One of my duties at work (not for much longer, though!) is checking the general email address and replying or forwarding all questions from artists, readers, and general randoms. As many of you already know, most artists are weird and crazy—and turn down no chance to share their “quirkiness” and “creativity.” Take, for instance, the following auto-replies I received from emails about our online survey:
Subject: Yahoo! Auto Response
Message:
I'm in LA visiting Lindsay.Thank goodness for AirTran's Crazy 8's sale on August 8!! Be back September 6. –Shelby
Okay, I need to know why this person would put so much extra information in their auto-response. Who is Lindsay? Am I supposed to care? Is it Lindsay Lohan? If Shelby is indeed visiting drunky/cracky/currently gay starlet Li-Lo, then I need way more details.
Oh, and is it just me, or does the second sentence read like some sort of sponsored content? Do you think AirTran makes you plug them in all emails until you’ve returned from your flight?
Subject: Re: Art Magazine’s Survey.
Message:
September 5th is my birthday, so wish me luck.
The artist wrote this because part of our incentive is a free subscription; winners for this freebie will be announced September 5.
Okay, I know, this isn’t an auto-reply, but isn’t it strange? Does she expect me to reply to this? Do I have to send her a birthday e-card now?
Here’s my absolute favorite:
Subject: This email address has been closed due to spam.
Message:
Regarding your message, RE: Your email requires verification Art Mag’s Mail:
You are trying to reach an email address which is no longer in use due to the deluge of spam I experienced a few years ago.
If you are a friend who is trying to reach me, check your email messages. I probably sent you a message giving you my new email address. If I didn't, type first and last name with a period separating the two. Then add @gmail.com to the end and your message should reach me. If not, give me a call.
If you are a business associate trying to reach me, read the above. I am very sorry for the inconvenience.
If you are a spammer: Bully for you. Your unsolicited garbage overran my email address and caused me all sorts of problems. You now have a private bungalow reserved in the very deepest darkest corner of hell.
OH MY GOD. THIS CHICK IS PISSED. WHAT DO YOU THINK THE “ALL SORTS OF PROBLEMS” WERE??????
Showing posts with label responses. Show all posts
Showing posts with label responses. Show all posts
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Saturday, May 17, 2008
Response to a Comment
So an HBCU-attendee left the following comment on the blacktress's last post:
It saddens me that us negros aren't progressive enough to NOT make this such a big deal. We all know good and damn well if this were an article highlighting the first black valedictorian of Harvard we'd throw a parade and put his/her face on a stamp to be circulated during the short month of February. And until you attend a HBCU with no air conditioning, save your inexperienced
opinions...by the way the name is Spelman (not Spellman..and no I did not attend)And to the "scribe" you're not becoming the "token high yella Delta" has nothing to do with your color...check your credentials and ask yourself if you even qualify...
Okay, my responses to him/her would be:
1. This IS a big deal, as evidenced by all the media hype and hoopla that is surrounding it. I mean, in Morehouse's 141-year history, to have a white valedictorian IS something. I think it does open a dialogue about race, class, social constructs, and higher education, and it should be addressed.
2. I mean, would we throw a parade--and should we? I can say for MYSELF (and that's the only person I speak for when I write), I would be proud of the "first black valedictorian of Harvard," but it's true--if we made it a damn parade, it would indicate that such an achievement was few and far between and we were just as shocked as the majority, so I would NOT want that kind of hype surrounding the first black valedictorian of Harvard.
3. I can have any opinion I want, based on the experiences I have had with HBCU-attendees, including FAMILY and close friends, as well as my visits to the institutions. So, yes, maybe I wasn't a student for 4 years, but I can certainly express how I felt in those spaces, and my knowledge that it wasn't for me. I did not say they weren't for others, or didn't have their merits--they just didn't fit Sojourner.
4. Okay, I added an 'l' to Spelman. There, you showed me. Woot. To that, I could say, when you wrote "To 'scribe' you're not becoming the 'high yella delta'..." you should have written YOUR, not YOU'RE. But, I mean, attacking typos is just petty.
5. So, in summation: Let a blacktress have an opinion and don't be so damn bitchy about it. If anything, I'm much more annoyed by the way he is being portrayed than his actual election--I mean, if he earned it, rock on--but if we're gonna act like he's the greatest Caucasian in the world, then that's a whole 'nother Oprah.
Y'all know the blacktress doesn't let comments go. Let's start a civil dialogue.
TRUTH.
It saddens me that us negros aren't progressive enough to NOT make this such a big deal. We all know good and damn well if this were an article highlighting the first black valedictorian of Harvard we'd throw a parade and put his/her face on a stamp to be circulated during the short month of February. And until you attend a HBCU with no air conditioning, save your inexperienced
opinions...by the way the name is Spelman (not Spellman..and no I did not attend)And to the "scribe" you're not becoming the "token high yella Delta" has nothing to do with your color...check your credentials and ask yourself if you even qualify...
Okay, my responses to him/her would be:
1. This IS a big deal, as evidenced by all the media hype and hoopla that is surrounding it. I mean, in Morehouse's 141-year history, to have a white valedictorian IS something. I think it does open a dialogue about race, class, social constructs, and higher education, and it should be addressed.
2. I mean, would we throw a parade--and should we? I can say for MYSELF (and that's the only person I speak for when I write), I would be proud of the "first black valedictorian of Harvard," but it's true--if we made it a damn parade, it would indicate that such an achievement was few and far between and we were just as shocked as the majority, so I would NOT want that kind of hype surrounding the first black valedictorian of Harvard.
3. I can have any opinion I want, based on the experiences I have had with HBCU-attendees, including FAMILY and close friends, as well as my visits to the institutions. So, yes, maybe I wasn't a student for 4 years, but I can certainly express how I felt in those spaces, and my knowledge that it wasn't for me. I did not say they weren't for others, or didn't have their merits--they just didn't fit Sojourner.
4. Okay, I added an 'l' to Spelman. There, you showed me. Woot. To that, I could say, when you wrote "To 'scribe' you're not becoming the 'high yella delta'..." you should have written YOUR, not YOU'RE. But, I mean, attacking typos is just petty.
5. So, in summation: Let a blacktress have an opinion and don't be so damn bitchy about it. If anything, I'm much more annoyed by the way he is being portrayed than his actual election--I mean, if he earned it, rock on--but if we're gonna act like he's the greatest Caucasian in the world, then that's a whole 'nother Oprah.
Y'all know the blacktress doesn't let comments go. Let's start a civil dialogue.
TRUTH.
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