Is the American Dream dead?

I spent my July fourth weekend upstate visiting some friends and family. I wish I could say that I enjoyed it all. I have had another setback, I suppose. The job I was counting on didn't hire me. I can't understand why, since I felt I was a strong candidate for the position. With that, I went on this mini-vacation in a subdued and contemplative mood.

I don't have much of a taste for alcohol, but I guess the ease of access on Saturday made it de rigueur. As the day went on, I followed a slow descent into inebriation. I was setting up a pile of twigs in the outdoor fireplace and realized I might be going about this all wrong (yeah, add all the outre jokes about fire and beer here). This being the way I've determined my plans for the future. Perhaps, just perhaps, I might have been too optimistic about what my hard work could accomplish.

I have all these ideas in my head that I occasionally pull out and polish. Ideas such as the design for the terraced garden behind my house, the nice workshop and garage attached to the house, or the unique and airy design of my perfect house. Sitting outside in that amazing garden with friends surrounding a fire as we made inane jokes about each other. All dreams of that rosy future that working hard would earn me.

Maybe I watched too many of those silly commercials of comparative wealth as a kid and it skewed the reality of the world we live in. I look at the way I am living now and I often wonder when I will get that opportunity to show the world what I am capable of. Instead, I languish away, the most productive years of my life slowly frittering by as I twiddle my thumbs. It all begs the question: Is the American Dream dead?

I am certainly having misgivings in that direction.