Thinking of you during this liquidity crisis

Every now and then, when the really rich are panicking, I like to make fun of the rich people I actually know, and send them text messages like the above. Of course they write or call back to explain how they’re making a killing, and one friend today even said he was about to go into a meeting where he was going to threaten to put three people in prison if they didn’t pay what they owe him. Which was exciting to hear.

I recently read a study that showed that there was no difference in the amount of money you made, whether you were smart or stupid, and that in fact, if you were very smart, chances are you took too many risks and didn’t have very much money as a result, and you might even have more debt. I’ve always thought that if I were dumber I’d be richer, but it was amazing to see it all spelled out in a scientific study. I just know that the Dow and the S&P are down, down, down.

My brother, the richest person I know, and one of the smartest, is of course unconcerned. Stocks are for punks, he said a while back, the last time I asked him about investing, and told me it was safer to stay out of the market than to get in–to invest in other ways. This was before his company had a public offering. But I think he still feels this way. As he gets richer, his perspective changes, because he has access to even more information about wealth, and it’s been interesting to listen to him about it. I have noticed that some rich people tend to think you’re slow, or sort of childlike, if you’re not rich, even though they’re the one on a Blackberry the entire time during the meal, and so perhaps I’ll keep a copy of this study in my bag to whip out from time to time.

Meanwhile, back in Bohemia, my friend T Cooper has a story in the New Yorker this week, dated August 20th, and it’s bittersweet and funny with a bit of tragedy running through it–sort of like her. Susie Bright writes that this is her last year editing the Best American Erotica series for S&S, and that she’s moving on to other projects, to be announced.

I’m blurbing two novels so far for the coming year: Electricity by Ray Robinson, and Wendy Lee’s Happy Family — both are Grove titles but that’s a coincidence of a kind. Ray and Wendy are both exciting new talents in fiction.

In other news, I’m off to Breadloaf for the weekend, to teach a craft class, but not before unpacking my exciting new desk chair at home.