Don’t Quit Your Day Job
If you haven’t been paying attention, you might think that I am an actual rock star. This is not the case. An examination of my tax returns would indicate that I am in fact a “software engineer.” For the past 8 or so years I’ve worked at a small firm in NYC writing software. The music and the robot building and the podcasting have all been non-profit (or extremely small-profit) enterprises done in my spare time. Those days are over. I quit my job. This is my last week.
I’ve been psyching myself up for this for a long time, but saying those words still makes me pee my pants a little. Really, I haven’t even posted this entry yet, but just writing it makes me feel dizzy. I don’t have any specific plans, I just know that I need to reconfigure my life to have a more flexible schedule, more room for creative endeavors. I need to be more of an artist, or at least pretend to be an artist for a while and see if it ends up being true. But I don’t know how I’m going to make money, and I’m not even sure what I will do with the hours in my day. I’m just hoping that this leap of faith will open up possibilities – ask the universe and it will provide, blah blah blah. As you can see, I’m back and forth on this. Part of me is sure this is exactly the right thing to do, while the rest of me is screaming that this is probably the dumbest thing I’ve ever done. Time will tell. Right now all I can do is try not to panic.
There: now it’s real because it’s on the internet.
Public Domain Flowchart
For all the grumpies out there who claim it’s difficult to determine if a work is in the public domain or not, here’s a handy flowchart that makes it nice and simple: click me.
I don’t know what everyone’s complaining about…
Wikipedia Entry
Dude. I am in the Wikipedia. This is big. And apparently I am “the son of the thunder and the wide-open plain.” Not to mention my command performance for Michael I of Romania (this is not far off, in college I roomed with a Romanian prince – not Michael I you understand, a different one). I like very much where this is going.
On another note entirely, allow me to address a question that some of you have asked. In the song “That Spells DNA” I mention some base pair strings that indicate certain conditions like cancer and nut allergies. These are made up. I’m pretty sure that actual important strings of DNA would be too long to put into a song and still have a song that someone might want to listen to. I’m just saying, don’t go buying medicine just because Coulton says you have a disease.
Some Press And Stuff
If you’d like to hear me blathering about what it was like writing these PopSci songs, you should listen to the August 19th episode of the Evil Genius Chronicles podcast. Dave Slusher and I talked via Skype and let me tell you, that fellow is SMOOV. He’s got mad interviewing skills yo. Plus as a special bonus he plays the live version of “Dance, Soterios Johnson, Dance.” Thanks Dave!
Also, there was a little blurb about me in this Sunday’s Boston Globe – Joshua Glenn’s column “The Examined Life.” I warn you that you will have to register your email to read it.
Now nothing can stop me…
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