Let's go Danny!! Not that there's anything wrong with working at a movie theater -- I spend enough time/money there that it'd probably be more cost-effective to get a job at one myself lol -- but I'm glad you're employed in a sector that actually uses your writing skills, even if I sincerely doubt your only skill is being catty about nu-Frasier.
I will say, as ridiculous as it is to describe myself as a "winner" in the Media Industry Hunger Games (which I kind of am! I got my name in the New York Times before I turned 30!), that having a job in the "big leagues" where a biggish media org regularly pays you to do your "thing" creatively ... it's fine, y'know? But many of the things that actually make work fulfilling are also on offer in nearly every other occupation, even (especially) the low- or no-prestige ones. The relationship between reward and prestige may even be inverted, lol.
I will ALSO say though that, having gone through similar thoughts over the past couple years (and debating my life path and all that), very little has been as helpful to my decision-making process as your writing has. Going into more detail on that would be fodder for The DMs I think. But I don't think I'm alone in deriving great value from your work...
Hey man I found you in defector comments long ago and have really enjoyed reading your stuff. The Blood Meridian thing was really eye opening for me. Glad you found a stable job and hope to keep reading more.
So glad you've found this path for you! And even a bit envious--I'm a decade older, working retail, scribbling away at my manuscripts. Tho I admit that the routine still sustains me, even if the results don't often look like what I might want. Which is maybe the important thing?
Congratulations on all the positive changes in your life and on the fresh perspective that brings! I was lucky enough that my financial security came in something closer to the form I pictured (though never *quite* exactly what I'd hoped), and being able to look beyond a couple months into the future is really transformative. I really appreciate your enthusiasm and support for my book and am sorry it led you down a frustrating path. But I have also kind of just "given up" on actively trying to place pieces in "real" publications, because it is so often unrewarding and sometimes even humiliating, as you imply.
Honestly, I'd kill for a cinema job right now! I used to joke many years ago, just after I got out of university, I was working for an investment bank in Boston (ugghhh, my dark corporate past, thank goodness I outgrew that by age 24) and my girlfriend had a swank advertising job and when we went to parties at her colleagues' houses or flats, I got so bored of the 'what do you do for a living?' questions that I started making shit up and for a while I said I was an usher at the cinema, people looked at me like I was nuts and my girlfriend would get so embarrassed, and there was me gushing at the perks, like free films, and popcorn, etc. To this day, the best job I've ever had was working in a bookshop.
You've got so much time on your side! I'm approaching half a century and I've been semi-employed for nearly 3 years now and like you, I don't think I have many marketable skills. I am/was an EFL teacher, have been since 2005 but am trying to write full-time now (haha). I have very little ambition, just want enough to get by and I'd love to work in a cinema or bookshop now part-time just to give me extra money, but I live in Vienna and my language skills are shameful. Life rarely works out as planned, trying to make the best of it.
Congratulations! I lucked into a similarly life-changing job a few years ago and it's impossible to overstate what a relief that stability is. Maybe one day I'll feel like throwing caution to the wind again, but not any time soon!
Idk if you follow Raechel Anne Jolie's writing but she just announced a workshop for "anti-capitalists who want to learn the basics about not being broke." Sharing in case it's of interest to you. (toward the bottom of this post): https://raechelannejolie.substack.com/p/give-everybody-everything
This is a terrific piece. Congratulations on the great news! I'm rooting for you -- and I have a feeling you'll discover new levels of candor, having surrendered the Empire-era dreams of authorial success, which'll ferry you into the modern iteration of same: people who gravitate to your work because of its sincerity.
Been feeling bad about the way I responded here. I thought I detected a right-wing “government waste” odor in your question but I’m less sure that’s the case. To try to answer your question more generously, my pension is funded by taxes. I will give twenty years to the absolute tedium of keeping the city running and in return I buy a comfortable retirement, funded by the people who benefitted from my labor. And don’t worry, there’s no way I’m living to 100
Let's go Danny!! Not that there's anything wrong with working at a movie theater -- I spend enough time/money there that it'd probably be more cost-effective to get a job at one myself lol -- but I'm glad you're employed in a sector that actually uses your writing skills, even if I sincerely doubt your only skill is being catty about nu-Frasier.
I will say, as ridiculous as it is to describe myself as a "winner" in the Media Industry Hunger Games (which I kind of am! I got my name in the New York Times before I turned 30!), that having a job in the "big leagues" where a biggish media org regularly pays you to do your "thing" creatively ... it's fine, y'know? But many of the things that actually make work fulfilling are also on offer in nearly every other occupation, even (especially) the low- or no-prestige ones. The relationship between reward and prestige may even be inverted, lol.
I will ALSO say though that, having gone through similar thoughts over the past couple years (and debating my life path and all that), very little has been as helpful to my decision-making process as your writing has. Going into more detail on that would be fodder for The DMs I think. But I don't think I'm alone in deriving great value from your work...
Thanks Quiara, you’re too kind
Congratulations on the new job!
Thanks buddy!
Hey man I found you in defector comments long ago and have really enjoyed reading your stuff. The Blood Meridian thing was really eye opening for me. Glad you found a stable job and hope to keep reading more.
Appreciate it!!
Congrats on the new gig and very distinguished cat
Thanks buddy! Her beauty belies her total gremlin personality
So glad you've found this path for you! And even a bit envious--I'm a decade older, working retail, scribbling away at my manuscripts. Tho I admit that the routine still sustains me, even if the results don't often look like what I might want. Which is maybe the important thing?
Thanks pal! I admire your ability to do your writing along with such a physically taxing job. How many manuscripts are you sitting on at this point?
6 or 7 at this point, lol. They make for a fine throne
Congratulations on all the positive changes in your life and on the fresh perspective that brings! I was lucky enough that my financial security came in something closer to the form I pictured (though never *quite* exactly what I'd hoped), and being able to look beyond a couple months into the future is really transformative. I really appreciate your enthusiasm and support for my book and am sorry it led you down a frustrating path. But I have also kind of just "given up" on actively trying to place pieces in "real" publications, because it is so often unrewarding and sometimes even humiliating, as you imply.
Thanks Adam! Hey not your fault editors just don’t respond to emails—it was a petty victory when the review became one of my top posts haha
Great piece, and well done on the new job.
Honestly, I'd kill for a cinema job right now! I used to joke many years ago, just after I got out of university, I was working for an investment bank in Boston (ugghhh, my dark corporate past, thank goodness I outgrew that by age 24) and my girlfriend had a swank advertising job and when we went to parties at her colleagues' houses or flats, I got so bored of the 'what do you do for a living?' questions that I started making shit up and for a while I said I was an usher at the cinema, people looked at me like I was nuts and my girlfriend would get so embarrassed, and there was me gushing at the perks, like free films, and popcorn, etc. To this day, the best job I've ever had was working in a bookshop.
You've got so much time on your side! I'm approaching half a century and I've been semi-employed for nearly 3 years now and like you, I don't think I have many marketable skills. I am/was an EFL teacher, have been since 2005 but am trying to write full-time now (haha). I have very little ambition, just want enough to get by and I'd love to work in a cinema or bookshop now part-time just to give me extra money, but I live in Vienna and my language skills are shameful. Life rarely works out as planned, trying to make the best of it.
Best of luck, man.
Thank you! I love that story, telling people what you do is the most boring for real. Good luck to you—at least you live in Vienna!
Congratulations! I lucked into a similarly life-changing job a few years ago and it's impossible to overstate what a relief that stability is. Maybe one day I'll feel like throwing caution to the wind again, but not any time soon!
Idk if you follow Raechel Anne Jolie's writing but she just announced a workshop for "anti-capitalists who want to learn the basics about not being broke." Sharing in case it's of interest to you. (toward the bottom of this post): https://raechelannejolie.substack.com/p/give-everybody-everything
Thanks Cat! That’s a really nice piece, I’m definitely interested in that class
“Everything happens late in NM” that’s why it’s the Land of Mañana
This is a terrific piece. Congratulations on the great news! I'm rooting for you -- and I have a feeling you'll discover new levels of candor, having surrendered the Empire-era dreams of authorial success, which'll ferry you into the modern iteration of same: people who gravitate to your work because of its sincerity.
Thank you so much Alex! I loved your Cheesecake Factory piece btw
> It’s a spreadsheets-and-emails job for the city
> The retirement plan vests to 85% of your top salary after only 20 years. I could be in and out before I’m 55!
So you'll retire at 55 and get 85% of your salary until you're 100?
That's 45 years of 85% salary plus 20 years of 100% salary, for a contribution of only 20 years of actual work?
How's that sustainable? How does 20 years of work fund 65 years of pay?
Don’t post this kind of loser shit in my comments
Good luck with the new job, Danny!
Been feeling bad about the way I responded here. I thought I detected a right-wing “government waste” odor in your question but I’m less sure that’s the case. To try to answer your question more generously, my pension is funded by taxes. I will give twenty years to the absolute tedium of keeping the city running and in return I buy a comfortable retirement, funded by the people who benefitted from my labor. And don’t worry, there’s no way I’m living to 100