Soundtrack of Mi Vida: On the Water – The Walkmen

Testing out the new Vietnamese family van. Seat 4 cozily. Floor mats not included.

Soundtrack of My Life: This American Life

It's been Me and McQueen the last few months.

Soundtrack of Mi Vida: I’m Waiting for the Day – Beach Boys

Soundtrack of Mi Vida: Ain’t No Reason – Brett Dennen

Because Benatar is truth…

When a crisis is coupled with a great leader it has resulted in historic changes for the better and worst (my recent brain crush, Naomi Klein calls the latter result the Shock Doctrine)  Great leaders have been the catalyst and facilitators of change but the true power for change is in the people*. People give leaders the authority, the privilege to lead.

When you or your way of life is at risk you focus on getting the basics in order. Before the talk of crisis the political narrative about domestic issues was more or less nill. Enter the crisis and suddenly we begin to shine the light on the dark path that Americans have been on. The average person has been teetering on financial crisis like a sharecropper that has to leverage tomorrow’s harvest just to survive another day. Wages are stagnant while healthcare, education, and commodity prices all go up but the land owner still wants his debt paid with interest.

The proletariat class who have long been lulled into a political sleep by the established power structures (can you tell I been reading up on my Marx?) . Bite the hand that feeds you when it is the same hand that starves your brothers and sisters. Vote for the people.

*When I say the people, I mean the lower and middle-classes. There is no real for middle-class but I always defined it as around the average four-person family income which according the 2006 US Census was $48K to 60K. I also liked the definition given by Jared Bernstein, an economist at the liberal Economic Policy Institute: “There are working families who can pay their bills, but they have to really think about such minimal expenditures as picking up a pizza after work, going to the movies, making a long-distance telephone call. They may have some investments, but they depend on each paycheck for their well-being.”

Soundtrack of Mi Vida:  The Main Attraction-A Race of Angels

Work: Don’t you feel like you are sometimes the head-half of this donkey costume of a company?

Women:  “Were they beautiful? We were all beautiful. We were in our twenties.”Steve Martin

Marriage: Elope.

Economy: Unemployment up, wages down, cost of living up but that little dinosaur   still makes me smile like a geeky kid.

Friends: I love them. I am gonna make them pancakes.

Soundtrack of Mi Vida: 17-Kings of Leon

Now-Pulling an all nighter for work.

Tomorrow-Chicago eating an Epic burger and finding a place to lay my head.

[Show as slideshow]

 

Soundtrack of Mi Vida: Horas-Jorge Drexler

Shouldn’t be surprised that there is more of life’s happenings when you are running harder and faster. Recently had a chance to take a hands-on-your-hips breather with some friends and look back at the distance covered.

“How have you been?” between casual friends means “How work and your love life.?” Amongst real friends it means “Hey you getting laid and paid?” Real friends keep it real. Reflections of recent events out loud (often for the first time) and friends’ telling and retelling of stories about me that have been purposely forgotten help me find my bearings as well as focus my sights on the next milestone.

After the night of roasting each other I thought of how much I was trying to not to repeat, backtrack. Maybe I have just taken some scenic back roads and detours but still am running towards the same destination. Besides stories about getting A to B directly are boring.

Soundtrack of Mi Vida: Seat Yourself-Roots Manuva

 Soundtrack of Mi Vida: TV sitcom in lobby