Time with Tom

Who Are You?

I posed a question to Twitter recently, and I got an interesting mix of results. The question, in paraphrase, was: “Do all creatives identify themselves by their craft, regardless of how ‘professional’ they are with it?”

I was defining “professional” as “being published/contracted/what have you.” So, being amateur just means you’re not getting published. Which, even though I have had one picture put up in a travel website, means I am an amateur by these standards.

I have a number of creative friends – most of whom I know through Nano – and they responded rather interestingly.  Most seemed to do what I do, which is identify themselves as their creative pursuit (ie, writer, photographer, etc). At least one told me that when he tells people what he is, he uses his job and not photographer, as he doesn’t want to confuse people and doesn’t feel like having to explain. Meanwhile, a few others have it right on their business cards, even though their main places of work are not photography related.

I tend to go between things. When people ask me what I do for a job, I tell them my actual job. I tend to joke about it, but since it’s what I do for a living, it’s the one I use. But I am not my job.

What I do for a job is a matter of economy. What I do for myself is a matter of living. I am a writer. A photographer. A wannabe musician. A terrible poet. A drawer of stick figures.

My name is Tom, and I am a storyteller. Who are you?

Tom

Learn to Fly

Ever have one of those days where things start stupid and don’t recover? The kind of day where there’s just too much momentum built up and you feel slightly steamrolled? That’s sort of what my yesterday was like. The starting moment? I overslept by an hour. Granted, I got a free T ride when I got out there, but that was just a misdirection, since it began raining as I was on the mile walk from the train to work.

But you don’t want to hear about that. What you want to hear about is the moment I thought my building was on fire. That’s right. I was chatting on my laptop, eating chips, watching Weeds, waiting for my clothes to finish drying so that I could pick them up, bring them back, and ignore them more actively, when an ear splitting shriek permeated my apartment. HP and I looked at one another, and we walked to the stairwell door. Sure enough, the fire alarm was going off. Eventually, we called the fire department (as the people in our building and the one next door – who also had their alarm going – all joined us outside), and waited for them to show up. They trudged upstairs, came out, went next door, trudged up those stairs, came out, trudged into the basement, then trudged back to their fire trucks and began to leave.

That’s right. They showed up, looked around, and were about to take off without even telling us if we could go back inside. We made confused gestures at them, and one of the firefighters gave us a thumbs-up from inside the trunk. Then they took off, with the alarms still going. Thanks, guys. Thanks.

In other news, I’m on Twitter. I know….I know. But hey, this way, I can be a retard in small snippets over the course of the day, so that I’m still mildly in control by the time I get home. Sort of like letting helium out of a balloon slowly, instead of letting it pop. Of course, instead of helium, it’s crazy.

Today, I shall leave you with this shining example of the sorts of things I love about Boston (thank you BPD Twitter!):

ONE MAN’S CONVENIENCE INCONVENIENCES EVERYBODY ELSE

At about 6:45pm, on Tuesday, July 7, 2009, officers from Area B-3 (Mattapan) observed a motor vehicle illegally parked and obstructing traffic in the area of Morton Street and Blue Hill Avenue. Officers noted that traffic was being slowed and obstructed as a result of the illegally parked motor vehicle. As officers were approaching the car, the owner of the car appeared. Officers explained, given the operator’s poor decision and the safety issues created as a result of his decision, a citation would be issued. At this point, the operator entered his car, stated, “I aint staying here,” and proceeded to drive off. Officers quickly broadcast a description of the motor vehicle over the police radio.

In short time, officers were able to relocate and stop the car. With the motor vehicle stopped, officers arrested Joseph Edwins, 21, of Sharon and charged him with Refusing to Submit/Obey a Police Officer. Further, the suspect was issued a citation for Obstructing Traffic.