Filling in some of the gaps
Printed From: HairBoutique.com
Category: Beautiful People, Beautiful Hair
Forum Name: Celebrity Hair Talk
Forum Description: The hair trials and tribulations of Celebrities
URL: https://talk.hairboutique.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=21830
Printed Date: May 19 2024 at 10:28pm
Topic: Filling in some of the gaps
Posted By: JerkyFlea
Subject: Filling in some of the gaps
Date Posted: June 18 2001 at 9:11am
Hi folks,
Admittedly, this is a long overdue post, but since things seem to have gotten a bit out of hand of late with some misinformation and misinterpretations flying back and forth, I thought I should try to jump in here and straighten things about a bit. I apologize in advance for the potential lengthiness of this post...
- FIRST, the "I just don`t care anymore" thing. I`m copying in below a couple of emails a I sent Karen. The first is the most important since it is virtually WORD FOR WORD of what I told Gord when I ran into him online...
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Hi Karen,
I figure you and Jeff are about 25% concerned and 75% pissed at me right now (though that may be more like 5%/95%...or higher). I`m actually not sure what to say. All the reasons that I didn`t get back to you or get you a column for about 3 months before all apply again, but there is more to it. As I said last time it`s a combo of a few things: Busy with work, busy with family, other priorities are taking precedence, and, unfortunately, just lack of interest on my part. The latter is the killer, since when I do get a few free moments, I just haven`t had the driving interest to do a column. Sounds lame, but is unfortunately true.
So, it`s probably best, as you said in your and Jeff`s posts on the board that I go on semi-permanent hiatus. I`m glad you have a replacement lined up to fill the void and I hope he/she does well. If I get back to a point where I think that I can consistently get you a quality product, I`ll let you know, if you are still interested. I appreciate the patience and generosity you and Jeff have shown me and I`m sorry that I haven`t reciprocated in kind. Hopefully, we can part ways amicably and, as I said, I additionally hope it will only be temporarily.
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Karen then responded that she and Jeff had posted most of their thoughts on the board (which were very fair, IMHO) and that they weren`t pissed, just disappointed in how they found out and how the situation presented itself. Wanting to clarify the part of how she found out, I responded with the email below:
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Karen,
Thanks for getting back to me. I am sorry that word of my situation got to you the way that it did. Just by fluke on Friday, I happened to be connected to AOL IM as "JerkyFleaCHS" and Gord happened to catch me there. In our brief conversation, I told him virutally verbatim what I told you (as far as why I hadn`t done a column recently) and said that I planned to send you an email to that effect. He asked if he could post that he ran into me online and what we talked about. I told him that would be fine, but if he did, to make sure he mentioned that I was going to contact you personally. Well, his post was a bit harsher than what I actually said, and he didn`t add that last line. I`m not blaming Gord at all, I just hate that your first information on the subject came in that form. For that, and not contacting you sooner, I am very sorry.
Believe me, I didn`t intend to leave you out of the loop. The decreased interest in doing the column was something that I`ve only truly realized of late. The little bit of free time that I`ve had has been at home (as you know, I used to do quite a bit of the column during free moments at work) and when those moments have arrived, the column was usually the last thing on my mind. Running into Gord online just kind of forced me to articulate the thought that had been bouncing around in my head for a while.
Again, I am thankful for great amount of patience and support you and Jeff have given me and I`m sorry it worked out this way. I really do appreciate you keeping me in the HB archives, though. Nice to know that the column will sort of live on, even if I don`t get back to doing it. I do hope that I get a chance to contribute again soon, but if not, I certainly look forward to reading the contributions of your new columnist (or columnists) and wish you tremendous continued success with the website.
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So, hopefully, that clarifies that issue a bit. To summarize, I wasn`t just blowing the whole thing off, but when my schedule has allowed me free time, it just wasn`t my top priority. My biggest regret is just not giving Karen and Jeff a heads up sooner.
- SECOND, the "I get paid and get free stuff" thing. When I first started writing for HairBoutique, I didn`t get anything and didn`t expect to. After a while, however, to help pay for my home internet connection and since other HB columnist got paid, I asked Karen if I could get compensated for the column, to which she happily agreed. Since that time, I`ve gotten paid for about half of the columns I did. Not that Karen didn`t want to pay me for the other half, it was simply that due to accounting requirements on her end it became a bit more complicated and I never came up with a method on my end that wouldn`t be more trouble than it was worth. Thus, through NO FAULT of Karen, Jeff, or HB, I didn`t get anything for the last several columns.
As for free samples, I received a few couple of conditioner and shampoo samples for my wife when Karen first started carrying the Edwin Paul line. She had offered other things, but that was the only one I took her up on. Not quite the gift bonanza described by Susan in another post.
Basically, my point here is that I started doing the column for free because I enjoyed doing it and kept doing it even after I knew I probably wouldn`t get anything else for it. Again, that`s no reflection on Karen, Jeff, or HB, but intended to show that getting compensated for the column was a minor concern at best.
- THIRD, the "what happens from here" thing. Well, first, I wish Mr. Arcenaeu (sorry if I misspelled that) much success in his future columns and hope they are received well. You guys were patient with me, so be patient with him whilst he gets his bearings. =)
As for me, hopefully, I`ll be able to get back into the game at some point. Right now, I`m going to take the time to recharge my batteries so that if/when I do come back I can at least do it with some consistency. In the meantime, I`ll continue to lurk around here and post occasionally when a get a moment. If nothing else, I`ll enjoy the interaction of the little celebrity hair community I, at least in a small way, helped get off the ground.
In closing, I want to say thanks to ssjockey for continuing to support me here on the board, apologize to Gord for accidentally putting him in the middle, and offer an olive branch to Susan who seems to be the person I actually pissed off instead of Karen. =) Also, thanks to everyone else who has read and enjoyed the column and supported me in my goofy little writing adventure. I`m sorry if I disappointed anyone, but hey, whatta ya gonna do? =)
As usual,
JerkyFlea
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3 pm is simultaneously too late and too early to start anything.
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Replies:
Posted By: tony9999
Date Posted: June 18 2001 at 12:53pm
JF,
Have enjoyed reading your columns and wish you the best in all your future endevors...
Really hope you write again but if not it`s been nice.
Tony
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Change is good for the soul and fun to talk about!
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