omg. (that's gosh, by the way...)

today's goings-on:

* I am currently writing an anime about baseball, and desperately trying to recall every little tidbit I learned when playing elementary girls softball... because I was so awesome at it..??

* Ike left me with an insane amount of laundry. mostly because I can be a little crazy about spores and bacteria and anything else that might try to tickle my allergies, so if there's a woven fabric in this house it's going into the washer.

* I can't wait for Pam and Jim to get married on The Office.

* We watched American History X the other night, and now I have a little crush on Ed Norton. I know he's crazy and made out with Courtney Love. it's a talent-crush and I can't help it.

* whilst writing baseball anime, I've also taken in a lot of CNN today and the congressional hearing about the bailout. I'm glad they're arguing about these things. I am highly awfully amazingly against a fear-driven, reactive pledge to Mr. Paulson and Mr. Bernanke for 700 billion dollars up front to just 'fix it' as they make up a plan as they go along. holy moly. that's probably not an accurate depiction of what they're doing but that's what it feels like.

> this next part turned into a rambling, opinion piece... feel free to skip to the next asterisk if you wish.

interestingly, yesterday I wrapped narrating an online finance course, 20 long chapters *coughdrinkmorewater* of terms that have been all over the news for weeks. though there was much I didn't grasp (so many formulas!) and even more I needed further instruction about, I managed to follow a lot of it. one of the things I took away was the number of new credit 'instruments' that have been created for more people to be able to purchase things like homes and businesses and funds for operating costs of their various businesses. it all boils down to a lot of creative financing, to get more people in the credit pool so that ultimately lenders can bundle the notes and investors can.. well, invest in them, and money begins to flow in and out and up and through all sorts of echelons of markets. a lot of you already knew that, but it filled in some gaps for me... and I still have lots of questions for someone smart in these areas. being a person who enjoys paying things off early - cars, mortgages... I'll even pay insurance off every 6 months, because it saves a little $$ and it's one less bill to pay a month - it interested me to learn that lenders generally don't want you to pay anything off early, because their investors are in the game for the 30 year mortgage-plus-interest return or whatever.

anyway, I'm following all of this pretty closely, trying to keep up. I'll say this... I used to sort of blindly believe that people elected to office must be privy to information I don't have, that they were hired for their wisdom and commitment to their duties and that they were generally, probably right when they acted. I no longer believe that. The reactive nature of Mr. Paulson and Mr. Bernanke's 'plan' completely scares the crap out of me... mostly because I can't see logic in it. "The government has to bail them out, they're the only one who can and the world market is at stake!" is panic-speak, not a logical economic plan, and does not explain how such action will create some sort of sustainable economic stability while dealing with all of the mess that caused the meltdown. I'm afraid what they're considering is just prolonging the inevitable... which is that something, somewhere, will have to bleed from these gaping economic wounds. I think I get it... the plan would be for the Gov to have access to a lot of taxpayer money and buy up a ton of bad debt from these institutions, so the banks and whatnot could feel free to extend themselves again and the Gov could sell the debt later for a profit... so theoretically, later the funds would come back as 'income'. However, I also read that it was leaked that the Gov was going to offer above-market price to banks and such for their crappy debt, and if that were true I say 'NO!' to it. Banks do not get to profit, do not get to prosper from these times, and neither does Wall Street or any CEO. Not with my self-employed tax dollars. another term I picked up from reading the never-ending finance course... 'RISK'. They've all taken huge risks, and enjoyed the spoils of bubbly hybrid credit instruments for a long time, and if they have to tighten up and credit is a little harder to extend for awhile... well, that's called a consequence. a really sucky one for small businesses and people whose lives and livelihoods are dependent on credit. thank you, lenders and investors and Wall Street and anyone elected to an office whose job is to pay attention. same for citizens... if it's tougher to get credit for awhile while things stabalize, how can we really complain? we helped create this bed. look at the hundreds of thousands of people around you choking under the weight of their debt... or who walked away from their homes with crazy interest rates, homes they paid no money to get into so why SHOULD they feel invested in them? oh man, I remember vividly the day I gave what seemed like a huge money order to a title company... it wasn't fun. it was stressful and the magnitude of the obligation I'd just entered into sent me straight to my bed for a few hours. I guess my biggest issue is this: you cannot float bad behavior and hope it will change into good behavior. there is no incentive. painful consequences don't have to be the end of the world, and can turn the tide. 'rock bottom' and all. and lessons learned, though sometimes really, really painful, can grow into some amazing, hard-earned wisdom on the other side. I just can't see the other side yet.

observation: apparently, there are no fiscal conservatives left. and that bumms me out.

and by the way, if ANY presidential candidate even hints at 'cutting taxes'.... HAAAAA!!!! tee-hee and holy smokes, that WOULD be magical math! and after I stop laughing... I'll get sober fast imagining what the babies being born now are going to inherit from all of this. and of course, fiscal matters are just a piece of the picture. Father, what would YOU have us do? what would you have me do, as a follower of yours, in a time like this?

okay, all of that was just.... whatever. that was purely for my psyche. and I'm sure it's very lopsided all over. and later I'll want to edit. *first edit... after convo w/ my husband about the day, I feel the need to write down some things that came up - are people who run banks/treasuries/etc. capable of making choices that cut out their fiscal arteries? at what point are possible solutions limited by self-preservation? and how much of the $700 billion do you suppose would be used to prop up the U.S. in the global market... and the other day M proposed that the gov use their power to do something like freeze credit scores or something for a period of time, so people who lose their homes can at least go qualify for an apartment. anyway, just some thoughts.

* dangit! I only meant to do a fun little post and my husband will be home soon and there's still stuff to do around here! arghhh.

* I forgot to mention... we got power Saturday. we had come over here to the house to do a little cleanup, and it came on while we were here. there is no other word for it... I felt RICH in this house, where you flipped a switch and a light came on, water turned to ice in the freezer, and the ceiling fans dispersed the blessed air-conditioning. then I got crazy and started cleaning like a fiend... more physical labor than I'd done in awhile, apparently, because Sunday I could barely move.

* write softly... chino is doing well, thank you for asking! he's playing and sleeping a lot and generally enjoying his life. at least, that's what it looks like from here. I love your baby's soft spiky hair!!

* lilacsonthegrill... the latest Real Simple is good! I cracked it open last night!!

* lovely blue skies... gets a huge congratulatory hug!

* and yoshimi gets to go fold laundry.


bonus: because I know everyone wants to know how many actual hours it takes to read 20 chapters of a finance course...

ten. and a half. is it too late to invest in Ozarka? ah... maybe I'll just buy a Brita. with cash.

;)