Everyone cool is going to be at the Wekiva Paint Out and now YOU CAN BE THERE TOO!!!

We’ll kick this one off with a blatant plug for the
Wekiva Paint Out!!!!!!
Yes, the next event I am working on is less than two weeks from now. It is on Friday 3/11/2011 from 6 to 9 PM over at the Wekiva Island (the same place I held the BBQ Battle last year). This Patron’s Gala will be showcasing local artists’ work in a fundraiser for the Wekiva Wilderness Trust whose purpose is the preservation and revitalization of the Wekiva River Basin.

Let me put it in simpler terms: $25.00 for all you can eat and all you can drink wine and beer. And it’s all going to help the environment. And EVERYONE loves the environment.

But seriously, I am counting on all of you coming out and joining me for this. A lot of people (myself included) have busted their tails in making this a premier event. There will be terrific networking and a good time had by all. Go to www.WekivaPaintOut.com and click in the top-right corner to buy tickets. Do it now. I am watching you.

Aaaaaaaand back to ranting about other stuff.

Anyone remember all that hullabaloo surrounding Egypt? Yeah, I don’t either. But LIBYA. That’s a story that’s got some pizzazz to it. Some crazy dictator waging war with hired mercenaries against his own people in a desperate attempt to maintain some shred of control over a revolting population?

I say we drop Arnold Schwarzenegger in the midst of it with a couple of chain guns and a camera crew and use the proceeds from the forthcoming movie to pay off our debt to China. Hasta la vista, Gaddafi.

But this tumult has gone a long way towards increasing the cost of oil, which is just super considering we are in the early stages of what is at best a tenuous economic recovery. Hopefully this aberration in fuel costs won’t last, but it has some economists worried about the inevitable negative effect on American consumers.

Treasury secretary Tim Geithner and his posse have proposed three strategies for winding down Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the gargantuan governmentally sponsored version of Terri Schiavo if she was a mortgage securitization giant. I can’t say I blame them, as our banking system exploited the poor GSEs to near-death. The downside of this is that regardless of the choice they make, higher loan costs and larger down payments are unavoidable. So, if you’d like to get yourself into a home before rates AND loan costs go up, I would suggest you get the ol’ lead out.

Housing data lately has been like dating a drama queen. Terrific highs followed by terrific lows with no real semblance of logic connecting them. This is why I don’t beat you over the head with every positive headline that comes out. That would be one-sided and disingenuous of me to do so. It is the nature of a badly battered market in recovery. Aggregately speaking, home values are leveling out and rates are beginning to move upwards. You wanna talk about the nitty-gritty details? Give me a call and let’s schedule coffee. Chances are that it’s been too long since we’ve hung out anyway.

And seriously, go buy tickets to the Wekiva Paint Out. For every ticket you buy, an orphan gets an iPad and a puppy. Don’t ask how. Just go do it. For the orphans. And the environment.