Shanti’s Dispatches

While I enjoyed writing crazy shit here for a while, the time has come to somewhat rejoin society whilst pursuing other creative outlets in my spare time.

If you’d like to see what’s up with me of late, check me on twitter: twitter.com/sbraford

this might break me off even more than winehouse/valerie

nietzsche: god is dead

science killed religion.

what’s left?

an elaborate conspiracy. what other mystery could there be?

one man couldn’t have pulled off killing JFK alone.

Osama & a small group of ~ 25 couldn’t have pulled off 9/11.

It all has to be an elaborate mystery.

No one dies … we’re all faking deaths & chilling in the carribean with tupac, biggie, elvis & the crew.

conspiracies are the new religion … and there’s nothing wrong with that.

i was really curious about this before i took the leap, so i’ll try and score some karma points here by relaying these costs for you…

rent: $1400 => 500 EUR or ~ $700 usd (the pad here is 2x the size of the SF pad)
car insurance: $86 => $0
food: prob $450 or so at least => ~ $200
books: way too much (thx Amazon Prime ) => $0
gym: $52 => $145 (my gym here is pimp — a lil slice of home)
utilities (PG&E): $60 => $15
cell phone: $80 => 30 EUR or $45usd
cable internet: $50 => included in rent or $15
cable TV: $85 => included in rent or $15

i actually haven’t paid my cable bill yet so i don’t know if it’s included or what. my friend’s is very cheap tho.

going out: i go out a lot more now, so it’s hard to compare. you can easily spend $100 - $125 / night going out in the states, if you like to party =) here it would be hard to spend 150RON (about $60usd) in even a night of hardest partying. a big ass 24oz heinekin for example might run ya 9RON or ~ $3.80usd. in the states at a similar club this would probably run ya $9-10usd or so.

new expenses –

just remembered you might be curious about that as well =)

1. cabs — you can get anywhere in the city for $2usd… if you’re going waaay far out of the center, it might cost ya $4usd

2. if you have the time, you can usually just walk wherever you need to go. the subway / metro is also ridiculously cheap — like 30 cents per ride. (just buy a few 10-packs of tickets and consider it free)

for the first time in my life recently, i didn’t have 100% access to my disposable funds and/or lines of credit.

by the end of the few 3-4 days of this, i was literally down to my last accessible $10.

i can see how people who grew up or experienced long periods of poverty have basically been conditioned into a mental state of a) i can’t afford anything, b) where is my next $50-100 or meal going to come from, c) the world is a cold & unfair place.

my parents raised me with the cliche meme that money doesn’t buy happiness. even if we weren’t rich, we always acted like we at least had enough money for a decent middle-class life. (going out to eat, etc)

the problem with this conditioning (money can’t or doesn’t or won’t buy happiness — they are all similar in my mind) is that it’s a fallacy. money can purchase or allow for you to do things which can enable or further your happiness.

what i believe should be the ideal meme to instill in kids re: money is the following:

there is nothing wrong with the pursuit of wealth. it’s all about how to choose to use that wealth to further your own happiness & of those around you.

thus if you are a greedy douchebag who cares only about the bill, to the detriment of all other aspects of your life, then of course you will not find happiness.

if you pursue wealth with the aim of it allowing you to follow your passion or do what you really love in life, then of course this should be 100% encouraged — none of this money is the root of all evil hippie bullshit.

Anti-Emo Riots break out across Mexico

wanted to post this in a previous rant on teh current state of US politics:

Click Here to view the Full Size version

i don’t give a shit anymore. i’ll pay caesar his due & stack the rest of my chips for a rainy day.

why do the prophets always speak in similes & metaphors?