We are writing from the Amazon Associates Program to notify you that your Associates account has been closed as of June 29, 2009. This is a direct result of the unconstitutional tax collection scheme passed by the Rhode Island General Assembly with a veto-proof majority. As a result, we will no longer pay any referral fees for customers referred to Amazon.com or Endless.com after June 29. We were forced to take this unfortunate action in anticipation of actual enactment because of uncertainties surrounding the legislation’s effective date. The governor could sign the bill — or have his veto overridden — any day now.

Please be assured that all qualifying referral fees earned prior to June 29, 2009 will be processed and paid in full in accordance with our regular referral fee schedule. Based on your account closure date of June 29, 2009, any final payments will be paid by September 1, 2009.

In the event that Rhode Island repeals this tax collection scheme, we would certainly be happy to re-open our Associates program to Rhode Island residents.

The Rhode Island General Assembly’s website is http://www.rilin.state.ri.us/, the governor’s website is http://www.governor.ri.gov/, and additional information may be obtained from the Performance Marketing Alliance at http://www.performancemarketingalliance.com/.

We have enjoyed working with you and other Rhode Island-based participants in the Amazon Associates Program, and wish you all the best in your future.

Best Regards,

The Amazon Associates Team

I made a couple of bucks off of my Amazon Associate’s account, nothing substantial at all. But those few dollars were a nice extra and would occasionally let me get a cd or a book. In a state with one of the highest unemployment rates in the country, our government officials are seemingly bent on figuring new and different ways to screw over RI residence.

Good going there, Gentleman and Ladies. I appreciate just how much you are “working” for the people of this state.

There are a number of reasons why I’m leaving Las Cruces, and I’ve shared some of those reasons in a previous post before I had actually made up my mind to go. In the end, my decision was based on a number of factors that include short term financial needs, longer term financial goals, a clearer understanding of how to balance solitude with community, and the need to prioritize my energies toward writing and creative pursuits. In addition to—or perhaps in summation of—these factors, is the fuzzy, new age-y feeling that being here, now, is somehow just not quite right.

As I mentioned previously, the financial realities of Las Cruces and the surrounding areas are far bleaker than I expected. Jobs outside of retail or the government are hard to come by and wages are very low. Looking at my likely prospects and doing some basic calculations, I realized that I could most likely support myself when it came to daily living but that it would be unlikely that I could continue to pay back my current debts. Even if I could manage to both support myself and pay off last year’s taxes, my credit card bills, and my student loans, the chances of actually saving money for the future or being able to invest in property or other forms of long terms security were not just slim, but decidedly none.

The thought of 10 years from now and living as poor as I do (and have been) is profoundly disturbing to me. I want to be clear though, the whole money thing is not so much about acquiring things as it is about a feeling of security and creating a level of freedom and mobility that I don’t have. That I’ve never really had. I don’t need 10 houses, but I would like to have at least one to call home. I don’t need to fly first class, but I would like to visit friends that are scattered in various parts of the country. I don’t need the most expensive car, but it would be nice to have one (a hybrid hopefully) that is economical but with low mileage so I don’t have to worry about it when driving on long trips. Now, I certainly won’t be able to achieve this level of security overnight, but in the short term, Rhode Island offers higher wages and significantly more job opportunities that will use a wider range of my professional skills.

That’s short term. Longer term goals revolve around becoming my own boss, owning my own business so that I can achieve a level of independence, flexibility and self-determination that are difficult to find when working for someone else.

The consulting/training business that I am planning combines theatre and teaching—both of which I’m rather fond of—with a real need in the business world. While I don’t want to discuss the particulars here, I will say that the most consistent problem for businesses, whether non-profit or corporate, is that of communication breakdown. At its core, theatre is about communication and theatre training offers a unique set of skills that can be “ported” quite easily to the needs of businesses and to individuals who want to be more effective managers and leaders.

This business will depend on certain infrastructures that are simply not present in Las Cruces or its environs. In fact, given my desire to not live in a big city, but my need for a concentration of businesses, corporations, wealth, and theatre practitioners, Rhode Island is one of the best places for me to go. Providence is small, but will provide a manageable starting place, with a decent amount of corporate presence. Easy access to Boston and NYC mean that I can grow into those markets and exploit the corporate money that saturates both cities. Also, and just as importantly, I know people in Rhode Island. Even though I haven’t lived there in seven years, there are people I can go to for advice, for help, for networking opportunities, for artistic collaboration, and for friendship. Rhode Island provides rich possibilities, not only for my business, but for my personal life and my artistic life.

Leaving Las Cruces – Part 2

Leaving Las Cruces – Conclusions

I did, however, manage to ride my dad’s stationary bike for about 30 minutes yesterday morning and am trying to get back into the habit of morning crunches & push-ups. I drew up a list of things to do today, which include getting halfway through rewrites for my horror story “Subway Voices” and writing a script for a new episode of Letters to Lost Friends which I’ll record tonight. I’m hoping that I’ll feel better after having done some work.

The next few weeks are going to be challenging, especially when it comes to getting some writing done. I generally don’t do all that well with living in a physically liminal space and like to have a space that I can call my own, that I can form to my own fit. But the next several weeks I’ll be sleeping in others homes or on the road and have no place to call my own. Not having a home, my own home, scares me – almost as much as the dawning realization of the magnitude of what I have chosen to do by going to a place I’ve never really been before, with no support system but my own skills and talents and brains and (hopefully) courage. I hope that I will use the next couple of weeks to learn how to carve out the necessities of my own space, even when staying with friends or family.

Oh, and by the way, once more with feeling: go watch Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog!

Next Entry – “The hammer is my penis:” Joss Whedon’s particular musical genius”