[Greyhound]

After 9 months of unemployment, I was offered a position as an Assistant Director of Admissions at The Art Institute in Durham.

I'm not sure how I feel about that.

Don't get me wrong....I'm stoked that the bills will be easier to pay, but I've been the primary lead on taking care of my 4-year old son, and it's going to be really difficult to let that go. In that time, I've been developing a process of imagery that nobody else has been exploring, and have just now started to see some positive results. I'm in a few galleries, have sold some stuff and have really enjoyed the creation of marketing for this product.

This job will be built upon some crazy hours, and my hesitation at this only comes from the fear that if I back off of those crucial daytime hours of communication with gallery and website owners that I will lose the valuable ground that I have gained. It ain't easy making a living at art-sh*t, but it's doable if you stay vigilant.

But.....and let's be real, here. Sometimes you don't get those choices in life. I've been fortunate enough to have this time, and 9 months was a great grace period to be able to get a business off the ground. My unemployment wouldn't have lasted longer at its current rate and the term "starving artist" is a very real and applicable term, here. Obviously, my main goal in life is to provide for the child that I love so much, and staying "core" to some kind of art-creedo takes a backseat if you ain't eating.

Meh...I guess I'll jump back into the real world again and be happy about it and give it my full effort. But, it sucks to be so close to something and have to let your hold on it loosen while you do the right thing. This is a tough economic climate and believe me, I sweated out those jobless numbers like the rest of us unemployed masses....I just don't feel as excited as I thought I would.

 

[jimmydean]

Congrats!

I would have killed someone after 3 months.

 

[stevew]

it's about time.

congrats.

 

[ALEXIS_DH]

i have a plan.

whenever i am fired from my current job, i will live of my severange package, and io estimate i can make it last for an entire year to bum off, live off my SUV in the highlands and ride my bike every day in the andes, roadtrip (maybe in the motorcycle) southamerica for a couple months... and wake up for lunch to surf and fish in beaches near the equator.

then, i will look for another job.

i live dreaming of that day.

 

[Quo Fan]

Congrats on the new gig!

 

[johnbryanpeters]

Good luck!

 

[Serial Midget]

Did anyone read the post? Don't do it!!!!

I was happily unemployed for 5 years and loved every minute of it. If you are meeting your needs and satisfying your soul, what hell - why give it up?

 

[dhmike]

Congrats !

 

[CBJ]

Or not have to worry about having the art pay for a living and just do the art you love to do in your spare time. Plus get a smart phone and sneak in some communication with the gallery and website owners

 

[Greyhound]

Did anyone read the post? Don't do it!!!!

I was happily unemployed for 5 years and loved every minute of it. If you are meeting your needs and satisfying your soul, what hell - why give it up?

I agree, buddy.

Realistically, I'm about two years at best from getting this thing where I want it in terms of sales and sustainability. My soul is in the best place it's ever been. Our bank account is in the worst place it's ever been. It's funny how you have the most fun when you have the least.

Gotta do right by my offspring though....my wife doesn't mind being dragged into the pits of poverty, but draws the line when it comes to our little crumb-snatcher. I really do need to re-up our capital in order to keep this thing going, so I'll take this one for the team until it's time to chuck the cubicle farm.

 

[Greyhound]

Or not have to worry about having the art pay for a living and just do the art you love to do in your spare time. Plus get a smart phone and sneak in some communication with the gallery and website owners

Agreed.

Droid Incredible in possession. Will do.

It's hard to get shown the promised land of being your own boss and then going back into "rules and regulations." Lose the battle, win the war, right?

 

[UiUiUiUi]

Agreed.

Droid Incredible in possession. Will do.

It's hard to get shown the promised land of being your own boss and then going back into "rules and regulations." Lose the battle, win the war, right?

good luck with finding the right balance of heart/soul and money!!!


don't forget you heart's just as important as your bank account

 

[stosh]

Congrats man! It's a tough market out there!

 

[X3pilot]

Congrats. Working is for the birds.


The kind of birds that like to pay their bills.

 

[binary visions]

The kind of birds that like to pay their bills.

And eat.


Glad to hear that the paychecks will start rolling in again. Will this entail moving to Durham or the surrounding area?

 

[Greyhound]

And eat.


Glad to hear that the paychecks will start rolling in again. Will this entail moving to Durham or the surrounding area?

The paychecks have been rolling in.....they're just itty-bitty teensy-weensy paychecks.

No move for me, though. It's only a 20 minute commute from my house.

Thanks for all the good thoughts, folks!! Y'all are the best.

 

[I Are Baboon]

Congratulations, Greyhound! Best of luck.

 

[Polandspring88]

Did anyone read the post? Don't do it!!!!

I was happily unemployed for 5 years and loved every minute of it. If you are meeting your needs and satisfying your soul, what hell - why give it up?

I demand that you share your secrets! How did you pull off such a glorious feat?


And congrats Greyhound, I think. Good luck with the art thing too.

 

[Greyhound]

Congrats man! It's a tough market out there!

Thanks, stosh!

It is a tough market. With this being my second stint on unemployment in three years from company down-sizing, I'm an old pro at not getting too panicked.

I always felt that if I could just get a chance to actually talk to someone in charge, I could talk my way into a job. It took 9 months and some 200 resume's to get there.....but we got there.

 

[TreeSaw]

Congratulations! Hopefully you can continue with your art and get plenty of time with the little man too. It's a balancing act, but you can do it!

 

[Nick]

Good luck at the new gig Greyhound. When do you start?

 

[rockofullr]

don't forget you heart's just as important as your bank account

Can't pay for a kid's college education in heart

 

[jimmydean]

Thanks, stosh!

It is a tough market. With this being my second stint on unemployment in three years from company down-sizing, I'm an old pro at not getting too panicked.

I always felt that if I could just get a chance to actually talk to someone in charge, I could talk my way into a job. It took 9 months and some 200 resume's to get there.....but we got there.

Again, congrats!

The market is weird, at least around here it is. Oregon has around 9% unemployment as a state, but IT as an industry has an unemployment rate of 1.8% in Portland. When my contract came up, I was a little nervous, but 6 phone interviews in 3 days lead to 3 in person interviews in 2 days and I had a job offer from interview #2 DURING interview #3.

I started 3 weeks ago and I am STILL getting an average of 2-3 emails/calls a day. If I would have had more notice, I could have interviewed with damn near every company within a 20 minute commute (about 40 companies). As it was, I was 3 for 3 on the in person interviews and picked the best fit.

A far cry from 2002, that's for damn sure.

 

[Greyhound]

Again, congrats!

The market is weird, at least around here it is. Oregon has around 9% unemployment as a state, but IT as an industry has an unemployment rate of 1.8% in Portland. When my contract came up, I was a little nervous, but 6 phone interviews in 3 days lead to 3 in person interviews in 2 days and I had a job offer from interview #2 DURING interview #3.

I started 3 weeks ago and I am STILL getting an average of 2-3 emails/calls a day. If I would have had more notice, I could have interviewed with damn near every company within a 20 minute commute (about 40 companies). As it was, I was 3 for 3 on the in person interviews and picked the best fit.

A far cry from 2002, that's for damn sure.

I heard that. NC has gone through so much reshuffling in terms of what their focus goes towards. We used to be textiles...that moved to Mexico. We used to be furniture...that moved to China. We had a great resurgence during the dot. com era, but that sh*t the bed in 1999. Now, it's tourism on both ends and bio-pharma and tech manufacturing in the middle.

 

[UiUiUiUi]

Can't pay for a kid's college education in heart

never said you should go all hippie and stuff

 

[Greyhound]

never said you should go all hippie and stuff

"Never go full-hippy."

 

[stosh]

Thanks, stosh!

It is a tough market. With this being my second stint on unemployment in three years from company down-sizing, I'm an old pro at not getting too panicked.

I always felt that if I could just get a chance to actually talk to someone in charge, I could talk my way into a job. It took 9 months and some 200 resume's to get there.....but we got there.

Thats crazy man! 200 resume's...... yikes!

It's getting scary slow here again. Not sure what to do, they've been real good to me but man it's scary....

 

[SkaredShtles]

Work sucks.

Congrats on the new job.

 

[CBJ]

Enough talk about your new job when will you take full control of the daily gmt thread again?

 

[Greyhound]

Enough talk about your new job when will you take full control of the daily gmt thread again?

Hahaha!! That's mighty nice of you to say that, sir.

Fact is, the GMT is handled much like the Dread Pirate Roberts. When stosh ran the show, he could frequently be overheard telling us, "Good night, sleep tight Greyhound...I'll most likely kill you in the morning."

Eventually, after becoming his valet...and then eventually his friend-he handed the GMT over to me, and I became the next Dread Pirate Roberts. I, in turn, handed it over to X3 Pilot who then handed it over to IAB, who then plundered the Lounge for quite some time, until he then left the job to Quo Fan...who I must say resembles the Dread Pirate Roberts much better than any of us.

 

[Serial Midget]

The dot com boom equaled fat paychecks for the later half of the 90s and, with so much work, there was little time to spend. Then came the bust and five years of spending what we'd saved.

As I remember there where quite a few of us knocking about the Northwest... that forum has gone quiet as PNW monkeys returned to work.

I demand that you share your secrets! How did you pull off such a glorious feat?


And congrats Greyhound, I think. Good luck with the art thing too.