Archive for the ‘Rouge Musings’ Category

Some thoughts remaining from 2008:

Promises are for keeping, not believing. I guess that’s the big one.

Along with that, I’d like to add a new word to the lexicon: po’titlement, the sense of entitlement some people get not because they’re in the elite but because they habitually perceive others as better off than they, even if they’re not. In other words, “I’m po’, so I deserve mo’. Pick up the tab.” 2008 was a year in which I dealt with several such people.

The Saks store brand tee shirts are really nice and not too expensive, either.

A new way to blow someone off: “Blog about it.” Sample dialog:

A: Did you eat all the cookies? Those were for everyone in the office.
B: Yeah–so what?
A: They’re all gone.
B: I know, I ate them.
A: Well, they were for everyone in the office.
B: Eh, just blog about it, won’t you?

B is clearly in the wrong here; perhaps s/he is suffering from po’titlement: the right to eat others’ cookies because there has always been a lack of cookies in his or her own life. Speaking of which, I could use a Krispy Kreme doughnut right about now, but I’m not going to have one for the following reasons:

• I am in Crown Point, Indiana, and there are no Krispy Kreme joints around here.
• I am not going to leave the house, anyway.
• I am on a diet.

Actually, I’m not really on a diet. That reminds me of a joke:

A: I’m on a seafood diet.
B: I’ve heard this one before–that means you “see food” and you eat it, right?
A: No, it means I primarily eat seafood.

I think I told it wrong.

Caol Isla is okay, but Lagavulin is so much better. I have not become a huge fan of Arran. The Glenlivet Nadurra was very nice. That’s about the extent of my splurging over the past two or three months. I managed to please people with Christmas presents that didn’t cost too terribly much (or they were good at feigning delight).

Anyhow, I continue to reflect on the topic of this post, in which I talk about the necessity of having the energy coming toward oneself in order for an endeavor to succeed. It’s not quite the same concept, but one thought that went through my head from time to time in 2008 was this: Velcro has two sides. In a relationship, whether of a personal or business nature, both sides should come together eagerly and naturally. It’s not a perfect metaphor, as one side of the velcro will actually stick to just about anything that’s fuzzy. So, the moral is: don’t be fuzzy. Don’t be fuzzy-headed! So often in 2008, I was. What a crazy year that was.

You can’t really make anybody do anything–including yourself. I have been meaning to write a whole post on this, but the one sentence suffices, I think.

One thing I always wonder when the GOP is chanting, “Lower taxes, lower taxes,” is just what tax rates they think would serve the country best? You can’t assume that taxes should always be lower than what they are, and basic math tells us there is a rate than which nothing lower is possible.

I am in love with Brahms’ second string sextet. The tonality reminds me of Debussy. In the second movement, the scherzo, Brahms delivers one of those sinuous dances with tears in its eyes. Brahms, Brahms, Brahms–how much you have taught me in the past five months, I cannot even begin to relate. Thank you, dear friend!

I continue my relationship with Beethoven’s 8th Symphony; for more than a year now it has been a shot in my spiritual arm, so to speak. Four movements, four melodic tours de force. It’s Beethoven, so of course you are getting brilliant instrumentation, but this has special appeal to me. This symphony is short (Beethoven’s shortest, in fact), punchy, upbeat, and unforgettable. I am curious why it is not more well known.

I have this two-CD set as well, “The Best of Boccherini.” He is, in a word, great. I really need to explore his work more, as does the world, for he has been overly ignored.