warning: falling dollars ahead

Are you concerned about the falling dollar? Does it mean anything to you and me?

It does if prices have to get jacked up in order for companies to keep up with the declining value of the American currency. This is if inflation takes hold. We have not seen this hit us yet, because the fall in the dollar has been so swift.

For instance, take note of how the pricing difference on book covers regarding the Canadian dollar and the US dollar. Even though the Canadian dollar, or loonie, has achieved parity with the dollar these book covers have maintained the same pricing structure, which must be based on historical values. If the difference in currency pricing exists for a while, I suppose it's a matter of time before the methods used to determine these pricing structures catch up.

so is the falling dollar a concern to you and me? In this case, you just have to tell by the books cover...at least its price...

fortune cookie jokie

looking back, I only wish I didn't have so many regrets.

biPolar Barely

remember just about every child on the swing set 10 years ago had attention deficit disorder?

Apparently, now the mental illness de jur is bipolar disorder. And bipolar has more pricey drugs...

Mental illness works great for goosing profits for drug companies...and it keeps people thinking there is something wrong with them if they don't 'fit' the social mold...so it keeps people in line as well...

It's funny, because evolution works when it throws out concepts and ideas that fall outside of what everybody is...when it tries out new ideas...some work...some don't...

mental illness is one of those attempts by nature to force us to evolve...it's trying new things...and we label it as 'wrong' or 'incorrect' when in actuality, it's nature working...

eatwatch online

a great application gets better...eatwatch is online now!

http://www.fourmilab.ch/hackdiet/online/hdo.html

rummaging through the attic

I am reposting old posts I took off line because it thought I was going 'in a new direction'...

New direction?

I've heard that life is lived forwards, but understood backwards. So i'm rereading old posts to understand my backwards life...

I don't see any reason why you shouldn't look backwards with me...

it's fun...

whacked...

well it was more...thudded...

i was biking from work to the train station and got 'thudded' by a car...at least it was a low emission vehicle...a prius...

i was just thinking how lucky i've been to have not been hit in almost 10 months of biking in the city...so now i'm a little more experienced and I have to find out what do do when hit next time...there's just so many cars in such a small space it's a given it'll happen again...

but's it reminded me of how much i think cars are over used today...

the most stressful thing about the incident was another motorist yelling at me that i was the one at fault...i'm actually not sure who was at fault, but it was a good lesson that i need to learn what my rights are as a bicyclist in the city...

i'd love to live in a car free community, but i don't think any exist..

but i'll be looking...so the worst that could happen would be to get thudded by a golf cart maybe...or a kid on a big wheel....

OUCH!

are you golden?

this news is just going to spike gold up even more...crazy...like gold needs any more support...

gold will correct back to a stable price i would say of 550 or 600/ounce...i think the stable baseline price of gold will be higher than the historical one...

why is gold going up? I think because people's values and what they value are in question...interesting...

value squeeze

another 'cheap' fortune cookie post:

if we are lucky, we get to find out what we value. we are very fortunate, if we find a life that allows us to live by those values. That is where we find harmony...or harmoney...or cheapony...

he who's values get squeezed, that is he who lives in an environment where his values get pressured or challenged, will forever be miserable.

within a relationship, fights usually erupt when these value disconnects are working themselves out. in time, harmony or a stable situation in which both people's sets of values can coexist will evolve if both people in the relationship express what they value. problems arise, when one person suppresses expression of values...

Dharma and a sense of humor

I love the quote from the Dalai Lama regarding China's outrage regarding his meeting with the President of the US, "That always happens."

"Stand-up Dharma"

lawrence of arabia

I watched "Lawrence of Arabia" last night and it is a great film. It explains a little bit about why Turkey is interested in attacking Iraq in the current news and the history of The Ottoman Empire. The film touched on the intricacies of the life and personality of T.E. Lawrence...and hinted there is much more to his story...

fortune cookie post

due to lack of time...the fortune cookie post is born:

"regret only exists when one believes all options have been exhausted"

blogging bottleneck

You would think I have a lack of ideas and things to write about...it's quite the opposite...i have too much to say I don't know where to begin...

the 'value question' comes up a lot in what interests me...

I think that is something that is highlighted in what is going on in Britney Spear's life...she's struggling with what matters in her life...I feel sorry for her...here's an update...

I think she may have grown too much to identify with her idea of what or who Britney is...

I really like how Daniel Day Lewis stopped acting and went into cobbling shoes in Italy...he turned away from the system identity and carved out his own...

buffoonbia university

this is an interesting article about Ahmadinejad (i can write it...i can't pronounce it...) speaking at Columbia University. According to the article the university president was rude to the speaker...that seems weird to me...but he really was an asshole...just watch:

into the system

I can't wait to see Sean Penn's directing of "into the wild"!

I loved the book. The story. And the ideas that the story of Christopher McCandless communicates. The ideas that many of us have, but few of us pursue. the idealistic concept of pure freedom. That it lives out there...somewhere...Chris looked for it...

These days' I'm finding freedom much more locally...right in my own neighborhood, and within the bay area...I'm finding it in some good books...one of which I just started. One I have already fallen in love with...

"Finding George Orwell in Burma" by Emma Larkin is a story about a writer trying to find what inspired and changed George Orwell to, without warning, pull up stakes from a stint he had in Burma with the Imperial Police Force and begin a career as a writer. A writer focussed on the struggle of the self within an oppressive system. Some people say that George Orwell wrote a trilogy of Burma when he penned Burmese Days, Animal Farm and 1984. Both telling of the country's history, and the uncanny ability to peer into it's future.

I just started reading the book but its timeliness with the Buddhist monks of Myanmar pushing for freedom is compelling. I salute their courage. I briefly saw a quote from a monk effectively saying, "this is our fight. Please let us stand tall." This is the courage that sends a chill down my spine and a tear down my cheek.

I somehow feel that if Christopher McCandless had such a struggle for freedom he would have said something similar. There are some amazing people in this world...

not buying "not buying it"

The aim of this blog was to address the issues covered in "not buying it". The author covered the issues so well, so thoroughly in a well-written manner that ...well...the job has been done....I love the book...check it out...literally...(unless you want to help the author out....then hit the 'barnes and noble'...getting all the contradictions here...)

not buying it

Reading a great book right now about an author and her boyfriend, and their year of taking a break from the consumer lifestyle...a year of not buying stuff...a year of 'not buying it'....

don't buy it! hit the library! great read...

slow down...you move too fast

man...where does the time go?

last night at a friend's birthday party i got to talking to two guys i didn't know. it's always fun meeting new people. I soon became to be known as 'mr. philosopher'...as we jumped from topic to topic...from 'the unabomber' to 'where is society is heading?'

it's amazing what range of topics you can discuss with strangers if you toss in humour and a little lite heartedness...

anyhow, one of the more shallow topics we discussed, but interesting nonetheless, was the speed of today's society...i later got into speed dating conversation with another movie loving fellow, but that's another story...

where are we rushing too?

and don't let anyone tell you different...speed is contagious....

I was in New York City for a fun little stint about a year ago. I was there as a tourist...as a relaxing tourist...

but i realized i was getting caught up in the fast walking, jay street crossing, new york speed...i got swept into the fast flowing currents of city life...i had to say to myself, "wow...slow down"...and i actually got out of the rip current, swam ashore and sat on the sidelines and let my heart beat slow down....and blood pressure drop...

i have to do that more these days as well...

now let me go...gotta run...

skilling on the loose?

lock your doors...hide you children...a threat is on the loose...

jeffrey skilling from Enron may be released early...

monopolize my time

I just played the game 'monopoly' for the first time in probably 25 years...and man it was fun! I forgotten how much fun that game is...it brought back a ton of memories from when I was a kid...

Buying properties, collecting rents...the unknown mysteries of the 'chance' and 'community chest' cards...the cheap, but mysterious 'tycoon' that is the monopoly logo...ahhhh, it was great...

is playing business in 'real life' supposed to be so much fun? Is that how Donald Trump sees the game of life...or does he actually identify with it?

The board game is great...the feel of the pieces...holding of the cards and money...i can't help but wonder how video games can compete...

For a long time, board games were seen as 'un cool'.

I remember playing 'risk' a lot in a high school (yes, I was a nerd) and had so much fun. I made a mad dash for the 'in crowd' my senior year and made it in long enough to have a look around. During a night of drinking beer (it was gross then) at 'the dike' that held back the eb and flow of the waters of the Everglades, I thought, "This is really boring. I wish I was playing risk..."

Maybe the 'un cool' feeling people had about board games was an effective marketing campaign by other growth industries, such as video games.

Board games are a minimal investment (i just bought monopoly for 11 bucks...) versus a video game system where you need the system, the games, the controllers, and of course the hi def flat panel tv...minimum for the 'bare bones system' will set you back ten times that amount...plus all that power you have to consume...

man...

video game suck......money and electricity that is...

fear this...

we, as Americans, have the idea that we are the "tough guy" on the block of international politics. Will we always believe this? Will it take a new Chinese bully to knock us off the top of the mountain? What will that do to Americans concept of themselves?

I was just sitting outside at a store eating lunch in the city and saw a guy walk by with an American flag on his t-shirt with the words, "fear this" beneath the flag. It didn't say:

“love this...”

or

“when you need help...”

but “fear this...”

As I watched him drive off in his oversized pick-up truck...I couldn't help but think maybe his shirt should say:

"pity this..."

P.S. But I was afraid to think it...was that wrong?