It’s been repeated so many times it’s almost cliche, but I must agai nreturn to Michael Caine’s comment when asked why he’d whore himself out to being in something as awful as “Jaws: The Revenge.” He replied, “I haven’t seen the movie but I hear it’s terrible. I have seen the house it built, and it’s fantastic.”
You can’t make the scene if ya don’t have the green.
Do the sites that list music lyrics have special permissions then? Just curious, because there are loads of those sites out there and they aren’t getting sued. I mean, as long as you aren’t passing them off as your own lyrics or don’t give the credit to them (or put copyright by Xband, etc), then I can see it. I know it is against board policy, but not sure it really violates copyright.
'Be regular and orderly in your life, so that you may be violent and original in your work." - Gustave Flaubert
Yes, I am a “HE” …I’m both proud and happy with my penis Thank you very much!
It may be honorary …I don’t know, but Mary, er… Homebrew you’re dangerously close to having your GayCard* revoked!
*****Mine’s been thrice revoked so who am I to judge.
Growing up, my family always told me, “Art is a good hobby, but it’ll never pay the bills.” I believed them. I tried to find work that I enjoyed as much as art, work that would give me a regular paycheck. I was miserable. I dreaded getting up every morning, and couldn’t wait to get home in the evening. Like the OP’s barrista, I always maintained that I was an artist… even though I was currently employed as <insert other job here>. After a while, though, I kinda stopped believing it.
Somehow, though, I stumbled into an actual art job (after many years of delivering pizza, system administration, tech support, and database programming).
Now I make more money as an artist than I ever did doing any of those “real” jobs. I’m also making more money than anyone else in my family. I’m also a lot happier in my career than they are. Revenge is sweet.
Do what you love, and if you really love it, the money will follow. The hardest step, though, is believing that what you love is what you should do.
I enjoyed your intriguing OP, lots of good issues entertwined.
It sounds like these “creative” people are more into envy than anything else. Their derogatory remarks are thoroughly rude. And just exactly how does your success diminish their lives?
Funny thing is – just exactly who do they think is responsible for funding The Arts? The big donors are usually major corporations and businesspeople.
And I have to agree with you that most people (broad brush) are creative in one form or another. I’m of the opinion that the world would be a better place if more of us made better use of creative outlets. Good for you for keeping yours.
“The most powerful force in the universe is compound interest” – Albert Einstein. (Okay, maybe not, but still…)
You may be right, or it may be that the sites that repost lyrics are considered small enough potatoes that no one has bothered to hassle them about it. As I understand it, the Reader prefers that we err on the side of being overly protective of copyright, as a matter of principle if nothing else.
Isn’t that what Billy (Harrison) Jr has printed on his business cards?
Ah, my favorite kind of Pit thread: the kind where I agree with just about everybody. (Why is it that I’m disagreeable in every part of my life except this part of this message board?) I don’t know how people sustain these “getting a job is selling out” attitudes past the age of, say, 18.
A related (I hope) story: I was in the drama program in high school, as were most of my friends. An older girl who used to be in that program is now an English teacher at the local middle school. When I found out where she was and told my best friend, an actress, she said something like “what a waste.” HUH? 
Okay, so this girl was a good actress and dancer in high school, but why is it a waste that she’s gone into teaching? It was high school! Maybe she realized she wasn’t Meryl Streep, or maybe she decided being a teacher made her happy and that she didn’t care that much about acting. How is it a waste or a shame that she’s now educating kids? Maybe I’m wrong and the world is being deprived of a great performer who decided it was smarter to be a teacher because of the steady pay and high job security, but I thought it was a crappy thing to say. A rare and grating moment of art snobbery from my friend. (You know something? My friend actually makes most of her money from… wait for it… teaching. Tae Kwon Do to kids. It’s a part-time job, but with that in mind I’m not sure how she saw fit to make this criticism.)
I guess Bill Door nailed it. It’s about how you define success and where you get your satisfaction. Compared to these kids, homeskillet has it all - artistic skills and outlets, steady work, and he’s not an asshole.
Absolutely. 
I could quote John Major, who ran away from a circus to go into accounting. (Later he became UK Prime Minister and had an affair in office!)
However feel free to tell your ‘acquaintances’ about my job. I teach chess, roleplaying and computer games. For a very reasonable living. 
Cash seems easier, but accrual is so much more “true”. Accrual! Accrual! What kind of business is it?
–gigi, quasi-accountant
I wouldn’t say getting a job is selling out. But, when you enter the workforce, you lose a lot of personal freedoms and even rights. To some people, those are very important things, even more than money, stability, and prestige.
Though I side more with the “artists”, I don’t understand how impractical some of them are. I think many of them can make more money teaching lessons than relying only on gigs.
Self-employment is another good alternative. Like opening up a business, selling supplies or something.
BA is Art.
There’s nothing wrong with not valueing “money, stability, and prestige”. There is something wrong with thinking that people that do value those things are somehow of less moral fiber.
This really irrritates me from my husband’s fellow grad students, who will say things that suggest they see teaching public school as a step down. I am doing good in the world! I am an evangelist for the liberal arts! None of them are my creation (I am no Pygmalion), but I’ve encouraged and shaped a heck of a lot of budding talents! I’m the one telling these kids it’s ok to value things that are not immediately practical! So their scorn at my “real job” does smart.
That’s why he’s an accountant. Everyone knows the gifted artists are a truly difficult lot. Unfortunate depending on how you look at it. One less asshole means one less pampered entertainer. Or something like that.
And a high school drama student becoming a teacher is a waste? Man, some people have no perspective at all. If you see her again, invoke my wrathful name and puch her in the tit. Or at least think about it on behalf of me. Thanks.
Maybe she could audition for a Clown Porn film, after all movies are art.
duffer, please engage critical thinking skills. I just told you that my friend teaches Tae Kwon Do. (She’s also got years of experience with Jiu Jitsu.) I prefer my arms unbroken, so… yeah. It was a dumb thing to say, but I don’t normally hit my friends, and if I did, she wouldn’t be the one I started with.
On the contrary. Because I own my own home, I can do what I wish without offending the landlord or whoever owns the place I’m living in. Because I don’t have roommates to consider, I can keep the hours I want, however late or early they are. As for rights, you do realize that, when America was first founded, one had to own property to have the right to vote (one also had to be a white male).
I’m a programmer, a poet, and, most recently, a knitter. I’ve derived as much creative joy and satisfaction from writing an elegant, efficient piece of code as I have from a beautiful poem, and I’ve got paid much more for the former.
I’ve been borderline poor and struggled to pay the rent each month. For me, worries about money stifle my creative instincts. Prestige? What makes you think many people have that at all, whether their primary focus is perceived as being art or making a living, and the two are not mutually exclusive. As for stability, I have a friend who makes his living writing mostly military and science fiction. He went through a patch a couple of years ago where his life was unstable and he spent some time bunking on people’s couches, including mine. It was one of his least productive years both creatively and financially. He’s back on his feet now, in a home he owns and loves and is heading for a good year in both regards.
Being a poet in a garret may sound good in theory, but in practice I’ve found it vastly overrated. Have I sold out? Perhaps, but I’m also realistic enough to know that it would have taken more luck and talent than I’m willing to gamble I have to make it on my own. Besides, even Bach wrote on commission and to order. It didn’t stop him from producing some of the most glorious music the world has ever known. I’ll take the money knowing I do better creative work when I’m not half-starved, scared, and suffering from near heat prostration.
My brother is a gifted musician. He knows more about music (specifically jazz) than anyone I know, and I know a lot of musicians, including professionals. But he got so wrapped up in *staying true to the art * that he neglected to learn how to support himself. As happens with most artists, he didn’t make it big (mostly due to the fact that he never learned the business side of music…didn’t want to consider those aspects because it took time away from the music).
He’s working hand to mouth (two crappy part-time jobs with no benefits). His health has suffered (can’t afford to go to the dentist or doctor, so he lets everything go). He has no retirement plan. He has been able to pay his bills, eat once a day, and that’s pretty much it. His wages have been so low that he won’t get much in the way of social security. Just enough to scrape by.
The worst part about it is that he is one of the most intelligent people I know. He just has no clue as to how the real world works. It breaks my heart.