i mean, do "they" not understand what it's like to get a call from them a wee before 8pm their time? like, when i call them back with their 'super secret, don't share this number' digits and no one answers, and i get kicked into a voice mail that doesn't accept messages, don't they know my ego won't let me sleep tonight?
and you and i both know this is the one arena where my ego controls me. white house job = elated ego. elated ego = winner. white house job = winner.
the end.
~k
p.s. happy birthday dad!
18 May 2009
17 May 2009
earthquake
la's been my home for twelve years, and an expectation that the ground sometimes moves is part of the deal. and while it's always a little bit freaky, i found tonight that it's scariest when i'm home alone...
~k
~k
13 May 2009
35 and paris
i've been jonesing for paris for, i think what may qualify at this point as years. i don't know why. i mean, i don't particularly remember even liking the damn place when last i visited. but there's no denying that paris has been on my mind.
and today, i finally booked the flight. i leave two days after i turn 35. my flight arrives in london, and departs paris two weeks later. i don't know that i've ever done such a thing, just booked a random pair of flights, with no plans, no companions, and no idea where that road will lead.
the good news is that i've got half a year to find friends of friends who live scattered about europe (i'd even be game with swapping apartments if anyone knows a cool parisian who'd like to spend a week on the music box steps), who would love a chance to host a fun american gal for a few days of touristy partying, in exchange for being offered the same on a visit to my hometown.
and even in the unlikely event that i don't, it's not like i'm not going to have fun wherever i may bounce.
~k
and today, i finally booked the flight. i leave two days after i turn 35. my flight arrives in london, and departs paris two weeks later. i don't know that i've ever done such a thing, just booked a random pair of flights, with no plans, no companions, and no idea where that road will lead.
the good news is that i've got half a year to find friends of friends who live scattered about europe (i'd even be game with swapping apartments if anyone knows a cool parisian who'd like to spend a week on the music box steps), who would love a chance to host a fun american gal for a few days of touristy partying, in exchange for being offered the same on a visit to my hometown.
and even in the unlikely event that i don't, it's not like i'm not going to have fun wherever i may bounce.
~k
10 May 2009
08 May 2009
the big aha moment!
i knew one of these days, after reading article after article, and wiki-ing things like 'credit default swaps', 'mortgage-backed securitization', and immersing myself in the business section of the ny times, it would just suddenly make sense to me.
i mean, i got the basics and i understood in a very superficial level what had happened, but now. now i think it's clicked, and i've found some satisfaction that my understanding of our economic shitstorm is on a deeper level.
okay, so when i talk about they i'm referring to wall street greedy fucks. they made up money by setting unsustainable values on land, and then offering mortgages (and all those fees) to the individuals and institutions willing to pay a too hefty price on land (because the buyers could then turn around and sell or rent at exorbitant prices).
let's use an example. let's say they offered a selling price of $10,000,000 (that's ten million (i think)) on a fancy high-rise lofts in, um, downtown los angeles (dtla). dtla owners were stoked to sell their building for that price. so they found buyers and gave the buyers the loan (even if the buyer didn't really have enough for a down payment). they took that ginormous mortgage, cut it into chunks, and sold off the pieces to other banks, hedge funds, and pension funds. and so long as buyers were able to sell or rent their units, they could make its payments. and those other banks, hedge funds, and pension funds earned a pretty penny in interest on those payments. and then the banks, hedge funds, and pension funds could use that interest income to justify making more loans on down. on down to the little man who would turn around and buy one of those overpriced units from buyer.
and so long as land values skyrocketed, the system rewarded egregious risk, and a culture of coersive, if not predatory, lending was born. and well, we all know what happened. when homeowners started to default, when it became abundantly clear that they couldn't afford the overvalued land after all (i mean, when it's the mortgage or that medical emergency, what're you going to do?) and stopped making payments, everything imploded. because the whole system depended entirely on everyone making payments on time. always.
so back to they. let's say that they made a huge investment in that loft building in dtla, just as things were beginning to crash in little man mortgage land, thinking that folks would be looking to the rental market when they lost their house to foreclosure. nice (what does this tell you about they's mindset?). but they forgot to take into consideration that their very existence depended on the steady and consistent payment of those little man mortgages on those overpriced units in that overvalued loft building in dtla. oops.
and when little man couldn't pay his bank, his bank couldn't pay its bank, and that bank couldn't pay they. and they would go belly up because the only asset they possessed was debt, debt that wasn't being paid. imagine what would happen if they went bankrupt. It might put the entire rest of the flimsily held economy into a tailspin toward catastrophic meltdown. or wait a second...
they sucks. and while i am sure they didn't mean to destroy the world, they were so focused on making more money, they were so blinded by their greed and the thrill of the dollar sign rush, they almost did destroy the world.
that's why we need regulation. industries motivated by greed need checks, balances, and very watchful eyes. by people _way_ smarter than me. i mean, how long did it take me to satisfactorily wrap my arms around this...
~k
i mean, i got the basics and i understood in a very superficial level what had happened, but now. now i think it's clicked, and i've found some satisfaction that my understanding of our economic shitstorm is on a deeper level.
okay, so when i talk about they i'm referring to wall street greedy fucks. they made up money by setting unsustainable values on land, and then offering mortgages (and all those fees) to the individuals and institutions willing to pay a too hefty price on land (because the buyers could then turn around and sell or rent at exorbitant prices).
let's use an example. let's say they offered a selling price of $10,000,000 (that's ten million (i think)) on a fancy high-rise lofts in, um, downtown los angeles (dtla). dtla owners were stoked to sell their building for that price. so they found buyers and gave the buyers the loan (even if the buyer didn't really have enough for a down payment). they took that ginormous mortgage, cut it into chunks, and sold off the pieces to other banks, hedge funds, and pension funds. and so long as buyers were able to sell or rent their units, they could make its payments. and those other banks, hedge funds, and pension funds earned a pretty penny in interest on those payments. and then the banks, hedge funds, and pension funds could use that interest income to justify making more loans on down. on down to the little man who would turn around and buy one of those overpriced units from buyer.
and so long as land values skyrocketed, the system rewarded egregious risk, and a culture of coersive, if not predatory, lending was born. and well, we all know what happened. when homeowners started to default, when it became abundantly clear that they couldn't afford the overvalued land after all (i mean, when it's the mortgage or that medical emergency, what're you going to do?) and stopped making payments, everything imploded. because the whole system depended entirely on everyone making payments on time. always.
so back to they. let's say that they made a huge investment in that loft building in dtla, just as things were beginning to crash in little man mortgage land, thinking that folks would be looking to the rental market when they lost their house to foreclosure. nice (what does this tell you about they's mindset?). but they forgot to take into consideration that their very existence depended on the steady and consistent payment of those little man mortgages on those overpriced units in that overvalued loft building in dtla. oops.
and when little man couldn't pay his bank, his bank couldn't pay its bank, and that bank couldn't pay they. and they would go belly up because the only asset they possessed was debt, debt that wasn't being paid. imagine what would happen if they went bankrupt. It might put the entire rest of the flimsily held economy into a tailspin toward catastrophic meltdown. or wait a second...
they sucks. and while i am sure they didn't mean to destroy the world, they were so focused on making more money, they were so blinded by their greed and the thrill of the dollar sign rush, they almost did destroy the world.
that's why we need regulation. industries motivated by greed need checks, balances, and very watchful eyes. by people _way_ smarter than me. i mean, how long did it take me to satisfactorily wrap my arms around this...
~k
07 May 2009
making history
i was there tonight, for history in the making. i could tell you, but i don't really know what the hell it was all about. i think the dodgers were the first team since the tigers (whoever woulda thought that craptastic team ever set any record other than being the shittiest team ever) to win the first 12 consecutive home games. is there seriously a record for this? anyway...
i went to a baseball game with super fun friends. and we had a blast. even though most of us never really knew what was going on. all the better that we won and set a record. and got coupons for free mini sirloin burgers, i will soon be enjoying.
~k
i went to a baseball game with super fun friends. and we had a blast. even though most of us never really knew what was going on. all the better that we won and set a record. and got coupons for free mini sirloin burgers, i will soon be enjoying.
~k
06 May 2009
Sonia Sotomayor for Supreme Court Justice
If I had to guess, then I would pick Sonia Sotomayor to be Obama's nominee. Why?
1) would be the second female justice, and with Justice Ginsberg's uncertain health status, might be the only one soon.
2) would be the first Latina justice ever.
3) Has been a judge on the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals for many years, one of the most busiest dockets in the nation
4) her jurisprudence is pro-choice and liberal on most issues.
5) is still in her fifties, so she could be on the court for twenty years or so
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