I think you're right, Jesse!

Dear body, forgetting one pill in the morning should not make me cry over nothing. Please do not be freaking out. Chill the fuck out and stabslize yourself. No love, me.

you need at least three of the following: talent, looks, determination, and luck.

And a pact with Satan.

Which 3 does Gaga have?

How is being supported by your wife for five years not a Plan B?

Right? It's a parasitic Plan B, but a Plan B nonetheless. If you are (1) not succeeding at Your Great And Super Special Art, yet you are still (2) eating and have a place to live, you have a Plan B. It might not be a Plan B where you choose to work at something else, but it's still a Plan B. Right up until your wife says "Get a job, seriously, or move the hell out. The mime gig is NEVER going to happen."

A friend of mine who had some minor success in the comic book field

Chatty!co-worker's dream since childhood has been to be an artist for DC or Marvel. He also happens to be married with a child. His priority is his supporting his family, and he works on his art in his spare time.

He also recently got a freelance gig with Marvel.

So, you know, the whole deal where Artists DON'T Get Day Jobs Oh Mah Gawd -- not always true.

But I guess what it comes down to is what the Great And Talented Potential Artist's priorities are. They can put Their Great Potential Art before everything else, but they might lose everything else along the way. And if that's what they're willing to do, cool. But if that means you might bankrupt your spouse who's supporting you, if it means you might destroy your marriage because your spouse can't take it any more, you might want to be 110% goddamn sure that your spouse knows *before* the wedding that Your Great Potential Art is more important than he/she is.

Talent, determination, and luck. Also charisma. Which subs for looks

IIRC, Lady Gaga is a trust fund baby, which may have smoothed the path for her some. Note that Paris Hilton hasn't had much success in a singing career, by comparison. Gaga actually does score pretty high in the "talent looks determination" categories.

There are reasons why some people become police or firefighters and some people become actuaries. I do think there are lots of creative types working regular jobs and sometimes, people get lucky.

I just read the column in Newsweek about the Dyson vacuum guy. He busted his ASS (and his wife supported the family) while he tried to engineer and sell his machine. And now, he's a billionaire.

Walt Whitman was a clerk for the U.S. government and, according to a recent story, a very good one. His handwriting was greatly admired.

I have found that most of the working theatre artists I meet that do not have a "day job" either come from a place of real deprivation and poverty, where they basically have no where to go but up, or come from a background with family money/parental safety net. Or, mostly for sound/lighting people, have a design business (like ND) which is not all for theatre, but also for trade shows, museums, haunted houses, etc.