Get a haircut and get a real job
Clean your act up and don’t be a slob
Get it together like your big brother Bob
Why don’t you get a haircut and get a real job?
George Thorogood
I have always wanted to be a writer, but have never had the patience for it. Which, of course, means that I don’t really want to be a writer-right? Sitting down and banging out that thousand words a day would be easier than being a portrait photographer, wouldn’t it?
There is something to be said for the old days when you were told what you were going to do whether you liked it or not. There was no dilly dally over what your heart’s desire was or if you were following your bliss by being a butcher, baker, cobbler, or farmer. Now we have people in their sixties that are not sure what they want to do when they grow up.
There are tons of self help books that talk about The Big Dream and writing down that goal of being the next Steven Spielberg, after all, Spielberg was a nobody once upon a time, right? But I tend to think that the days are gone where you can just wander onto a movie lot and set up shop in an empty bungalow as Spielberg is reported to have done.
Still, there are tons of inspiring stories of people doing what love and loving what they do. I’d like to work for the Travel Channel or The Food Network, but it’s unlikely that they will just happen by one day and offer me a show. I have thought of being a travel writer, but again, it has not gotten too far past the planning stage.
But hey, ten bucks is ten bucks and my job pays the bills. Portrait photography is still a bit creative, in a nice routine sort of way. But unless you are taking photos of movie stars and world leaders, it is not really a road to fame and glory. I would like to have my own studio, and if I win the lotto I might look into it.
Parade Magazine used to be my favorite part of the Sunday paper and I loved reading Marilyn Vos Savant. I remember someone asked her why she didn’t get a real job. Her answer was something along the lines of, writing a weekly column is a real job.
I have a real job-but like a lot of people, I also blog at work when I have a few spare moments. Do you blog at your real job? Maybe I should be working on that vampire novel instead, being a novelist is a real job, right?
