sonofableep

i’m sitting here looking at the “career day” form i’m supposed to fill out if i’m to speak at my kids’ elementary school.  given the chance to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with doctors and lawyers and such, and come off as the Cool Dad Who Makes Video Games, i have to say it sounds like fun.  but as to what i’d actually say in such a situation…hm.  let me review the steps of my particular career path and see how they fare as an example to others…

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i go to college and start majoring in whatever all the other sheep are majoring in: “business”, in this case.

i fuck that up righteously as DRINKING and ROCKING OUT in local bands takes priority.  i get a 0.9 GPA one semester.  i drop out for the next semester in order to “regroup” (read: “drink and play NES all day”).

now fully regrouped, i start working towards a music major.  that makes sense, at least.

still playing video games and ROCKING OUT, i discover the computer-as-musical-instrument.  unbeknownst to me, a seed is planted.

i stumble across the finish line, graduating with a music major and no life plan other than to continue being a musician living at the poverty line.

i discover that if i enter the graduate music program, a) it will be on a full scholarship, and b) i’ll get *paid* to be a TA.  i begin my Masters In Electronic Composition ™ program solely to support my lifestyle as a slacker-drummer.

once again, my inability to adhere to the norms of the academic life jeopardize my future, as i miss & fail classes with alarming regularity…so much so that at one point one of my professors puts out an APB on me, asking other students, “if anybody has seen brad, or knows if he’s still taking this class…”.

i stumble across the finish line, graduating with my Masters In Electronic Composition ™ and no life plan other than the one i had *last* time i graduated.  dammit, jim.  why am i not a rockstar yet?

in the waning days of my academic career, i bump in to a fella who had graduated from the same program the year before.  “did you get my email?”, he says.  “what email?”, i says.  “the email where i offer you a part-time job doing some sound-editing stuff at this little company that makes video games”, he says.  “no, i never got that”, i says.  “oh, well it’s a good thing we bumped into each other…you want the job?”, he says.  so i take it, but only because the cash and the flexible hours will allow me to pursue my *true* calling – ROCKING OUT.

shortly thereafter, i have a little sitdown with myself and decide i should have a new true calling.  that was 15 years ago.

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hm.  maybe i’ll just answer “so you wanna make video games?” with the standard “start in CS or QA and work your way up” speech.  i’m sure Miss Miller will appreciate that one more than the “be a fuckup until something lands in your lap…it worked for me!” one.