OK, this is a little embarrassing.

[suckseed]

This just proves that I don't hang out on any forums except for TS and music.
Lately I've been going through a bit of a depressed period. I made my living as a musician for many years. Toured the country, made records and all that. My band was on Jay Leno. We sold a million cd's, literally. That doesn't translate to a lot of money though after expenses. I've never made over 40k. This past year I've been building a home studio, taking lessons, writing, etc. Just lately though, I've been seriously thinking how nice it would be to have a less risky career. I am so tired of being poor, and never being able to afford to travel outside of the U.S. or think about helping my folks out as they get older...you know, all the usual stuff. Owning a home, feeling like I won't have to work some shitty job when I'm old. And making music for music's sake, not to cash in (not that I know how or want to.)

So...on to my point. Do any of you have any recommendations for how one discovers what they might be good at, enjoy, with decent future job prospects, etc.? I can go back to school whenever I want, but...to do what?
I've worked for IBM and a title company, studied real estate for awhile...blech. I'm not a cubicle type. Plus, it would be nice to feel like I was making some sort of contribution to society. I can only imagine the ocean of crap Googling this would unleash. No doubt the online universities have aptitude tests disguising their marketing tools all over the net.
Has anyone ever read a book they thought was helpful on this subject? Also, feel free to tell us about your quest for something meaningful to do that you are happy with. All I know is I need a change.

[Somedude21]

Become a lawyer? I dunno, but that's certainly not an office job. What are your interests besides music?

[MrsKellyPierce]

It's never too late to go back to school lol

[Oli]

Try finding and taking an aptitude test. It can help narrow down where to look for your future.

[TSFanTN]

It might some cheesy, but look inward. Do what you love, and success will follow.

[Jamie Michelle]

This just proves that I don't hang out on any forums except for TS and music.
Lately I've been going through a bit of a depressed period. I made my living as a musician for many years. Toured the country, made records and all that. My band was on Jay Leno. We sold a million cd's, literally. That doesn't translate to a lot of money though after expenses. I've never made over 40k. This past year I've been building a home studio, taking lessons, writing, etc. Just lately though, I've been seriously thinking how nice it would be to have a less risky career. I am so tired of being poor, and never being able to afford to travel outside of the U.S. or think about helping my folks out as they get older...you know, all the usual stuff. Owning a home, feeling like I won't have to work some shitty job when I'm old. And making music for music's sake, not to cash in (not that I know how or want to.)

So...on to my point. Do any of you have any recommendations for how one discovers what they might be good at, enjoy, with decent future job prospects, etc.? I can go back to school whenever I want, but...to do what?
I've worked for IBM and a title company, studied real estate for awhile...blech. I'm not a cubicle type. Plus, it would be nice to feel like I was making some sort of contribution to society. I can only imagine the ocean of crap Googling this would unleash. No doubt the online universities have aptitude tests disguising their marketing tools all over the net.
Has anyone ever read a book they thought was helpful on this subject? Also, feel free to tell us about your quest for something meaningful to do that you are happy with. All I know is I need a change.

And what if a good man has no place in this world, because the globalist ruling elite seek to depopulate the world by circa 90% and only have themselves and their minions remain alive?

That is to say, they want you and your loved ones dead, dead, dead. Dead. As in, dead.

So if you want something meaningful in life, then I suggest you start fighting the good fight. And by fighting, I simply mean wake up and start waking others up. Stop being a fattened sheep being led to the slaughter. Only then will your life have meaning.

[peggygee]

Perhaps take a look at the Occupational Outlook Handbook, to see what
jobs are in demand and that look intersting to you.

And then as stated perhaps take an aptitude test through the State
employment agency in your area, to see what you are most qualified
to do.


U.S. Department of Labor
Bureau of Labor Statistics
Occupational Outlook Handbook

http://www.bls.gov/oco/

[crayons]

I can help you with your problem, but I want to know whether you are looking to do what will make you happy, or what will make you money. Because the two are different. You might get one, and not the other, or you might get both (which is rare).

[suckseed]

Jamie: I was an animal rights activist for seven years. Anyone that would hurt an animal or a kid is the lowest in my book. I felt a bit better about myself, but did not see the situation improving. I think a lot about whether we're going to hell in a handbasket, whether civilization is ending, whether America has lost its original sense of purpose (or whether we ruined it right off the bat by allowing slavery). It's enough to make one just stay at home and read...which i do, a lot. But I think ultimately, humans will have to have a drastic reduction in numbers. Currently we're like termites to the planet. Something has to give. Thinking that success means umpteen billion of us is just insane. I certainly don't think that some elite group can or even will survive. Most likely, people who can lead a simple agrarian existence more or less in harmony with nature are our best shot, and I think that's fine. Knowing there are millions starving at the moment makes virtually any possible thing I might do to make my life better seem petty and trivial.

Peggy: Thank you! I'll check that out.

Silvester: I've always wanted to live in the UK! I have heard it's not possible. English musicians are some of my favorites, from Lennon to Talk talk to Bill Bruford!

Crayons: I don't care to be rich. Music is what i love...but it's not a pure pursuit. It can be drudgery touring and playing your songs to death. What I'd really like to do is help people, if that is possible. Part of me wonders whether it is. As for my income...it would be nice to be able to travel occasionally, and have a little house to fix up, and invite a woman to share my life, and just feel like I wasn't living month to month. How much does that take? I'd live a simple existence on an island somewhere, I swear, if it would lead to contentment and I was productive. I don't want to be a selfish bastard and live in a gated community. But I have more potential than to continue working a shit job and volunteer at the soup kitchen to make myself feel better about myself. I feel like I have a good mind, and a sincere desire to be a positive influence. There's more I could say, but this is already awfully long. Does that answer your question somewhat?

[Caleigh]

study music therapy

music heals

[BeardedOne]

I took one of those online occupational aptitude tests once and while I was surprised at how accurately it pegged me (Suggesting coroner and railroad engineer, both suitable for hermits like myself - I have always been up with railways and did drive several hearses as private cars), it still didn't quite click for me.

Maybe there are ways to mix your interests. I live just a couple of doors away from George Thorogood's old studio. Dumpy place, bordering on condemnation, but it got him where he wanted/needed to be. Arlo Guthrie used to jam in a crappy warehouse next to my comic store in Massachusetts (Parked that fine old Mercedes in front of my store a lot). Have you looked into music production? Music store? Dare I say it...Lessons?

[Jamie Michelle]

Jamie: I was an animal rights activist for seven years. Anyone that would hurt an animal or a kid is the lowest in my book. I felt a bit better about myself, but did not see the situation improving. I think a lot about whether we're going to hell in a handbasket, whether civilization is ending, whether America has lost its original sense of purpose (or whether we ruined it right off the bat by allowing slavery). It's enough to make one just stay at home and read...which i do, a lot. But I think ultimately, humans will have to have a drastic reduction in numbers. Currently we're like termites to the planet. Something has to give. Thinking that success means umpteen billion of us is just insane. I certainly don't think that some elite group can or even will survive. Most likely, people who can lead a simple agrarian existence more or less in harmony with nature are our best shot, and I think that's fine. Knowing there are millions starving at the moment makes virtually any possible thing I might do to make my life better seem petty and trivial.

Well, there you go, suckseed. You can't be fulfilled in this world if you take on your abusers' ideology. You're a fattened sheep being led to the slaughter, just like I said you were. And here you make excuses for why that's necessary.

You're a chump. A schmuck. A dupe. A useful idiot. A mark. You're a fattened lamb waiting to be butchered.


Peggy: Thank you! I'll check that out.

Silvester: I've always wanted to live in the UK! I have heard it's not possible. English musicians are some of my favorites, from Lennon to Talk talk to Bill Bruford!

Crayons: I don't care to be rich. Music is what i love...but it's not a pure pursuit. It can be drudgery touring and playing your songs to death. What I'd really like to do is help people, if that is possible. Part of me wonders whether it is. As for my income...it would be nice to be able to travel occasionally, and have a little house to fix up, and invite a woman to share my life, and just feel like I wasn't living month to month. How much does that take? I'd live a simple existence on an island somewhere, I swear, if it would lead to contentment and I was productive. I don't want to be a selfish bastard and live in a gated community. But I have more potential than to continue working a shit job and volunteer at the soup kitchen to make myself feel better about myself. I feel like I have a good mind, and a sincere desire to be a positive influence. There's more I could say, but this is already awfully long. Does that answer your question somewhat?

[suckseed]

Do me a favor, Jamie. In the future, ignore my posts, and I'll do you the same courtesy.

[peggygee]

it would be nice to be able to travel occasionally, and have a little house to fix up, and invite a woman to share my life, and just feel like I wasn't living month to month. How much does that take? I'd live a simple existence on an island somewhere, I swear, if it would lead to contentment and I was productive.

Have you thought about leaving the country, being an ex-pat, going
somewhere, where your money goes further?

[muhmuh]

anything besides music you loved to do as a kid?

[suckseed]

I have, a lot, peggy. I have friends that have done so. What I think would be needed would be a skill like carpentry and the like to be able to work wherever, given any level of technology.

Muhmuh, I wanted to be an oceanographer for years. then i found out how few of them are actually out in the field, and how many are in a lab improving smelt reproduction or studying arcane data. I'm a 'see tangible results quickly' kind of person i think.

[crayons]

Crayons: I don't care to be rich. Music is what i love...but it's not a pure pursuit. It can be drudgery touring and playing your songs to death. What I'd really like to do is help people, if that is possible. Part of me wonders whether it is. As for my income...it would be nice to be able to travel occasionally, and have a little house to fix up, and invite a woman to share my life, and just feel like I wasn't living month to month. How much does that take? I'd live a simple existence on an island somewhere, I swear, if it would lead to contentment and I was productive. I don't want to be a selfish bastard and live in a gated community. But I have more potential than to continue working a shit job and volunteer at the soup kitchen to make myself feel better about myself. I feel like I have a good mind, and a sincere desire to be a positive influence. There's more I could say, but this is already awfully long. Does that answer your question somewhat?

It does, and my suggestion, ask yourself, and truely take some time to come up with an answer, what it is that you FEEL you want to accomplish. You say you love music, but you want to help people. With music? Without? Do you want to be a doctor and start your own clinic? Maybe go to Africa and work with the flying doctors? Perhaps help people in your own community by raising awareness in schools about music programs (they advertise that Save the Music program on most music channels nowadays). Narrow down what you want to accomplish- regardless of how abstract, then begin to construct an avenue towards that goal.

[suckseed]

Will do. Thanks for your thoughts.

[muhmuh]

Muhmuh, I wanted to be an oceanographer for years. then i found out how few of them are actually out in the field, and how many are in a lab improving smelt reproduction or studying arcane data. I'm a 'see tangible results quickly' kind of person i think.

doesnt mean youll end up in a lab... its a job that can engross my uncle still works every day on plancton data despite being a pensioner for years (hes more of the lab type)

any other interests/childhood dreams?

[Jamie Michelle]

Do me a favor, Jamie. In the future, ignore my posts, and I'll do you the same courtesy.

I realize that conditioned serfs such as yourself mentally survive by avoiding the truth, and hence having been presented the truth of what you--by you own admittance--are, you wish that it would go away. Well, I'm not the one you have to worry about. So continue to embrace your abusers' ideology. Continue to be easy prey. For when you and those you love are ripped apart it will be by the wolves you fed, not by the doves you rejected.

Lastly, I'll leave you with some food for thought.

More than six times the amount of non-combatants have been systematically murdered for purely ideological reasons by their own governments within the past century than were killed in that same time-span from wars. From 1900 to 1923, various Turkish regimes killed from 3,500,000 to over 4,300,000 of its own Armenians, Greeks, Nestorians, and other Christians. The Soviet government murdered over 61 million of its own non-combatant subjects. The communist Chinese government murdered over 76 million of it own subjects. And Germany murdered some 16 million of it own subjects in the past century. And that's only a sampling of governments mass-murdering their own non-combatant subjects within the past century. (The preceding figures are from Prof. Rudolph Joseph Rummel's website at http://www.hawaii.edu/powerkills/ .)

All totaled, neither the private-sector crime which government is largely responsible for promoting and causing or even the wars committed by governments upon the subjects of other governments come anywhere close to the crimes government is directly responsible for committing against its own citizens--certainly not in amount of numbers. Without a doubt, the most dangerous presence to ever exist throughout history has always been the people's very own government.

Needless to say, all of these government mass-slaughters were conspiracies--massive conspiracies, at that.

Do me a favor, Jamie. In the future, ignore my posts, and I'll do you the same courtesy.

Don't worry. Jaime does drugs.

[Somedude21]

Conspiracy theories abound!

That's, uh, quite an active imagination that you have there. Sure, governments have been murdering people since the dawn of their very existance. Even their own people. But to think that they're trying to wipe out "90%" of the world's population, just so that they're the only ones left? Certainly, you must realize that without us "serfs" they don't survive. Unfortuantely, the same also applies to us. But all I've got to say about that is:

:screwy

[Jamie Michelle]

Conspiracy theories abound!

That's, uh, quite an active imagination that you have there. Sure, governments have been murdering people since the dawn of their very existance. Even their own people. But to think that they're trying to wipe out "90%" of the world's population, just so that they're the only ones left? Certainly, you must realize that without us "serfs" they don't survive. Unfortuantely, the same also applies to us. But all I've got to say about that is:

:screwy

I see, so without the ruling elite lording over us, the masses can't survive. At least you admit where you're coming from, fallacious and diabolical as it is.

For corrections to your fallacy, below are some excellent articles concerning the nature of government, of liberty, and the free-market production of defense:

"The Anatomy of the State," Prof. Murray N. Rothbard, Rampart Journal of Individualist Thought, Vol. 1, No. 2 (Summer 1965), pp. 1-24. Reprinted in a collection of some of Rothbard's articles, Egalitarianism as a Revolt Against Nature and Other Essays (Washington, D.C.: Libertarian Review Press, 1974):

http://www.mises.org/easaran/chap3.asp

"Defense Services on the Free Market," Prof. Murray N. Rothbard, Chapter 1 from Power and Market: Government and the Economy (Kansas City, Kansas: Sheed Andrews and McMeel, Inc., 1977; originally published 1970):

http://www.geocities.com/vonchloride/marketdefense.html

http://www.mises.org/rothbard/power&market.pdf

"The Private Production of Defense," Prof. Hans-Hermann Hoppe, Journal of Libertarian Studies, Vol. 14, No. 1 (Winter 1998-1999), pp. 27-52:

http://www.mises.net/journals/jls/14_1/14_1_2.pdf

http://www.mises.org/journals/scholar/Hoppe.pdf

"Fallacies of the Public Goods Theory and the Production of Security," Prof. Hans-Hermann Hoppe, Journal of Libertarian Studies, Vol. 9, No. 1 (Winter 1989), pp. 27-46:

http://www.mises.net/journals/jls/9_1/9_1_2.pdf

"Police, Courts, and Laws--On the Market," Chapter 29 from The Machinery of Freedom: Guide to a Radical Capitalism, Prof. David D. Friedman (La Salle, Illinois: Open Court Publishing Co., 1989; originally published 1971):

http://www.daviddfriedman.com/Libertarian/Machinery_of_Freedom/MofF_Chapter_29.html

[Caleigh]

Jaime, it's totally discourteous to hijack someones
thread like this.

suckseed, look into music therapy

[Quinn]

Do me a favor, Jamie. In the future, ignore my posts, and I'll do you the same courtesy.

I realize that conditioned serfs such as yourself mentally survive by avoiding the truth, and hence having been presented the truth of what you--by you own admittance--are, you wish that it would go away.

Perhaps you should take your own advice and stop "avoiding the truth" as it concerns your own condition. Here are just a few reasons why not taking your own advice has ensured your lack of credibility on this forum:


You see, this is what Satan wants. This is utlimately the real reason behind certain pharmacueticals being illegal.

Satan doesn't want people being happy. Satan doesn't want people to have fun or to experience pleasure. Satan wants mankind to experience maximal pain, and all the time.


The reason is because God has chosen me to be an Archetype. I am that thing which so-called "staight" ideologues fears most.


I am a messenger of truth sent by God.

The bio on a “paper” you posted on this site was quite informative:


Born in Austin, Texas and raised in the Leander, Texas hill country, the native-born Augustinian James Redford [aka Jamie Michelle] is a young born again Christian who was converted from atheism by a direct revelation from Jesus Christ. He is a scientific rationalist who considers that the Omega Point (i.e., the physicists' technical term for God) is an unavoidable result of the known laws of physics.

Not taking acid just might help you with the problem you have "avoiding the truth":


Picture a person on a high dose of acid at the beginning of their trip and wherein they are experiencing a good trip up to that point, and the uncontrollable laughter which they display. Step it down a few degrees (because I am not presently on acid, unfortunately), and you will have a good idea of my laughter.

I am the laughing Buddha. I am the one who knows the beginning from the end. I am the one who can laugh at all the pain of the world, because I know wherefrom we come and where it is that we go. I know our true nature.

I could go on with more examples, but feel my point has been made beyond the point of reasonable contestation.

-Quinn

[Jamie Michelle]

Jaime, it's totally discourteous to hijack someones
thread like this.

suckseed, look into music therapy

No it's not, because I pegged him from the start. I read him like an open book. And it turned out that I had him figured correctly, by his own admittance.

That ought to at least make him curious how I could size him up like that. But I don't suppose it will.

And yes, Silvester, you've got it right. Notice how all the mechanisms of the state are geared toward debasing a person and reducing them to the level of an abused and degraded animal. Take the jails for starts. These are supposedly for people who are innocent until proven guilty. Yet they take away a person's dignity by making them strip naked in front of strangers and spraying down their private parts like they're some sort of barnyard animal. Then they put them into a cell block wherein they have no protection from people who will abuse them, and wherein they have to urinate and defecate in front of everyone, again like some barnyard animal.

Government seeks to debase mankind, because as Jesus Christ and the New Testament teach, all governments are ruled by Satan. And Satan seeks maximal pain and humiliation for mankind.

Now, if one doesn't choose to believe in Satan in the sense of a sapient being, one can still understand the dynamic at work here on atheistic grounds. In this case, it's the inherent incentive structure of government which rewards ever more usurpations and rapine. For more on that, see my below article:

"Government Causes the Crime," James Redford, first published at Anti-State.com circa October 2001 http://www.geocities.com/vonchloride/govcause.html

See also my below post:

"Crushing Children's Testicles: Welcome to the New Freedom," TetrahedronOmega, August 12, 2006 http://www.armleg.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=59&mforum=libertyandtruth

And of course, see my following article:

"Jesus Is an Anarchist," James Redford, revised and expanded edition, June 1, 2006 (originally published December 19, 2001) http://praxeology.net/anarchist-jesus.pdf

[suckseed]

Didn't see that coming... :lol:

[Jamie Michelle]

Didn't see that coming... :lol:

Then maybe you'll see this coming:

More than six times the amount of non-combatants have been systematically murdered for purely ideological reasons by their own governments within the past century than were killed in that same time-span from wars. From 1900 to 1923, various Turkish regimes killed from 3,500,000 to over 4,300,000 of its own Armenians, Greeks, Nestorians, and other Christians. The Soviet government murdered over 61 million of its own non-combatant subjects. The communist Chinese government murdered over 76 million of it own subjects. And Germany murdered some 16 million of it own subjects in the past century. And that's only a sampling of governments mass-murdering their own non-combatant subjects within the past century. (The preceding figures are from Prof. Rudolph Joseph Rummel's website at http://www.hawaii.edu/powerkills/ .)

All totaled, neither the private-sector crime which government is largely responsible for promoting and causing or even the wars committed by governments upon the subjects of other governments come anywhere close to the crimes government is directly responsible for committing against its own citizens--certainly not in amount of numbers. Without a doubt, the most dangerous presence to ever exist throughout history has always been the people's very own government.

Needless to say, all of these government mass-slaughters were conspiracies--massive conspiracies, at that.

##########

Notice how all the mechanisms of the state are geared toward debasing a person and reducing them to the level of an abused and degraded animal. Take the jails for starts. These are supposedly for people who are innocent until proven guilty. Yet they take away a person's dignity by making them strip naked in front of strangers and spraying down their private parts like they're some sort of barnyard animal. Then they put them into a cell block wherein they have no protection from people who will abuse them, and wherein they have to urinate and defecate in front of everyone, again like some barnyard animal.

Government seeks to debase mankind, because as Jesus Christ and the New Testament teach, all governments are ruled by Satan. And Satan seeks maximal pain and humiliation for mankind.

Now, if one doesn't choose to believe in Satan in the sense of a sapient being, one can still understand the dynamic at work here on atheistic grounds. In this case, it's the inherent incentive structure of government which rewards ever more usurpations and rapine. For more on that, see my below article:

"Government Causes the Crime," James Redford, first published at Anti-State.com circa October 2001 http://www.geocities.com/vonchloride/govcause.html

See also my below post:

"Crushing Children's Testicles: Welcome to the New Freedom," TetrahedronOmega, August 12, 2006 http://www.armleg.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=59&mforum=libertyandtruth

And of course, see my following article:

"Jesus Is an Anarchist," James Redford, revised and expanded edition, June 1, 2006 (originally published December 19, 2001) http://praxeology.net/anarchist-jesus.pdf

[suckseed]

http://emuse.ebaumsworld.com/watch/6941

Thread's over, folks.

[Felicia Katt]

Do me a favor, Jamie. In the future, ignore my posts, and I'll do you the same courtesy.

Don't worry. Jaime does drugs.

I think she forgets to do them. She needs to take the whole prescription for it to do any good.

FK

[suckseed]

For the record - I'd never call a transexual 'he' because I thought it was funny or to put her down. I just don't buy it in this case. Not for one minute.

[Jamie Michelle]

Do me a favor, Jamie. In the future, ignore my posts, and I'll do you the same courtesy.

Don't worry. Jaime does drugs.

I think she forgets to do them. She needs to take the whole prescription for it to do any good.

FK

Ah, therein displaying the New Age man's thinking. On the one hand drugs are bad, but on the other we didn't take enough of the right kinds to make our rulers happy. At least we have a Judas goat like you to show us the way.

Do me a favor, Jamie. In the future, ignore my posts, and I'll do you the same courtesy.

Don't worry. Jaime does drugs.

I think she forgets to do them. She needs to take the whole prescription for it to do any good.

FK

Ah, therein displaying the New Age man's thinking. On the one hand drugs are bad, but on the other we didn't take enough of the right kinds to make our rulers happy. At least we have a Judas goat like you to show us the way.

YOU TAKE DRUGS!!! ILLICIT STREET DRUGS!!! LOL

[MrsKellyPierce]

Only on here..where a person shares aspects of their lives. And asks for peoples opinions. Does it turn into something totally else and negative. Jaime lay off him..what is the issue honestly? You were attacking him from the start.

[Jamie Michelle]

For the record - I'd never call a transexual 'he' because I thought it was funny or to put her down. I just don't buy it in this case. Not for one minute.

Well, whatever your feelings on the matter, it's spelled transsexual.

[Felicia Katt]

Suckseed, have you seen "School of Rock"? If you love music, and want to positively influence others, what could be better than to be a music teacher?

FK

[AllanahStarrNYC]

I see loony tunes is back....

[suckseed]

Duly noted, Cap'n Blotter.

[Jamie Michelle]

Only on here..where a person shares aspects of their lives. And asks for peoples opinions. Does it turn into something totally else and negative. Jaime lay off him..what is the issue honestly? You were attacking him from the start.

I wasn't attacking him. I was telling him what his problem was. He was looking for answers and I gave him the answer, but the correct answer wasn't the one he was looking for.

I pegged suckseed from the start. I read him like an open book. And it turned out that I had him figured correctly, by his own admittance.

That ought to at least make him curious how I could size him up like that. But I don't suppose it will.

[muttley]

I love School of Rock. I especially love all the video footage of old bands. A good music clip to see old bands is Def Leppard - Satelite of Love. It has tuns of good footage from the 70s. That clip gave me my passion for finding out about the 70s bands. Man I must have been born 10 years overdue or summint. My poor mother.

[Jamie Michelle]

I see loony tunes is back....

I see, Allanah. So the government is good and is looking out for our interests. What a erudite opinion you have. All that time in porn has obviously taught you the inherent goodness of government. Shame on me for questioning your wisdom on this matter. I guess I should love government. No doubt it's wrong of me to think evil of government.

Thank you for showing us the way, Allanah.

[MrsKellyPierce]

I see loony tunes is back....

I see, Allanah. So the government is good and is looking out for our interests. What a erudite opinion you have. All that time in porn has obviously taught you the inherent goodness of government. Shame on me for questioning your wisdom on this matter. I guess I should love government. No doubt it's wrong of me to think evil of government.

Thank you for showing us the way, Allanah. Are you in Hillsborough County by chance? And do you attend Westcare Meetings cause you look like one of the girls that went there.

[suckseed]

People who make outrageous claims as you have in times past do not arouse my curiosity, Jamie. I once met a man who seriously told me that he had been the navigator of the craft that crashed in Roswell. My reaction was something quite different than curiosity. Annoyance...perhaps a touch of pity. Mostly though, the urge to avoid him in the future.
As the Chosen One, isn't the internet a bit of a bore?

[Jamie Michelle]

I see loony tunes is back....

I see, Allanah. So the government is good and is looking out for our interests. What a erudite opinion you have. All that time in porn has obviously taught you the inherent goodness of government. Shame on me for questioning your wisdom on this matter. I guess I should love government. No doubt it's wrong of me to think evil of government.

Thank you for showing us the way, Allanah. Are you in Hillsborough County by chance? And do you attend Westcare Meetings cause you look like one of the girls that went there.

I'm in Citrus County. Below is my address if you should desire to send me a letter:

Jamie Redford
7823 W. Delia Ln.
Dunnellon, FL 34433

[suckseed]

Listen folks, I appreciate those of you who attempted to talk with me about this. I'm going to read my book now. Good night.

[MrsKellyPierce]

I see loony tunes is back....

I see, Allanah. So the government is good and is looking out for our interests. What a erudite opinion you have. All that time in porn has obviously taught you the inherent goodness of government. Shame on me for questioning your wisdom on this matter. I guess I should love government. No doubt it's wrong of me to think evil of government.

Thank you for showing us the way, Allanah. Are you in Hillsborough County by chance? And do you attend Westcare Meetings cause you look like one of the girls that went there.

I'm in Citrus County. Below is my address if you should desire to send me a letter:

Jamie Redford
7823 W. Delia Ln.
Dunnellon, FL 34433 Girl you are a looney tune..giving your address out online in a forum that can be googled

[Jamie Michelle]

People who make outrageous claims as you have in times past do not arouse my curiosity, Jamie. I once met a man who seriously told me that he had been the navigator of the craft that crashed in Roswell. My reaction was something quite different than curiosity. Annoyance...perhaps a touch of pity. Mostly though, the urge to avoid him in the future.
As the Chosen One, isn't the internet a bit of a bore?

Below are some truly outrageous, yet veridical, claims. I didn't make the world how it is, folks, I just live in it. As well, I attempt to make it better by making people face up to the horrific reality of it, but coming to terms with the truth is too much for many people.

More than six times the amount of non-combatants have been systematically murdered for purely ideological reasons by their own governments within the past century than were killed in that same time-span from wars. From 1900 to 1923, various Turkish regimes killed from 3,500,000 to over 4,300,000 of its own Armenians, Greeks, Nestorians, and other Christians. The Soviet government murdered over 61 million of its own non-combatant subjects. The communist Chinese government murdered over 76 million of it own subjects. And Germany murdered some 16 million of it own subjects in the past century. And that's only a sampling of governments mass-murdering their own non-combatant subjects within the past century. (The preceding figures are from Prof. Rudolph Joseph Rummel's website at http://www.hawaii.edu/powerkills/ .)

All totaled, neither the private-sector crime which government is largely responsible for promoting and causing or even the wars committed by governments upon the subjects of other governments come anywhere close to the crimes government is directly responsible for committing against its own citizens--certainly not in amount of numbers. Without a doubt, the most dangerous presence to ever exist throughout history has always been the people's very own government.

Needless to say, all of these government mass-slaughters were conspiracies--massive conspiracies, at that.

[Jamie Michelle]

I see loony tunes is back....

I see, Allanah. So the government is good and is looking out for our interests. What a erudite opinion you have. All that time in porn has obviously taught you the inherent goodness of government. Shame on me for questioning your wisdom on this matter. I guess I should love government. No doubt it's wrong of me to think evil of government.

Thank you for showing us the way, Allanah. Are you in Hillsborough County by chance? And do you attend Westcare Meetings cause you look like one of the girls that went there.

I'm in Citrus County. Below is my address if you should desire to send me a letter:

Jamie Redford
7823 W. Delia Ln.
Dunnellon, FL 34433 Girl you are a looney tune..giving your address out online in a forum that can be googled

No, it just means I don't live in fear. I live in Jesus Christ. You're in fear mode, girl--I'm not. When a person is in fear, they can be controlled. You're controlled.

[Felicia Katt]

Jamie, you can try all you like to get my goat, but it won't work. I don't take drugs, but have nothing against them. I don't care if my rulers are happy. But you are obviously desperately unhappy, and starved for attention and would rather be hated then ignored. I'm pretty sure you have been diagnosed with some sort of psychological or emotional disorder, and have been prescribed drugs for it, and am pretty sure you have been on and off them in the past, and are off them now. For your own sake, and happiness, you really should go back on them and back to your doctor.

FK

[Quinn]

Listen folks, I appreciate those of you who attempted to talk with me about this. I'm going to read my book now. Good night.

Good night, suckseed. Sorry to see your thread get obliterated by Capt. Blotter. For what it's worth, I was going to recommend the same thing as Felicia K. Here's why: if you get a job with as a teacher, you can make a steady income, teach music, and have some job security -- without doing the corporate thing. The summer months might also offer you the opportunity to do some more traveling.

-Quinn

[MrsKellyPierce]

I see loony tunes is back....

I see, Allanah. So the government is good and is looking out for our interests. What a erudite opinion you have. All that time in porn has obviously taught you the inherent goodness of government. Shame on me for questioning your wisdom on this matter. I guess I should love government. No doubt it's wrong of me to think evil of government.

Thank you for showing us the way, Allanah. Are you in Hillsborough County by chance? And do you attend Westcare Meetings cause you look like one of the girls that went there.

I'm in Citrus County. Below is my address if you should desire to send me a letter:

Jamie Redford
7823 W. Delia Ln.
Dunnellon, FL 34433 Girl you are a looney tune..giving your address out online in a forum that can be googled

No, it just means I don't live in fear. I live in Jesus Christ. You're in fear mode, girl--I'm not. When a person is in fear, they can be controlled. You're controlled. I do live in fear lol I'd be scared who would show up at my door if I gave my address out on this board :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

[Jamie Michelle]

Jamie, you can try all you like to get my goat, but it won't work. I don't take drugs, but have nothing against them. I don't care if my rulers are happy. But you are obviously desperately unhappy, and starved for attention and would rather be hated then ignored. I'm pretty sure you have been diagnosed with some sort of psychological or emotional disorder, and have been prescribed drugs for it, and am pretty sure you have been on and off them in the past, and are off them now. For your own sake, and happiness, you really should go back on them and back to your doctor.

FK

Once again the New Age Man is showing through in you. Yes, if we think unpleasant thoughts about the government then we should be drugged up. That's the ticket. The problem isn't that governments abuse and slaughter their subjects, the problem is that their subjects complain. Once the subjects take the right drugs, the commotions will be ended.

But I'm sure you'll be happy to know that none of the doctors I'm seeing recommend any psychiatric drugs for me.

[Jamie Michelle]

I see loony tunes is back....

I see, Allanah. So the government is good and is looking out for our interests. What a erudite opinion you have. All that time in porn has obviously taught you the inherent goodness of government. Shame on me for questioning your wisdom on this matter. I guess I should love government. No doubt it's wrong of me to think evil of government.

Thank you for showing us the way, Allanah. Are you in Hillsborough County by chance? And do you attend Westcare Meetings cause you look like one of the girls that went there.

I'm in Citrus County. Below is my address if you should desire to send me a letter:

Jamie Redford
7823 W. Delia Ln.
Dunnellon, FL 34433 Girl you are a looney tune..giving your address out online in a forum that can be googled

No, it just means I don't live in fear. I live in Jesus Christ. You're in fear mode, girl--I'm not. When a person is in fear, they can be controlled. You're controlled.

I do live in fear lol I'd be scared who would show up at my door if I gave my address out on this board :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

Well I'm not afraid of who shows up at my door. If you were to show up then I'd welcome you in.

[Felicia Katt]

Jamie, you don't have "unpleasant thoughts", you have paranoid delusions. Big difference. Please go back and see the doctors who helped you before. Not to make me happy, but maybe to give yourself a chance to be.

FK

[Jamie Michelle]

Jamie, you don't have "unpleasant thoughts", you have paranoid delusions. Big difference. Please go back and see the doctors who helped you before. Not to make me happy, but maybe to give yourself a chance to be.

FK

"[T]he doctors who helped you before"? Obviously you have a major case of projection here, Felicia. Apparently you must be thinking of your own experiences, as that comment doesn't apply to me, unless you meant to say doctors who prescribed me antibiotics or some such, which of course isn't what you meant by saying that.

As well, your above comments ignore the fact that governments abuse and slaughter their own citizens. You just reduce it all down to a problem with the citizen being mentally ill. That's not merely oblivious on your part, that's downright evil.

More than six times the amount of non-combatants have been systematically murdered for purely ideological reasons by their own governments within the past century than were killed in that same time-span from wars. From 1900 to 1923, various Turkish regimes killed from 3,500,000 to over 4,300,000 of its own Armenians, Greeks, Nestorians, and other Christians. The Soviet government murdered over 61 million of its own non-combatant subjects. The communist Chinese government murdered over 76 million of it own subjects. And Germany murdered some 16 million of it own subjects in the past century. And that's only a sampling of governments mass-murdering their own non-combatant subjects within the past century. (The preceding figures are from Prof. Rudolph Joseph Rummel's website at http://www.hawaii.edu/powerkills/ .)

All totaled, neither the private-sector crime which government is largely responsible for promoting and causing or even the wars committed by governments upon the subjects of other governments come anywhere close to the crimes government is directly responsible for committing against its own citizens--certainly not in amount of numbers. Without a doubt, the most dangerous presence to ever exist throughout history has always been the people's very own government.

Needless to say, all of these government mass-slaughters were conspiracies--massive conspiracies, at that.

[TJT]

Duly noted, Cap'n Blotter.


LOL!!! Where's Mr.Natural when he's needed?


BTW,I always thought of Jesus more as Syndicalist.

[Felicia Katt]

Jaime, this thread wasn't about the world's problems, it was about Suckseed's personal ones, and my suggestions for you were for yours. Whether you want to acknowlege it, or not, or want to keep desperately trying to divert attention (ours and your own) from it with all your off topic, off kilter rants, you really are not well, and you really should get some help.


FK

[dreamer]

wow suckseed --you really take the glory out of selling a million copies!!

[Caleigh]

suckseed - i think the unanimous advice is to get into teaching music.

Jaime, it IS rude to totally hijack someones thread the way you did. Whatever beliefs you have your postings were totally unconnected to suckseeds question.

i'm stopping watching this trainwreck of a thread.

suckseed *hug* :)

[hwbs]

damn suckseed , sorry !!!!...this is the trend lately....make a good honest post and have it twisted like a pretzel....

[Quinn]

damn suckseed , sorry !!!!...this is the trend lately....make a good honest post and have it twisted like a pretzel....

Obliterated might be another word. This goes beyond hijacking. Anyone familiar with Shanghaiing?

-Quinn

[suckseed]

To be clear - we sold a million over several cds. We had 11 people on the road, tour buses lease for around $3-400 per day, there were managers, accountants, agents, publicists, band and crew, fuel, gear, food, hotels, taxes. Our operation was hemmorhaging money. Once I discovered that the House of Blues charged us $1300 against our ten grand for hooking up the bus to shore power for the day - no one else bothered to look. Don't get me wrong - putting your debit card in the ATM and discovering $20,000 has been deposited into your account is a hell of a fun thing. But the payoff was really pennies on the dollar. The president of the record company is the only one who owns a house - a damn nice one at that.
The rest of us acted like it would only get better. I've got a bunch of musical instruments, some great memories and pictures, and honestly it was the time of my life. I once flew my girlfriend home from Nantucket on a private plane so she could take her midterms and still be with me for a week. (Wrote a paper for her too - which made her mom mad when she found out!)

I've been thinking about this teaching thing. The thing is...a room full of kids as rowdy as we were back in school fills me with dread! And I've given lessons - most people don't practice - it's frustrating, and people constantly are no-shows or call at the last minute to cancel. That would mean even less stability and more stress. Honestly, I'm more interested in doing music as an avocation. Hey, I've got to go to work now...see you guys tonight...and I really appreciate the legitimate replies. I don't mean to turn this into something just about me...I thought that others might benefit from a more general conversation about discovering ones strengths and considering jobs they might not have ever thought of.

[Kriss]

So...on to my point. Do any of you have any recommendations for how one discovers what they might be good at, enjoy, with decent future job prospects, etc.?

sell crack


Plus, it would be nice to feel like I was making some sort of contribution to society.

But seriously..........
You made a contribution with your music, gigs and CD's ,(thats Compact Disc) , you done your bit, just kick back and enjoy life buddy, work to live(if you HAVE to) not live to work.

[peggygee]

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l2/magi43/sign_nothing_funny.gif

I am leaving this
thread as quickly,
and quietly as I
can.

:roll:

But, I would love to continue
the convo in another thread. :wink:

[ezed]

http://emuse.ebaumsworld.com/watch/6941

Thread's over, folks.

THIS THREAD AIN'T OVER TILL I SAY IT'S OVER!

[ezed]

suckseed, come here........ are you listening? One word...one word....PLASTICS!

[olite71]

Become a lawyer? I dunno, but that's certainly not an office job. What are your interests besides music?


A lawyer is an office job. Even trial lawyers spend 80% of their time in an office.

[ezed]

Seriously, you're a funny (humorous) guy. Work on some materiel and do a short bit at an open mike night at a local comedy club. See how it goes. If it doesn't, move on try something else. You can garner tons of material from your experiences here.

[olite71]

Well if you love the creative arts and spending a lot of time on message boards, you will never get rich unless you stumble upon some entrepreneural venture and get lucky.


Otherwise to get some financial security you will need to trade away some of the time you use to do what you love doing right now--there really is no other way... "No free lunches," and "not having your cake and eating it too" may be cliches but they are axiomatic truths for about 98% of us.

If you're in that 2% well then wonderful...But if you feel like that is not happening, you're going to need to suck it up now and get down to the day to day grind like 98% of the world.

Within that grind well--you've got to cope. If you're on a long run, don't look down the road to the finish line 3 agonizing miles away--just keep your head down watching each step--that makes life easier--and along the way what you notice by each step might surpise you--might make you believe it ain't all that bad.

After all, humans find happiness in commisseration and camaraderie--and when you see that many are in your boat, when you find the time to enjoy those short moments (between steps) with them, you'll see that there are many little things in life to cherish.

But first things first---find a thing, and get good at applying that thing--and that makes you marketable and gives you money--so you can start the run in the first place.

[ohioboy]

Money is the root of all evil.

And it is essential to 'living' in a civilized country. So, we are programmed to what we think is 'living', but maybe we just specialized ourselves to the point that we are so dependent on 'society' that we couldn't survive by ourselves.

Or MAYBE, the poor are the adaptable people, and the rich are the dependent, and as far as dealing with lifes obstacles, the poor are better equipped???

[olite71]

Money is the root of all evil.

And it is essential to 'living' in a civilized country. So, we are programmed to what we think is 'living', but maybe we just specialized ourselves to the point that we are so dependent on 'society' that we couldn't survive by ourselves.

Or MAYBE, the poor are the adaptable people, and the rich are the dependent, and as far as dealing with lifes obstacles, the poor are better equipped???


There's a lot of truth to the song: "I've got plenty of nothing and nothing's plenty for me..." Money does give the freedom to choose the misery you want---a sort of golden handcuffs, if you will.


But there is no greater happiness then being at peace with oneself--what the spanish have a beautiful word for: "quietude."

You have that, you have everything.

But THAT, my friend is harder to get than a million bucks...Money is easy to get...most people who complain about money don't complain because it's hard to get---they complain because they forget about how they pissed so much of it away...and mistake that for it being hard to get. No, it's not hard to get. It's hard to keep.

That's a little trick that money plays on almost everybody's minds.

[muhmuh]

suckseed, come here........ are you listening? One word...one word....PLASTICS!

god i love that movie

[ohioboy]

yup....its true. Inner peace, and, I think you mentioned it in another post about relationships, maturity, and knowing who you are, are the keys to happiness. No matter how beautiful, rich or charismatic one is, if they are not at peace with themselves, and there world is not balanced, then the result is chaos.

[suckseed]

You guys crack me up! Thanks for cheering me up a little. To me, there's a huge difference between being some materialistic money-grubber, and simply being concerned for one's financial health (not to mention your loved ones.)
I appreciate the 'do what you love' and 'search your feelings, young Master Luke' stuff. But when I started this thread I was looking for more pragmatic suggestions. Simply: what jobs are there that are satisfying to do (not terminally boring or stressful) that pay decently and there's a demand for which will likely continue in the future?
Here are some quick thoughts on some occupations:
Doctor. Huge education expenses. Limited free time, with extra work demands at any time. Blood, death, misery. Verdict: Not for me.
Lawyer. Huge educational expenses. Long hours in office. Soulsucking. Nope.
Stockbroker/banking/finance/mortgages. Same as lawyer. Nope.
Carpentry. Gets you in shape. Honest work. Volatile job market. Plus I'm kinda accident prone. Hmmm.
Teacher. This one actually has some appeal. Maybe English. $40-50K sounds pretty damn nice comparatively.

See how I'm thinking about this? What would I be good at? What's not such a good idea? What's a safe bet? What would be fulfilling?

What I'm looking for is for you guys to talk about a job you do or someone you know does that they love. I'm a pretty simple guy really. Music captivated me really early in my life, and still does. I also love animals, nature, books, film. The thing I think the most about though, is someone to love. I'm extremely capable of loving one woman for the rest of my life.
I really think that the appeal of sex with beautiful strangers is an illusion to a large degree - especially compared with the way being in love feels. Love, music and animals are the three biggest things that move me. It would just be such a huge relief to be building a life with someone, and not sitting around trying to write songs better than Radiohead and the Beatles.
I've written lots of music, and performed even more, but lately all I seem to feel when listening to the radio or seeing bands is that the stuff doesn't measure up to the music that inspired me in the first place. And what if I'm kidding myself? What if I lack something - talent, ability, knowledge - or - people simply don't really like the stuff I like? I guess you could say I'm feeling diminishing returns. I've been trying to do this since I was sixteen.
I've never been able to just say to my girlfriend, "Let's go away for a while. Let's experience Paris, or Thailand, or Brazil." Or consider being a father. Or tell my stepdad he doesn't have to drive a truck anymore, that his kids will take care of him and Mom, they've done enough. Sitting around trying to write music seems pretty selfish in a way. I'm not helping anyone, and I'm not really living. Year after year goes by, and all I can say is I made another record, or bought a piano or a guitar.

It's my nature to worry. My dad worked for NASA in the sixties until they cut the space program. Then we moved from Florida to Atlanta, and became progressively poorer until he died. I've been thinking about Miriam, and how the hell she's going to pay her bills - and isn't she helping her family back in Mexico? Will she ever be able or willing to escort again? If not, how will she make it? Sometimes it seems to me that we have to try not to focus on the world's problems too much, because it is simply too much to bear. Yeah, I can always keep a roof over my head, but what about old age? What happens if my parents need to live with us kids? It just seems to me that it's time I took these questions seriously, not just for myself, but so that I can make a real, tangible difference in someone's life if I see that they're on the brink. Have any of you ever seen the Saint of Fort Washington? Danny Glover and Matt Dillon are homeless guys in New York. It's one of the saddest films I've ever seen. At the end of the movie, Danny's character stows away on a boat taking dozens of unidentified, discarded dead homeless people to a Potter's Field type cemetery on an island, and lays out some photos that Matt's character took that he got developed after Matt is killed at a shelter. He lays out all these photographs of various people that the two of them had befriended, leaves, and the wind starts blowing the pictures away. I sat there with a female friend trying to conceal my tears. I was devastated. This shit is real. It really happens, and worse besides. When I was younger I thought that I was going to somehow solve the world's problems. Now I'm wondering whether I can make a difference in even one other person's life, or even avoid somehow fucking up my life to the point that I end up like that. Okay...who feels like hearing a tune?

[TrueBeauty TS]

You guys crack me up! Thanks for cheering me up a little. To me, there's a huge difference between being some materialistic money-grubber, and simply being concerned for one's financial health (not to mention your loved ones.)
I appreciate the 'do what you love' and 'search your feelings, young Master Luke' stuff. But when I started this thread I was looking for more pragmatic suggestions. Simply: what jobs are there that are satisfying to do (not terminally boring or stressful) that pay decently and there's a demand for which will likely continue in the future?
Here are some quick thoughts on some occupations:
Doctor. Huge education expenses. Limited free time, with extra work demands at any time. Blood, death, misery. Verdict: Not for me.
Lawyer. Huge educational expenses. Long hours in office. Soulsucking. Nope.
Stockbroker/banking/finance/mortgages. Same as lawyer. Nope.
Carpentry. Gets you in shape. Honest work. Volatile job market. Plus I'm kinda accident prone. Hmmm.
Teacher. This one actually has some appeal. Maybe English. $40-50K sounds pretty damn nice comparatively.

See how I'm thinking about this? What would I be good at? What's not such a good idea? What's a safe bet? What would be fulfilling?

What I'm looking for is for you guys to talk about a job you do or someone you know does that they love. I'm a pretty simple guy really. Music captivated me really early in my life, and still does. I also love animals, nature, books, film. The thing I think the most about though, is someone to love. I'm extremely capable of loving one woman for the rest of my life.
I really think that the appeal of sex with beautiful strangers is an illusion to a large degree - especially compared with the way being in love feels. Love, music and animals are the three biggest things that move me. It would just be such a huge relief to be building a life with someone, and not sitting around trying to write songs better than Radiohead and the Beatles.
I've written lots of music, and performed even more, but lately all I seem to feel when listening to the radio or seeing bands is that the stuff doesn't measure up to the music that inspired me in the first place. And what if I'm kidding myself? What if I lack something - talent, ability, knowledge - or - people simply don't really like the stuff I like? I guess you could say I'm feeling diminishing returns. I've been trying to do this since I was sixteen.
I've never been able to just say to my girlfriend, "Let's go away for a while. Let's experience Paris, or Thailand, or Brazil." Or consider being a father. Or tell my stepdad he doesn't have to drive a truck anymore, that his kids will take care of him and Mom, they've done enough. Sitting around trying to write music seems pretty selfish in a way. I'm not helping anyone, and I'm not really living. Year after year goes by, and all I can say is I made another record, or bought a piano or a guitar.

It's my nature to worry. My dad worked for NASA in the sixties until they cut the space program. Then we moved from Florida to Atlanta, and became progressively poorer until he died. I've been thinking about Miriam, and how the hell she's going to pay her bills - and isn't she helping her family back in Mexico? Will she ever be able or willing to escort again? If not, how will she make it? Sometimes it seems to me that we have to try not to focus on the world's problems too much, because it is simply too much to bear. Yeah, I can always keep a roof over my head, but what about old age? What happens if my parents need to live with us kids? It just seems to me that it's time I took these questions seriously, not just for myself, but so that I can make a real, tangible difference in someone's life if I see that they're on the brink. Have any of you ever seen the Saint of Fort Washington? Danny Glover and Matt Dillon are homeless guys in New York. It's one of the saddest films I've ever seen. At the end of the movie, Danny's character stows away on a boat taking dozens of unidentified, discarded dead homeless people to a Potter's Field type cemetery on an island, and lays out some photos that Matt's character took that he got developed after Matt is killed at a shelter. He lays out all these photographs of various people that the two of them had befriended, leaves, and the wind starts blowing the pictures away. I sat there with a female friend trying to conceal my tears. I was devastated. This shit is real. It really happens, and worse besides. When I was younger I thought that I was going to somehow solve the world's problems. Now I'm wondering whether I can make a difference in even one other person's life, or even avoid somehow fucking up my life to the point that I end up like that. Okay...who feels like hearing a tune?


Check your PM box.



.

[muhmuh]

well searching your feelings in a way is the only way work days wont be a total drag

basically the best approach would be to build a list with the sort of stuff that genuinely interests you and then starting from the top erase all of those that will never pay a decent living... whatever stays at the top go for it

ever thought about becoming a vet?

[Somedude21]

You guys crack me up! Thanks for cheering me up a little. To me, there's a huge difference between being some materialistic money-grubber, and simply being concerned for one's financial health (not to mention your loved ones.)
I appreciate the 'do what you love' and 'search your feelings, young Master Luke' stuff. But when I started this thread I was looking for more pragmatic suggestions. Simply: what jobs are there that are satisfying to do (not terminally boring or stressful) that pay decently and there's a demand for which will likely continue in the future?
Here are some quick thoughts on some occupations:
Doctor. Huge education expenses. Limited free time, with extra work demands at any time. Blood, death, misery. Verdict: Not for me.
Lawyer. Huge educational expenses. Long hours in office. Soulsucking. Nope.
Stockbroker/banking/finance/mortgages. Same as lawyer. Nope.
Carpentry. Gets you in shape. Honest work. Volatile job market. Plus I'm kinda accident prone. Hmmm.
Teacher. This one actually has some appeal. Maybe English. $40-50K sounds pretty damn nice comparatively.

See how I'm thinking about this? What would I be good at? What's not such a good idea? What's a safe bet? What would be fulfilling?

What I'm looking for is for you guys to talk about a job you do or someone you know does that they love. I'm a pretty simple guy really. Music captivated me really early in my life, and still does. I also love animals, nature, books, film. The thing I think the most about though, is someone to love. I'm extremely capable of loving one woman for the rest of my life.
I really think that the appeal of sex with beautiful strangers is an illusion to a large degree - especially compared with the way being in love feels. Love, music and animals are the three biggest things that move me. It would just be such a huge relief to be building a life with someone, and not sitting around trying to write songs better than Radiohead and the Beatles.
I've written lots of music, and performed even more, but lately all I seem to feel when listening to the radio or seeing bands is that the stuff doesn't measure up to the music that inspired me in the first place. And what if I'm kidding myself? What if I lack something - talent, ability, knowledge - or - people simply don't really like the stuff I like? I guess you could say I'm feeling diminishing returns. I've been trying to do this since I was sixteen.
I've never been able to just say to my girlfriend, "Let's go away for a while. Let's experience Paris, or Thailand, or Brazil." Or consider being a father. Or tell my stepdad he doesn't have to drive a truck anymore, that his kids will take care of him and Mom, they've done enough. Sitting around trying to write music seems pretty selfish in a way. I'm not helping anyone, and I'm not really living. Year after year goes by, and all I can say is I made another record, or bought a piano or a guitar.

It's my nature to worry. My dad worked for NASA in the sixties until they cut the space program. Then we moved from Florida to Atlanta, and became progressively poorer until he died. I've been thinking about Miriam, and how the hell she's going to pay her bills - and isn't she helping her family back in Mexico? Will she ever be able or willing to escort again? If not, how will she make it? Sometimes it seems to me that we have to try not to focus on the world's problems too much, because it is simply too much to bear. Yeah, I can always keep a roof over my head, but what about old age? What happens if my parents need to live with us kids? It just seems to me that it's time I took these questions seriously, not just for myself, but so that I can make a real, tangible difference in someone's life if I see that they're on the brink. Have any of you ever seen the Saint of Fort Washington? Danny Glover and Matt Dillon are homeless guys in New York. It's one of the saddest films I've ever seen. At the end of the movie, Danny's character stows away on a boat taking dozens of unidentified, discarded dead homeless people to a Potter's Field type cemetery on an island, and lays out some photos that Matt's character took that he got developed after Matt is killed at a shelter. He lays out all these photographs of various people that the two of them had befriended, leaves, and the wind starts blowing the pictures away. I sat there with a female friend trying to conceal my tears. I was devastated. This shit is real. It really happens, and worse besides. When I was younger I thought that I was going to somehow solve the world's problems. Now I'm wondering whether I can make a difference in even one other person's life, or even avoid somehow fucking up my life to the point that I end up like that. Okay...who feels like hearing a tune?

On second thought, teacher seems much more up your alley, whether it's in music or otherwise. I highly suggest persuing that avenue.

[Azanti]

Suckseed,

This is a very moving post and your situation is one many people have faced I am sure. I find it particurly frustrating that I am not in a position to help out people who really need it, who in the past have tried to help out me.

I could talk about this topic all day, but I think I will just say this - Ultimately you have to ask yourself was it better to have spent your life doing something you enjoyed and just keeping your head above water and doing something you hated so you could have more financial independence. When your in the last throws of your life, remember this, when you look back into your past the only tangiable thing you will really have is memories - and all the trappings of wealth won't count for anything because ultimately memories of your life is the one thing you will always carry with you.

[RiffRaff]

Suckseed,

I know a little about what you're feeling, I worked myself ill in IT contracting and took a year off to recover, only to find that I'm too old to be employable anymore at 35 (UK). So a career change. I now work in the building game! It could not be more different to what I did before, I meet people whom I would never had any contact with before, just a thought.

You say you can't get into the UK. Thats simply not true, buy a ticket, fly over, flush your passport down the loo on the plane and seek asylum. Millions do.

IMHO I don't know what its like in the states but you increasingly need to be a bit like robocops ugly cousin to survive in schools nowadays.

I getting the feeling that you are like a lot of people who get the feeling that the worlds getting more f**ked up by degrees but just can't put their finger on it.

http://www.mininova.org/tor/616859

not for the faint hearted, its a bit akin to neo swallowing the red pill. Its also a huge download so probably best to avoid.

Also give yourself a libido boost, go and jump on the nearest roller coaster and have a blast.

hope this helps.

[dreamer]

thanks for the relay on expenses and stuff

maybe you could open a studio ---record people's shit ---maybe do guitar repair --

all the while --write a few solo project songs --see if your connections could score for you ---sell songs --