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Hi Goons, this is Gonzo.   Gonzo has been part of the protests out in Portland as well as in SLC, D.C. and Los Angeles. There were some troubling times in his past and he was trying his best to escape them. He (at the time) had claimed to be a homeless anarchist. I encountered Gonzo because his artwork and life story had interested me when I caught someone retweet his story and art on Twitter. He has previously worked as a professional chef, printer, artist and - previously worked for Joe "Tiger Joe" Exotic -- particularly for his Presidential Run in 2016. He also worked as a "caretaker" at his exotic zoo in Tulsa, OK and was in charge of feeding and maintaining the livelihood of the tigers, bears, cats and bearcats that Joe had collected. He had a few stories to share but mostly sided with Joe loving the animals and hating Carol Baskin. We did not force him to watch any episodes of the Tiger Joe special on Netflix as he had specifically requested not to watch them. Since we had already seen them, it was not a big deal to leave that discussion in the dust. I'm a desperate person at heart when it comes to helping my fellow man, and my heart may be larger than I deserve -- so I offered for him to come to my place and at least stay safe from the horrors he had faced living homeless during the riots and protests. He had gotten "catfished" in SLC and followed an untrustworthy lead - which lead to him falling back on going to D.C. where he had a stable relationship with the protest crowd and could easily resume life in a tent outside the White House.  He lived in this tent in my back yard, outside of Chicago, from August 28th until today, October 17th. Luckily, the weather was mostly accommodating. We did our best to provide him with a safe location to produce his art, look for work and get medical help. We were able to get him out to Stroger Hospital, where he was provided with medication to help combat his herpes; and some resources to get him to a safe location. Here is some video evidence of him working at Joe Exotic's zoo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98XmtFLJoQg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-dDN88VYOw We tried to dress him in clothing that would be suitable for a cold Winter that was quickly approaching in Chicago:  He made artwork, which he originally printed from a place in Hollywood because they got him the best quality at the lowest price. He used to be on twitter here but just deleted his account last night so it's hard to pull up his previous posts. They apparently love this guy out in Hollywood. His style was "glitch" art of photos he took. Here are some of his artworks:            <- (This is Lindsey Lohan with a gun to her head, he is especially proud of this.)He tried to sell his artwork downtown in The Loop for a couple days, while it was still relatively nice out, for the past month - stationed outside the Art Institute, which allowed him to get free Wi-Fi from the Starbucks across the street while he laid his art out and tried to sell it for $50 per print.  My wife made him this kickass design to clip on his portfolio bag he carried around, to help him attract attention and sell his artwork:  He was able to make one or two sales, but that money was quickly squandered on booze and cigarettes; since they are a highly-taxed commodity, he ran out of those funds quickly as the weeks passed. I bought him a couple of vape pen cartridges to keep his weed supply going, and he used the food stamps he had left in Portland to buy a whole bunch of K-cups for coffee that he wanted to drink while he was stationed here. We got him set up with a nice inflatable mattress in the tent and he made his best out of it while hitching our Wi-Fi to upload his art or bitch at politicians on Twitter. Here he is making some of his art on an iPad. Please forgive the fact that my house looks like poo poo. I think I was making him watch "I Think You Should Leave" on Netflix at the time.   He also made music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=04tkNrwLSrA What I'd like to do in this thread, if anything - is make Goons more aware to how dire the homeless situation is in the United States and to encourage anyone with any possible situation like my own to try their best to help their fellow man. Gonzo was trapped in Portland, as a homeless, but also as an independent artist trying to make a living for himself. The riots happened blocks away from his "residency" and he ultimately had no choice but to relocate entirely so that he wasn't choking on tear gas trying to sleep. I can make this an AMA of sorts because he's now moved on to a homeless shelter and the only communication I'll have with him will be over email. I don't want to ask for donations on his behalf because at this point, I am not certain they would reach him. If you want to go Internet Detective and get more information about him, that would be great but please PM me first so we're both aware that we aren't exposing any personal information about this nice gentleman. He will have physical mail delivered to my house still, so I can forward things on to him, once I learn of his new temporary address. I am able to speak to what it's like inviting a homeless person to your house, as well as trying your best to help them acclimate to society again while ending sentences with "gently caress you, that's why" and helping to break them of that habit. MODS: If this doesn't belong in GBS then punt it over to A/T, I figured it would get more attention here but correct me if this is wrong.
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Oct 18, 2020 02:29
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zaepg posted:I dig Gonzo's art, I'm a bigger fan of his more abstract pieces. He was previously working as a chef at the Hyatt Regency in Hollywood. He was normally, as he explained all kitchen staff are, high on meth, coke or weed, or as a combination of all three in a speedball. My understanding is that he encountered some rough times outside of the kitchen and had come across the wrong crowd to acquire drugs from which lead to his rape in an alleyway that the cops dismissed and pushed him aside because of his living situation. The first meal he prepared for us from ingredients out of the fridge smelled closer to feet than actual food, but it tasted good enough. When I got some steaks and actual ingredients, I will not lie the meal was absolutely incredible. We tried our best to prepare food at least for dinners together but the remainder of the day he filled up on pork rinds and coffee.
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Oct 18, 2020 02:55
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zaepg posted:I'm not aware of Chicago, but New England has a lot of programs to help people like him get back on their feet. Hopefully he can shell out a little money to get to rehab as well. Unfortunately, he is a very addicted alcoholic. We had tried finding a few places nearby that would be helpful for his current situation, but much like the other cities he has been in they are turning away new applicants due to COVID-19 restrictions; beyond the fact that many have been defunded to hell. In the past four days, he started weening himself off alcohol under the impression that either he would not be able to afford it further or would check in to a location that would not permit it and would have to deal with the shakes either way. He got word on Thursday this week that the one of the nicer locations had to turn him away and I think that was the turning point in his mind to find immediate shelter beyond a flimsy tent in some dude's back yard. We don't have much room to spare for him staying indoors here or I would definitely have provided that as a temporary option while he still attempted to get on solid ground. Dear Watson posted:It’s about time we talked about that guy I'm glad we are finally talking about him.
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Oct 18, 2020 03:09
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Sid Vicious posted:lol this dude think he hunter s thompsom Motherfucker I paid you to shamefully eat out of a Chef Boyardee can like a hobo you're one to talk.
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Oct 18, 2020 03:16
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Sid Vicious posted:Yeah but I looked like my own peeson when I did it Fine. Ask a question instead of punching down on the poor guy hey?
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Oct 18, 2020 03:19
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It appears that he only deactivated his account on Twitter so I was able to collect more images to help tell his story. Here is a rough estimate of the traveling he has done since 2019 to escape homelessness  While in Hollywood, he would camp out directly on the sidewalk and sell art like this:  This is an American flag he painted like Ralph Steadman and carried around with him to the various protests.  It was being used as a tarp over the tent in my back yard to keep rain out. Here is the tent he camped in outside the White House (note the flag)    Here's his photo with Joe Exotic  And here's the platform Joe was going to run on in 2016   edit: Now that his tent has been packed up after a month and a half in the same spot, the vague shape of a skull of dead grass remains in my lawn.  second edit: Since he is back on Twitter, I'd like to give a free promotion to his art sales if you'd like to claim a print for yourself: https://twitter.com/abbGONZOhoffman/status/1317838143610081280 Video Nasty fucked around with this message at 15:44 on Oct 18, 2020 |
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Oct 18, 2020 15:11
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Jesustheastronaut! posted:When/why did you or him decide it was time to stop living at your house? On Thursday, the 15th he received another rejection from a mental health facility because of COVID restrictions; they simply weren't admitting new inpatients. He had a day-long breakdown and started sobering himself up. He would come into the house to use the bathroom (I have the fortunate situation where I work from home), sniffling and basically acting completely dejected. We didn't make eye contact the entire day, besides the first time he came in for the morning. He stopped pouring liquor into his coffee and stopped buying alcohol at the local bodega. I could sense something was up but when he "deactivated" his Twitter account on Thursday night that seemed like the biggest warning sign that something drastic was going to happen.
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Oct 18, 2020 16:45
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Universe Master posted:Is "in my back yard" a euphemism? No. Jawdins posted:I keep hearing different versions of this, can someone clear up whether the revolution will be televised or not? Will I need to buy tickets or subscribe to a particular streaming service? I don't wanna miss it. Thanks to advancements in 5G technology we can broadcast more of the revolution than ever!
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Oct 18, 2020 19:48
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Solvent posted:If he’s an alcoholic looking for help drinking, why hasn’t he become active in the AA community? I can attest to him having an easier time getting away from alcohol than he could from vaping weed and smoking cigarettes. During his time here, we thought we could help condition him to being a little friendlier around people so that he wouldn't immediately act out as a defense mechanism. I like to think we mostly succeeded  AA/NA was most likely a waste of time to him, as it doesn't provide him actual housing or mental care unless he believes in God and he's not willing to reduce his integrity to that kind of thing. Milo and POTUS posted:Dooo dooo dooo-dooo dude's in a tent in my back yard
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Oct 18, 2020 21:09
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DapperDraculaDeer posted:What makes you think this is how most AA/NA groups work? Of the resources we printed out to have him call and apply towards, there were several with a clearly religious bias but it was wrong of me to apply such a broad stroke. I was hopeful that his time at my house would be temporary until he could secure his own residency to get mail and basic services. The most we could do was get him medicaid while homeless to cover emergency health concerns.
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Oct 18, 2020 21:42
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Yeah the whole providing safe haven was surely just an afterthought and I clearly had just intended to enable an addict.  I am aware of the steps and the other poo poo involved, it is not my place in life to encourage that for those unwilling to participate.
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Oct 18, 2020 22:03
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PHIZ KALIFA posted:there was a dude living in the park across from my house. i tried making contact a few times but he never reciprocated. i did find an aid group to get him supplies and it looked like he had finally cleared out when he broke into an unused part of my in-law's apartment and made off with a handful of old coins. i knew it was him because i saw him escape out the back door while i was jacking off out the window. not really sure anything icould have done would have helped him more, but i'm open to strategies if anyone has tips. Lmao
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Oct 18, 2020 22:15
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Solvent posted:Phiz called it if I read into his post right anyways. Dudes gone, this is about you. Guy wasn't taking shits in a bucket or alleyways here, dude. He had access to shower, shave, cook and eat our food and wash the clothes he took with him, as well as warmer attire for the coming cold weather ahead. Solvent posted:What’s not said is that (analogy warning) exchanging a junkie’s needles is one thing, giving them a place to flop and shoot is another. e: Do it ironically posted:That’s why I don’t try to help the homeless, I don’t have a PhD in it, I don’t run an award winning transitional program teamed up with a prestigious hospital, and I’m not an AA sponsor Welp, can't miss me with this sound logic. Sorry for being a failure, everyone.
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Oct 18, 2020 23:00
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PHIZ KALIFA posted:i'm just saying, it's real tough to help folks in this situation because they aren't often aware of every issue that compels them to make the decisions they make. As an addict, i can speak from experience, but there's a huge frustration-shame-avoidance cycle which really pushes you from just one desperate act to another. "Getting someone help on their terms" and "ennabling their self destruction" can look exactly alike, but trying to force someone into a recovery plan they don't agree with isn't likely to get better results. I appreciate the sentiments. I could see that he had hopefulness of getting himself personally better. This may have not been the time. We had done our best to, at the very least, provide shelter and company when he wanted it - which could seem like a complete luxury from what his past experiences had proven. He addressed me on his way out, that made me feel like he had become burdensome to our household, which I rebuked and just admitted (again) that time was more important than ever for him to find a warm, safe place to be comfortable and continue doing whatever he wanted. baby delivery truck posted:This dude has it way better then me, tell him to look up a fast taper and he can get into a shelter and free clinic. Also lol that his problem was needing herpes medication. If he doesn't have cirrhosis or hep or aids or whatever, he can be fine. He also looks healthy enough for day labor. As a fellow hobo, just tell him to try SOMETHING, even if you punctuate your sentences with "gently caress you that's why" you can still wave a flag for a day and make enough to eat drink and smoke. Also lol that y'all bought him vape pens like that's important while you starve in a tent. He applied online for positions at the nearby Target and Wal-Mart and even got an interview at the Target but ultimately was passed over which took a week to even know the results. 
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Oct 18, 2020 23:31
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DickParasite posted:Your heart's in the right place OP but you were absolutely enabling him. I bought him weed carts because I could get them cheaper than he could and I got some of his prints in exchange, as well as some menial house chores. I wasn’t buying him alcohol, that came from his own funding. I supplied him with coffee to face the day and the opportunity to use the tools at his disposal to make a change in his life. He chose not to use those but I do not hold that against him.
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Oct 19, 2020 03:52
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baby delivery truck posted:My point is even within that week of waiting to know about full time employment, day labor always just needs warm bodies. You're not going to make enough to pay rent but you can make enough for some food, a bottle, a pack of smokes, and still have a few bucks left over. It sucks, but if squatting in someone's backyard made him feel like a burden, he could have contributed something. We can all disagree with capitalism but sometimes you gotta live under it's rules if you don't want to rely on other people's kindness. It's hosed but life sometimes sucks. Just get the dude to show up at 5 am to a day labor office, and ask for like $20 A day and you'll see if he's serious about whatever. I guess it doesn't matter now it's just upsetting to me that you think this is forced on him and not a choice when he doesn't even try anything. To that extent, I paid him $50 to clean up our basement, which honestly was a full day of work because of all the messes our cats have made of things down there. He was not averse to that kind of work so believe me when I say he wasn't trying to avoid it so much as recognize what was immediately available based on our location relative to the city proper. e: Solvent posted:One of my long time close friends is a recovering heroin addict, along with a bunch of people I like less than her. Many of my close friends have hep c. I was a homeless youth. That sucks and I'm sorry if I came off as hostile previously. I don't equate alcohol /weed to the same degree as heroin and would not have allowed that kind of poo poo to happen in my household or back yard.
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Oct 19, 2020 15:29
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UPDATE: He is going back to the protest vigil in D.C. with the meager amount he was able to save up for a flight.Gonzo posted:Hey, you did what you could, but Chicago didn't. Getting into a homeless shelter here is a nightmare. The only other option was hospitalization and well, ugh, no.
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Oct 20, 2020 15:27
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Floodixor posted:I'm currently typing this as a recovering alcoholic on my break at my day labor job, wearing a hi vis vest and all, and have had an AA sponsor for years. This thread has basically already said what I was going to. Thank you for sharing your experiences! I would house a hundred people in tents if I had the property to do so. My life was not largely interrupted by providing those ammenities to another individual besides maybe sharing a single bathroom between three people. He was pretty adamant about not wanting to watch the Tiger Joe series on Netflix but he had great stories about all the regulars that he worked with who were interviewed in the show. Moon Atari posted:His situation doesn't really seem like it stems from the usual causes of homelessness, from what I could gather from his Twitter. Seems like more of a "heavily committed to being an anarchist" issue than a substance abuse one, which I guess might count as its own disabling mental illness worthy of help. Just not the more prototypical homeless situation people seem to be reading it as. I can agree with these sentiments.
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Oct 20, 2020 17:46
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