Two, related
Nov. 20th, 2005 07:58 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sauergeekI saw a meme in ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
qedrakmar's journal, that got me thinking. The meme? 10 Things that give me moments of joy. Just to start with that, they are, I think in order:
1. An excellent, non-platonic relationship.
2. Driving the Miata on twisty back roads with the top down.
3. Designing and creating things.
4. Helping other people -- individuals, not groups.
5. Solving interesting problems (closely tied to both #3 and #4).
6. Reading certain parts of books, or hearing certain songs or pieces of music.
7. Working with my hands (closely tied to #3-5)
8. A good discussion with someone, about something significant.
9. Exploring new places (closely related to #2).
10. Walking around in nature (closely related to #2 and #9).
I then looked at my job, and discovered that I get none of these at work. I would not expect #1 as part of any job, and #2 would be a stretch. However, the others are all possible to the gainfully employed. I then saw a not-quite-meme inbookly's journal: if I had unlimited funds, I would... Here's my list, given my life right now (in no particular order):
Quit my job (and before anyone objects: I have had two jobs in my life where this would not have been on the list, and one of them ultimately changed to become a "quit my job" kind of job so much that I did quit)
Move to the Boston area
Buy land in a downtown/small commercial area (not sure which, but Cambridge, Somerville, and Lowell are all high on the list). I realize this may involve buying a house or other building that's on the land. The building is not important; see next step.
Build a house to my specifications on the land. This may involve demolishing an existing building.
Plant an herb garden; use it extensively.
Experiment with various art and craft forms to find out which ones I like. Take up the ones I like and see what I can do with them, whether to sell or just for my own enjoyment.
Travel extensively. Specific trips I would like to take include foodie tours of France and Italy, wandering around Spain, further exploration of the UK and Germany, and making a pilgrimage to the nuclear shrine at Hiroshima (and visiting other areas of Japan, such as Kyoto and Osaka, but the nuclear shrine is the most important part).
Pay off all my debts.
Experiment with various jobs that I think might be interesting, to see which I like.
So now the question is: how much of this can I do? Can I afford to live in the Boston area on a lower salary as I mess around with jobs like bartending? Can I find a place that won't mind if I make mosaics (or where I can rent space for making mosaic) or other messy crafts? Time to think about it, and see if I can come up with A Plan.
qedrakmar's journal, that got me thinking. The meme? 10 Things that give me moments of joy. Just to start with that, they are, I think in order:1. An excellent, non-platonic relationship.
2. Driving the Miata on twisty back roads with the top down.
3. Designing and creating things.
4. Helping other people -- individuals, not groups.
5. Solving interesting problems (closely tied to both #3 and #4).
6. Reading certain parts of books, or hearing certain songs or pieces of music.
7. Working with my hands (closely tied to #3-5)
8. A good discussion with someone, about something significant.
9. Exploring new places (closely related to #2).
10. Walking around in nature (closely related to #2 and #9).
I then looked at my job, and discovered that I get none of these at work. I would not expect #1 as part of any job, and #2 would be a stretch. However, the others are all possible to the gainfully employed. I then saw a not-quite-meme in
bookly's journal: if I had unlimited funds, I would... Here's my list, given my life right now (in no particular order):Quit my job (and before anyone objects: I have had two jobs in my life where this would not have been on the list, and one of them ultimately changed to become a "quit my job" kind of job so much that I did quit)
Move to the Boston area
Buy land in a downtown/small commercial area (not sure which, but Cambridge, Somerville, and Lowell are all high on the list). I realize this may involve buying a house or other building that's on the land. The building is not important; see next step.
Build a house to my specifications on the land. This may involve demolishing an existing building.
Plant an herb garden; use it extensively.
Experiment with various art and craft forms to find out which ones I like. Take up the ones I like and see what I can do with them, whether to sell or just for my own enjoyment.
Travel extensively. Specific trips I would like to take include foodie tours of France and Italy, wandering around Spain, further exploration of the UK and Germany, and making a pilgrimage to the nuclear shrine at Hiroshima (and visiting other areas of Japan, such as Kyoto and Osaka, but the nuclear shrine is the most important part).
Pay off all my debts.
Experiment with various jobs that I think might be interesting, to see which I like.
So now the question is: how much of this can I do? Can I afford to live in the Boston area on a lower salary as I mess around with jobs like bartending? Can I find a place that won't mind if I make mosaics (or where I can rent space for making mosaic) or other messy crafts? Time to think about it, and see if I can come up with A Plan.
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no subject
Date: 2005-11-21 02:00 am (UTC)also, a person at my school (in DC), has shared warehouse space used for larger-scale art. if you're interested in checking it out, they are going to start having open "art/craft nights) on a weekly basis in January.
no subject
Date: 2005-11-21 02:37 am (UTC)The problem for me is that, despite its obvious disadvantages (far from Boston, heavy time constraints), I actually do like many aspects of being a grad student (at least, more than being an office worker). So I suppose it may be a matter of finding some sort of compromise, rather than outright life-upheaval...
no subject
Date: 2005-11-21 02:46 am (UTC)GYAH! All I hear in my head now is this! This is YOUR fault, damnit.
no subject
Date: 2005-11-21 03:38 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-11-21 03:59 am (UTC)There's actually a decent-size artist's community in Somerville - there are even a few studio buildings which are large enough to hold their own 'open studio' events every so often, completely separate from the once-a-year city-wide Somerville Open Studios.
My general impression is that some of the studio buildings are just "rent-a-workspace", while others are places to both work *and* live. I'm positive that there are places to do messy crafts; I've seen such things on display while touring open studios the last year or two.
I know a few folks who are a little more connected; if you end up wanting more concrete information or whatnot let me know and I'll see if I can point you at someone (or vice versa).
no subject
Date: 2005-11-21 07:22 pm (UTC)'Sides, in a year or two I may have a wicked cheap apartment opening up on the second floor of my house. :-)
-roo