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Artists with day jobs
Topic Started: Jan 29 2013, 01:13 PM (330 Views)
Mikhailoh
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If you want trouble, find yourself a redhead
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Once in his life, every man is entitled to fall madly in love with a gorgeous redhead - Lucille Ball
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jon-nyc
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Cheers
lol!
In my defense, I was left unsupervised.
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big al
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Bull-Carp
:woot:

Big Al
Location: Western PA

"jesu, der simcha fun der man's farlangen."
-bachophile
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ivorythumper
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I am so adjective that I verb nouns!
:)
The dogma lives loudly within me.
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Klaus
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HOLY CARP!!!
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Trifonov Fleisher Klaus Sokolov Zimmerman
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Mikhailoh
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If you want trouble, find yourself a redhead
:lol2:
Once in his life, every man is entitled to fall madly in love with a gorgeous redhead - Lucille Ball
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Klaus
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HOLY CARP!!!
I love this one, but I guess it is a kind of insider joke which presumably makes little sense unless you know about "Gödel, Escher, Bach".
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Trifonov Fleisher Klaus Sokolov Zimmerman
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Aqua Letifer
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ZOOOOOM!
Kind of along those lines (or maybe not), I have to go to a lot of meetings now. I find them counter-productive and spirit-crushing. But like the good committed employee that I am, I do take a lot of "notes"; basically stuff to keep my mind occupied so it's not ravaged by the stupidity. Looking at my memo pad from the previous week, I found these:



To keep ideas in text aligned,
A bullet list is fine indeed;
But not for every ****ing line
You scribble down, are we agreed?



Paradigm shifting;
Solving skillset solutions:
My soul does suffer.



You ought to know, I'm awfully awesome,
My current corporate cred is capped,
So listen to my loathsome language:
Communication clad in crap.

I cite irreconcilable differences.
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Mikhailoh
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If you want trouble, find yourself a redhead
You are a god among curmudgeons. May I adopt you?
Once in his life, every man is entitled to fall madly in love with a gorgeous redhead - Lucille Ball
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Aqua Letifer
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ZOOOOOM!
It's been kind of a stressful week. :lol:
I cite irreconcilable differences.
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Amanda
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Senior Carp
AL, curious about the job market (having two - I hope? - marketable sons). Your new job seemed like a pretty quick "find" (though I suppose you've been constantly on the lookout?).

How much do you attribute your "marketability" to having a second degree?
And/or to the job market where you are ? (wherever that is).

I've been talking about jobs with all the twenty-thirty somethings who've been in my house recently - usually, in connection with some employment (Comcast, window installers/salesmen, concrete work...). If I were to generalize about them in any way - what's different from when I was their age, it would be the degree to which they're working their butts off.

Basically, all three of the above seem to be working at least two, maybe three jobs - not actually, but in terms of hours worked for their one primary job. They seem to be "on" ALL THE TIME. Whether it's driving four-five hours to/from window installation, of having their business phone on 24/7 in case a customer has a complaint about their internet connection, or being always available as the head of his own (concrete) company...It's exhausting just to listen.

Also, they are all hyper aware of the difficulties of the job market - do not dare make waves in any way atall.
And you?

(Wondering among much else, if I'm going to need to bite the bullet - with them - and finance a second degree. College sure doesn't seem to open any doors I can see.

This is a new phenomenon.
[size=5]
We should tolerate eccentricity in others, almost to the point of lunacy, provided no one else is harmed.
[/size]

"Daily Telegraph", London July 27 2005
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brenda
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..............
Mikhailoh
Jan 29 2013, 01:13 PM
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:lol2: Like!
“Weeds are flowers, too, once you get to know them.”
~A.A. Milne
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Axtremus
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HOLY CARP!!!
Amanda
Jan 29 2013, 07:35 PM
(having two - I hope? - marketable sons)
Not sure if you've mentioned them before ... mind if I ask in what fields they have trained/studied?
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Aqua Letifer
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ZOOOOOM!
Hoo boy. ^_^ As a disclaimer, I consider myself about the last person on the planet you should ask about this sort of stuff, for reasons you'll soon discover. But you did ask me, so here goes:

Quote:
 
AL, curious about the job market (having two - I hope? - marketable sons). Your new job seemed like a pretty quick "find" (though I suppose you've been constantly on the lookout?).


Quick in terms of days spent on the search, as opposed to others? Yeah, I'd agree with that. But I also happen to live in an area with (the last time I checked) the lowest unemployment rate in the country, and I busted my ass looking for a job. Busted my ass. You don't want to know how many applications I submitted, really you don't. And that doesn't take into account just what I do for each application to maximize the possibility of getting noticed. Moving back home or getting help from family is not an option for me. It hasn't been for awhile.

Quote:
 
How much do you attribute your "marketability" to having a second degree?
And/or to the job market where you are ? (wherever that is).


Okay well mind you, I got a Master's Degree in Creative Writing. Marketability will vary much across professions and jobs within that profession, but my degree looks very bad on a resume. (Then again my reasons for going back to school differ greatly from most folks under fifty.) I don't ever say what my degree was in and I never talk about what I studied, to anyone. I say I received a Master of Arts and leave it at that. For others my age and in this area, though, I hear an M.B.A. can help.

Quote:
 
I've been talking about jobs with all the twenty-thirty somethings who've been in my house recently - usually, in connection with some employment (Comcast, window installers/salesmen, concrete work...). If I were to generalize about them in any way - what's different from when I was their age, it would be the degree to which they're working their butts off.


Yeah, I dunno. For one, the world of work is changing. Gone are the days of punching out at 5. Instant communication and constant connectivity means you never really leave the office. That's a big change.

For two, I'd say most folks my age aren't slackasses. As for me, I am and I'm not. I'll put in my time and if I'm working on something, you can bet I'll give it my all. But I don't care about work and I learned long ago that there's nothing, absolutely nothing work can offer me in terms of fulfillment. So I don't make friends with my co-workers, I don't do the happy hour thing and I don't seek to get promoted. I do a good enough job so that I feel I deserve my paycheck, and try to maximize my time outside of the office because that's where I do the things that are important.

Quote:
 
Also, they are all hyper aware of the difficulties of the job market - do not dare make waves in any way at all.
And you?


The job market is indeed very scary. I happen to know that the company I work for looks at five percent of the job applications they receive. Looks at five percent. That means an application gets reviewed by a real human being one time in twenty. And I'm sure that's about par for similar organizations.

But I don't give a **** about making waves. I'm not invested enough emotionally in where I work that I'll fall on any swords, but my job's not going to direct my life in any way. I'm single, have no dependents, very little debt, almost no assets and I'm willing to do a hell of a lot more than just about everyone my age to get by. I don't care about making nice. No one's going to live my life for me.

Quote:
 
(Wondering among much else, if I'm going to need to bite the bullet - with them - and finance a second degree. College sure doesn't seem to open any doors I can see.

This is a new phenomenon.


Not necessarily. Like I said, it varies largely on profession. I'd just do a little research first and see if it'd be in their interest to pursue one. Also, a great many companies will pay for night classes if the degree will sharpen skills they want their employees to have. Definitely take advantage of that if you can.
I cite irreconcilable differences.
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Klaus
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HOLY CARP!!!
M.C. Escher walks into a bar. The bartender says, "hey, want to hear a
joke? Okay, so M.C. Escher walks into a bar. The bartender says, "hey,
want to hear a joke? Okay, so M.C. Escher walks into a bar. The
bartender says, "hey, want to hear a joke? Okay, so...
Trifonov Fleisher Klaus Sokolov Zimmerman
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Amanda
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Senior Carp
Aqua, thank you VERY much! I know how hard it can me (for me, especially) to reply to a lengthy post with the in and out of quotes.

I'm fascinated at your experience. Funny, you said that about your area's low unemployment, as the young Comcast guy (we had a really long talk after setting up my new internet service), commented at one point that MY county supposedly has the very same distinction (Centre County, PA).

Yes, I knew your MA field, but even so, I had the impression that apart from those with REALLY popular applied fields, having X number of degrees was in and of itself a plus. And FWIW I also figured that the field of study makes a big difference too (in marketability). Somehow, it has seemed that number of degrees can, in itself, be a significant plus in getting ones foot in the door. Though one has to be able to actually DO something useful - something the employer wants to pay for.

Last (and if this curiosity is too much for the public forum, ignore it - or send a PM, please) - I can't help wondering about this. You've alluded several times (including here) to the over-riding importance to you of the work you undertake outside of your "day job". ARE you working on a novel? And/or stories and/or poems?

If so, many, many good wishes and I am intrigued at whatever it might be - although it is, I guess, kind of regulation for writers NOT to discuss what they are working on until it's done. At least, that's what I heard from the writers who were family friends (almost all family friends were "creative" - writers, in theater or visual artists). Having recently read a number of writers' biographies, I do note that they all seem to share with other writers, though (reading chapters and poems in progress for feedback). Others, though, tell the mixed group that they have found discussing unfinished work to be the surest way to jinx it against completion (and so they refuse).

At least, be sure to let us know if you've got something coming out!!

[size=5]
We should tolerate eccentricity in others, almost to the point of lunacy, provided no one else is harmed.
[/size]

"Daily Telegraph", London July 27 2005
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Aqua Letifer
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ZOOOOOM!
Quote:
 
Last (and if this curiosity is too much for the public forum, ignore it - or send a PM, please) - I can't help wondering about this. You've alluded several times (including here) to the over-riding importance to you of the work you undertake outside of your "day job". ARE you working on a novel? And/or stories and/or poems?


Oh, I've got all kinds of stuff goin' on. ^_^

Posted Image

No novel, though, so that means there goes what little chance I had to begin with to have other people read my stuff. :lol:

I have a small (okay, now it's not so small) collection of poetry I'm going to try to punt out to different publications, once I get the time to actually do so. As individual poems, mind, not as a collection. That way, when I do decide to submit something more hefty, I'll have a longer rap sheet of previous publications to help support my case. I've decided to stick with traditional publishing for now; no "independent publishing" or online stuff for me. But you've got to do a lot of things to prepare your work for publications, and most important of all is to find places in which your work would be a good fit. That's usually difficult for me, especially with poetry, so it's going to take a bit more research on my part.

I also have some stuff I worked on during my degree that I think is quite publishable. It's slightly different from the rest, so I need to go through a similar process to find out where it would likely belong.

I also write essays and short stories here and there, and I have a handful that I think are pretty good. I need to start sending them out.

Basically I need to man up and find the time to start sending things out. I have more than enough to submit.

Quote:
 
If so, many, many good wishes and I am intrigued at whatever it might be - although it is, I guess, kind of regulation for writers NOT to discuss what they are working on until it's done. At least, that's what I heard from the writers who were family friends (almost all family friends were "creative" - writers, in theater or visual artists)


Thank you for the well-wishing! Regarding the Oaths of Secrecy amongst writer-folk, yeah, they'll often do that, for a couple of reasons (very few of which actually have to do with plagiarism. ^_^ ) The stuff I'm working on is fairly diverse, but not too trendy I'm afraid, so it'll be an uphill battle to get it in print. (Especially since good ideas aren't nearly as important as how adept you are at applying them.) But writing for me has become similar to what cycling to work is to others: they don't take special time out of their day to exercise, and it's not something they need to schedule in or plan. They just do it; it's part of their daily routine.
I cite irreconcilable differences.
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