Famous in a Small Town — Miranda Lambert
They say life is so much sweeter
through the telephoto lens of fame
I wanted to remain anonymous. If it were not for the book, I would still be hiding in the shadows. When I first started writing for the IHB, I had a great deal of pent-up energy for getting the word out about the Great Housing Bubble. I wanted people to know how prices got to where they were and why prices were going to fall. It saddened me to see people lose everything to the market (it still does), and I wanted to save as many people as I could. As the IHB grew from around 500 visitors a day to 3000 visitors a day, I knew my words were having an impact on people’s lives, and I found that very satisfying (I still do). By staying anonymous, and writing to help people without regard to fame or fortune, I was seeking a purity of purpose that would keep my writing honest, truthful and free from bias. I hope that I can maintain that purity now that my identity is no longer a secret.
Like most of you, I have met a few famous people, but there is one experience that sticks out in my mind when I think about how fame impacts people. I used to work in the golf course development industry, and I was the project manager on a golf course being designed by Greg Norman. One day, he made a site visit, and I got to spend about 6 hours with him. What is fascinating about spending more than a few moments with someone very famous is that you get the opportunity to observe everyone else around him. Famous people are treated differently than the rest of us. People give them special attention and admiration. People want to be near them and feel like they are part of the aura of fame that surrounds them. As an observer of fame and part of the entourage, I saw how the experience impacted me and the others present, but I had no idea how it felt to be famous. It was something outside of my experience. Wednesday, I had my 15 minutes of fame, and I got a taste of what celebrity feels like.
I made the front page of the Turnertown Gazette
My day started with appearing on the front page of the OC Register. I knew a story was coming out, but I had no idea I would be featured on the front page. My wife called me early in the morning and told me that my son’s teacher was jumping up and down and exclaiming, “Your husband is on the front page of the newspaper!” My day of fame had begun. Later that morning at work, I got a call from KPCC public radio asking me to do an interview. I think it went pretty well (MP3 link).
At 6:30 that night, we had our IHB gathering and book signing party. It was a tremendous success. I signed books for 2 1/2 hours before I had a moment to take a break. It was thrilling. The greatest satisfaction I get from writing for the IHB is the many “thank yous” from the readers. I got to meet face-to-face nearly 100 people who all came to express their gratitude for the work I do. I had a satisfaction overdose.
What I found particularly interesting was meeting the many lurkers who came out. I know by the statistics that this blog has many readers, but the number of posters represents maybe 5% of the readership. There is a silent majority: that large group of people who are touched by the blog that I never see. It was wonderful to meet so many of them. It opened me to a whole world of readers with whom I had previously only had a one-way relationship.
I want to thank all of you who came out that night. It was the pinnacle of fame. I knew at that moment what celebrities feel like when everyone around them treats them like someone special. It was an amazing experience.
Hey words gonna get around
Everybody dies famous in a small town
I know I am not famous, and I really have no desire to be famous. I am a small fish in a small pond in the grand scheme of things, but I wanted to share with you what it was like for me to have my 15 minutes of fame. Wednesday, November 12, 2008 is a day I will remember for the rest of my life.
I exceeded my quota of “thank yous” on Wednesday, so please don’t thank me more in the comments on this thread.
If any of you want to share your stories of fame, I would enjoy reading them. If any more lurkers want to come out of the shadows, introduce yourself and tell us how you found the blog and how long you have been reading. Also, anyone wanting to share their experiences of the IHB party, I would like to know what was happening in the rest of the room. I was too busy to pay much attention. It looked as if a good time was had by all.
** Update **
I am getting my 16th minute of fame. I am to be interviewed by Johnny Wendell KTLK 1150 AM – Sat 11/15 5:30pm. Here is the link to the streaming radio on the internet.
{book}
They say life is so much sweeter
through the telephoto lens of fame
around here you get just as much attention
cheerin’ at the high school football game
I dreamed of going to Nashville
Put my money down and placed my bet
But I just got the first buck of the season
I made the front page of the Turnertown Gazette
Every last one, route one, rural hearts got a story to tell
Every grandma, in law, ex girlfriend
Maybe knows it just a little too well
Whether you’re late for church or you’re stuck in jail
Hey words gonna get around
Everybody dies famous in a small town
Famous in a Small Town — Miranda Lambert
Unfortunately I was not able to attend your book signing. My awesome husband, however, picked up a copy of your book on Wednesday.
I read your posts daily, and tell everyone I know about this site. You reinforce the exactly what my husband has been saying for at least 5 years now. Perhaps I should listen to him more. 🙂
Thank you is not enough for someone who helped save us from financial ruin. Thank you is also not enough for ammunition to respond to those who don’t understand why we rent. Can’t wait to read your book.
I have been reading your blog for about 2 years now consistently every day, day in day out!! I have copied and pasted your blogs so i can keep a record. (hope you dont mind)
its amazing how much you have achieved in such a short period of time, but i hope you continue to keep these posts coming as it is an important part of my day to catch up on what you profile on your blog.
only time will tell when we are done with the horror stories but I cant wait for you to start posting about properties worth buying because I want to own a home in Irvine in the near future.
I will leave you with this quote
“The talent of success is nothing more than doing what you can do well, and doing well whatever you do without the thought of fame. If it comes at all it will come because it is deserved, not because it is sought after.”
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow quotes (the most popular American Poet in the 19th century, 1807-1882)
Job well done, IR! And by all other IH bloggers, too, who stand a bit in the shadows, but also do their part to make this site so exceptional.
Thx to you all!
“Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.”
Winston Churchill
I found the blog roughly about six months ago and have been an avid reader ever since. I know that you don’t want any messages of thank, but you have prevented me from buying and taught me principles about real estate and the bubble that no Realtor or mortgage broker have ever bothered with. I sincerely appreciate what you do, and still want to take you to lunch sometime.
Email me. I will probably take you up on your invite.
Unfortunately I couldn’t make it to your signing, due to illness.
Glad to hear it went so well!
I know the feeling of getting on the cover of the OC Register. We had just moved back to OC in 1987 after a hiatus in eastern Idaho. After a new job turned sour we decided to move back where jobs we to be found. I remember the photographer taking our photo while standing in the doorway of our leased home then.
But I didn’t expect to be in a cover story on a Friday morning paper. Being near Yellowstone and Sun Valley is great, if you have a job.
Your fame is well deserved IR.
Hey, I just saw feed from the fires.
You guys ok?
Irvine near any fires.
Congrats, IR
It is a very clear day in Irvine; however, if you look to the east, you can see the massive, very dark plume of smoke coming from over the hills in Corona. The wind direction is taking this smoke out to see to the north of us. I imagine the air quality in Long Beach is horrendous. The only thing sparing Irvine right now is the direction of the wind.
IR,
I’ve been reading everyday for well over a year now.
My wife is originally from Irvine, but loved me enough to move from paradise to the suburbs of New York city. We were planning on moving to Irvine within a few years, but wanted to get some information about the local market before we did.
I have not only learned out about Irvine from this blog, but also why things are poised to fall here in Westchester County. My intuition told me that prices were too high in NY, and your blog has backed my intuition.
You asked not to be thanked, but educating me enough so that I won’t spend my life’s savings foolishly and by not being lured into a trap, I feel a sincere thank you is warranted.
Keep up the great work.
We should’ve had nametags with screen-names at the signing. I’m sure there were people there I “knew” from comments but didn’t get to meet.
Yes! We should do that next time. That would have made the gathering even more fun, but still it was great to be in a party with so many like minded people.
IR, it was an honor to meet you. I’m glad you know how much we appreciate all that you have done so that honest, hardworking people can once again afford to buy a decent home in Orange County.
It seems to me the most natural progression, is this. That great pool of labor which was devoted to making these loans and giving credit will now find jobs collecting, insofar as possible, whatever they can. What it will work out to, in this day of retinal scans and internet data-bases, is no fresh starts. So many people will look forward to a life of garnished wages, any windfalls snatched away before the check is cashed. It will really play heel with inheritances except for those in the “death-tax” bracket. Or will there just be a mass fogiving of debt, maybe by Presidential fiat.
I expect matrimony to change, too. I wasn’t quite old enough to be in the last Depression, but everyone I knew who was in it said it was quite ennobling.
Oh darn, wrong thread, wrong blog. Sorry.
congratulations on the book. i’ve been following your blog for about a year, i think. never posted a comment before. not sure how i initially found it. i think the first housing blog i ever read was “another f’d borrower” which doesn’t really get updated anymore. other daily reads are mish’s site and calculated risk.
if you’re looking for a topic to cover, i have a suggestion. maybe you’ve already covered it before and i missed it. anyway, the topic/challenge is to find a single example of a true victim in the housing bubble. almost every mainstream media article on the housing bubble will showcase some typical borrower who is in trouble, but the story never completely rings true. there always seems to be some key piece of information missing. mrs. x has owned her home for 17 years and is about to lose it because of and ARM reset (how is this possible, other than the obvious MEW abuse?). mr. y has fallen behind on his payments on the house he overpaid for in 2006 and now his bank refuses to do a workout (could mr. y have afforded that house in the first place with a traditional 30-year fixed mortgage?). Show me a troubled homeowner who deserves a break. So far, I haven’t seen one.
hi IR
I live in Toaks. I’ve a bubble believer since 2005, though I’ve been wondering since 2003 about high home prices , for a guy making above median wages to afford a home.
I’ve sent your blog links to three friends, some cut and paste of the content also. Good thing is they listened and did not buy.
Any way I can get you signature on the book, I keep coming to Irvine, over weekend(mostly Sundays) once a month. I bought the book over at Amazon through the link on your site
I liked your KPCC interview. You spoke very well. Keep up the good work and maybe you’ll get interviewed on a national network.
But, that guy that talked about junk on the internet is just an elitist that doesn’t understand real America and small town values. I can hear it in his voice.
I have followed you from the start. I have shared, agreed and disagreed and have posted so on your blog.
Your points are often even-handed and compelling. Your commenting readers tend also to be interesting.
While I have several real-estate projects underway in the United States, I am now living and building in Phnom Pehn, Cambodia.
Your becomming better known I’m sure is fun, but you may agree, the real pleasure comes from doing things we genuinly enjoy.
Thank you for your good work.
One of the main reasons why I have not bought in Irvine is the high mello roos and HMO’s costs. I really don’t understand why these are so high. In the Bay area our HMO was $75 a month and we had 700 homes. Where does the money go?
Into the pockets of their expesive suits ?
This is one area I would love to see someone dig into and find out where does all the money go?
When I first moved here in 2005 I too notice all the overpriced homes and it did cause me to pause big time and not buy. A few hints at fraud from a homeowner telling me that some real estate agents were bringing in friends to up the bidding on the homes also was a big red flag that something was not right here in the OC.
The commission based pay of mortgage brokers, the deregulation act of 1999 (Phil Gramm bill), the cheap money from the fed all fueled this greed and fraud.
The housing market fed all these people and now where will the jobs go? How will people make money here?
And how can they pay these taxes?
IR… Here’s more data for you…
As I live in Quail Hill, I “listen, and chat”. Yes, home prices are falling, but why are QH (privately-owned) rents also falling? BECAUSE RENTERS ARE AFRAID OF GETTING INTO FORECLOSED PROPERTY. Therefore, “demand is shrinking”. My next research will be to see if IAC rents are also falling (easy to do as turnover is unexpectedly high). More later…
Paul P.
Our IAC lease renewed this month at the same rent as last year.
I’m a graduate student renting in Chicago, and I’ve been lurking for some time. I started reading as part of an effort to educate myself on the economy and the housing crisis. Your blog is very informative and accessible to people like me who have no economics background.
Its the next 15 that are supposed to be the toughest. Good luck.
:snake: i did not make it to ur little party buttwipe, i was too busy taking a dump on the housing and credit markets, I’m also working on a new torture idea for you buttmonkeys in So-Cal, its called surf-water-boarding… :snake:
Thank you is not enough for someone who helped save us from financial ruin. Thank you is also not enough for ammunition to respond to those who don’t understand why we rent. Can’t wait to read your book.
I liked your KPCC interview. You spoke very well. Keep up the good work and maybe you’ll get interviewed on a national network.