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Right livelihood is tricky to achieve, especially "in this economy," as they say.
My search for a day job continues... sigh... though I've found some odds and ends, sub-optimal as they may be.
I've come out of church music retirement, for one thing. When McDoc and I got married, I decided I didn't want to have every weekend committed -- plus, I was kinda burnt out. (Working as a church musician will turn you into an atheist much faster than trivial things like contemplating the Problem of Evil or studying science. It'll also make you hate Christmas, if you didn't already.)
So began a Sunday morning routine of coffee, pancakes, and the New York Times, as God intended. ;)
I did play at a Unitarian Universalist Church in Detroit a few times during my little sabbatical. That was great fun, and a good way to ease back into it, because I was free to play most anything I wanted (the regular organist at the church was fond of busting out old show tunes and Motown favorites, some of which sound better on the organ than others.)
Here in Boston, though, I've put myself back on the market.
That's right -- I go to church for the money. ;)
I'm pretty happy with it now -- my circuitous spiritual search has wended its way through Buddhism and UUism, I've settled reasonably comfortably on the extreme left wing of the Episcopal scene. And I've started hawking myself as a substitute organist, which suits my commitment-phobic nature where weekend work is concerned.
But Episcopal organists aren't the only ones who take an occasional day off. Last Sunday I played for ::whispers:: the Catholics.
Oh, I know, you may be wondering how I can live with myself. Well, I tithe, you know. Here, and here. It helps me sleep at night.
McDoc and I joke about it a lot -- about all the great things I'm going to do with my filthy lucre. But as I've thought about the issue more, it occurs to me that it's hard to find a completely "clean" job. I thought back to previous positions I've had...
- Piano teaching is pretty unassailable, ethically speaking. Until you continue teaching a kid who obviously hates the lessons, because you need the money...
- College teaching -- could you get any nobler? Except for the elitism and contributing to the perpetuation of class stratification in our society...
- My favorite non-music job I ever had was operating a small offset printing press for the lecture note service at U.C. Berkeley when I was an undergrad. (It wasn't as long ago as it sounds like... there was a time when the printing press was more cost-effective than a copier, believe it or not!) So, yeah, I helped make it convenient for college kids to skip class. :P
- Oh, and as an office temp, I know I've worked for Republicans. I worked at an investment banking firm in New York for a few years. I was less politically informed at the time, but I still knew I was in somewhat hostile territory. But I got along great with the people I worked for, and they let me set my own hours around my grad school schedule, and I figured I was subverting some of their money to liberal causes (namely, me!).
So far, the less ethically compromised things that I'm good at are either not terribly lucrative, not available, or both. My search will go on... in the meantime, I I'll keep tithing...
Let's take a look at some fine, upstanding Top Comments!
From jnhobbs:
In Adam Green's diary, A response to tonight's White House statement, in the midst of yet another heated discussion on President Obama's strategy and motives regarding the public option, mahakali overdrive makes a conciliatory plea and suggests that "It's not about being right."
From Emeraldmaiden:
You know this can’t lead to anything good, but it sure leads to some funny! Comment by lineatus.
From Kitty:
Geekesque takes pity on Glenn Greenwald, while Larry Madill puts it in a nutshell.
From BeninSC:
lineatus explains why some are not so quick to laud Harry Reid about the current prospects for health care with the public option.
From yours truly, virgomusic:
I got a kick out of this thread kicked off by droogie6655321, about the presidential playlist.
brillig brings Top Mojo:
Top 30 (plus ties) Comments excluding tip jars, first comments and stuff:
1) Poll - turning tabloid, not conservative IMHO. by malharden — 426
2) Excellent by DelicateMonster — 157
3) Whole heartedly agree by Remsicle — 145
4) That wasn't the point. by Jyrinx — 142
5) Secret sources: by droogie6655321 — 130
6) oh boo hoo. Huff Post peeps had their feelings by dotster — 125
7) the issue with HuffPost isn't criticism by Stroszek — 124
8) I take this as "Like Obama, don't worship him" by MinistryOfTruth — 112
9) Just another day at the RNC by Julie Gulden — 108
10) For socialists, the French don't share well. by ludwig van brickoven — 91
11) Arianna has one priority--ARIANNA!!! by homogenius — 89
12) This goodbye would be less awkward by droogie6655321 — 84
13) If the situation was reversed, it would be the by lineatus — 79
14) You missed by fladem — 70
15) Fortunately... by Radical Moderate — 69
16) White House blog post tonight by Drdemocrat — 67
17) pretty sure the diary in question by TobyRocksSoHard — 67
18) That was refreshing. by Giles Goat Boy — 66
19) Thanks very much by Benintn — 64
20) The great part about living on a globe is ... by OHeyeO — 61
21) This is kind of exciting by beltane — 61
22) Liberals like facts by blue aardvark — 60
23) That makes sense - and it's smart, unlike HuPo's by Eileen B — 60
24) After seeing the "Biden Should Resign" by SueDe — 59
25) but you just got here! by Shahryar — 59
26) I think the fact that this is a sourced statement by ye ye ye — 59
27) Must be very difficult to be so much smarter and by Geekesque — 58
28) Ariana IS about Ariana by ginja — 57
29) The Public Option by TomP — 57
30) Arianna is a sensationalist. by Setrak — 56
31) Now the Party of... by bartct — 56
Top 30 Comments with no exclusions, aka the Tip Jar list :-):
1) Tip Jar by zenbassoon — 532
2) Poll - turning tabloid, not conservative IMHO. by malharden — 426
3) Tip Jar by KHinSF — 423
4) Tip Jar by AdamGreen — 375
5) Tip Jar by cskendrick — 344
6) Tip Jar by MeMeMeMeMe — 343
7) meh by Turkana — 266
8) Tip Jar by Freiheit — 265
9) Tip Jar by TomP — 256
10) Tip Jar by hissyspit — 235
11) Tips / Mojo: 26 Oct 09 by A Siegel — 216
12) Tip Jar by slinkerwink — 208
13) Go on, I dare you by keirdubois — 203
14) Tip Jar by pontificator — 197
15) Tip Jar by Spud1 — 178
16) Tip Jar by Haole in Hawaii — 164
17) Tip Jar by Alien Abductee — 162
18) Tip Jar by The Bagof Health and Politics — 162
19) Tips for Prosecuting Bush/Cheney by MinistryOfTruth — 158
20) Excellent by DelicateMonster — 157
21) Whole heartedly agree by Remsicle — 145
22) That wasn't the point. by Jyrinx — 142
23) Tipped and recommended for being by slinkerwink — 138
24) Secret sources: by droogie6655321 — 130
25) oh boo hoo. Huff Post peeps had their feelings by dotster — 126
26) the issue with HuffPost isn't criticism by Stroszek — 124
27) Tip Jar by globalcitizenlinda — 122
28) Tip Jar by brooklynbadboy — 119
29) I take this as "Like Obama, don't worship him" by MinistryOfTruth — 113
30) Just another day at the RNC by Julie Gulden — 108