I like plaid. I am not a farmer. I think plaid goes great with stripes. I am not a fashion star. Most of all I like plaid pants and a plaid shirt that clash. I do not care. Fashion sense does not abide me. Vogue and Cosmo will not be calling me. I will wear white in winter. Okay that is lie, I never wear white. White usually clashes with the red liquid I inevitably spill on myself if I do wear white. Old age has taught me that one thing. Avoid white. I'll probably never be a lab tech then either will I? How many careers have I locked myself out of just based on my fashion sense? Is this the reason I am perennially underemployed perhaps?
I have heard all of the platitude about clothes making the man and you judge a man by his shoes, but I have to tell you I think these platitudes are those of the people who just want to perpetuate the establishment. Rebels rebel in their clothes choices until they are co-opted by the fashion industry. Rebels must constantly challenge fashion convention. That is one of my goals this summer - challenge convention, challenge authority, get all of you to think about what you wear and why.
I am not sure how important such a thing is in reality, but it makes me feel good to say and do it. That too is what we all should be comfortable doing and saying what makes us feel good. Comfortable in what we wear, who we are and what we believe and damn the fools.
So it seems all old people say it. "The world is falling apart". Well something like that. My parents did and my grandparents did - but with more emphasis and sincerity. As I kid I always blew these expositions off. "Whatever". Now that i am old though I see their wisdom. The world is falling apart. I am not a reactionary to modern trends, but only reading my Twitter and Facebook news feeds. The economies of most of the world are in a state of crap, the ecology of the planet is going down the toilet courtesy of our carelessness, and of course hatred between us earth inhabitants is on the rise - hey it is so even in this country. So yes I think the world is falling apart. But I could, if I was bothered provide some proof. But then again so could my parents and grandparents if I pressed them.
Well I like to drift in and out on things. Too much excitement stresses me out, so I have promised myself to keep a watchful eye on what I read during this election season.
Anyway couple of things have struck me of late. How about that NY Times article on how clever Apple is at avoiding taxes in this country. You have to admire their ingenuity, and I doubt the news will keep anyone from buying an iPad. Hey we can all pay just a little more in tax and try a little more personal austerity because we admire them so much don't you think?
Speaking of admire, how about that J.P. Morgan bank hoo hah? Last I read they said that even with the two billion dollar loss, they still should balance out by the end of the year. Seriously? They do make to much money. Where exactly did that $2 billion plus go by the way?
[As I side note, the genius who succeed at losing that much money was making $14 million a year too. (She at least got fired - not sure of what sort of bonus came with the firing though). Hey can I have that job? I would take less money and lose less I promise. Wink wink nudge nudge.]
This all leads me to think of the Greeks and how they are standing up against the new buzz trend "austerity". I bet if old JP Morgan had given them a couple billion it might have eased some of their pain - but quite frankly I sure news like this does not encourage them. Of course it is wrong to live beyond your means, I agree with that. My quibble here is that the world does not encourage that does it? Their argument though is that "the percentage they are paying is just too high priced" and yes people are profiting from all of our dreams all of the time. What's that I hear ....
For those of you who are not aware of the fact: there were simpler times in the past. All one needed to do was to go downtown and all of your troubles would go away. Well maybe you had to live in the UK for this to be true, then again, I am not sure about that actually.
What all this leads me to think about is how one can escape the realities of the world - then and now. I am a believer that we do too much of it these days - escaping that is. Not all of us mind you, but more of us than should. That is why we are where we are. With economic inequity, financial crisis, seemingly another war starting every time the previous one ends - it is all still around us. We do seem so less bothered by it all than I remember us being so in the past. How can this be a good thing?
Maybe it is just that simpler times lend themselves to us thinking just a bit more.
Like most everyone these days I really abhor waste. While my pissed off quotient at waste in government is quite high, I can really do nothing about it can I? Okay yes I can vote and hope I choose someone who stays off the pork barrel for awhile. But I am more inclined to just accept that that is bacon, gladly eat it and deal with the ever increasing blood pressure it stimulates.
Today I want to rant about those who waste potato chips. They leave their crumbs everywhere - including in my couch, and I cannot help but remember my moms admonitions of all the starving people int he world who are now missing out on potato chips. How sad is that. This holiday think of those starving people in the whirl and put your potato chips in your mouth, not all over the house and especially not down into the cracks of my couch. Pass the salt please.
I, like I am sure all of you, enjoy a bit of a holiday once in awhile. For me it is time to begin thinking about where to go and what to do this summer. Not being flush with cash I do seek out those great deals and of course look for cheap flights. I am thinking most of us in the 99% do this same thing - of course only to run headlong into the reality that nothing is as good as it sounds. I must say again, they do seem capable of getting blood from us turnips.Yes I know recently the airlines have had to comply with more honesty in their ads, but of course that new truth in advertising is like all ads and press releases - they do not tell the full story. Well, I know you want the truth and so I am going to give it to you. However, I cannot say it any better or more clearly than these fine folks...
Tiger Woods is probably the most known golfer in the world. He has a huge gallery following him. People line fairways and surround greens when he is hitting a shot. They yell "in the hole" every-time he hits the ball - I'll ignore this obnoxious trait for the moment. They also just yell for no reason. He does little to earn these accolades most of the time. He is pretty much living on his laurels at the moment. (Funny this really sounds like I am talking about a politician doesn't it?)
Anyway these crowds I believe give Tiger an added edge over the less well known an popular golfers. They surround him and the hole he is playing on. When he hits a bad shot that strays offline, more often than not it hits one of his fan and stops - usually in not too bad a position - usually a whole better position than if there were no fan there to stop it. So for example, rather than his ball going way past the back of the green when he hits it too long, it hits someone and stops a few feet away from the edge of the green leaving him an easy chip shot. All this leads to his having, in my opinion, a much easier round of golf than most other golfers. His throngs of admirers protect him from really bad shots, insulating him from the realities that other golfers must face. He has an advantage. He probably gains a few strokes a round from what I have seen - all for the slight expense of some of his fans (those hit by his golf ball) ending up with a bruise. Those without huge throngs of followers have no such protection. This sounds like us regular Americans - taking the bruises for the powerful to achieve what they want.
Put this all together. Those who are popular and have followers are protected. Those who go it alone or think independently are much less so - but all the stronger for it. Certainly this is true in politics and for big corporations whose followers or employees take the hits (blame) for things so the main man or woman or entity can removed ahead unscathed and can stay on the course.
I am not sure what all this means really except what I know already - those who are in a privileged position to start with are protected. Their position is protected. This makes it much harder to unseat them or evoke change. Tiger's failing was that his throngs could not protect him from himself - though if they could I am sure they would. In our world success is almost a self perpetuating fact with perhaps a high nepotistic coefficient. Not good odds for the rest of us. Good news for those in control - of us though.
While I ponder this I am thinking I may read up on how to play golf as I seek more meaning from the game and of course, my stripes.
