Alexandra Penney was a wealthy UES sex book author and editor who lost everything in the Bernie Madoff swindle. The only winners: us, because she's now the most delightfully un-self-aware ex-rich blogger evah!

You may recall her first "Bag Lady" installment at the Daily Beast, where she bemoaned the soul-destroying prospect of a new life riding the subway, ironing her own shirts, and perhaps being forced to sell off her Soho studio and/ or the vacation house(s). It was great. And now she's continuing, with more blogging, about the life of a poor!

In the second installment right before Christmas, she wonders how this can happen to someone as self-effacing and generous as herself:

I think about my life, the bad parts of me and the good. About trying to better women's lives with the pink ribbon, about giving money to a friend's daughter to send her through college (no, she never knew it was from me).

Still, it seems that the world just wants to crush her frugal dreams—Domino's hits her with a $20+ bill for two pizzas:

"I thought the ads said 'buy one, get one free...'" I protest. "Only on Tuesdays," the cashier replies with a sympathetic nod. Are the rip-offs ever going to stop in this country?

In her newest entry, out today, Alexandra takes a road trip! Right down to her vacation cottage in Florida, which she may be forced to sell. Along the way, she learns the colorful customs of her fellow poors. Down south, she treats herself to a night in a Hamptons Inn, and goes exploring:

Last night, before checking in, I went to Popeye’s, where giggling 4-year-olds are gulping down Coke from quart-size plastic cups. They eat the mashed potatoes and gravy with gusto. They gorge on biscuits that really are outta this world, but kids need protein and milk. The chicken is a bargain, $3.49 for two good-size pieces—50 cents extra for a drink—but mostly it’s left in the plastic basket. The parents don’t seem to protest.

Then she continues on to Florida where she goes to drink champagne at a fancy Christmas party in Palm Beach. Seriously.

Don't stop writing, Alexandra! [Daily Beast]