Lagging Behind

I think I haven't written in a few days. I'm not sick or anything, just lazy. Or something.

My reading slump seems to be over. I finished Edgar Sawtelle, which I recommend, and also Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen, which I also recommend. On to something new.

I just got a Facebook request from my college roommate, which I approved. Now that's what I'm talking about. That's the kind of person Facebook is supposed to connect you to.

I find that I am, for lack of a better word, astonished by what's going on with the economy. It's as if the entire paradigm -- I hate that word -- of how we live our lives is undergoing a metamorphosis before our eyes. Businesses that have thrived for a hundred years are going to disappear, and I don't mean individual companies, but whole industries, the way there are no blacksmiths on every corner anymore. The monumental amount of greed that our banking industry showed is also astonishing; Madoff isn't the only one out there who pulled off what he did, you know. But in terms of the average everyday us, we are slowly coming to see that we are not entitled to the things we used to think we were. And more. It's hard to put into words.

For years, I used to see commercials on TV every single day for cars, investment, and so on, and I would feel bad because how was I ever going to buy a $30,000 car? What did I have to invest? These commercials, I felt, were directed towards the very small segment of the population that had this kind of money to burn. (I didn't realize that people were buying cars -- and houses -- they couldn't afford by taking out absurd loans.) Now I see this same commercials and I think: Who are they kidding? NO ONE is going to buy that stuff now, so why are they wasting their money on the ads? They need to completely re-think the way they do their business if they want to survive, the businesses that do that are the ones who will. Can you imagine no General Motors? They snoozed, and they lost.

In other news, I don't think acupuncture is doing it for me. I'm considering alternatives. The substitute acupuncturist who worked on me last Saturday worked hard on my neck/shoulder/arm, and I am still not good for that. My upper arm is weak, and mostly hurts. I'm considering therapeutic massage, but not just yet.

If I'm still alert when it gets dark, which should be soon, I think I may treat myself to a Pay-Per-View movie, which I've only done once or twice before, I think, and watch The Secret Lives of Bees. I'll let you know how I make out with that.


QVC :: ENTRY #2007
READING: Paper Towns by John Green