Want to be a politician or raise money for a start-up? You need the Web Economy Bullshit Generator.

I got mugged on my way to the first-ever Financial Blogger Conference last week. Fortunately that was not a portent. Can’t remember when I’ve had so much fun.

The robbery occurred in downtown Seattle, as I took the escalator to the light rail tunnel. A trio of young knuckleheads, one of them quite physically imposing, were involved. It took three of them to take down a tired middle-aged woman. Some heroes, huh?

I’ll be writing about this in greater detail for an MSN Money column. Suffice it to say that they got a little over $80 in cash and that by the time I got Citibank on the phone they’d already bought themselves sandwiches.

Suffice it also to say that I hope all three of them get bleeding piles.

Last week I promised to give away a copy of “Saving Savvy: Smart and Easy Ways to Cut Your Spending in Half and Raise Your Standard of Living…and Giving” along with a matching shopping bag. I’m also giving away a second copy of the book, sans bag.

I’d like to get some prizes, too. More on that in a minute.

The random number generator has spoken:

I have never written about Sept. 11. I still don’t know what to say except that I cannot forgive myself for my initial reaction:

You’ve got to love a blogger who can work the phrase “Cartesian dualism” into a post. In this case the blogger is my daughter, Abigail Perry, and the article is about us both. (But mostly her.)

Don’t let the title “Glorifying my mom (who’s glorifying me)” fool you. It’s not an exercise in mutual admiration, although I do admire the hell out of her. The post is about her re-reading “You can’t even tell perfect bodies apart,” a post I wrote about Abby’s near-fatal illness, and then reflecting on who she was then and who she is now.