I'm the best!
My article writing gig gives me a great boost. I get paid precisely squat mind you, but I have built up enough of a nest egg to buy my own gaming computer. I will also be getting the latest MS Office for my work mind you, but this summer my hubby and I can game together or separately, which is beyond awesome. I have achieved Inferno level in Diablo III with my monk, so I need a serious machine to reflect my prowess. Not really, but the laptop I've had for seven years is taking far more upkeep and its MS Office is simply not prepared for the gauntlet I shall throw down this summer.
thomasumstattud.com
I'll use it for work, too. Geez.
A new computer will also open up the voice over work I've been toying with for a year. My excuse not to explore this avenue has been the lack of adequate technology. This upgrade will remove my excuses and hopefully propel me into yet another money making possibility. I know; I'm too busy already, but my regular gig ends in two weeks, so summer is mine to explore new opportunities.
crazy4teachers.com
Nope--not gonna do it!
Why do I do all of this? Because it has become abundantly clear to me that I cannot speak of my regular gig without ranting. One must choose the rant audience wisely. It's not like I am George Carlin, a master of the rant in my opinion, and people will pay to listen to me rant. In fact, most of the time I am apparently considered unflappable. No, really. Those are someone else's words not mine.Therefore, when I rant, it tends to make people nervous. Consequently, I must be highly selective about who I rant to. So far I have squarely one person to rant to. Thankfully he loves me too much to have me committed just yet.
panicked-chick.blogspot.com
It's a wonder he hasn't. Really.
A close friend asked me about my job last weekend. I started to discuss it. I had every intention of being calm and logical. My Goat was prepared to thoughtfully engage the topic, but then I could feel this ball of frustration churning in my gut as I tried to explain about how it is May and I still don't have all of my supplies. These are supplies that are required for the job I do at the command of my bosses and they are materials that I can't just pop over to Walmartia and grab. They are pricey and must be ordered through the head office.They haven't been because the grant ran out and there's no more money.
It's also copyrighted material so I cannot make photocopies.
Like I said, churning in my belly.
cartoonstock.com
I hate how it feels.
Then my mom asked me about work Friday night. Mind you, she used to do this job. She did it for 30 years. She got out at the right time. Anyway, she asked me and again, the rant began to build. Since I was with family and I had a little shiraz in me, I let fly the angst. Oops. Wrong audience. I think I shocked her. I did however make it plain that I have every intention of leaving this profession. My sister has left the profession. She is a librarian now and she believes strongly that she wouldn't have been able to retire if she had not moved to the library.I don't want to be a librarian.
Totally me in the library.
I also don't want to have this overwhelming boiling point of rantiness every time someone innocently asks me about my job. It saddens me beyond belief, yet I know that there does not appear to be another road for me. The one I've been on for twelve years seems to be at an end.Interestingly, when someone asks about my side gigs that pay squat, I beam. I don't care that for an article I typically get less than minimum wage. I love it. I research topics and then I get to write my perspective on the topic given a 2-3 word focus from the client. I wrote articles on everything from freezing vodka to bigfoot to why soap is a base not an acid this week. It totally rocks! It just pays exactly nothing compared to my regular job. I'm sure there's a writing union out there somewhere that I can join and get medical coverage like actors have. Freelance writers have to have insurance, right? Insurance is my next big hurdle to freedom. Must find a way to maintain medical coverage after I leave my profession.
cartoonstock.com
That would be about it.
If you are still looking for the point to all of this, it is the rant is an artform. You must choose your audience wisely. You cannot simply rant to anyone and I do not feel free to rant online via social media. I cannot rant to my bosses in any way shape or form. They get wacky notions that making me spend the day with a different age population will solve everything.They are wrong.
I love a good rant. I enjoy watching Carlin and other comedians just go to town with their righteous indignation. They can make us laugh with their brutal honesty. Rants come from a place of passion. When we care so deeply about a topic or a situation, we get personally involved and it becomes who we are. It is one way we define ourselves. Unfortunately, there will always be someone who tries to take that from you. They will make changes to things. They will make commandments. They will not listen. They will not offer useful counsel. When these become the norm, then the rant bubbles over. When you can no longer suffer your own rant, it's time to break free and find that happiness again no matter how heartbreaking or devastating the consequence.
I will grieve what I lose, but I will celebrate what I gain.
nabz-iran.com
Copy to be written later.
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