identified with what trait? Intelligence? Smarts? Genius?
Is that the defining mark of a successful man?
People that are smart often like to point out that they are smart. Often by the ability to recall facts. Know things about stuff (that sounds smart, don't it?), and be able to understand concepts quickly.
These traits will be useless in tomorrow's world. Think about it. These traits will be as useful as the ability to spell is today...
Gordon Bell, a researcher at Microsoft that is based in the bay area (I didn't even know the company had a research center here..show's how smart I am...), is showing us what the not too distant future will mean for human intelligence. The man, for the past 30 years or so, has had his memory outsourced to a computer, called the mylifebits project. (Fast Company November 2006) It's brilliant. Every email, saved. Every vision, photographed. Every document, scanned. Every conversation, recorded. All of it archived and accessible via computer. He can free us his mind for creative problem solving.
The true mark of success in the future?
The ability to think creatively is what will be one of the most desired traits of the future. The artists will decide our fates. Those that can socially network. The people that are least like machines...
Mr. Bell (a great character in The Paper Chase..."You're all a bunch of PIMPS!"...great line)...anyway...getting back to Mr. Bell, it will be a matter of time where your life experiences are stored on your home server. All memories. Nothing will be forgotten. Draw up any photo. Any memory. Any thought that was recorded. You will have access to all the information that has ever been thought, written or conceived.
How does one survive in such a world? How does one compete?
Thousands of years ago, the measure of a man was vastly different than it is today. However, I am sure the ability to relate to others, a sense of humor and a general resourceful were as respected then as they are today.
Today's man is most identified with what trait? Intelligence? Smarts? Genius?
Is that the defining mark of a successful man?
People that are smart often like to point out that they are smart. Often by the ability to recall facts. Know things about stuff (that sounds smart, don't it?), and be able to understand concepts quickly.
These traits will be useless in tomorrow's world. Think about it. These traits will be as useful as the ability to spell is today...
Gordon Bell, a researcher at Microsoft that is based in the bay area (I didn't even know the company had a research center here..show's how smart I am...), is showing us what the not too distant future will mean for human intelligence. The man, for the past 30 years or so, has had his memory outsourced to a computer, called the mylifebits project. (Fast Company November 2006) It's brilliant. Every email, saved. Every vision, photographed. Every document, scanned. Every conversation, recorded. All of it archived and accessible via computer. He can free us his mind for creative problem solving.
The true mark of success in the future?
The ability to think creatively is what will be one of the most desired traits of the future. The artists will decide our fates. Those that can socially network. The people that are least like machines...
Mr. Bell (a great character in The Paper Chase..."You're all a bunch of PIMPS!"...great line)...anyway...getting back to Mr. Bell, it will be a matter of time where your life experiences are stored on your home server. All memories. Nothing will be forgotten. Draw up any photo. Any memory. Any thought that was recorded. You will have access to all the information that has ever been thought, written or conceived.
How does one survive in such a world? How does one compete?
a change in direction
If I am not 'anti-system' what am i?
What is 'droppinng out'?
Can I love my job and still question the greater purpose?
Can I be anti-system and enjoy what I do as a 'productive' member of society?
Well in terms of this blog, loving your job can be detrimental to your readership. While I enjoy 'connecting' with other people in a new way (this blog), and i hope people find something of interestert here; I, in the end, write this blog for no other reason than just to write it.
So with my new spin on employment, I feel some of the pizazz some readers found in the blog is gone. The bottle of coke is a little flat.
Funny thing is I did not choose this and it is quite a surprise to me as well. I really think we just live out our lives, and respond to situations as they are presented to us fully letting go to enjoy the experience that is presented to us. That is how I am living my life more and more each day.
I am letting go of preconceived ideas of how my life (or blog) should turn out or become. Maybe that is ultimately the most system living you can undertake. To determine before hand what you want your life to be and then 'become that', without 'letting go' to discover what the intersection of life and your soul create.
When you do so, when you let go, there is no fear. There is no fear because there is nothing to fear. You have no end point to achieve, therefore no sense of fear of loss or failure.
I compare it to when you are sitting in a room. For no apparent reason you get up out of your chair. The second you get up out of the chair, a ton of roofing tiles lands on the chair, crushing it. You would have been dead, had you thought, for a fraction of a second, whether you should move. I suppose I believe in intuition. Follow it...
Even if it is just getting up out of a chair...
I know that makes me a bit of a contradiction. I obviously love to analyze. But I am also very intuitive. I like to analyze and philosophize as a leisure time activity, for fun. But when it comes to living my life I am trying not to analyze. I am trying and learning just to live, intuitively.
What is 'droppinng out'?
Can I love my job and still question the greater purpose?
Can I be anti-system and enjoy what I do as a 'productive' member of society?
Well in terms of this blog, loving your job can be detrimental to your readership. While I enjoy 'connecting' with other people in a new way (this blog), and i hope people find something of interestert here; I, in the end, write this blog for no other reason than just to write it.
So with my new spin on employment, I feel some of the pizazz some readers found in the blog is gone. The bottle of coke is a little flat.
Funny thing is I did not choose this and it is quite a surprise to me as well. I really think we just live out our lives, and respond to situations as they are presented to us fully letting go to enjoy the experience that is presented to us. That is how I am living my life more and more each day.
I am letting go of preconceived ideas of how my life (or blog) should turn out or become. Maybe that is ultimately the most system living you can undertake. To determine before hand what you want your life to be and then 'become that', without 'letting go' to discover what the intersection of life and your soul create.
When you do so, when you let go, there is no fear. There is no fear because there is nothing to fear. You have no end point to achieve, therefore no sense of fear of loss or failure.
I compare it to when you are sitting in a room. For no apparent reason you get up out of your chair. The second you get up out of the chair, a ton of roofing tiles lands on the chair, crushing it. You would have been dead, had you thought, for a fraction of a second, whether you should move. I suppose I believe in intuition. Follow it...
Even if it is just getting up out of a chair...
I know that makes me a bit of a contradiction. I obviously love to analyze. But I am also very intuitive. I like to analyze and philosophize as a leisure time activity, for fun. But when it comes to living my life I am trying not to analyze. I am trying and learning just to live, intuitively.
Feb 22, 2007
can't believe this...
I can't believe I am going to write this...
I love my job...
I see my job as something that let's me do something that I wouldn't normally be able to do, give me new experiences and do something positive. It's great...
hmmmm....i guess everything has a cost. If i like what i am doing on the job (although I get frustrated from time to time and i will probably vent here), i think the cost is not have creative juices flowing about the positives of the alternative lifestyles to work. so i've struck a balance...
i'm going to live like a 'floater', that happens to have a job...should the job evaporate (which tends to happen from time to time) i want to remain nimble and responsive enough to take that as an opportunity to try something new. explore. venture out...
this way "heads i win, tails i win"...can't lose...
so great...
it's the "stable but flexible" strategy...
I love my job...
I see my job as something that let's me do something that I wouldn't normally be able to do, give me new experiences and do something positive. It's great...
hmmmm....i guess everything has a cost. If i like what i am doing on the job (although I get frustrated from time to time and i will probably vent here), i think the cost is not have creative juices flowing about the positives of the alternative lifestyles to work. so i've struck a balance...
i'm going to live like a 'floater', that happens to have a job...should the job evaporate (which tends to happen from time to time) i want to remain nimble and responsive enough to take that as an opportunity to try something new. explore. venture out...
this way "heads i win, tails i win"...can't lose...
so great...
it's the "stable but flexible" strategy...
Feb 13, 2007
one phat muffin
So I took a break today from work and walked outside to a scone/coffee cafe. It's a really little place. Just enough room for two tables. Really small tables. She, the owner, actually had muffin tops for sale. Just as in the seinfeld episode. I couldn't get over it. I thought it was very funny. She, on the other hand, very matter of factly thought i was a buffoon for being amused by something so ordinary as muffin tops. I was asking questions, and she seemed annoyed that I was asking, so I stopped. (they actually make muffin top pans...just so you know...and in australia it means something completely different)
Anyway, I asked her,
"How's it going"
She said,
"It could be better"
(implied here, was...."Better now that you stopped asking about those F*%#ing muffin tops!"
So I said,
"Yeah, it seems it can always be about...10% better..."
Which got me thinking as I left the matter-of-fact muffin maker..."maybe better is just from where we sit in the center of our own universe?"
Just as in our 'real' universe, from wherever you sit, it appears to be the center. I think it has something to do with everything moving away from you (but i think it call all be explained through the magic of the muffin top).
But maybe the same idea applies to 'better' for our lives. There is always a better out there. Just out of reach. And we are always grasping for it. We thought just having muffin tops would get us there...it hasn't...maybe a better car will do it...nope....more money?
"If only I won the lottery....think of all the muffin tops..."
Anyway, I asked her,
"How's it going"
She said,
"It could be better"
(implied here, was...."Better now that you stopped asking about those F*%#ing muffin tops!"
So I said,
"Yeah, it seems it can always be about...10% better..."
Which got me thinking as I left the matter-of-fact muffin maker..."maybe better is just from where we sit in the center of our own universe?"
Just as in our 'real' universe, from wherever you sit, it appears to be the center. I think it has something to do with everything moving away from you (but i think it call all be explained through the magic of the muffin top).
But maybe the same idea applies to 'better' for our lives. There is always a better out there. Just out of reach. And we are always grasping for it. We thought just having muffin tops would get us there...it hasn't...maybe a better car will do it...nope....more money?
"If only I won the lottery....think of all the muffin tops..."
Feb 12, 2007
senior stinky and almundo
To get a little more goofy than normal, I was thinking about a kids book. It would be fun to write.
The adventures of Senior Stinky and his sidekick the cactus, Almundo (instead of El Mundo).
They would go around the world helping kids and their family's deal with economic injustices, imbalances and just 'falling through the cracks in today's global marketplace. After all, the world is a pretty big place and so the cracks can get pretty gigantic!' Through their adventures, kids learn about world finance, global economics, differing standards of living, environmental impacts of economic activity, poverty, wealth, stocks, markets...and basically money and life and a balance between the two.
Of course there would be funny antics (always has to be antics), such as Almundo 'popping a balloon with his thorns' type humor...almost self mocking...
Senior stinky's background is not known and the audience learns a little more about him in each adventure? Is he educated in economics? Why is he doing this? How did a cactus become his sidekick? Was peyote involved?
Anyway, just a side project that will never get done because there are so many to do...but it would be fun...(that's something I love about the blog. Instead of the idea occurring and wisping away, it's fun to at least write down a smattering of ideas...)
and then say adios...
The adventures of Senior Stinky and his sidekick the cactus, Almundo (instead of El Mundo).
They would go around the world helping kids and their family's deal with economic injustices, imbalances and just 'falling through the cracks in today's global marketplace. After all, the world is a pretty big place and so the cracks can get pretty gigantic!' Through their adventures, kids learn about world finance, global economics, differing standards of living, environmental impacts of economic activity, poverty, wealth, stocks, markets...and basically money and life and a balance between the two.
Of course there would be funny antics (always has to be antics), such as Almundo 'popping a balloon with his thorns' type humor...almost self mocking...
Senior stinky's background is not known and the audience learns a little more about him in each adventure? Is he educated in economics? Why is he doing this? How did a cactus become his sidekick? Was peyote involved?
Anyway, just a side project that will never get done because there are so many to do...but it would be fun...(that's something I love about the blog. Instead of the idea occurring and wisping away, it's fun to at least write down a smattering of ideas...)
and then say adios...
Feb 11, 2007
one bad apple
I have...had an iPod. And it gave me the sad, pathetic icon you see here. So I went to an apple store, signed in on the concierge desk (located on any apple in the apple store or you access it from your home computer) to get an appointment time. I did get an appointment for an hour later at the "genius bar".
Apple really has created a cultural identity. Whereas with most things corporate, people are really put off. But Apple has swung that the other way. They have identified themselves as anti-corporate. Anti-system if you will. Remember, the 'revolution' ad? Very smart.
But no matter how cool the company is, the stores are and the industrially-designed slickness of the computers (they are now Apple Corporation, by the way, in case you missed the latest in apple news), I still had a pathetic iPod face, an hour wait and wait a second...is that it? Sometimes we can make seemingly simple annoyances which result from a comfortable life seem like a crisis. I'm waiting to get an iPod fixed...let's not make this out to be more than it is...I was lucky just to have one. Even a broken iPod...with a sad face...I could me in Venezuela now...wondering "how things are going to turn out..." (and my life there would be fine as well...)
I have it easy. And I know it...and not just because I have an iPod (the iPod is a bit of a means test however, if you have an iPod, chances are most of your basic needs are being met...)
That said, I have gone through moments of pain, loneliness and isolation. I came back to California for a temporary job some months back. I thought I would get a cheap room in the city, enjoy the city and enjoy life. So I got a room, checked in and realized I was wandering lost in the mire of life and looking around for a friendly face. I had a girlfriend in the area that I enjoyed spending time with (who I am happily spending time with today), but wanted to stand on my own. Not depend on her. But one night in the room, waking up early and being asked, "are you cool?" as I made my way to the train through the streets...at first thinking, "hmmm, what a cool guy he's wondering if I'm okay". Then being asked again,
"You okay man?"
I realized..."OH! These guys are drug dealers. They want to know if i want drugs...hugh..."
I felt empowered just to have this realization (pathetic I know), and at the same time it made me a little nervous...and feel a little more lost...
Anyway, what does this have to do with a broken iPod?
There was a song I was listening to at that time that reminds me of that time called, "hate me", on my iPod as I sat on the train staring out the window. Thinking,
"Where am I going.
What am I going to do?"
Then that song comforted me. The song made me realize other people feel this way as well...isolated from time to time...
Now the song reminds me of the feelings I was having then.
The feelings of isolation.
The feelings of being alone.
And, the funny thing is, it feels good. That's the strange thing about those moments in life. After they pass I am happy I had them. They made me look inward, and 'get dirty' with my feelings...they connect you with other people that go through the same thing. And we all do...
But many of us do have it very easy and very good. A very high quality of life.
So now, I was waiting to find the fate of my iPod. To find out what apple does with rotten iPods. Do they have a little memorial service? An Apple 'iPod grieve consultant' meets with you and works through what's on your mind? I did not know what to expect. But I was having fun...
But, expectantly, after a long wait, pondering all of the moments I had gone through with my iPod, I was called to the 'genius bar', by a guy that really did look like...a genius in a pierced nose, pierced ear and 'punk'd' out sort of way (that's how genius' look today...don't they?) and he started asking me some questions in a really cool, apple sort of way...
Before I knew it, he was handing me a new iPod. A fresh, organically manufactured and blemish free, brand new black iPod...
and I listen to it now (some great guitar by John Williams, the magic box)...pondering all the silliness that I ponder...and having fun...
Feb 10, 2007
buddha or bust...just another modern book with a schnazy title and a catchy subtitle?
I just finished reading Buddha or Bust . It is a book which stemmed from a National Geographic article the author wrote about the world-wide historical spread of Buddhism.
This book and modern popular writing is a lot like blog writing...like '...this here ole blog.' Essentially the idea is formulated and then written down. I think his writing style is a response to the manner in which people want to read. In most non-fiction today there is little or no art to the writing. Even fiction, in my opinion such as The Da Vinci code, is sometimes hard to read. What would the real Leonardo think about the book? Especially in contrast to something like Oryx and Crake. Which just flows...beautifully...
That said, I did enjoy a lot of Perry Garfinkel's book. The parts in the book I enjoyed the most dealt directly with his life story. Well...I suppose...the most 'bloggy' parts. He had some ideas, which he finished with, that gave me pause to think. He wrote about why we do not question when we are in the moment.
"Often, so caught up in my own head, I drive by similar scenes here and take no note of them. But through my new door of perception, the ordinary took on extraordinary significance. We were perfectly content, with nowhere to go, nothing to do, no one to be. Questions come from dissatisfaction, from doubt and uncertainty, from thinking there is more to the picture than what you see in front of you. But to be fully in the moment, in such an altered state of satisfaction, is quite enough. Even the journalist, "stripped of his questions," can let go of his identity. Until that moment passes. As it did that day."
I like that passage. To me the idea is ironic though, because I feel one of man's defining characteristics; one of humanity's most endearing and lofty traits is the ability and act of questioning. Without it, without the desire to grow, we are less than human. Questioning comes from a desire to be something greater. To reach a higher level of being. There's the rub. The contradiction. That in order to reach enlightenment, to be free of desire, one must desire to be free. There must be hope and a dream of something better.
It seems we are all in prison. But a man with a dream and a desire and a plan on getting out of prison, is a free man indeed. And that man has a purpose...and hopefully a rock hammer...
But in order to do so, one must question.
Garfinkel talks about enjoying the moment. About not questioning, about just being. But that appreciation of the moment, can only come when one knows and understands that the moment is going to pass. When one has questioned the impermanence of things.
This book and modern popular writing is a lot like blog writing...like '...this here ole blog.' Essentially the idea is formulated and then written down. I think his writing style is a response to the manner in which people want to read. In most non-fiction today there is little or no art to the writing. Even fiction, in my opinion such as The Da Vinci code, is sometimes hard to read. What would the real Leonardo think about the book? Especially in contrast to something like Oryx and Crake. Which just flows...beautifully...
That said, I did enjoy a lot of Perry Garfinkel's book. The parts in the book I enjoyed the most dealt directly with his life story. Well...I suppose...the most 'bloggy' parts. He had some ideas, which he finished with, that gave me pause to think. He wrote about why we do not question when we are in the moment.
"Often, so caught up in my own head, I drive by similar scenes here and take no note of them. But through my new door of perception, the ordinary took on extraordinary significance. We were perfectly content, with nowhere to go, nothing to do, no one to be. Questions come from dissatisfaction, from doubt and uncertainty, from thinking there is more to the picture than what you see in front of you. But to be fully in the moment, in such an altered state of satisfaction, is quite enough. Even the journalist, "stripped of his questions," can let go of his identity. Until that moment passes. As it did that day."
I like that passage. To me the idea is ironic though, because I feel one of man's defining characteristics; one of humanity's most endearing and lofty traits is the ability and act of questioning. Without it, without the desire to grow, we are less than human. Questioning comes from a desire to be something greater. To reach a higher level of being. There's the rub. The contradiction. That in order to reach enlightenment, to be free of desire, one must desire to be free. There must be hope and a dream of something better.
It seems we are all in prison. But a man with a dream and a desire and a plan on getting out of prison, is a free man indeed. And that man has a purpose...and hopefully a rock hammer...
But in order to do so, one must question.
Garfinkel talks about enjoying the moment. About not questioning, about just being. But that appreciation of the moment, can only come when one knows and understands that the moment is going to pass. When one has questioned the impermanence of things.
Feb 3, 2007
great stuff
For a reinstatement that there are alternatives to the normal workaholic American strategy for making a living, check out the simple living network link to the right.
In particular, review:
un-jobbing: the adult liberation handbook.
and Affluenza...this is a program that question the american dream and its values. Produced by PBS!
This is great stuff guys...
And the classic, Your Money or Your Life, which struck a chord with me when I first hear of it. My freshman year in college when the authors were on Oprah. Go figure, Oprah, spreading a word that is counter-culture. I also really enjoyed reading, "How to survive without a salary" by Charles Long.
The movement away from The American Dream is and has always been there. There have always been a group of people discontented with the value system of the majority. That would be me, us and people who actually enjoy reading this stuff.
The thing is...what we are seeing now with such movies as 'an inconvenient truth'...is that the values of desire and the majority have been and are putting our lives and our planet at risk. It's just not a matter of survival, but of quality of life of that survival...time for a change...
In particular, review:
un-jobbing: the adult liberation handbook.
and Affluenza...this is a program that question the american dream and its values. Produced by PBS!
This is great stuff guys...
And the classic, Your Money or Your Life, which struck a chord with me when I first hear of it. My freshman year in college when the authors were on Oprah. Go figure, Oprah, spreading a word that is counter-culture. I also really enjoyed reading, "How to survive without a salary" by Charles Long.
The movement away from The American Dream is and has always been there. There have always been a group of people discontented with the value system of the majority. That would be me, us and people who actually enjoy reading this stuff.
The thing is...what we are seeing now with such movies as 'an inconvenient truth'...is that the values of desire and the majority have been and are putting our lives and our planet at risk. It's just not a matter of survival, but of quality of life of that survival...time for a change...
screwEDD
I went to the post office yesterday to mail my appeal of my appeal for my unemployment benefits. It seems I mailed one of my claim forms, a form you have to mail every 2 weeks in order to claim benefits, from NYC. Apparently EDD, Employment Development Department, AKA the welfare office, has somebody employed (a good way to keep the economy going along during those slow times) to inspect post marks. This person or persons did a great job! They caught my claim form mailed from NYC and I did not report in to EDD telling them I would be in the NYC area. This triggered a 'phone interview'. (did I just warp back to middle school..."where's your hall pass..")
So I had nothing but problems trying to justify to the EDD people that I was actually unemployed and looking for work. The hardest work I have ever done was trying to get money for not working. Their mission, however, became clear. Their purpose, their mission is not to provide a safety net for you or me in case we lose our jobs. No. Not in the leastest.
It's to ensure we stay controlled, socialized and of prepped for the work world. We stay fit for work, which essentially means being a system tool.
Which is fine. I accept I have to play this game for a while. It just took me a while to learn the rules. Now I am trying to 'win' my back pay by making a strong and convincing case. Which really is...actually...fun...
That's really how I see working, and making money now. It's a game of immersion into the world of capitalism and work. The game is being played, why not see it for what it is...a game....get in it, and have some fun?
I think just being aware is the first step towards winning it.
Anyway, I was at the post office and the LINE JUST WASN'T moving! I was very surprised at myself for getting antsy and annoyed. I thought, "wow, must be work. I have much less time now, because I am working. I still have to get a bow tie, and my girlfriends brother is coming to town...Why won't this Damn Line Move!"
I was shocked. I thought I had the Zen Line Thing covered.
So I used the game strategy. I thought, "hmmmm, well let me see if i can turn this around and just be Zen about this situation..."
Low and behold, everthing got better. I relaxed and my external world seemed to get better. I just enjoyed the line. The people around me. I enjoyed the fact that I had to be there. That I had the opportunity to relax and do nothing. Then, would you believe it? The line started moving...rolling....pushing forward. Before I knew it, I was at the front of the line, thinking,
"oh man, i'm gonna miss standing here and doing nothing..."
So I had nothing but problems trying to justify to the EDD people that I was actually unemployed and looking for work. The hardest work I have ever done was trying to get money for not working. Their mission, however, became clear. Their purpose, their mission is not to provide a safety net for you or me in case we lose our jobs. No. Not in the leastest.
It's to ensure we stay controlled, socialized and of prepped for the work world. We stay fit for work, which essentially means being a system tool.
Which is fine. I accept I have to play this game for a while. It just took me a while to learn the rules. Now I am trying to 'win' my back pay by making a strong and convincing case. Which really is...actually...fun...
That's really how I see working, and making money now. It's a game of immersion into the world of capitalism and work. The game is being played, why not see it for what it is...a game....get in it, and have some fun?
I think just being aware is the first step towards winning it.
Anyway, I was at the post office and the LINE JUST WASN'T moving! I was very surprised at myself for getting antsy and annoyed. I thought, "wow, must be work. I have much less time now, because I am working. I still have to get a bow tie, and my girlfriends brother is coming to town...Why won't this Damn Line Move!"
I was shocked. I thought I had the Zen Line Thing covered.
So I used the game strategy. I thought, "hmmmm, well let me see if i can turn this around and just be Zen about this situation..."
Low and behold, everthing got better. I relaxed and my external world seemed to get better. I just enjoyed the line. The people around me. I enjoyed the fact that I had to be there. That I had the opportunity to relax and do nothing. Then, would you believe it? The line started moving...rolling....pushing forward. Before I knew it, I was at the front of the line, thinking,
"oh man, i'm gonna miss standing here and doing nothing..."
Feb 1, 2007
breeding cubicle monkies
So we are selecting for people that do not question. For people that do not mind the status quo. We are, our society, is selecting for people that will 'buy the party line'.
Think about it.
The people that don't want little kiddies are not going to put their wrists out and say,
"shackle me with another pair of golden handcuffs please!"
That said, the people that don't mind slaving away for the lexus RX wage-slave machine are the one cranking out the little rug rats.
Perhaps I am taking the easy way out. I could camp out in the woods, raise a little farm of my own puppies and tell them to:
"go forth and question everything."
But that's a little impractical.
Therefore, I am back to my original argument, there will be no need for social control in the future, because the social control will be build right in.
Just like, how everybody eventually sits in the same seats, in the same rows after the first day of a college class. Without "designated seating"...
Think about it.
The people that don't want little kiddies are not going to put their wrists out and say,
"shackle me with another pair of golden handcuffs please!"
That said, the people that don't mind slaving away for the lexus RX wage-slave machine are the one cranking out the little rug rats.
Perhaps I am taking the easy way out. I could camp out in the woods, raise a little farm of my own puppies and tell them to:
"go forth and question everything."
But that's a little impractical.
Therefore, I am back to my original argument, there will be no need for social control in the future, because the social control will be build right in.
Just like, how everybody eventually sits in the same seats, in the same rows after the first day of a college class. Without "designated seating"...
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