Balls-to-the-Wall Luxe Blowout Celebration

As longtime readers know, I bought a slew of shares in a small biotech company, SIGA, 16 years ago, at about $3/share. They'd developed a cure for smallpox, useful for governments to stockpile in case Russians or North Koreans or freelancers (it is shockingly easy to create weaponized smallpox in a lab) resorted to biological warfare (if that sounds unlikely, read up on how the Russian military is messing up Ukrainian nuclear power plants they've commandeered, even though fallout would easily spread to Russia).

I've unloaded some shares over the years, but retained a sizable cache. And, guess what, SIGA's drug also cures monkey pox. Which is a current pandemic. So the stock's up to $24.

I gave up living my life as if I were starring in some glorious movie a long time ago. And this makes celebration difficult. There's also a moral issue. For example, I am militantly against birthdays and holidays, which strike me as obscene in the context of modern First World life.

And even after this windfall, I still, alas, can't afford a Tesla - the only materialistic bauble I salivate over (I'm super into the notion of waking up to fresh firmware which makes my car do new cool things; it's the perfect encapsulation of my utopian dream). I also still can't afford to fly business class, which would be nice.

I guess Teslas and business class are for people who've sold more than one startup to a major corporation, and who've had multiple investments appreciate 10x. Who are these people, anyway? Why am I still middle class when I've done all the things???

Irony of ironies: In the early 90s, when I was one of the poorest people I knew, I flew 1st class on TWA many times per year. I was traveling enough for musical work that I qualified for premium status, back when that really meant something. I was also staying in 5-star hotels on jazz tours, paid for by promoters. So - typical for my extraordinarily disorienting life - I felt way richer back when I was poor. I can't afford any of that stuff today!

So here's how I've celebrated my windfall:

There's a very good sushi place near me, serving cheap lunches and more expensive dinners. I lunch there a lot. Problem is, lunch options are limited. The best stuff is only on the dinner menu. But what reasonable person goes to a cheap local lunch place for an expensive dinner? Even if he's getting tired of the lunch options?

Well, check it out. I've ordered dinner takeout from them twice in the past two weeks. It feels soooo luxurious. It honestly feels like I've won the lottery. I HAVE ARRIVED!


By way of explanation, I am an adherent of Nano-Aesthetics