Adopting the New Tagline and Shaking Off the Old One

I changed my tagline to reflect my personal philosophy of work. The old one--Member of the Funny Name Club--was inspired by something that the president said back when he was a candidate, and, while I thought I thought it was pithy--especially considering the differences between his political philosophy and mine--it was time to change it. There was too much baggage in it; bigoted baggage that I don't carry.

The new tagline was inspired by the demand by certain elements that others "give" them jobs--a constant refrain that bothered me and, for a while, I couldn't put my finger on why I was bothered. Then, the Eureka! moment came: the giving was expected, whether the recipient had earned it--through education and/or experience--or not.

Creating one's own job seems radical, but it isn't. we see it happen everyday. It's just that Americans have come to expect other people to give them jobs, something which may contradict Jesus' Parable of the Talents.

My problem has been lack of confidence and fear: would anything I write make a difference? Would I be ridiculed for my rather quirky way of expressing myself? But those rhetorical questions reflect something I've been railing against for years: pride and fear. I guess it's true that people criticize that which they dislike about themselves.

My job--my talent--is to write and I can still freely do that, so I will.

Speaking of that, I started a Dollar-Off Sale for my book, which will last until tonight. If you're interested, go buy. Remember, if you buy the paper version from me (and not Amazon), it will be autographed.

Read my column at Da Tech Guy Blog on Tuesdays and Saturdays.

And please contribute to Juliette’s Projects: A Roof Over My Head, my new novel, this blog, and my Internet--to keep them going and to the COFFEE fund to keep me going!