Of course Goldman bet...

against SOME of their clients. That is the name of the game people. This is the dirty little secret I have been telling you about for years now on this very BLOG. All brokerage firms, mutual fund companies and Investment advisers serve a variety of masters. If you think for one second that they are altruistic and looking out for your best interests - well you are SADLY mistaken.

I am not saying stock brokers, financial consultants and investment professionals are not honestly concerned about their clients and their clients' future, I am merely saying that there are lots of competing interests and human nature applies.

I am saying that it is a complicated knot and to think otherwise is foolhardy.

Goldman absolutely bet against some its clients - it always has and it always will. That they are saying publicly that that is not the case, that is not the nature of the beast, is criminal in my opinion.

Wall Street has its own agenda and that is to make money and to make money at all costs - despite the collateral damage. Look at Lehman Bros., for the gains of a few, they sunk the ship and then laugh all the way to their off shore bank as investors and lifetime loyal employees were left holding the bag.

As long as the system is set up and run based on commissions and two sided transactions, someone is going to lose and the person in the middle - he always, always in these situations stands to gain. I worked at Merrill Lynch for almost 10 years, trust me I sat in on enough meetings to know - the first few slides were on the product and how to sell it - the rest were about why this product was designed to pay you the most, even in a down economy. Trust me the sales force, they got but a tiny slice of what the overall pay out was, and the company, well they sang all the way to the bank.

Look at the banking model. The bank charges you a fee to hold your money and charges someone a fee to borrow your money, and they may offer you some nominal interest - or in today's economy not even enough to cover your fees. They just profited twice and when the chips are down - they are going to side with the customer who offers them the most lucrative profit. They would be stupid not to do that stupid and out of business fast.

Now understand, I am not passing judgment. I am merely pointing out that the executives at Goldman, who are professing to not betting against their clients are full of shit and we all know it...

The profit is always the guiding light - if you think otherwise, well mores the pity.

Stiletto Woman

Stiletto Woman is a magazine for women by women and this month - pinch me - I am a featured contributor. I wrote an essay about my journey to complete my MBA! It was a long ten year journey complete with stops and starts, but in the end, I stuck to it and I did it. I graduated in February with an MBA from the University of Phoenix.

The program was writing intensive (evil grin) and I wrote on average a paper a week, about 1000-1500 and had to do weekly posts on specific topics.

In the end I am so proud of my accomplishment and I am doubly proud and honored to be featured in this great publication.

My message to women out there is - You can DO IT. You can, there is a way.

Alittle bit about this issue:

Stiletto Woman Magazine (Education Issue) is now released! Susan Porter is our cover feature. She has a great story of perseverance. Dr. Mary Gatta, a Rutgers University faculty member, shares her expertise on women and education; Alyssa Trimble, once a teen mom is now a doctoral candidate, tackles the myths of motherho...od. We interviewed Kellie Greene, a rape survivor who's changing the lives of others!

For more information on Stiletto Woman and this special education issue, visit their Facebook page or the Stiletto Woman web page.

GOODREADS: Sexing the Cherry

Sexing the Cherry by Jeanette Winterson


My rating: 3 of 5 stars
This book is a conundrum to me. It is beautifully written. It is more prose poem than novel. Calling this a novel did it a great disservice in my mind.

Passages and passages of powerful, beautiful imagery. In terms of exploration of the nature of love, relationships, self and time, this book earns 5 stars.

In terms of actually pulling all of those things into a cohesive and assessable story or book, it falls short. I often had the feeling this book grew out of an series of writing exercises. In some parts of the work, it is very tight, frames well and there are a number of "tricks" which seem to work well, only to be abandoned.

I also think that the addition of the last quarter of this book, does it a great disservice. I could have been happy without the "Sometime Later" section. Ending the book on page 124, I think does actually tie together a number of the loose ends, not neatly, but then there is nothing neat and tidy about this book, not in style, execution, exploration or point of view.

But the final passages on pages 123, 124 really, I think answer alot of the linger questions - for both narrators. For me - it brought me to place of peace and place to think and acceptance.

I think the "Sometime Later" section works. It does not work at the end of this book, even though some of the ladies in my book club felt it did work. It feels contrived and it feels like it is self consciously connected dots which refused to be connected in other sections of the book.

I think the "Something Later" section, if it has to stay, would work better in the beginning. Start there and work backwards. I think it would help the reader form a story and I think it propels the plot alot better. It also I think, fits with the playing with time and exploring the realities of time and space.

All in all I am glad I stuck with this book and saw it through to the end. Had this not been the book club selection, I doubt I would have. I am glad I did and I am going to read some of her other works, if only to experience her beautiful use of language and poetic imagery.

A word to the wise, this book is not shy about sex, violence and her brand of feminism is radical, typical perhaps of the time period, but her point of view may not be widely shared.

View all my reviews >>

Trying this again...

Ok, I am clearly not making the point I wanted to make... so I shall try again.

What unnerved me about the exchange with my Yoga pant, non Yoga practicing neighbor is the assertion that I have more time on my hands - therefore I dress I certain way. As with all backhanded compliments - it is actually A) mean-spirited in nature and B) it actually I think highlights something about herself, with which she is dissatisfied.

My point on Monday on Facebook and with this mornings blog post - was to say A) it actually takes no time, maybe less - to dress as I did on Monday and folks, I am not talking fancy here... I literally mean it took me 5 minutes. Now given I have a great and very easy to manage head of hair, but still - her notion that I got up early and worked hard on getting dressed - not accurate. Have I given time to my overall appearance and wharedrobe - yes, why yes I have... I actually think most of my yoga stuff is not all that chic...

My point is, I have made a very active and conscious choice to express myself through how I choose to go out and about. Yes, I wore my Yoga pant from my house, to school to drop off L and then to the gym. That seemed time efficient and a very normal thing to do.

I also made a choice to change at the gym in order to go out to lunch with E, at a reasonably nice, yet casual restaurant.

I think if you want your image and your brand to be Yoga Mom on the Go, I am down with that. I am not sure it is appropriate. I mean I suppose you could make it your brand to go about town in a bikini and Ughs!. Strange, but whatever. H suggested maybe trendy bathrobes... Can you imagine...

What I am saying is my neighbor could totally go my route, it takes no more or less time than HER CHOICE. I have never called her out on her attire choices until now. Totally her choice. She brought it up. Do I think that maybe, just maybe as a culture we need to be less casual, yes I do. Sorry to be all Miss Manners, but I think we are just too casual and frankly I am not sure it lends much to equation, but my real point here and what ticked me off Monday was the notion that in some way I was wasting my time... I was showing her up...

What I am saying is as a culture, I think, we have lost site of things such as being appropriate and investing time in ourselves and what our image might be, there was a time when Sunday best, was Sunday best... Google "pictures of Audrey Hepburn" even while in Africa, doing humanitarian work, she took time on her appearance. She gave time to herself and to others. Not out of vanity, but out of self love, I would say. There is for me anyway, a powerful lesson there...

And as I pointed out to H - I am not telling anyone what to do nor do I think I am right or wrong on this point... I am only telling you what I think... as my facebook says, "I cannot tell you what you want to know, Only what I know... and folks what I know is it took me 5 minutes to get dressed on Monday morning and I know I do it for me...

I wore Yoga pants...

to Yoga yesterday. Imagine that. Then after Yoga, I changed into chic jeans and a top and went to lunch with E. I rocked those Yoga pants and I rocked the jeans if the smile on a young fellows face is a good barometer of my rockabilly.

I started a bit of a debate on my Facebook page posting about why I think Yoga pants are only for Yoga. Hot moms in Yoga pants sipping latte's as visually appealing as it might be, I think the moms would be just as hot in well fitting pants or jeans. A skirt anyone???

For me it is one part fashion and one part being appropriate. Yoga pants have the title of a sport in them for a reason. Would you wear jeans to Yoga, I think not. (We are so not going to get on the topic of jeggings, that as a concept gives me a headache.)

I think what set me off was my neighbors assertion that she did not have time to look chic in the morning, when my efforts took less than 5 minutes all in. It takes no more time to pull on chic jeans and a blouse than it does to pull on Yoga pants and a tattered T-shirt. My neighbor had on more make up than I did and she had spent way more time on her hair. So really - don't diss me for looking sharp and put together. (If I had done more make up than lip gloss, it might have taken me 10 minutes)

I am not vain, but I do care.

My mother offered me some advice on my wedding day and I think it was some of the best. Remember the woman he asked to married him. Taking care of ones appearance, is not all about vanity. It is about being loving to yourself. It is about honoring your partner and yourself. It is about having a personal sense of style and branding yourself. It is about being appropriate and respecting others. We sadly as a culture have lost site of this. We no longer take the time to honor ourselves and others.

My outfit the other morning was the result of some strategic shopping and some thought about my wardrobe. It is about wanting to look confident, put together and appropriate.

It is also not about spending alot of money. In fact, one could be super chic at Target. It is about knowing your body, picking a sense of style and working it. The beauty of the what not to wear franchise is it works. Take some time and get a proper bra fitting, it matters. Take some time to figure out what styles flatter your body. Trust me, certain pants on me, not flattering... Figure out how to work your assets. It will put a smile on your face.

I am just saying... Yoga pants are for Yoga, chic jeans are for running errands and knowing the difference is priceless. In my opinion. Heck I love summer - a cute dress - takes like 2 minutes all in, cute flats and flip flops 30 seconds.

Done.