January 27, 2006
I just got a call from a Visa “fraud specialist” asking me about some recent transactions on my account. I had actually been feeling paranoid about that when yesterday I saw a “pending” charge for $229.95 that didn’t look familiar. Turns out that it didn’t look familiar because someone had been shopping on directv.com.
They also attempted to spend $2,000 at nordstrom.com, but the charge was declined because I, sad as it is to admit, don’t have $2,000 in my checking account. They spent $10 here, $50 there, running up enough little charges to eventually arouse suspicion in the people at Visa. That I’m grateful for.
So, now I’ve got no money in my account (while I make my way through the “dispute resolution process”), and no way to get it while I wait 3-5 days for a new Visa card to arrive.
I hope that motherfucker is enjoying his satellite TV system when the cops come bust his ass. And I hope they use a little brutality, too.
Update: Today, a $35 charge appeared from a fried chicken joint. How the hell do you use a stolen credit card number at a fast food place?
January 25, 2006
Courtesy of Shaun and Hans.
Four jobs I’ve had:
- Hostess, Western Sizzlin’ (the restaurant’s manager “Kayren” put me on the schedule under “Hostesses”)
- Sales Associate, “Pottery Barn”:http://www.potterybarn.com
- Production Assistant, Nameless Savannah Print Shop
- Web Designer, “Silverpoint”:http://www.silverpoint.net
Four movies I can watch over and over:
- Office Space
- Flawless (fast-forwarding through any scene Philip Seymour Hoffman isn’t in)
- Mommie Dearest
- Being There
Four places I’ve lived (Incidentally, the only four places I’ve lived):
- Bay Minette, AL
- Savannah, GA
- Tybee Island, GA
- Baltimore, MD
Four TV shows I love:
- The West Wing
- Family Guy
- Six Feet Under
- Curb Your Enthusiasm
Four places I’ve vacationed:
- Orlando (who hasn’t?)
- New Orleans (granted, it was so close we went a lot, but sometimes we actually touristed it up.)
- Guntersville (lovely)
- Demopolis, AL (when you live in Baltimore, farm life is a definite vacation)
Four of my favorite dishes:
- Gumbo
- Steamed dumplings (from basically any Chinese joint)
- Cobbler, all cobblers
- Anything, and everything served at the Sundae Café on Tybee Island
Four sites I visit daily:
- “Google”:http://youdontknowthisurl.com
- My Mint installation
- “Macsurfer”:http://www.macsurfer.com
- “Americablog”:http://www.americablog.com
Four places I would rather be right now:
- The farm
- Tybee Island
- Home
- Four months from now
Four bloggers I am tagging:
Sorry, the meme stops here, fellas—I still feel guilty for forwarding the last one!
January 23, 2006
For a long time, I’ve skated around an issue with what I feel was considerable grace and aplomb. Since the early nineties, there’s been a bit of something different about your humble author that, in hindsight, should have been painfully obvious to anyone within earshot, yet always seemed to either go unnoticed or chalked up to my startling level of intellect as a child. That’s how I imagined it, anyway.
As the years went by, though, I began to feel cheated as, rather than assuming correctly that my curiosity in the opposite sex was on a purely academic level, my friends and family attributed my lack of a girlfriend to a complete lack of self-esteem and prowess with the ladies. This was probably, they surmised, an unfortunate side-effect of my notable weight.
Well, that explains a lot.
— Practically everyone I’ve ever known
In high school, with a great amount of trepidation, I had a conversation with a friend, Jenny Parker, in the parking lot of St. Ignatius Catholic Church in Mobile. Mine was the classic case of playing out the morbid possibilities in one’s head—I was sure that friend and foe alike would be united in their scorn for me once they learned the awful truth. To my complete shock, not only did Jenny—nor any of the subsequent friends who I had “the conversation” with—not particularly care about my deep, dark secret, her most prominent reaction seemed to be “well, that explains a lot.”
In my later years, the one thing keeping me from fully embracing and accepting this aspect of my life was the fact that I hadn’t yet found a way to tell my father. I knew that, once I told my mom, dad had to be next, followed by my brother, John. In light of recent events, however, my father’s opinion regarding my life has dropped considerably on my list of priorities, freeing me to tell the last must-know person: John. And now that he knows, I’m done. My secret is no more. I am a hermaphrodite. Just kidding. I’m a homo.
To many of you this is not news at all, but to the rest, there you have it. It’s not that I ever really felt the need to announce it to the world, but on the other hand, saying it like that frees me to assume that anyone who even remotely knows who I am also knows that I am a big fat Whole-Foods-shoppin’, Mac-usin’, VW-drivin’, David-Sedaris-readin’, Queer-as-Folk-watchin’, Joe-Clark-lovin’ fagatini. Express shock when you overhear me calling someone a rice queen or raving over Rufus Wainwright? Not my fault, brother, if you read my web site you’d have known. It’s an easy way out; much easier than telling everyone you meet information that there’s hardly ever a good moment to interject.
Nonetheless, it’s out there now, and honestly I can’t imagine I’ll have a great deal more to say on the subject. First and foremost, I’m just glad that I’ll finally be able to tell gay jokes in public without feeling guilty about it.
That said, stop me if you’ve heard this one—how do you fit four queers onto a barstool?
What’s that, you’ve heard it?
In fourth grade?
Alright then.
January 22, 2006
Over the past few weeks, I have, more than once, heard or read myself referred to as “Thomas’ son.” It’s an odd thing, as my father never sought nor enjoyed attention—growing up, my name was in the paper from time to time for this school function or that, but I can’t say I ever made the front page. To go from a small mention of my making the Dean’s List to being exposed as the adult son of a man made locally famous by allegations of unspeakable wrongdoing is a change that I never could have expected.
One article in the Mobile Register, later syndicated by the AP, noted that “Several witnesses, including defendant Steve Dennis Thomas’ own son, came prepared to testify against him.” This was stated in a way that suggested my willingness to testify against my father was in some way surprising—as though a man whose entire family was put in jeopardy by his father’s wrongdoings might be anything less than eager to see his dad be sent to prison.
The amount of things written about my father, my family, and myself over the past few weeks have been overwhelming. I read most articles with a sense of detachment, unable to comprehend that the man described in the articles is really the man I’ve loved for the past twenty-six years. The one time it actually seemed real was when I watched video of my father, haggard, sad, and defeated, pulled from a police car and escorted into the federal courthouse where I had briefly made eye contact with him just hours before.
I’ve read things and seen pictures that exposed an entirely different man—a man not only with a different personality but with a different name, an alias that he has kept for the better part of my life. It’s difficult to figure out how these two men could have co-existed in one body—not just logistically (how on earth did he have the time?) but spiritually. My father was such a good, generous, and kind-hearted man. After reading the things my father wrote, and seeing the photos that my father sent, I’m left with more questions than answers regarding the man my father really was.
I sincerely hope that the past two weeks have been the worst of my life. I’m sure I’ll write more later, but for now, thanks to all of those who have offered your support, and all of those who have simply felt sympathy for our plight. It’s good to know you have friends in times like these.
Also, I lost my iPod. Again. Geez.
January 10, 2006
So, I’m back online. For a little while. Most everyone who knows me has an idea of what’s going on by now. If it wasn’t the article in the Mobile Register, it was the stories on WPMI. Or WKRG. Or WALA. Or WEAR. Or the Montgomery stations, or the Birmingham stations, or the Huntsville stations, or the Biloxi stations. Or the article disseminated across the world by the Associated Press.
It’s odd to have your most personal devastation simulcast for the infotainment of a hungry public. While I’ve had many friends, family, and former coworkers contacting me expressing their support, the knowledge that our private hell is grist for the mill is a little nauseating. That said, it’s not our fault it happened, and it’s not their fault for talking about it. The blame lies with one person.
There’s not much to add for now—not that I’m going to talk about in public, anyway—other than to say that my family is fine, albeit in hiding, and that we appreciate all your support.
January 7, 2006
Thank you to everyone who’s called, IMed, and emailed. Your support is of much help to me right now. As I learn more about what’s happened, and the shock begins to wear off, I’m faced with the reality of what lies ahead for my family. It is altogether mortifying.
I am leaving Baltimore tonight and flying home to be with my mom and brother on the family farm. I have no illusions that my presence will make anything better. I can only hope to make it liveable.
I’m not sure how long it will be before I’m online again, but rest assured I’m ok. Thanks again.
January 7, 2006
It’s in the news. It’s worse than I thought it would be. I’m not a religious man, and maybe it’s a cheap cop-out that I’m praying so hard right now for my mom and brother.
Cheap cop-outs notwithstanding, if you are even in the remotest sense religious, spiritual, or just superstitious, prayers, good vibes, karma points or warm feelings are all much appreciated for the members of my immediate family during this unfathomably hard time.
January 3, 2006
I’ve been visiting the family farm in Alabama for the past week, and have managed to stay mostly away from all forms of technology invented after 1970. It’s been great, but the lack of internet access, satellite TV, or a dishwasher took some getting used to.
Now that I’m back at work, there’s a whole host of goodness to share.
Several of the sites I’ve designed for Matt Mullenweg and the gang at Automattic have launched. The new WordPress site launched last week, bringing with it the upgrade to WordPress 2.0. While he was at it, Matt and the gang also launched the site I designed for Automattic, the company that now oversees WordPress and Akismet.
The John Carroll School’s site has been garnering acclaim since its launch before the holidays. Silverpoint’s reputation for stellar standards-based design seems to be as strong as ever, from the reviews so far at the Godbit Project and Stylegala.
All in all, it’s been a blast—and having some time to relax with my family, and particularly my best buddy Camp, who I hadn’t seen in so long, was fantastic. Now I’m back in the saddle and will undoubtedly be waist-deep in code by the end of the week.
