What were the chances that John Maynard Keynes & Susan Lynn Orman would share a birthday? Is there something about June 5th that is telling of people being smart about money? Do Geminis think a great deal about finances?
Suze Orman is a famous financial advisor, author, motivational speaker, TV host, & the anti-Stephen. I have a feeling that she just wouldn’t be that fun to shop with. What, with all that saving money philosophy.
Ormanis the host of The Suze Orman Show on CNBC. She has written 7 consecutive NY Times Best Sellers; has written, co-produced, & hosted 6 PBS specials, & is the most successful fundraiser in the history of public TV.
In 2004 & 2006, Orman won 2 daytime Emmy Awards for her PBS specials. Over her television career, she has won 6 Gracie Allen Awards (rewarding the achievements of women in radio & television), more than anyone in the 34-year history of the awards.
In July 2009 Forbes named Orman 18th on their list of The Most Influential Women In Media. She was selected by Time magazine as one of the TIME 100: The World's Most Influential People. In 2009 she was honored by Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation with the Vito Russo Media Award. In April 2008 Orman was presented with the Amelia Earhart Award for her message of financial empowerment for women. She is regularly spoofed on Saturday Night Live, the biggest compliment possible.
In 2007, Suze Orman revealed to the NY Times, that she is a lesbian & had been with her partner, Kathy Travis, for 7 years. During the interview, she was asked if she is married. Orman:"K.T. is my life partner. K.T. stands for Kathy Travis. We're going on 7 years. I have never been with a man in my whole life. I'm still a 55-year-old virgin. Both of us have millions of dollars in our name; it’s killing me that upon my death, K.T. is going to lose 50 percent of everything I have to estate taxes. Or vice versa."
Orman has a net worth of approximately $25 million (with $7 million more in real estate), she didn't start out wealthy. Orman grew up in Chicago 's South Side & worked part-time at her father's take-out store. After completing her B.A. in social work, she moved to Berkeley, Calif., & worked at the Buttercup Bakery for 7 years. Orman started working as an account executive at Merrill Lynch, where she remained for 3 years before becoming vice president of investments at Prudential Bache Securities. In 1987, Orman had founded her own business- the Suze Orman Financial Group.
To me, it is interesting is that since her announcement that she was gay, there has been little focus on Orman's sexual orientation. The focus is on why it makes good financial sense to get married, & her inability to do so because she is in a same-sex relationship. Suzy is looking good as she turns 61 today.
I admire the way dead celebrities continue to make more money than ever. Elvis Presley was one of the highest paid entertainers of 2010, & he has been gone for 24 years, yet he made $60 million last year.
Andy Warhol knew that he would one day be the stuff of legend. Warhol: “Don’t pay any attention to what they write about you. Just measure it in inches.”
Last week, another dead celebrity was the toast of NYC. At Phillips de Pury & Company, Elizabeth Taylor stole the show. The 1963 painting, one of 13 made of Elizabeth Taylor in various colors, was titled-Liz #5 (Early Colored Liz), & it sold to the bidder for $24 million, or $26.9 million including Phillips fees.
The price was not far off the $23.5 million that the actor Hugh Grant got for his turquoise Liz at Christie’s in 2007.
Managing Partner (Zuma Chambers) Pretoria, South Africa
Email: davidzuma@ananzi.co.za
NOTIFICATION OF BEQUEST:
On behalf of the Trustees and Executor of the estate of Late Mr. Brian York, I once again try to notify you as my earlier letter was returned undelivered. I hereby attempt to reach you again by this same email address on the WILL. I wish to notify you that late Mr. Brian York made you a beneficiary to his WILL. He left the sum of Five Million One Hundred Thousand Dollars (USD$5,100.000.00) to you in the codicil and last testament to his will. Please if I reach you as I am hopeful, Endeavour to get back to me as soon as possible to enable me conclude my job. I hope to hear from you in no distant date.
& I was worried about how to pay the electric bill... I received the above Email this morning. I am so excited! I think I will give notice at my job & stop by on the way home to buy that 2010 Passat convertible that I have been having Auto Erotica dreams about. I can pay off my mortgage, hell... I can pay off my friends' mortgages. The Husband & I can travel to the cities of my blogger buddies, & I can take them out for cocktails! I will donate a new wing, just for terriers, at the Portland Humane Society. I need to take the Husband cloths shopping, & not at The Gap, we are headed to Barney's. I can run for mayor of Portland, & buy my way into office! I just have to come up with the $5000 fee, & my bank account information that Mr. Zuma needs to wire the $5,100,000 to my account. Drinks are on me!
I don't recall who Mr. Brian York was, God rest his soul. I think that I may of had sex with him in the mid-1970s. I seem to remember a guy with a South African accent that I met at Studio One in West Hollywood in the summer of 1976. He held this little brown bottle under my nose while we were dancing.. It made me feel all sexy. I mentioned that I hated the apartheid thing, but that I admired his pecs & he suggested we get ourselves to his room at the Chateau Marmont. Apparently it was memorable, momentous, & mind blowing. I always suspected that I had "special" talents, & now they have finally paid off. It seems it does pay to be a slut.
"They say it is better to be poor & happy than to be rich & miserable, but how about a compromise like moderately rich & just moody?" Princess Diana
The Husband & I are living under the "new austerity program" & before you sense that there is even one moment of self pity, I can honestly claim that we truly count our blessings. We have a roof over our head (& we own that roof), which is a better situation than most people on this little blue orb that we call home. We have a jar full of pennies & change, unlike 80% of the world's population, & we can find a way to have a couple of meals everyday (although ramon may become a mainstay of our diet). The Husband & I are getting by on profoundly less income than we did 2 years ago, & yet we are thankful that we have jobs. It has been on my mind these days. I try not to worry about it, but I am a worrier. I can meet the challenge of being creative when I don't have very much, but I like it better when I am flush.
A long time ago, in a land far away, I was, briefly, very much in the money, at least for someone of my humble station in life. In 1991-92, I had a national commercial, an international commercial & a national voice-over all in rotation at once. I was the voice of the little red truck for the animated Chevron with Thechron campaign (in fact, I was an action figure too, as they gave away toys of the characters from these commercials). For a period of about 18 months I would get residual checks for significant money. I am too urbane & sophisticated to give numbers, but the Husband & I bought whatever clothing, books, & CDs that we wanted & we went to Italy for 2+ weeks. In Italy we ate what we wanted, stayed where we wished & in general did not censor ourselves with any "can we really afford it?" notions. We also took good care of our friends; we always do. We saved nothing. Then... gradually the checks slowed to a trickle & eventually stopped. I missed them, the Husband missed them, our friends missed them & my agent was sad. Show biz. I have a residual check on my fridge from Murder She Wrote for 27 cents... it took 42 cents to send.
My $ playlist: Money's Too Tight (To Mention)- Simply Red Money Changes Everything- Cyndi Lauper If You've Got The Money, I've Got The Time- Willie Nelson For The Love Of Money- The O'Jays She Works Hard For The Money- Donna Summer The Man Who Sold The World- David Bowie Diamonds Are A Girls Best Friend- Carol Channing Material Girl- Maddona Rich Girl- Hall & Oates Brother, Can You Spare A Dime- George Michael
