They're holed up in a ski house that some townfolk generously donated. Yes, there was insurance, but as in many housefire cases, not nearly adequate insurance. To make it all worse, it was a clear case of arson.
I'm thinking maybe a small piece of jewelry.
Full Version: The surrealism of everyday life
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| QUOTE (tanabutler @ May 24 2005, 12:51 PM) | ||
Start with the kitchen, honey, and the bathroom. A gift certificate to Bed, Bath & Beyond maybe? |
I think I'll hold off on that stuff until they've at least started to rebuild. The day after the fire, I took her a duffel bag full of clothing and got them a gift certificate from Jockey so they could go buy underwear. I'll keep helping out that way just as a matter of principle.
But since this is her birthday and she's a close friend, I'd like to get her something personal.
| QUOTE (GG Mora @ May 24 2005, 01:01 PM) |
| They're holed up in a ski house that some townfolk generously donated. Yes, there was insurance, but as in many housefire cases, not nearly adequate insurance. To make it all worse, it was a clear case of arson. I'm thinking maybe a small piece of jewelry. |
Back in my twenties, my apartment house burned up with all my stuff (well, I threw my guitar out the window and it still plays). I had no money, car or job. Walked around like a zombie for a month or so, declining friends offers as I didn't want to "put them out of their way". Talk about surreal.
One day, my best friend's girlfriend sat me down and reminded me of how much I loved making big dinners at my house and what a kick it was when everyone enjoyed themselves. Now was a good time, she said, to take people up on their offers of couches, dinners and clothes because they have a chance to feel as good as I did about doing something for somebody. I never felt guilty about knocking on a pal's door after that and when things got back to normal, the parties resumed, more legendary than before.
Years later, I managed a crew for a fire-restoration outfit where my primary responsibility was to hold the hand of devestated property owners. Nice fit, eh?
My advice: keep them busy.
| QUOTE (GG Mora @ May 24 2005, 01:05 PM) |
| But since this is her birthday and she's a close friend, I'd like to get her something personal. |
If they lost all their family photo albums, etc., as many do under such circumstances, a new album with a few reproduced photos you may have of them is a very personal gift that may produce some healing emotions.
Fly
| QUOTE (flyfish @ May 24 2005, 01:45 PM) | ||
If they lost all their family photo albums, etc., as many do under such circumstances, a new album with a few reproduced photos you may have of them is a very personal gift that may produce some healing emotions. Fly |
How about an inexpensive camera to go with it?
Well, now here's another thing. I want to avoid anything that'll stir up emotions about important stuff lost. Her husband is an amateur photographer; his father was a professional. All of the husband's and father-in-law's cameras, darkroom equipment, negatives, prints and digital files (which were on the upstairs computer) were destroyed. Her mother has sent them a box full of framed family pictures, baby pictures of both her and of her daughter included.
I think I've decided on a small piece of jewelry. Personal without dredging up too much horror.
I think I've decided on a small piece of jewelry. Personal without dredging up too much horror.
| QUOTE (johnnyd @ May 24 2005, 09:37 AM) |
| Back in my twenties, my apartment house burned up with all my stuff |
A very similar thing happened to me fifteen years ago. Apartment building caught fire, and even though my apartment did not actually burn, the firefighters broke all the locks to my place and the landlords did nothing to secure the building. As a result, while I was running around trying to arrange a safe place for my pet parrot and figure out a way to move my stuff and/or secure the apartment, the neighborhood crackheads methodically ripped off all my stuff.
At the time, I was an aspiring photographer (had just sold my first few photographs), and I lost several thousand dollars worth of equipment. Worse, the assholes stole all my work: prints, negatives, exposed film -- everything. It was my entire life at the time.
Since then I haven't been able to bring myself to even buy a camera, or think about shooting anything. I think I'm only just now really beginning to recover from the trauma.
So I say yes, especially if your friends were photographers and lost everything, stay away from camera/photo-type gifts. Stick with the jewelry.
Cheers,
Squeat
| QUOTE (GG Mora @ May 24 2005, 12:29 PM) |
| Well, now here's another thing. I want to avoid anything that'll stir up emotions about important stuff lost. |
no dvd of "the towering inferno" then.
ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooh!
on a flight into LGA last night:
"Ladies and gentlemen, this is Captain Something speaking. I would like to inform you that Carrie Underwood is the winner of the american idol contest."
"Ladies and gentlemen, this is Captain Something speaking. I would like to inform you that Carrie Underwood is the winner of the american idol contest."
It felt surreal to be in an Irish pub last night listening to a Thai band cover American hits while in Bangkok.
Spotted a guy wearing a USPS replica maillot jeune huffing and puffing while crawling, I mean cycling, up the smallest of inclines.
at 3:30am(!) I hear outside my bedroom window... oooh... oooh... whooo...
er, it sounds like a little like a loud pigeon coo-ing... but no, it must be an owl
! My bedroom window is just 100 yards from an old growth forest (Schmitz Park), so it has to be an owl. I have heard him before, but have not yet spotted him yet (and had never heard him in the middle of the night before)!
er, it sounds like a little like a loud pigeon coo-ing... but no, it must be an owl
! My bedroom window is just 100 yards from an old growth forest (Schmitz Park), so it has to be an owl. I have heard him before, but have not yet spotted him yet (and had never heard him in the middle of the night before)!| QUOTE (Leslie @ May 29 2005, 11:19 PM) |
| at 3:30am(!) I hear outside my bedroom window... oooh... oooh... whooo... er, it sounds like a little like a loud pigeon coo-ing... but no, it must be an owl ! My bedroom window is just 100 yards from an old growth forest (Schmitz Park), so it has to be an owl. I have heard him before, but have not yet spotted him yet (and had never heard him in the middle of the night before)! |
Could be a dove as well.
| QUOTE (hollywood @ May 30 2005, 09:29 AM) | ||
Could be a dove as well. |
or a talented peeping tom
| QUOTE (mongo_jones @ May 30 2005, 08:31 AM) | ||||
or a talented peeping tom |
Nah, just an observant bird caller.
| QUOTE (hollywood @ May 30 2005, 08:29 AM) | ||
Could be a dove as well. |
Thank you, you have solved the mystery!
I noticed yesterday that 2 band tailed pigeons (which look similar to doves) have been hanging around my bird feeder. Reading a description about them, the male makes a whooo whooo oooh call, which they say sounds similar to an owl. These birds also live in forests such as the one behind me, and are shy of people, although they don't seem to mind my feeder
. What a nutty guy to be who whoing at 3:30am though.This is what they look like...
| QUOTE (Leslie @ May 30 2005, 09:42 AM) |
| |
You party animal, you!
balic becomes society donor in order to be able to upload photographs. adam, do you nae know about free services like imageshack?
Did I call it or what?
Oh yeah baby. And it is as it should be.
Overheard on Avenue D:
"Look at that niggah."
"That's no niggah, that's a chick."
"Look at that niggah."
"That's no niggah, that's a chick."
I saw the cover of the Daily Post on the subway: a picture of Michael Jackson with the thoughtful headline "Sweat, Freak". I was still pondering the presumption of innocence principle when I walked into Pret a Manger for some juice to find "I Want You Back" booming joyously from the speakers. Quite some journey.
Not really surreal but mildly ironic. I am about to have an MRI of my knees.
Our benevolent governor has signed into law a bill that would permit free deer hunting licenses to those over one hundred years old.
| QUOTE (g.johnson @ Jun 6 2005, 09:38 AM) |
| Not really surreal but mildly ironic. I am about to have an MRI of my knees. |
Open or the tube? I used to build those places. Fascinating construction process as nothing can be magnetic.
| QUOTE (winesonoma @ Jun 6 2005, 02:49 PM) | ||
Open or the tube? I used to build those places. Fascinating construction process as nothing can be magnetic. |
Tube. Our musculoskeletal radiologists refuse to read scans from open systems as they're shitty.
| QUOTE (Wilfrid @ Jun 3 2005, 10:03 AM) |
| I saw the cover of the Daily Post on the subway: a picture of Michael Jackson with the thoughtful headline "Sweat, Freak". I was still pondering the presumption of innocence principle when I walked into Pret a Manger for some juice to find "I Want You Back" booming joyously from the speakers. Quite some journey. |
sweat freak, hmmmm. Someone who knows English as a second language might think they were meaning sweet freak. (or swet frek)
I had to look twice. It has great economy, doesn't it?
Some think he is kind of a sweet freak, no?
The little boy killed by two pitbulls in San Francisco. My nephew.
My mobile phone rang while I was having a semi-business lunch with an old colleague (also from SF). It was my father calling to tell me of the tragedy. Thank goodness I ignore that thing in restaurants.
My mobile phone rang while I was having a semi-business lunch with an old colleague (also from SF). It was my father calling to tell me of the tragedy. Thank goodness I ignore that thing in restaurants.
Oh. I'm so sorry. Deepest condolences to you and your family.
| QUOTE (Suzanne F @ Jun 6 2005, 07:52 PM) |
| Oh. I'm so sorry. Deepest condolences to you and your family. |
Thank you Suzanne.
| QUOTE (Pingarina @ Jun 6 2005, 12:42 PM) |
| The little boy killed by two pitbulls in San Francisco. My nephew. My mobile phone rang while I was having a semi-business lunch with an old colleague (also from SF). It was my father calling to tell me of the tragedy. Thank goodness I ignore that thing in restaurants. |
That's terrible, Pingarina. My condolences. Mayor Newsom is meeting today with Animal Control to see what can be done to prevent future tragedies like this one. One problem is that the state of California prohibits regulations banning dogs based on breed.
Oh, Pingarina, I am so terribly sorry for your loss. What a horrible thing for you all. My condolences.
pingarina, that's dreadful. condolences to all your family.
How awful. My condolences.
Thank you all. I posted this because it is, really, truly, one of the most surreal events in my life, although that's probably just the shock of it all. It's so twisted and sad on a number of levels. I've always been ready to defend all dogs, my belief being that any breed has the potential to be viscous or short-tempered, and it is the responsibility of the owner to train it. My brother had another (100lb!) pitbull that died a few years ago (thus the two new ones that I didn't know about), and all three of his kids played on and around the beast, even taking naps on him. I could go on about the pit bulls I've know, how sweet they are if raised properly, etc.
The strangeness lies in seeing my family's name dragged across headlines, television news, and attacked on on-line discussion boards. And that's only what I can see from here in New York. The larger part, the truly surreal, and utterly tragic part, is that my brother, who was a real fuck-up while growing up, is the most devoted, passionately loving father I have ever known. He and his wife are utterly shattered, and I hope that they can deal with this.
The strangeness lies in seeing my family's name dragged across headlines, television news, and attacked on on-line discussion boards. And that's only what I can see from here in New York. The larger part, the truly surreal, and utterly tragic part, is that my brother, who was a real fuck-up while growing up, is the most devoted, passionately loving father I have ever known. He and his wife are utterly shattered, and I hope that they can deal with this.
My condolences on this terrible loss, Pingarina.
This was heartbreaking to read. My condolences to you and your family as well Pingarina. So sad.
Pingarina, I am so very sorry for you and your family. This is a terrible tragedy.
Pingarina, my heart goes out to you and your family - what a devastating loss.
Oh my oh my, I am so so sorry.
unimaginable horror
My condolences. How awful.
Dreadful.
I was attacked by a pit bull once. He had his jaws completely around my head. Scariest moment of my life. I kicked him in his balls to get him off me but much blood was shed and I still have the scars.
I was attacked by a pit bull once. He had his jaws completely around my head. Scariest moment of my life. I kicked him in his balls to get him off me but much blood was shed and I still have the scars.
What a tragedy. My condolences to your family.
JohnnyD, I'm glad you survived your attack by a pitbull. I am a huge dog lover, but wish the SF mayor well in his project of limiting the ownership of pit bulls in the future. Especially in light of the fact the attack on our member's nephew was by friendly family pit bull(s).
I am so sorry.
My heart goes out to you. Such a tragedy.
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