September 2008
"I've Fallen And I Can't Get Up!"
I wonder if that lady actress is dead.
Anterograde amnesia, a disease I have due to several treatments on that ol’ head cancer of mine isn’t an available choice for updating my MedicAlert subscription. And yes, I am a twenty-five year old with a MedicAlert subscription and matching bracelet. (I’m required to have it for insurance purposes.)
But like, WTF? It seems like a lot...
A Call To The Bullpen:
My dearest Tumblr followers:
I need help choosing a new LCD HDTV for my new place in the DC area. Right now I have a 32-inch Polaroid 1080p set that I’m leaving behind to help sweeten the deal on selling our house so I can actually, uh, move. I don’t really need anything that big for my new place, so what kind should I get. Let’s not get into budget specifics or brand...
Today is AWESOME.
DJIA is plunging by over 700 points. I totally forgot Hoover was still president.
My cable internet is broken and they won’t come fix it until Thursday. Not this Thursday, but the next Thursday, October 9th. So I’m tethering up to my BlackBerry.
House hunting over the internet (powered by BlackBerry, invented by John McCain) is slow, and not fun. Also, houses in DC are...
Officially Official
I’m moving to DC this winter.
One of the jobs I wanted came through and the only real contingent is selling my house, which, in this housing market, is practically impossible. But my realtor thinks its going to happen. So I hope to be in DC by winter, ready for full-on coat and scarves season.
It still hasn’t really sunken in yet.
Plus I know like…three people in DC. So my...
Au revoir, cable internet...
I’m the fuck fed up. Tomorrow I’m officially beginning my hunt for DSL. Wish me luck.
It’s going to be a bummer going from 16Mbps to 6Mbps. Oh well.
My head hurts, in a non-migraine way. Time to pop some Klonopin and Flexeril and Ambien and wine and then sleep.
Just got a new phone line for my studio. Prank call me: 202-657-4220. I promise I won’t answer.
Muzak!
I’m currently on hold, and have been for the past 42 minutes, trying to reach a CSR at my cable company to see WTF is up with my internet connection. Good thing its still the weekends and also…well…it’s not nighttime yet, but hey, its the weekend, so free minutes yay. My connection keeps dying when it’s supposed to be a blazing fast 16Mbps. I mean, I pay like $60 a...
Ugh, University.
UNO is so fucked right now. Not the students or the faculty, whom I find to be very nice and top-notch. But the administration is worse than dealing with any branch of government I’ve had to deal with. After hours of digging through paperwork, I found out I STILL FUCKING OWE THEM SIX MOTHERFUCKING THOUSAND DOLLARS.
At least one of my advisors (whom I won’t mention because of his...
Help, please.
Does anyone know of a good voicemail (or VoIP) service to use? I need one (a phone number) to answer calls for my freelance work and I don’t want my mobile phone number floating out there in the ether. Doesn’t matter if its free or paid. Any help would be appreciated SO SO SO SO much. You can shoot me an email at defeatism at me dot com if you have any ideas.
Thanks Tumblr...
postscript, but important...
I know EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOU is tired of me changing my phone number, but that stalker dude found my new one and I got a new one through my compatriots at the Department of Homeland Security.
It’s on my Facebook page if we’re friendsters, or just email me and ask for it.
Thanks, Brian
Charter Cable, je ne t'aime pas
My cable internet connection keeps dropping and my tv signal (including HD) keeps fucking up. On two hour-long calls I was “put on hold” = hung up on. If this was a peak time for mobile phone usage, I’d go Columbine on their office. Anyway, exploring new options for TV/internet and, OMG, a landline phone from AT&T (or is it now at&t?)
I finally convinced my super-uber...
It's Worth Noting
That I passed the fuck out somewhere after my last tumblr post and 10:00am this morning. NO IDEA WHY. And NO IDEA WHERE. I hate those situations.
11 tags
We Are Terrorists (a French band, doye) →
My new favourite French band. PERIOD. I don’t see them ever playing a show in the United States, even though they should totally play an annual showcase down at The World Financial Center Plaza in Lower Manhattan. Like, around l’onzième de septembre. I can only imagine how the questioning at Customs and Border Protection (run by super-effective Department of Homeland Security)...
New York City, For The Weekend
That’s where I was, attending the funeral of the friend of the family. I just got back home from the airport and I’m like, fuck, I should’ve made a week out of this. Oh well.
I’m going to the store to not buy groceries but to purchase alcohol. And that’s what I’m doing for the rest of the day. That and napping.
Photojournalismism
Whenever there’s bad financial news, you always see a picture of sad Asians in front of a stockboard, and on a good day, jubilant white people. How come there’s never any real-life, non-staged scenarios, like a crowd of latino investment bankers with a piñata?
In the boardrooms of my mind, there is a fiesta like this every day.
In honour of the complete failure of American...
high... school
modthrash:
i kinda miss getting stoned every day listening to built to spill.
seconded, although if we’re going with bands from idaho, i’m going with The Pinehurst Kids, hands down.
Resolutions
Got my paperwork fixed so I’m just delayed by 30 days instead of 90 days. Thank you maverick dude in payroll who likes to show The Man - the Gov’t Man - who’s the boss.
I mean, a morning spent going through old pictures and journals has still committed me to getting completely trashed with my favourite bottle of scotch and vinyl records tonight, but this news kind of saves the...
:(
skeetonmischa:
Sirius boombox broke an hour ago.
Apparently, they canceled me.
They did this to me too once. Apparently I forgot to update my address and it was the biggest fucking deal EVER. I’m like, CHILL OUT DUDES I want my French-Canadian indie rock back. NOW.
This Subject Loves You
Been spending the morning in the basement of my life. Not the greatest feeling. Apparently, at one point, I was a fairly decent photographer. Now all I have to show for it are a few expensive cameras, a few boxes of film and paper about to expire and tons of photo books I’ve made.
Like I said, back in the basement of my life.
BBC America Totally Nails My Niche Television...
Cocaine Diaries: Alex James in Colombia
I’ve always wanted to see the bassist from Blur take me on a tour of Colombia and talk about cocaine for 60 minutes. It’s like my teenage years and early twenties collided and this is what my depressing mid-twenties are like. Watching. This.
To Whomever Signed Me Up For A French Personals...
drned:
defeatism:
Thanks for the thought, Mom, but no. Please give me the password so I can turn off the daily emails of beautiful, single French women ages 21-25. I know your game too well.
you have to be joking, right?
where can i sign up?
meetic.orange.fr is where I’m getting the emails from. Sadly, Yelle is not on the site and is not one of my matches. But you know, I never...
To Whomever Signed Me Up For A French Personals...
Thanks for the thought, Mom, but no. Please give me the password so I can turn off the daily emails of beautiful, single French women ages 21-25. I know your game too well.
I'm Wide Awake It's Morning (In A Few Hours)
I’ve been having weird dreams lately.
I can’t put the whole dream together, but at some point last night, I was faced with a choice of what colour to dye my hair - black or blonde. And I was in a grocery store, in black in white, and I was rationalising each choice for a good 15 minutes.
Probably the medicine. It really keeps weird hours and it drives me into nutsville that I...
Sometimes 2006 comes right back around and bites...
I Slept All Day, Because Chemotherapy Keeps Weird...
Was that alliteration? I obviously wasn’t an English major.
I’m in my kitchen, reading the Times, eating solid food (yay!), and listening to/singing along with some Bright-fucking-Eyes. That kind of shit can’t ruin your mood unless someone just broke your heart with a bowl of oranges.
When you miss eight hours of the internet, it takes 30 pages of Tumblr updates to get caught...
TMI: What I Wake Up To In The Morning
Cantata No. 214, “Tönet, ihr Pauken! Erchallet, Trompeten!” Composed by Johann Sebastian Bach
Seriously, my alarm clock plays this. You’d think I had some strange story about how I lived in Leipzig for a year with this nice German girl and as all transatlantic relationships do when your country invades another, she breaks it off but in a really polite and on-time...
The Great Bummer
drned:
i mean, if we do go into another Great Depression (awesome band name that no-ones taken i might add) then whats gonna happen? we’re gonna have Miley Cyrus singing “Hang Out The Stars In Indiana” or some shit? John Mayer’s gonna be the new Woody Guthrie? shiiiiiit.
cmon people. as a counterculture we’re not too shabby. we have Joanna Newsom and at least two of The Strokes and all that. we...
“Way Back When” by Buck 65
Canadian...
[“Refused Are Fucking Dead” by...
Ça Plane Pour Moi, Mais...
My 14-inch iBook G4 just died, leaving me with only my MacBook, which I just paid $500 in repairs for. The computers I need cost about $2000 $4000 with my educational discount. And then there’s the whole not getting paid until January thing. Sorry for being Mister Complain O’Lot, but here’s some things I’m going to try:
Completely deplete my savings, even living on the...
I’ll Be Seeing You as recorded by Françoise...
New Apples, Living Off Savings Until January
Despite the drama with Apple saying cancer unremission is no big deal (ask Steve Jobs how he feels about that particular topic), I’m looking at trying to get a new MacBook and an iMac…somehow. I’m loyal like that, to a terrible fault.
iMac 20-inch: 2.4GHz 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo 1GB memory 250GB hard drive 8x double-layer SuperDrive ATI Radeon HD 2400 XT with 128MB memory...
Good news!
noraleah:
I owe the IRS $4,480.78.
You may send congratulations, and donations, to nora(at)shermanhome.com.
You’re having a good of a day as I am. The Feds are holding three months of pay from me. I’m going to be super poor until January. I feel your pain, totally.
For Sale: Canon PowerShot SD600 Digital ELPH... →
It’s really a good camera. And I will do PayPal for non-New Orleanians, as well as include some surprise gifts if I have to ship it. It’s what the majority of my Flickr photos were taken with from early 2007 to early 2008.
Email me at defeatism [at] me.com with a subject mentioning the camera. Price negotiable.
The Trifecta of Being Fucked
The U.S. Government department that ordered me to evacuate New Orleans during Hurricane Gustav promised to repay me for all expenses - it’s in my employment contract. In fact, in the contract, I’m supposed to get reimbursed the next pay period, on the next pay check following my return to duty.
Then, they changed their mind and decided that I won’t be paid for TWELVE WEEKS -...
New Video on Vimeo About Guess What...Flooding!
When I take personal days from work and its a major news day, this is what happens. I like playing with my new toys. I hope you like watching the videos and looking at the pictures, especially those of you in New Orleans or New Orleanians in exile.
Street Flooding from defeatism on Vimeo.
The link to my Vimeo page has a few videos from today. I will try to get some from tomorrow, from...
I added more storm surge flooding photos. →
I waded out in the 3-4 foot deep water and took photos of cars trying to drive through the mess and interviewed strangers affected by the rising water. The 75 foot levee break in Slidell still isn’t fixed and several boating canals in my neighbourhood are about to overflow and flood the streets and creep up to the houses.
This is going to be a fun night here, and in Houston too.
So, What Do We Do?
From WDSU and the Department of Homeland Security:
The City of New Orleans reports that there is significant flooding of the levee system and Lake Pontchartrain is still rising; Highway 90 is completely impassable into and out of New Orleans. Water is also coming through the seawall at the lake.
The levee along Lake Pontchartrain at Highway 11 on the Northshore south of Slidell has been topped...
Customer: "I Have A Brain Tumor" Apple Rep: "Not... →
The person described as not working for Apple was me.
Full Disclosure:
I sent this to a friend so he could see how absurd Apple’s customer service is/has become and it ended up at the Consumerist and made into a story, so I did not solict the Consumerist’s help in this matter. I want to clear that up. Also, I did not read any of the comments, especially since I was warned not to,...
To-Do List For Today, Some Items Accomplished
Mail off credit card payment
Email printers about fucked up/missing business cards
Photo and video blog the flooding disaster (it’s like the EL NINO of 1997-98)
Fix BlackBerry email
Follow up with PayPal about the people who almost scammed me yesterday
Catch up on my Tumblrs and Twitters and email and Facebook
Clear up some stuff with Bank of America
Call IRS and see if they...
Hurricane Ike Flooding the Northshore of Lake...
My Flickr photo set from this morning:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/gossiprag/sets/72157607251318995/
This is what the storm surge from Hurricane Ike is doing to the area in where my house is, on the northshore of Lake Pontchartrain, on the north side of New Orleans. The coastal flooding is supposed is increase until this evening or until late tonight; high tide is around 10 or 11 p.m. ...