jogging thoughts
as today is going to be a very busy day, featuring various highlights that are unfortunately all non perfumery related: Here a quick wrap -up of my Sunday jogging exchange with the W.-factor….talking about the economic crisis and the expectations folks have there, expecting miracles from public money. Feel free to translate this into: your money and China’s money, because the governments spend what they don’t have these days. Actually, they will never have. And now guess what: Who’s going to pay the bill? And on a second guess: How is it going to be paid. But now I am drifting….the jogging thoughts were more focused on freedom and prosperity.
Many take our freedom (of speech, human rights, etc.) as guarantee for economic prosperty. Often prosperity and freedom are used synonymously.
Prosperity and freedom come together quite often.
People think they are entitled to live a live in prosperity. There is nothing like the right for living a prosperous live.
And finally, we wondered how free our societies would remain if we would loose our (collective) prosperity.
I wish you a lovely day, enjoy your freedom.
July 8th, 2009 at 7:29 am
Andy you took a lot of words right out of my head. I’m going to bed and will have big things to chew on :) This is a subject that really gets me riled up at politicians. We live in a very socialist-leaning atmosphere these days (in general, and also specifically the USA) where government intrusion is widespread. For some reason, we have all become lazy people who “require” the government to take care of our every need and every health insurance bill and fund our college tuition. People fail to realize that once the first domino falls, many, many, many continue to fall right after that. Obviously, I’m not up on Swiss politics, but concerning America, we’re a far cry from the founding fathers’ initial set up: small-scale central federal government run voluntarily by businessmen, with individual state sovereignty. Instead, today, we have a bloated (sometimes I think hopelessly beyond repair) central federal government with much less individual state’s say-so, run by a bunch of lawyers who are fiscally irresponsible and haven’t the faintest head for business…and so we continue to be in debt, and because of that need for the government to babysit our every waking moment, we continue to pay more and more taxes…and where is the money going? Down the drain.
What a depressing subject. haha!
With that, I bid you a good night :)
- Devon
July 8th, 2009 at 7:36 am
I forgot to mention one last thing: I received my parcel today containing the rose chypree. I got home, relaxed, and enveloped myself in an exotic perfume haze.
What a delightful sensory experience this perfume is, Andy! It is an absolute masterpiece. Many rounds of applause to you! Like I said before, “Liquid Love” - it’s like finding a bottle of pure gold :)
I really am off to bed now, I promise. No more comments tonight! Hopefully my pillow smells lingeringly of the rose chypree in the morning :)
- Devon
July 8th, 2009 at 7:54 am
People tend to forget that their freedom depends on meeting their obligations as citizens. Freedom is so much more than “I want” or “I’m owed.”
Prosperity can occur with or without freedom, and it would be nice if people remembered that freedom and prosperity are not synonimous.
July 8th, 2009 at 8:13 am
good morning everybody!
Well…. today’s subject sure is depressing!!Make sure to “jog” all negative thoughts out Andy!! Nothing like fresh air, sunshine and birds chirping to feel in peace with yourself again..and forget about all those bad news (economic or whatever) that surround us..
Umm..Andy…know what??I got a compliment yesterday for Rêverie!!! And from a man!!! :) I find it a) hard to get people to focus on one’s smell (I guess if you stink, they’ll surely say something…) and b)even harder to get a MAN to say something nice about your perfume..so..you made a miracle happen!! :)
(btw: don’t know about you guys..but I’m always telling people how nice they smell (when it’s true), but I hardly get aaaaany compliments from anybody..and I can assure you, I ALWAYS smell good..hehehe! Is it because we’re “smell-focused” and so many people are not..and don’t even notice something as “untouchable” as smell??)
July 8th, 2009 at 10:08 am
Hi Andy, A word you used prompts me to want to say much on the subject but I will keep it short. “Entitlement”. In my opinion, one of the of the most destructive things that has happened to us as a society is the overwhelming sense of entitlement. On a happier note; Silvia that is wonderful that Reverie bought you a compliment from a man!!! Sounds like this really is your special signature scent!!!!! Have a great day!
July 8th, 2009 at 10:55 am
Dear Andy, I too have many sad ideas in this occasion, I only speak myself - all will pass, will pass also it…
July 8th, 2009 at 1:59 pm
Hi Jen! Well,yes, I certainly think there’s a good chemistry with Reverie!!
Do you out there receive compliments on your perfumes on a regular basis? :)
Have a great day!!
July 8th, 2009 at 3:19 pm
Andy, you are so very wise. Of course, I already knew you were a genius.
Sylvia, I NEVER receive compliments on how I smell, and I, also, always smell FABULOUS. I compliment people all the time if they smell nice. Sometimes I compliment people if I can smell their perfume, even if I don’t particularly like it, because obviously it makes THEM happy.
Honestly, it disappoints me that no one seems to notice…
July 8th, 2009 at 4:37 pm
I make very short comments, there is not much too add, indeed:
Devon: Good night, rosy dreams and I hope you weak up in this balsamic resin scent that in my nose lingers on the pillow for days.
DAvid: Remember Kenedy? Yes, that’s what he would have said, too.
Silvia: Congratulations to you. I hardly ever get compliments. It is so sad…. :-) but then…
Jen: Yep. But you know what… I feel I am entitled now. I am entitled to go home and drink a beer :-)
Vladimir: I must. and like in spring, when the snow leaves the pastures the flowers will come up again. but this year the snow might take a while to melt.
Kelly: I am no wise man , not at all. The W. -factor is! I am happy to be privileged to jog in his company. and about the disappointment: yes, I am disappointed too. but then… you know : they are all just shy :-)
July 8th, 2009 at 7:00 pm
HI Andy–well, there are SOME things that one should be entitled to and a nice, cold beer sure sounds like one to me! :)
And Silvia, I also rarely get comments on my perfume although one that usually does elicit them is Andy’s La Maroc pour elle. I just adore that perfume! :)
July 8th, 2009 at 8:22 pm
The word to Jen, David, and Devon is Right On!! Now if only politicians didn`t have wooden ears…! Look up singer John Mellencamp`s song “Authority Song“ and crank it UP - you will vent, grin, and stand up w/ a firm resolve. Follow w/ U2`s “Walk On!“
July 8th, 2009 at 11:37 pm
Jen and Silvia - at home, I`m the lone perfumista, to be polite! Would you believe my mother received a 1 oz parfum of Chanel #5 as a wedding gift, would NOT open it, couldn`t find a friend who wanted it, and, finally, a girlfriend took it to give to her families` maid. Thank the Lord for helpful ladies w/ GREAT taste! :-) When I do get out, no one but my mother ever has a sour remark - the news is all good, and I`m glad to pass on any and all fragrant info! In a fragrance-less family tree, how did yt get in this scented hobby head-over-heels? My maternal grandmother`s friend Marg - who sometimes sent minis, both empty and full, to me via grandmother - starting when I was 5 yrs old! Still have every precious one…:-) :-)
July 9th, 2009 at 12:01 am
My grandmother had an expression: we’re going to hell in a handbasket (a peculiar phrase that goes back to American Civil War days). Ironically, as we here in the USA become more socialist, we’re passing much of Europe who tried that and seems to be heading in the other direction. We have one of the highest corporate tax rates in the world here … when I think “socialist” I think of Sweden … and they have a 28% rate vs. our 40% rate!! (see report at link below - and I hear they’re talking about raising it further) Our elected officials seem bound and determined to kill commerce in this country, and kill our ability to compete in the global marketplace. I fear we have become a nation of complacent sheep.
http://tinyurl.com/n76lbt
“Live free or die: Death is not the worst of evils.” - Gen. John Stark, 1809
(By the way, finally have tried Rose Chypre - a wonderful perfume, one of the few with a rose note that doesn’t turn to something unpleasant on my skin.)
July 9th, 2009 at 12:14 am
Vasily - my grandparents said the same! There is a Civil War sword-in-sheath from generations back on the den`s mantel… thanks for the info link, even if it`s scary. How do WE fight this???
July 9th, 2009 at 5:49 am
Hotlanta Linda- Praised be Marg with her mini’s. Isn’ this wonderful how she must have seen and felt this perfumista in you?
Good morning, Vasily: thank you for the list. amazing. …Switzerland on the sunny side there. And on a very serious note, : corporate tax is -of course- mostly affecting little and medium sized companies. The big ones can build structures to avoid annoying taxes. …
another serious note: taxes are one thing. The other side is of course what you get as an enterprise for paying taxes. Do you get a good infrastructure, low bureaucracy, good banking system, reasonable administrative burden to do business , good public transport for your employees…
On a happy side: Thank you for your note on the rose chyprée. Great news to start my day here in tax heaven :-) although, when I pay taxes… i rarely feel in heaven
July 9th, 2009 at 6:59 am
hotlanta linda: “it`s scary. How do WE fight this???”
We fight it by trying to live life the best way we can work out. People tend to respond well to consistent good behaviour, and if they see it working they regularly start to mimic the behaviour. Action rather than rhetoric is the key.
July 9th, 2009 at 10:00 am
Linda–that is so cool about Marg-I bet you have some real finds. And some of those mini bottles are amazing. What is your favorite one? And the tax situation in the US, Oh my…now its time for me to get a nice, cold beer….