Artemis (Cynthia Jeub) 3: The Grift Goes On

[treehugger]

 We’ve been poor. We’ve been the “pick one bill to pay a month and hope for the best kind of poor”.  At that period in  my life, my husband and I did everything we could to get from one month to another.  He picked up side jobs (roofing, building decks, farm labour) and I did whatever I could, cleaning houses, babysitting, etc… We even collected cans to recycle.  During that time we had two kids under three (my husband lost his job when the oilfield crashed in Alberta), and everyone was out of work and looking for work.  My husband was also battling an autoimmune disorder that left him with visible skin lesions, and I had a pericarditis attack that rendered me unable to do anything exerting for 3 months. Sometimes life is absolutely shit. I know what it’s like to be desperate and poor, and am very grateful for the food banks and help we did receive from friends and family to get through.

But I also remember a sort of desperate energy at that time to figure out a way to do life and not be struggling. And we did eventually, through a lot of hard work, and strategic moves, and just good old-fashioned planning.  I realize not everyone will have the privilege and opportunity that we did, but I do not understand Art and co at all.  I hope they get the mental health care they need. 
 

[formerhsfundie]

Wow. This post from Artemis really says a lot about their current view on writing and culture.

And props to this woman for calling her out for the sweeping generalization.

Spoiler

 

 

[treehugger]

And now they sound like my right-wing, extremist, conspiracy theorist, Trump loving Aunt. 
 

The media has its issues, but there are still lots of responsible, serious journalists out there. 

Edited March 28 by treehugger

[FiveAcres]

And the good ones get attacked from all sides if they don't promote the attacker's favorite conspiracy theory.

[Maggie Mae]

14 minutes ago, treehugger said:

And now they sound like my right-wing ring, extremist, conspiracy theorist, Trump loving Aunt. 
 

The media has its issues, but there are still lots of responsible, serious journalists out there. 

It's the all or nothing, black or white, orcs or Hobbits views. Or as a giant black dog once said, the world is not split into good people and death eaters. 

The field of journalism has changed dramatically. But saying "they work for the rich" and are "sellouts" is so juvenile and lacks any sort of understanding of the state of the industry. 

Calling people "sellouts" because they took or kept jobs when their peers and colleagues were being laid off is just cruel. It's also not that deep. Not everyone in journalism is into hard-hitting investigative journalism. There are sports writers and sports casters, arts and entertainment, political analysts, anchors, feature writers, food writers, etc. There's a former Attorney General who writes a garden column and occasionally a piece on local politics. I guess he's a "sellout" too, reminding us when to start our peonies and snap peas. 

And beyond that, there are still plenty of people blogging and podcasts because they love it, while working their day jobs. Art wants to be a journalist who doesn't "sell out" or "work for the rich?" They can do what thousands of laid off journalists and start blogging. A recent political blog in my state sold for a few million and it brings in around $5 million annually. More in election years. It's a terrible example of journalism and responsibility, but the fact is that someone created it, created content, marketed it, and found readers and advertisers and managed to make money off of it. 

 

[Mama Mia]

2 hours ago, treehugger said:

And now they sound like my right-wing, extremist, conspiracy theorist, Trump loving Aunt. 
 

The media has its issues, but there are still lots of responsible, serious journalists out there. 

I keep getting almost identical conspiracy theories from both my extremely leftist family and the ones who’ve gone very right wing. It’s pretty funny. 

[Bassett Lady]

1 hour ago, Mama Mia said:

I keep getting almost identical conspiracy theories from both my extremely leftist family and the ones who’ve gone very right wing

We have looney relatives on both sides of the political spectrum but the place they overlap is a desire to buy raw milk and organic foods. 
 

I refuse to serve raw cow’s milk in my home but I grow a lot of veggies and fruits organically, so they usually don’t complain too much when at my house. 

 

[formerhsfundie]

3 hours ago, Bassett Lady said:

We have looney relatives on both sides of the political spectrum but the place they overlap is a desire to buy raw milk and organic foods. 

 

OMG this is so funny you guys mention the raw milk thing, because as a homeschooling fundie kid in the 90s there ended up being a black market/raw milk ring that operated through the local library (small town). We would collect giant jars of raw unpasteurized milk from the fridge there (deposited from a local farm). It was an open secret advertised by word of mouth in the fundie homeschool community. 

I loved skimming off ladles filled with cream from the top and using it in the baking I did for the family. Looking back, I'm just glad none of us got seriously ill.  But since this was before the internet really took hold it shows how longstanding these beliefs really are.

Edited March 28 by formerhsfundie

[keepercjr]

8 hours ago, Maggie Mae said:

 

The field of journalism has changed dramatically. But saying "they work for the rich" and are "sellouts" is so juvenile and lacks any sort of understanding of the state of the industry. 

Calling people "sellouts" because they took or kept jobs when their peers and colleagues were being laid off is just cruel. It's also not that deep. Not everyone in journalism is into hard-hitting investigative journalism. There are sports writers and sports casters, arts and entertainment, political analysts, anchors, feature writers, food writers, etc. There's a former Attorney General who writes a garden column and occasionally a piece on local politics. I guess he's a "sellout" too, reminding us when to start our peonies and snap peas. 

 

 

My good friend in high school has had a great career as a sports writer.  He has lived in NY, Honolulu and other places.  Is it hard hitting journalism? No, of course not.  But sports is something that interests people. 

[Ozlsn]

On 3/29/2024 at 2:13 AM, Maggie Mae said:

And beyond that, there are still plenty of people blogging and podcasts because they love it, while working their day jobs. Art wants to be a journalist who doesn't "sell out" or "work for the rich?" They can do what thousands of laid off journalists and start blogging

Yes! This! It feels like Art has this weird idea that journalism jobs just manifest at people who are magically annointed - there is no appreciation of the training or education that people usually do to work in that field, or how people move sideways when things go pear-shaped. Honestly I get that Art probably doesn't want to keep writing about trauma, in which case find something else to be interested in and write on that. Write about the intersection of fundamentalism and politics, and include perspective from their background. Sheesh, write about the anti-work movement and see if it sells, at least we know Art is interested in it. 

On 3/29/2024 at 2:13 AM, Maggie Mae said:

It's the all or nothing, black or white, orcs or Hobbits views. Or as a giant black dog once said, the world is not split into good people and death eaters. 

Or "capitalist exploitative rich" and "deserving working poor" come to that. Is a small business owner in the former category or the second, and how much depends on the business?  What about those working in public service or for NGO charities? Where do they sit? I really don't understand not seeing the shades of grey literally everywhere, even as I still want the 1% taxed more!

[LilMissMetaphor]

Quote

Rent is due in a week, so I need to start raising funds to make ends meet for April. After I get my Patreon paycheck, I'll still need another $100 for my portion of rent, and that's not including utilities and other household necessities. Anything helps! Thank you all so much for the support as I continue to make my disability case. Details in comments.

 

You've had more than enough time to figure out that every month you are always going to run short.  You could work two or three days a MONTH and have enough.  Or like...one hour a day.  There is just no way that you aren't able to do that.  It's that you don't want to.  You see literally nothing wrong with saying "I need to start raising funds" instead of "I need to do the work myself."  

[Maggie Mae]

I don't know how seattle is doing, but around here they could go into any fast food place, be hired on the spot as long as they were clean and not incoherently high/drunk, and walk out with a job. Work a few hours a week, quit/get fired, pick a different one the next week. 

They could also start a business cleaning, or post on task rabbit and do odd jobs, they could usher at a local area or concert venue - money + flexible schedule + free concert. 

[Ozlsn]

Proof-reading. Work from bed, read and correct typos and inadvertent autocorrects. Take on fast turnaround or longer time frame work, for different rates.

[LilMissMetaphor]

Since Art mentioned their "portion of the rent", what does that mean? Do the two of them not work together to pool their funds or do they both literally contribute half of whatever income they get towards rent and bills? If so, Ryann seems to be doing better (they just posted that they have enough money to get trans surgery--which can't be cheap, can it?? But they said they only needed money for rides and meds and that "everything else was taken care of".  By who?  In the past Art has asked for money that benefits both of them (obviously rent and moving and Ubers and whatever) but also specifically for name changes for each of them and other individual asks. 

As far as applying to fast-food temp jobs, I wonder if (beyond not actually wanting to make the effort, because we all know that's the case) Art would even think they need to present themselves in a way that would get them hired (shower, wear clean and appropriate clothing, appear generally presentable and trustworthy).  I doubt that they would.   

[Giraffe]

On 3/30/2024 at 6:17 AM, LilMissMetaphor said:

Since Art mentioned their "portion of the rent", what does that mean? Do the two of them not work together to pool their funds or do they both literally contribute half of whatever income they get towards rent and bills? If so, Ryann seems to be doing better (they just posted that they have enough money to get trans surgery--which can't be cheap, can it?? But they said they only needed money for rides and meds and that "everything else was taken care of".  By who?  In the past Art has asked for money that benefits both of them (obviously rent and moving and Ubers and whatever) but also specifically for name changes for each of them and other individual asks. 

As far as applying to fast-food temp jobs, I wonder if (beyond not actually wanting to make the effort, because we all know that's the case) Art would even think they need to present themselves in a way that would get them hired (shower, wear clean and appropriate clothing, appear generally presentable and trustworthy).  I doubt that they would.   

Wait, WTF?! They're out here begging for $6 here and $3 there but yet one of them managed to get the funds for major surgery?? 
 

While I am aware gender confirmation surgery can be a life saving operation, I admit to feeling entirely befuddled by this new information! They're out here begging for laundry money and yet also have potentially tens of thousands of dollars available for surgery?! At the risk of sounding like a terf, why would you not raise a couple thousand more to cover household expenses while going through recovery? 
 

I'm feeling even more confused by their finances now. It seems as though their finances are combined...until they're not and Art is desperate while their partner randomly has thousands stashed for surgery? Am I missing something??

[Coconut Flan]

Is most of the surgery covered by Medicaid?

[Giraffe]

1 hour ago, Coconut Flan said:

Is most of the surgery covered by Medicaid?

Ah, ok. It never occurred to me it was covered. Anyone I've known who's had any surgeries for trans care has been out of pocket. 

[Jana814]

In all my almost 44 years of life I have never known a trans person & up until about a week ago I didn’t. Now I do, a close family friend’s son-in-law is transitioning. I’m still in a ton of shock. 

[keepercjr]

I would love for someone to add up the monthly begging to see how much is really being requested.  Now the goal is $450

 

Isn't low income housing supposed to be a portion of your income?  Something like 30%?  Why would they need to raise beyond their income for rent?  How did they get approved for this rent if their income doesn't even cover it?  I get not having a lot of money for other stuff but rent and utilities should be possible with their income. 

And yes, medicaid and medicare pay for gender transition surgery.  So Ryann's medical care in that area is covered.  He had his top surgery on March 28th.  He was trying to raise $150 which he seemed to have met.

[griffin]

Sorry, but I have never seen it explained. Was  Ryann originally born a female or a male? 

[MariaariaM]

5 hours ago, griffin said:

Sorry, but I have never seen it explained. Was  Ryann originally born a female or a male? 

Does it matter? 

[LilMissMetaphor]

https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryann-beaufort-72b676b1

Based on the pic here I'm going to say born female.

Ryann actually appears to have had a proper education and plenty of real work experience, the type that could be done from home so maybe that's why their portion of the rent etc usually seems to be covered.

[griffin]

Thanks LilMissMetaphor. I've been struggling trying to follow their story. It's been like starting to read a book with chapter 10.

[GreenBeans]

On 3/28/2024 at 5:36 PM, Mama Mia said:

I keep getting almost identical conspiracy theories from both my extremely leftist family and the ones who’ve gone very right wing. It’s pretty funny. 

It’s like with evangelical and Muslim fundamentalists. They have so much in common (patriarchy, limiting critical thinking and secular education, limiting women’s rights, wanting to turn their country into a theocracy to just name a few) and don’t even realize! 

19 hours ago, Jana814 said:

In all my almost 44 years of life I have never known a trans person & up until about a week ago I didn’t

You actually may have known someone and just not realized they were trans.

[Giraffe]

5 minutes ago, GreenBeans said:

You actually may have known someone and just not realized they were trans.

This is what I was thinking. I'm queer and do a lot with my local queer community. There have been a number of times I didn't know someone was trans until they identified themselves as trans.