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02/29/2008
New York times Foreclosure-Related Letter
Dear Editor, I have read today's story on people walking out on new homes. I don't think it's a bad idea. Some people don't want to keep paying and paying and have no home, no savings left. Owning your own home is great, but sometimes you have to think about having a place to live that won't ruin you financialy, emotionally and psychologically. Paying other bills, like groceries and utilities are more important and urgent.
I lost my condo in Atlanta as well as the money I had in the bank. I wouldn't want that to happen to other people. Eugenia Renskoff
19:40 Posted in Letters | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this
02/28/2008
No Responses
I feel for those who get no responses. I feel for myself too. I have had an extremely hard time with my foreclosure/predatory lending/mortgage fraud mess. I am not giving up, but it is very difficult to go on. Sometimes you have no answers and it takes a long time for a person to find a light at the end of the tunnel.
I feel that the people who are famous were not always successful. They were regular human beings before they got their big break. Let's hope that we get ours as well.
At this point of my life my two main concerns are mortgage fraud and priestly Celibacy. Mortgage fraud happened to me very recently. The priestly celibacy issue touched me very deeply a number of years ago.
I also empathize with those people faced with no options or bad options. That type of situation makes you feel powerless, with nowhere to turn.
19:15 Posted in Blog | Permalink | Comments (2) | Email this
02/27/2008
Foreclosure- Related NY Times Letter
Dear Editor, I have just read the Foreclosure Aid Rising Locally, As Is Dissent article in today's NY Times and I am sad to read about people who don't think helping others finding themselves in mortgage trouble is a good thing. Troubled mortgage holders are taxpayers and they live in the US. If they need their government to help them out, why is that help being criticized? Perhaps their critics don't believe that the mortgage crisis will ever happen to them. It can. Would they come to the aid of a family member if that person were facing foreclosure or would they look the other way? Would they want help if they got letters upon letters from their mortgage company and collection agencies? Do they know how it feels to be on the brink of financial disaster? I can tell you from first hand experience that it is one of the worst experiences a human being can have. Nobody deserves that. Not having a roof over your head destroys you not only financially, but psychologically as well.
Not only are the people in trouble fellow Americans, they are also members of the human race. Eugenia Renskoff
17:47 Posted in Consequences of Foreclosure | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this
02/26/2008
Obnoxious
February 26, 2008: This afternoon I called Dominion Law Associates, Attorneys at Law in Virginia Beach, VA. They sent me a letter, threatening to sue and I wanted to tell them that I had written them and received no reponse. I also asked the date of the last activity on the Discovery card. All I can say is: Obnoxious. The fact that I have no money to pay means nothing.
Being honest does not help. I can't agree to a payment plan because I wouldn't be able to fulfill the terms of the agreement.
The debt, if it is mine, is over 2 years old. I have dealt with foreclosure, among other goodies. Enough already!
20:18 Posted in Consequences of Foreclosure | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this
Back to be Sued
February 26, 2008: I have come back to the US to be sued. That's what it looks like because now Discover card wants to have a crack at me. I don't have the answer. I don't have the money.
18:36 Posted in Consequences of Foreclosure | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this
02/25/2008
The Way Before
February 25, 2008: I long for it to be the way it was before--before I had the misfortune of going to GA and buying that horrible condo. I miss the days when nobody wanted to sue me, when I was invisible because of my excellent 754 credit score.
19:36 Posted in Consequences of Foreclosure | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this
American Express Mistake
February 25, 2008: Today I received another letter from American Express. It seems that they did not receive my second Cease and Desist letter. I will have to write them letter 3.
19:32 Posted in Cease And Desist | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this
02/23/2008
Carmen
Carmen, my first old lady after my beloved Tia, would have been 102 years old today. I met her in Vicente Lopez, when I was doing errands. She lived in a filthy, cockroach-filled apt. The apt. belonged to her niece. One day the neighbors alerted Carmen’s niece to the fact that sometimes Carmen forgot to turn off the gas. That’s when she was taken to a nursing home. Carmen’s retirement check paid for her room and board there. I would go visit her once a week. She looked forward to my visits and I liked going to the neighborhood of Floresta in Buenos Aires. There were some beautiful houses from the late 19th and early 20th century that I enjoyed looking at. Carmen was so thin that when I hugged her I was afraid I would break her bones by accident. She had come to Argentina from Northern Spain in 1930 and when I knew her she still spoke with a thick Spanish accent—as if she had just gotten off the boat. Soon she was working as a maid for a wealthy family who had made money in the jewelry business.
I grew to care for her. When her niece put her in another nursing home, I followed her there. I ate dinner with her and the other nursing home residents. In 1993, we had a party to celebrate her birthday. She was happy and smiled for the camera.
One thing I am sad about is that I couldn’t be with her at the end. It was necessary for me to travel back to the US. They told me that she asked to see me. I am very sorry that I wasn’t able to hold her hand and kiss her goodbye. She was a feisty, smart old lady.
21:21 Posted in Memories | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this
Paco Still Strikes
Saturday, February 23, 2008: Last year I wrote in this blog about paco, a destructive drug made from cocaine residue, among other ingredients. Today in the NY Times (one of my favorite newspapers) there is a story on how it is affecting life in Argentina. It says that it gives a very short high, that kids (and adults) will do anything to get it. They sell their possessions, steal, whatever to get their paco fix. I have lived in Argentina for almost 3 years and heard many interviews on the radio. Current paco users and those brave enough to beat it told their stories. It is very hard to quit and some have died trying. There are mothers who are doing anything to save their kids from the awful drug. People are not silent or passive anymore. They used to be about many things, but that is changing. Ciudad Oculta (Hidden City) the slum where many paco users live is a place that needs to be done away with. The poverty and despair their inhabitants live with day in, day out makes it very easy to turn to paco and other junk to forget what is going on in their daily lives.
20:38 Posted in Crimes | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this
02/21/2008
Celibacy--Celibato
Estoy totalmente de acuerdo. El celibato no solo es totalmente anticuado, tambien es inhumano e hipocrita. Todos los hombres son hombres y como tales necesitan el amor humano, que tambien incluye el amor entre un hombre y una mujer. Siempre debio haber sido opcional y no impuesto. Yo vivi una historia de amor con un sacerdote y se de que estoy hablando. Eugenia Renskoff, autora de Different Flags.
23:51 Posted in Catholic Church | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this
Rubio's Last Months
Rubio. Last night I remembered us, and the excruciating physical, emotional and psychological pain of going on the elevator with him so that I could take him for one of his forced walks. Rubio was very ill and going out was a torture for him. All he wanted was the refuge of his apt. The neighbors didn’t cooperate. It was hard getting him out the door, pulling on him hard. And then we had to wait for the elevator—it had to be an empty one because they did not want us riding down with them. Some of the neighbors were polite about it, but most of them were just plain rude. Another highlight of those last few years with Rubio was the portero. The guy was a skunk. He would yell at me, insult me when Rubio, who was suffering from incontinence, would do it wherever he could. I cleaned up after him, but it still wouldn’t do any good. He took it upon himself to be cruel to us. Another jewel in the building was the young night watchman. He would stare, and stare hard, when Rubio pushed and pushed his shit out. The poor dog sometimes yelled out in pain and people would turn around to look. I took him to vet after vet; none seemed to help.
19:05 Posted in Rubio | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this
02/20/2008
Beccar
February 20, 2008: There once was a place named Beccar. It was sunny and bright and happy (most of the time). Beccar was my fairy tale, but since it was also part of real life, a few drops of rain fell once in a while and I had to take better care of myself.
Beccar was my introduction to the real world.I felt things pulling me towards it, things pulling me in another direction.My heart told me that was where I wanted to be and I paid attention. I had a hunch that the experience could not be repeated.
19:58 Posted in Memories | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this
02/19/2008
Believing
In spite of the setbacks, the stumbling blocks, the delays, I believe that my novel Different Flags, has meaning and that other women who have gone throygh a similar experience can relate to it. It is not simply about falling in love with a priest. It is also about discovering a whole different worl, about seeing yourself for the first time as you really are. It's about giving birth to yourself.
00:24 Posted in Blog | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this
Motivation To Write
February 18, 2008: If you tell yourself, you want to write, 10 minutes a day are enough. Next week you will write 15 minutes, then 20, then soon half an hour. Do you want to be in a group, or will being by yourself be enough? A group will give you feedback. Do you want to write short stories, a novel, essays or non fiction? The most important thing is the need to do it, the drive. If you have this, nothing can stop you.
00:10 Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this
Motivation To Write
February 18, 2008: If you tell yourself, you want to write, 10 minutes a day are enough. Next week you will write 15 minutes, then 20, then soon half an hour. Do you want to be in a group, or will being by yourself be enough? A group will give you feedback. Do you want to write short stories, a novel, essays or non fiction? The most important thing is the need to do it, the drive. If you have this, nothing can stop you.
00:10 Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this
02/16/2008
Different Flags excerpt
I see the writing on the wall. No, Argentina has not really worked out for me. In spite of my Tia, whom I love very much, in spite of the adventure that being here has signified for me, I feel that it is practically over. There is no Plan B, nothing to fall back on. And yet I must make a decision. Something in my circumstances must change because everything else is changing. It has changed and I feel like a fool for not changing with them. Maybe this awareness means a change. Maybe it is part of my transformation and I am still growing up. I am not even trying to think of Luis. He is and always will be important, but he is not here with me. He is not sharing my life and I am not sharing his. It's that simple.
19:45 Posted in Forbidden Love | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this
02/13/2008
Thoughts on the Priesthood
I heard someone say a long time ago tha a priest is no ordinary man. Not because he is like God, but because his education is exceptional. And he often lives in a bubble-like world where he is treated like a pop or rock star. I have seen that with my own eyes. Eugenia
23:53 Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this
American Express Violation
Hello, In late December American Express wrote me a letter offering a settlement on my credit card debt. The amount of the debt was $1.057.20. The settlement was for about $600. I wrote them saying that I wanted them to cease communicating with me regarding this debt. I was unemployed and had lost my home to foreclosure. On January 16, 2008, they sent me a response telling me that they had received my Cease and Desist letter. They would stop collection efforts, but could go to litigation. Last week I received a phone call from American Express asking me why I had not paid the $1,057.20. This week, I got two more such phone calls. Tomorrow I am sending them another letter reminding them about their letter to me saying they would cease all collection efforts and pointing out to them that they probably have violated the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. Eugenia Renskoff
22:44 Posted in Consequences of Foreclosure | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this
Back Then
February 13, 2008: The help being offered by the government to those people facing foreclosure is welcome news. Getting a reprieve from one of the most horrible experience in a person's life is good. At least, it gives them time to rhink and talk with the lender, and it could mean a new beginning. I did not have that type of luck back in 2005 when my condo in Atlanta was threatened with foreclosure. Although I tried everything, including suggesting a short sale to Novastar, the lender, it did not help. Nothing worked and suddenly that beautiful 2-bedroom condo was gone.
22:14 Posted in white collar crimes | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this
02/12/2008
The Wondering Suitcases
February 12, 2008: Where? The suitcases want to know. This woman is going somewhere, but where? We don't know and we care. We really do. It's our life. She's dragging us with her again, can you believe it? Us, with all that heavy stuff that we have inside. Revolution! Her life calls for just that. We have to do something. She's got to be stopped. Now.
01:37 Posted in Blog | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this
Like Nadia
February 11, 2008:The not so old woman got nervous and said: Coming! Coming! in a loud, nervous voice. Why am I getting so nervous, she thought. This is how Nadia acted just before she died. I want to go there! I don't want to miss anything. Hurry! Hurry! She tripped and fell.
01:33 Posted in Memories | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this
02/11/2008
Collecting?
February 11, 2008: Each and everytime somebody from a credit card company calls and wants to know what to do about my account, what do I tell them? The truth. And it pains me to do that because then I am reminded again of all that has happened to bring me to this point in my life. The mortgage fraud issue. That's the main thing, then living on charity. I hate that, but there is nothing else to do at this moment. It all started in 2002 and it's still going on. Till when? Till I drop dead from sheer exhaustion?
18:28 Posted in Consequences of Foreclosure | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this
02/10/2008
My Abuse
Emotional abuse was an unheard of thing in those days. It must have existed, but nobody talked about it. How many little girls my age and younger got the same type of emotional beating I did? How many hated to go back home when their school day was over? My classmates all seemed happy, well-adjusted little girls with parents who loved each other.
I think that being abused emotionally can be worse (or just as bad) as having somebody beat you up because you did something naughty. It hurts your soul and ruins your self-esteem.
02:52 Posted in Memories | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this
02/08/2008
Different Flags Query
Eugenia Maria Renskoff
www.differentflags.com/beccar.wordpress.com
February 8, 2008
Nely Galan
Galan Entertainment
523 Victoria Avenue
Venice, CA 90291
Dear Ms. Galan,
I am writing to tell you about my novel Different Flags. 26 year-old Ani travels to Argentina. In Buenos Aires while taking care of her ailing aunt, she falls in love with a Catholic priest.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Sincerely,
Eugenia Maria Renskoff
22:18 Posted in Letters | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this
02/05/2008
Rubio--Last days
Rubio was 12 years old when he died. He was a German shepherd mix, and began to suffer from constipation problems back in January 2001, when he was 6 years old. The vets and I tried everything: mixing liquid Vaseline into his food, putting him on a vegetable diet, giving him laxatives. He had 2 operations, but neither one corrected the problem. He suffered when he had to do his doggie business and ceased enjoying his walks. On several occasions, he had to be taken to the pet hospital emergency room so that they could empty him out. On December 28, 2006, I took him for his first morning walk, but he got as far as the sidewalk. He pulled me back inside our building. That morning, Rubio refused to eat his breakfast and he did not get up from his usual place until around 2 in the afternoon. He went to drink a little bit of water and never got up again. The vet gave him an injection. It did not help. He got sores on his hips, the sores got bigger and bigger. The vet said to cure them with sugar. That did no good, either. His appetite came back after New Year’s 2007. He had stopped barking whenever a stranger walked by our door, and now his bark came back. It was feeble, but it was his. But he would never walk again. The vet recommended I have him put him down.
It was a very difficult decision for me to make. Rubio died on January 9, 2007.
I feel that I failed him. He was a great dog and my best friend. I thought of using a doggie cart, but our neighbors were not the nicest people and using the building elevator would have been a problem.
01:29 Posted in Rubio | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this
02/04/2008
Resume
Eugenia Maria Renskoff
936 Larchmont Crescent
Norfolk, VA 23508
www.differentflags.com
haedo1881@yahoo.com
1960s--Present: Travel Experience: Extensive travel in North America, Latin America and Europe. Places visited include: most of Hawaii; most of Northern and Southern California; New York City; Connecticut; Baltimore, Maryland; Annapolis, Maryland; Boston, Massachusetts; Washington, D.C.; Norfolk, VA; Monticello, VA; Charlottesville, VA; Alexandria, VA; Williamsburg, VA; Miami, Florida; North Carolina; South Carolina; Key West; New Orleans, LA; Texas; Arizona; New Mexico; Wyoming,
New Jersey; Alabama; Atlanta, Georgia; Savannah, GA; Philadelphia, PA; London, England; Paris, France; Lyon, France; Grenoble, France; The French Alps; Monaco; Geneva, Switzerland; Rome, Italy; San Remo, Italy; The South of France; Acapulco, Mexico; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Buenos Aires and Greater Buenos Aires, Argentina; Mar del Plata, Argentina; La Plata, Argentina; Cordoba, Argentina; Corrientes, Argentina; Misiones, Argentina; Bariloche, Argentina; The Iguazu Falls on three sides: Argentina, Paraguay, Brazil; Montevideo, Uruguay; Punta del Este, Uruguay; Caracas, Venezuela.
1990--Present: Literary Experience: My novel Different Flags came out to excellent reviews a few years ago. I have completed the screenplay in Spanish and am finishing the English version. I have written short stories and have finished a second novel. In addition I have attended writer’s workshops in Argentina and the US.
I was interviewed on the radio and in print regarding my novel Different Flags.
1980s--Present: Work Experience: Translation and interpreting assignments in CA, NYC, GA and Buenos Aires, Argentina. I have translated newspaper articles, pages of dialog, legal documents, letters and business brochures. I have taught English to students in Buenos Aires and Spanish to students in NYC, VA and GA.
1980s--Present: Volunteer Experience: I have worked for Catholic Charities as well as the De Young Museum in San Francisco, CA. I have also done pet rescue work. I have helped elderly friends and neighbors.
Hobbies and Interests: Film; travel; art; literature; architecture; the elderly; pets; geography; antiques; interior design, foreign languages; other cultures; fine jewelry; Art Deco jewelry pieces.
22:17 Posted in Blog | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this
Different Flags Revisited
Years ago I fell in love with a young Catholic priest. I was young and had never been in love before. He was a friend of the family and lived 3 blocks from my aunt’s house in Greater Buenos Aires. I believe he loved me too and that for him, it was a great inner struggle. I know that because I knew him well and because I was struggling myself. It’s not that I wanted to have an affair with him. No. I wanted to marry him and help him with his duties.
Should I run away from this love? Could my aunt and I move somewhere else so I wouldn’t feel what I was feeling? It didn't feel like a sin. I tried to pay no attention to people when they said that loving a priest was evil because that was tempting him away from his vocation.
We had to move anyway because she was being evicted. But I didn’t want to leave him.
My aunt and I finally went to another neighborhood and it broke my heart. I have never forgotten him.
I came back to the US. Everything was changed. I was a new person, less naive, more mature. I had learned how hard life could be. A woman's choices, my choices, sometimes weren't all that good.
00:19 Posted in Forbidden Love | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this
02/03/2008
My Mortgage Fraud Struggle
Sunday, February 3, 2008: It seems like an endless and fruitless fight. But I will persevere. Losing my home due to predatory lending and mortgage fraud has been a horrible experience. It has changed my life and made me look and feel and behave at least 20 years older. I cannot believe that it has happened to a person like me, someone already so vulnerable.I have written letters to many organizations and have received no response. It feels like I'm invisible, like my experience does not count. That is very unfair. This is why I will keep on knocking on doors, why I want to be heard and listened to.
I have lost things that cannot be recovered very easily.
23:42 Posted in Consequences of Foreclosure | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this
Remembering our Walks
Sunday, February 3, 2008: I look at the pictures of Rubio and me taken over 6 years ago and I wonder. We were very happy. He was very happy when we took those long walks down to the river. Rubio's doggie face was smiling, and he looked at the other dogs as we went from block to block. Just before we got to the river, there was time to enjoy the park. We'd sit on the grass and pretend part of it belonged to us.
23:28 Posted in Rubio | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this
Starving
February 3, 2008: At this point, I am starving for an answer. Have no idea where that lies, where I can possibly find it. Most doors are closed. New ones will not open.
17:15 Posted in Blog | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this