Low expectations are the key to happiness?

That implies you have a dream.

The rest of us grew in middle-class, were told we were bright, and at 34 still have no idea what we want to be. Great at nothing, competant at most things given a lot of time. Interested in nothing.


... except sitting at home laughing at funny things found on the Internet.

Kuroshin: I'm awake at 2am after having slept less than one hour, and will be on-call for the next 78 hours straight.

You farking tell me.

Even if you were a sex tester with those hours I'd think you had a horrible job. What are you? On patrol in Afghanistan or a firefighter in a forest fire zone?

My childhood dreams? Of course not. My childhood dreams were preposterous.
At some point in mid-adolescence, I began to have dreams that had context in the real world, and I have been able to realize a respectable portion of those dreams.
If we all realized our childhood dreams, we'd have a problem. An entire world consisting of ballerinas, cowboys, princesses and Batmen would be difficult to live in.

narocroc: I'm wondering what you think you saw through? I'm not trying to white knight anyone here, but WhippingBoy pretty much described exactly where I am as well (though, while I could certainly buy a new car on a moments notice, I wouldn't go so far as to make the same comment about my kids school - That shiat be expensive). I don't feel that I am all that unique in where I am at either.

It's something of an intuitive feeling. His first replies to me had the resentful tone of a frustrated twenty-something, but then voila he makes six figures and flies to glamorous places. Besides, my brother, who does make six figures working at home, would actually take his car (a dull SUV breedermobile) in for repairs instead of, say, having James the Butler dispose of it in the trash and get another Lamborghini. But, hey, we're all millionaires on the Internet...

I am also very intrigued to know what form of unique international art Psycat creates and/or performs.

Damn, I would absolutely love to tell you, but I want to remain anonymous. I had my Fifteen Minutes last year and I'm pretty much forgotten by most people by now, but a quick Google search would blow my identity anyways. BTW, my art really is international in nature--I noticed that it's catching on in Japan. I don't mind other people copying my stuff--I have tutorials on YouTube--I just wish my emulators would just give me some acknowledgement for inventing the techniques in the first place. Heck, I just got a fan e-mail from somebody in Slovakia (or one of the other Slavic countries). I'm pretty much at the very, very, very bottom of what might constitute even moderate fame, so it's not a big deal. What's more important is that I get enough gigs to keep the wolves at bay...

WhippingBoy: Psycat: WhippingBoy: I'm sure your art is fine, but you're coming across as the world's biggest douche-bag.

You're coming across as the world's most resentful loser. It's funny how somebody could state that they have a degree in rocket science, or belong to Mensa, or have a couple of Guinness world-record certificates, and every insecure person in a 50-foot radius gets all biatchy and resentful. Does it really torque you off that I actually have a career that I enjoy?

You seem awfully defensive...

I wanted to be happy...and I pretty much achieved that. Glad you did too.

Money isn't happiness for everyone.

WhippingBoy: I'm sure your art is fine, but you're coming across as the world's biggest douche-bag.

You're coming across as the world's most resentful loser. It's funny how somebody could state that they have a degree in rocket science, or belong to Mensa, or have a couple of Guinness world-record certificates, and every insecure person in a 50-foot radius gets all biatchy and resentful. Does it really torque you off that I actually have a career that I enjoy?

FDR Jones: Psycat:
I'm the world's greatest expert in my genre of art for the simple fact that I invented my own genre of art.

Do you have to be at the studio in 26 minutes?

Yes, so I can get to the "laugh at resentful go-nowheres" session in time...

/for Heaven's sake, folks, the 'world's greatest expert' statement was meant to be partially self-mocking. Yes, if you pick something so bizarro that nobody else does it, you can be the world's greatest expert; however, being the world's greatest expert at what I do is only able to keep me barely above the poverty line.

I'm glad I didn't do my childhood dream. I wanted to be a hitman.
Problem is the killing part. I can't kill anything that isn't trying to hurt me first or directly feeds me.

Rather than that lofty goal, I hunt unusual objects and sell them for profit.
Looking back, I guess when I was a kid I didn't want to be farked with. Now I live that dream without hurting anything.

/Thanks interwebs!

WhippingBoy: How's that Starbucks job working out for you?

If by "Starbucks job", you mean traveling to interesting places as diverse as Anaheim and Belgium to work in a TV studio or museum or convention center to do something that fascinates the hell out of me so much I'd do it for free but instead do it before a throng of cheering people who ask for autographs afterwards and lets me fly home afterwards with a nice honorarium check so I can slack off for the next couple of months and browbeat stupid basement-dwelling virgins who project their own failings on everybody by accusing them of working for Starbucks, then yes, I have a Starbucks job.

/next...

WhippingBoy: How's that Starbucks job working out for you?

It's kinda funny you say that, my dream has always been to run a cafe. I've been drinking the stuff since I was 8 and can't live without it. One day, I'll have own coffeeshop/roasterie, but it's won't be for a long time.

From my experience, the best way to attain your dream is to have a dream that's different from anybody else's. If your dream is to be an NFL player or astronaut, the competition is FIERCE for the 10% or so of you with that dream who actually take a whack at attaining it. Something like one astronaut or NFL draft pick per thousand or million applicants.

I'm the world's greatest expert in my genre of art for the simple fact that I invented my own genre of art. I'd hate to be a painter finding myself in competition with not only the thousands of living professional painters out there, but being compared to Renoir, Michelangelo, and Parrish as well. Creativity might not matter much in a high-school art contest (being a human Xerox rules in that environment), but in the real world, originality is what separates the Dalís from the duffers...

Well, I got to be a professional artist, which is what I wanted. Now I just need to become a world-famous, influential, beloved-and-reviled professional artist.

The world needs ditch diggers too.

I'm still holding onto the dream, but as I approach 40 it's looking less and less likely that a profitable career as world-dominating supervillain is in the making.

But fingers are still crossed.

TsarTom: Maybe you need luck subby. But I'm the Batman,

goddamn batman

When I was very young, I wanted to be a cat.


I don't think that is going to happen.

Somehow, I don't think I'm going to become a starship captain in my lifetime.

/Engage