Shake it off – get back in there – give it all you got! Alright; I will. Here goes nothing. These days I have been shaking off body blows and head shots right and left. Life just seems to be landing upper-cut after body blow after jab and my arms are spaghetti noodles; flailing ineffectively against a vicious, proficient opponent who will not let up. It’s nothing specific – nothing I can put my finger on. Maybe it’s the continued economic crisis wearing on my brain. Maybe it’s the personal financial crisis I’ve been enmeshed in for the last 20 years. Maybe its middle-age closing in on me, or maybe it’s just the damned vibrations screwing with my molecular being. Who knows? Not me.
Believe it or Not! Bank Shows Profit!
Goldman-Sachs is showing a record profit – 33% increase over the quarter before. It’s all the rage in the economic and national news these days. I’ve heard two very distinct points of view on that situation. The first, optimistic, take on the success of Goldman-Sachs is that the profits are a result of hard work, incredible talent, and a clear vision for the future. The second, more cynical argument I’ve heard is that Goldman-Sachs’ profits are built on the back of cheap money doled out in the midst of the taxpayer funded bank bail-out, the elimination of key Goldman-Sachs competitors, and the favorable treatment of Goldman-Sachs at the hands of former company employees and current loyalists who are strategically positioned within the government regulatory structure. Frankly both positions sound credible to me. I lean towards the cynicism, but I’m so damned desperate for good news these days that I’m inclined to give Goldman-Sachs the benefit of the doubt and say “good job!” I’m tired and out of it though, and I reserve the right to change my mind without notice.
Lost – One Mojo
The synapses are just not firing today. Actually if I think back on it they haven’t been active for months now; lazy, beaten, defeated. The walls look a little too familiar, the food tastes bland, internet pornography doesn’t get me off like it used to. What is going on around here? Have a lost my mojo? Where do I even start looking for the damned stuff? Maybe I’ll put an ad up on Craig’s list and see what bites…
Lost – Mojo – If you have seen it, please let me know where to start looking for it. Appreciate it – Bob
Something like that. Craig’s List – killing print media since 2000-something. Who knew the Achilles heel of the entire newspaper industry was the classified advertising? It makes sense. Do the rise of Craig’s List and the fall of print media signify something grander? Is it true democracy, or anarchy, wrenching control away from the capitalists? Is Craig’s List a socialist endeavor? What does Obama think of all this? Sotomayor?
Oh well, about face, shift gears… My head feels like a brick, my stomach is knotted, my teeth ache. Large sections of this column may not be suitable for younger readers. That’s a disclaimer I just heard on the radio – slightly reworded – I should probably always include that in front of the column.
Vows of Silence
Today I was thinking about joining a monastery when a co-worker came into my office and asked how I thought he could go about joining a monastery. I guess it’s in the air these days. The rat race just isn’t cutting it for a lot of us anymore – racing is no fun when you never win. You know that the average Goldman-Sachs employee makes a little over $900,000 annually? Nine hundred thousand dollars. Can you believe that? It’s obscene – and that’s the average. Some of those folks make a lot more than that.
Smoke and spandex and dead eyes… Sometimes I miss the darkness, city nights, sleaze and scum. A recent sojourn down to the Bay Area reminded me of the days I used to roam the streets of San Francisco, drinking regularly in the Irish bars and sleeping with the windows open. The air there is so clean. Except maybe for the Sierra Mountain air I think the air in San Francisco is the cleanest, clearest air I have ever breathed.
My elbow still smarts from a bicycle accident I suffered over a week ago. The soda I am drinking coats my throat and soothes my stomach but my teeth still hurt.
I think tonight I’m going to take a long bath and read Herman Hesse’s Siddhartha for the umpteenth time. That book is a good one for soothing the soul.
madbob@madbob.com
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