...about me, about things

Let me add a few things about my person. I write for a living. I deal in words. I am not very good at it, but do substitute elbow grease for talent. I don't mind, it's like that tale about the rabbit and the turtle racing. Here is another analogy.... Walter Gieseking, a great pianist, one of the finest musical minds of the last century (the 20th, I mean), but have you heard his recordings? He is frequently ultra sloppy. The finale of his recording of the second movement of Schumann's Fantasy in C major is a mere nebulous banging of the keys. I used to think it was romantic verve. But as age caught up with me, I realize it is just laziness. He should have practiced a little more. He used to say "Wer badet, hat's nötig!" Which means he who bathes must need it, i.e.: if you have to practice, it means you have no talent. That is bull, of course, and of the first water. So my advice to young people is: don't shun hard work. And develop your own style....

Anyway, that is what I do. I used to be a full-fledged journalist, did a lot of traveling, but the honoraria stagnated, the expenses rose, and I decided at some point that it was not really worth it, so I recycled and became a copy writer and translator. I now earn a better living in this world. My soul is probably being traded in some divine bazaar run by all of those gods that people believe in and kill each other about. But I feed my family and I don't have to deal with begging for money from editors. I still publish every now and then.

As a journalist I was decent. Thorough. I collected inordinate amounts of material and distilled the stuff down to a few pages. I liked positive stories. And I liked telling stories about real people and their lives. Writing about the East Bloc, however, was a real problem, because American editors were never interested in the real story. They wanted any report to reflect their own worst nightmares about the east. And they wanted to continue believing the anti-Communist mouthpieces who in fact were just shills for the arms industry.... I hope some people realize that. I will probably be recalling my past experiences here, and some of it is not pleasant.

Anyway: If I visited a country, I would always try to learn as much of the language as I could, fast. And the history..... That was vital. Once I accompanied a colleague to Hungary. This woman was quite good at selling her stuff, but she spoke not a word of Hungarian and her knowledge of the country's history was virtually nil. But she was good at tapping me for the 10 hours that our journey lasted. So second piece of advice.... Learn history. Read history books. It may not seem important what happened in country X 276 years ago, but it is another piece of the puzzle that makes up human experience.

But I digress.

So: I am a sort of American. Born in New York, so the "sort of" started early. My family left the hallowed shores of the US of A when I was 5. I speak three languages fluently. No accent either.
I play some piano. I like to cook. I like to play chess. I like to be alone much of the time. My companions on this journey are a daughter and a female companion (sorry, "wife" sounds like chattel, amongst other things I can't stand the institution of marriage as it has been transferred to us from the past).

Other likes and dislikes: love classical music. Don't try to sell me on the pop stuff (be it rap, house, grunge, hiphop, whatever: to my ears it's all a gimmick and commercial beyond belief...)


And as I said: I live in Geneva and will be debunking some of the myths of this city I suppose before moving away, if I ever do. I don't know. And if I had to dedicate my thoughts to anyone, it would be to young people, whose future is in the hands of the corrupt, venal and ignominious imbeciles running this planet. And I do not mean only politicians. I mean the powers that be in corporate culture, I mean the pop stars who pretend to be something they are not, I mean all of those un-authentic imagemakers out there. I mean, yes, the Y Chromosome.

If you want to, stop by every now and then. I'll get over the self-congratulatory bullshit sooner or later and offer some genuine rants about anything that tickles my fancy. If you really disagree with something, agree to disagree, don't become rude. Consider that this world is made up of opinion, and the more out there, the better. There is also fact, of course. Like global warming. A few ostriches who have staggered up the career ladder on the rungs of fired colleagues to become the captains of certain bespoke industries such as the automotive industry and the fundamentalist-Christian business (which is very lucrative, by the way) still have their heads stuck in a dried oil well. But that's ok. They might also be right in some parallel universe. My approach to global warming is the same approach that my urologist applied when doing a biopsy on one of my testes: If pathology even suspects a cancerous cell, off it comes... Needless to say, I checked the credentials of the on-duty pathologist at the time. (And the tumor was benign. ) I think then, where global warming is concerned, the pathologists have pronounced their verdict.

See you.

Mission statement

Finally, after several years of pussyfooting, I've decided to begin a blog. For me, that means putting down observations on paper that serve two purposes: Venting information. Those are the two purposes, so don't go looking any further.

I live in Geneva. I am a sort of American, having spent most of my life in Europe. So, yes, unabashedly Eurotrashy. If you have that kind of attitude, you are reading the world the wrong way. There are no neat categories. We're all becoming quite mixed. Sort of melting together in one large ragout of single and identifiable corporate identity. It's in the clothes we wear and the rubbish we eat, drink and smoke. It's even in the music we listen to. It's in the cars we buy to contribute our fair share to suffocating the planet.

Yesterday on the BBC Website, the Have Your Say section had a question about Barack Obama. The responses were very revealing. One fellow from Texas (allegedly, you know, like the prezdint who likes to think he is from Texas, and likes to spread the Texas drawl) mused about how his class gets on, Spaniards with Basques, etc... And then gratuuitously points out that there were never any Neanderthalers in the USA.... Well, he hasn't been to Nebraska, and apparently he has not watched any national news for a while, the Neanderthalers are sitting in the Whitehouse these days.

He missed the point. Kids do get along together. It's those stupid adults who do not. Especially the Chromosome Y, I might add....

I have to run. This is an experience.