Happy Cinco de Mayo

Cindy tells me, the rich girls are weeping
And she tells me, they've given up sleeping alone,
And now they're so confused by their new freedoms
That she tells me they're selling off their maisonettes,
Left their Hotpoints to rust in their kitchenettes
And they're saving their labours for insane reading.
- Brian Eno, from Cindy Tells Me (Here Come the Warm Jets, 1974)

Now that I'm free, what shall I do with my freedom? Should I take a cue from Cindy's rich girlfriends and abandon materialism for sensuality? Perhaps I should follow Norway's example and pursue the arts:

OSLO (Reuters)- In a victory for nightclub owners over Norway's tax authorities, an Oslo court has ruled that stripping is an art form, just like opera or ballet. The court ruled that stripping should be treated like any other artistic stage show, ranging from stand-up comedy to opera, for which tickets are exempt from value-added tax (VAT).

"I'm very pleased. Ninety percent of the guests here tell me that what I'm doing is art," said a stripper at the Dream Go-Go Bar in the city of Trondheim.

Tax authorities had demanded more than 1.0 million Norwegian crowns ($159,500) from the Blue Angel Club in Oslo in unpaid VAT, arguing that strippers were not artists and so tickets to their shows were subject to VAT, normally 25 percent. Lawyers for the Blue Angel, which contested the VAT demands, argued that undressing as nurses, police women or flamenco dancers demonstrated artistic flair. Tax authority lawyers said audiences were attracted to the shows by nudity, not art.

"Of course stripping is art," said Magnus Morland, owner of the String Show Bar in Oslo. He said the ruling would let clubs operate with better margins and did not rule out cutting the 150 Norwegian crowns ($23.93) entry fee.

Cindy tell me, what will they do with their lives?
Living quietly -- like laborers' wives...
Perhaps they'll re-acquire those things they've all disposed of.