Not WYSTD Anymore

Let’s see, I can surf ESPN.com again since the possibility exists that Bill Simmons posted something new. I can head out to Taco Bell for some lunch. Or perhaps, the boldest choice is the right call - look up a movie listing on Fandango, slip outta here for a few hours and catch some stupid movie at the multiplex. Such are the choices for the work at home professional.

I never thought that I’d be writing something like that, about the career I currently enjoy, one that I’ve carved out of balsa wood pulp. My professional career, prior to proceeding through a work day in shorts and a t-shirt (stained with Taco Bell hot sauce) was decidedly upwardly mobile, and part of the age-old system I called WYSTD (what you’re supposed to do).

WYSTD (sounds like wasted, which is remarkably apropos) means that you go to the best college you can get into; get the best degree you can, get the best internships you can, and then get the best first job you can. WYSTD means you go to happy hour after work and get blitzed. After you’ve hooked up with enough of the best chicks you can, you cash in and find the best one you can marry.

Once you’re married, you buy the best car you can afford, move out to the best suburbs where you produce the best 1.5 kids, buy the best dog, and take best vacations to the best places where the locals pat you on the back with one hand, while stealing money out of your pocket with the other. You have the best dinner parties with other WYSTDers, talking about who’s got the best of what’s the newest and latest, and how much of the best Riddlin you can give your kids without them slipping into a coma.

After close to ten years of being WYSTED, I rocketed off that career track with a move westward. Not because I wanted to make some huge stand against being part of a nameless faceless corporate mega-monolith, but because I was so entrenched in the WYSTD lifestyle that I didn’t realize how easy I had it. I thought I could move anywhere, get another WYSTD job opportunity, and continue on my merry way. Like when you’re wasted, when you’re WYSTD, perception vs. reality is a battle you don’t realize is over until it’s too late.

I moved to a new city with a resume that I felt was air tight, and explained a WYSTD career that I'd built that would make most people on that same career track green with envy. My confidence was so high, I quit my previous job with absolutely nothing lined up. Another story for another day, but that's not really a good idea.

Anyway, having bills to pay and no WYSTD job meant that I had to tack a decidedly different tack. The new career path I found myself on is called the What the Fuck Am I Going to Do plan, or WTFAIGTD. It’s a much uglier acronym that WYSTD and one that doesn’t have a snappy pronunciation. That’s perfect, since this new life is neither tidy nor easily explained. It’s an existence filled with freelance work for clients that pay your invoices when they feel like it. It’s an existence filled with boundaries set by your own ambition, or lack thereof.

After a longer while that I'd have preferred, the WTFAIGTD career track began to gain some momentum. Bills were paid on time, barely, and enough clients were secured that I had to time to kill again. It was a huge adjustment, and one that I don't think I would have gone through again, had I known what life was like when you weren't WYSTD.

Maybe being WYSTD is the right call, or perhaps some other path is the right one for you. I can't tell anyone what's the right path for themselves, only that where you are and what you're doing is something you should think about a little more.

I Can't Even Begin To Describe How Much This Sucks

This GWAR wannabe band is so bad, it's actually funny. GWAR is laughable too, but even they would eat these pieces of crap for breakfast. Literally.

Thing I can't figure out is what's more laughable: how bad they are, or the fact that most of the youtube commenters are defending the song as legit metal. To settle this debate, I will defer to a quote from Butthead, one of the most qualified metal critics of all time...

"This is so horrible, I can't even begin to describe how much this sucks."

LIVE SHOW: Hard Rock Hallelujah


VIDEO: Hard Rock Hallelujah


[Butthead quote is from episode where he and Beavis first saw Poison's 'I Want Action Tonight' video.]

'The OC' Was Dead To Me

After each episide of The OC for the past three seasons, I'd tell my wife that show was dead to me -- only to find myself queuing up the Tivo seven or eight days later. It's unexplainable ... perhaps it's the chisled-faced women and the David Hassel-coif that Peter Gallagher (who plays Sandy Cohen) sports with no shame. Or perhaps it's that whenever the plotlines lose steam, they just have Ryan (played by a guy who's name I still don't remember after all this time) pummel someone.

His favorite punching bag and my favorite new villain for season three was this cocaine sniffing wake-n-baker named Volchok (pictured above, actor unknown). He was Marissa's love interest and corruptor du jour, and let's just say Ryan -- even though involved with about 10 other chicks -- was not cool with that.

Anyway, we watched the season finale last night, and here's how they wrapped it up: Sandy decided to quit being a great white land development shark and go back to being a magnanimous, five-figure-making public defender -- but of course he and his sometimes-employed, sometimes-sober wife Kierstin will remain in their $10m estate without explanation. Ryan was driving Marissa to the airport and she was killed off the show when Volchok ran them off the road and Ryan's car flipped five or eight times then exploded.

So with (Mischca Barton's) Marissa gone and the show facing the same kids-go-to-college-and-the-show-crumbles fate as Beverly Hills 90210, I again declared The OC dead to me last night. But then my AIM window popped up a few minutes ago with this from my wife:

"Katelande: here's my OC prediction... Sandy will have to defend Volchok when he goes back to public defenders office... heard it here first."

So it was writ, and so season four shall be watched. In the beginning anyway.

If only to see how they come full circle ... how they start at go with Sandy taking Volchok under his wing like he did Ryan three years ago. Will Ryan's fists fly when he finds out? Will Sandy's acerbic son Seth (played by Adam Brody) end up with Summer (played by some girl that Brody dates in real life), or will he end up with that blond chick from James Cameron's office that E was hooking up with on Entourage? Hopefully it's the blond, because even if The OC is no longer dead to me, E definitely is.

Today Is Street Date For Marijuana "Street Terms" Poster

Calling all narcs: Your newest tool in the covert battle against drugs is available today. It's a poster of the government's 647 "street terms" for marijuana. Tack it up on your narc station walls and break room cork boards for easy studying. No need to worry about whether or not you'll blend in next time you're rolling your unmarked Caprice Classic down Haight Street or the Las Vegas Strip. Up-close analysis of this poster will help you "be down" with the "cool cats" you're trying to put the pinch on. [Note: click text link to get full-size poster image]

Extremely Important Mortgage Spam

When I am not gracing this extremely important blog with my words, I am a loan agent for a company called Residential Pacific Mortgage. We're an extremely important banker/broker in Norcal with 200 agents and $3 billion in 2005 fundings. I sit on this extremely high level marketing committee that meets once per month over some chicken pesto sandwiches and bottled iced tea to discuss marketing at an extremely high level. Occasionally I chime in with my genius, but mostly I write the cover stories for our monthly newsletter. It's read by an astounding 75,000 people -- just kidding, but seriously.

The reason I bring all this up is because I just finished the June article. Had to push the deadline to see what the Fed would do and say. About eight hours ago, the FOMC (perhaps the most extremely high level committee of all time ever) hiked rates by .25% for the third time this year and for the 16th time since June 2004. People are nervous. Buyers wonder if they should bail out of the market. Owners wonder if they should sell now or hunker down. Realtors and brokers like me wonder if we're going to be employed.

But I digress. The goal of the June piece was to put things into perspective, and to ceaselessly pitch people throughout an otherwise serious discussion (below). Too bad it's 770 word count is too long for the subject header of an unsolicited email. I hear some brokers make 250 Gs a year off those...

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ACTIVELY MANAGING YOUR MORTGAGE

It was not long ago that most home loans were the same, simple structure. A fixed rate along with an amortization schedule of 15 or 30 years. But in the past couple market cycles, and especially in the past five years, home loans have gotten a lot more sophisticated to meet the ever-expanding objectives of homeowners.

People move around more for their careers, buy homes at younger ages, and have added real estate to their overall investment strategies. The lending industry has evolved to keep pace with these objectives, and this is why you have heard us stress the importance of “active mortgage management.” In past newsletters, we have compared it to securities investing, where you can actively manage your stock and bond portfolios to try to beat the market, or you can seek more conservative returns with investments that simply track the broader market.

The same logic goes for mortgages. “Tracking the broader market” with your loan would mean taking out a 30-year fixed mortgage – you’d just set it and forget it. But what if you know you’re not going to own the home for 30 years? Or what if monthly cash flow is your top priority? In either case, then, you’re losing money by paying the rate premium for that 30-year loan. It makes more financial sense to actively manage your mortgage.

Below are a few examples of active mortgage management in a market context.

Active Management: June 2002 to June 2004
Let’s say you were actively managing your mortgage four years ago when rates were dropping to all-time lows. Traditional 30-year mortgages and intermediate-term ARMs were appealing at that time, but many borrowers were beating these loans by about 1% to 1.5% with 1 or 6-month adjustable LIBOR loans. LIBOR is a loan index that is more volatile than many other indices, meaning it drops faster in a down market and rises faster in an up market.

So the active mortgage strategy this time in 2002 was to get into a LIBOR loan to capture that extra 1% to 1.5% (average) drop in rates that you couldn’t get with any other loan type. On a $500,000 loan, this translated into about $10,000-$15,000 in savings over 2 years, compared to a 5-year ARM or a 30-year fixed.

Active Management: June 2004 to June 2006
Then the Fed began hiking short-term rates in June 2004, LIBOR began rising, and it was time for LIBOR loan holders to shift strategies. In an uncertain rising rate environment, longer-term loans seemed like the right choice, but which one? The Fed’s consistent hikes on short term rates eventually flattened out the yield curve – meaning that spreads between intermediate and long term loan rates were very thin for much of the June 2004 to March 2006 period.

There was only about .125% difference between a 5-year and a 10-year ARM, and a .125% to .25% difference between a 10-year ARM and a 30-year fixed. Sure, there was some savings between the choices, but nothing so staggering as to suggest the obvious choice for active mortgage managers. So the choice came down to selecting a loan term that best fit their time horizon and monthly cash flow requirements. Many split the difference and chose the 10-year ARM – a long-term loan, but with a slightly lower rate than the 30-year fixed and more flexible payment options.

Active Management: June 2006 and Beyond
Now we are toward the end of the Fed’s tightening cycle. The yield curve is still pretty flat, but rates are higher across the curve. So what now for active mortgage managers?

For those who want the security of a fixed mortgage but can’t afford the payments in this rate environment, you can now get 30-year interest-only loans or 40-year amortization loans. Compared to a straight 30-year loan of $500,000, the 30-year interest-only would save you $430 per month and the 40-year loan would save you $225 per month. For those that want more monthly flexibility, you can get an Option ARM that would allow you to pay as little as $1324 per month or as much as you want on that same $500,000 loan.

Actively managing your mortgage is all about clarifying your objectives and understanding the market. Your objectives help you set budgets and time horizons, and our market expertise helps you select programs to fit your budget and time horizon. So while markets and loan programs evolve and change, our approach is always the same: to help you beat the market with active management, and help you use your home as part of a broader financial strategy. And as always, we’re at your service.

Is The Coup’s 'Bigger Weapon' Pop or Politics?

The Coup, a hip hop duo of MC Boots Riley and DJ Pam The Funktress, just dropped a new album called Pick A Bigger Weapon. It’s their fifth, and remains true to form with seditious political and anti-capitalist messages set to fist-pumping funk.

Listening to The Coup is enjoyable as it has ever been, but for me, the new album raises the same old questions: Do I believe in the message, or do I appreciate the art? Am I eventually convinced that capitalism is the regular guy’s greatest nemesis, or am I summarily blown away by Boots’ flows and Pam’s turntablism?

The musical question is easier to answer. Just like previous albums, Pick A Bigger Weapon doesn’t stray too far from it’s Parliament-style funk roots, so it’s hard not to like. The difference this time is more Prince-influenced synth sound, sped up beats and harder bass and guitar (Audioslave/Rage guitarist and fellow activist Tom Morello guests) – which is why it evokes fist-pumping more so than ass-shaking.

Boots is known for his dexterity on the mic, but Pick A Bigger Weapon solidifies that he is one of best MCs in the game. The most obvious example is My Favorite Mutiny, a three-verse track that Boots (verse 2) shares with Black Thought from the Roots (verse 1) and Talib Kweli (verse 3). In both flow and lyrical quality, Boots puts these two master lyricists to shame, and makes this song a must-have for any hip hop fan – if only to judge for yourself. [My Favorite Mutiny – free download]

Then comes the analysis of Boots’ message – a much more complex endeavor. It’s not like some fluorescent-hued paper chaser can really smash up their office and hang the boss like the new album art suggests. And it’s not like the refrain on Head (of State) talking about George W. Bush and Saddam Hussein blowing each other imparts any political profundity. But the message, just like the music, is far deeper than the surface level hooks lead on.

Listen closer to Head (of State) and it provides detailed chronology up to and through the Bush family’s cozy relationship with Hussein. Listen closely to the tales of a street hustler who lost his job on We Are The Ones [free download], and you start to understand why Boots is a crusader for the underdog – especially when he follows an anecdote of a store robbery with this: “But I don’t wish these actions to be glorified / If there was a plan I’d be eager to listen / To not sleep in the park in the fetal position.”

So, with all this, I go back to my original question: Do I believe in The Coup’s message or do I appreciate the art? I think it’s Pam's scratch routines on songs like Ass Breath Killers that keep me listening, and the message is slowly making sense to me.

I question whether I agree with everything Boots says, but I am compelled enough by the art to keep on tuning in. I get the same feeling listening to Boots as I do watching Bill Maher. They both spit venomous truth, and they both package it up flawlessly. Boots Riley is the Bill Maher of the hip hop world because he’s fearless, he knows his issues cold, and he is always entertaining.

DOWNLOADS
>> My Favorite Mutiny (song)[free]
>> We Are The Ones (song) [free]
>> Pick A Bigger Weapon (album) [itunes]
>> Party Music (album) [itunes]

MORE ON THE COUP
The Coup Website
The Coup on Wikipedia