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InvisibleCidneyIndole
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The Success Monster (and why do I know "famous" people?)
    #13994013 - 02/20/11 02:29 AM (12 years, 11 months ago)

Not that fucking famous, so hold on to your panties if you're just here for some star-knobbing.

I always thought I was going to be successful when I was younger. I was CONFIDENT of it. My family tells me that when I was less than a year old I had a vocabulary thousands of words long. They thought I was some kind of prodigy. Little did they know...heh...

...I remember the first thing I ever wanted to do when I was a kid was write. I don't know where the fascination came from exactly. I just loved the idea that I could make up stories, entirely from my head, and entertain people and get paid for it. Especially when I realized some get paid A LOT for it.

I think that was actually what started my obsession with fame and entertaining. Obsession is probably a strong word, but it seems like a persistent enough theme. When I was a little older I wanted to act. I even took drama classes for a while. Fast forward a few years, same with being a rock star, add some guitar lessons.

Sucked because my family being a little more on the poor side (though mostly just refusing to spend much money on me that wasn't "necessary") I did go to drama class for a couple years (thus, I'm a fantastic liar) but my guitar lessons were cut very short.

Anyway, not to bore you and try to get more to the fucking point. At some point the idea of writing came back, and I even seriously pursued that for a long time. (At least, if by "seriously pursused" you mean reading almost every book written on the craft, and then writing a bunch, but never really cleaning my work or sending it anywhere.)  But that never really came to much.

Add a bunch of family problems and drug problems that mix with social problems, and 15 years later I'm no longer a teenager, just laid off from a job I despised anyway, and not really much closer to any of my childhood dreams.

And then it kills me:  I start hearing about all these people I went to school with, and how some of them are doing exceptionally well now. Each time I heard of a new one, it kind of added insult to my already injured ego and self esteem.

One of my best friends growing up was a kid I'll call Derek. Derek was wicked into computers, and smart and self taught. Derek ended up getting TWO books published about programming on Apple systems, and he is currently employed by Apple. We recently caught up, and he tells me he had to pay $35,000 in federal taxes last year.

One of my good friends now, is actually the cousin of a rockstar, who grew up around here.




That would be Aaron Lewis of the band Staind if you're not a fan. I heard he's going country, which is :vomit:, but yeah, his old-school stuff is still awesome. But that's not that new to me, he was one of the first local success stories I heard of (he was also a bit older than me and my peer group)


In homeroom I used to sit next to this kid and I would sell him candy and we would trade tapes and stuff. We were both really into guns n roses at the time. Even then he was a badass guitar player. His parents paid to send him to lessons every week. I didn't even find out until today who he became.




Maybe he's not familiar to you. Maybe at least a few of you would recognize him better with his band?



So yeah, I went to school with Mike from All that Remains.

And THEN, I also find out about this. I also went to school with this girl. In fact, I kind of stalked her and her little clique (in a cute way, I swear) because they were the "freak chicks" in high school.



And again, maybe some of you won't recognize her solo. I'm sure it would help a lot to see her next to this guy:



So yeah, apparently one of the chicks I used to stalk in high school is now the bassist for Smashing Pumpkins (and formerly Veruca Salt and one other band, apparently.)

I mean, I knew that my shitty repressed little hometown area was going to spawn some talent of some sort, but I could have sworn I was meant to be among them. Having a midlife crisis sucks, especially when you just turned thirty. haha

Anyway, that is my rant.

Anyone here pissed off that they're not rich and/or famous, or grow up with someone we'd know?

:shrug:


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InvisibleJesusGoneRogue
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Re: The Success Monster (and why do I know "famous" people?) [Re: CidneyIndole]
    #13994021 - 02/20/11 02:31 AM (12 years, 11 months ago)

All That Remains! :rockon:


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InvisibleLobsterSauceDiscord
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Re: The Success Monster (and why do I know "famous" people?) [Re: CidneyIndole]
    #13994025 - 02/20/11 02:34 AM (12 years, 11 months ago)

Do you know Hanna Montana?:awesome: Autograph??


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InvisibleCidneyIndole
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Re: The Success Monster (and why do I know "famous" people?) [Re: JesusGoneRogue]
    #13994031 - 02/20/11 02:35 AM (12 years, 11 months ago)

Quote:

JesusGoneRogue said:
All That Remains! :rockon:




Heh. Mike was actually a really nice guy when we were younger.

One of the few that was never a douchebag to me. :grin::thumbup:


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I am me. We are You.


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OfflineSalviNate
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Re: The Success Monster (and why do I know "famous" people?) [Re: CidneyIndole]
    #13994060 - 02/20/11 02:50 AM (12 years, 11 months ago)

The air that I breathe was alright,
other than that song i dont like scream-o.

at the same time though I hope im not in your shoes one day


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Offlinegodisanastronaut
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Re: The Success Monster (and why do I know "famous" people?) [Re: SalviNate]
    #13994077 - 02/20/11 03:04 AM (12 years, 11 months ago)

why'd you want to be famous? success in life has has multiple dimensions. if you got a midlife crisis because you're not
'famous' then i guess you seriously gotta work on that attitude. in fact, and i think many people would agree, fame is
kind of a bitch and hard to handle.


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All things are true. God's an Astronaut. Oz is Over the Rainbow, and Midian is where the monsters live.


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InvisibleCidneyIndole
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Re: The Success Monster (and why do I know "famous" people?) [Re: godisanastronaut]
    #13994144 - 02/20/11 03:40 AM (12 years, 11 months ago)

Quote:

godisanastronaut said:
why'd you want to be famous? success in life has has multiple dimensions. if you got a midlife crisis because you're not
'famous' then i guess you seriously gotta work on that attitude. in fact, and i think many people would agree, fame is
kind of a bitch and hard to handle.





Fame might be nice (or it might be horrid, I really wouldn't know) but that's not really where I was coming from.

I was thinking more of the "success" aspect of it, and people often think of "famous" people as being successful. Did you notice that I also mentioned my computer geek friend? Maybe you did or didn't. Either way, I didn't have any sexy pictures of him to put up, and I'm not sure he would have been that keen on it anyway. :lol:

These particular examples did also probably affect me a little more personally because they are doing things I may have wanted to do at some point. *shrug*

Just makes me think.


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I am me. We are You.


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Invisiblegerryjarcia
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Re: The Success Monster (and why do I know "famous" people?) [Re: CidneyIndole]
    #13994345 - 02/20/11 06:35 AM (12 years, 11 months ago)

hmmm...i recently turned thirty and have given some thought to where i am "at" in life. for me it comes down to perspective (as does anything in life i suppose). one of the many difficulties i've found with living in Western culture is the way we define success.

The meaning of what it means to be "successful" has become dramatically distorted in the last 50 years, especially for those of us living in media and movie saturated America. "Success" in America looks like something from a movie, or some plot we read in a book.

We have trouble distinguishing between reality and fantasy and as a result we live in this weird limbo that falls somewhere outside the bounds of both.

I think I've been trying to really determine what it is I place value in. Not what the culture around me values or says I should value. There are many types of "success".

How often do you see a movie or a read a book about someone who has lived a quiet and slowly unfolding life, been a true friend to a few close friends and tried to do their best in honoring the planet that has sustained their very existence?

For me the real struggle comes in when I try to measure my self worth against a set values that fail to ring true to the way I am going about my existence.

That said, I still struggle with all the doubts, insecurities and misconceptions that come with being human. I can relate with where you're at, OP.


--------------------


"We are all intoxicated. We were born into an insane asylum, a world crazy-making. We believe what we see and hear. The real myth is the myth of sanity, of rationality: it's a disease that is eating away at the earth. All the poisons flow from our denial. We deny madness, we forget our crimes, we dismember the corpse, we imprison our children. We need poison to poison the poison, to remember the sacred nature of intoxication, the green body of the young god." ~ Dale Pendell


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Invisiblebadchad
Mad Scientist

Registered: 03/02/05
Posts: 13,372
Re: The Success Monster (and why do I know "famous" people?) [Re: CidneyIndole]
    #13994415 - 02/20/11 07:31 AM (12 years, 11 months ago)

Success is a product of hard work and luck.  To get nationally and world wide "famous" takes a lot of luck IMO.  It's kind of like winning the lottery.

I still believe that a strong, dedicated work ethic can bring a lot of success.


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...the whole experience is (and is as) a profound piece of knowledge.  It is an indellible experience; it is forever known.  I have known myself in a way I doubt I would have ever occurred except as it did.

Smith, P.  Bull. Menninger Clinic (1959) 23:20-27; p. 27.

...most subjects find the experience valuable, some find it frightening, and many say that is it uniquely lovely.

Osmond, H.  Annals, NY Acad Science (1957) 66:418-434; p.436


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Offlinex Ju x
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Re: The Success Monster (and why do I know "famous" people?) [Re: gerryjarcia]
    #13994867 - 02/20/11 10:25 AM (12 years, 11 months ago)

Sure, it would be nice to be famous and all that, but that's not the only means of achieving sucess.

Quote:

gerryjarcia said:
...one of the many difficulties i've found with living in Western culture is the way we define success.

The meaning of what it means to be "successful" has become dramatically distorted in the last 50 years, especially for those of us living in media and movie saturated America. "Success" in America looks like something from a movie, or some plot we read in a book.

We have trouble distinguishing between reality and fantasy and as a result we live in this weird limbo that falls somewhere outside the bounds of both.

I think I've been trying to really determine what it is I place value in. Not what the culture around me values or says I should value. There are many types of "success".

How often do you see a movie or a read a book about someone who has lived a quiet and slowly unfolding life, been a true friend to a few close friends and tried to do their best in honoring the planet that has sustained their very existence?

For me the real struggle comes in when I try to measure my self worth against a set values that fail to ring true to the way I am going about my existence.

That said, I still struggle with all the doubts, insecurities and misconceptions that come with being human. I can relate with where you're at, OP.




Pretty much sums it up :thumbup:


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OfflineAcaterpillar
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Re: The Success Monster (and why do I know "famous" people?) [Re: x Ju x]
    #13994997 - 02/20/11 10:56 AM (12 years, 11 months ago)

It's never too late to become famous. The only thing stopping you is yourself.


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Aaa...E I O Uuu...A E I O Uuu..A E I O uh Uuu..
*Cough* *Cough*
Ooo...U E I O Aaa...U E I Aaa..A E I O Uuuuu...

At first sight, The Perfection of Wisdom is bewildering, full of paradox and apparent irrationality.


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Invisibleabltsandwich
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Re: The Success Monster (and why do I know "famous" people?) [Re: Acaterpillar]
    #13995040 - 02/20/11 11:09 AM (12 years, 11 months ago)

I know the feeling OP.  With so much potential, I amounted to an hourly employee at a shitty job.


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OfflineAcaterpillar
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Re: The Success Monster (and why do I know "famous" people?) [Re: abltsandwich]
    #13995065 - 02/20/11 11:15 AM (12 years, 11 months ago)

Your potential doesn't have to be applied to your employment. That's just what society wants you to think.

But yeah, working at a dead end job by the hour isn't very motivating.


--------------------
Aaa...E I O Uuu...A E I O Uuu..A E I O uh Uuu..
*Cough* *Cough*
Ooo...U E I O Aaa...U E I Aaa..A E I O Uuuuu...

At first sight, The Perfection of Wisdom is bewildering, full of paradox and apparent irrationality.


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InvisibleCidneyIndole
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Re: The Success Monster (and why do I know "famous" people?) [Re: Acaterpillar]
    #13995634 - 02/20/11 01:17 PM (12 years, 11 months ago)

Thinking about this whole issue, I have lots of thoughts.

Just having woken up, some of them are leaning toward the bitter. (okay, I have optirectalitis when I first wake. This is a severely debilitating condition where the optic nerve mutates through the rectum, and you end up with a shitty outlook on life)

I was thinking of how when I was young, my mother would say "being a rock star is like winning the lottery. Everyone wants to do it, so no one really has a chance," or something really dumb to the effect.

Thanks for the words of wisdom, mom.

Also, I remember back when I sat next to Mike (from All That Remains) in school... we would talk about music and stuff, because we had some stuff in common. And we both played the guitar. Thing is, he had been taking lessons for a while. I took lessons for a very very short period of time, before my parents said "gee, we can't afford this and its pointless anyway, so you can't do it."

I would, by the way, find out years later that we were NOT as financially bad-off during this time as my parents led me to believe.

But they never helped me develop (and even discouraged me from) something I was passionate about.

And now I am here, and they are there.

Life is weird.

And I'm not fond of my parents sometimes.


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I am me. We are You.


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Invisiblegerryjarcia
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Re: The Success Monster (and why do I know "famous" people?) [Re: CidneyIndole]
    #13996053 - 02/20/11 02:50 PM (12 years, 11 months ago)



--------------------


"We are all intoxicated. We were born into an insane asylum, a world crazy-making. We believe what we see and hear. The real myth is the myth of sanity, of rationality: it's a disease that is eating away at the earth. All the poisons flow from our denial. We deny madness, we forget our crimes, we dismember the corpse, we imprison our children. We need poison to poison the poison, to remember the sacred nature of intoxication, the green body of the young god." ~ Dale Pendell


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InvisibleCidneyIndole
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Re: The Success Monster (and why do I know "famous" people?) [Re: gerryjarcia]
    #13996194 - 02/20/11 03:28 PM (12 years, 11 months ago)

:lol:

Yeah, thanks. I missed my therapist appointment this week.


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I am me. We are You.


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Offlinewrestler_az
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Re: The Success Monster (and why do I know "famous" people?) [Re: CidneyIndole]
    #13996407 - 02/20/11 04:09 PM (12 years, 11 months ago)

get back on the writing...


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how's your WOW?





  Edited by yageman (04/20/06 4:20 PM) 


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OfflineAcaterpillar
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Re: The Success Monster (and why do I know "famous" people?) [Re: wrestler_az]
    #13996464 - 02/20/11 04:18 PM (12 years, 11 months ago)

For real. Send out your work too.

Hell, if you send me stuff, I'll read it.
And if I like it, I'll send it to my friends.


--------------------
Aaa...E I O Uuu...A E I O Uuu..A E I O uh Uuu..
*Cough* *Cough*
Ooo...U E I O Aaa...U E I Aaa..A E I O Uuuuu...

At first sight, The Perfection of Wisdom is bewildering, full of paradox and apparent irrationality.


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InvisibleCidneyIndole
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Re: The Success Monster (and why do I know "famous" people?) [Re: wrestler_az]
    #13996757 - 02/20/11 05:20 PM (12 years, 11 months ago)

Quote:

wrestler_az said:
get back on the writing...





May I ask why you say this?


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Offlinewrestler_az
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Re: The Success Monster (and why do I know "famous" people?) [Re: CidneyIndole]
    #13997923 - 02/20/11 08:46 PM (12 years, 11 months ago)

because you said this...

Quote:

CidneyIndole said:
...I remember the first thing I ever wanted to do when I was a kid was write. I don't know where the fascination came from exactly. I just loved the idea that I could make up stories, entirely from my head, and entertain people and get paid for it. Especially when I realized some get paid A LOT for it.




and this...

Quote:

CidneyIndole said:
Anyway, not to bore you and try to get more to the fucking point. At some point the idea of writing came back, and I even seriously pursued that for a long time. (At least, if by "seriously pursused" you mean reading almost every book written on the craft, and then writing a bunch, but never really cleaning my work or sending it anywhere.)  But that never really came to much.




it just seemed like the most logical advice.


--------------------
how's your WOW?





  Edited by yageman (04/20/06 4:20 PM) 


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InvisibleCidneyIndole
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Re: The Success Monster (and why do I know "famous" people?) [Re: wrestler_az]
    #13998291 - 02/20/11 09:34 PM (12 years, 11 months ago)

Gotcha. Just curious. Thanks.


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