In this thread I will whine at about jobs and my stupid life

[Anonymous]

So, today I had an interview with some bigshot technical recruitment firm. I think while I was there I realized the full extent of my hatred and contempt for the corporate world. I've known I hated it for a long time now, but I think it was extra clear to me today. My stomach was in knots my chest was having lightening bolts of pain shooting through it and I sort of felt like vomiting. Just the idea of having to go back into work like that again makes me feel dead. I've gotten to the point now where I can't even pretend to be interested in a job like that, or mask my disgust at the thought of it.
For a while now I have been having obsessive thoughts about becoming a farmer. I seem to think that this would somehow make me happy, but really I have no idea if that is true or not. I think it is purely based on the fact that it is the complete opposite of everything I hate about corporate life. It is most likely purely romantic.
It seems impossible to not constantly get dragged back into doing these computer jobs. Everytime I leave and think I will find something else to do, I end right back where I started. And it is all because of money. There just seems to be nothing else I can do that would even vaguely compete with the money I make doing those kind of jobs. I wish so much that I never started working in tech jobs. I think about that a lot. But really I have no right to bitch because in a lot of ways it is an advantage. I just think it screwed my life up
So after I left the interview I ended up accidentally driving 20 minutes outside of the city and ended up at a farm. I swear I didn't do it intentially (how would I even know where a farm was?). I just zoned out an went the wrong way. That was weird
So, I am upset. And I have no idea what to do with my life. Just the same shit over and over.
And now some other place called about a job and I need to go call them back and hope I don't vomit the sandwich I just ate in the process.
Drama.

[Protoclown]

I know what you mean about feeling dead inside. :/

If it's any consolation, I think you could make a damn good living doing your art projects one day. It just takes time, but you have as much talent as anyone I've ever seen.

[Zhukov]

Sell T-shirts and become a pick-pocket or a Jackaroo.

[kellychaos]

Or a catweigh. :)

[soundtest]

" I've gotten to the point now where I can't even pretend to be interested in a job like that, or mask my disgust at the thought of it. "

I know that feeling. Ironically enough, it seems to help when it comes to interviews for me. Perhaps the interviewer assumes that the reason I really couldn't care less is because the job is beneath my skill level so if they hire me they are scoring? Whenever I go into an interview nervous and wanting the job I never get it.

It's already sucked the life out of me. My biggest fear is how numb I'm becoming to it all. Before it would make me angry and frustrated... that energy would at least lead to something. Now I'm just drifting. It hurts me that it's not hurting me.

But yes.

OR some wacky comment about drugs or other hilarious money making schemes.

[Geggy]

you shouldve taken the red pills. :/

I'm part of the coporated world and a lot of times i feel trapped inside. it sucks hardcore. not even the amount of money I'm making can unlock me from thinking how much it sucks to be in world of fakery and asskissing. it would be nice to live in a farm and own all the animals as pets, though. working in old people's home or landscaping/construction sounds appealing to me, as well.

money, money, money. :rolleye

[Mockery]

Don't worry Re... someday I'll sell I-Mockery and then we'll be rich. :lol
















































:tear



(ps: Somebody give her a LiveJournal code. It's high time she gets one)

[CyborgDuckPenis]

If you're serious about the livejournal code thing, I have one free.

[Anonymous]

Annnnnnnnnd this job is ALL code and NO design. I can't do this



If it's any consolation, I think you could make a damn good living doing your art projects one day. It just takes time, but you have as much talent as anyone I've ever seen.

Thanks. I appreciate it. Unfortunately I really don't think about that happening.


I need someone to tell me what to do, I am obviously incapable of figuring my life out by myself.

And I can't beleive so many people are this miserable. Is this life? This is ridiculous. Why the hell does anyone bother

[Sethomas]

Last time I answered that question for myself, I awoke in the emergency room and was sent home for the quarter.

[GAsux]

By a Chia pet. If it grows, farming is your fate. If you can make a Chia grow, you will be a fantastic farmer.

[Darryl]

Nobody will hire me because I made my resume look so good, they think I am overqualified. But instead of saying that, they send me postcards saying that I am NOT qualified at all.

WTF, I sent my resume in for your stupid job. You can see that I am absolutely qualified and I work hard.
SO GIVE ME THE JOB.

Assholes. >: :die AHHHH :goth

[whoreable]

Its wierd but sometimes I just wanna live in the forest like an animal and have to worry about real stuff like survival instead of dumb little school or work things. As soon as I graduate I really jsut want someone to drop me out in the middle of nowere for a month or so, i think that would be the greatest experince of my life although it would probaly make any job I get seem more pointless. :(

[Anonymous]

They called back again. I have an interview tomorrow

At least they are not big corporate. So hopefully I will be slightly less hostile. The job itself sounds like it could not possibly be more boring though.


If I take this job I am going to buy a window garden and start practicing for my grand farming career. I actualy might build the box myself with my new dremel

[Protoclown]

I'm telling you, it'd be a crime to see you not make a decent living off your artistic talents.

[Jeanette X]

Oh God Doopa, I know how you feel, except I work in retail. Ever an anti-union video at job orientation? It was enough to make me hurl.
I hate working for corperations. I have to struggle all the time to resist the brainwashing.
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SlaveMart: Resistance Is Futile.(tm)

[mew barios]

eff. when i was in highskool i did a lil data entry thing for buying money. up til then i thought that's what i could do with my life, but damn. i figured out that wasn't gonna work. i'm happy now doing more physical work, and on days i don't work i go to a gym just to move around. if i sit still for too long, actually even just for a few days, i get all depressed and irate. :/

can you imagine a work environment that you'd enjoy? i'm not sure about farming, maybe landscaping? o..O uhh. carpentry? people are always buildin stuff.

[Mockery]

I'm telling you, it'd be a crime to see you not make a decent living off your artistic talents.

That's what I tell her. She's workin on this comic (the story for which I sincerely like so far) but I worry that this job shit will once again push it off to the side.

See, her and I have pretty much taken turns as far as work goes so the other can get some work of their own done, and she worked even longer last year, so it's been my turn to work. But now she wants to help out, which is fine, but I really hope she doesn't take on some big 3 month project or some shit, cuz I know how a job can drain all of your creative juices... and I really want to see that comic become a reality.

can you imagine a work environment that you'd enjoy? i'm not sure about farming, maybe landscaping? o..O uhh. carpentry? people are always buildin stuff.

Well she's already got a Dremel and a toolbelt. :love

[AChimp]

We should all blame our parents for allowing us to be born! >:

Seriously, though. Just deal with it. A job is a job, and if you don't like it, do like what Proto said: make your own job through your art. I'm sure that there's some artsy-folksy place where you live. Just take a table and chair and sell your art on a street corner one day. I see people doing it here in Winnipeg all the time and they make good money because there are suckers everywhere. It doesn't even have to be your best work. ;)

Farming sucks, BTW. I mean, really, really, really sucks. Half my relatives work on/around farms and they hate themselves for not having the nice things non-farm people have.

[Jeanette X]

AChimp is right. Farming is romanticized by urbanites.
Doopa, have you considered doing commissions?

[James]

Doopa, you have the rare privilege of having a dream that you have the capability of pursuing. Don't take it for granted. You want to be an artist, and you are able to produce work worthy of having your name well known and respected.

So I think you owe it to yourself to work hard on your dream. You really don't know how lucky you are.

[Anonymous]

can you imagine a work environment that you'd enjoy? i'm not sure about farming, maybe landscaping? o..O uhh. carpentry? people are always buildin stuff.

I think I like the idea of the farming thing because of when I was a kid I had a garden and some apple and pear trees, and I loved being able to eat food I grew myself. But I already said it was just a romantic idea.
I do like fresh air and being active and working with my hands. I hate bugs though(well, bees and wasps) and hate getting tan (the skin cancer!). So that is a bit of a problem as far as the farmer thing goes. Maybe one of those indoor farm things.
As for landscaping, I like the idea of it, but same problem as farming as far as sun and wasps.
Carpentry... maybe. Not sure I could like.. build decks or whatever. Maybe I could build some bird houses with my dremel.

I think the most I liked a job was when I did work at that store once for a few months doing framing. I really like the framing part of it, but the dealing with the customer part of it was horrible. Especially when they were unhappy.

I think I need to be active too. I hate sitting in front of a computer all day. I hate computers. And I hate stale air conditioned air all day. And I hate corporate drama

Doopa, have you considered doing commissions?
I have done a few, but I seriously doubt I would ever do any again honestly.

[AChimp]

I love AC. :love

[Anonymous]

Doopa, you have the rare privilege of having a dream that you have the capability of pursuing. Don't take it for granted. You want to be an artist, and you are able to produce work worthy of having your name well known and respected.

Being a sucessful artist doesn't have as much to do with talent as you think. Just like any other business, a lot of it is just shmoozing and games. And self confidence.

So I think you owe it to yourself to work hard on your dream.

I work hard at it everyday. Not because it's a dream. Because I can't help myself. It's a personal compulsion. If someday I can live off it that would be really great sure, but it's not why I do it. Whether or not I am commercially successful with it doesn't make what I do any less important to me personally.

You really don't know how lucky you are.
There is nothing lucky about it

[Mockery]

It doesn't even have to be your best work

Trust me, I know her all too well and she would NEVER put out anything for sale that she wasn't satisfied with. She's extremely picky about her art... the whole perfectionist kinda thing.

And self confidence.

I try helping you with that, but as we've already discussed, that's really something you've gotta get on your own. The one thing I've always told ya is that you don't promote your artwork nearly enough. You've got this awesome portfolio site and you haven't even promoted it anywhere on the web. You've put up a few flyers here 'n there, but it still goes unseen because you just expect people to stumble across it. There's so many art communities out there, I'm tellin ya, you gotta spread the word about it a bit more. :/

[Jeanette X]

I have done a few, but I seriously doubt I would ever do any again honestly.
Why not?

[AChimp]

Trust me, I know her all too well and she would NEVER put out anything for sale that she wasn't satisfied with.
That's too bad because she could always say that the suckiness was part of the "meaning" or something. :(

[Anonymous]

Jen - just had bad experiences with it

[James]

Well whatever. I'm just trying to say that you have the rare option of being able to turn your dream, and what you love doing, into something you can also live off of as a career. That's what I meant by working hard at it. You work hard at it on a personal level, but not a professional level.

And yes, it is luck. You're born with the love of making art, and the ability to realize that love.

[Jeanette X]

Jen - just had bad experiences with it
Agh! Don't call me Jen! I hate that! Jen is for Jennifers. I am a Jeanette.
Anyway, I hope things work out for you...its a shame to see such a talented artist like yourself turned into just another cog in the Machine.

[Anonymous]

sorry lady! That's like when people pronounce my name Mary and then I stab them in the eye. Anyway thanks

I am not looking forward to this job shit tomorrow

[AChimp]

Somebody deleted my post. >:

Either that or I stumbled drunkenly into a different thread again and posted. :(

[Stabby]

And I can't beleive so many people are this miserable. Is this life? This is ridiculous. Why the hell does anyone bother

Yeah, everyone does. But the thing is no one shows it, so you end up thinking that you're the only one and that you need to get things figured out like everyone else does. But there is nothing to figure out. I hate the corporate world, I've worked in in it for only a couple years but it feels like my whole life. I want a new job but even the process of looking for a new job sucks. All the want ads sound the same: "motivated, demanding, go-getter" if I ever meet a "go-getter" Im gonna "go get me" my nine iron and beat their face into an unrecongizable mass then they can go get them an ambulance. And resumes and cover-letters! I can't think of a more generic, mass-produced way to promote minor scholastic achievements and offer vacant promises to faceless compainies who could care less. I estimate that around 80% of my cover letters have spent more time going through the shredder and possibly being used by hobos as toilet paper than they have spent in the hands of prospective employers. I wanna move far away but its hard to just pick up and leave... Right now Im just trying to get out of the 'same old job' rut and try something new...Look at me, your thread made me start bitching too. :)

[Anonymous]

you have the coolest name ever

*but that's about it

[UnDeath]

the reason why people seem to hate life is that they dread things, including the dread. Like my old job at Jack in the Box. I fucking hated it, but I liked hating it.
Anyways, Doopa, dont loose hope, I guess. So what if you're working for a corporation, you dont have to take pride in your drudgery. revel in the fact that you hate them and yet, they give you money. Take your frustration out on canvas or something. It really helps, and canvases are much cheaper than drum heads, so its ok to stab em. And, I dunno, make Rog get in the kitchen and make you a pie.
bah, you've probably already heared this rant a million times. Oh well.

[Dole]

I think just about one of the biggest luxuries in life is having a job you enjoy- and not many people get to do that. I worked shit corporate jobs for years, and it was hell on earth, but if you persevere and have a small amount of luck you can end up with something that isnt so bad. I work two jobs and both of them are really quite reasonable, even though one of them is for just about the largest corporation in the UK. I never thought I would see the day where I would be in a situation like that, ie really not minding going to work in the morning.
I really hope you can make a living from your art, but sometimes this is a double edged sword....I know a few people who make a living from freelance artistic endeavors, and sometimes it can be really really tough. My philosophy is that if you have to rely on something you truly love to survive, it can potentially kill any enjoyment you get from it. I found that with music at any rate. As soon as I stopped trying to do it 'professionally' I enjoyed it SO much more. Of course if you can make some money from it without having to make a living from it, its the best of both worlds.
Hang in there re, you are not alone in your situation. Don't let the bastards grind you down!
And farming is really, REALLY hard work. Plus you have to get up at like 4 in the morning and work all day.

[Mockery]

My philosophy is that if you have to rely on something you truly love to survive, it can potentially kill any enjoyment you get from it.

There's definitely truth to that. She hates her latest piece that she just posted in the art forum last night. Being a Warcraft fan, I loved it, but she's already talking about taking it down. I think she takes things too seriously when it comes to her art. She doesn't believe in putting out "crap", but even if a piece is good in everybody's mind, if she doesn't like it, she'll take it down. Somebody should make a Strangepuppets.com "THE DIRECTOR'S CUT!" where she can't take down all of her art everytime she decides she doesn't like it anymore.

I guess it comes down to my belief that you just have to "let things go" at some point and stop worrying about them so much. :/

[Carnivore]

This thread is so thoroughly depressing. It makes me feel bad about enjoying my current job :(

If I ever become rich, I'll open an art gallery just for you, Re.

[sspadowsky]

My philosophy is that if you have to rely on something you truly love to survive, it can potentially kill any enjoyment you get from it.

There's definitely truth to that. She hates her latest piece that she just posted in the art forum last night. Being a Warcraft fan, I loved it, but she's already talking about taking it down. I think she takes things too seriously when it comes to her art. She doesn't believe in putting out "crap", but even if a piece is good in everybody's mind, if she doesn't like it, she'll take it down. Somebody should make a Strangepuppets.com "THE DIRECTOR'S CUT!" where she can't take down all of her art everytime she decides she doesn't like it anymore.

I guess it comes down to my belief that you just have to "let things go" at some point and stop worrying about them so much. :/

That's the shitty part of the cerative process: If she doesn't like it, that's all that matters to her. I think it's that way with most artists- a hundred million people could like it, and it wouldn't matter because SHE didn't like it.

But all artists are fruitcakes and whack-jobs, so their judgement is inherently suspect. ;)

You have spectacular talent, Re. I don't think there's any job in the world that could kill your art.
________
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[Protoclown]

Oh, and just where have YOU been, Mr. I'm-Too-Cool-To-Post-Here-Because-I'm-Getting-Married-And-I-Have-a-Life? >:

;)

[sspadowsky]

I've been too busy allowing my creativity to be sapped by my soulless corporate job.

That and trying to figure out how the fuck I'm going to pay for our honeymoon. If anyone has three grand they can give me, let me know.
________
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[mburbank]

Infotech is to todays workforce what the assembly line was to our parents and the mills to our great grandparents.

Soul deadening jobs are tough, no doubt about it. I strongly recomend steering the mid away from loathing. Be as zen as you can. "Chop wood carry water" they say, and that can be the same with the keyboard.

Here's my suggestion. Art therapy. There are lot of crazy little kids out there (and frightening adolescents locked up in wards) and they all need to draw. It's meaningful work, helping kids who need help is highly rewarding, crazy ass kids are buckets of fun if tey are not your crazy ass kids and you get to have art supplies. I also think, in my limmited experience of you, that crazy ass kids would see you as someone they could trust. I mean that as a compliment. You would need to go back to school, and a s human services field, it pays shit. But it wouldn't crush your soul, hell, it might even fuel it.

Having given my two cents on that, here's the follow up. Be as critical as you like where it hones your skills, but the results of any individual work are unimportant. It is the body of work you produce throughout the course of your life, and the process of doing that work that is meaningful. The individual works belong to your audience. The process alone belongs to you. The only reason I've been able to work as long as I have at writting, art and performing with so little financial success is that I'm immersed in the process. Anything I get in return is gravy.

Mmmmm. Gravy.

I also hate and have failed miserably at the business/schmooze end of things. If you can find someone to do that for you (and lord knows I have not) let go of it entirely. Especially where you are a visual artist, you can get away very easily with being moddy, sullen and uncommunicative. But if you do find someone to do business for you, I strongly suggest you let go of every aspect of your work but it's creation. That inlcudes judging finished pieces worthy or unworthy. Just work.

[whoreable]

peronally i like my idea of living with the animals best


http://www.chameleon-arts.com/gavs/images/junglebook.gif

oh how simple life would be.

[soundtest]

And I can't beleive so many people are this miserable. Is this life? This is ridiculous. Why the hell does anyone bother

Curiosity. Sad sad hope that things will possibly get better and I'll live happily ever after. I should sue Disney for that... but if I did and won millions then I'd whine about the taxes and the government, I'm sure.

[FS]

whoreable, your idea is romanticized too. Reality would probably be more like this:

http://ender.com/~armesti/big-gulp/20000501_07:19:11_138.jpg

[Jeanette X]

You'd actually be kind of suprised. Children have been raised by animals. Go to www.feralchildren.com

[whoreable]

i knew it was a great idea! (http://www.feralchildren.com/en/showchild.php?ch=joseph)!

sorry you had to be so very WRONG fs.





but seriously thats a pretty interesting site. but i do really want to do a survival trip for a few weeks or so. sure i might die, but i think the experience would be worth it.

[FS]

Whatever :rolleyes just don't come crying to me when some singing bear swallows you whole.

[whoreable]

Whatever :rolleyes just don't come crying to me when some singing bear befriends you and takes you in as their son.

[Jeanette X]

but seriously thats a pretty interesting site. but i do really want to do a survival trip for a few weeks or so. sure i might die, but i think the experience would be worth it.
A survival trip?! How much woods experience do you have?!

[whoreable]

not much. i have stayed out by myself for only one night with nothing. but i used to camp in scouts :nerd alot and go on big week long trips. I think with a few basic tools, and a little bit more reasearch on some survival techniques i would be ok. granted i dont know how well i would do but i think i could survive for two weeks at least.

[Skulhedface]

Well Doopa... have you considered tattoo artistry? :lol

It worked out for me. I get to do something I love and make a more than decent living at it. The best part is, the only person I have to answer to is a friendly (albeit heavily tattooed) metalhead.

Maybe it might not be up your alley, but trust me, I knew what you were feeling, and despite all the negative stigma surrounding it, it's actually a SAFER job to work than most, heh... well, just as long as you don't fuck up and forget to sterilize something.

At any rate... it was a job I as an artist enjoy the hell out of, and it's definitely not making me poor...

[Jeanette X]

Skullhed, I didn't know you were a tattoo artist. How about posting some pictures of your work?

[O71394658]

Not to burst your bubble or anything...

Is Your Job Boring You To Death?
Tuesday June 24, 2003


By MICHAEL CHIRON

HOUSTON, Texas -- Warning: That boring, humdrum job of yours could actually kill you, a chilling new scientific study reveals.

Researchers from the University of Texas School of Public Health have found that workers who drift through the day in undemanding jobs with little control over what they do are 35 percent more likely to drop dead in a given 10-year period than workers in more challenging positions.

The results fly in the face of conventional wisdom, which holds that people with exciting but high-stress jobs such as CEO, espionage agent or nuclear sub commander are more likely to keel over dead from heart attacks.

Instead, the university experts now say it's clock-watching drones -- like comic-strip wage-slave Dilbert or Drew Carey's character in his popular TV sitcom -- who are headed for an early grave.

In other words, you really can die of boredom.

The experts, whose stunning findings were published in the Journal of Psychosomatic Medicine, warn that folks in mind-numbingly boring jobs tend to feel increasingly useless and detached from events around them.

This often leads to "adopting of high-risk behaviors that can lead to a higher risk of death," such as boozing heavily, writes professor Benjamin C. Amick III, lead author of the eye-opening study.

Amick and his team based their conclusions on surveys and other data collected from 7,500 adults nationwide in a variety of occupations.

The most deadly jobs, they found, were those that the subjects found dull as dishwater -- ho-hum positions such as night janitor that "are largely lacking in meaningful content," according to Amick.

The dullsville-equals-deadville study suggests that doing something you find rewarding is essential for a long and healthy life.

"The meaningfulness of work may be an important contributor," says Amick.


ARE YOU AT RISK?
Forget about the so-called "risky" jobs like firefighter, bomb-defuser, fighter pilot or transporting nitroglycerin over mountainous backroads by truck. Experts say you're most likely to die in the next 10 years if you have a snooze-worthy job like one of these:

Tollbooth operator
Doorman
Assembly-line worker
Lighthouse keeper
Screw inspector
Exterminator
Proofreader
Night watchman
Gravedigger
Thumbtack salesman

[Anonymous]

holay makaronah thanks for the encouragement and sympathy

about rog talking about me and hating my art or overthinking it or whatnot... well if I ever actually liked it or was satisfied by something I did I would probably stop doing it. Then the 'problem' would be solved, because that's what it feels like to me - that I am solving a problem. So it's ok to hate what you do SOMETIMES.
(not with a job though. that's whole different hate)

but I agree with dole about trying to make a living off of it can kill it. I think that makes me overthink things in a bad way. In a "can I sell this" way. So that is why I have more recently really tried not to even think about that sort of success or whatever. I just need to work on it and not worry about it (this also related to what Max said about the process being more important. If I have to worry about making money, the end product is what becomes more important to me)

anyway, there is a lot in this thread I will need to think about

I had that job interview thing today. At least the people seem decent so if I get it I think that would be ok for now.

Late this afternoon I took a nap and had a FARM NIGHTMARE. So I think that killed my farm dreams. It was wicked frightening. At the end of the nightmare I literally 'put a lid on it' (the farm. a giant lid). But I am still going to start a window box, amd maybe someday I will have a fairly big garden and I can have a stand at the side of the road to sell my lettuce and peas.

I feel bad for everyone else who is miserable. I don't think it is necessary. It's just a matter of figuring out something that you wold enjoy and that is reasonably obtainable. What do I know I am still miserable. What I can't understand is why there are people in these jobs who are miserable themselves and hate it (managing/exec positions) who feel the need to inflict misery on everyone else. You would think they would be understanding and try to make things better.

[whoreable]

at the same time though, work is just something ya gotta do if you enjoy it or not. work doesnt have to be your whole life. i am sure once i get a real job i probaly will hate it (who knows...), but i can live with that cause there will always be time outside of work.

[kellychaos]

But farming can be informative too. After my friends and I spent a whole summer bailing hay for one of our neighbors, I was able to conclude that I had hayfever allergies. :)

It didn't take me the whole summer to learn this but he paid us well, had a couple of hot daughters (skip the farmer's daughter jokes) and he'd buy us beer once or twice a week after we finished our work for the day. Alcohol is very important in the development of 16 year-old boys. He'd give us just a couple and say that "a man's work deserves a man's drink". I felt like a man. :) But then again, he was a little whacky and anti-government and had a handgun shooting range in his backyard. :/

[Protoclown]

Max, my sister is an artist who is going into art therapy, she finds the field very interesting and I think she'll find it rewarding if she actually goes through with it (she's working at an apartment complex now and still living with my parents to try to pay off her college debts).

I found what you said to be pretty inspirational, Max, especially that whole bit about how the whole body of work is most imporant. People tell me I'm talented, but I'm usually too lazy to get off my ass and write anything (and I have a hard time believing in my abilities). But then I get mad when I see someone else who is truly talented wasting their talents or being selfish and not sharing them with the world.

[kahljorn]

You could all just become bums, never work a day and drift around from train car to train car, hoping to rob random mice of their breadcrums. Then you'd be focused on survival, that and finding a place to take a leak.

But then you'd have to give up your wonderful computers.

[Jeanette X]

Or we could just run away into the wilderness, sleep in leaf beds, eat bugs, and shit in bushes like our noble ancestors.