Travelin' Man

-I'm a travelin' man these days. At the client site in Nashville (although hopefully only for a week). I must admit, it's kind of lonely checking into a hotel with no itinerary other than work in the morning, hanging up your dress shirts, and killing time until you go to bed. I found myself texting, calling, and thinking about my friends/family. I then turned on the TV just to have some noise in the room. I'm sure it will normalize this week, but it's still a weird experience.

-Fantastic essay on Fight Club as a misunderstood film. I didn't realize it was panned by critics like that.

-So excited for Dark Knight.

-Lebron's new shoe is ugly.

-I went surfing this weekend. We went for a lesson with some of the interns and it was amazing. I've been twice before (a long long time ago) and each time I've really loved it and wanted to pursue, but never have. I'm going to this time. I'm buying a board, a rash-guard, and a wet-suit. It's happening. And I'm really stoked on it. It's going to happen.

-I've started reading "Confessions of an Economic Hitman." It's a really interesting idea and a really interesting book, but I can tell that I will tire of the writing a little bit. He has led such an interesting life and has a lot to say, but his pointed approach of showing the failings of "corporatocracy" capitalism-capitalism by force, imperialist capitalism, cronie capitalism, whatever the hell you want to call it-tends to err on the side of a blanket critique of capitalism. I'm all for the idea that saddling third world countries with debt, ensuring that all infrastructure upgrades help foreign businesses first, and using any means necessary to serve those interests is wrong. I know that Shell helped arrange the killing of Nigerian protesters. There's no doubt Western capitalism has done a lot of damage globally by using these means. I'm there. But I don't think it is a problem endemic to capitalism as much as it is to imperialism and empire. Perkins fails to make this distinction and his broken record narrative, which fits commentary at every possible opportunity, has already started to wear thin on me. It's fascinating but a bit grating. I don't want to defend capitalism anymore, but in some of my previous posts I've talked a lot about incentives, human nature, and realism in the face of economic challenges. Macroeconomics are not completely fucked, but anything can be used for good or evil.

-I'm well overdue to write some thoughts on humanism vs absurdism - it's been my latest philosophical debate and I've bounced some thoughts of the finest minds I know. It's coming.