fragrant harbour

off to hong kong till sunday. the world appears to have been saved, for a little while at least. we can start cleaning up the mess again on Monday, when someone else goes bankrupt over the weekend.

i have put the contingency plans in place, so i can go off for a bit of peace, thank God, though i will have to suss out some kind of market intelligence there.

maybe some time to rest, reflect and write. going into slightly unfamiliar territory for the first time in 16 months, so maybe some of the old wanderlust and independence will return.

i can write as well as a certain friend of mine, but i go on record to say i admire callforfire's writing.

i am planning to write 2 letters.

1. respect / admiration
2. brotherhood / sisterhood
3. wisdom / awareness

high cost but low value. or was it low cost and high value?

It sucks to be you
(Sucks to be me)
(Sucks to be us)
But not when we're together.
Here on Avenue Q!
We live on Avenue Q!
Our friends do too!
'Til our dreams
Come true,
We live on Avenue Q!

pain and polarisation. polarisation then pain.

the sunshine would just dissolve me into light

the feds have decided to bail wall street out. chumps.

though a disorderly unwinding would've been worse, i don't think the politically unpopular solution of forcing a shakeout of the crap that's in the financial system will go ahead. lots of uncertainty still in the future.

tired. i don't think i have the energy to blog or even email anymore (write too much at work!). let's set up voice conversations, or IM ones if voice is not feasible.

i think showing concern for people is a good thing. things like remembering small details, just generally being there, especially when times are hard (i'm no good when times are good, you can survive on your own just right, yeah?). trouble is some people find it kinda creepy. sigh.

the gift of encouragement is only matched by the propensity for self-flagellation.

watch it close, let it brew, wait

{one}
i don't know if i'm doing the right thing. well on the surface is the right thing, watching out for the widow, fatherless and alien and all that.

however, you gotta be careful you're doing it for the right reasons, and if you love someone you have to ensure that he / she is set up in the best possible circumstances, and not necessarily to satisfy your desire for advancement or fulfillment.

{two}
i don't think i've ever been good at this. i probably came *this* close to succeeding twice before (i suspect), but the whole race / language barrier was a deal-breaker.

i don't think i'm an asshole, though i do have episodes. and i think i'm a little too real for most people who are chasing the illusion.

{three}
i think it's time to enter soon. the US markets are remaining stubbornly afloat though. yuck.

{four}
i have the utmost respect for people who possess great beauty but do not use it as a weapon.

OMG I WANT I WANT I WANT

credit: http://www.mwctoys.com/REVIEW_060908a.htm

i think they may have got it kind of right this time

i may have written some time ago that central bankers weren't jacking up interest rates enough to kill off commodity price inflation. well, it appears that slowdown / deflation has saved their asses this time, which leaves monetary policy (on average) sufficiently loose to prime the pump for an economic recovery. though there should be more thought given to alternative energies, etc. now.

random shout-out to Mr McAvoy - Hi Nick!