Spark #1.16 -Day Job Redux
by Henry Warwick
It has been a long while since I last sent anything in for SPARK. You are probably all wondering- "Where the heck did Henry go?"
I went through some big changes recently, personally, professionally, and creatively, and it all has to do with music — electronic music — in one way or another. Of course, if you’re at this website, you know that EVERYTHING devolves on electronic music, anyway. So you are still left wondering WHERE on God’s little green earth of plastic corn forks and ulcer medication have I been.
Well, let’s look at those changes.
When I was living at a Zen Buddhist Center - so many years ago, it seems like another life time — we had a visiting monk from a monastery who once told me (when I was in a fit of bleakness more intense than my usual atmosphere of dour misery) that "Everything changes in 70 days. Maybe not for the better, but it does change."
I think he made up the part about 70 days, it could be any number over a month or two. But, indeed, my life has changed in the past 70 days, and so much has happened so quickly, that I haven’t had a chance to take stock of it all until this weekend. So, what has happened?
The biggest thing is- I’m unemployed. I live in San Francisco, with a mortgage payment equal to my grandfather’s annual income in the mid 1930s. And a three year old who needs shoes and the rest of it all. What happened? Well, I got sick of driving an hour and twenty minutes each way to Apple Computer in Cupertino every day. So, I got myself a job with a dotcom start-up in Burlingame- a mere half of an hour away. Shorter commute, more money — I was a happy boy.
Until I noticed what was happening. I was working at MizBiz.com. As QA Lead and Content Manager I wore a few hats at my job, and they covered my bald spot nicely. MizBiz was trying to build an Internet community of women entrepreneurs. A worthy cause, I figured, and with the money and short commute — it seemed ideal. After a month or so of hammering into the site, and examining the business, I knew the place was doomed in its form. They had no newsletter. They had no email group. They had NO COMMUNITY, but they were building tools for a major community development. It seemed insane and, it turns out, it was.
They tried to build community from the top down, and the greatest lesson I took from the failure of MizBiz, is that you cannot build community from the top down. It must come from the bottom up. People must have common concerns and have a way to share things or information of value to them individually and as a community. You can build an elaborate website filled with all kinds of features, but if there is no reason for anyone to actually be there at any given time, then no one will be there.
The community of CreativeSynth.com is bigger and stronger than that of MizBiz, and all CreativeSynth offers is good information on gear and electronic music and my curious meanderings. And, after a year of no real external funding — CreativeSynth is still standing, and MizBiz, after having burned through millions of dollars, is deader than a snail on a midsummer highway. A humbling thought.
The most immediate concern was no concern — it was PURE PANIC. Circle the wagons, shoot from the hip get your name out there, run with the big dogs, make it happen snappy… I got nowhere, and I got there very quickly. Either Human Resource departments are completely swamped, or they are presently staffed with the most ignorant collection of lazy impolite losers mother nature has ever suffered to punch a clock for a paycheck. I literally have sent out 5 — 10 resumes a day to specific companies or headhunters regarding specific jobs advertised on certain public job boards, and I have received exactly 5 rejection notices and only 10 notices of any kind.
What the hell is wrong with these people? They can’t generate an auto-reply saying, "thanks we’ll get back to you?" How incompetent can they be? It just boggles the mind. So, I am once again at a crossroads. I am once again looking for new opportunities to come my way. I am once again opening my life to the beneficence of the universe to come and leave bags of money. I’m open to lucky breaks.
I imagine if I were open to spending three hours a day on the road I might have a better chance of finding something. But that time comes at the expense of time with my daughter, and that time with my three-year-old sweetie is sacred time. So, the universe has to be more creative if it wants to dump money on me, and I need to be more creative and flexible in leaving the doors open for the universe’s Opportunity Officers to stop by. The door is open. The beer is cold and I’m ready for some good things to come visit. If you, dear reader, can help, contact me at Kether Contact.
AND WHAT ELSE has changed? Well, I finally have things set up with my CD, "Keraunograph." Just mosey over to the musical part of my website, and you’ll see an image of what one of them looks like (the packaging is rather extra-ordinary), and how you can get one for your very self. It’s a signed, numbered, and limited edition of 500, and at only $15 apiece it’s a great deal on a great work of art. There are some reviews there to give you an idea of what it sounds like, and I’ll be putting some mp3 excerpts up for your enjoyment this week.
In the creative life, I’ve also worked out about three-quarters of a new record, code-named, K2. It’s much like "Keraunograph", but made of smaller, less digestible bits.
In the practical realm, I wrote a manual for a cute little software synthesizer called "KinkyBeep 2.0". The creator of KinkyBeep is presently reviewing it, but his initial impression was very favorable. I’m also redesigning a friend’s website, and my own.
I have been wickedly busy, as you can see. I feel horribly guilty not having posted anything lately. Please, accept my humblest apologies, and look forward to greater things to come. Now that I’m unhappily settling into a short term of un- or underemployment, I’ll have more time to devote to you, my dearest reader.
Next Week- Hypertypes.
- Henry Warwick
- 4/02/2001
