I have a bit I do in stand up (or I would, if I ever did my act) where I claim to be a professional comedian because one time in high school someone payed me a quarter to do my Bill Cosby impression.
But I know being a professional isn't about getting paid. I genuinely think that being a professional means you do professional quality work. By a crazy series of events I've now edited 4 national spots. I earn my living by editing at an ad agency. I make money hand over fist doing freelance editing. Am I a professional? That's debatable. I still hesitate when people ask me what I do.
Friday, May 16, 2008
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
The man on the island
Recently the line came to me- The man on the island is happy with his coconuts.
That could be interpreted any number of ways.
-I could be talking about people who are happy in naivety. So, if coconuts is all you've ever known, of course you're happy with it, because you do not know that people eat meats and cakes on the mainland. This concept is similar to my point, but not it.
-I might be talking about a lack of ambition and acceptance of mediocrity. The man is happy enough with his coconuts, so he needs not escape the island to find alternatives. It's not a terrible point, but it's also not the one I was making.
-I was speaking to the behavior of the stupid and the cultureless. They refuse to show a little extra effort to catch fish, even though fish taste so much better. It might be that they lack the ability to catch the fish, or even are so bad at catching fish that they have never even tasted how much better they are. And certainly a fish enthusiast won't have any luck changing the man's opinion of the value of fish over coconuts. Besides, why would he want to? The man just sits there, grinning stupidly and munching on coconut meat.
Bitter? Maybe. But so, so true.
That could be interpreted any number of ways.
-I could be talking about people who are happy in naivety. So, if coconuts is all you've ever known, of course you're happy with it, because you do not know that people eat meats and cakes on the mainland. This concept is similar to my point, but not it.
-I might be talking about a lack of ambition and acceptance of mediocrity. The man is happy enough with his coconuts, so he needs not escape the island to find alternatives. It's not a terrible point, but it's also not the one I was making.
-I was speaking to the behavior of the stupid and the cultureless. They refuse to show a little extra effort to catch fish, even though fish taste so much better. It might be that they lack the ability to catch the fish, or even are so bad at catching fish that they have never even tasted how much better they are. And certainly a fish enthusiast won't have any luck changing the man's opinion of the value of fish over coconuts. Besides, why would he want to? The man just sits there, grinning stupidly and munching on coconut meat.
Bitter? Maybe. But so, so true.
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