Betcha didn't know...

The Resume of George W. Bush
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington, DC 20520

Education & Experience

1. Law Enforcement
- I was arrested in Kennebunkport, Maine, in 1976 for driving under the influence of alcohol. I pled guilty, paid a fine, and had my driver’s license suspended for 30 days.
- My Texas driving record has been “lost” and is not available.

2. Military
- I joined the Texas Air National Guard and then went AWOL.
- I refused to take a drug test or answer any questions about my drug use.
- By joining the Texas Air National Guard, I was able to avoid combat duty in Vietnam.

3. College
- I graduated from Yale University with a low C average.
- I was a cheerleader.

4. Past Work Experience
- I ran for U.S. Congress and lost.
- I began my career in the oil business in Midland, Texas , in 1975. I bought an oil company, but couldn’t find any oil in Texas . The company went bankrupt shortly after. I sold all my stock.
- I bought the Texas Rangers baseball team in a sweetheart deal that took land using taxpayer money.
- With the help of my father and our friends in the oil industry, including Enron CEO Ken Lay, I was elected governor of Texas.

Accomplishments As Governor Of Texas

- I changed Texas pollution laws to favor power and oil companies, making Texas the most polluted state in the Union.
- During my tenure, Houston replaced Los Angeles as the most smog-ridden city in America.
- I cut taxes and bankrupted the Texas treasury to the tune of billions in borrowed money.
- I set the record for the most executions by any governor in American history.
- With the help of my brother, the governor of Florida, and my father’s appointments to the Supreme Court, I became President after losing by over 500,000 votes.

Accomplishments As President Of The United States

- I am the first President in U.S. history to enter office with a criminal record.
- I invaded and occupied two countries at a continuing cost of over one billion dollars per week.
- I shattered the record for the largest annual deficit in U.S. history.
- In my first year in office, over 2 million Americans lost their jobs and that trend continues every month.
- I’m proud that the members of my cabinet are the richest of any administration in U.S. history. My “poorest millionaire,”Condoleeza Rice, had a Chevron oil tanker named after her.
- I set the record for most campaign fund-raising trips by a U.S. President.
- I am the all-time U.S. and world record-holder for receiving the most corporate campaign donations.
- My largest lifetime campaign contributor, and one of my best friends, Kenneth Lay, presided over the largest corporate bankruptcy fraud in U.S. History, Enron.
- My political party used Enron private jets and corporate attorneys to assure my success with the U.S. Supreme Court during my election decision. I have protected my friends at Enron and Halliburton against investigation or prosecution.
- More time and money was spent investigating the Monica Lewinsky affair than hasbeen spent investigating one of the biggest corporate crimes in history.
- I presided over the biggest energy crisis in U.S. history and refused to intervene when corruption involving the oil industry was revealed.
- I presided over the highest gasoline prices in U.S. history. I changed the U.S. policy to allow convicted criminals to be awarded government contracts.
- I appointed more convicted criminals to administration than any President in U.S. history.
- I created the Ministry of Homeland Security, the largest bureaucracy in the historyof the United States government.
- I’ve broken more international treaties than any President in U.S. history.
- I am the first President in U.S. history to have the United Nations remove the U.S. from the Human Rights Commission.
- I withdrew the U.S. from the World Court of Law.
- I refused to allow inspectors access to U.S. “prisoners of war” detainees and thereby have refused to abide by the Geneva Convention.
- I am the first President in history to refuse United Nations election inspectors (during the 2002 U.S. elections).
- I set the record for fewest numbers of press conferences of any President since the advent of television.
- I set the all-time record for most days on vacation in any one-year period. After taking off the entire month of August, I presided over the worst security failure in U.S. history.
- I garnered the most sympathy for the U.S. after the World TradeCenter attacks and less than a year later made the U.S. the most hated country in the world, the largest failure of diplomacy in world history.
- I have set the all-time record for most people worldwide to simultaneously protest me in public venues (15 million people), shattering the record for protests against any person in the history of mankind.
- I am the first President in U.S. history to order an unprovoked, pre-emptive attack and the military occupation of a sovereign nation.
- I did so against the will of the United Nations, the majority of U.S. citizens, and the world community.
- I have cut health care benefits for war veterans and support a cut in duty benefits for active duty troops and their families-in-wartime.
- In my State of the Union Address, I lied about our reasons for attacking Iraq and then blamed the lies on our British friends.
- I am the first President in history to have a majority of Europeans (71%) view my presidency as the biggest threat to world peace and security.
- I am supporting the development of a nuclear “Tactical Bunker Buster,” a WMD.
- I have so far failed to fulfill my pledge to bring Osama Bin Laden to justice.

Records & References

- All records of my tenure as governor of Texas are now in my father’s library, sealed and unavailable for public view.
- All records of SEC investigations into my insider trading and my bankrupt companies are sealed in secrecy and unavailable for public view.
- All records or minutes from meetings that I, or my Vice-President, attended regarding public energy policy are sealed in secrecy and unavailable for public review.

(Who else could write such brilliance?)



For a little more comedy, check this out.
(h/t to Findlay)

Five years on

I'm not gonna say I remember it like it was yesterday, because I don't.
But I do remember sitting in Mrs. McDougall's english class, staring up at the television in the corner of the classroom, just like everyone else.
I do remember thinking "this is real and this can be happening", while I imagined most of my friends and classmates thought it seemed more like a blockbuster movie.
But most of all I remember thinking one thought, again and again: I'm sure glad I'm Canadian, and not an American.

I wouldn't call it patriotism. It's more like realism. I knew that things would change in the world as those buildings came down, but at the time I had no idea what was in store.

I obviously didn't know all of the facts of the world (and I still don't) because I was still something of a kid, but I did know that Western societies held the monopoly on selfish and exploitative practices around the world.
I knew about sweatsops.
I knew that I, personally, was ridiculously wasteful in a world of finite things.
I knew about government interventions in developing countries that ended in assasinations and coups.
I read articles about potential "terrorist plots" that could come to fruition in the U.S.
I had seen the news coverage of Palestine vs. Israel.

I guess you could say I had a better grasp on the realities of the world than most kids my age. Most teenagers prefer to live in a bubble, devoid of anything but self indulgences and personal problems that always take precedent over the world outside. It's easy to do I suppose, because it's impossible to understand what it's like in someone else's shoes when you close your mind to the world. We've never been opressed, or lived in fear of a power we are impotent to stop. We didn't have to work for our livelihoods at the age of 6, or walk for miles just to get fresh drinking water. We didn't have to live with dozens of other people in a single house, or have our possesions confiscated by a government that considered us to be worthless. We've never had bombs dropped on us by madmen bent on greed and power.

But these are the realities for some people. People you and I will never meet; never have to look in the face or pass by in the street. These are the people we must not think about in order to preserve our high-and-mighty moral fabric. Because if you were forced to think about it - if your neighbour's house exploded from a foreign bomb being dropped on it - you might start to question what's going on in the world, instead of ignoring a grotesque problem. And the strangest part is that we as individuals have the power to stop it. Only we choose not to. We elect criminals and warmongers, give them free reign over our countries and militaries, and never stop to question their lies and motives.

Because afterall, we need revenge, right? That's what 9/11 was the catalyst for in the public eye, but politically it served another purpose, and that was to further the objectives of a very small sector of society. And these people did a great job of encouraging hatred and fear in the public. They kept us all occupied with bullshit so they could go about their business unimpeded. They shifted blame to an innocent country that had absolutely nothing to do with 9/11, but we didn't care. We needed revenge, remember? And who the hell cares who has to pay, so long as we're appeased.

But five years on, are you happy with what we've done? Does anyone feel safer? Do you feel that we're in Afghanistan and Iraq for noble and self-defensive reasons? Do you still trust the government? Do you trust Middle-Eastern strangers on the subway? Do you like what they've done to commemorate the deaths of those 3000 Americans down at Ground Zero?
Sorry, that last question wasn't fair.

Personally I feel less and less safe with every person that is killed in this war on terror that arbitarily targets anyone that doesn't agree with our governments' ideals and goals. We are making more and more enemies by the day, and the hatred agains the U.S. in particular must be at an all-time high. And there's no doubt that Canada is losing global favour as we kneel down to our master and commander.

Soldiers who are supposedly bringing peace and freedom to Iraq (a country that was at least habitable under Saddam Hussein) are killing innocent people every day. They are killing families indiscrimintely. They are raping children, killing women, and torturing young men with malace in their eyes and an undying belief in their hearts that what they are doing is necessary for you and I to live free.
Commanders are dropping illegal chemical weapons on civilians and firing bombs from distant warships. They're sanctioning the abuses that we see in Abu Ghraib and Gitmo.

Under the guise of democracy they deliver nothing but oppression.

And I find it unfathomble that people can actually believe that Saddam had anything to do with 9/11, and that all of this is actually accomplishing something. (Beyond inciting and maintaining hatred for the U.S. and it's allies.) People actually believe that 9/11 came out of nowhere, that somehow we are all completely innocent in the global community; that we deserve to have our freedoms and rights and liberties because we've somehow earned them. While in truth we haven't earned anything.

There's a huge difference between ignorance and innocence. Just because you ignore a problem doesn't mean you're not culpable for its effects and outcomes.

9/11 should've taught us that. You'd think that considering we've been educated since the age of our most basic reasoning, we'd have the smarts to think outside of the box that our education has closed us within.

We should've learned to stop what we were doing and treat the rest of the world with respect. But we've done the exact opposite in the past five years. We've only gotten worse, and the world has been dragged into the gutter that all of those lazer-guided missiles and car-bombs have created.

Down here at the bottom of the trench it looks like a fucking slippery slope to climb.

Back to school, back to school to prove to dad that I'm not a fool

It seems that within a few short days most of my annoyances in life have disappeared.

My list of shit that was annoying me has become considerably smaller. Since I'm no longer home, I don't have to worry about all of those things - like the cats and the John-man, as well as my parents.

Plus I found some decent white shoes and my Kelly Clarkson poster! Had to go all the way to Sam the Record Man to find it too. He's a good man tho, he knew what I was lookin for.

And now it seems that life is going a mile a minute. Everything's picking up speed and coming together, and all I've been able to do is pound back the beer and pretend I'll catch up next week.

It looks like I'm gonna be getting a job in a lab, at least as a volunteer for a couple of weeks until my application goes through for paid work. I'm gonna get into a lab with a prof who just advised me on my courses, and we've sorted out that in the end I'm gonna end up with a Double Major in Med Sci and Micro/Immu, with a minor in Psych. I don't even know if that's possible tecnically, but it's what I'll have.
Turns out this prof is also teaching 2 of my classes this yr, so that means I'll have to try harder in those classes so I can impress her (and that way I can beg my way out of the midterm to write it early, so I can go to this concert on Nov 3rd)

That concert is none other than BOB FUCKING DYLAN featuring the FOO FUCKING FIGHTERS! I almost pooped myself when it was announced, and I even woke up early (still drunk) to order the tix online. They weren't cheap, but I thought to myself "when are you ever going to see Bobby D again? Not to mention the Foo's you idiot."

I also found out this week that my uncle (well tecnically my step-mom's brother-in-law) is in my anaomy class. I remember he mentioned somethign about furthering his education, but i had no idea it would be in my class at my school. He is, afterall, 40 yrs old and from Toronto. But he's a really cool guy who acts and looks like he's in his late 20's. I'll have to go out boozing with him sometime.

In other news, the female presence in my life has picked up alot too. There's tons of stuff to worry about right now tho, and this is just another thing to add to the list. In the end I'm sure I'll fuck everything up and find myself at home alone every friday night.

Just kidding, I'm as smooth as silk baby.

Mint out.

A big ol' waste of time

I recently finished reading a book titled "Fidelity" by Michael Redhill. It's actually the first book I've read outside of school in about three years or so.
It wasn't a novel, just an assortment of short stories that are all loosely or directly related to sex or relationships. I picked the thing up at Chapters for $5, intending to read it on the Dominican trip, but I ended up reading my dad's Steve Earle biography instead (and I'm still working on it).



And fuck me was this book ever horrible.

Every story had a good intro and midsection, and everything was very well written, but there were no conclusions. No climaxes, no surprises at the end, no resolutions, just an abrupt stop in the flow.

Judging from the guy's picture in the book jacket, he's a yutz of the highest order. A real prick with an intellectual ego who think's he's the shiznit and ought to be held in higher regard than the common folk. The kind of guy who would talk of yuppy bullshit in front of people who aren't "in the know" just to hold that over them. The kind of guy who, if you asked him what _____ was, he'd say "Well if you don't know then I obviously can't tell you!"
I could tell all of this from his little picture don't ya know.

And he used some brutally irritating phrases in his writing. The one that's stuck in my brain is "the satellite dishes drank up the sky's signals". Who the fuck sits down, writes that kind of tripe, and thinks to themselves "Wow, I'll publish that!"

A real loser, that's who.

Someday I'll write a book, and some fuckin kid will write about it bitching about how bad my writing was. And on that day I'll think to myself it's better that he thinks for himself rather than not think at all.

That really grinds my gears

For the past week or so at work we've been doing our stoplight installation thang under some serious high tension power lines. There's three separate tower lines running above this intersection we're doing, two of them being 550 000 volts, and the last one 220 000 volts. I don't claim to know what the hell that means in usable elctricity, but it's fair to say that voltage like that would skullfuck anyone who touched the wires directly.

But what I've learned as of late is that electricity can jump a helluva long way.
And it really pisses me off.

Just touching one of our pickup trucks (which sits on the raod about 5o feet below the lines themselves) gives you a nice little jolt of power through the old blood and bones. Not to mention the shocks you get when standing 25 foot steel poles. We did that part of the job today, and as I was standing near a pole, maybe 2 feet away - not even touching it - it felt as though someone was firing little rocks at my arms at high velocity.

It's all probably boring as hell to most people, but it's been turning my stomach and pissing me off somethin fierce. So I got to thinking of a few other things that are really grinding my gears these days.

1. Men wearing capris. I'm not talking long shorts or pants that are hiked up too high. I'm talking summer-fun capris. Fuck off you stupid metrosexual or emo or whatever bastards you wanna be labelled as.

2. Cats. My brother has moved out, but he didn't take his fucking 4 cats with him. And seeing as my parents are away this week, I'm stuck with the little fuckers. I'm allergic to cats, especially the type that constantly wants to be near me.

3. Blogger. I'd write on here far more often if this damn program allowed me to put up pictures. Something's seriously fucked, so I tried to set up a flickr account. But I can't get in cuz they claim my password is wrong and doesn't jive with my Yahoo account. So that's another pain in the ass. Maybe I'll just resort to Photobucket or something.

4. Being at home. The dryer is euchred and sqeaks like a mofo. There is zero counter space in the kitchen. I have to wake up at 6 a.m. everyday. The shower curtain billows inwards and cramps my showering style. All in all, I can't fuckin wait to get home to London, if only to hear Mather yell "beverages!" every time he comes home.

5. Shoes. I'm currently in the market for a pair of white shoes for school (that's right, they're not gonna be black for once) but seeing as I'm picky as hell, it's getting rather frustrating trying to find a pair that I really like. There's just so much shit out there these days.

6. Censorship. I like the new Panic! At The Disco single, but it's totally fucking ruined on the radio. Can't say whore and can't say goddamned, but you can say shhhh and ___damned. I wish those goddamn whores would just let the song play as it should.

7. Bands who think they're cool cuz they title their songs with ridiculously long phrases. Panic! At The Disco and Fall Out Boy stand out in this category, but it's not the bands I dislike, just the titles.

8. Kelly Clarkson posters. For the life of me I cannot find one anywhere. Hilary Duff just won't do!

9. The John-Man. I hate him more now than I did when I wrote my "Dear John" letter. So you can imagine how much I want to be done work, can't ya?

Findlay's Music Whore Survey

LONG Music Survey To Music Whores
Your 1-5 fav band/s or artist/s:	Matthew Good, Foo Fighters, Steve Earle, Joel Plaskett, Stereophonics
1-5 band/s or artist/s you hate:	Kim Mitchell, REM, Our Lady Peace, Guns N' Roses, Simple Plan
Your fav song:	Matthew Good - Weapon
A song you hate:	Puddle of Mudd - She Hates Me
The music styles you listen to?:	Almost anything, but mostly rock-based stuff
Music styles you hate?:	Rap, Techno, commercialized crap like boy bands and slutty girls
Ever been to gigs? What artists did you see?:	Tons... too many to name
Your fav album:	Lowest of the Low - Shakespeare My Butt
The first album you bought?:	Live - The Distance to Here
The last album you bought?:	Rise Against - The Sufferer & The Witness
Do you download songs/albums? Or prefer to buy the albums?:	I d/l songs to find bands I like, then buy their stuff
How many CD's do you buy a month/year?:	say... 2 a month? so about 25 every year
Current song you're obsessied with?:	William Shatner - Common People
An album you have at home and you are asmahed of/regreted you bought?:	Limp Bizkit - Chocolate Starfish and the Hotdog Flavoured Water
A band you love and you are (not) ashamed to admit?:	Kelly Clarkson
Your fav vid clip? (you don't have to like the song!):	White Stripes - Hardest Button to Button
Your fav combination of vid clip and song? (you like both clip and song).:	Matt Good - Weapon
The song that makes you cry?:	Eric Clapton - Tears in Heaven
The songs that makes you wanna party/bounce/dance?:	Alicia Keyes and Stevie Wonder - Karmastition Remix
The song with the most beautiful lyrics?:	Danielle French - Worthy
The song with the nicest title?:	MG's "The Fine Art of Falling Apart"
Best cover song?:	Steve Earle covering "Dead Flowers" by the Stones
The hottest/sexiest singer alive (or dead)?:	Dido
A gig you loved (even if you just heard/saw on TV)?:	Green Day in the summer of 05
Music for me is....:	A mood changer
When was the first time I relised I'm a music addict?:	when I spent over $100 in one trip to Sam's when it shut down
People who don't care for music are...:	missing out, probably cuz they're too ignorant to get past Much Music's countdown
Do you buy band's merchandise?:	all the time
Do you trade band's merchandise/bootlegs etc?:	no
This survey was (you can say):	difficult to find the answers for
Take this survey Find more surveys You've been totally Bzoink*d

The next president?

Skin deep

So some big news in the JonBenet Ramsey murder case has come out today...
John Mark Karr has confessed to being with her when she died, but apparently he was in love with her and her death was an accident.

Gee, now America can finally rest easy.

I only mention this because I was wondering if anyone would give a flying fuck if this girl wasn't the next Cleopatra or whatever.



I'd wager that you never would've heard her name before.

Watching... ROACHES CLIMB THE WALL!!!!

Top 5 Albums:

5. Death Cab For Cutie - Plans

With their breakout album Death Cab has set the bar high. Their previous records are solid as well, but this one put them in the limelight. So great things are going to be expected next time around.
For this album there's not much to dislike. It's got solid lyrics and a variety of sounds coming from different songs, so it's hard to get bored. It's almost enough to make me want to pick up my guitar and learn to play the thing. Not quite though, I am extraordinarily lazy.



4. Steve Earle & The Dukes - Shut Up And Die Like An Aviator

This is the record that really got me into Steve Earle. I picked it up on a whim, and gave it a listen. And even though it's a live album, it's fucking solid through and through.
Granted, I've become partial to Earle's older stuff because of this record, but I'm really starting to appreciate his other songs as well.
Once you hear his cover of the Stones' "Dead Flowers", or his live performance of "The Devil's Right Hand", you just might want to pick up some of his other stuff too. At least that's the way it went for me - now he's in my Top 5 favourite bands ever.


3. Billy Talent - Billy Talent II

After all the hype of the first record, I didn't expect such greatness from the boys this time around. But they came back with a record that surpassed the old one with conviction.
This is the kind of record that wakes you up and gets ya moving.
"Red Flag" is a standout, but "Pins & Needles" is also great. It's good to hear less screamo stuff and more indepth lyrics on this record compared to the first.
Political undertones also add to the overall power of the songs, which is something I like to see.



2. Matthew Good - In A Coma

Granted this is a best-of compilation, but how can it be left off the list? Afterall, it is Matt Good. And anyone who knows me would tell you he's number one in my books.
The big hits potion is completed with a few new songs which happen to be pretty dynamite in their own right. He also included the Lo-fi B-sides and Loser anthems, which can be hard recordings to find these days.
And the acoustic portion is perfect for just relaxing and appreciating the lyrics. The nearly unrecognizable version of "Hello Time Bomb" is amazing, and the DVD is just an added bonus for the true fans out there. Especially the Hunting Rabbits video that's hidden in there.
All told, this is pretty much the definition of "mint".


1. William Shatner - Has Been

Dear Bill Shatner, you are a fucking genius.

I first heard his cover of "Common People" on Edge 102, laughed my ass off, and said to myself "I gotta check this out". So I downloaded a few songs and loved em.
After getting the full album, I really came to appreciate it. He doesn't sing, but his passion and spoken word additions to the songs are phenomenal.
In one song he details the suicide of his wife; in another he explains that he's only a mortal; and in another he ridicules the people who think of him as a has-been, hence the title of the record.
If you haven't heard his stuff, check it out. This record turned a washed up bum into a legend for me.


Top 5 Songs:

5. Coping - Futuristic
This track is on an album that took me years to find. I heard this song on Going Coastal or something like that on TV, and I knew the general tune of it, but no words. The band is small time, so I was only able to pick up the album when I went out to Halifax last year. Noticeably mint track.

4. The Foundations - Build Me Up Buttercup
On my Motown binge I got hooked on this track. It's not uncommon to hear me belting this one out around the house.

3. Steve Earle feat. Lucinda Williams - You're Still Standin' There
The first version of this song that I heard was a cover by Lucy Kaplanksy, but it doesn't hold a candle to Earle and Williams. I'm mystified that anyone could write such amazing lyrics that actually rhyme. It's almost like he didn't even try. And that's why it's so good.

2. Kelly Clarkson - Since U Been Gone
291 loves Kelly Clarkson. This is our house song, and we yell it at the top of our lungs whenever we drink.
Plus Kelly is hot. So please, no criticism.

1. William Shatner - Common People
Rarely do you see an old man (who cannot sing to save his life) release such a dynamite song. I'd never heard the original, so to me this one is the original. This turned Shatner into a personal hero of mine. Give it a listen and you'll instantly understand why.


Top 5 Movies:


5. The Beach

Back in first year a friend of mine told me to watch this movie, but I wasn't a huge fan of Leo and didn't pay it much mind. But after watching Catch Me If You Can, I gained a new respect for him. So I checked this movie out and I guess I watched it while I was in the right frame of mind (after all it's kinda fucked up) and now I suppose it represents something I aspire to do someday - leave the "normal" world and fly solo to see what else is out there.




4. Wedding Crashers

It's no Old School, but it comes pretty close. Vince Vaughn is amazing, as usual, and Owen Wilson does a good job to support that.
Two smokeshow sisters make this a movie that any guy would appreciate (not to mention all of the other hot chicks the guys get).
One disappointment - Will Ferrell. His scene with the meatloaf was too much, and he had to try way too hard to make it funny.
But I laughed my ass off, and that's why this one's on the list.



3. The 40 Year Old Virgin

I like the fact that none of the actors were well known before this movie. Carell is perfect for the roll, and he makes you feel his pain and awkwardness all through the story.
I didn't have high expectations, so maybe that's why I liked it so much.
Thankfully the cheesy ending didn't ruin the hilarity of this one.






2. The Life Aquatic

Now this is one strange film - it's full of awkward silences, and it uses an unusual form of humour that you don't find in many other places. After you get used to the narration and quirky music, the crew sets out on their voyage to find their mystery shark. Murray shines in this one, especially in the hostage and fight scenes. Add Owen Wilson, Willem Dafoe, and a bull-dyke... and that equals entertainment!
Mind you, this isn't a film for everyone. It takes a special mind to truly appreciate it.



1. I, Robot

I saw this movie at my cousin's place back in the winter, and I liked it instantly. I didn't give two shits about it when it was in theatres, but like most of my "favourites" in life, I seem to find them long after their prime. This movie has all sorts of cool shit - action, realistic robots who can do ridiculous things, high tech cars and gadgets, and a hot chick to boot.
Wicked entertainment that makes you appreciate how easily we can lose our freedoms if we're not careful.

...

Wealth

When you are remembered, even if just among a handful of family or friends or acquaintances, let it be for your decency. Know that all of us have faults, and that while we have had it drilled into us that we must endeavor to overcome them, that they are an intrinsic part of who and what we are. To despise such a real and natural part of ourselves only produces prisons of denial, and thus cities, nations, and continents of inmates.

We might be strangers you and I, but at what point does that deter our shared emotional realities from being exchanged? We all feel the same things, and yet the thought of honestly and openly conveying our emotions is seen as personal treason.

I remember it like it was yesterday. She leaned into the mini-van in which the band was waiting to return to the hotel. She grabbed my hand, looked me in the eyes, and thanked me for saving her life.

She was a complete stranger.

I had no idea how to react. I sat there in stunned silence as she quietly cried and smiled at me, my one hand firmly held between her two. It seemed as though hours passed between us, her standing silently on the curb, me awkwardly sitting in the seat nearest the door, my feet swung onto the running board, my bag in my lap.

And then, just as suddenly as it had happened, she dropped my hand, stepped back, security closed the door, and the van sped away.

I never saw that woman again, but on that night I became the wealthiest man in the world. And were I to have never written another note, sang another syllable, penned another story, or known another day, I would no doubt still perish from this earth contented.

Wealth is not measured by the size of houses, the speed of cars, the price of handbags, the trendy eateries and lounges frequented by celebrities, or the purity of the drugs that those who consider themselves fashionable funnel up their noses. That sort of wealth can be attained by simply being born the son or daughter of financially wealthy parents, climbing dirty ladders, or marrying someone.

Our acts determine our true wealth.

When someone says that they love you, and you know that they mean it to their very core, that there is no doubt in any cell in your entire body that they are unconditionally sincere – then you are wealthy. There is no question that, for a time, financial wealth can secure the placebo of love, but it cannot create it. It cannot manufacture true love, just as it cannot ensure or secure happiness. To give ourselves to others openly and honestly, and to conduct ourselves with integrity and concern for the feelings of others, even if complete strangers, represents the sum total of our riches.

As I sit here looking out the window, lost in the haze of summer twilight, memories, and the talons of despair, I see a city filled only with poor people.

And I wonder how that happened.

Aug 4, 06 - MG