Was this guy I knew in Chicago by the name of Jake La Botz. At the time of the Lausanne picnic I mentioned that he had moved out to LA and gotten involved in some bad habits... which I guess includes making movies.

Now I'm starting to get a little ticked. All of my old friends from Chicago have Wikipedia articles about them, and here I am wasting my life working for the UN.

I think I'll limit my interest to his musical work.

Please don't get mawdlin' about what might have been. It's rarely healthy and I don't think my definition of success would include a bit-part in Rambo.

I agree the UN is probably not the place for free spirits or entrepreneurs...

dave

Yeah, I think I'm starting to pine for the private sector again. On the other hand it's comfortable, and could leave me with time to practice again once the kids are both big enough not to want the guitar/mandolin/whatever the moment I pick it up.

I wonder about people getting maudlin about the past, even if their present is pretty impressive. This guy I know flies celebrities and oligarchs around the world, drives a lovely car and yet still misses his days hanging around the AOR crowd of Northern England many years ago. So even if you've made it, the whole "wild and free" thing remains an eternal attraction...

There is no wild-and-free. If you want to exploit any talent it generally means working very hard and being expected to produce or perform. That means responsibility.

I saw a good German programme on TV a few weeks about the hippy trail to Lanzerote and it portrayed a guy - can't remember his name , Rolf...? - who is now a famous fashion designer, and although he maintains his shambolic villa there and gives an illusion of freedom, he still spends most of his time whizzing round in his large Audi between meetings around Berlin in the familiar rat-race...

dave

Yeah, that's why I didn't make it in music and the arts. I just couldn't keep my nose to the grindstone long enough.

There was a time when I would practice about 8 hours a day, and I got to be a pretty OK player, but that's not all there is to it. Of course then the web came and took me away from all of that.