My former guitar teacher is a good example of what can happen if you pursue your passion. For many years, he played guitar in a series of bands, include gigs with Alice Cooper, but never hit it big. His bands sold maybe 10,000 CDs in five or ten years. He taught guitar to make ends meet, lived very cheaply in a room over a music studio, always pursuing his dream of being a rock star despite parental demands that he give it up and make something of his life. This guy is a great combination of smart and decent.
One day he gets an offer to take his band to Germany, the UK, and other European countries on a tour. Presto, within six months, he’s a minor rock star in Germany, fronting his own band, getting all kinds of press, selling more CDs than ever before, and booked a year in advance on the live music circuit. He’s been in Germany ever since, remains popular, and has a nice house and good income. As a rock star.
My best friend back home started out in the Internet business, had some ups and downs, moved to Hollywood, started a film equipment rental company to support himself, got into making indie films, writing, and working as a cameraman. After five years, his rental company has a dozen employees and makes good coin, and he’s done several music videos and feature films as a cameraman or assistant director. He’ll be big someday, because of his personality and smarts and because he’s pursuing his passion with everything he has.
Gotta admire people who pursue their dreams no matter what.
[quote=“Tomas”]My former guitar teacher is a good example of what can happen if you pursue your passion. For many years, he played guitar in a series of bands, include gigs with Alice Cooper, but never hit it big. His bands sold maybe 10,000 CDs in five or ten years. He taught guitar to make ends meet, lived very cheaply in a room over a music studio, always pursuing his dream of being a rock star despite parental demands that he give it up and make something of his life. This guy is a great combination of smart and decent.
One day he gets an offer to take his band to Germany, the UK, and other European countries on a tour. Presto, within six months, he’s a minor rock star in Germany, fronting his own band, getting all kinds of press, selling more CDs than ever before, and booked a year in advance on the live music circuit. He’s been in Germany ever since, remains popular, and has a nice house and good income. As a rock star.
My best friend back home started out in the Internet business, had some ups and downs, moved to Hollywood, started a film equipment rental company to support himself, got into making indie films, writing, and working as a cameraman. After five years, his rental company has a dozen employees and makes good coin, and he’s done several music videos and feature films as a cameraman or assistant director. He’ll be big someday, because of his personality and smarts and because he’s pursuing his passion with everything he has.
Gotta admire people who pursue their dreams no matter what.[/quote]
I didn’t know David Hasselhof played for Alice Cooper.
Pragmatically speaking, I think I’d like to make a go of it here in Asia in the ESL biz. I know I’ll never come close to earning “retirement” money working for someone else. There are vaults full of money to be scooped up slinging verbs in Asia. As I said, pragmatically speaking…
And I have ideas…
Now, perchance to dream…
Let’s say I struck the motherlode with one of these ideas…let’s say I can do anything I want…“fuck you money” as James Clavell put it…I’d buy myself a firetrap theatre way off Broadway and produce plays not giving a whit if a bum took a seat. Produce/Direct 4 plays a year and with the dark times, ski, dive and play hockey until an avalanche, shark or deflected slapshot to the throat either swallows me or prevents me from swallowing.
Speaking of hockey, I would love to find a way to make The CIHL into paid positions for the likes of CK, DC, The Big Jabone and a host of others that should be getting paid for what they do. Ideally, I’d love to earn my income from hockey in Taiwan and pursue verb slinggery as my hobby.
[quote=“sandman”][quote=“Tomas”]My former guitar teacher is a good example of what can happen if you pursue your passion. For many years, he played guitar in a series of bands, include gigs with Alice Cooper, but never hit it big. His bands sold maybe 10,000 CDs in five or ten years. He taught guitar to make ends meet, lived very cheaply in a room over a music studio, always pursuing his dream of being a rock star despite parental demands that he give it up and make something of his life. This guy is a great combination of smart and decent.
[/quote]
I didn’t know David Hasselhof played for Alice Cooper.[/quote]
See the highlighted text.
Interesting side note–this friend is cousin to the the now dead lead singer of a hugely popular American rock band. He used to say things like “My cousin can’t get off the drugs. He’s going to end up dead.”
I think Tom Hill’s got the right idea. Great thread.
I’d really like to be one of the oh so damned ubiquitous arsholes in this part of the world that come from very monied families, are sent to fancy foreign universities, where incredibly they can buy/obtain post graduate degrees, before returning to settle down with an enormous sense of entitlement about the kinds of high salaried jobs they should and amazingly do get. I’d also like the compulsory stunning wife, and the ostentatious sports car. I would, however, be willing to pass on the crap American accent and bad grammar. I would like all of this, and a shotgun, with which I would shoot myself in the head, thereby doing the world an incredible favour.
When I was a kid I always want to be a comic book artist and draw comic book for a living. When I grew up I found out that I don’t have any artistic talent and my mom was really against the idea. So my childhood dream died.
Now I wish I can do stock trading at home for living. Some of the guys that I know just spent like 4 – 5 hours at his bedroom stare at his computer and makes a really nice living. Only if I am that lucky and experienced… Sigh…
When I was 24 the summer job I had as a carpenter building patio decks turned into a year-round position after I graduated from university. This was because I didn’t know what the heck else to do.
I’ve always, always hated getting up early, and every day as I sat eating breakfast I’d look around and think, first, I don’t want to be up this early, and second, I’d just as soon hang around at home anyway instead of going to some dreary job site where I don’t want to be.
I’m now a freelance translator. I wake up around 10:00 am and hang around at home. I go out for 2-hour bike rides in the afternoons if the weather’s nice.
