Everests looming up ahead

Today's Astrocenter horoscope said:

If this month were a mountain, today is the day you would plant your flag on its summit. But before you go back down into the valley, it might be wise to take a look at the path you took to get there, and ahead to your future, especially since you may be a little depressed about not reaching even higher peaks. Not everyone can climb Mount Everest. Perhaps you are in training for an even higher climb to the top!

Is there any truth to it?

• There's some truth, but more about the "little depressed" part.
• I definitely feel like I'm in training. Most of the time. Like just about everyone else.
• Today's summit feels like a minor mountain pass at most. But there are a few hours left to climb higher, right?
• I'm definitely not in flag planting mood. What flag?
• Should I worry about lack of oxygen with the peaks looming up ahead?

I am another

Je suis un autre
– Arthur Rimbaud

I
am
anoth-
er, one with
cruel blue eyes, with
cool hardness. “Who are you?” – I could
not tell at that mo-
ment. Anoth-
er had
come
in.

– Leonard Blumfeld (© 2007)

Early, early morning

Late night out with my son who just came back from a year in Malaysia and Singapore.

It's great to have him back (or at least nearer).

So many things to talk about. It's like he left yesterday and we resumed yesterday's talk.

Shamanism in Hinduism, the God greeted in the German 'Grüß Gott' as well as 'Namaste'.

Sartre's grasp of Man's contemporary loneliness, but without a spiritual, universal, historical or future perspective.

And zillions of other things we touched on.

Hiatus

No posts in about two weeks ... no time, never the right mood.

But oh did time fly by!

On heavy, heavily plied but swift wings, with lots of upheavals and downheavals.

Much too fast to grasp.

To be mostly deleted for soothing numbness.

And that's the statement for today and the past weeks.

Take your evil measurement

For all those who, like me, always had the misconception they were practically saintly...

You Are 30% Evil

A bit of evil lurks in your heart, but you hide it well. In some ways, you are the most dangerous kind of evil.

How Evil Are You?

Unforgotten by my spammer friends

Today, I received spams from:

• Healthy Cleanse
• Roscoe Belcher
• Gay Benjamin
• Simone Shea
• Dorothy Combs
• Aubrey Browning
• Rosalie Phillips
• Tina (Tina who?)
• Specialists in Foreclosure
• Cash Advance

Couldn't go on yesterday to thank them all for their special messages. This morning, more came in from:

• Rosalinda V. Currie
• Rosalinda X. Currie (must be sisters, maybe even twins?)
• Louis Porter
• Dion O. Glass
• Dion K. Glass (Dion O. and Dion K. are the poor suckers that married the Currie twins, no doubt)
• Darla Lehman
• Rigoberto Serrano

And what did they all have to say? Well, the Currie twins had news about one part of male anatomy that they want enlarged (Dion O. and Dion K. must be lacking in that department), while Louis let me in on his philosophy regarding drug buyers' needs and wants ("When individuals ask for their treatment they commonly seek the following ...") and Darla had me puzzled with the following statement:

Message subject

www.peoplemultiply.cn?

%CUSTOM_END

But Rigoberto had the best news of all of them:

Your your credit report doesn't matter to us!

If you OWN real estate and want IMMEDIATE cash to spend ANY way you like, or simply wish to LOWER your payments by a third or more, here is the deal we can offer you NOW (hurry, this deal will expire TONIGHT):

$270,000+ loan

Well, perhaps the news of the worldwide credit crunch crisis hasn't reached Paraguay yet (I like to imagine that Rigoberto hails from there), so this true financial helper shall be forgiven.

Thank you all, my spammer friends.

Praying for the angels

I forget to pray for the angels
and then the angels forget to pray for us.

– Leonard Cohen ("So Long, Marianne")

Now would the angels really do that?

If biblical and other sources are correct, there is a finite, rather small number of angels. They must be very powerful to remember each one of us. And they must be in all places at all times.

So what fib no. 3

A
man's
climbing
up a rock
with a giant tooth-
pick. A green-headed pink turtle
with yellow spots lies
flat. So what?
is what
you
say.

– Len "No Nonsense" Blumfeld

All once again based on closer observation of my immediate office surroundings (Chris' workplace).

Why do I get that sinking feeling ...

... even though my horoscope is great?

H: You have a kind spirit.
I: I have, it's true. In fact, some people have told me I tend to be too kind to the wrong people.

H: Although you sometimes focus too much on your career, you try to do good for other people.
I: I often think I should have focused more on my "career" – then I'd really have one. But yes, it's true, sometimes I'm a real do-gooder.

H: Today you might need to step in and be a good citizen.
I: All right, if it has to be!

H: Someone around you might be suffering, and they could use your help.
I: I know at least two people who love to tell me about their suffering and who always proclaim they need my help.

H: You might need to loan someone money so that they can take care of a pressing need.
I: As long as it's no more than a couple of bucks. Ain't got that much more myself.

H: Or you might chat with someone who has had a lot of emotional stress lately.
I: Being one who has had a lot of emotional stress lately myself, we could exchange laments.

– Len "It's All In The Stars" Blumfeld

in response to a prompt from Sunday Scribblings.

Looking around collage

The people across from the office have two yellow and one blue plastic flowers attached to their bathroom window. It is the bathroom window because it is made of that rough-textured glass that is no-see-through.

I'm sure the whole wide world has been waiting to read this.

On to other, equally notable things.

On my absent colleague's cabinet there are two miniature Mercedeses, one maroon, the other silver. One's stuck in sort of a tupperware bowl on a sheaf of papers, the other one on what looks like some sort of ramp. Black plastic. Neither Mercedes looks very happy.

The subprime rate mortgage crisis keeps throwing its weight around. Now it turns out that even the oh so successful on their own Chinese were hoping to make a fast buck on another bubble that was supposed to keep growing forever and that was mostly based on loans that should have never been given in the first place. Idiocy thy name is banking.

Darshini David wore bright orange yesterday. Big buttons again, even though the collar was less pronounced than usual. Made her upper body look humongous. I'd been looking forward to her daily appearance, but BBC did not put her on. Rico Hizon from Singapore, a man of vast knowledge, enigmatic smiles and succinct wording (albeit also guilty of some overuse of personal address interjections), was left out as well.

BBC World News has been showing the same AT&T formula 1 whine car racing commercial for weeks. Something about "ultimate speed," "enhanced performance" and "innovative solutions." Leaves me panting every single time. AT&T would be well advised to axe their commercial scribes for abundance of originality.

And oh the big business world is still complaining about the credit crunch that prevents them from sinking trillions into questionable megadeals.

In Bangladesh the police is sent after students that have been proclaiming loudly what everyone has known forever – niffy, inept, self-serving government. Not so different from most governments. More about this on Global Voices.

Oh well. Time to get on with work.