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minstrlmummrJust sorting through some loosely-connected thoughts.
Which is all my long-winded way of saying I never had another nurse want my nursing job so much that s/he intentionally made it impossible for EITHER of us to work, just to force me to go away.
(Suggestions of other places where singers in search of audiences ought to go are welcome. The open mikes I've visited have shown uneven promise...and purchase requirements. I have been paid for my act by one of the toughest audiences in the country and now feel a curious reluctance to pay for the "privilege" of singing at venues...)
As a nurse, I have often had to drag my sick ass out of bed and go to work because my jobs had no mechanism to replace me with anything less than a week's notice.
As a performer, I have to actually take better care of myself because if I get sick, I can't sing, and being funny drops to a 50 / 50 proposition.
Nurses operate in a constant vacuum of short-staffing and high demand for their skills.
Performers are so abundant they can be dismissed and passed over for totally spurious reasons, or no reason at all.
Nurses (at least at the bedside) must maintain a reasonably hygienic appearance while on the job. Anything else is optional.
Performers have to present their best look AND make sure it's the right look for the room at all times.
Nurses are told repeatedly what they CAN do, what they MUST do, and what they ABSOLUTELY CANNOT do.
Performers are totally free to express any artistic vision-of-the-moment, anywhere they can find a receptive audience.
As a performer, I have to actually take better care of myself because if I get sick, I can't sing, and being funny drops to a 50 / 50 proposition.
Nurses operate in a constant vacuum of short-staffing and high demand for their skills.
Performers are so abundant they can be dismissed and passed over for totally spurious reasons, or no reason at all.
Nurses (at least at the bedside) must maintain a reasonably hygienic appearance while on the job. Anything else is optional.
Performers have to present their best look AND make sure it's the right look for the room at all times.
Nurses are told repeatedly what they CAN do, what they MUST do, and what they ABSOLUTELY CANNOT do.
Performers are totally free to express any artistic vision-of-the-moment, anywhere they can find a receptive audience.
Which is all my long-winded way of saying I never had another nurse want my nursing job so much that s/he intentionally made it impossible for EITHER of us to work, just to force me to go away.
MY busking platform has been invaded by a mediocre @$$hole violinist who uses his boom box (half-hidden in a duffel) not to entertain, but to push whoever else is working off the platform. Two weeks ago I saw him set to work on the quiet young Christian guitarist who sometimes follows me. "FiddleJerk" doesn't care who was there first, he makes no effort to talk to whoever is there first. He sets up, cranks the volume up to ten and waits for the firstcomer to get frustrated and leave. I've had other buskers set up where I'm working before (last week it was a pair of conga drummers who set up less than fifty feet away), and usually a few rounds of my louder songs coupled with my...ahem...resonant singing causes them to look for meeker prey. (My friend Capt. Z has been similarly "bum-rushed", both with and without a partner, so I can't precisely cry sexism. Anti-guitar bias, maybe.)
Not today's Speshul SnowFLAKE. He turned the volume up higher and MOVED CLOSER. I could see the poor people in the center of the platform huddled against the dissonance and I prayed none of them had migraines. I tried to keep it up for nearly an hour, but I guess I was just an Insufficiently Determined @$$hole. After writing some pointed, expletive-free thoughts on a card and passing up a train home just so I could toss the card into his case, I had enough time before the next train to get out some of my frustration by standing close enough to listen...with my back to him...ostentatiously getting out my headphones and cranking my own volume...then taking the note out of the case and throwing it in the trash. He made eye contact as I got on the train and I mouthed the word "@$$hole".
If I'm supposed to be grateful to God that someone bought a CD today before FiddleJerk arrived, I cannot suppress the wish that He had expended that divine energy to put FiddleJerk SOMEWHERE THE F#CK ELSE.
I Made You A Relijun But I Eated It.
Not today's Speshul SnowFLAKE. He turned the volume up higher and MOVED CLOSER. I could see the poor people in the center of the platform huddled against the dissonance and I prayed none of them had migraines. I tried to keep it up for nearly an hour, but I guess I was just an Insufficiently Determined @$$hole. After writing some pointed, expletive-free thoughts on a card and passing up a train home just so I could toss the card into his case, I had enough time before the next train to get out some of my frustration by standing close enough to listen...with my back to him...ostentatiously getting out my headphones and cranking my own volume...then taking the note out of the case and throwing it in the trash. He made eye contact as I got on the train and I mouthed the word "@$$hole".
If I'm supposed to be grateful to God that someone bought a CD today before FiddleJerk arrived, I cannot suppress the wish that He had expended that divine energy to put FiddleJerk SOMEWHERE THE F#CK ELSE.
I Made You A Relijun But I Eated It.
(Suggestions of other places where singers in search of audiences ought to go are welcome. The open mikes I've visited have shown uneven promise...and purchase requirements. I have been paid for my act by one of the toughest audiences in the country and now feel a curious reluctance to pay for the "privilege" of singing at venues...)
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Date: 2008-07-24 02:02 am (UTC)I think the open mike circuit is different here in Philly -- I know we never paid to perform anywhere. Then again, we never did one that drew the kind of audience I expect NY venues draw... at any rate, if you ever wanted to try one of the folk-friendly places here, you're welcome to crash space.
no subject
Date: 2008-07-25 10:02 am (UTC)Stay tuned for the followup essay on performer friends who live/audition in NYC but only get paid when they work in Vermont...or Florida...or Saskatoon...
no subject
Date: 2008-07-24 05:25 am (UTC):::::ponderponderponder:::::
Date: 2008-07-25 10:09 am (UTC)However, it is the individual's responsibility to choose to be less of an @$$hol3.
The rabid raccoon image IS...satisfying 8)