September 23

Using oDesk now. Signed up with American Express card, solicited teams to flesh out idea for website to sell high quality tee shirts of quotes overheard at CBTL. 12hrs later, enjoying coffee at said Bean, open email client. No money down. Team from India sent comps for site including e-commerce back end with x-cart fully designed. Beautiful work. North of a grand. Fifteen day roll out to finish at $10 per hour. (Feel guilty about this…)

September 24

Solved problem of Health Insurance for Self-employed or Unemployed (American Community Mutual; AETNA)

Tim Ferriss again with the assist.

September 25

Pakistani programmer down to $5.00 per hour. Also discovered sites on oDesk in portfolio of prospective contractors. drumsforyou.com send them a demo of anything, they make a song worthy of radio. But who listens to radio. Hmmm. $675 is close to what I have left. Yet… that song I wrote in college on the old Casio keyboard, possible masterpiece. My ticket to financial freedom. I sign on. They will contact me in 48 hours. At last, the way ahead is lit.

September 27

No word from drumsforyou. Sigh. New plan forming. America in crisis. Liars in wait prey on the unemployed. Time for a change. Take operation, business incentive and initiative to Pakistan. Elimininate twelve hour delay in answering important emails. Made arrangements to go public with new company early October.

September 28

Karaoke at Barney’s Beanery in West Hollywood. Saying goodbye to old friends via Amy Winehouse, bar in uproar. Thank you, Bean. All because of you. Caffeine makes me think so many things. (NOTE: save this quotation for exclusive line of tee shirt.) Operation Coffee Bean kaput. To Pakistan and beyond…

September 14

Depressed due to poor start-up showing at [LOCATION REDACTED] CBTL. Economic downturn affecting all areas of life. Accidentally pasted entire paragraph of data into email address window. What would happen if I hit send? Would the email reach some genie or a mailer daemon? Metaphor here, something about risk. Someone is waiting for this kind of accidental connection right here at the Bean. That person has to be me.

September 15

Business model still alive but sales have simply not happened yet. Writing a treatise, “Start-Up At The Bean Affected By Poor Economy”, including notes on the high price of gas and the necessity to buy gold. Drinking coffee now to save money on office rent. What am I not doing? Possibilities have to be in the store, in the Bean, in the ambiance, the people. Even in the Paul-Giamatti-as-John-Adams old man who complained about me. What is his problem!

September 16

Had to let personal assistant go. Cant afford her, plus difficult to sync schedules. CBTL offers 63 cent tea. Take small comfort in it — at least I can afford that. Sipped tea, returned to initial ideas. How can I make $70,000/mo at the CBTL! Staring me in the face and I cannot see it.

September 17

Modeling agency? Pulchritude consistently very high. Eh. Dislike misogynistic underpinnings. Modeling agency not the shortest path to victory. The Bean is a safe place, almost like a Montessori. Considered something deep today, lark in movie “21,” Monty Hall puzzle in which three doors are shown on “Let’s Make A Deal” and contestant picks one, but Monty Hall reveals one of the other doors and thus removes it from consideration. Counterintuitive odds actually double for switching doors, at least according to Andy Bloch (on whom one of “21″ blackjack characters is based. Famous Poker Player now.) If I eliminate one of the choices before me because I know it’s the wrong one, I will in fact double my chances of making a good choice by switching choices. Fallacious reasoning. Assumes I have three and only three choices and could rule out one with impunity.

I need another coffee. No. An iced blended drink. No. Yes.

August 29

Quit my job. (Faked my own death.) No one can know I’m self-employed until my business goes Fortune 500.

August 30

Finished reading The 4-Hour Work Week by Timothy Ferriss. Immediately hired Indian personal assistant with PhD in Interface Design. Only $10 per hour. (NOTE: Ask assistant to type a list of things to do while I sleep.)

September 3

Bought a MacBook Pro from a man six years my junior. His wife is pregnant. (Ad on Craigslist stood out. He did not try to return messages. Met at his job in Torrance, nice, honest guy. He is Chucky Cheese Elephant.)

September 4

Drove to Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf in [LOCATION REDACTED] to test Airport Modem. Free WiFi is good value.

September 5

At CBTL. Beautiful women pour in like hot lattes. CBTL superior to Starbucks in this regard…? Marina Del Rey area…? Unfortunately, in-store music folky, hackneyed. Left during Buffalo Springfield song. Lyrics and chords irritating, made everything smell bad, world felt hopeless, overcrowded, etc. Forgot headphones. Make note to bring them tomorrow.

September 6

WiFi, Email, cell — I have everything I need. Vow to make $70,000/month working at the [LOCATION REDACTED] CBTL, make Tim Ferriss proud. Personal assistant making me lists of people to call. Will keep her making lists until business model comes to me in dream.

September 7

Read circular in Sunday paper while at Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf. Bug-lensed designer knock-off sunglasses now sold in five different shapes instead of two. Tide and Bactine utilizing sublimated sexual imagery. Detroit still impacted by poor economy, no sign of hydrogen fuel cell production en masse or other innovations. Google shares down by 20%. Weight of world problems makes life thin and empty. Took two aspirin. Employee asks if I would take please feet off one of the chairs. (Insulted. Was using it.)

September 9

Return to Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf. Coffee only 63 cents because of “Our Birthday, Your Party,” 45th anniversary celebration. Feel strong burst of optimism, imagine myself dancing like witch doctor, people applauding. Decide to open a branch office in the store. Buy coffee and drape jacket over three chairs and two tables. Employees must keep quiet so long as I patron. Only tactical advantage. I am careful to buy one coffee at discount price every one-hundred fifty-minutes as to leverage office space. Will utilize outside tables as lobby. Must remember to disable built-in iChat camera as to conceal my location. Can’t tip off competition or jealous college scum. Have stopped recommending The 4-Hour Work Week to preserve trade secrets. Plan to have business cards that read “Burt Lear Now Doing Business At The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf, [LOCATION REDACTED].” ([REDACTED] location increases visibility.)

To Be Continued…