Shrinking Violet: Lesson Learned
And so my spotty, mostly absentee tenure here as a Young Manhattanite comes to a close, and in a couple of days most of my stuff will be with the USPS on the way to San Francisco and the rest will be in a carry-on bag with me as I fly to Seattle in the wee hours Saturday morning to see family for the holidays. If anyone cares to catch me before I depart, my good friend and fellow NYU alum Topaz is playing the Lion's Den on Friday a little before midnight. Tickets are ten bucks, and it's a good show if you like straight-ahead, funky jazz.
But that's about as far as the connections with fellow Violets go -- thankfully I won't have to help recent NYU graduates I've never met get work like those Ivy League kids. Never worked for me the other way around, so it's not like I'm obligated. And no, NYU, I won't be donating any money to the alumni organization. School's over, I'm moving on.
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That is assuming I didn't fail physics (and that assumption isn't easily come by, considering how poorly I understood the math, but the professor seemed to suggest otherwise -- I wonder if there isn't a "pass this kid and get him the hell out of here" note on my record). I'm now the proud owner of a BFA, and the diploma better be dipped in platinum and have my name spelled in blood diamonds, considering how much was spent on it all told. New York University: a public school education at private school prices!
And hey, at least I now know for certain that I was right, I don't particularly like living in New York, and I left for a reason. Great town, great history, mostly great people, and the subway system is to die for. But the weather fucking sucks, the politics are more reactionary than I remember, and beyond the bagels and pizza the food is pretty meh, especially at the price. New York: You can have it!
Okay, maybe I'm a little hard on New York and New York University. It wasn't that bad, certainly. I have a lot of fond memories, I did actually learn some stuff along the way, and I met some people I'll never forget. The point is, for all you youngsters dreaming of becoming Young Manhattanites out there, is that you don't have to. Nor for you NYU film students do you have to move to LA. There are lives and educations and plenty of other stuff in cities that are much less annoying, not to mention much less expensive.
Let me disabuse your romantic notions if I may. Look where my willingness to sacrifice myself for art got me? I'm a 31 year old alcoholic in debt with bad credit and a degree (knock on wood) in the arts. Sure, I'm on speaking terms with a good portion of Forbes-minted "Web Celebs," but try paying your bills with that. My chances of becoming a homeowner are slim to none, and Slim left town when the sub-prime mortgage market went belly-up. I'm only hanging on to life in San Francisco because if I don't there'll hardly be anyone left to complain about privatization of public resources.
Where to go from here? I hear that San Francisco State has a good teacher's certificate program. And you know what a teaching certificate means? A good union job with good union benefits and three months off each year to travel and pursue a subsidized masters degree and a pay grade bump. The boss, who complimented me on my existence "outside the system" will be happy to know that my life goals have been reduced to corrupting the young with Marxist philosophy while sucking on the municipal teat.
And to tell you the truth, I'm really looking forward to it.
But that's about as far as the connections with fellow Violets go -- thankfully I won't have to help recent NYU graduates I've never met get work like those Ivy League kids. Never worked for me the other way around, so it's not like I'm obligated. And no, NYU, I won't be donating any money to the alumni organization. School's over, I'm moving on.
Read more...
That is assuming I didn't fail physics (and that assumption isn't easily come by, considering how poorly I understood the math, but the professor seemed to suggest otherwise -- I wonder if there isn't a "pass this kid and get him the hell out of here" note on my record). I'm now the proud owner of a BFA, and the diploma better be dipped in platinum and have my name spelled in blood diamonds, considering how much was spent on it all told. New York University: a public school education at private school prices!
And hey, at least I now know for certain that I was right, I don't particularly like living in New York, and I left for a reason. Great town, great history, mostly great people, and the subway system is to die for. But the weather fucking sucks, the politics are more reactionary than I remember, and beyond the bagels and pizza the food is pretty meh, especially at the price. New York: You can have it!
Okay, maybe I'm a little hard on New York and New York University. It wasn't that bad, certainly. I have a lot of fond memories, I did actually learn some stuff along the way, and I met some people I'll never forget. The point is, for all you youngsters dreaming of becoming Young Manhattanites out there, is that you don't have to. Nor for you NYU film students do you have to move to LA. There are lives and educations and plenty of other stuff in cities that are much less annoying, not to mention much less expensive.
Let me disabuse your romantic notions if I may. Look where my willingness to sacrifice myself for art got me? I'm a 31 year old alcoholic in debt with bad credit and a degree (knock on wood) in the arts. Sure, I'm on speaking terms with a good portion of Forbes-minted "Web Celebs," but try paying your bills with that. My chances of becoming a homeowner are slim to none, and Slim left town when the sub-prime mortgage market went belly-up. I'm only hanging on to life in San Francisco because if I don't there'll hardly be anyone left to complain about privatization of public resources.
Where to go from here? I hear that San Francisco State has a good teacher's certificate program. And you know what a teaching certificate means? A good union job with good union benefits and three months off each year to travel and pursue a subsidized masters degree and a pay grade bump. The boss, who complimented me on my existence "outside the system" will be happy to know that my life goals have been reduced to corrupting the young with Marxist philosophy while sucking on the municipal teat.
And to tell you the truth, I'm really looking forward to it.
