I have NOT been making enough money at my job. That's why all this started. I ended up job-hunting, which I hate, for a job that I'd probably hate. Hoping to save myself from the agony of a second retail festival of fun, I came up with the brilliant idea of becoming a caricaturist, which, upon second thought, isn't much of a brilliant idea since I have a notable skill in the respective field and had been considering pursuing such an enterprise for years. It was more common sense than rocket science. Anyhoo, I got the notion that I might be able to take my mad skillz to the streets and charge interested passersby. My mind was filled with the joys and thrills of a having an income that didn't involve working from behind a cash register for a faceless corporation apparently bent on making outrageously stupid decisions that seem to only affect the annoyance level of both their own employees and their own clientele.
Oh ho, but The Man ended up having the last laugh anyway. I got my mommy (yes, my mommy, as I was too ascared to call myself) to contact the two cities that I would be most likely to generate some ca$$$h in and the obligatory hefty licensing fee turned out to be accompanied by a requirement to work on private property with the permission of the owner. So no parks or street corners for this bugger unless I'm willing to find somebody charitable to lend me a few feet of his land. "Fuck that," said I.
Then said mommy, who frequents craft fairs, pointed out that one was coming up soon and that I should apply for it. So I did. For $60. Fun, yes? It gets better.
Given that this was the first time I'd be charging people for my sorry excuse for "art," I became, needless to say, somewhat nervous for the following week. And a good chunk of that week was used in preparation for the Sunday soon approaching when I'd be selling my, er, service. None of this was so bad, however, as the day before the day, a day on which I had been summoned to work at said job at which I don't make enough moolah. This day may very well have been the busiest and most exhausting day I've had the privilege of working at the store. To put things in perspective, the store closes at 9:00pm. We didn't get out until 10:30. And I was supposed to be up at 6:00. Good start.
I get home late and die for 6 hours. My alarm clock goes off and the destined day has arrived. My parents and I head to the fair despite my drowsiness. (My mommy had her own wares to sell there herself and greatly assisted in my first outing as a merchant-artisan.) We set up our booths, erecting tents above our spaces in the outdoor middle school field; we expect it to rain a tad, as this is what the weatherman told us. After many minutes of set-up, the festival officially opens and a few early bird fair-goers shuffle in. My first customer ever is a guy named Tom. Nice fellow, very friendly and open, has a twinkle in his eyes that his middle-aged wrinkles exaggerate; I try to bring out this feature in his caricature and I think that I succeeded. I get two more batches of customers, one little girl and her presumable mom, and two more little girls and their presumable father. Every thing is going well and I'm hoping to at least make my $60 back.
And then Mighty Zeus parted the clouds and let fall upon mankind, not sunshine, but fucking gallons and gallons of water. And with his blessing, all potential customers stayed inside and did not come to an outdoor fair to get fucking soaked.
I made $15 and lost $45 so that I could get up at 6am and sit in the freezing cold for 6 hours. I'm oddly not very upset over it. I think that I was just relieved to be able to come home and lose myself in Bumpy Trot, aka Steambot Chronicles, which, by the way, is an awesome game. Anyone who likes any of the following should buy this game and play it immediately: [the following] sandbox-style games, artwork and fun reminiscent of Studio Ghibli films, steam-powered mechs, the industrial revolution, customization up the ass, several different personalities for your character to take on, dating sims, renting and furnishing your own room, fun gameplay, vibrant and cool visuals, tons of rhythm mini-games, and a shitload of other cool stuff [/the following]. I actually bought this game a while ago and was immediately turned off by the horrid controls for your mech, or your "trotmobile," but I just picked it up again recently, and, having mastered the controls, I'm hooked on the game. It's a lot of fun and so far has drawn me in more than my very little experience with GTAIII. Take that as you will.
What was I talking about again?
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