As did I. I honestly wish they were still around. The bizarre thing is I really and truly was trying to give evidence of my shared perspective, and offer helpful and empathetic counsel that the world is a better place when you base your self-esteem on merit than when you base it on mood. Thing is, I'm usually pretty good at getting my point across. And she didn't wanna hear it across not one, not two, but three attempts. And then to suggest that I'm the boogeyman and beat around the bush with it? Homey don't play dat.
My favorite part was when she claimed Hubski was uninviting to women from the outset after failing to mention that her preferred username was too long, and mk changed backend code to accommodate her--one specific user who he didn't know at all. Oh, the world is full of people who can't--or willfully won't--understand when they meet helpful people. You can lead a horse to water...
It's easy and unattractive to gloat. For me, it's an endless source of frustration and worry when I piss someone off by accident because I'm scary good at doing it on purpose. The thing that set me off was being told, in private, to "fuck off" but being told obliquely, in public, to "be nicer" when I was trying to be empathetic and kind but also helpful. I have too many friends who write their poetry in little books and only bring it out to show you when they've had too much wine. You never get an audience that way. If you want to write for someone else, you have to make concessions to the rest of the world. If you only want to write for yourself, you can't gripe when the world doesn't read you. Some people honestly don't realize this - I guess it's too stark for sensitive hearts or something. It's really important to be able to connect with your audience, though. Thinking about it now, the tragedy was that not only was I lambasted for "not connecting with my audience" I was castigated for "not being nice" by someone who couldn't even look me in the eye. It ground my gears unduly. When you're staring down the barrel of an empathy deficit you're only going to disappoint yourself by expecting understanding.
Yeah, I don't regret it. I try to be a supporter of the arts, so I'm always willing to spend a trivial amount to help out a struggling artist. And I think it was only $3. The fact that it wasn't good (objectively speaking; not just that it didn't fit my taste) is inconsequential to me. I just don't like being called an univiting, sexist pig, with a shitty website after probably 100% of downloads that she got that weren't from family and friends were directly from this sexist hellscape. It was one of those things that's so bizarre that all you could do was laugh.
That's a good attitude to have. The situation kind of reminds me of a girl I knew in high school who would make and sell those hemp necklaces that everyone was wearing while playing hacky-sack in the '90's. Anyway, one day she wasn't selling many I guess, so she came up to me at my desk and tied it on me with some kind of knot that she couldn't undo. Guess who bought a necklace that day? The whole self-publishing thing is good in theory, but this isn't the first instance I've seen of people playing dramatic to get people to buy their stuff. There has to be a better way to go about it . . .
I meant to. Then you realize that you've got so many things to get through for people you like that trudging through questionable prose for someone who hates your guts is a fool's errand. I can't even remember what it was called anymore. On a related note, Justin Cronin's The Passage is pure crap but it shares territory with two of my scripts so I feel obligated to finish it. Ugh.
Hmm. Yeah, I can see that. I just looked up The Passage and the plot seems like I am Legend with a twist. I'm not sure if I understand the obligation you feel. Are you reading it to make sure that you don't end up with something that might be construed as derivative of his work?
It's more like The Stand with Vampires. I had a script that went out a couple years ago and a few people read the 1-sheet and said "you should read The Passage. So I am. Put it this way - I've got a "postapocalyptic" script and I've got a "spooky little girl" script. So a postapocalyptic book about a spooky little girl is something I need to be aware of.
I recall reading your first comment to her and thinking "that was nice of him to take the time.." Ha.