Comments on: new york bartender allegory

By: Paul Maurice Martin

Paul Maurice Martin — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 02:43:14 +0000

Too bad they didn’t know the way to San Jose.

By: Clarence Wigfall

Clarence Wigfall — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 14:24:50 +0000

In 2001 at the age of 30 Lance Armstrong wrote:
“Without belief, we would be left with nothing but an overwhelming doom, every single day. And it will beat you. I didn’t fully see, until the cancer, how we fight every day against the creeping negatives of the world, how we struggle daily against the slow lapping of cynicism. Dispiritedness and disappointment, these were the real perils of life, not some sudden illness or cataclysmic millennium doomsday. I know now why people fear cancer: because it is a slow and inevitable death, it is the very definition of cynicism and loss of spirit…”

By: hugh macleod

hugh macleod — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 11:32:07 +0000

But wait. That’s why I entitled it, “Allegory”

By: marquisdejolie

marquisdejolie — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 08:41:19 +0000

But wait. It happens to you again at 40 and again at 50. Every time you think you’ve got the answer, they change the rules. Thought you’d like a heads up.
Signed,
50 year-old poet who never read in Alpine

By: Jswa

Jswa — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 07:00:17 +0000

Hugh, I really love it when you go to Paris & New York & drop these shrewd gems… it’s kinda like Revenge.

By: Paul

Paul — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 06:06:13 +0000

That’s great, that’s pithy, that’s cynical. Love it.
Now what’s the solution when you’re *in* that rut?

By: Christian

Christian — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 05:24:25 +0000

I think that just because you turn 30 doesn’t mean that you should abandon your youthful dreams. You can acheive your ambitions at any age.
I do, however, think that if all you are doing is tending a bar and waiting to be discovered, you’re not going to get there. Regardless of what you want, you have to be willing to work for it.
If you’re an actor who no one will cast, pull a Damon/Affleck, and write/produce your own. If you’re a director who no one will distribute, post your film on YouTube. Granted, you may not always succeed in the capacity that you dreamed of, but it’s better than pouring pints and hoping that the bum at the end of the bar is a casting agent.

By: phil jones

phil jones — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 02:34:17 +0000

You cynical bastard, you!

By: Reginald

Reginald — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 01:55:16 +0000

I really enjoyed this post. Not to mention, I found the symbolism to reality quite uncanny.
As each year passes, more and more employees are beginning to realize just how mundane, limited, and insecure their current jobs are.
In an avid effort to match this emerging revelation, individuals are searching for business opportunities that can be relied upon should one be fired.
Not to mention, with the current economic downturn, being your own boss is becoming more appealing and attractive to the employed masses.
Journalist and TV host, John Daly, used his skill and experience to develop ‘The Real Money Show’, http://www.realmoneyshow.com, an invaluable online resource that reveals how to search for an online business capable of supplementing an income or even providing much desired financial security. You can email me for more info at info@johndaly.tv.
I hope anyone considering his or her options for an online business find this research to be of practical value.

By: Paul Fabretti

Paul Fabretti — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 16:29:10 +0000

Takes me back to something you posted about not long ago Hugh. When do the dreams stop — and what happens after that point? Put my own thoughts down a few day ago…http://blendingthemix.com/2008/01/14/tinker-tailor-soldier-sailor-which-one-are-you/

By: アダルト

アダルト — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 14:42:45 +0000

http://www.ne19.net/

By: Badger Gravling

Badger Gravling — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 18:00:34 +0000

This strikes a chord, as someone who has worked on the web for years, and has just turned 30 (with fatherhood now following!).
I thought for years that I’d somehow stumble across a genius idea to turn me into a dotcom millionaire, in the same way as I used to dream about racing cars and motorbikes, or becoming a rock star…
It takes a while to realise that the overnight success stories you read about generally follow years of work and effort, and that there are lots of other people chasing the same ideas, inspired by the same overnight success stories.
Every time I read about the fact so many dotcom success stories are started by the young, I have to remind myself that they’re just part of the story, and that they’ve probably been working at their success for many years, and just started younger than the previous generation. After all, with internet access reaching an ever younger age, a 20 year old internet business entrepreneur can have 10 years experience!
It doesn’t mean that I can’t come up with a great idea — it just means that now I have more realistic criteria to judge it against, and if I do ever have a Eureka moment, it’ll be more likely to be a good one…whether it happens when I’m 30, 40, 50, or 60.…

By: Paul

Paul — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 12:42:29 +0000

AHH the sad death of ideals. They are harder to keep alive than orchids in the Arctic. But then that’s what separates the winners from the whiners.
I knew a bartender in Caspar Ca. back in the mid 70’s who had been a record company executive in Chicago until he was 40, then decided to buy this bar in Caspar. He only tended a few nights a week, after all he *owned* the damn thing. The regular bartender though had your epiphany and he was only 27. I think he went into logging though, not bar owning.