Deemer worked at CNET and about.com until November when the Internet start-up he was working for failed to get financing. After it tanked, he sold his New York apartment, put his belongings in storage, turned his parents’ Beijing home into base camp, and embarked on a spiritual quest to find various mystics and shamans around Asia.
In Mongolia, he searched 10 days for a reindeer-herding shaman, finally tracking her down on his last day. She wore tight jeans, a glittery purple sweater and a rhinestone headband. She typed on a laptop. He found her both mystical and authentic, though when he returned from his Trans-Siberian adventure to Beijing, he felt unchanged. But since he was seeking answers, the Mongolian shaman had one for him. On a Post-it, she wrote his fortune in Cyrillic. The last sentence, in a nutshell: Go back to work.
In Mongolia, he searched 10 days for a reindeer-herding shaman, finally tracking her down on his last day. She wore tight jeans, a glittery purple sweater and a rhinestone headband. She typed on a laptop. He found her both mystical and authentic, though when he returned from his Trans-Siberian adventure to Beijing, he felt unchanged. But since he was seeking answers, the Mongolian shaman had one for him. On a Post-it, she wrote his fortune in Cyrillic. The last sentence, in a nutshell: Go back to work.
The L.A. Times on funemployment and the coming doom of America
