rachel syme - Gawker

posts about #rachelsyme more →
Daily Beast Editor Sends 'World's Worst Email'
The Political Is Extremely Impersonal At 'Radar'

Your version of Internet Explorer is not supported. Please upgrade to the most recent version in order to view comments.

Dsmvwl Admin Promote to frontpage Approve user Ban user ×

Maulleigh
02/20/09

In reply to Daily Beast Editor Sends 'World's Worst Email'
Thank you so much for posting this. Can this become a regular feature because I LOVE EET!! :)
Reply

Maulleigh was starred Maulleigh was unstarred

gawkimo
02/20/09

In reply to Daily Beast Editor Sends 'World's Worst Email'
Awesome deconstruction!

And hello.
Reply

gawkimo was starred gawkimo was unstarred

Austin Smith
02/19/09

In reply to Daily Beast Editor Sends 'World's Worst Email'
Really? You really just spent that much time writing that? Not only did you waste your own time writing that but you wasted my time and that of many other people. So what if she's an editor and didn't send "the PERFECT email"using MLA format and all that bullshit. It's facebook... haf tha tme ppl write lik this on facebook!!! And seriously... Who cares if the article She's writing is clichéd??? Don't read her article then. I was expecting to read something a little more interesting or at least a LITTLE worse than this which is claimed as "The World's Worst". SERIOUS exaggeration there. You should go through and pick apart your own story and see how bad you can make it sound! Thank you so much for wasting my time, for which I felt obligated to write this complaint, which in turn wasted more of my time. There... I've said what I have wanted to say now go ahead and pick it apart. Obviously you have nothing better to do.
Reply

Austin Smith was starred Austin Smith was unstarred

krismry
02/19/09

@Austin Smith: Oh, Austin, it's not that serious. Really. See up there on the top of the page? The logo? It says, as far as I can remember,'Gawker.' That was your hint right there, dear heart.
Reply

krismry was starred krismry was unstarred

Banalbany
02/20/09

@krismry: Then why the fuck take this seriously? Wait: Are you teaching a blog class at Gotham Writers? Is that what this post is about?
Reply

Banalbany was starred Banalbany was unstarred

krismry
02/20/09

@Banalbany: Banalbany, I wish I'd said this sooner and better, but I sure don't feel 'sorry' for you as a writer, just sorry that working conditions for us are no better than they'd be if vampires and reptile people were running the world. It was a comment made out of despair of ever seeing anything better for the next generation of writers and from the exhaustion of being drained after a quarter of a century in the business and finally being forced to quit because the news made me sick. And good point about the idiocy of teaching blog classes, because the one good thing about the new new thing is that we can go indie if we choose and write in any style or substance we choose. p.s. I'm glad you're so passionate. I think those who teach can't.
Reply

krismry was starred krismry was unstarred

Banalbany
02/20/09

@krismry: I actually teach, so maybe I can't. I dunno. The basis of this story is sooooo shopworn, was in NY Times Styles section eons ago. The potential of these online aggregating-type sites such as Beast and HuffPo is that some other people can be heard. To date, that has meant, like, "I go to Penn and I have a sugar daddy"-type stories, but it's a potential to break out of the icky magazineland template that.

The letter itself probably shouldn't have to be written in such a wide-net way.
Reply

Banalbany was starred Banalbany was unstarred

krismry
02/21/09

@Banalbany: Teaching is a fine service to others, I'm way off the mark here, and check your p.m. messages, I made one for you that is public so anyone who is even remotely interested can read how it is such a good idea that I go on vacation for a while. Jeepers.
Reply

krismry was starred krismry was unstarred

Banalbany
02/19/09

In reply to Daily Beast Editor Sends 'World's Worst Email'
I write articles for the Beast, and anyone who writes trend stories with news pegs--i.e., anyone who writes feature stories anyfrickinwhere--has to send out emails like this to get leads on people who have interesting things to say. Sure, the premise might be cliche, but it all depends on who writes back.

I think Rachel is cute.
Reply

Banalbany was starred Banalbany was unstarred

krismry
02/19/09

@Banalbany: I feel really sorry for you.
Reply

krismry was starred krismry was unstarred

krismry
02/19/09

@krismry: I did this dumb job for years and never once sent an email to anyone even remotely as stupid.
Reply

krismry was starred krismry was unstarred

krismry
02/19/09

@krismry: This is not how you get liars to talk.
Reply

krismry was starred krismry was unstarred

Banalbany
02/20/09

@krismry: Karen Black roundrobin rapid-fire replies, all without content, reinforces that "batshit grocery cart comment field lady" mood. Perhaps you moved upstate and should answer the email?
Reply

Banalbany was starred Banalbany was unstarred

krismry
02/20/09

@Banalbany: Owe you debt of gratitude for the reminder: is okay to *be* crazy, just make sure not to look like it. This is usa america, and appearances are everything. And hallo.
Reply

krismry was starred krismry was unstarred

Peter Feld
02/19/09

In reply to Daily Beast Editor Sends 'World's Worst Email'
Oh come on. This is overkill at a minimum. Calling her out because she dropped "I'm" in the first sentence? Or because she indicates she's in a hurry? Someone is very upset that someone else has work.
Reply

Peter Feld was starred Peter Feld was unstarred

Foster Kamer
02/19/09

@Peter Feld: Right? Is it just me, or is the person who took the time to write this email insidiously stupider than anything he/she could've footnoted? It's like a jealous EA got hopped up on David Foster Wallace and went to work.
Reply

Foster Kamer was starred Foster Kamer was unstarred

pufflehuff
02/19/09

@Peter Feld: Agreed. Her email is a 0 on the Journalist Scale of Obnoxiousness (Obnoxiousety? It ought to be Obnoxiousety), but the tipster's is knocking on 6, mmmaybe 7 on the Sub-Ed Scale of Frustrated Pedantics.
Reply

pufflehuff was starred pufflehuff was unstarred

RandomLunatic
02/19/09

@Peter Feld: I think you nailed it when you said someone is upset with this chick getting a gig.

This e-mail was obnoxious (I wouldn't have responded to such an e-mail, but I wouldn't have been mortally offended, either), but the tipster's annotations smack of out-of-work journalist working overtime on their Adderall addiction, honing the jealous hate to a razor's edge. Try Provigil, bitchy tipster, less chance of paranoid psychosis.
Reply

RandomLunatic was starred RandomLunatic was unstarred

JacquesPaysan
02/19/09

@RandomLunatic: And the footnotes are laced with typos.
Reply

JacquesPaysan was starred JacquesPaysan was unstarred

BookishLookish
02/19/09

In reply to Daily Beast Editor Sends 'World's Worst Email'
Rachel, you are pretty, but why are you wearing your boyfriend's lumberjack shirt, honey? It is a bad look.

Also, I want you to get your thyroid checked sometime this month, I do not like that eye bulge thing you are rockin'.
Reply

BookishLookish was starred BookishLookish was unstarred

minou
02/19/09

@BookishLookish: Meh. What that is is some lame Urban Outfitters "Hipster Homesteader" tunic thing.

Curse my photographic memory.

Also, she it so not cute. I mean if you like girls who look like everybody else, I guess.
Reply

minou was starred minou was unstarred

BookishLookish
02/19/09

@minou: Girl, you're good.
Reply

BookishLookish was starred BookishLookish was unstarred

slainte_pants
02/19/09

@minou: You're right, she looks (barely) just good enough to look like everyone else. If she was hotter, you'd tell your friends about it after, and if she was uglier she would be the Montauk Monster, so she just gets to sneak by on mediocrity for now.
Reply

slainte_pants was starred slainte_pants was unstarred

minou
02/19/09

@slainte_pants: I just mean she's not very original looking -- right down to the face she's making, the same face as every other remotely hip 25 yr old girl in NY, learned from the Olsen twins although she'd never admit it -- and I don't know why anybody would find that lack of originality hot enough to remark upon. I have overthought this, yes.
Reply

minou was starred minou was unstarred

EmilioKolemerit
02/19/09

In reply to Daily Beast Editor Sends 'World's Worst Email'
The ironical thing is that this is not even close to the most annoying thing about Rachel Syme.

Seriously. Ask anyone who has ever worked/interacted with her, ever.
Reply

EmilioKolemerit was starred EmilioKolemerit was unstarred

ambitious
02/19/09

@EmilioKolemerit: Tell us!
Reply

ambitious was starred ambitious was unstarred

sakade
02/19/09

In reply to Daily Beast Editor Sends 'World's Worst Email'
And hello, such as.
Reply

sakade was starred sakade was unstarred

Carol Gardens
02/19/09

In reply to Daily Beast Editor Sends 'World's Worst Email'
This is not even close to the worst email of this sort. Those are the ones of a similar nature which state that your friend is writing an article about people who cheat on their spouses and keep it to themselves, couples with sexual problems and how they cope with them, women self-conscious about their small breasts, those who dated/were married to men who are gay, etc. etc. And of course all stories will be kept confidential! Ah...the world of womens magazines!
Reply

Carol Gardens was starred Carol Gardens was unstarred

naugahydeinplainsight
02/19/09

In reply to Daily Beast Editor Sends 'World's Worst Email'
I am sure the tipster is a wonderful person, but and "prima facie" and "per favore" -- in the same paragraph? Sheesh.
Reply

♥AntiSocialSocialite♥
02/19/09

@naugahydeinplainsight: a bit pretentious, sure - but I thought the footnotes were pretty funny.
Reply

naugahydeinplainsight
02/19/09

@BeccaSaurus Rex: Absolutely. Well into the snark side.
Reply

ambitious
02/19/09

@naugahydeinplainsight: I thought it was glorious. Bonus points for correctly using hoi polloi without an unnecessary English article.
Reply

ambitious was starred ambitious was unstarred

Colonel Mustard
02/19/09

In reply to Daily Beast Editor Sends 'World's Worst Email'
She had me at hello.
Reply

Colonel Mustard was starred Colonel Mustard was unstarred

BlinkyMcChuck
02/19/09

In reply to Daily Beast Editor Sends 'World's Worst Email'
Whatevs.
Reply

BlinkyMcChuck was starred BlinkyMcChuck was unstarred

JacquesPaysan
02/19/09

In reply to Daily Beast Editor Sends 'World's Worst Email'
BTW, anyone got any info on cats? Writing an article...can't say for which magazine, but it rhymes with Fat Chancy. And hello!
Reply

JacquesPaysan was starred JacquesPaysan was unstarred

friend_of_a_friend
02/19/09

@JacquesPaysan: I've just come across a delightful website with pictures of cats with silly captions! It's a bright bit of sunshine during these hard times.
[icanhascheezburger.com]
Reply

friend_of_a_friend was starred

Botswana Meat Commission FC
02/19/09

@JacquesPaysan:

I actually watched a bit of Animal Planet and started laughing hysterically when they mentioned that Persian cats can't be left outside "because they lack street smarts."

Can't you just picture their stupid mashed up faces being bullied by the neighborhood toughs/yellow kitties?
Reply

crumb-bun
02/19/09

@Botswana Meat Commission FC: Hah! My tiny, tortoiseshell, very-mashed-faced Persian can take on (and will do so, and has done so) any cat in the 'hood. Three of her fangs are only half-fangs as a result of her exploits, but still she prevails with her one intact fang.
Reply

crumb-bun was starred crumb-bun was unstarred

Brenda Dickson's Vagine
02/19/09

@JacquesPaysan: I believe that Brenda Dickson might have something to say about cats during a recession:

+ Watch video

She's starving!!!!

Reply

jrhys
02/19/09

@BigBoobsMagee: I hope nothing ever threatens the headband budget.
Reply

jrhys was starred jrhys was unstarred

krismry
02/19/09

@crumb-bun: Aw, this makes me miss my dear departed friend cat Milo who beat up anyone who thought just because he had fluffy fur that he was poncified. No way, he was tough and lived to be almost 21. My life is bereft without him.
Reply

krismry was starred krismry was unstarred

Botswana Meat Commission FC
02/19/09

In reply to Daily Beast Editor Sends 'World's Worst Email'
Not that I have a problem with making fun of this girl, but this is nowhere near the world's worst e-mail.

I have a friend who moved out to California, then slunk back to Baltimore recently. His e-mail explaining the entire fiasco:

I ran out of loot
Reply

cmon
02/19/09

@Botswana Meat Commission FC: That may be the world's best email.
Reply

cmon was starred cmon was unstarred

Botswana Meat Commission FC
02/19/09

@cmon:

@jiminy.peep:

Well alright then!
Reply

Dogtanian
02/19/09

@cmon: I agree. Only three words long and it uses the word loot, which is a criminally neglected noun.
Reply

Dogtanian was starred Dogtanian was unstarred

bringmemyTofu
02/19/09

In reply to Daily Beast Editor Sends 'World's Worst Email'
Not that it matters at all, but she is cute.
Reply

bringmemyTofu was starred bringmemyTofu was unstarred

Artur Van Asinine
02/19/09

@bringmemyTofu: in a "i'm on speed, keswick dinner jacket wearing" kind of way, i suppose.
Reply

Artur Van Asinine was starred

bringmemyTofu
02/19/09

@Artur Van Asinine: That's right up my alley.
Reply

bringmemyTofu was starred bringmemyTofu was unstarred

Nick Douglas
02/19/09

@bringmemyTofu: She's so adorable I could forgive her for writing a terrible email. (It'll probably take me longer to forgive her for writing a terrible article.)
Reply

Nick Douglas was starred Nick Douglas was unstarred

Mount_Prion
02/19/09

@bringmemyTofu: My online dating spidey sense tells me that this is the good shot, and if you facebook friended her you would discover the horrible truth.
Reply

Mount_Prion was starred Mount_Prion was unstarred

saythatscool
02/19/09

@bringmemyTofu: @Mount_Prion: @Nick Douglas: I can smell the horny emanating.
Reply

saythatscool was starred saythatscool was unstarred

bringmemyTofu
02/19/09

@saythatscool: @Mount_Prion: @Nick Douglas: It's completely cliche, but a woman wearing a man's shirt jsut gets my toes-a-tappin'. Although, that could be a woman's shirt for all I know. I am not good at this whole hipster thing.
Reply

bringmemyTofu was starred bringmemyTofu was unstarred

bringmemyTofu
02/19/09

@bringmemyTofu: Those aren't possessive, dumbass.
Reply

bringmemyTofu was starred bringmemyTofu was unstarred

the fung
02/19/09

@bringmemyTofu: Her?
Reply

the fung was starred the fung was unstarred

Mary Mouse
02/19/09

@bringmemyTofu: I also reflexively twist my wrist around my glass in party photos, and I hate it. It just serves to screamingly advertise the fact that you will prise a quantity of free alcohol from my cold, dead hands.
Reply

Mary Mouse was starred Mary Mouse was unstarred

bringmemyTofu
02/19/09

@the fung: Absolutely.
Reply

bringmemyTofu was starred bringmemyTofu was unstarred

bringmemyTofu
02/19/09

@bringmemyTofu: Actually, the shirt seems to be made for a woman. Still really cute.
Reply

bringmemyTofu was starred bringmemyTofu was unstarred

narnio
02/20/09

@Nick Douglas: FAP FAP FAP, RIGHT BRO?
Reply

narnio was starred narnio was unstarred

Earlier discussions Other discussions Show all discussions Show featured discussions only Start a new discussion

#rachelsyme

Gawker

SUBSCRIBE TO Gawker

Daily Beast Editor Sends 'World's Worst Email'

The Political Is Extremely Impersonal At 'Radar'

Login

Reset Password

Register

Submit Your Comment