On The Day [They Think] The Oil Stopped

I received a phone call from a Joe Harper this afternoon, a property manager of sorts through Delta (not the airline), who was looking for investors who could give $85,000 immediately to buy oil-rich plots of land in the Bakken Shale oil reserves in Texas to reap mind-blowing amounts of cash. Although he obviously called the [less-than-opulent] wrong person, we struck up a conversation that lasted a good twenty minutes. He seemed to be a good, honest man - to my surprise, since I assumed all people involved in oil were "greedy ol' bastards" (don't we all?). But I assumed wrong, and we talked (and cordially, too) about random stuff after we both realized I was in no shape to take him up on his offer: music gigs (Joe is an orchestral musician, respectively), the oil-drilling process in different states of matter (shale vs. ocean floor), Tesla's teaming with Toyota to create an electric car with four separate batteries (for each wheel's power source), the role of oil in the Iraq War, the investment in clean energy (as well as Wakarusa's hopes of becoming the supplier of electric motors), the reason why the BP disaster hasn't raised prices (apparently, that oil was never in the reserves for production or profit and was therefore not a reduction in supply), amongst others. I had to repent inside a little bit upon realizing that there are honest people in the oil business. It was a nice surprise to get a call from someone whom, on a normal day, I'd never meet.

I Wish I May...

The five men I wish I could be as I have trouble falling asleep:

Randy Pausch: an incredible example in living life to the fullest.

Bill Cosby: always wise, always inspiring, always humorous.

Eric Whitacre: beauty in dissonance like no other.

Dave Brubeck: Master of Meter.

Bobby McFerrin: soul.