welcome! jeremy freese is a professor in sociology at northwestern university. he finds blogging to be a good diversion from insomnia and a far better use of time than television.
Tuesday, May 23, 2006
If one wants to be a rock star...
...one is better off going into "rock," than, say, academia. All I'm saying.
Sure, I'd be done with the damn PhD by now if'n I hadn't spent night after night hammering out tunes for the indifferent and the drunk, but I'd have missed out on a lot of near-arrests, ringing ears, and blurry evenings that we shall never speak of again. But it was fun.
Unless you were being sly and saying something about "rock star academics," in which case, uh, never you mind.
If I could sing, I'd probably be on tour right now as someone's backup singer -- most likely performing with a has been doo wop group at Ho Chunk Casino.
I can't sing, so instead I considered only two career tracks when I was a law student -- either trial lawyer or law prof. Why? Both would give me an opportunity to perform in front of an audience. A CAPTIVE audience.
Once, long ago, in a galaxy much like this one, I thought it would freak someone out to reveal I liked the same song as them (that is, revealed at a particular time, that I liked the particular song they'd singled out on an album I'd acquired, long before we'd both met). And I was afraid a reference to the band's name, in somebody's having professed a liking of a certain song, may have been a subtle hint that I was freaking them out ALREADY, even without, perhaps, seeming like I was artificially revealing a similar inclination, for the sake of establishing common interests. Or something like that. Simply because I talked too much.
On another note, I applaud the obscurity of the post, for the sake of sheer variety, if nothing else.
The wheelchair is a Blogger wide thing allowing word verification for the visually impaired. JFW has a strict policy against joking about either the blind or the physically disabled, although epileptics have been fair game ever since Dorotha was diagnosed as one.
17 comments:
What are you talking about?
Sometimes in posts I choose to be obscure. I'm the dickens, I know.
But if you want to be a rock star to no more than 5000 people, ever, ASA is still a good bet.
Hey, I totally resemble that remark.
Sure, I'd be done with the damn PhD by now if'n I hadn't spent night after night hammering out tunes for the indifferent and the drunk, but I'd have missed out on a lot of near-arrests, ringing ears, and blurry evenings that we shall never speak of again. But it was fun.
Unless you were being sly and saying something about "rock star academics," in which case, uh, never you mind.
If I could sing, I'd probably be on tour right now as someone's backup singer -- most likely performing with a has been doo wop group at Ho Chunk Casino.
I can't sing, so instead I considered only two career tracks when I was a law student -- either trial lawyer or law prof. Why? Both would give me an opportunity to perform in front of an audience. A CAPTIVE audience.
Jeremy, the Rock Doc?
(I fear he is about to announce a career change -- or go on Idol)
bless you
Once, long ago, in a galaxy much like this one, I thought it would freak someone out to reveal I liked the same song as them (that is, revealed at a particular time, that I liked the particular song they'd singled out on an album I'd acquired, long before we'd both met). And I was afraid a reference to the band's name, in somebody's having professed a liking of a certain song, may have been a subtle hint that I was freaking them out ALREADY, even without, perhaps, seeming like I was artificially revealing a similar inclination, for the sake of establishing common interests. Or something like that. Simply because I talked too much.
On another note, I applaud the obscurity of the post, for the sake of sheer variety, if nothing else.
So, now what happened to you in that ivory tower by the Charles? Put your shoes on, man. The academic year is at an end.
[what's that little wheelchair doing by the word verification box? Are you trying to tell us something?]
Shoot. I wish someone had told me that earlier. Now I'm going to have to start all over.
Your argument does not take culture into consideration... http://orgtheory.wordpress.com/2006/05/23/scientists-and-rock-stars/
carly:
The academic year is at an end only at universities where people are less serious about academic excellence.
sincerely,
The Quarter System
er, not carly. other anonymous. it's so confusing.
... so let's all join JF in that little wheelchair....
The wheelchair is a Blogger wide thing allowing word verification for the visually impaired. JFW has a strict policy against joking about either the blind or the physically disabled, although epileptics have been fair game ever since Dorotha was diagnosed as one.
Anon 8:58 is handicapped (and is inclined to joke about it -- mildly).
Anon 8:58
Or a geologist. Just sayin'...
I was going to say astronomy.
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