Six-Word Memoirs on Love and Heartbreak

There's a new book by Larry Smith and Racher Fershleiser called Six-Word Memoirs on Love and Heartbreak. In it, authors post their stories of the above-mentioned in only six words. Then I heard a radio show on the book, and listeners emailed stories of their own that were read on the air. Here are some memorable examples I've heard and seen:

First comes love, then comes stalking.

Tell her I'm taller in person.

Two engagement rings, no wedding band.

Coffee and cigarettes, so I lied.

Straight A student, now flunking judgment.

Not having sex. Husband likes cock.

We fight, we apoligize, we love.

Too lazy to write six.

I got a big kick out of these, so I wrote one myself AND I challenge all of you to write one and post it here, in the comments.

Here's two I wrote (feel free to post more than one):

Too liberal for most around here.

Not really in the market anymore.

Now, let's have some of yours--- It'll be fun!

Sickening

Source: Associated Press

The Bush administration overpaid tens of billions of dollars for stocks and other assets in its massive bailout last year of Wall Street banks and financial institutions, a new study by a government watchdog says.

The Congressional Oversight Panel, in a report released Friday, said last year's overpayments amounted to a taxpayer-financed $78 billion subsidy of the firms.

The findings added to the frustrations of lawmakers already wary of the $700 billion rescue plan, known as the Troubled Asset Relief Program. Congress approved the plan last fall, but members of both parties criticized spending decisions by the Bush administration and former Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson.

Financially ailing insurance giant American International Group, deemed by the Treasury Department to be too big to be allowed to fail, received $40 billion from the Treasury for assets valued at $14.8 billion, the oversight panel found.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090206/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/b...

Joy

I Don't Get It

This excerpt from an op-ed by Micheal Kinsley in the NYT perfectly articulates the mixed message we are getting from "experts" in the media who tell us how to manage our money and care for our nation's economy. Am I the only one who's confused?

So should I buy that coffee maker (or insert whatever gizmo you may be looking at in a store) to stimulate the economy? Or should I save the money in order to “grow” the economy and provide for my own old age? I can’t do both.

This is the dilemma that 30 years of Reaganomics (the real Reaganomics — keeping the economy overstimulated with huge deficits and irresponsible consumer borrowing — not the fantasy Reaganomics of government run like a family and tax cuts that pay for themselves) has left us with. So what do we do? The nearest thing to an actual plan seems to be something like this: stimulate first, to avert various short-term disasters, and then — at some signal from the Treasury Department — turn around and start saving like mad, to avert various long-term disasters. In other words, we need to get back our consumer confidence, and then lose it again.

We hear about the horrendous credit card spending and other debt that is consuming the paychecks of many working people. In the next breath, we hear that banks are being urged to "free up" consumer lending.

Huh?

I guess my economic policy ignorance is showing, cuz I don't get it. And, by the way, thanks, Reaganomics.

This is my precious grandchild, Phoebe Josephine Savvas, born July 31, 2008. The first leader of our country whose name she'll articulate will be President Obama's. Life is beautiful!

Tickling My Snarky Side

I haven't posted in a long time. No excuses. Here is something I found on the internet that I can't resist sharing. I love dark comedy and satire. This website on George Saunders has a couple of video clips that tickled me silly. First, a puppet-performed version of an essay from Saunder's most recent book. Click on it to satisfy the sarcastic cynic in your own self. Then, below that, my boyfriend, the brilliant Stephen Colbert interviews Saunders. Let the snarkiness and hilarity ensue:

http://www.saunderssaunderssaunders.com/

Poem

Since I haven't posted a thing lately, I thought I'd at least share this sweet poem from Garrison Keillor's Writer's Almanac. It's the best I can do these days.


"Words from the Front" by Ron Padgett, from How to Be Perfect. © Coffee House Press, 2007.

Words from the Front

We don't look as young
as we used to
except in dim light
especially in
the soft warmth of candlelight
when we say
in all sincerity
You're so cute
and
You're my cutie.
Imagine
two old people
behaving like this.
It's enough
to make you happy.