I've been a member for a year and posted a couple times. But I read y'all's blogs a lot and draw inspiration and passion and love and ideas so thank you all for sharing and I love you! (and I really wish I could say that to some people I know very well, but it's true regardless who you are or how smart I think I am)

This economy is not going to keep chugging along forever. The market has risen steadily since 2009, but only on the back of the Federal Reserve's "quantitative easing" (QE), which is now in its second phase, QEII, due to expire in June. What is QE?

Tonight I again engaged my mother in a conversation with no resolution. It has been a while since I have challenged her to confront some of my information, and I have not missed the inevitably uncomfortable turn of those discussions To be quietly mindful and present, and abstain from unnecessary soapbox sound-off, is my challenge right now.

For those who don't know the band Tool or their lyrics, or for those who do, I would like to share a segment of lyrics from one of their most powerful songs. Their music and lyrics have been an inspiration and guide for me throughout my awakening over the past few years, and this song has had a particularly profound effect on my being.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EDlC7oG_2W4

I am struggling. I am creating a struggle for myself. When I have the urge to yell out, I just know it won't be right, so I wait and hold it in. It is a struggle in which what I have worked for is mine and set apart. I have worked for what I know, haven't you? No? Well fuck you. I am struggling with your illusion, making it real, making it mine.

As soon as I write something down it's not me anymore.

You could call me a cynical saint; I ain't here to save but to tip that critical weight.
You could call me a blatant chaser of dreams; I seek out the finest places and ways to be.
Some call me self-righteous because they don't believe what I know, or maybe it's just that I just can't seem to leave it alone.
It's true I can't get over it; they've bought the bullshit that they've been sold