Read this disclaimer first!!
Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2002 - 4:19 p.m.
I linked to an article on Amazon wish lists 3 TIMES NOW!

I have good friends. Crystal attempted to defend me at Robyn's. That was very sweet. Robyn responded.

It seems as though I am not the only one who might misinterpret another's opinion. This is what she said to Crystal:

I'm sorry -- but as a woman, every possible logical argument you could make goes out the window as far as I'm concerned when you see the phrases "maybe" and "prostitution and whoring" all in the same breath and linked, even loosely, to you and your friends names.

Does this mean that "as a woman" she doesn't have to listen to anyone? Or that "as a woman" nothing I or Crystal says could possibly make any sense? Just to be clear, I believe that she was referring to this paragraph from last Thursday:

Is this another form of prostitution? Maybe. Is it any worse than what many celebrities are doing? Or what we are doing every day whoring ourselves for cash at jobs we don't like? This is going in a direction I don't want to travel right now.

I was referring to the ones I mentioned in the previous paragraph, namely:

There are a lot of bloggers who have Amazon wish lists, and the ones who get anything interesting are about 99% female and under 24. Karyn Bosnak is an anomaly because of her age and the amount that she has raked. I am not including the pornographic cam whores either. That is probably its own economy by now.

I wasn't referring to women in general. I was referring to people with gimme lists, but more importantly, the general population.

Clearly Robyn is beyond listening to anyone that doesn't kiss her ass. Well, that's fine. If that is the case, then I am beyond listening, too. And that's a shame, really, but I don't want to get into a situation or anything, so maybe it's best to call it here.

In other news, it appears as though I am going on a little adventure for a few days. I might not be back until it's over. If I don't return, go here instead.

0 scrawls at the end of this hall

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Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2002 - 10:00 a.m.
Flame On

Hey, I'm being publicly flamed by a well-known Florida blogger called Robyn. Hopefully she'll put up the entry that pissed her off, rather than a link to the latest in this journal/blog/whateveryouwanttocallit. I'll have to email her. She seems pretty pissed off, although I am not sure why. It's just little old me. I didn't think the name-calling was necessary, but that's Robyn, I guess. I have been known to sling the shit myself. Here's her email to me:

From: Robyn and Todd Pollman [mailto:[email protected]]

Sent: November 15, 2002 7:19 PM

To: [email protected]

Subject: I have a comment or five

For the record...learn to read...

Statia isn't getting a first-class ticket. We want to raise the price of a

first-class ticket for charity. Her round-trip ticket from Philadelphia to

Tampa was purchased last Sunday on TravelersAdvantage.com for $359. To

date, we have raised an additional $960.10. (In case math is hard for you,

that's $100 shy of three times the ticket price to charity as of this very

moment.)

Here are some URLs you might want to check out before spouting off in the

future since your crack-journalistic skills seem to be a bit lacking:

The official donations page:

http://www.tobynopoly.com/statia_campaign.html

When the ticket was purchased:

http://www.tampatantrum.com/archives/002354.html

A personalized reply to you today (note comments, too):

http://www.tampatantrum.com/archives/002407.html

And a couple of general notes to whiny asses like you, that would rather sit

around bitching and moaning about how things have become rather getting off

their asses and raising money for charities themselves. You see, I was

raised that if you ask people for something, you'd damn well better give

something back when they show their generousity:

http://www.tampatantrum.com/archives/002374.html

http://www.tampatantrum.com/archives/002389.html

Have a nice weekend. I will sleep quite well knowing not only did I help a

friend, but countless people, by not folding when we hit our original plane

ticket goal (and might I add THAT cost was donated by FRIENDS before the

link got passed around to FARK, Metafilter, and beyond -- not the 'net in

general). I kept going and did something even better than I'd originally

intended by allowing it to stay public and keep the donations open for 10

full days. Just what exactly have YOU done with YOUR blog lately? Oh yeah,

that's right. Whine. Carry on now...you do it so well.

-Robyn

tampatantrum.com

Hope you got through my lack of formatting. Last week I came across the Boobies to Florida campaign organized by Robyn. I made a couple of comments about that. I emailed Statia, the owner of those boobies, as well. It was just a banal cool-website-nice-tits kind of email.

Turns out that I was off when I said that she was getting a first-class ticket to Florida, I was very wrong there. It was a coach ticket. My bad. But the excess is being given to charity. I got that right. The Susan B. Komen Foundation, to be exact. What confused me is the graphic at the beginning of the campaign page, clearly implying a goal of $1500 for a first-class ticket.

Also, had I remembered this entry, I may have been more accurate and circumspect in my entry. It was a pretty lazy entry, I do admit, and I didn't do the required research. But then again, if I wanted to do research, I would be back in university.

Robyn explains the difference between Karyn Bosnak's campaign and the boobie campaign. I did read this, too last week, but had forgotten the message there and was too lazy to go back and read. My bad, again. Thursday wasn't a great day.

I should point out that I am not writing anything here to save whales, Karyns, boobies or friendships. I am doing this for kicks. I post opinions here sometimes, I find information and comment on it, but this isn't a news agency. This is just me, shooting the shit on various topics, usually from my own life. This space is not designed to change the world. This space is for me.

Robyn asked me what my blog has done lately. It has done plenty for me. I enjoy writing. As for the world, or any identifiable groups, nothing, as far as I know. I am not going around telling everyone how great I am. What has my blog done lately? Does that mean that I have to dedicate this space to a cause that people can donate to? Do I have to be an activist or something? On the other hand, good work needs to be done, and the breast campaign seems to have done some good, although I don't think that was Robyn's intent.

Last Thursday, I never attacked Robyn for having her campaign. I just questioned why anyone should care if Statia spends the holidays alone. I made a comparison between Amazon wish lists and this campaign. I still think that both are comparable because even if Statia is in this situation due to things beyond her control, going to Florida and partying it up, sorry, spending time with loved ones that happen to be in Florida, probably isn't a life-or-death, mission-critical thing that needs to be done. Breast-cancer research needs to be done. I think it could be argued that Robyn used breasts to finance Statia's trip and exploited a bunch of suckers. The breast cancer donation was a bonus whose side benefit was to divert attention from the bilking of money from suckers. Don't get me wrong, though: a fool and his money are soon parted, as the expression goes, and this is no exception. I'd rather donate to, well, a cancer research fund rather than a trip fund that has a cancer research angle. People are wary of giving to some charities because of the fear that people will skim off the top. People do not want to be taken for a ride. The difference between the later campaign and the corrupt charity is that Robyn was honest about it. "Yes, we are taking some of this money so that Statia can party it up. That happens first, then we can start focusing on cancer research." More power to them, but I'm not playing. Robyn herself said that I could focus energies elsewhere, anyway. I'm glad I have her permission.

I have this to say for Robyn, though. It is obvious that she loves her friend. It's great that Statia has someone that will go to extraordinary lengths to make sure that she is happy and gets what she deserves. I hope we all have friends as dedicated as Robyn is. Robyn made a difference in one life, and possibly (although accidentally) in many others, so good for her. To summarize:

  • I'm sorry I posted inaccurate information.
  • I'm sorry I neglected to reread and recall what I did learn.
  • I'm sorry about whatever Statia went through this year, or whenever this happened. I am certain that a divorce would fucking kill me, even if I remain friends with the bitch who ruined my life my ex-wife. That last bit was a joke.
  • I am sorry that I offended anyone, particularly Robyn, Todd and Statia. Really, I am. I could have done a much better job on Thursday.
  • I'm not sorry in thinking that the campaign and similar campaigns are sketchy and comparable to the gimme sites that are so popular right now.
  • It's just an opinion. I will continue to whine, pontificate or do good works as I see fit.
  • Statia owned two cars, and leased two others in the past 4 years, I believe.

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