Release Cranium from Anal Sphincter

Here is a letter I wrote to Nicola:

Hello Nicola,

I hope you fared well through all the market corrections. I'll chalk just one up for John McCain although I would not have voted for him (and didn't:) The best way to address the banking situation is to start by paying [a portion of?] people's upside-down mortgages. This would have tethered the value of all the affected securities to something concrete, whereas other efforts look like disconnected attempts to throw good money after bad. It's looking like those of us who prayed, "Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors," have something of an answer in that.

Be that as it may I love our new president and I mainly trust the things he does. Actually I'm disappointed in McCain for not brokering more bipartisanship all along; I thought that would be his big historic role in America's return to sanity.

One thing I can't stand about all the rhetoric about the mortgage and securitization crisis is that most pundits overlook the fact that the kinds of loans in question used to make sense to borrowers, because a certain level of wholesome, labor-based inflation would ultimately help pay them off. This kind of inflation was deliberately curtailed and essentially reversed almost thirty years ago, but people raised on hope continued to hope that the future would offer them something -- because, if you think about it, we had no choice. I could see people signing notes in the '80's and '90's with the mental reservation that, "well, if things don't get better for me I'm in trouble anyway." In fact, that probably was among my thoughts when borrowing some of my student loans.

If you've been reading my blog, you've seen where my head has been since I lost Anwar. I was thinking of titling my next post, "Release Cranium from Anal Sphincter." My spell-checker didn't balk, so I think I got that right.

I had a dream that was very unfair to Oprah. The mega-star was casting for a chorus line and she cut me because I was too fat! Seriously, though, springtime is a great time to lose weight. My BMI is now in the normal range, albeit near the top. My goal is to be a healthy, dead-center 145 lbs or so. My father is a champion dieter and he helped me pick a goal weight.

Did you ever get to Australia? Will you be in Washington anytime soon?

Sincerely,
Kitty