Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Hello, World...
One of the two or three who read this thing on a regular basis when it was on a regular basis has asked for an e-mail, so here it is: m.bouffant@gmail.com.
Due to my own inability to deal w/ reality (depression) I failed to make any serious attempts to get my sorry ass on long-term Social Security disability, & was finally evicted from my lovely rent-controlled West Hollywood dump (where I probably could have lived out the rest of my unnatural life in relative comfort) on 8 January 2008. I'm now in a homeless shelter @ the California National Guard Armory @ Federal & Wilshire in West Los Angeles. As a ward of the L. A. County Mental Health Department there are allegedly people attempting to secure housing of a sort for me, I'm also in a homeless program, which may be able to put me up as I'm a a mental case, blah blah blah...
So I'm not dead yet. I check my e-mail each day about 1000, @ the West L. A. Library, before settling in for a day of reading before returning to the shelter. I have gotten help from friends, but none of them (birds of a feather sad sack losers like myself) have money, space or time to spare...
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8 comments:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pGldM85dXYs
The Editor Responds:
Gee, thanks anon.
Not sure what you meant by that exciting link, but...thanks anyway.
Caro Bufone,
You know we know who the real losers are. Not you
for sure.
Baci
Sophia
"Loser" is more an indication of not being a particapnt in the world of money-grubbing idiocy & blah blah blah, rather than an actual description of myself.
After all, if one doesn't play the game (Like it's a fucking "game," it's grim, horrid, soon-to-be-fatal existence!) one never loses.
Hi MB, here from World-O-Crap and know you from comments at Sadly, No!
I'm psychiatric, declared fully disabled and get the SSD, and know is there is a lot of coercion in the mh system. It wouldn't surprise me if your caseworker expects you to give up your constitutional rights in order to get food and housing; especially with the drugs; the neuroleptics that work for some people and seriously fuck up the rest. If they put you on drugs and you want to get off and they refuse housing unless you stay on, know that this is what happens, and that it's possible to hook up with whatever protection and advocacy orgs exist in your area.
People with psych labels should be able to get social services regardless of whether they take drugs that make them sick, and some will support your right to get what you need without surrendering your bodily autonomy. Good luck, and thanks for such inspired writing about your lived experience.
From The Editor:
Well, I don't know what rights I have left to give up anymore. I'm depressed, & am taking somethig that only makes my ears ring & lessens my libido (just as well, frankly). I just want a place to live & to be left alone to rant & rave on the web, but even that may be asking a lot.
There's been talk of finding housing, but nothing concrete has arisen yet, & I am on General Relief, which provides enough Food Stamps to live on.
Thanks for the advice/info however. How long did it take you to get SSD? I've been told three to four months, but I think that's just until I get turned down the first time.
It took me almost two years, with a lawyer's help. But you get back-pay, for me that was close to 20 grand, and by law the lawyers can only take 5 percent of that. Sweet. Everyone gets turned down the first time, don't let that stop you, try again and let people help who've been through this crap. There are tips and tricks.You might check the radical mental health site The Icarus Project (google) and do a search on social security for some ideas. They're cool people and know what to do.
Be well.
From The Editor:
Thanks, we've already applied, & through a mental health advocacy service that doesn't charge a fee. Allegedly they know what they're doing, so now we wait for the first turn-down, or whatever.
Looking forward to buying some guns w/ that first 20 mos. check!
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