Calendar Year

Inspired by the sophomoric endings brought to light by more senior visions of the future. I'm grateful for the lack of junior at the end of my name nowadays.

I was hoping to avoid metaphors but without them I'm left standing on my own behind nothing but a third wall.

What follows are a consolidated statement of accounts as of Dec. 31. 2009 in which the company saw a new vision of the world - the economic downturn and the events that led up to it have forced to reassess our primary focus and planing. We are now a stronger firm because of it and we are confident that with the help of our dedicated board members, stockholders and the cooperation of the "rational" markets we will achieve an explosive growth once again.

Begin with a divestiture. A forced one to boot - one of those situations where union reps tell the management that trust is lost. Management fires the union, picks up shop and heads to a downtown bar with a group of friends and strangers and drowns in Jose.

The CEO finds himself at a company rally at his house surrounded by his peers and friends. The wine (Milwaukee's finest) has been flowing like water out of a fire hydrant and as the leader, he's been trying to mop it up. One of his friends is doing laundry and holding a bottle that were he to be blind and have a difficult time distinguishing shapes and weights and sizes, one might confuse for a bottle. He drinks. His mouth is clean. Tide (Home expressions) is really too strong a drink. A minor panic attack later a girl asks him why he tastes like laundry detergent.

He asks for gum.

1030 am and a full day of work ahead begins. A quick visit to the Russia office, he's on the Concorde to the Caribbean. Rum-ba dancing and all that Jazz he is on a College campus for a speech. The Russians followed him and they brought his family (Tequila - the drink not the town) with them. A quick sip of orange juice - for the vitamin C - and cranberry - to clean the prostate - and the day keeps going. His shirt has changed colors but it's not his doing. The paramedics tackle him after his escape. The music pounds in sync with his fist and people cheer him on. 5 hours later, dehydration gone and his mack is on.

He spends the night alone in a sweet dance of cold sweats, dizziness, fainting and nausea.

You'd think he had enough.

Enter the iceberg stage left. He crashes. She pulls him down with threats and emotional blackmail Tony Sopranos' mother would be proud of. There's physical distance between them but only the nightly nightcap with his colleagues (soledad y verdad) help the 8 hour flight between here and requiem.

2010

Benjamin Button-like rebirth - minus the creepy psychological and sexual derivations.