Sunday, August 29, 2010

Little Ditty.

You know, the more I write about certain major life experiences, the more my current life experiences seem to resemble them.

As I rewrote Post-Apocalypse for the last time, I experienced three shorts in the electrical wiring at my NYC apartment, leading to three power failures & typing in the dark, plus fire hazards galore. Having seen my car on CNN as St. Andrew St., New Orleans burned two houses back that September ’05, well, I have developed a healthy fear of fire.

Living in a flame-prone neighborhood, I wasn’t only being paranoid in racing back to check on my cat each time I heard sirens screaming toward St. Mary St, back in that day. My building there didn’t catch fire, but William’s did, as I learned from one of the more jarring text messages I’ve ever received: My apartment burnt down. I’m out on the curb with Bonaparte and my laptop.

These are not life experiences you just get over.

The next week into my Post-Apocalypse rewrite, my wall began disintegrating due to a leak upstairs, since fixed. To identify the origin of the leak, the super tore a huge hole in the wall that I had to fight and threaten to get repaired, just like with the hole in my kitchen floor on St. Mary, which was never fixed, only covered.

America has infrastructure issues.

I was in Diamondhead, Mississippi five years ago today, taking free refuge—the only kind I could afford—at a friend's parents' house, with my refuge being not from Katrina, of course, but from a city that would not be offering 911 access to its residents during what could be a true catastrophe.

My friend and I sat outside on two lawn chairs during the eye of the hurricane, among the fallen trees, having already heard via the radio that our city was 80 percent flooded. The catastrophe here was not levee failure, but it was for whoever was left back there.

My friend passed away in 2008, six months after William. After three days in Diamondhead, the only person to pass by and check on us, besides neighbors, was a guy in a cheap rental with rolled down windows and a camera stuck out at us.

My friend was an idealist.

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

And the Spam Saga Continues...

So when last we spoke, I had been the proud recipient of not just any spam, but a spam customized around my paid gig as an editor.

Alas, I am merely one of many editors to be courted by this particular spam sandwich, according to a message broadcast today by an editorial association I'm a member of.

"Dear members,

A scammer using the name Dependra Santha has been attempting to prey on our members and apparently also members of similar organizations in the U.S. and U.K. (and elsewhere for all we know). The scam involves an apparently legitimate offer of editorial work. Those who follow up and accept the 'work' receive a cashier's check for several thousand dollars more than the freelancer's estimate, supposedly in error. They are told to deposit the check and sent the difference from their own account back to Dependra. Needless to say, the original cashier's check turns out to be phony, leaving the freelancer out the money sent to the scammer, to say nothing of bank fees for depositing a bad check.

We urge you to beware of this scam in particular and this sort of cashier's check scam in general."

Dependra, I thought you wanted meeeeeeeeee.
Sigh.

Thursday, August 05, 2010

Spam Done Right -- or Better, at Least

Now, as opposed to the usual offerings, this is some sophisticated spam mail:

Subject Line Says: Editor Needed

My name is Dependra Santha, I will require your service to assist me in proof reading and copyediting the two documents I have attached to this email. I will like to know how much you will charge for both document. Once am sure of the price, I will instruct my associate in the USA to mail out a cashiers check payment to you for the service since I am out the country now a short course in the United Kingdom. The document will be due by the 22th of August as am trying to submit them to an accessor over here. I will be waiting for your reply,
Regards,
Dependra Santha

I am a proofreader/copyeditor type, after all.

Alas, Dependra Santha, my price just shot up to a million big ones. Give me your account number and I'll edit whatever once those funds have transferred.