EDIT:
To be clear, I am not withdrawing any funds except for specific, goal-related expenses.
Right now, I am hoping to raise enough to attend this conference via webinar:
It’s not cheap, but it’s excellent value for the number of CLEs, and immigration is where a whole lotta vulnerable people need help.
So, if you donate and notice that the money isn’t being withdrawn yet, there’s no scam. I’m just leaving it put so it doesn’t go to anything other than what it’s intended for.
As I accomplish tasks, I’ll list them at the end so my progress can be tracked.
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The world has turned upside down… again.
I’m just like my country—well, maybe not so young, but still quite scrappy and hungry.
Most of us are hurting, and now I especially feel like I gotta fight like we’re running out of time.
Oceans rise—and now there is a would-be empire that needs to fall (on its orange-tinted face).
I have reluctantly come to the conclusion that it’s my patriotic duty to put my fucking education, training, and experience to use seeing others through all that is about to come—because fully-armed battalions killing my friends and family do not seem so impossible these days.
Once upon a time (well, up until about five years ago), public service called to me. “I practiced the law, practic'ly perfected it. I've seen injustice in the world and I corrected it” within my jurisdiction.
Then came my season of shame. I didn’t have a blackmailer, but I did seriously misjudge my partner’s character and ended up in a situation where I had to fight my way out.
There are moments that words don’t reach. I call mine The Incident.
When your spouse is found to be a violent sex offender, and your life is in jeopardy from the one person you’re supposed to be able to trust, and you of all people should not have been duped, the suffering (fear, guilt, self-loathing, and anger) is almost too terrible to name.
After the terrifying and violent confrontation with him, it felt easier to just swim down.
I have slowly learned to live with the unimaginable—and the assistance of a lot of meds and therapy (thanks VA health insurance!).
Now, with the assault on our liberties multiple times a day, it’s time I get back into the fray.
To become a lawyer, you gotta jump through a lot of hoops. I did that just fine.
To stay a lawyer, there are more hoops (is anyone surprised???): Namely, annual continuing legal education (CLE) credits and annual dues.
If you fail to pay every year and fail to continue to get educated, your license becomes inactive.
In my case, I’m about 5 years behind, and it’s roughly $5,000 to catch up on my CLEs and back dues.
The problem is, I haven’t been strolling around uptown (it’s quiet up there) with my thoughts, I’ve been dealing with my severe PTSD by pet sitting (and caring for my aged mom).
That means I’m broke. Really broke. Without any prospects of getting unbroke without assistance. So is my mom (and that’s unfortunately my fault because she’s had to care for me when I was pretty lost in the dark).
So, I haven’t got a dollar to my name, an acre of land, or troops to command. All I have’s my honor, a tolerance for pain, [more than] a couple of college credits and my top-notch brain
I grew up broke, so that part is actually okay. But I am impatient and itching to get started. There are a lot of folks in need that I could help IF my license was active again.
So, if you would like to help me revive my brilliant legal mind (it really is pretty awesome) and extensive legal experience (12 years as a government attorney and advisor), and no small amount of actual talent (I figure this isn’t the time for false modesty—I want you to see I’m a good investment) for the benefit of the decent people the orange empire is planning to fuck over, one way would be to donate a few bucks to get my ass out there.
I will specifically use the funds to pay for the CLEs I need to attend and the back dues I owe. I’m happy to report to my donors the progress I’ve made, and where the fight takes me.
I’m not sure how to verify that, in the immortal (paraphrased) words of Popeye, I yam who and what I say I yam while trying to keep a modicum of my privacy because internet creeps. If you have concerns, I’m open to suggestions as to how to allay them.
If you’ve gotten this far, if you caught all the Hamilton nods, and if you’re not judging me too harshly for begging for help, then whether you donate or not, thank you. :)