Members blue2blue Posted November 6, 2007 Members Share Posted November 6, 2007 No... I never did. Perhaps it will go down as one of those little unsolved mysteries... In my gut, it feels pretty right. Even before I knew Carter had gone to school at LBCC and LB State, I was 3/4 convinced that Bill was the model for the Millennium character. (He could be a little dark at times even back in the happy-go-lucky Vietnam era. ) And I seem to recall Bill saying this fellow I think was Carter was interested in serial murder, folklore, and legends. At the time, I thought it was odd. There was so much turmoil -- and a number of serial murderers working the LB and LA areas (one of whom I often ate breakfast near or even next to at Egg Heaven, a once-favored hippie breakfast hangout -- that was Randy Kraft, a very different kind of over-acheiver, suspected of killing 67 men, many of them military personnel). As I recall, the fellow who may have been Chris Carter didn't play music and often engaged Bill in long talks as they watched others jamming. But, honestly, those Tuesday jams were so amazingly diverse and free ranging. It was easy to get lost in them. After Bill and his wife moved to a bigger place, the Tuesday get together things (sort of furry freak salons) got pretty big, pretty loose -- there'd be three or four or more different sets of people al in their own orbits: lesbian poets arguing sexual politics with bikers, guys from the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band (also LB boys) jamming in the kitchen, Vietnam combat veterans discussing the ethics of becoming union enforcers, me hitting on co-eds... uh... I could get distracted. On a given night there might be anything from 20 or 30 people to a hundred or more. (Bill and his wife tamped them down a bit toward the end. But they were always interesting and usually fun.) PS... I haven't been in touch with him since high school but Stan Robinson, who I used to play tennis with sometimes when I was thinking about going out for the team as a junior (held back only because I was a crappy tennis player who only got worse the longer he played ) ended up becoming Kim Stanley Robinson, winner of a bunch of sci-fi awards. And another junior high and high school pal who I still see every once in a while, Bradley Thompson, is exec story editor for the current Battlestar Gallactica (or he will be, again, when the strike is over). Oh, yeah, and a friend from the 80s who I share an ex-GF with (that sounds so wrong -- I went out for a while with his ex-GF, let's put it that way) went from working at a Kinko's when I knew him to being a big, big deal in the video game world: Bill Roper (vp and later director of Blizzard, where he was a big part of Warcraft, Starcraft, and Diablo. PPS... What I want to know is: How do I get MY wikipedia page? I'll tell you right now I draw the line short of serial murder... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members alphajerk Posted November 6, 2007 Members Share Posted November 6, 2007 Wow... I don't think you could have stated this more perfectly and you've also just described my own internal process. To put it bluntly, I'm somewhat capable of being an "uber person" in that I'm quite well rounded and competent in a lot of areas. But I never will be that type of person because I'm an artist first. I don't mean so much my work, but my temperament. Anytime I do something that seems too disciplined and linear and goal oriented, I find a way to screw it up. And it's not "self sabotage" although it would seem that way to an uber person - it's actually protecting myself because I am just miserable in those situations. I crave my reflection time - I just break down if I have a packed calendar for months on end. And I crave the mental space to be spontaneous - if everything I do is part of some goal or expectation placed on me, I cease being productive at all. I can be and often am really driven, but the drive originates in a place I can't necessarily control. For the most part I've managed to structure my life so that it caters to my temperament - I can usually pick and choose when I work and what I do at any given time. And I could go a lot "farther" with everything I do, if I were more goal oriented. But I'm not. I didn't go into business for myself to make lots of money - I did it so I would have the time and flexibility I crave. I've got work out the wazoo and most people would think I'm nuts not to do it, but I often put it off, or turn it down. It doesn't make for great financial stability, but I manage. I don't really have a lot of choice, cuz I've tried and it always leads to disaster - if I had to behave like a type A person to survive, I'd shoot myself. Seriously, I can't imagine it. There are a lot of uber people that I admire. Some of them seem unhappy and trying too hard to overcompensate for a basic self esteem problem, but some seem quite genuinely well adjusted too. I admire many of them and their contributions to society, but I don't envy them. I know I ain't like them and wasn't meant to be. pretty much dead on for me as well... sometimes i wish i could keep that "level" which would make me much more wealthy financially... but i feel it would also lead to an early demise and/or miserable life. im basically a binge worker.... and after a good long binge its tough not to just check out for a few days. it is nice to be able to somewhat choose those days too, but lately i have been so busy, i havent had that reflection time, downtime, whatever... and im feeling over zapped but with demanding clients there is no time for me to recharge my creative batteries. my other problem is i hold my work to a much higher expectation than any of my clients do... so i COULD do a lot less work [less thought etc put into it] and make more money while expending a lot less energy in the process, but then i have to wonder if the satisfaction will be there to keep going. the one thing however that has saved me more than anything is my skills across a wife variety of jobs so i dont get stuck doing one thing for too long. i did 3 logos/stationary two weeks ago and dont want to see another one of those for a long time. i cant do websites really anymore but i have to push one of those out my ass this week. but it is nice to jump from skill to skill and makes life less mundane. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Tedster Posted November 6, 2007 Members Share Posted November 6, 2007 "Some people don't seem real at all Unafraid of any mountain Sure that the gods won't let him fall Should he fall, he will always get up again And if he's hurt, he never shows it When he's wrong, nobody knows it Seems like he never has to try, He just must be a lucky guy"... "Lucky Guy", Todd Rundgren Personally, I hate the {censored}ers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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