so I have a child hood neighbor, that probbably knew form birth that she was going to be an artist. She is doing VERY welll and yes she majored in art

I can't claim success on that level, but I knew from a very early age that Art was what I wanted to do with my life - by Middle School I was looking at Interlochen brochures - and I remained laser-focused on that through college and into my professional career. There were other things I had options to pursue a career in (Psychology had a certain appeal, and the head of the Mathematics department once horrified me by saying I would make an excellent mathematician if I wanted to...), but there was never any doubt about what my first choice was going to be.

For the record, I picked what was behind door #3: do the Nestea plung einto bed.

Yes! Or even when they have options, it's "Favorite movie" and "favorite book" and "where was your honeymoon?" and "who was your best man?" Thanks, bank. Rub it in. And yes I could make up fictional answers, but I'd never remember them.

This.

Matt, you have job doing art, the practical side of being an Artist, yes? It reminds me of a childhood friend who is a professional musician -- for the Navy. I would never have pegged him as a professional musician, OR for going into the military, but the combination makes so much sense. He was always a practical kid, and it's a steady full-time job making music.

Can I be more cranky this morning? I think not.

Not unrelatedly, it's supposed to hit 100° today.

It's a fucking nightmare out there.

I'm pretty sure I'm not leaving the A/C in the living room today unless the apartment is on fire.

Since I had to move the car to avoid a street-cleaning ticket anyway (Take That, The Man!), I went to the grocery store before it got too hot, and bought stuff that altogether will avoid me having to make anything hot to eat. Then I stopped by the library and picked up a metric boatload of books that I can read in the coolitude of AC.

Matt, you live in Memphis and do art - did you go to MCA by any chance? I had some friends who went there.

I've been in a funk of boredom with myself and lack of doing anything. SO today's playlist to attempt to fight it off is Stevie Wonder and India Arie.

I find that German heavy metal is good for shaking off a funk.

Matt, you have job doing art, the practical side of being an Artist, yes?

Yes, educational/textbook design and illustration. I wasn't particularly interested in being a starving artist, so I took Commercial Art courses in high school and went for a Bachelor of Science degree in Graphic Design rather than a BFA.

Matt, you live in Memphis and do art - did you go to MCA by any chance? I had some friends who went there.

Actually, I live in Jonesboro AR now, though I did live in Memphis for four years. I considered MCA (they had a partner program where you could take academic classes at Rhodes), but the cheapness of living at home and my grandmother's failing health ultimately convinced me to choose ASU.