I rarely remember my dreams. Sometimes there is a recollection of something happening that is at best hazy. I recall a few times when I woke up because of a nightmare. And those close to me recall my stories about somnambulism when I was younger.

I've often heard that depending on the food eaten and the activies performed the night before, people may have different dreams.

A few days ago I spent the day getting eating mango shaved ice, chinese fried chicken, taiwanese sausage with garlic, taiwanese 'chicken roll', herbal hot pot, and washed that down with lots of water and sour plum juice. I remember driving home and thinking about the plight of the bourgeoise in American society, a train of thought instilled by Alex Trebek in a Double Jeopardy question.

When I got home, I cleaned up the house while thinking about why I haven't bothered to rehire a house cleaner. I reluctantly fired the previous one. Though he was incredibily detailed oriented, had an issue with punctuality. I don't know where I'm every going to find a person willing to clean the grill on my fan with Q-tips. That $50/week seems such a pittance compared to the time I spend doing the work.

Later on, I watched a BMW commercial advertising how many cars they have which exceed 27MPG on the freeway.

I also reflected on the a friend's comment about how the current recession is a good thing - though it wasn't explained to me why.

So this all created the perfect storm in my body. The food was catalyst for all sorts of chemical reactions. The enzymes and MSG mixed with the acids in the plum juice and strange herbal soup to put me in a state of extremely thoughtful sleep.

I woke up the following morning in an awkard state: My head hanging over the edge; pillows all over the place, including the floor; blanket twisted about my torso, such that I couldn't even move; and what I would describe as dried spittle, crusted around my mouth.

I recall waking up like this during college years, usually after a night of excess that I'd rather not divulge here. However this night, I slept 8 hours and didn't drink anything alcoholic.

The first thing in my head that morning was, "I have to use the bathroom." The second thought was this:

The economy is cyclical, though no one dare claim they can predict it with certainty. My quarterly investment statement says it best, "...past performance does not guarantee future return..." One thing that we can say with confidence is that the economy, whether on a macro or micro level, will experience bullish and bearish cycles.

In times of economic duress, truly wealthy people who made wise financial decisions are not impacted materialy. They still drive their nice cars, live in big houses, and send their kids of great schools. They leverage the fact that they live in an economy that is primarily catered to the middle-class. And their wealth allows them to afford a high standard of living.

The fact that they are wealthy indicate they have a degree of talent which helps them take calculated, diversified, risks. In fact, during these times, they can leverage their wealth to accumulate equity at a low price - which will in turn foster more wealth when the economy recovers. As I read Financial Times, I'm amazed at the rate at which some companies, fat with cash reserves, are making strategic acquisitions and mergers. No doubt board rooms are filled with these kings of industry, manipulating their wealth in ways that I believe will create the next trillionaire in the next decade. Indeed the rich do get richer.

The poor and indigent are not really impacted severely during downturns in the economy. When you don't have nothing to lose, then no matter what happens, you cannot lose even more. I suppose there is some comfort being at the bottom of the barrel - the only way to go is up and out. And for the time being, social services still have funding to carry them through the tough times.

The middle to upper class feel the greatest repercussions of an ailing economy. These are people who often live on revolving credit and loans, relying on these means to extend the quality of their lifestyle to where they want to be. They are leveraged to the point where a slight mishap would put them into insolvency. Just look ask the people at CountryWide or IndyMac to see what I mean.

I've actually heard the term "economic crisis" used in media. Whether we are in one or about to head into one, I believe it is for the good. A forrest will go through cycles of fires to clean itself up, allowing new trees to grow in areas that were previously too dense to grow. This is natures way of ensuring the continuation of the species.

We are have an economic forest fire. The fire will clear out those over-aspiring middle-class people from getting into areas they aren't ready to be in. The consequence is that the upper-class will leverage that to get richer; but then again, people don't become rich by sitting around not doing anything.