Today's P&L: GBP 120.00
Today's Booze: 1 bottles of not so good red wine
Today's Soundtrack: Music to drink to
Another quiet day. I was too lazy and or tired to really follow the markets. So I missed the dollars seemingly inevitable downward shift. The Americans must realize that if even the Euro seems a better choice then they really have to start addressing their finances. There was some bad news from Japan but really in the UK all everyone seems to be thinking about is the upcoming royal wedding. So tomorrow is a day off and means I'll have little chance to make any money.
A worrying request from my GP today not to attend my gastro consultant's appointment. Apparently my blood results are seriously abnormal again. My mother has entered int some mad depression, so I better not inform her and of course my father has his hands full with her. I told my brother but he still thinks I am indestructible, so is of little help. I have also broken a bone in my foot, which is somewhat painful.
I was thinking about my drinking and what it means to be a drunk. It's not as easy as you would think, you know. So what are the rules to being a drunk. It's a difficult question, I grant you because most people would assume the whole point of being a drunk is that there are no rules. Not so. There is a whole etiquette to being a serious drinker that the casual drunk may miss entirely. Here are a few of the rules:
Rule number one: If your sad, keep it to yourself. We all have a sob story, but don't bring your fellow drunks down with it - thats what blogs are for.
Rule number two: Know your fellow drunk. This is important as it can mean the difference between a good evening, an unexpected brawl and a night in prison. I will discuss the various types of drunk at a later date.
Rule number three: Travel light, whatever you have your going to stand a good chance of losing/gambling/ giving it away. Make sure it isn't anything important. For me, the things I tend to lose are pictures or letters from ex girlfriends - often torn up by new girlfriends. Some girlfriends are more important than others.
Rule number four: Don't go in to a bar without money. This may seem at odds with number three, but you don't want to be embarrassed. Even the most drunken group knows when a freeloader has attached themselves. Girls may get away with this but what man wants to be a girl?
Rule number five: Have a back-up plan. Again at odds with rule number three and really is dependant on how much of a drinker you are and where you may be. Sometimes you tell your girlfriend you are popping out for a pint of milk and the next thing you know you are waking up in Bangkok. Trust me, it happens. I used to always carry fifteen hundred dollars concealed about me and a copy of my passport. Just in case.
Rule number six: The barman/maid is not your friend. It's easy when you are drunk and especially when drinking alone to feel the person serving you has bonded with you. They haven't. You are just another drunk to them and someone they would never exchange hellos with in a regular social setting.
Rule number seven: Avoid single Scottish men.
Rule number eight: Don't try and move upmarket. How you are when you have your first drink is pretty much as good as it gets. It all goes downhill from there. I remember taking my younger brother out once and getting thrown out of The Savoy after we had been drinking, heavily, in various seedy bars.
Rule number nine: Stay away from the phone. It may seem obvious, but two thirty in the morning after drinking your own weight in alcohol is not the time to phone your ex, who you "never should have left". She is probably married with three children and living in Kent now.
Rule number ten: Careful what you say. When drinking with a companion who has experienced a recent broken relationship - tread warily. He needs your support. He is entitled to criticize his ex-wife/girlfriend but will not thank you for doing the same. And he will never appreciate you saying "she slept with all your friends, even me".
More of this later.
Today's music, my top five tracks:
We Have All The Time In The World - Listening to Louis Armstrong is like talking with your grandfather, quite reassuring and comforting. You know if I think of all the things we treat so dismissively. Time is the worst thing we waste. You work all day for what? Couple of hundred pounds, couple of thousand? Every second of your life is precious - fuck, who am I to talk? My two greatest loves I didn't speak to for years. Now time is running out and I finally realised I have spent it more recklessly than all the money I ever had.
Whiskey In The Jar - Perhaps a bit of an obvious choice, but who can ignore the coolest black Dubliner ever? The Thin Lizzy version of this appeals to me more than the traditional version, but maybe that's because I remember watching Lynott on the stage as a child. Great Song.
Fairytale Of New York - In my opinion the greatest Christmas song of all time, so somewhat out of season. The imagery of this song is so strong - anyone who's risked it all when drunk knows this feeling. This song will always remind me of my desperate relationship with The Lunatic.
I'm Still Standing - Elton John is an institution, sort of like the Queen. Not really one of my favourite artists, but this is a great song and good drinking music. We all go through that phase where we think screw what everyone else says I can do - I can do more.
Johnny Come Home - The Fine Young Cannibals and their breakthrough song. For some reason this song reminds me of my brother. He and I are almost interchangeable, there is little difference in the way we look and we were often mistaken for twins. He seems to have all the sense and responsibility whereas I am the one you always wonder if you will ever see again and sometimes hope you won't.
In case I don't see 'ya...good afternoon, good evening, and goodnight!
Thursday, 28 April 2011
Monday, 25 April 2011
Soul Survivor
Today's P&L: Everyone in the city seems to have died or gone on holiday
Today's Booze: 2 bottles of good red wine
Today's Soundtrack: Music that hurts
Nothing happening in the markets there was some volatility but the hot weather in London and the Easter break seem to have pulled everyone from their desks. I remain convinced the markets are headed for a downfall of significant size. Just check out the gold price, it is now firmly established at the fifteen hundred dollar level. most of that is due to the worrying increase in inflation. All governments are reluctant to release genuine inflation numbers because inflation is like the genie in the bottle, when it gets free it is hard to control. China and India are admitting to eight and ten percent inflation respectively. But you can bet its a lot higher in real terms. the effect of that is to limit real economic spending power in those countries so the vaunted future growth centers of the world may not be as attractive as some imagine.
Received an unexpected call from the Lunatic this morning. One of the other great loves of my life, She is in Singapore just now and we spoke for five hours. She and I still have so much chemistry together. At the same time The Stalker is back in hospital, did I feel like a shit for talking to another woman when I should only have her in my thoughts? Of course I did. However, both these women left me a long time ago for some men who were not so "difficult". Didn't work out for either of them and they seemed to both know I would always be alone. I am beginning to feel like the last refuge for the lonely and heartbroken. The Stalker and The Lunatic are very similar in more than just their nationality. They are both volatile. I guess the biggest difference is The Stalker has a strong level of self-control, until she gets drunk. The Lunatic is completely out of hand. Perhaps she has changed, its eleven years since I last saw her. All I need now is The Princess and The Italian and the Turk to get in touch and I will have the full set. I suppose I have been lucky with women but also you could say I was very unlucky none of my serious relationships have ended well. We have both came out with scars and bruises. The one night stands were so much easier. Emotions hurt some times.
Easter was good, I went to church and finally felt good about myself. If even only for a few hours. I have to go back to hospital soon I don't want to tell the Stalker when, because I am beginning to feel obligated to her for her visits. Maybe I won't be in long this time but I rarely get away with a quick visit. This time maybe when they give me some indication of how long I have left. It seems so odd to be considering death despite my reckless lifestyle. I am sure it will have more impact later but just now I don't really feel anything. Of course I have had to lie to my parents as well, my mother in particular seems to be taking it hard. I told her already she has no duty to look after me but I guess that's what mothers do.
Today's music, my top five tracks:
I Might Have Been Queen - One of Tina's best. This song makes me think of the strong women I have known in my life, but its the last verse that gets to me every time. " I look up to the stars with my perfect memory, I look through it all and my futures no shock to me, I look down but I see no tragedy, I look up to the stars till I find my destiny..." ,why do things that hurt you feel so good?
Real Good Looking Boy - A great song from the post Keith Moon Who. Does this song apply to me? I am not sure, I am quite confident I am attractive but there has to be more to it than that. My demeanor and personality are not exactly what you would call sparkling. And my self-obsession can hardly be a bonus. Still, "Wise men say
Only fools, only fools rush in, But I - I can't help Falling in love, in love with you".
Storm Warning - Another old time favourite of mine, Hilary James has a really nice voice and in this song she sounds so desperate. Perhaps not everyone understands that feeling but I am sure most of us do. I had to tell The Lunatic about my illness today and she immediately said she will get on a plane to be with me. Not sure her current boyfriend would appreciate that though.
On Every Street - This song brings back so many memories for me. I really did revisit a lot of the old places I used to go with my girlfriends in the years we were apart, not deliberately looking for them but somehow hoping I would bump into them by accident. I guess they were too involved at the time to think about me but I remember everything about each of them. They came back to me but the irony is I am running out of time.
Don't Give Up - Kate Bush always has a song for me when I am feeling down. This is depression era music at its best. I suppose I have had a gifted life, things always came easily to me - perhaps too easily. My parents are from a different time and a very poor background but they both struggled and succeeded. I still remember asking my mother if she ever read No Mean City, a classic novel about the in between years in Glasgow and she replied "we didn't need to - we lived it".
In case I don't see 'ya...good afternoon, good evening, and goodnight!
Today's Booze: 2 bottles of good red wine
Today's Soundtrack: Music that hurts
Nothing happening in the markets there was some volatility but the hot weather in London and the Easter break seem to have pulled everyone from their desks. I remain convinced the markets are headed for a downfall of significant size. Just check out the gold price, it is now firmly established at the fifteen hundred dollar level. most of that is due to the worrying increase in inflation. All governments are reluctant to release genuine inflation numbers because inflation is like the genie in the bottle, when it gets free it is hard to control. China and India are admitting to eight and ten percent inflation respectively. But you can bet its a lot higher in real terms. the effect of that is to limit real economic spending power in those countries so the vaunted future growth centers of the world may not be as attractive as some imagine.
Received an unexpected call from the Lunatic this morning. One of the other great loves of my life, She is in Singapore just now and we spoke for five hours. She and I still have so much chemistry together. At the same time The Stalker is back in hospital, did I feel like a shit for talking to another woman when I should only have her in my thoughts? Of course I did. However, both these women left me a long time ago for some men who were not so "difficult". Didn't work out for either of them and they seemed to both know I would always be alone. I am beginning to feel like the last refuge for the lonely and heartbroken. The Stalker and The Lunatic are very similar in more than just their nationality. They are both volatile. I guess the biggest difference is The Stalker has a strong level of self-control, until she gets drunk. The Lunatic is completely out of hand. Perhaps she has changed, its eleven years since I last saw her. All I need now is The Princess and The Italian and the Turk to get in touch and I will have the full set. I suppose I have been lucky with women but also you could say I was very unlucky none of my serious relationships have ended well. We have both came out with scars and bruises. The one night stands were so much easier. Emotions hurt some times.
Easter was good, I went to church and finally felt good about myself. If even only for a few hours. I have to go back to hospital soon I don't want to tell the Stalker when, because I am beginning to feel obligated to her for her visits. Maybe I won't be in long this time but I rarely get away with a quick visit. This time maybe when they give me some indication of how long I have left. It seems so odd to be considering death despite my reckless lifestyle. I am sure it will have more impact later but just now I don't really feel anything. Of course I have had to lie to my parents as well, my mother in particular seems to be taking it hard. I told her already she has no duty to look after me but I guess that's what mothers do.
Today's music, my top five tracks:
I Might Have Been Queen - One of Tina's best. This song makes me think of the strong women I have known in my life, but its the last verse that gets to me every time. " I look up to the stars with my perfect memory, I look through it all and my futures no shock to me, I look down but I see no tragedy, I look up to the stars till I find my destiny..." ,why do things that hurt you feel so good?
Real Good Looking Boy - A great song from the post Keith Moon Who. Does this song apply to me? I am not sure, I am quite confident I am attractive but there has to be more to it than that. My demeanor and personality are not exactly what you would call sparkling. And my self-obsession can hardly be a bonus. Still, "Wise men say
Only fools, only fools rush in, But I - I can't help Falling in love, in love with you".
Storm Warning - Another old time favourite of mine, Hilary James has a really nice voice and in this song she sounds so desperate. Perhaps not everyone understands that feeling but I am sure most of us do. I had to tell The Lunatic about my illness today and she immediately said she will get on a plane to be with me. Not sure her current boyfriend would appreciate that though.
On Every Street - This song brings back so many memories for me. I really did revisit a lot of the old places I used to go with my girlfriends in the years we were apart, not deliberately looking for them but somehow hoping I would bump into them by accident. I guess they were too involved at the time to think about me but I remember everything about each of them. They came back to me but the irony is I am running out of time.
Don't Give Up - Kate Bush always has a song for me when I am feeling down. This is depression era music at its best. I suppose I have had a gifted life, things always came easily to me - perhaps too easily. My parents are from a different time and a very poor background but they both struggled and succeeded. I still remember asking my mother if she ever read No Mean City, a classic novel about the in between years in Glasgow and she replied "we didn't need to - we lived it".
In case I don't see 'ya...good afternoon, good evening, and goodnight!
Tuesday, 5 April 2011
Is Luck On My Side?
Today's P&L: GBP 220.00
Today's Booze: 2 Pints of Kronenbourg 1664
Today's Soundtrack: Music That I Just Like
So the Equity markets had a brief downturn but seem to have recovered fine. After all what is there to worry about. Unrest in the Middle East, more European countries close to default, spiraling inflation, decline in real earnings. The Europeans are likely to raise interest rates on Thursday. The ECB is really just the Bundesbank in all but name and the Germans have fairly bad memories of inflation. The Bank of England will be under pressure to match the rise but the government knows that the UK economy is far to fragile. Proving once again that the UK is too far out of sync with the European economies to have ever been a member of the Euro. I made a quick trade on the DAX 30 prior to the US opening but really didn't do much the rest of the day. I wonder how much longer these economies can go along on essentially borrowing from future. The Japanese earthquake was tragic in terms of human loss but in financial terms it raised an important issues to the funding of the huge American debt. Japan is an enormously rich country but they are struggling with the situation and the aftermath. so it is necessary for them to repatriate some of their external holdings. Sooner or later America is going to have to make some harsh decisions as to what the federal government can afford. I imagine that social services, however minimal they are, will be the first to be cut.
So a quick reminder to me that its not all about me. In quick succession, the Stalker had to return to hospital, and it looks like a bad one and my father down in Spain is also in hospital. Its funny when you are ill and a bit of a drama queen, like me, you tend to forget about other people. I know the Stalker was sick, I mean really sick but she always seemed so full of life around me. My father is the same I just realised he is seventy one years old. He seems so fit and healthy. Because of my inability to express my feelings if either of them die I will never get the chance to
have told them how I feel about them. I recognize this but I also know, that if they are both ok, I will once again be unable to say such thoughts to either of them.
Today's music, my top five tracks:
We Let The Stars Go - Prefab Sprout, wonder if they are still around. Maybe its true, every Irish man is a poet, Paddy wrote some great songs. This song just makes me sad.
Talk Of The Town - "Maybe tomorrow, Maybe Someday" The Pretenders were such a good band, when they were at their peak I guess I was too young to really appreciate them. "Oh but it's hard to live by the rules - I never could and still never do". This song reminds me of a period when I lost it after splitting up, for good this time, with the Lunatic, I wouldn't say I was out of control but for a few months, even by my standards I was overdoing it.
Life's What you Make It - This is classic 80's Pop/Rock. Talk Talk are quite melancholic, a bit like me. I guess this song reminds me of those reflective moments we all get, maybe the ones I drink to avoid.
Storm Warning - Another long-time favourite of mine. I am not sure why I love this song so much, the girl who is the daughter of Bob James seems so sad when she sings, but also has that acceptance of the inevitability of it. This song reminds me of when I was a teenager on the ship, days watching the ocean and how restless it seemed.
Two Faces - Bruce Springsteen, I know he is not terribly popular anymore, but this is a great song. We all have at least two sides to us, I like to pretend I am strictly one dimensional but when I listen to this song, I think about how I ended up like this. As far as I can remember I have always tried to lock away my feelings and even now it seems far easier to write them on a faceless blog. When I listen to this song I think about the Stalker, I suspect she is beginning to see through my on demand pleasantness but she just can't seem to deal with my otherwise frosty attitude.
In case I don't see 'ya...good afternoon, good evening, and goodnight!
Today's Booze: 2 Pints of Kronenbourg 1664
Today's Soundtrack: Music That I Just Like
So the Equity markets had a brief downturn but seem to have recovered fine. After all what is there to worry about. Unrest in the Middle East, more European countries close to default, spiraling inflation, decline in real earnings. The Europeans are likely to raise interest rates on Thursday. The ECB is really just the Bundesbank in all but name and the Germans have fairly bad memories of inflation. The Bank of England will be under pressure to match the rise but the government knows that the UK economy is far to fragile. Proving once again that the UK is too far out of sync with the European economies to have ever been a member of the Euro. I made a quick trade on the DAX 30 prior to the US opening but really didn't do much the rest of the day. I wonder how much longer these economies can go along on essentially borrowing from future. The Japanese earthquake was tragic in terms of human loss but in financial terms it raised an important issues to the funding of the huge American debt. Japan is an enormously rich country but they are struggling with the situation and the aftermath. so it is necessary for them to repatriate some of their external holdings. Sooner or later America is going to have to make some harsh decisions as to what the federal government can afford. I imagine that social services, however minimal they are, will be the first to be cut.
So a quick reminder to me that its not all about me. In quick succession, the Stalker had to return to hospital, and it looks like a bad one and my father down in Spain is also in hospital. Its funny when you are ill and a bit of a drama queen, like me, you tend to forget about other people. I know the Stalker was sick, I mean really sick but she always seemed so full of life around me. My father is the same I just realised he is seventy one years old. He seems so fit and healthy. Because of my inability to express my feelings if either of them die I will never get the chance to
have told them how I feel about them. I recognize this but I also know, that if they are both ok, I will once again be unable to say such thoughts to either of them.
Today's music, my top five tracks:
We Let The Stars Go - Prefab Sprout, wonder if they are still around. Maybe its true, every Irish man is a poet, Paddy wrote some great songs. This song just makes me sad.
Talk Of The Town - "Maybe tomorrow, Maybe Someday" The Pretenders were such a good band, when they were at their peak I guess I was too young to really appreciate them. "Oh but it's hard to live by the rules - I never could and still never do". This song reminds me of a period when I lost it after splitting up, for good this time, with the Lunatic, I wouldn't say I was out of control but for a few months, even by my standards I was overdoing it.
Life's What you Make It - This is classic 80's Pop/Rock. Talk Talk are quite melancholic, a bit like me. I guess this song reminds me of those reflective moments we all get, maybe the ones I drink to avoid.
Storm Warning - Another long-time favourite of mine. I am not sure why I love this song so much, the girl who is the daughter of Bob James seems so sad when she sings, but also has that acceptance of the inevitability of it. This song reminds me of when I was a teenager on the ship, days watching the ocean and how restless it seemed.
Two Faces - Bruce Springsteen, I know he is not terribly popular anymore, but this is a great song. We all have at least two sides to us, I like to pretend I am strictly one dimensional but when I listen to this song, I think about how I ended up like this. As far as I can remember I have always tried to lock away my feelings and even now it seems far easier to write them on a faceless blog. When I listen to this song I think about the Stalker, I suspect she is beginning to see through my on demand pleasantness but she just can't seem to deal with my otherwise frosty attitude.
In case I don't see 'ya...good afternoon, good evening, and goodnight!
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