Since we're about at the end of June, I figure it's time for a mid-year review.

1. My business is growing, as we've started hiring some independent contractors, and have enough money where I could afford moving to an apartment I wouldn't be embarrassed to show people, the first time I've been able to say that since 2006. That's great. The bad news, or should I say the frustrating/challenging news, is that there is still the feeling it could fall apart at any moment. For instance now that we are increasing expenses, we run into the potential "death by growth" scenario, in which we make a few wrong bets and thus take steps backwards in terms of profitability and growth. Is that what will happen? Hope not, nor do I think it will -- but of course, only time will tell.

2. In terms of my personal life, I have become a bit more social. June was a fun month, the most fun I've had in a long time, even if it ended somewhat tumultuously. Of course it's hard to enjoy much of anything when we're still in business survival mode. The good news, I suppose, is that I've been in survival mode for a long time -- possibly since birth, depending on how you count things. So at least I've gotten use to the stress of it all.

3. Ten original songs written, including the cult hit "Proud to be a Conspiracy Theorist," widely regarded as the best song ever dedicated to the venture capital community. That's fun. Too bad I have less and less time for songwriting; I've got some songs backed up, haven't found the time to complete them. But I want to add more songs to my happy songs playlist, so that's probably what I'll focus on from a songwriting perspective for the rest of the year.

4. Regarding trading, I'm up a little over 8% thus far on the year, thanks primarily to the recent sharp drop in the US dollar/Canadian dollar exchange rate. I think the second half of 2009 is when we're really going to start to see the dollar fall. The only question in my opinion is at what point do higher prices result in civil unrest? And how will that civil unrest play out? Questions we'll have answers to in 2010, in my opinion.

Going forward, I do have my Saturn Return become exact in October of 2009, as I noted previously. So I'll be working to manifest that as a time when I reach career stability. On a collective level, the story is still the economic/dollar crisis, as well as the big power grab the New World Order is making as we approach 2012.

Because this post is about looking back on the year thus far, and because I'm the world's biggest Oasis fan, the song for the post is "Don't Look Back in Anger." This is from some DVD of a live Oasis concert.