M.A.N About Town

September 28, 2009

The price of tea in China

Filed under: ponder — Tags: , , , , , , — sleepyoreo @ 9:39 pm

I love this phrase, heard it on Mad Men and then in conversation the other day.  So in the spirit of random:

I was having a conversation with our resident town crier at my restaurant job the other day when he made an interesting observation. People are neither polite nor kind anymore these days.

I have always prided myself on the fact that I am never rude to anyone, I don’t see the point of it being rude. He highlighted the Kanye West incident, Rep. Joe Wilson yelling at the President, etc. L.A times talked about it like it was some new affliction leading to the decline of civility. I think it has to do with proximity. People in the Midwest and remote areas are much friendlier because they have to cope with one another far less frequently.

In other randomness, I was fascinated to discover that several people I know, who I would consider rather hairy abhor hair on others. I remember as a child being amazed that my late grandmother had a mustache. Apparently a high fat levels promote increased levels of circulating insulin causing the ovaries to produce androgen. Hirsutism is another reason to not be fat.

Lastly, a great quote from Timothy Leary, an extremely fascinating person: Before his first experiments with mushrooms, Leary had described his life of 35 years disparagingly, writing he had been “an anonymous institutional employee who drove to work each morning in a long line of commuter cars and drove home each night and drank martinis … like several million middle-class, liberal, intellectual robots.”

September 22, 2009

I really need too __

Filed under: exercize, food, ponder, school — Tags: , — sleepyoreo @ 2:38 am

I try not to use this phrase in conversation, in passing, or frankly at all. The reason being that I simply can’t stand to hear other people say the phrase. It is one of those things people just like to say when they recognize the importance of something, they have some small interest or motivation regarding whatever it may be, but ultimately they won’t do it. It’s like conversation filler.

I tweeted this out there the other day: there are many things you want to be doing, but what are you actually doing? When I was in finance such a great deal of importance was placed on the business plan. Where are your mile stones, how will you get there, what steps will you take, when will you throw in the towel? That last question doesn’t exist in L.A because the answer is you just keep dreaming until it happens.

I hear this statement from people all the time when I discuss calories, diet, and my exercise habits. Almost as if people feel the need to rationalize their own choices with the choices of others. Everyone wants to say “yeah, I really need to get in the gym/exercise/diet/eat healthy/learn to cook/ etc..” but in reality they will never do it.

My theory is that with few exceptions, people don’t change unless they are forced too. People reject change because it is uncomfortable, and it usually isn’t absolutely necessary. I notice it is always the most out of shape people who say these things as well; usually they have a rehearsed explanation (excuse) that they like to give. I just nod my head and say nothing because there is no excuse really, just something that we tell ourselves. I read something in the APA talked about how there is a high correlation between physical arousal in men with how aroused they say they are. So keep telling yourself whatever it is you are telling yourself. But, do you really believe it?

I’ve become just a bit more humble as I’ve gotten older. I like to attribute this to the wisdom gained from past failures (lessons), yet I think a large share of the credit goes to the fact that I don’t like to help people who won’t help themselves, so I keep my mouth shut. I believe that I am amongst the last generation to grow up with exposure to a time when information was not ubiquitous. The only limits are talent and motivation, and history has proved that talent is by far the marginal factor in the equation.

In short, there are no excuses. So be honest in that you just don’t care enough about it, whatever it is. Don’t get me wrong, I acknowledge that there is nothing wrong with that, we are all different. Just don’t mention it like you are actually going to change someday, be honest or be quiet.

September 20, 2009

But who cares?

Filed under: ponder, school, update — Tags: , — sleepyoreo @ 8:05 pm

So I got a ride home the other day from a friend at work because the bane of my existence, my vehicle was experiencing technical difficulty. She asked, “So what do you blog about?” I immediately answered, “whatever comes to mind, anything, finance, rants, etc.” She looked at me and said unconvincingly, “oh I bet you are a good ranter.”

I’m not so sure about that. A couple people in the past few weeks told me that it wasn’t such a great idea to be oh so gloomy all the time. Recession, we all know we are in one, and it probably isn’t going to end anytime soon. Be optimistic I’m told, after all, there are green shoots…..

Maybe I should stop harping on it, twittering about it, setting my Facebook status to economic data. I suppose so, but I am so interested in the economy. I feel like most people just aren’t aware the consequences of events like of credit contraction (wow, that sounded geeky). I talked about commodities last month and this month, NY Times is talking about the same thing.

I talk to friends and associates and I feel like people are buying the propaganda that things are dramatically improving. My mother tells me that I am the town crier, screaming the end is near while everyone else goes on with their lives. In L.A people really don’t seem to care about the economy all that much. I asked someone to guess my age yesterday and they said 38; only 15 years off. I suppose that should be reason for worry when looks it pays to be attractive.

I need to figure out what I should pursue next. I am bored;  I am adrift with all the dreamers. Never before I have I been surrounded by so many people so willing to dwell on unrealistic expectations, living mediocre lives in the meantime. A friend and professor of Marketing told me I should go back to school, and I am beginning to think she is right.

September 4, 2009

cult of los angeles

Filed under: Uncategorized — sleepyoreo @ 12:04 pm

L.A is a very cult like.

What do I mean by this? For starters the food culture here, it’s gimmicky. The hottest things are driving around in trucks tweeting, which I think is fabulous yet a part of me feels like it wouldn’t be so popular if it merely was an unassuming storefront. Restaurants are corporations, with followers and multiple locations.

Fashion. I’m sorry, but I don’t get the sneakerhead thing – to me a 30 year old man should not be wearing the same thing grade school children wear in multicolored sneakers. I don’t have more than 2 pairs of any shoe, let alone 40. I don’t care if a hip hop designer spray painted them. I LOVE when if I go to a club/bar and they won’t let us in because someone in my party is wearing sneakers.

Scientology – I need not comment on how they own Hollywood.

Using internal Scientology documents such as “Sea Organization Flag Order 343B. 30 May, 1977,” and others, Kent writes, “In considerable detail the RPF document laid out the framework of forcible confinement, physical and social maltreatment, intensive reindoctrination, and forced confessions that were (and are) central to the program’s operation” (Brainwashing in Scientology’s Rehabilitation Project Force, November 7, 1997).

A recently rediscovered friend of mine asked me for my thoughts on L.A and I thought I would repost here. L.A is sprawling and diverse, it can take hours to travel its endless superhighways. There are so many freeways I don’t even know all of their names. You can find any city in L.A, but the mood is universal. Everything is chill, you rarely have to worry about the way you look going anywhere, it is come as you are, everywhere. If perchance you see someone wearing a suit and tie you instantly know they aren’t from SoCal. It reminds me of those old western towns; colossal flashy billboards yet when you look behind them you see they are propped up by balsa wood and empty. It is a land of dreamers, people come here to escape reality, to start over. No one tells you here to cease chasing your dreams, even if you are 37 and still waiting tables, hoping to be discovered. The people from SoCal love it here; while they might consider school or a sojourn on the east coast they would never want to live anywhere else.

The stereotypes are so true; the valley girl, the tanned surfer, the Venice beach hippy commune, the orange county cougar. There is no wake up call, only endless casting calls full of 1000s of the same person who thinks for some reason he is different than all the rest. L.A is behind the rest of the world and could care less. Frank Llyod Wright said it best, if the world were tipped over on it’s side, everything loose would end up in L.A.


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