Aging & Dying, Karmic Economics, Life of Carmen, Uncategorized

The white-belt-and-shoes gene

My dad carried the white-belt-and-shoes gene: the stamp of the salesman. He passed it on to my brother and me. He started out in the ’60s selling encyclopedias — for real! He was good at it so they sent him to Australia to open a sales office in Sydney. He took my mother and two …

Culture and Art, Karmic Economics, Life of Carmen, Uncategorized

Urban working nomads

I like being an urban working nomad. Letting go of the geographical anchor of my office (which was funky and i loved it) was tough but it has shifted my patterns in interesting directions. I’ve always liked working in cafes, the right level of ambient distraction, with enough impetus to leave for me to maintain …

Bicycles, Karmic Economics, Life of Carmen, Uncategorized

Lost my ride

It had to happen some day…turned my back for a moment, caught a flash out of the corner of my eye, and… Gone. Simply gone. My baby, my ride…sweet little silverblue nishiki roadbike (and i do mean small). with orange leather duct-taped seat, dirtier than she deserved to be, straight bars and a funny brake …

Karmic Economics, Life of Carmen, Uncategorized

Global economic collapse – pass it on

Yesterday I stumbled out for coffee and glanced at the newspaper boxes, which trumpeted the latest collapse of Wall Street. The biggest dive since 9/11, they screamed…ah well…i sat down with my coffee and blueberry cream-filled muffin, and text messaged a bunch of folks at random: “Pssst…the global economy is collapsing…pass it on..” My brother …