The story behind this album

This is the story behind Melodic Subtlety - Solo Piano.

As I play the piano, tears of emotion fall from her angelical face. I play the last note, she devours me with bedroom eyes, smiles and in her sexiest voice she says: "You must do it. I can't wait any longer! It is your duty as a man". My heart skips the way only a supermodel can affect a man's vital organs. "It's now or never", and I go for it with all my passion. As I start to kiss her, she slaps me (really hard, actually) and says. "Not, do me, you idiot, do it!". My face hurts as much as my ego. She finally explains. I am supposed to compose music and share it with the world. Aah, clarity!! Oh well, my piano album is the result. ;-)

Get it at iTunes, Amazon or at my website www.melodicsubtlety.com

Experiencing the beauty of each person

Life has many turns.  Undiscovered feelings appear out of nowhere.  One cannot control everything one sets out to do, even if one tries.  What is "the secret" that everyone seems to be talking about right now?  The secret is to believe!  Easy to sell, impossible to prove wrong.

 

 

 

I made a Piano Solo CD!! :-)

Well, I finally did it. I created a second CD.

I would love for all of you guys to support me an check it out at www.dapperandspruce.com

Or, you can buy it at Amazon:



My music has been described as beautiful and relaxing. I would love for you guys to check it out and let me know what you think.

With great wealth come great expectations

Bill Gates just said that as he is planning his change of focus from chairman of Microsoft to focus more on his foundation. Good for him! Some day I would like to say the same.

Great Expectations

Today is a day of great expectations. I’ve decided to write a book.

Many people have been able to finish one. Today, why not I? I have the energy to start and finish a book today. This is what I’ll do today.

I just opened my eyes. I dreamt I would write a book. What a great idea. I just need to sleep on it for a few more minutes because I didn’t sleep very well.

My stupid neighbor has a problem with her water heater. It seems the thermostat on her water heater broke and so its fan goes on and off throughout the night. The noise really startles me. I need to stop by over there to tell her to please have it checked out. I’m not saying it’s my fault, but most likely she doesn’t’ even know of the prob-lem, and I’m the only one suffering having a really bad night while she sleeps very peacefully not knowing she’s disturbing one of her neighbors. OK, I’ll stop by to-day, first thing. Now, let’s try to sleep a little bit more, say about five more minutes.

I just spent about an hour trying to figure out why my computer froze. I lost about two or three sentences. Doesn’t seem like much, but the fact is that I lost my train of thought. Right now it’s past 1AM and I am completely bushed. I’ll write my book tomorrow. Hopefully the computer will be a bit more cooperative with me then. As for now, I’m saying good night to all.

Just remember that tomorrow I’ll write about today I'll write about my experiences while going to the gas station, then the supermarket being forgotten, going for a ride and then coming home. I wonder if I can write with the same fluidity when I get back.

Also remember to write that I tried to write this using my Palm Pilot, which also proceeded to freeze on me. To the skeptical reader, this may appear as an excuse for not really writing more interesting passages, but in fact this is exactly what happened. I only hope to be able to pick up where I left when I return tomorrow.

A beautiful day

He could not sleep anyway. The mist of the rancid smog burned his eyes forcing him to close them to a slit. He heard the screeching of brakes and turned to see the black diesel fumes stinging and staining the air. His clogged and bloody nose could not smell the putrid air, nor feel the freezing temperature of this horrible morning. He had fought last night. Everything hurt. His stomach was used to emptiness. The pain of hunger, so long a part of his life had never left him. He no longer worried. He had been able to gather some newspapers the night before to cover his frail body for the chilly sleepless night. A brick had served as his pillow for the night and his head hurt. He had been content until this stupid bus, trying to “score points” by trying to run over a scraggly dog, woke him from his numbness. The dog, almost hit, whimpered out of the way. The driver, missing one of his front teeth, let out an awful laughter, coughed, and spat some dark phlegm out of the window. And so another day began.

Soulmates

Those young eyes now forever hidden from his glance would never smile or cry for him. Her soul, lifting slowly from her body senses him, recognizes him, flies past him in a vain effort to caress him and know him. He lifts his eyes. While his body trembles his heart sinks in despair. Her spirit struggles to return.

It's too late.

They would never meet.

Evidence

Evidence furnishes proof. It always provides the same results, based on natural laws, no matter the observer.

The beauty of evidence is that it is not open to discussion. It either is, or it is not.

Man must urgently, avidly and frantically pursue evidence as the new renaissance of thought should he ever want to survive the current dark age of thought and reason that will undoubtedly take us all to Armageddon. Beliefs in fantastic yet unfounded stories, such as religion and its dogma, manipulation and spin, euphemisms and values can do nothing but subject humanity to lives of ignorance, war and despair. We have come a long way because we understand a bit more than we did in the not too distant past. Unfortunately, the future looks bleak because it seems we are going back on truly investigating knowledge through evidence.

Furthermore, learning based on evidence should be applied to every facet of human life from medicine to physics, from psychology to economics, and yes from ethics and religion to love and human happiness.

Fortunately for most of us the renaissance occurred. Even though the price was high for many, some of humanity slowly came out of the ignorant grip of the Middle Ages (alas, if only for a tiny moment). During the time of reason it was finally possible for a few truly curious scientists to study aerodynamics, gravity, electricity, astronomy and a few other sciences without having to burn at the stake for being “blasphemous” yet curious pioneers. As I said, some paid with their lives. Think Galilei. But at least some progress came out of it. Unfortunately for most of us, we still haven’t come out of the dark ages in many other fields that crave for strict methodical research and study. Today, no one dares to really study the evidentiary validity of religious dogma for fear of reprisal. It is a “taboo” and “politically incorrect” to question dogma. After all, we are all “tolerant” of each other. Also unfortunately for most of us, no one dares to really study the science of human relationships without having someone push their values and their personal sense of ethics. (an obvious oxymoron as there should not be a “sense of ethics”, it’s either ethical, or it isn’t).
It’s time to really wake up and learn through evidence all about nature and about ourselves. After After all, we are part of nature.

Evolution evolves emotions

Recently, I read a New York Times story alluding to the notion that human evolution is still underway. This probably won't seem as one of the greatest of discoveries or insights of the century because as the word itself would hint, it's in the nature of evolution to evolve.

But apart from saying "so tell me something new", I find that there is great relief to be drawn from this "discovery". In fact, I would dare to say that these are really wonderful news. I believe it's fantastic to hear that somewhere in our genetic pool there is still a lot of room for improvement.

So, how does knowledge of this largely accepted fact help you or me? Well, it doesn't really.

But since we are (still) inquisitive creatures, why not keep on wondering and ask where evolution is planning to take us:

Even if evolution were to ever be finally finished, what sort of species would we then be?

Scientists study evolution mostly from the physical perspective. They focus mostly on the fossil and DNA records of our ancestors. Instead, I am more interested in the evolution of emotions. How will evolution evolve our emotions. Will it magnify the positive emotions and do away with the negative ones? After all, if evolution is the survival of the fittest then feeling good should certainly part of it.

So I wonder,

• Will we then be satisfied?
• Is pain going to not longer be part of love?
• Will loneliness become archaic?
• What sense will drive us?

Food for thought.

Just Do It!

Simple realizations are what creates progress in a life. The thought below is not earth shattering. In fact, it has been around for millenia (probably). Yet, not until you fully understand and live it has it the power to give you an "aha effect".

Just do it!

It's quite amazing the progress that can be achieved by just doing stuff, rather than thinking about it.

Futhermore, "flow" can only be achieved in the process of actually performing a task.

Therefore, just do, focus on what you do, and don't think about what else or where else you could be.

They were expecting him in one hour. (Fiction)

They were expecting him in one hour.

Waiting at Starbucks he knew this day would define the rest of his life. He never thought it would come to this. After a lifetime of winning he thought he could never lose. But he lost, and they were expecting him in one hour. This was not a nightmare, this was worse.

One hour. In his head, he replayed what happened many times. What went wrong? One more hour!

Robert closed his eyes and slowed his breathing down. The hustle and bustle of the store seemed to play outside of him. He was a spectator, a bit bored with the spectacle, going deep into his thoughts. He was to meet with them in an hour.


.... to be continued

Diatribes

Fiction

He kept screaming at the top of his lungs: “We’re all going to jail”. His colleagues and coworkers, riveted but bewildered by this sudden bout of rage, were not sure what to make of this. Was his ranting diatribe an early onset of some rare case of Turret’s syndrome or was he really expressing fear based on concrete evidence? Scott was after all a top dog at HAP, the fastest growing advertising company in the West Coast. He was someone to always be taken seriously and not simply for his typical yet sudden almost manic rages.

The golden rim of his Versace glasses, long ago dull and scratched by his constant nervous habit of wiping them with his dry fingers, were perhaps the harbinger of less shiny times to come. But for now, not a single soul at this last extravagant Caribbean executive meeting, or “networking event” as his cronies liked to call it, could have fathomed that this would be Scott's last trip outside his cell. Not even Gustavo, his most trusted childhood friend, the man with an almost uncanny ability to foresee the tides of change, could see it coming.

Scott, red with anger continued to attack the shocked executives who still wondered when this joke was going to end. “This is a Ponzi scheme. They are on my tail and I swear, I will NOT be the only one going down. I’ll bring all of your asses down to the slammer with me if that’s what I have to do!!” “Ya cálmate, coño”, whispered Gustavo. “We can still fix this. Don’t worry about it” As Gustavo spoke, Scott, still lost in his mad stupor, swallowed three of his tranquilizer pills. He had to stop the buzzing in his ears and somehow these tablets did the trick.


... to be continued ...

Silence is Good

Silence is good. What can we write to each other except for a few filtered highlights of our days? Not much I'm sure. There are times of connection and attraction that are best remembered, not evolved. Extraordinary experiences of truth make us; you helped make me. Now, silencing our souls with the chatter of daily happenings is the only choice to protect the absolute perfection and beauty of our past experience.

Fiction

Once in a while I sit down and let the author in me take over. I wrote the essay below while on a trip to the mountains. The most interesting part of the "writing process" was the dichotomy between what I wrote and my actual state. I was very far from the ocean, and very far from feeling sad or frustrated.

Red
The waves twinkle. They reflect the light of the setting sun. My beloved poet, I’m sure, drowning in this beauty composed odes to this night. But she’s gone now. This night is worthy of tragedy, or of love, or of demons, or of sex, or of murder and death. It doesn’t matter. It’s intense. I hold my tears back as my stomach weaves nothing but knots. I can’t decide. Should I vomit? Cry? Scream? Jump? Who was he?
The water looks delicious. Look at the rocks below; so far. What a shame it would be to stain these rocks with putrid blood. No, can’t do it. Besides, why poison overwhelming beauty with the shit inside my veins? The breeze smells good.
“Your hair flows.” I smile. She’d never said that before. Why now? ”Were you crying?” Why the fuck does she always interrupt when I’m about to paint nature with red poison? “Hi. No just looking at the sunset” “Yes, beautiful”. So beautiful I suffocate.
Who was he? This mockery, this dissonance of colors oppresses me: pastel outside, black inside. Inside, there’s a war. The acid of this battle burns my heart. Ah, anger, how fun. My mouth sours. She caresses me. “Forgive me”, but I cringe and poisoned adrenaline fills my tears with rage. As I fake a smile, strain cracks my lips and red fills my mouth with a taste of sadness (Sadness tastes sweet. I am addicted to sweetness). I’m fed by red despair.
“Sorry this happened”. The waves splash the rocky beach below but the limestone, discontent, wants to suck my red. The rocks invite me. Are they dry sponges begging to be fed with blood? Curious. They crave poison; they’re like vampires addicted to sadness. The waves twinkle. They reflect the light of the red sun. I must paint nature red. I fly; I can fly! I crash on the rocks below. I ooze out of my limp body and decide to paint and color the limestone. Red. So beautiful, so sad, so sweet …. so dark.

Sorely wrong

Where in my thinking (and/or assumptions) did I go wrong?

This was my thinking 4 years ago:

Regarding the Euro: The European economies are stagnating and the American economy is booming. This means buy Dollars, sell Euro. I was totally wrong!

Regarding Real Estate: People are going to flock to "safer" less dense areas. Real Estate prices in cities will stagnate or deflate.

Evidently I have been exactly wrong as precisely the opposite came to being.

What is the outlook for the near- to mid-term future? Something to think about!

Sauvignyplatz - Berlin

Sentado aquí en un restaurante enfrente de la estación de "S-bahn" y deleitando una rica ensalada de tomate con mozzarella, observo la gente que va y viene, en este día relativamente caluroso. Es chistoso relatar lo que veo, ya que obviamente son todos Europeos. Para mi ojo Americano hay definitivamente cierta diferencia, pero no sabría explicar a detalle de que se trata. Por ejemplo sale un punk con pelos rizados. Sale una chica con una camiseta super apretada. Sale un octogenario con la pinta de que por qué le cambiaron su barrio. Sale un par de mujeres cotorreando historias de sus vidas. Me digo, "esto está para foto".

Decorating my Miami Place

Boconcept

Well, I've decided to buy as much from BoConcept as possible. Also, I've been shopping around the past few days. Of course rather than shopping I could have been looking at investments. What's the cost/benefit? Obviously, I'm just taking some time off from my real business.

General Maritime: Running out of steam?

GMR: Summary for GENERAL MARITIME CP - Yahoo! Finance

GMR has been really good to me as an investment. Is it time to sell? Time to do a thorough analysis.

Redeployment of Assets

I'm positive I can more effectively deploy my assets to take better advantage of all my resources. My 'assets' are: time, youth, due diligence and private investment savvy, a few properties, and various other investments in equities.

Opportunities on table

These are some of the private investment opportunities I have come across in the last few months. I must set up a legal structure to be able to invest in these companies.

1. Ellen Myers from Platinum is producing a film about snowboarding. She is currently looking for funds.
2. Jared Rose will be marketing Tony Robbins producs (at events) and is seeking short-term financing with a 12% net return.
3. Greenlight Energy, a developer of wind energy, approached me a while ago with early-stage investment opportunities.