Linkspam is exhausted now

[nilchance]

But we celebrated SIL's birthday and also successfully transported our 100th rescue dog. Obviously we're not going to stop, but zomg, 100 dogs saved. That's fantastic.

Man, I love and feel this post: Poor people aren't supposed to want nice things. "All rags-to-riches (or rags-to-bitches, if you want to get all Boondocks about it) stories start with people who are poor but industrious. Tales of kids eating cigarette ash sandwiches to survive. Tales of people saving mustard packets so they have food that stretches through the whole year. Bonus points if your parent proudly refuses government help, or if you suffer through and survive a vitamin deficiency. You’re a rock star if you live many years out on the streets and still pull down a 4.0+ GPA. You have done poverty correctly." I have bought into this narrative myself, and it's bullshit. I can't live in a gray formless self-deprivation, because odds are, due to gender and health and sexual orientation, I am going to be some level of poor forever.

Sympathy grifting: this story is interesting both because of how she got away with 20k in sympathy fraud and the fandom perception of grifting. I'm sure it's no coincidence that it's more believable for Dean Winchester, Sophie or Jensen to get away with con artistry than, say, Naveen Andrews or Idris Elba.

Um. So does anybody have a recommendation for a good book on lupus?

Comments

[apetslife.livejournal.com]

HOLY CRAP 100 DOGS? Are you serious? You are AMAZING! Amazing amazing! I am so in awe of you. That is something so unbelievably cool that I almost can't handle it.

I read the article and didn't...quite understand it. As someone who was so far below the poverty line growing up that I still can't even look at blocks of Government Cheese, and who did get a scholarship to private school and then the expensive college populated by the very wealthy, I know I'm reading it through familiar but kind of puzzled eyes. I used to *brag* about being poor (probably equally dysfunctional, come to think about it). Heck, I dined out on those stories of shopping in the church basement, and working the 5 am paper routes since I was 11. I know everyone's experience is different, and I guess mine was just different enough that I can't get to the kernel of what the author is trying to say.

[nilchance.livejournal.com]

Thank you! It's been a lot of driving.

I think what pinged for me was the "if you're poor, you shouldn't spend your disposable income on what makes you happy". The rest of her premise kind of wandered.

[apetslife.livejournal.com]

OH. Oh yeah. Yeah, no. I am all about spending disposable income on what makes you happy, no matter how large or small that disposable income might be. Again, I've been fortunate enough that I haven't felt that pressure in my own life, but I completely understand how that would be a really terrible thing to hear and feel.

[realpestilence.livejournal.com]

100 rescues dogs, ftw! You two are champions. \0/

[realpestilence.livejournal.com]

I read both those articles, and the first was very pointed and I could definitely identify with it. The second made me angry, because it takes such advantage of people's generosity. D:

One of the things I love about the on-line community is how kind and generous so many people are. I know there's a risk of being taken advantage of, but I'd rather chip in and try to help someone than not, just in case, you know? But seeing someone so blatantly USING people like that...! And the next person, who genuinely needs help, will be the one to suffer for that abuse.

[bkm5191.livejournal.com]

Wow, well done for the milestone of 100 dogs. That makes you rockstars of the first order!

[iyalode.livejournal.com]

My sister has a lot of material on lupus. I believe she got most of it from the Lupus Australia Foundation. As a result I fear most of the material is local, but I can ask her if there's anything from the US if you like.

[nilchance.livejournal.com]

Dude, yes please! That would be awesome.

[iyalode.livejournal.com]

No worries. Sister and I are currently playing phone tag, but in the meantime..is there anything specific you're looking for within the book? Some lean towards parent/partner pov while others talk about management etc.

[nilchance.livejournal.com]

The management type would be better for me, but anything would be great. Thank you.