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Air Force Brat until middle school. Moved to South Bend, where my dad got a teaching job after leaving the service. Began work as a busboy at The Morris Inn, on Notre Dame Campus, in ''97 I graduated high school in 1998. I applied to Seminary, wanted to be a catholic priest. Bishop wasn't comfortable with my psycho-sexual history (I grew up on the internets), so he suggested I study philosophy in college and re-apply after I get my undergrad. Started college at IUSB in Jan '99, having taken a semester off after high school Not long after, I was promoted to the front desk of the hotel, guest services, concierge, that sorta thing. 32 hours a week, decent pay, full internet access during shift, little supervision. Registered on SA in '00, after months of lurking. I was an atheist already by then, I think. Voted for Bush. Graduated IUSB in '05, double-majored in Philosophy and Psychology, minors in History and Cognitive Science. Tens of thousands of dollars in student loans, a few thousand in credit card debt. In '08, was recruited into a hacker team named #marblecake. Helped social engineer the rise of Anonymous, watched the economy collapse, etc. I'd gotten fat, working a job where I stand in place all day, eating the leftover prime rib from dinners we served to dignitaries and academicians. Occupy Wall Street starts, an' I camp out in South Bend with some other politically-minded local folk. Out Indiana way, at that time, folk that show up for Occupy split pretty evenly between Libertarians and Socialists. I focus on encouraging dialog between the two, emphasizing Voluntarism as the common ground between 'em. My views start shifting more socialist. Meet a pretty girl, through Occupy. I give up my apartment and move in to her house. She's got an anxiety disorder that grows over time; it expresses itself as hateful rage. Meanwhile, the hotel is shutting down for renovations, and I've got three options: get re-deployed elsewhere on campus for the 9 months we're closed; find another job for 9 months an' have the university pay my insurances and promise me a job when we re-open; or take a buy-out of 1.5 weeks pay times the number of years worked, signing a non-disclosure and promising not to work for the university for another 2 years. I quit my job. Walk with over 10 grand. My partner and I have plans to take the city by storm - we'd been attending all the events in town, growing to be real socialites, a power couple. She was just graduating from college herself, with plans to find a job that makes ends meet while I focus on pursuing a career helping people start doing social media right (this was when most local businesses still didn't have an FB page). She starts snorting vivance, getting rip roarin' drunk, and insisting that I stay awake so she can keep berating and attacking me. It gets really ugly from there, but I'll spare the details. Suddenly, I'm without money, without a job, got a lot of student debt - and I'm homeless. So I walk away from my debt. They can't do anything about it. I keep going to social events - even as my ex decides to go scortched earth and attempt to destroy me, socially. End up living in the attic of a 60 year old therapist, in the nice part of downtown. His brother in law gives me a camera - sony nex5n, with a couple antique nikkor lenses, 50mm f1.4 and a 135mm f2.8. I start photographing all the events I go to, deliberately attending every public social gathering of any value. I strive to take a photo that I think my subject will find flattering. I post 'em all on facebook, tag everyone in. Release it all creative commons, and start talking about living on a tip jar. I make it even more of a point to meet every person I can. I begin to index the city. I still use Socrates' Elenchus method, but I work out my own routine. What's your passion? What are your aims and ambitions? What projects are you currently working on? What online communities have you belonged to? etc. Quickly become the loudest social media voice in a small city of 100k. I couch surf. Distribute my weight. Open a paypal. Start encouraging people to contribute, if they like my work. My aim, by this point, is /not/ to get rich - I'm no longer a 'temporarily embarassed millionaire.' My aim is to help get the local economy going, to make the city hip in a way that measurably improves economic conditions and helps with a global transition to a sustainable society where social justice is recognized as a central pillar. By this point, I'd wholly abandoned USD as a currency, favoring currencies I manage well, like Trust and Attention. I live as modestly as possible, forgoing luxuries like food that's cooked to order. I figure if I use as few resources as possible, and create as much value as possible, it won't be difficult to survive happy. I sell my car 'round this time. I sleep until rested every day - and still do. Start attending Drum Circle - an oft maligned group, but a social gathering nonetheless. Love it. Take a lot of drugs. June '15, I attend my first rainbow gathering. The philosophy there jives very well with my lifestyle and beliefs. Have a blast. Ate all the mushrooms. Took a lot of great photos. This year, I hitchhiked for the first time in my life. Left South Bend at the end of June, with no money, a pack on my back, a thumb and a sign. Made it to Vermont for the Rainbow Nationals. From there, I caught a ride to Manhattan, where I spent 3 or 4 days. Spanged up enough USD for a bus to Cleveland, where I camped in Kirtland Park for the RNC (got a shot of my ugly mug, sleepin' on my hammock, printed by the Old Grey Lady). Caught a ride with a caravan to Philly, where I camped at FDR park for the DNC (on the final night, I had a confederate steal a paddleboat from the middle of the lake, and we took it out, naked, whereupon we had police helicopters hovering over s,shining their searchlight on our junk). Then I caught a train and a bus back to South Bend, early august. Lost my foodstamps today - noncompliance. I never was good at bureaucracy, an' anyway I don't have a mobile device or an address, so giving them proof I'm 'looking for work' just didn't happen. Also just published all my photos from my recent hitchhiking adventure, and - since there were naked humans in some of my pictures - just got a 7 day ban from Facebook. I'm broke, no cigarettes, no cannabis - and now my main way of busking and /only/ means of communication is unavailable to me for the next week. I'll be just fine  Wanna see my pictures? What's your passion? Uglycat fucked around with this message at 11:09 on Aug 31, 2016 |
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Aug 31, 2016 09:56
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Scudworth posted:Are you friends with the other hitchhiker Rainbow Fam guy from ask/tell? I'm not! I should like to be, sounds like I could learn a bit from 'im. I'm 35, an' this summer was my first such adventure.
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Sep 1, 2016 09:01
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photomikey posted:For more fun, add in confusion about why you got kicked off foodstamps because you couldn't "prove" you were looking for work, when you were actually busy... not looking for work. I was busy /working/. Not for money, but to produce what I want to produce. Mike Pence and the Indiana House Republicans set up the rules a couple years back, as part of their 'war on the poor.' You're a Pence man, are ya? Imaduck posted:Who knew that being a purposely jobless, homeless beggar that's I know, right!? I highly recommend it, but it's probably not for you. It's important /not to be a dick/. edit: I mean, like /super/ important. You, for example, would likely get murdered. Me, I'm a pacifist. I've thrown my last punch. Uglycat fucked around with this message at 09:09 on Sep 1, 2016 |
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Sep 1, 2016 09:03
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N. Senada posted:Uglycat, I hope you stay safe and healthy. Please try to seek out mental health professionals. I'm kinda confused. What in my post led you to suggest I need mental health care? Another poster earlier suggested medication. I thought the post implied I need /food/. It's kind've insulting.
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Sep 1, 2016 23:25
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photomikey posted:In case you were looking for a quorum, I think you should seek help and from reading your post, it's not that hard to see. but /why/. If you can't account for that position, merely re-asserting it is just cheerleading.
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Sep 2, 2016 02:34
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Azuth0667 posted:I'm confused here are you legitimately angry or making fun of people? I think he's taking on the Just World Hypothesis, which has reared its head in this thread recently and which is used to blame poor people for being poor and alleviate in the rich any feelings of guilt.
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Sep 5, 2016 23:07
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