I used to want to be an astronaut, and I knew everything about astronauts and space. I knew all the planets, all the astronaut’s names, and the details of all of the famous space voyages. Then I wanted to be a scientist, a paleontologist, specifically, and I took it upon myself to learn everything I could about all of the dinosaurs, names, places, favorite foods, the size of their teeth, etc.
Somewhere around the time I went to college, I decided I wanted to be a politician. It’s not that there was any big issue like health care or immigration that I wanted to address; it was that the job of a politician is so damn fun! Basically, they are paid to be the rock stars of their field. The demands are manageable, and people listen to you when you talk. I really like it when people listen to me talk.
Now I want to be a touring musician who makes a living building websites. I want to play music by night and work in my pajamas by day. Making that work has been a balancing act since I left my cushy job at the U two years ago.
On the one hand, I need to make money. The problem with making money is that it generally is made on other people’s timetables and schedules. So, if a client needs a website built in 7 days, basically that means that I can’t play music for 7 days.
On the other hand, there are times when nobody is hiring me to do work, and I have all the time in the world to record and make music. But then there is a pressure burning in my stomach to make enough money to pay the rent.
The best of both worlds would be to make websites on a flexible schedule (i.e. give me a month to pull it off), while recording and playing music across the fine state of Minnesota and beyond.