So, this may be a totally innapropriate use of this site, but I don't think it is...
For many reasons I'm looking to head out of the wonderful town that I live in. The main reason is that I've scraped by for three years in a wonderful place with few oppportunities for employment doing what I do.
Basically, I'm a web developer (Coldfusion, php, asp, blah, blah, blah). I want to live someplace where I can make a living, work hard and play TONS of music. So. Boston. Or New York or Chicago. Maybe London... if you're out there?!!!
I guess I'm looking to you guys for help because I want to live somewhere where there's lots of music and hopefully we trad heads can help each other out. So....
If you live in any of these places and you work in a company with an opening or you know a friend who works in this field - WHATEVER - please contact me through my profile. Knowing somebody is the best way to get a job... so I'm told.
Hope this doesn't sound desperate; I'm tired of the corporate mentality of just sending out tons of resumes and getting hired as a mindless drone. I'd like to believe in more of a global community around the music and that we can all help each other out.
I think this is a pretty common plight! Anybody else tired of living in the hinterlands and looking to move somewhere where they can play lots of music?
p.s. - I thought to post this here because of the whole music thing but also... sub topic of discussion... because I think you can get a pretty good idea about the character of a person through their posts. Whaddya think?
Hey Jeremy - I totally understand your feelings about wanting to find a new city. I almost bought a condo outside of Boston last year. But for many reasons decided Boston wasn't the right place for me.
Have you looked into the Baltimore/Washington DC area?? If I ever do move out of Vermont, Baltimore would be a first choice for me within the US. I believe there are really good sessions 7 days a week. But most importantly, these wonderful musicians are very nice people! But if I lived in the same town as my "festival partner in crime", we'd both need liver transplants and a face lift
Of course I'd do anything to move to Ireland for a couple years.....Anyone out there need a cost/manufacturing accountant?? Actually I do all kinds of accounting/financial work.
Ah, I'm stuck in a odder situation, Jer -- my husband is the software director for a developing company, so it's possible that someday fairly soon he can actually hire, but we live in Denver, where there's really not that much of a music scene (there IS one, but it's a relative desert compared to, say Chicago or Boston). I keep hoping that maybe if he hires all Irish players, maybe there *would* be more of a scene. (hint, hint, honey, are you out there?)
Maybe you could develop for a company long-distance, maybe contract? Every now and again I see web companies hiring out that way.
Yeah, I agree. I've gotten to know some great people through this site, and the weird thing was that when we finally DID meet, it was like meeting someone for the first time that you already were best friends with -- private jokes and everything. And so far, none have turned out to be that different from their online personae.
Maybe we should all just swap houses for a year and take our chances.....we'll even throw in a lovely vintage Datsun truck for stylin' transportation.
And Jer, I don't think it is inappropriate to rattle the bushes here. If you don't ask the question, you'll never know....And I firmly believe that by nurturing real people who play real music, we do a bit to beat back the great grey tide of consumer culture.
Zina wrote: "And so far, none have turned out to be that different from their online personae."
Oh dear, does that mean I'm like this in the real world too?! Sigh, I'll have to start dressing the part...cardigan's and corduroys, serious glasses, a dour set to my mouth....
:-|
Jer, I have a sporadic hobby of writing personal ads for friends. Try this on:
"SWM seeking new home, possible LTR. Web slinging designer, partial to bluejeans and blue flannel shirts, moc-style shoes sans socks, but moonlights as "Flute-Man," session super hero (in black spandex body suit with sterling rings at articulating joints and a cork-lap belt). Stays well oiled with stout, though prone to drooling. Looking for bright lights and big money (100k +) in small, family-run Fortune 500 corporation. Serious replies only."
Ummmmm. I just saw an ad in the local alternative paper for a housecleaning service where guys come out and do the vacuuming in the altogether. How do you look without the black spandex body suit? I'm thinking you could still wear the belt.
Seriously, I too live far from the hotbeds of Irish music, and sometimes have trouble falling asleep at night knowing all of you are still up at cranking sessions, sipping Guinni and hob-nobbing with other brilliant players. I've daydreamed about moving to Boston or Chicago, swapping tunes with George Keith and Seamus Connolly and Liz Carroll and Brendan Bulger. Oh--and earning a living without this damn "scenery tax" we pay here for living in beautiful Montana (some of the lower wages in the States, which is not to complain because we're still better off than many places).
So I can commiserate, Jeremy. Although Asheville was actually one of my dream destinations....
Will, I'm always saying life is short and this is no dress rehearsal. If it's your dream, then go for it. Even if it's for just a few years. You could always go back to Montana.
If there's a job opening in Baltimore/DC for Scott, we will go for it. Heck, even if it doesn't work out down there, I'll feel OK knowing that I tried. It would be very sad to grow old and say "What if I had done ______"..........
It's never too late to do anything, Will. And just think how much fun it would be hanging out with Patsy and Eddie
I don't know, Will. I grumble about the 'scenery tax', too, until I visit back east. Then I remember why I don't live there any more. And they totally misunderstand spandex back there...especially when you wear it in certain parts of town.
Look for destinations popular after the 1847 potato famine. Irish ex-pat communities seem to have settled in places where the industrial machine gave them work opportunities in traditional skills, and they are still organic developing communities today, although now getting scattered more and more. Look for places which were centres of railway, canal or similar building activity. In England you've got Leeds Liverpool and Manchester, London etc. Must be exactly the same in other parts of the world, or at least the English (Irish) speaking world.
How about getting on the International Telephone Directories via the web, and look up 'Irish Centre'. I bet that where there's one of them, you'll have a music scene of sorts. I know Leeds and Hammersmith (London) have one.
i dunno Will......remeber the "grass looks greener" - operative word looks -
i dunno...overall quality of life is important
on the other hand I can see your horizon......man you paly with some fine passion
mmm...for my 51 years i go for the long term, the "scenery tax".
as they said afore and above....take trips away but come home, bring your experiences home to your deeply cultural town. It's no better than where you are. and you may not know it but You are creating something right where you are.....(oh gawd how melodramatic butits true>helena rocks nad is gonna Super Rock Nova in another ten/twenty years.......and You aremaking that happen....
I should clarify that I've lived in Europe and all over the States. I went to high school in suburban Philly and have spent time in Baltimore, New York, and Boston. I know what I'd be getting into if I moved to any of those places.
Which is why I stay in Montana. This is a great place to raise kids, and while mine are still in school, we'll stay here. Only 4-5 years to go....
Pete, ironically, central Montana is one of those meccas for the Irish immigration to the US. They came for the mining work, and Helena and Butte in particular are thick with Irish. There's a Montana Gaelic Cultural Society and an annual festival (this coming weekend, in Butte), and pubs with names like O'Malley's and O'Toole's and Sean Kelly's and The Irish Times. Butte-Silverbow County has the highest per capita population of Irish descent in the States. Despite all this, nobody much plays the music here. I run the Helena session, and Butte doesn't even have a session (in a town of 22,000, mostly Irish, there are only three people who play the tunes, and they often drive 70 miles to Helena for our session). As Veronica says, we're creating it here.
I started playing 25 years ago with a little help from Kevin Burke, in Portland. Nowadays I sometimes like to imagine having a mentor again, simply because picking yourself up by your own bootstraps is hard work, day in, day out, and I've been doing that musically for two decades now.
But I'm really very happy with my life and its priorities, as they are. It's just that music isn't at the top of the list, what with teenage boys to guide, a loving wife, a good job, and a roof to keep over our heads. Maybe I just need a month-long sabbatical to go study with Brendan Bulger or George Keith. I wonder if I could find a foundation to cover the costs....
Blatant self promotion - HELP!
Blatant self promotion - HELP!
So, this may be a totally innapropriate use of this site, but I don't think it is...
For many reasons I'm looking to head out of the wonderful town that I live in. The main reason is that I've scraped by for three years in a wonderful place with few oppportunities for employment doing what I do.
Basically, I'm a web developer (Coldfusion, php, asp, blah, blah, blah). I want to live someplace where I can make a living, work hard and play TONS of music. So. Boston. Or New York or Chicago. Maybe London... if you're out there?!!!
I guess I'm looking to you guys for help because I want to live somewhere where there's lots of music and hopefully we trad heads can help each other out. So....
If you live in any of these places and you work in a company with an opening or you know a friend who works in this field - WHATEVER - please contact me through my profile. Knowing somebody is the best way to get a job... so I'm told.
Hope this doesn't sound desperate; I'm tired of the corporate mentality of just sending out tons of resumes and getting hired as a mindless drone. I'd like to believe in more of a global community around the music and that we can all help each other out.
I think this is a pretty common plight! Anybody else tired of living in the hinterlands and looking to move somewhere where they can play lots of music?
# Posted on August 5th 2004 by jerball
Re: Blatant self promotion - HELP!
p.s. - I thought to post this here because of the whole music thing but also... sub topic of discussion... because I think you can get a pretty good idea about the character of a person through their posts. Whaddya think?
# Posted on August 5th 2004 by jerball
Re: Blatant self promotion - HELP!
Hey Jeremy - I totally understand your feelings about wanting to find a new city. I almost bought a condo outside of Boston last year. But for many reasons decided Boston wasn't the right place for me.
Have you looked into the Baltimore/Washington DC area?? If I ever do move out of Vermont, Baltimore would be a first choice for me within the US. I believe there are really good sessions 7 days a week. But most importantly, these wonderful musicians are very nice people! But if I lived in the same town as my "festival partner in crime", we'd both need liver transplants and a face lift
Of course I'd do anything to move to Ireland for a couple years.....Anyone out there need a cost/manufacturing accountant?? Actually I do all kinds of accounting/financial work.
Joyce
# Posted on August 5th 2004 by JMH
Re: Blatant self promotion - HELP!
Ah, I'm stuck in a odder situation, Jer -- my husband is the software director for a developing company, so it's possible that someday fairly soon he can actually hire, but we live in Denver, where there's really not that much of a music scene (there IS one, but it's a relative desert compared to, say Chicago or Boston). I keep hoping that maybe if he hires all Irish players, maybe there *would* be more of a scene. (hint, hint, honey, are you out there?)
Maybe you could develop for a company long-distance, maybe contract? Every now and again I see web companies hiring out that way.
# Posted on August 5th 2004 by Zina Lee
P.S.
Yeah, I agree. I've gotten to know some great people through this site, and the weird thing was that when we finally DID meet, it was like meeting someone for the first time that you already were best friends with -- private jokes and everything. And so far, none have turned out to be that different from their online personae.
# Posted on August 5th 2004 by Zina Lee
Re: Blatant self promotion - HELP!
Maybe we should all just swap houses for a year and take our chances.....we'll even throw in a lovely vintage Datsun truck for stylin' transportation.
And Jer, I don't think it is inappropriate to rattle the bushes here. If you don't ask the question, you'll never know....And I firmly believe that by nurturing real people who play real music, we do a bit to beat back the great grey tide of consumer culture.
# Posted on August 5th 2004 by Michele Sims
Re: Blatant self promotion - HELP!
There's this guy in Chicago - Francis O'Neill - who exclusively hires Irish musicians in the police department. Oh, wait - that was a century ago.
Maybe your husband could be the next "Chief", Zina?
# Posted on August 5th 2004 by grego
Re: Blatant self promotion - HELP!
Zina wrote: "And so far, none have turned out to be that different from their online personae."
Oh dear, does that mean I'm like this in the real world too?! Sigh, I'll have to start dressing the part...cardigan's and corduroys, serious glasses, a dour set to my mouth....
:-|
# Posted on August 5th 2004 by Will Harmon
Re: Blatant self promotion - HELP!
Jer, I have a sporadic hobby of writing personal ads for friends. Try this on:
"SWM seeking new home, possible LTR. Web slinging designer, partial to bluejeans and blue flannel shirts, moc-style shoes sans socks, but moonlights as "Flute-Man," session super hero (in black spandex body suit with sterling rings at articulating joints and a cork-lap belt). Stays well oiled with stout, though prone to drooling. Looking for bright lights and big money (100k +) in small, family-run Fortune 500 corporation. Serious replies only."
# Posted on August 5th 2004 by Will Harmon
Re: Blatant self promotion - HELP!
Ummmmm. I just saw an ad in the local alternative paper for a housecleaning service where guys come out and do the vacuuming in the altogether. How do you look without the black spandex body suit? I'm thinking you could still wear the belt.
# Posted on August 5th 2004 by Michele Sims
Re: Blatant self promotion - HELP!
Heh, see how well this works? The job offers are pouring in....
# Posted on August 5th 2004 by Will Harmon
Re: Blatant self promotion - HELP!
And such *good* ones, too! *smirk* Jer, we could at least guarantee lots of beer!
# Posted on August 6th 2004 by Zina Lee
Re: Blatant self promotion - HELP!
"Spandex--it's a privilege, not a right!"
# Posted on August 6th 2004 by Zina Lee
Re: Blatant self promotion - HELP!
Auigh.... but what about the mental anguish after said pictures?
-Padraig
# Posted on August 6th 2004 by Pádraig
Re: Blatant self promotion - HELP!
Wait a minute. Where do you put the turnips? Oh, turnups. I thought it was a variation on the old potato joke....
# Posted on August 6th 2004 by Michele Sims
Re: Blatant self promotion - HELP!
I put them in the garden... what about ye?
# Posted on August 6th 2004 by Pádraig
Re: Blatant self promotion - HELP!
He, he. Very Funny. Spandex.
# Posted on August 6th 2004 by jerball
Re: Blatant self promotion - HELP!
Funny? If you say so, Jer. Me, the adjective I would choose for my own green spandex body suit is "dashing."
:-|
# Posted on August 6th 2004 by Will Harmon
Re: Blatant self promotion - HELP!
Seriously, I too live far from the hotbeds of Irish music, and sometimes have trouble falling asleep at night knowing all of you are still up at cranking sessions, sipping Guinni and hob-nobbing with other brilliant players. I've daydreamed about moving to Boston or Chicago, swapping tunes with George Keith and Seamus Connolly and Liz Carroll and Brendan Bulger. Oh--and earning a living without this damn "scenery tax" we pay here for living in beautiful Montana (some of the lower wages in the States, which is not to complain because we're still better off than many places).
So I can commiserate, Jeremy. Although Asheville was actually one of my dream destinations....
# Posted on August 6th 2004 by Will Harmon
Re: Blatant self promotion - HELP!
Will, I'm always saying life is short and this is no dress rehearsal. If it's your dream, then go for it. Even if it's for just a few years. You could always go back to Montana.
If there's a job opening in Baltimore/DC for Scott, we will go for it. Heck, even if it doesn't work out down there, I'll feel OK knowing that I tried. It would be very sad to grow old and say "What if I had done ______"..........
It's never too late to do anything, Will. And just think how much fun it would be hanging out with Patsy and Eddie
xx Joyce
# Posted on August 6th 2004 by JMH
Re: Blatant self promotion - HELP!
I don't know, Will. I grumble about the 'scenery tax', too, until I visit back east. Then I remember why I don't live there any more. And they totally misunderstand spandex back there...especially when you wear it in certain parts of town.
# Posted on August 6th 2004 by Michele Sims
Re: Blatant self promotion - HELP!
Look for destinations popular after the 1847 potato famine. Irish ex-pat communities seem to have settled in places where the industrial machine gave them work opportunities in traditional skills, and they are still organic developing communities today, although now getting scattered more and more. Look for places which were centres of railway, canal or similar building activity. In England you've got Leeds Liverpool and Manchester, London etc. Must be exactly the same in other parts of the world, or at least the English (Irish) speaking world.
How about getting on the International Telephone Directories via the web, and look up 'Irish Centre'. I bet that where there's one of them, you'll have a music scene of sorts. I know Leeds and Hammersmith (London) have one.
# Posted on August 7th 2004 by petemay
Re: Blatant self promotion - HELP!
i dunno Will......remeber the "grass looks greener" - operative word looks -
i dunno...overall quality of life is important
on the other hand I can see your horizon......man you paly with some fine passion
mmm...for my 51 years i go for the long term, the "scenery tax".
as they said afore and above....take trips away but come home, bring your experiences home to your deeply cultural town. It's no better than where you are. and you may not know it but You are creating something right where you are.....(oh gawd how melodramatic butits true>helena rocks nad is gonna Super Rock Nova in another ten/twenty years.......and You aremaking that happen....
uh,,but is that what you want/ complicated huh?
# Posted on August 7th 2004 by vboyd100
Re: Blatant self promotion - HELP!
I should clarify that I've lived in Europe and all over the States. I went to high school in suburban Philly and have spent time in Baltimore, New York, and Boston. I know what I'd be getting into if I moved to any of those places.
Which is why I stay in Montana. This is a great place to raise kids, and while mine are still in school, we'll stay here. Only 4-5 years to go....
Pete, ironically, central Montana is one of those meccas for the Irish immigration to the US. They came for the mining work, and Helena and Butte in particular are thick with Irish. There's a Montana Gaelic Cultural Society and an annual festival (this coming weekend, in Butte), and pubs with names like O'Malley's and O'Toole's and Sean Kelly's and The Irish Times. Butte-Silverbow County has the highest per capita population of Irish descent in the States. Despite all this, nobody much plays the music here. I run the Helena session, and Butte doesn't even have a session (in a town of 22,000, mostly Irish, there are only three people who play the tunes, and they often drive 70 miles to Helena for our session). As Veronica says, we're creating it here.
I started playing 25 years ago with a little help from Kevin Burke, in Portland. Nowadays I sometimes like to imagine having a mentor again, simply because picking yourself up by your own bootstraps is hard work, day in, day out, and I've been doing that musically for two decades now.
But I'm really very happy with my life and its priorities, as they are. It's just that music isn't at the top of the list, what with teenage boys to guide, a loving wife, a good job, and a roof to keep over our heads. Maybe I just need a month-long sabbatical to go study with Brendan Bulger or George Keith. I wonder if I could find a foundation to cover the costs....
# Posted on August 10th 2004 by Will Harmon