frustratedpilot | Entries tagged with success

Sagittarius Horoscope for week of May 15, 2014

According to my reading of the astrological omens, you should draw inspiration from this Chinese proverb: "Never do anything standing that you can do sitting, or anything sitting that you can do lying down." In other words, Sagittarius, you need extra downtime. So please say NO to any influence that says, "Do it now! Be maniacally efficient! Multitask as if your life depended on it! The more active you are the more successful you will be!" Instead, give yourself ample opportunity to play and daydream and ruminate.

I do so little now I have a hard time believing I need to do less.

Overnight I had a dream I was in a shootout. My opponent used a bolt-action hunting piece at me first, and when it jammed he pulled a revolver and blasted till he was out of ammo. I had an automatic pistol and an extra clip, so when he saw me reload he knew it was over and gave up.

I don't know what this means in terms of my life.

"At the beginning of it, an ascent to greatness and a descent into madness both look exactly the same."

Sagittarius Horoscope for week of August 29, 2013

James Caan is a well-known actor who has appeared in more than 80 movies, including notables like The Godfather, A Bridge Too Far, and Elf. But he has also turned down major roles in a series of blockbusters: Star Wars, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Kramer vs. Kramer, Blade Runner, and Apocalypse Now. I present his odd choices as a cautionary tale for you in the coming weeks, Sagittarius. Don't sell yourself short. Don't shrink from the challenges that present themselves. Even if you have accomplished a lot already, an invitation to a more complete form of success may be in the offing.

As little as I have accomplished, I don't think I'm exactly swimming in choices or opportunities.

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I don't think I'm successful. Do any of you readers out there think I am? If so, how?

Sagittarius Horoscope for week of August 18, 2011

The highest unclimbed mountain in the world is Gangkhar Puensum, an almost 25,000-foot-tall beauty in Bhutan. It will remain free of human influence indefinitely, as local authorities are keen on preventing the environmental degradation that has occurred on popular peaks like Mt. Everest, where climbers have left lots of trash. What's the equivalent in your sphere, Sagittarius? The most prominent unconquered prize? The Grail that still remains elusive? The virgin treasure your quest has not yet won? According to my analysis, you now have the potential to make tangible progress toward that goal. Unlike the case with Gangkhar Puensum, there are no rules or laws preventing you.

That whole my-own-career thing is pretty high up there, along with my-own-home and my-own-love-life and my-own-family. But the goal posts have moved so far that I wonder if I'm still on the same planet with them anymore.

PBS World just re-ran a special from four years back about the theme of the American Dream and famous novels that explored it in differing fashions: The Great Gatsby, The Grapes of Wrath, The Street, Seize The Day and a few others. I watched it and began having thoughts related to my own life and work.

I am definitely NOT living the American Dream. I don't have a place of my own, a career of my own, nor a family from my own loins. But at the same time, I haven't gone back on my own morals to pursue schemes for quick gain, nor risked overmuch, nor tried to redefine my own self in ways to please others. That dream I linked to on the Writer's Block the other day--the alternative reality me that HAD somehow gotten himself the American Dream life...I have absolutely NO idea how he did it. And maybe I don't want to know.

There is all sorts of magical thinking involved, of course. But I realize that my lack of success doesn't really mean failure...just as sure as a lack of disasters doesn't mean the blessings of heaven. The world is random and unfeeling and cold and unfair and run by some laws we understand and some laws we will never understand. Looking for much more meaning than that can drive a person crazy.

Maybe my blind spot towards immediate, worldly success is something fundamental about my character that I shouldn't try to mess with. Not all people are built the same way.

This NPR Interview is about how Hollywood's business model has morphed with the downfall of Box Office and physical home video product (tapes & DVDs).

As

ps238principal noted earlier this week, Hollywood is making more Reboots and Sequels than ever, proving that even more important than a successful movie is to a studio is the brand that it generates. Original ideas are far riskier and difficult to market than known quantities, no matter who is cast in the central roles on screen, who writes the script, who directs, etc.

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I suppose I've always wanted to be Robert Heinlein...although in his later works I have the suspicion that he actually worked in tandem with his wife Ginny.

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Supposedly, I AM an intellectual genius. Which makes my lack of success heretofore either a mystery or a sign that the world at large loathes the smart and rational.

Sagittarius Horoscope for week of November 26, 2009

The surest way to beat the system, my dear, is to elude it and erect your own system. The strategy most likely to leave your competitors babbling in the mirror, sweetheart, is to go completely over their heads. That doesn't mean, darling, that you should be a remote and grandiose narcissist who listens to no one but yourself. Smile sweetly as you describe why your way is the best way, you gorgeous genius. Enlist worthy collaborators through the irresistible force of your guileless charisma.

Well, it's better than my Book of Tepid quote for today: Just because something is a necessary evil, doesn't oblige me to stay silent on its evilness.

Farmers in Morocco can earn 40 times more money by growing marijuana instead of avocados or tomatoes. Meanwhile, my friend René brings in ten times the salary she used to make as a secretary by working as a stripper at a nightclub. That means she can devote less time to earning a living and has more time to do what she loves, which is playing music. I expect that you've received or will soon receive a comparable opportunity or temptation, Sagittarius. I'm not sure what the morally correct action will be. But I do urge you to try to put your long-term interests above your short-term interests.

Strangely, I've already been moving in this direction. Just today I engaged in some arms trading--I sold a platoon's worth of tanks (remote-controlled toys converted to wargame use) and will ship them out today or tomorrow, depending on funding.

Did I mention that one of my mother's best friends used to be a stripper?

FP

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Went to a job fair in Knoxville overday. It was the second-bleakest I've ever attended. They only had 35 prospective employers there and most of them were in lines of work with high turnover (fast food, factories, temping). I only left off a resume with the registration desk; they promise to add it to a database of resumes they're creating on their website.

The old saying about 50% of success being just showing up? I know I'm taking a positive, proactive approach, but it doesn't FEEL that way.

FP

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Stephen R Bierce

Frustrated Pilot

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Page Summary

FreeWill Goes Under The Gun
Tepid 4:5
Reel And Unreal...FreeWill Weighs In
Writer's Block: Recipe for Success
Flag Planting?
Whose Dreams Did America Have, Anyway?
How The Entertainment Industry Changed Its Focus
Writer's Block: My Word
Writer's Block: Arts v. smarts
Graven Into The Wall Of Sky By Starlight
FreeWill Astrology: Sagittarius For Week of May 1st
Via aurora77...
Job Fair

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Pilot's Log

Where Very Little Happens

Entries tagged with success

FreeWill Goes Under The Gun

Tepid 4:5

Reel And Unreal...FreeWill Weighs In

Writer's Block: Recipe for Success

Flag Planting?

Whose Dreams Did America Have, Anyway?

How The Entertainment Industry Changed Its Focus

Writer's Block: My Word

Writer's Block: Arts v. smarts

Graven Into The Wall Of Sky By Starlight

FreeWill Astrology: Sagittarius For Week of May 1st

Via aurora77...

Job Fair