Thursday, November 25, 2010
Sunday, October 17, 2010
Log - one year
Tomorrow will be the one year anniversary of my unemployment. It is pretty amazing to really try and take in the past year. I wish that a year of living in this way lent itself to principles that I could share with others (and even myself?) that would help get to a place of security and stability in this structure without having to compromise, but unfortunately, I haven't really figured it out. I've been fortunate in finding people that were willing to exchange material things for the immaterial gifts I have to share. As I have probably recited ad nauseum, much of the inspiration for confronting the world without wanting to compromise my contribution has come from Buckminster Fuller and much of what he wrote in "Critical Path". It is possible that the piece that has stuck with me the most from this momentous book came from the Foreward -
(B) Because of my driving conviction that all of humanity is in peril of extinction if each one of us does not dare, now and henceforth always to tell only the truth, and all the truth, and to do so promptly—right now.
(C) Because I am convinced that humanity’s fitness for continuance in the cosmic scheme no longer depends on the validity of political, religious, economic, or social organizations, which altogether heretofore have been assumed to represent the many.
(D) Because, contrary to (C), I am convinced that human continuance now depends entirely upon:
(1) The intuitive wisdom of each and every individual.
(2) The individual’s comprehensive informedness.
(3) The individual’s integrity of speaking and acting only on the individual’s own within-self-intuited and reasoned initiative.
(4) The individual’s joining action with others, as motivated only by the individually conceived consequences of so doing.
(5) And, the individual’s never-joining action with others, as motivated only by crowd-engendered emotionalism, or by a sense of the crowd’s power to overwhelm, or in fear of holding to the course indicated by one’s own intellectual convictions."
"My reasons for writing this book are fourfold:
(A) Because I am convinced that human knowledge by others of what this book has to say is essential to human survival.
(B) Because of my driving conviction that all of humanity is in peril of extinction if each one of us does not dare, now and henceforth always to tell only the truth, and all the truth, and to do so promptly—right now.
(C) Because I am convinced that humanity’s fitness for continuance in the cosmic scheme no longer depends on the validity of political, religious, economic, or social organizations, which altogether heretofore have been assumed to represent the many.
(D) Because, contrary to (C), I am convinced that human continuance now depends entirely upon:
(1) The intuitive wisdom of each and every individual.
(2) The individual’s comprehensive informedness.
(3) The individual’s integrity of speaking and acting only on the individual’s own within-self-intuited and reasoned initiative.
(4) The individual’s joining action with others, as motivated only by the individually conceived consequences of so doing.
(5) And, the individual’s never-joining action with others, as motivated only by crowd-engendered emotionalism, or by a sense of the crowd’s power to overwhelm, or in fear of holding to the course indicated by one’s own intellectual convictions."
This last point spoke to what I felt was the negative impact of having a "job for the sake of jobs". In his thirties, Bucky decided against "earning a living" and at age eighty wrote that it was often scary, but always rewarding and ultimately led him to the discoveries, designs, and innovations that we acknowledge him for. While design isn't exactly my field, I am beginning to discover my trajectory as one that doesn't need justification. This is a big pill to swallow and I'm still working it down, but one year later, I am still confident that I am moving the right direction.
I'll keep you posted.
Thursday, October 14, 2010
another blog... goddamn it.
Meg and I are on the road now, thus, we created another blog. I don't consider myself a blogger per se, but practically speaking... whatever. Check it out when you get a chance.
Monday, October 11, 2010
a few thoughts on the present
So, I've been doing a considerable amount of research lately on the business of music, and the immense amount of transition and upheaval the industry is undergoing, and has been undergoing, for at least a decade now. It has been incredibly informative, but it also leaves me with some serious quandaries as to where I go from here.
As I am just now getting my full fledged professional music career off the ground (in terms of creating songs I wish to use as a source of income, part of what it means to "make a living" as a music maker) I am both inspired and trepidatious of what the future may hold for me in that regard.
The inspiring part is that with the dawning of the internet, the field is getting more and more leveled. We are starting to see a gradual collapse of major record companies, which, in my opinion, only prove to exploit artists, (with perhaps a few exceptions.) This is in part due to the fact that musicians and artists have a lot more opportunity to get their music to the outside world, within pretty much every facet of the industry (i.e. promotion, distribution, etc.)
However, the frightening part is that the other reason the industry is crumbling is because of the ever increasing piracy that goes on all the time in practically every home across the country, and probably, the globe. People copy illegal files of every sort without much consideration because they know there really aren't any repercussions. There is talk of internet providers eventually cracking down on this, but I don't feel like it's especially realistic.
The other side of the coin (this coin apparently has more than two sides!) is that currently, pretty much every way in which we purchase music puts WAY too much money in the pockets of record companies, and FAR too little in the pockets of artists. This has probably been the case since the dawning of recorded music. But it still doesn't make it right.
In that regard, I am excited to see that internet services like CD Baby apparently give a large portion of the money back to the artists, while streaming services like last.fm and pandora open up a wonderful world of independent artists who actually get paid royalties. The fact that artists are starting to sell their songs on their own websites is also promising. But that doesn't change the fact that because this music is essentially made up of 1s and 0s, it is incredibly easy to copy and manipulate by advertisers and the powers that be.
It is just a very strange time to be an artist. I feel empowered and yet, also a bit helpless. As live music seems to be steadily declining in our culture, its evident that for artists to make money from their music, they need to know they can do so in the new mediums of today (i.e. digital downloads.) But while archaic copyright law systems are staying in place, and aren't changing fast enough, technological advances happen on an almost daily basis.
I do know that I plan to forge ahead and use to my advantage this new world that is unfolding before us. Ultimately I believe the evolution that is taking place will find artists far more empowered and rewarded than they were in the past, and able to get their voices heard without dealing with the bullshit of a "music industry." But as artists, we also need to remind ourselves, and those around us, that this trend of everything being free…. books, music, film, etc. is only helping to further the idea that they aren't really worth anything, and surely not worth financially supporting those who create the works.
Let us at least hope that with the dawning of this new age comes not only greater access to fantastic art, but greater awareness of how important it is to our culture, and the fact that we need support it in every way we can!
As I am just now getting my full fledged professional music career off the ground (in terms of creating songs I wish to use as a source of income, part of what it means to "make a living" as a music maker) I am both inspired and trepidatious of what the future may hold for me in that regard.
The inspiring part is that with the dawning of the internet, the field is getting more and more leveled. We are starting to see a gradual collapse of major record companies, which, in my opinion, only prove to exploit artists, (with perhaps a few exceptions.) This is in part due to the fact that musicians and artists have a lot more opportunity to get their music to the outside world, within pretty much every facet of the industry (i.e. promotion, distribution, etc.)
However, the frightening part is that the other reason the industry is crumbling is because of the ever increasing piracy that goes on all the time in practically every home across the country, and probably, the globe. People copy illegal files of every sort without much consideration because they know there really aren't any repercussions. There is talk of internet providers eventually cracking down on this, but I don't feel like it's especially realistic.
The other side of the coin (this coin apparently has more than two sides!) is that currently, pretty much every way in which we purchase music puts WAY too much money in the pockets of record companies, and FAR too little in the pockets of artists. This has probably been the case since the dawning of recorded music. But it still doesn't make it right.
In that regard, I am excited to see that internet services like CD Baby apparently give a large portion of the money back to the artists, while streaming services like last.fm and pandora open up a wonderful world of independent artists who actually get paid royalties. The fact that artists are starting to sell their songs on their own websites is also promising. But that doesn't change the fact that because this music is essentially made up of 1s and 0s, it is incredibly easy to copy and manipulate by advertisers and the powers that be.
It is just a very strange time to be an artist. I feel empowered and yet, also a bit helpless. As live music seems to be steadily declining in our culture, its evident that for artists to make money from their music, they need to know they can do so in the new mediums of today (i.e. digital downloads.) But while archaic copyright law systems are staying in place, and aren't changing fast enough, technological advances happen on an almost daily basis.
I do know that I plan to forge ahead and use to my advantage this new world that is unfolding before us. Ultimately I believe the evolution that is taking place will find artists far more empowered and rewarded than they were in the past, and able to get their voices heard without dealing with the bullshit of a "music industry." But as artists, we also need to remind ourselves, and those around us, that this trend of everything being free…. books, music, film, etc. is only helping to further the idea that they aren't really worth anything, and surely not worth financially supporting those who create the works.
Let us at least hope that with the dawning of this new age comes not only greater access to fantastic art, but greater awareness of how important it is to our culture, and the fact that we need support it in every way we can!
Friday, September 17, 2010
Fun- Raising!
Meg and I are on a mission that will involve most of the people who read this. Here's more info:
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Log #6
It's been awhile since I've given an entry on my journey through unemployment and it feels like a good time to add a new note. It's been almost 10 months. I've cut my monthly spending to around $150 and even that has become a squeeze. I've sold a lot of extraneous things and have a few more to go. I'm still trying to wrap my head around this system of ours. What I've come to is this:
There is always room for entrepreneurs. If you want to get a PhD in English, chances are, the only practical function you have is to teach other people how to get a PhD in English. If you love science and pursue it to the utmost, it seems as though you will end up in a university. If you want to be a musician, painter, sculptor, writer, poet, performance artist, etc., it seems you will probably be a server in a restaurant or a barista or work in an art supply store, a music store, a record store, etc. Essentially, you will work for someone else, who had the foresight to become an entrepreneur. Frequently, becoming an entrepreneur means inserting yourself as a middle man, raising the price of items and reselling them. You see this very clearly in drug dealers, but it seems to be the same model for every shape and size of retail store and almost every online business from Amazon.com on down. On the street, the only businesses that are really adding value or putting creative energy into what they sell is the expansive myriad of restaurants that populate streets and strip malls. Running a business does not really require an "education". "Education" is the debt that business owners use to keep college-graduate employees from leaving jobs they don't like. Got to pay off those loans! The business-owner, entrepreneur system allows many hands to get paid for a single commodity and allows for many jobs so that there aren't as many unemployed people as there should be. Much progress is stopped because if the technology that has been created was allowed to make our lives easier, then there would not be nearly as many jobs. There are plenty of homes in America to house everyone, but more keep being made because contractors need to keep busy. There is more than enough food, but that has very little to do with the food industry. Right now, there are a lot of people that are committed to making the lives of others more enjoyable, more fun, more connected with their world, more connected with each other, and more meaningful, but unless it is marketed toward the wealthy, it can be very difficult to sustain. Additionally, an attitude of catering to the rich is still working within the system without yet working toward reform.
Where this touches me is trying to understand how to move forward. Is it best to be complicit in the system until... something else? I am very wary of the popular retirement-mentality in our country - "I'm just doing what I have to do, saving up until I retire and can do what I WANT to do". I've worked jobs that were ultimately harmful - Subway-esque sandwich shops, restaurants that didn't make any food that was particularly healthful, a bullshit online retail job (which, incidentally paid me more than any other job and required much less). So I've helped deteriorate people's health, I've helped create waste, and on and on just to live a lifestyle that has more security than I now experience. Maybe I'm justifying my selfishness, but I don't want to be a middle man! I don't want to work for someone else that is part of what I see as the problem! I don't want to help pollute people's bodies, the environment, or our collective consciousness! Why doesn't volunteer work pay? It's not that I think "art isn't appreciated" - I think most people enjoy art and music. It isn't that I think everyone likes stupid music or that people don't know the difference between good art and bad art. Honestly, I don't know that all that matters. I feel committed to making our world happier and I've chosen music as my avenue to that - I just can't get over the fact that there are so many hoops to jump through to make putting a smile on someone's face a sustainable "career". What the fuck, right? Nobody really likes frozen spinach that much, but that is a viable industry, whereas I can play on the street for an hour, make a bunch of people smile and dance and still come away with less than our community deems as minimum wage... I'm not pissed at anyone and I refuse to be too cynical about all of this, because I think there is a solution, I just haven't been able to come across it yet. In the meantime, I'm trying not to give in to fear and nurturing my hope.
There is always room for entrepreneurs. If you want to get a PhD in English, chances are, the only practical function you have is to teach other people how to get a PhD in English. If you love science and pursue it to the utmost, it seems as though you will end up in a university. If you want to be a musician, painter, sculptor, writer, poet, performance artist, etc., it seems you will probably be a server in a restaurant or a barista or work in an art supply store, a music store, a record store, etc. Essentially, you will work for someone else, who had the foresight to become an entrepreneur. Frequently, becoming an entrepreneur means inserting yourself as a middle man, raising the price of items and reselling them. You see this very clearly in drug dealers, but it seems to be the same model for every shape and size of retail store and almost every online business from Amazon.com on down. On the street, the only businesses that are really adding value or putting creative energy into what they sell is the expansive myriad of restaurants that populate streets and strip malls. Running a business does not really require an "education". "Education" is the debt that business owners use to keep college-graduate employees from leaving jobs they don't like. Got to pay off those loans! The business-owner, entrepreneur system allows many hands to get paid for a single commodity and allows for many jobs so that there aren't as many unemployed people as there should be. Much progress is stopped because if the technology that has been created was allowed to make our lives easier, then there would not be nearly as many jobs. There are plenty of homes in America to house everyone, but more keep being made because contractors need to keep busy. There is more than enough food, but that has very little to do with the food industry. Right now, there are a lot of people that are committed to making the lives of others more enjoyable, more fun, more connected with their world, more connected with each other, and more meaningful, but unless it is marketed toward the wealthy, it can be very difficult to sustain. Additionally, an attitude of catering to the rich is still working within the system without yet working toward reform.
Where this touches me is trying to understand how to move forward. Is it best to be complicit in the system until... something else? I am very wary of the popular retirement-mentality in our country - "I'm just doing what I have to do, saving up until I retire and can do what I WANT to do". I've worked jobs that were ultimately harmful - Subway-esque sandwich shops, restaurants that didn't make any food that was particularly healthful, a bullshit online retail job (which, incidentally paid me more than any other job and required much less). So I've helped deteriorate people's health, I've helped create waste, and on and on just to live a lifestyle that has more security than I now experience. Maybe I'm justifying my selfishness, but I don't want to be a middle man! I don't want to work for someone else that is part of what I see as the problem! I don't want to help pollute people's bodies, the environment, or our collective consciousness! Why doesn't volunteer work pay? It's not that I think "art isn't appreciated" - I think most people enjoy art and music. It isn't that I think everyone likes stupid music or that people don't know the difference between good art and bad art. Honestly, I don't know that all that matters. I feel committed to making our world happier and I've chosen music as my avenue to that - I just can't get over the fact that there are so many hoops to jump through to make putting a smile on someone's face a sustainable "career". What the fuck, right? Nobody really likes frozen spinach that much, but that is a viable industry, whereas I can play on the street for an hour, make a bunch of people smile and dance and still come away with less than our community deems as minimum wage... I'm not pissed at anyone and I refuse to be too cynical about all of this, because I think there is a solution, I just haven't been able to come across it yet. In the meantime, I'm trying not to give in to fear and nurturing my hope.
Monday, July 26, 2010
Up For Grabs
A new seed has been planted for sharing the wild and creative ideas that come to us without the means to manifest them. An offering up to the gods and to our fellow artists. Check it out and see what you think - feel totally free to share thoughts on streamlining or any other helpful ideas. And please, drop an idea or two to add to the pool.
http://freeintellectualproperty.blogspot.com/
http://freeintellectualproperty.blogspot.com/
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