One Of Our Own
Instead of weekend topic suggestions, I’m going to forward this thread through the next few days. HBBers that attended the meet-up in Pasadena may remember meeting Allena. She had a bit of tough luck recently, and this post is here to give posters a chance to ask her about her experiences. First some words from Allena and then thoughts from the poster who goes by Lost in Utah.
ahansen here.
I was trying to start a thread on Building Your Own as an alternative to buying (and paying through the nose for,) a used house of dubious quality-thus avoiding the thorny issue of assuming a mortgage altogether.
My efforts were interrupted a few hours later– as some of you may have heard–by an adolescent ursine thug who apparently viewed me as easier pickings than the deer I had assumed it was stalking up at my spring.
Two weeks post-munch, as the Olympic Games mercifully usurp my long-extended fifteen minutes, Ben has graciously agreed to allow me the contents of a Bits Bucket to answer any and all questions the HBB might wish to throw my way. As I detest the MSM almost as much as I respect thoughtful journalism, it seems only fitting that I “break” my story here, with those whose insights, commentary, and humor have engaged and entertained me through many a late evening hour over the last few years.
A little background:
Since my release from UCLA Medical Center on July 24th, I’ve successfully fended off inquiries by newsghouls of all affiliations, at one point literally running one particularly egregious reporter/cameraman duo off my property at gunpoint.
Stupidly assuming that if I opened up and told all to one reporter the rest would leave me in peace, I ended up pulling a classic punk for all the ByeFL Goth kids trapped out there in videoland. (See: “Schopenhauer. Heisenberg. And all they wanted was ‘Chomp chomp chomp.’”)
(The second paragraph of the transcript pretty much says it all. Not one of the 50 affiliates who re-broadcast this caught on.)
As I attempt to heal, I’ve amused myself by throwing the hypocrisy of the popular “news” mags back in their cheesy money-grubbing faces. (”What do you mean you don’t pay for photographs? Tell that to Angelina’s babies. If TimeWarner gets to make money selling pix of my mangled face, I get to make money selling pix of my mangled face.”) And politely tried to explain to the morning-show booker why I’m less than thrilled at the prospect of –
“We’re gonna FLY you to– NEW YORK!!!” (Um. Yeah. Why don’t you just stick forks into my ears and we’ll call it even….)
After dealing with literally hundreds of these self-important, semi-literate, twelve-sandwich-eating bottom-feeders…one of whom had the gall to crap all over my kid for using (horrors!) HUMOR to thank all the people who saved my life…it seemed only right that I should offer all the gory pix, the grizzly (sorry,) details, and the snide commentary upon the human condition FOR FREE to my favorite online community.
So for as long as Ben sees fit to keep this bucket open, ASK AWAY. I’ll read through it as I can, and answer those of you I recognize and/or whose questions pique me, with whatever wit, clarity, and honesty I can muster. Don’t be shy…you’ll not offend me. My dignity is shot and my privacy lost forever to the vast Maw That Is Google. Nothing you say or ask is going to hurt me, because after all…
I’ve been… (everybody now…) MAULED BY A BEAR! (And I do not mean SKF.)
Peace and Love,
a
Dear HBB friends, one of our own has had an accidental adventure, or a very serious misadventure, if you prefer. On July 22nd, longtime poster Allena Hansen (ahansen) was seriously mauled by a black bear while hiking near her home in the mountains of southern California. The bear attack was unprovoked and with no warning, and Allena’s two brave dogs managed to save her life, at a great cost of injuries to themselves. Allena courageously drove herself several miles for help, and was airlifted to the UCLA hospital in L.A. Her tremendous courage has been an inspiration to all involved.
If you Google her name, you’ll find all kinds of links to the incident. We hope Allena will tell the story herself on this blog soon, but in the meantime, she’s struggling with huge bills for herself and her dogs. She is also scheduled for major future surgeries and unable to work. Her situation is very serious financially.
Ben has generously offered to use his blog as a medium to help. Let’s match Allena’s courage with our generosity. Please send whatever you can to her Paypal account at dvsntt@bnis.net. No amount is too small (or too large). She will be very very grateful. Include an uplifting note with your payment, if you wish, to lift her spirits. Thank you, on Allena’s behalf.
Lost in Utah
