Rod Amis - Unbound

NEW ORLEANS - 31 JULY, 2004 - UNDER THE MOON: I was just watching a Spanish video on Link Tv's "Snap!", a program of and by "Generation Y" folks out of San Francisco. Very fresh. It brought tears to my eyes. I have last night returned from Phoenix, Arizona, USA, where I was made to acknowledge that I have some value and worth. Some people there, as you'll read in my "Investor's Report" below, actually treated me with something akin to reverence. I'm not used to being regarded in that way.

So much is changing now so fast. I barely have my bearing.

I shall most likely lose the flat from which I am writing you within the next few days. Unless some other aid, which I expect from Europe, materializes, I shall be at sixes and sevens.

Only one thing is clear: I shall, after long resistance, be returning to America. I have been battered, treated with harshness and disdain, in this American Haiti known as New Orleans. I have been disrespected and abused. It is quarter past time to leave. The challenge is simply accomplishing that task and getting the funds with which to affect my escape from this Hell-hole.

There is rain in the air again this afternoon as I write. As I explained to two women in Phoenix, the valley of the Sun, a normal summer in New Orleans means that you must expect these tropical rains every afternoon. They come with rolling thunder and cracks of lightning forking down and taking off the limbs of trees, sparks flying! and torrents to rival any Southeast Asian monsoon. Every day. Like clockwork. Usually at around three in the afternoon, but sometimes as late as five.

What I love are the days when the monsoon roles in at night. That means a cool morning and a good night's sleep, as the rain lowers the tropical temperature, but that does not happen enough.

Mornning rain in New Orleans is even better, because it means a cooler day for those of us without air conditioning, like myself.

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1 AUGUST, 2004 - UNDER THE MOON: Herewith, the transcript of my letter to those of you who supported my journey (the latest in the hejira) to the Valley of the Sun, Phoenix, Arizona. I went there seeking a new job and a new life.

REPORT TO INVESTORS

As you have invested in my future by helping to finance and support my now-completed trip to Phoenix in order to interview for the Independent newspaper chain (http://www.newszap.com/) , I believe it only right that report to you immediately about that journey and its outcome.

The trip was decidedly *mixed* and full of a number of revelations and surprises. These were not revealed to me in the straight-forward manner that I shall lay them out to you here, unfortunately. They were dribbled and dropped out piecemeal and over time -- which led to no little anxiety on my part during the three-day visit. You know how easy it is for me to worry, and worry I did.

Douglas McDaniel, my former editor, who so forcefully encouraged me to come to Phoenix and seek out this opportunity, the man who was supposed to interview me upon my arrival, separated from Independent newspapers the day before I set down at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport. He didn't manage to inform me of this separation until hours before I was scheduled to interview with the publisher of the newspaper the following day (Thursday). I was speechless -- and almost breathless -- upon receiving the news.

He tried to reassure me that his separation from the organization in no way impacted my chances of finding of position there. But I had made this trip to Phoenix based on the fact that the job was damned-near a fait accompli with him making the hiring decision only to find that I was now basically on my own to make or break the chance.

Luckily, the publisher and I hit it off quite well and I believe I aced the interview.

BUT the publisher had a shoe of his own to drop. Part of what led to the falling out between Doug and the organization was their decision to delay opening the new papers th at had been proposed for other neighborhoods from the originally scheduled August date to sometime in October.

I can be a bit sanguine about that decision, in one sense, because it buys me more time to liquidate my life in New Orleans and find the wherewithal for the move across country. That is the plan I have to work on now that I am back.

While there, I was gaining an increasing sense of deja vu regarding my relationship with Doug. As I've related to some of you, part of my trepidation and caution had to do with the fact that I had lost my columnist job at Access Internet Magazine when that outfit and Doug had a falling out. At that time, Doug had also been going through his divorce.

In this instance in Phoenix, on the day I arrived it was to discover that Doug had recently broken up with his girlfriend of the last couple of years. That sent up a red flag, but I did not immediately panic. It was when I found out that the break-up was coupled with his losing his job at the newspaper chain that I went: "Oh God! Here we go again. Only this time I've made a physical and financial move based on this guy's assurances."

I think you can now understand my anxiety.

There was nothing for it, by this time, but to try to make the best of a bad situation. I was already in Phoenix. I applied with the Arizona Republic, dropped in on Golden West Publishing, did the Independent interview and tried to get the lay of the land.

Phoenix itself is a bustling town, full of opportunity and becoming increasingly more diverse. To my pleasant surprise, I noted that it has a substantial and growing Black population now. I got the sense, as I met people and moved about the city, that it offered many, many more opportunities for a person like myself than New Orleans ever will. I also liked the geography (mountains and desert), the climate, and "feel" of the place. I never felt uncomfortable there, as I often have here in NOLA.

There's a New Agey-subtext to the place that I find amusing, perhaps even comical, but that didn't really put me off. The fact is, I liked the place a lot.

Doug, it turns out, is very passionate about the idea of my moving to Phoenix and becoming part of his circle of friends and colleagues. I could tell by the reception I received there from various people, that he had spoken extremely highly of me. In some cases, the reception I received came darned close to reverence. I'm unused to that kind of thing and was a bit taken aback when -- during our conversations -- Doug would prod me to acknowledge my own accomplishments. I guess I tend to forget them. It's been a long time since anyone used the phrase "Internet pioneer" to describe me.

email address:

I was made to acknowledge, with references to the Whole Earth 'Lectronic Link (WELL) and my association with colleagues who have moved on from there, the Bay Guardian BBS work I did, my climbing onto the WWW almost as soon as it appeared with G21, the writing for Andover, Access, and Silicon about this technology and the businesses it created and that helped to create it, that I have been around a very long time on this medium. I've chronicled a lot of its history for one publication or another.

In other words, one of the results of this trip to Phoenix was to make me once again recognize my own value and worth. That is a result I had not factored into all of my planning, begging and praying. That result, in and of itself, was more than worth the price of the ticket to Phoenix. I'm grateful to Douglas for that.

From his side, Doug made it very clear that he would like nothing better than for me to bring my tech savvy and knowledge to the e-publishing and print-on-demand venture that he is trying to start up and which has now become his consuming passion. I'm taking that idea under advisement while continuing to keep my eye on the prize of garnering a position that will get me a sustainable income.

I believe that can be accomplished in Phoenix, Doug has offered me a "soft landing" there by saying that I can share his apartment virtually rent-free while getting on my feet in his town. I'd also have access to his extensive number of business and professional contacts in Phoenix. (He grew up there and has lived there the majority of his adult life.)

So my challenge now, this first morning back in Nawlins, is to develop and exit strategy for myself that includes creating the wherewithal for a second trip back.

Thank you for your support and investment in my future. Feel free to comment or ask questions.

Regards,
Rod

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6 AUGUST, 2004: I FIRST WROTE TO YOU ABOUT MTBE four years ago this past January in this article for our DAY ONE section. As was the Web style du jour, I presented my plaint in the form of a rant. (In those days, rants seemed to attract readers, you see. Being a relatively "young" magazine, we were trying every trick could think of or heard or read about to get more of your eyeballs to our pages.) MTBE is the shorthand for metyl tertiary butyl ether, an additive in gasoline that replaced lead when clean air concerns began a few decades back. It is also a serious carcinogen which is contaminating water tables all over the United States.

When I first wrote to you about it in 2000, it was a cause of great concern AND a national scandal because, as I noted then, where can you live that isn't near a gasoline station? The problem was that MTBE was proven to be leaking from gasoline storage tanks at an alarming rate.

Now let's follow-up and move forward to today. Is the problem being solved? Not really.

We have the good fortune of having people like Republican Representative Joe Barton of Texas, who sits on the House Committe on Energy and Commerce. He and his cronies want to pass a bill that defends oil refiners and producers against liability for the contamination of the water we drink, cook with and bathe in. Why? Because the cost of cleaning up this contamination is now estimated at approximately $140 billion for the sites we know about now. There are estimates that there are hundreds of other contaminated sites yet to be identified.

Now to put this in perspective, our government has known about the risk of MTBE to the national water supply for OVER TWENTY YEARS.

The "honorable" Representative Barton has this to say regarding the last energy bill before his committee: "If the price of the energy bill is no safe harbor..." [to protect oil refineries against liability for this national catastrophe] "then there won't be a bill."

Balance that sentiment against this, reported in the most recent edition of Harper's magazine by Jamie Lincoln Kitman, a staffer for Automobile Magazine.

... In South Lake Tahoe, California, for exa mple, which was especially hard hit, it has been estimated that the drinking water supply will not be clean of MTBE for ten to twenty years. Before Santa Monica, California, settled its suit against oil companies last fall, the companies had been paying the city $3.25 million a year to import water from other sources.

As it waits patiently for its promised immunity, the refining industry refuses to stop selling MTBE-laced gas to the thirty states that still permit its use. Nor has it been willing to accept broad responsibility, opting to settle individual cases at the last moment rather than allow them to go to trial...

A small, independent and outspoken magazine like this one can't reach you every week without the support and patronage of its readership. As our way of thanking those who have committed to keep your World's Magazine here on your desktop through their generous donations, we feature their names and cities here in our Roll of Honor. BARBARA ATWELL, Berkeley, CA, USA BECKY ALTEMUS, Houston, TX, USA DOUGLAS MC DANIEL, Phoenix, AZ, USA IAN CRYSTAL, Ph. D, New Orleans, LA, USA CHERYL HILL-NATION, West Fairlee, VT, USA LARS KEFFERSTAN, New York, NY, USA MATT STOWELL, New Orleans, LA, USA DARHL STULTZ, Largo, FL, USA RIC WILLIAMS, Austin, TX, USA STEVE VIVIAN, New York, NY, USA STUART ALTMAN, ESQ., New York, NY, USA TERRY TERRIAN, Sebastopol, CA, USA We encourage you to add your name to this Roll of Honor. GENERATOR 21 cannot continue and thrive without your support. Thanks in advance. To support G21, please send checks or money orders to: G21: The World's Magazine Attn: Rod Amis 1844 1/2 Burgundy New Orleans, LA 70116-1923 To donate by credit or debit card, please go to the Western Union website by following the highlighted link. Should you donate via Western Union, please notify us via e-mail. Please make all remittances payable to Rod Amis. Again, thanks.

After all, the oil companies and refineries need the extra money they save to keep people like the honorable Mr. Barton in office, dancing to their tune. As another snippet from this article states:

In 2000 the EPA, which has classified MTBE as a "potential human carcinogen," drafted plans to ban MTBE's use as an additive over four years, but upon taking office the Bush Administration moved quickly to cancel those plans. Now the additive is unlikely to be phased out entirely before 2015

Republican officeholders are solicitous to the MBTE producers for predictable reasons. In 1999 and 2000 the top three producers of the additive -- Lyondell, Valero, and Huntsman, which together produce half the nation's MTBE -- contributed $338,000 to the Republican Party, Republican congressional candidates, and the presidential campaign of George W. Bush, while giving Democrats only half that amount ...

I'm as outraged now as I was four years ago. But this time, I won't rant. That's gone out of fashion. I'll simply encourage you to make your own feeling known at the ballot box.

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I GOT THIS ACROSS THE TRANSOM and had to chuckle -- sardonically.

While announcing a new defense appropriation today, President Bush said:

" Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we."

You can find the quote in a White House Press Release quoting verbatim what Bush said - http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2004/08/20040805-4.html, fourth paragraph from the end.

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7 AUGUST, 2004: MATT CAME OVER TODAY in order to bring Care packages to the destitute old writer: beer, a few bucks for smokes and another bag of red beans (cooking now, as I ran out of food a day or two ago) and make sure I was still alive.

How are your job prospects, Rod? It seems I'm getting some nibbles. Even exploring going back to writing for other Internet publications. Trying to get a response from Doug about telecommuting possibilities in Phoenix until I can physically move there.

How are you doing otherwise? Trying to stay positive. The trip to Phoenix was all-or-nothing. It exhausted me and all of the resources I could beg or borrow. I've been broke for over a week, literally. No food until you showed up, pal.

Have you considered just staying here in New Orleans and seeing if you can draw in money from other cities with your computer to survive? It's a lot cheaper than moving 1300 miles away. I don't really see that as an option any longer. I committed too much to the trip to Phoenix. I feel like I used up all my hold cards to accomplish that. So now I have to go there.

Besides, New Orleans has been very brutal to me.

We talked politics, music, went to the local Winn-Dixie to buy more beer and the beans and cigs and then chattered away again. Men talk a lot among themselves but only pretend that it's a women's game. I gave Matt anecdotes from the trip to Phoenix with more details. He told me how our mutual friend, Ian Crystal, acknowledges how I'm disaffected with him at the moment but refuses to acknowledge why.

"I have to kick down something your way," Matt said, "because I've known you longer than any of the people here and I know how you think. You stand on principle, even if it means you'll starve. They don't understand that, Rod. I tell people that that's because you've already decided that you'd rather starve than put up with certain shit."

What about the money you were expecting from Europe when you got back from Phoenix? Hasn't materialized yet, Bud. No word at all, one way or another.

And now what? I think they're gonnah turn your electricity off on Monday. That will hurt you, on every front. How you gonnah get a job then? I don't know. You're right. That's why I was so reticent to bank it all on Phoenix. I could well be already screwed. But EVERY SINGLE ONE OF MY FRIENDS encouraged me to take the risk. They were unanimous. It would have been dishonorable to have done otherwise.

But now you are screwed. So it would appear.

Thanks for coming back this week. Keep me in your prayers as I keep you in my own.

THINGS I NEED THIS WEEK

1. A miracle.

2. An exit strategy.

3. To complete the second book of my Glass House trilogy.

"Work like you don't need the money,
"Love like you've never been hurt,
"Dance like no one is watching ... "

Love,
Rod

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ROD AMIS has published this magazine since 1990. It first appeared as a hardcopy 'Zine. In March, 1996, he launched it here on the Web. Rod was a Contributing Editor at Suite101.com, where he wrote the " 'Net Publishing" feature. His work has been featured in the San Francisco Bay Guardian Online, NRV8, and at WebLab's Reality Check site. Rod was also a contributing writer on technology for Faulkner Information Services. He wrote on Web issues for MethodFive.com's Hyper newsletter.

Rod was a columnist for the Andover News Network, where he wrote over two hundred articles on web design and development issues. He was also principal writer and Editor for IT Manager's Journal, where he reviewed technology issues weekly, producing 383 editorials. He became the Managing Editor for Electronic Mail/Newsletter Publications at Andover.net at the end of February, 2000, and left in September of the same year. He was a contributing writer for ACCESS magazine, which appeared both on- and offline for 10 million readers in 100 newspapers like the San Francisco Chronicle, New York Post, Boston Herald, Austin American-Statesman, Denver Post and Orlando Sentinel, among others. Rod was the US reporter for Silicon.com, a division of Network Multimedia Television in London, UK, reaching 3.5 million European readers, until May, 2001.

In 2002, he worked as Assistant to the General Manager of a Big Easy company that does restaurants and nightclubs. (Think: The Boy.) Oh yeah, Rod's had Day Jobs working construction. Mostly renovations of old New Orleans structures, houses and a bar. Sometimes he designs Web sites for other people so that he can get his creative juices flowing the way he can't at a staid publication like this one. And he's been the instructor in Editing for Internet Publications at the Novi Sad School of Journalism in Yugoslavia. Our Resident Philosopher is attempting to secure enough part-time work to perhaps equal the income of a single good full-time position. In his spare time, he chases women in the manner that a fly pursues a spider.

Rod barely survives in New Orleans, Louisiana. This town is eroding his normal sense of driven purpose. He wants to live somewhere civilized when he grows up. Wish him Luck.

Rod is "noodling" away at the second Glass House book.

He continues to be committed to integrity, chastity and a dose of humility.

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