Battle of the Nutcrackers

I've been watching The Battle of the Nutcrackers on Ovation TV and, frankly, it has become a metaphor for the economy, the solutions and the world in general.  Let me explain, if I can . . . Ovation TV is playing six different versions of The Nutcracker, viewers will vote on which version they like the best and that version will play on Christmas.  When I first heard about the competition, while channel surfing, I thought it would be basically the same as watching the Nutcracker on six different tvs - a little different size or clarity, but basically the same program over and over again.  I couldn't be more wrong.  Arguably, at least four of the Nutcrackers are entirely something different and three of them don't even resemble the Nutcracker at times.  I mean you hear the music, you see ballerinas, but other than that . . . 

So how is this a metaphor for anything?  Well it's in that vote.  Think about how that is going to shake out.  There will be some people for whom the best Nutcracker will have to be the most traditional looking version; there will be some people for whom the best Nutcracker will have to be the most strikingly different version; and there will even potentially be resentment between the two factions for even existing . . . questions of whether someone should even have the right to call a ballet the Nutcracker when it has drifted so far from the original and eyes rolled at such a narrow minded view of the arts.  There is even a version from a French choreographer who used the Nutcracker as an autobiography.

How dare he!  

You get the point . . bail out the auto industry, don't bail out the auto industry . . . . capitalism, socialism . . . . tax cuts, welfare . . . the most truthful statement ever naively spoken by an individual was perhaps said by Rodney King, "Why can't we all just get along?"

Personally, my favorite Nutcracker is the Matthew Bourne version where the "nutcracker" looks like a Howdy Doody doll and the story takes place in an orphanage . . . it is kinda like the what the Nutcracker would be like if seen by Tim Burton on the big screen.  

Miss Mew Mew & Peabody

Speaking of fear . . . . . Money

Money . . . "the sordid topic of coin" as Isabella Rosellini says in one of my favorite quotes from "Death Becomes Her,"  . . . I know that the number 1 fear spot for most Americans is public speaking.  Simply raising your voice to be heard above the crowd is feared more than death, but I don't know where money ranks on the list.  Certainly some people's money fears paralyze them to total inaction, whereas others act quickly and irrationally.  Despite FDIC insurance, we did have a run on some of the banks during this financial crisis and despite FDIC insurance, some people did lose money because they held more than the insured amount in an institution.  

You may have heard Dr. Phil say "you don't solve money problems by throwing money at them" or perhaps you've heard the statistics about lottery winners . . .  they tend to settle back to the financial status they were at BEFORE winning the lottery.  Moreless, if they managed their money well, they still did and if they didn't, they still didn't.  

I think one of the reasons that money is so scary is that there are no set rules as to what to do with your money.  The best choice at any given time is fluid and changes with the state of the world.  For instance, how many people, right now, have $7000 in their savings account at about 1% interest, while they are carrying $7000 of credit card debt at 25%?  How many people make the minimum payment on their mortgage at 5 or 6%, while holding that savings account at 1%?  Simple math tells you to gravitate to the solution that earns you the most return; simple fear keeps you from doing it.

Warren Buffett says "Be fearful when others are greedy and be greedy when others are fearful."  But truthfully, the individual investor tends to buy at the top and sell at the bottom.  At the top, we're afraid of missing out on opportunity and at the bottom, we are afraid of losing it all . . . frequently just before things were going to get better.  

Most of the time, we would rather trust someone else's judgement than learn about the subject and trust our own.  I suppose it gives the illusion of someone else to blame.

Best Halloween Ever . . . aka Beauty is in the Eye of the Beholder

So it was the best Halloween ever.  Maybe it was the three man mariachi band accompanying my last trick or treaters who serenaded me with Cielito Lindo . . . but I also really enjoyed two comments.  First, maybe I should say:  1.  I have a very large honeysuckle hedge in front of my house that surrounds an arbor walkway to my front door. It completely blocks the front of my house from view and 2.  I had a string of orange lights and a red rope light strung on the arbor, a large black spider in the arbor with a strobe light aimed at it, red celophane over my front porch lights, and a small rubber alien sitting on the front step.  Oh and an unlit skeleton hand in a pot just on the door side of the arbor.  Not alot of decoration, but some.

The first comment came from the only boy in my first group of trick or treaters.  "I didn't know this was a house."  The comment's counterpoint was made very late in the evening by a girl in one of the last groups.  She repeated 2 or 3 times, probably not knowing who to tell, "I like your house.  I like your house."  Then she quietly added, "I think it's pretty."  

I wasn't the person handing out candy just then . . . or I would have given her an extra piece or two.

Speaking of afraid . . . .

The other night I was working on a customer's video to DVD project . . I was watching something else on tv, though, and when the customer's tape finished, it automatically rewound.  I was sitting on the couch next to Peabody and Art was on his other side.  The minute that tape began rewinding - Peabody puffed to twice his size, stood with his back arched, and no amount of consoling would keep him in the room.  Later, after Art had gone home and the customer's project was long finished; I saw Peabody walk cautiously near the equipment only to slap a table leg . . .just in case.  

I remember when Mew used to slap every padded hanger she'd encounter.  

It's twisted, but I miss that a little.  It seems like you move too quickly from the curious but cautious kitty to the over-relaxed, fat and always sleeping mature cat.  While Peabody was fleeing the hissing VHS tape, Mew barely even cracked her eyes open.   

Just comes down to another lesson learned . . .enjoy the now . . . now.  If you spend too much time reminiscing about what the cat did last year . . .you may not notice what he did today and you'll spend your whole life missing what you barely noticed while it was happening.

Fear Itself

"The only thing we have to fear, is fear itself."  "It's always darkest before the dawn."  

More than anything else, I think, your humanity is defined by your relationship with fear.   Some people court their fear openly whether they are riding rollercoasters or freefalling out of airplanes; some live those "quiet desperation" lives barely able to leave their homes.  

There is no greater high than beating your fear and there is no greater low than realizing you have sacrificed yourself . . . only because you were afraid.  

I have a friend who loves to run her foot just adjacent to an unsuspecting cat to see how high it will jump.  Watch the stock market these days and you will see the ones who yell "Fire" in new crowded theaters.   Forcing someone else to expose their fears can make you feel more at ease with your own; in the right circumstances it can also make you a lot of money.  

Don't kid yourself . . . something is always ending . . .but something is always beginning just beyond that.  

What would you do if you weren't afraid?  

The Dork . . . er that is . . Peabody responds

Prrr. . . what?  That old biddy?  Well, she's good for some entertainment, isn't she?  I mean, if you run, I will chase you, won't I?  No matter how much you spit and hiss.  

Prrrup prrup. . . oh.  The human?  A bit slow, but I won the jackpot when I met her.  I showed up on her doorstep for a few weeks before she noticed that I was three times the cat my collar had been built for.  I'd rub against her legs, do headstands on her feet  . .  . put on a show.  When she finally did notice, I made sure not to spook her as she took it off - not an easy trick because she didn't have the sense to cut it off . . .she actually unbuckled it. . . .I thought she'd kill me while saving me.  

Since then, . . . . prrrruuuup prp . . .well she's like a mouse dinner, isn't she?  Right under my paw where I want her.