Today I’m guest blogging for the very awesome Ashalah. Here’s an excerpt to wet your appetite.
‘As a school girl of nine years old I would get more excited about Valentine’s Day than any other day of the year. Would this year be the year that I get a card from a secret admirer? This thought would keep me up at night and on those mornings I waited impatiently for my brother to wake up so that we could go to school already! I wanted to hear the sound of the soft knocking on the door. The Valentine’s Squad would come in holding baskets filled with envelopes and–on the rare occassions–flowers. They would apologize to the teacher for the interruption and then begin to call out names…’
Go on over there to read the rest and be sure to leave a comment!
In collaboration with a number of other bloggers, we have declared today as Blog Scam Awareness Day.
Last year I wrote a detailed post about my personal experience with a particularly popular blog designer. You can read the full post here.
Since then, that post is consistently the most viewed post on Hope Dies Last. It is also on the first page of Google when you search the name of that Design Studio followed by the word complaint. This clearly suggests to me that there are many other people out there that have gone through a similar experience. In fact, there are people that were scammed after me that shouldn’t have because my post didn’t reach a broad enough audience.There are people that were scammed after me because I gave up.
This is my attempt to correct that.
Blog Scam Awareness Day is a day to reach out to all bloggers in a united and concerted effort to protect each other; to share our stories so that others will not fall into the same trap.
The facts as I know them are these…
Name: Jessica Bailey Sanderson [Also goes by the names of tattooed mama and mamabearjess.]
Previous Owner of: Cuppycake Designs, Delicious Design Studio, Web Design Gal. [Please note: The current owner of Delicious Design Studio is not affiliated with Jessica in any way and is as much, if not more, of a victim as the rest of us]
Number of bloggers she has taken money from but never fulfilled her obligations: Anywhere between 20 and 80.Possibly more.
Average amount she has taken from each blogger: Based on other accounts I have read, this is probably between $100-$150. [I payed $222.] In addition, according to Flippa [formerly Marketplace] in May 2009, she sold her business in an online auction for $50, 000.
In October of 2009, I was informed that Jessica had set up a new company–Web Design Gal. But after being confronted by another scammed blogger, that site was removed. As it stands now, she very well could be operating under a different name.
Our goals:
1. To increase awareness so that this particular designer does not continue to work in this way [under any name]. But to also discourage others who may want to take advantage of the anonymity that the internet provides.
2. To attempt to collect a detailed and comprehensive list of all bloggers who have been affected by Jessica.
3. To protect each other.
What can you do?
If you have also been scammed or know of someone who has been scammed by Jessica, fill out this form.
Spread the word. Twitter, link or repost.
And finally, I know that some will disagree with this course of action. I–myself–have been hesitant to name and shame. It feels dirty. It goes against my nature. Please be aware that most of us have exhausted all the ‘right ways’ of complaining. I have filed complaints with Paypal, the Better Business Bureau and the FTC Bureau of Consumer Protection. This has achieved nothing. And every time I hear of yet another person who lost money and got no design, I am filled with disbelief and rage. How is it possible that in a tightly knit community of bloggers that inspired the Love Harder movement [Go! Donate! Shop!] we have allowed this to happen? How is it possible that this person has not been held to account?
If blogging camaraderie can inspire us to Love Harder, I also think that blogging should inspire us to protect each other.
Even if, sometimes, it feels uncomfortable.
Thanks to the following bloggers for taking a stand with me.
The quandary: We feel terrible. Just horrible. And oh so helpless… if only there was something we could DO for them.
The answer: Ummmm. Did you forget that WE ARE THE INTERNET?!?!!??! And also, Yes We Can!!!
The result: Brandy and your Hot Awesome Dude… this one’s for you. Love, The Internet.
Our Plea
Our friend Brandy is a brilliant writer, a wonderful teacher, and a generous friend. And she is in love with a man who has just been diagnosed with multiple myeloma.
We are raising money for the Multiple Myeloma Research Fund in his name. For the price of a Venti, non-fat, no whip, white hot chocolate (Brandy’s drink of choice), you can be part of an effort to cure a disease that affects approximately 750,000 people worldwide.
What You Can Do
Give. Be part of a worldwide effort to cure a disease that affects approximately 750,000 people worldwide. Every dollar helps.
Pass it on. Forward this story to five people. Share this blog post. Become our fan on Facebook.
Love harder.Life is short, love is unbending, and no one knows what could happen next. Tell someone you love them today.
Where Your Money Goes
The American Institute of Philanthropy recently named The Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation one of the best organizations to give to in terms of their accountability and use of resources.
By working closely with researchers, clinicians and partners in the biotech and pharmaceutical industry, the MMRF has helped bring multiple myeloma patients four new treatments that are extending lives around the globe.
The MMRF has advanced twenty Phase I and Phase II clinical trials. They need your support to advance these clinical research programs and accelerate the development of better, more effective treatments.
The MMRF’s Multiple Myeloma Genomics Initiative recently became the first to sequence the multiple myeloma whole genome in its entirety.
A whopping 98% of your donation to the MMRF will be used immediately to support high-priority multiple myeloma research.
With diminishing funding for early stage drug development and the next myeloma treatments not expected to be approved until 2011, the MMRF desperately needs your help.
A new year cannot really feel like a new year until the previous year has been dissected, right? So here it is. 2009. (2008 can be found here)
1. What did you do in 2009 that you’d never done before?
I refused to stay down. I refused to give up.
2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
I don’t remember making any resolutions per se. I did have a list of things that I wanted to do. I didn’t do all of them. I’m just going to have to add them to my 2010 list. I may not be a closer, but I’m definitely stubborn.
3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
Yes! My sister. Nephew Number 2 smiles all the time and is just as adorable as Nephew Number 1.
4. Did anyone close to you die?
No. Knock on wood.
5. What countries did you visit?
None. None. None.
6. What would you like to have in 2009 that you lacked in 2008?
A BOYFRIEND. DO YOU HEAR THAT UNIVERSE? SHEESH COME ON. ITS JUST GETTING RIDICULOUS NOW.
7. What dates from 2008 will remain etched upon your memory and why?
August 17th, 2009. I was dumped. I cried. It sucked. And then life carried on as usual.
8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Finally–after three years back in Greece–I got a social life. I’m hoping that this will continue in 2010.
A song I discovered through Ashalah at 11:20 p.m on December 31st, 2009.
(Thanks lovely lady! It made my New Year’s Eve all that more special!)
17. Compared to this time last year, are:
a)happier or sadder?
b)thinner or fatter?
c) richer or poorer?
Happier, thinner and [still] poorer.
18. What do you wish you’d done more of?
Exercise. Actually, I don’t wish I’d done more of it; I wish I’d actually done it.
19. What do you wish you’d done less of?
Crying. This was a real sob-fest of a year.
20. Did you fall in love in 2009?
Yes. And lets not speak of it again.
21. What was your favourite TV program?
A really, really tough category. I’m a TV whore. So I’m just going to go with the one I watched the most: The Daily Show.
22. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?
I don’t hate anyone; not even my soul mate’s new girls. (Yes, plural. I’m a TV whore and my soul mate is a man whore. Fucker.) Although, Glenn Beck would definitely go on really fucking gets on my nerves list.
I use my blog to showcase the crazy I meet everyday, share the stories of the kids I teach and document my love for tequila, dairy products and the abdominal muscles of Ryan Reynolds. Rarely do I talk about personal issues on my blog- as personal as the dude that I adore (who I actually met through my blog- single ladies, let that be a very good reason to blog, the possibility of meeting someone as wonderful as my man), but I need your help. And it involves my dude.
He’s a guy who made math comics for my class, so they would love learning about addition. He’s the kinda guy who sends my friends gift cards when they are having hard times, who remembers every story I ever told him, who was the first person I celebrated with when I got a teaching job. He’s the guy who sent flowers to me at school- dozens of my favourite pink roses just because he loves me. He’s a guy who has spent a year patiently explaining (and re-explaining) everything there is to know about football during the important games when silence is preferred. He’s made me word puzzles and comics and stayed up late playing Scrabble with me (even though I beat him almost every time). He’s listened to me cry about school and family and jobs. He is everything I never knew I needed and everything I always knew I wanted.
The holidays have hit us hard. He’s recently been told he may have something called multiple myeloma- an incurable cancer, that gives a person an average of five years of continued life. Though this news has came as a shock, he continues to be exactly who has always been- spending his time worrying about me, rather than worrying about himself. He’s the most selfless individual I know- (he stayed late on Christmas Eve to work, so his co-workers could leave early) and a post like this would never be something that he would promote or encourage but when I’m overwhelmed and feeling helpless, the blogging community has always given me tremendous support and comfort, two things I desperately need at this time.
As I write this, the future is uncertain and we aren’t sure what’s happening. He’ll need to see an oncologist soon, to verify what’s going on in his body. My hope is that everyone who reads this think positive thoughts and if you are a person who prays, could you add him to your list? (You can refer to him as ‘brandy’s hot awesome dude’). If you don’t pray, please keep him in your heart.This cancer is only a possibility and I believe that the prayers and positive thoughts of people can make sure it never becomes a reality.
I want to give a big thank you to the blog owner who scraped their original blog plans and graciously put this up. My goal is to get as many people as possible to see and read this post. If you are reading this and want to help, copy and paste my plea into your blog or send a link through twitter, so more people can keep him in their thoughts. I would be so very grateful (even more grateful than I am to my friend who first showed me the picture of Ryan Reynolds on the cover of Entertainment Weekly. If you haven’t seen it, google it. You. Are. Welcome).
I realize this all sounds dramatic, a Lifetime movie in the making- but this is life. Right now. And I’m throwing away any hint of ego and am humbly asking for you to pray or think kind thoughts. If you are able to pass this on, thank you and if you know anything regarding MM- please email me (my email is on my blog). This isn’t a call for sympathy or a plea for pity. It’s just one girl hoping you can think positive thoughts for the person she adores. If my current heartache provides you with anything, let it be with the reminder that life is short, love is unbending and no one knows what could happen next. Maybe it is silly, but I really do believe that positive thoughts can make a huge difference. Thank you for reading this and if you haven’t already? Please tell someone you love them today.
I'm Hope. Well, not really. That's my blogging pseudonym. The thoughts, stories and essays posted here are all the words of one Ms Eleni Zoe.
That is not my real name either. That is the pen name I will use when I am a published author.
Basically, I'm complex. This is my blog.
Hope Quotes
"Instead of leaving, I turned into a blank piece of canvas; I had no dreams for myself, only for you. I did not know what I liked or disliked. I was yours and I let you paint a masterpiece of your idealized version of me. I should have been your muse instead I became your project." Read full post
