Discouraging Words

Yesterday I spoke to a friend's mother about buying a house. She's been in the real estate business for many years, so I figured she was a good person to go to for advice.


She was. She told me that, for the kind of place Little Miss and I want to move into, a half a million dollars is cheap. Yet at the same time people are buying and selling houses like mad. I feel kind of like I did when I was growing up and got picked last for games; everyone's playing except me, and I'm left out because I haven't got the right abilities.


Today, on Slate, appeared this article all about how abrasive the career of a freelance writer can be, what with stagnant fees, late payments, and the certain knowledge that one's skills can be found anywhere. According to Mr. Yagoda, magazines want nothing but the plainest vanilla writing, the sort of thing anyone can do. Therefore, good writers are a drug on the market. Great news for someone who wants to make a career out of writing, as I do.

I was all set to throw in the towel on both projects, when it occurred to me that I was about to make some life-altering decisions on the basis of one conversation and one on-line article. Kind of jumping the gun, aren't I?

Yes, folks, from here on in it's going to take at least three contrarian viewpoints before I give up on my dreams, you betcha!

Benshlomo says, Maturity is largely a matter of taking the next step when your previous one landed you in a prairie dog hole.