MetaChat - What's your alternate-path fantasy job?

There's a doggy day care near my office for small dogs. You can walk by the window and see all the doggies running around. I'd work there- sitting around and petting doggies.

posted by ThePinkSuperhero 30 March | 07:48

Either a SEAL or a babysitter, depending on what kind of mood I'm in at the time.

posted by PaxDigita 30 March | 07:58

I've daydreamed before about getting out of news and going to work for a daytime soap in L.A.

The partner and I have a shared dream of chucking it all and opening a greenhouse/nursery.

posted by BoringPostcards 30 March | 08:00

I sometimes daydream about being a fire-tower lookout, but those jobs aren't as easy to get as they used to be. Too many Gary Snyder/Ed Abbey fantasies, I imagine, including my own. On the other hand, though, I'm lonely enough already.

And I often think that I'd enjoy being an artisan/craftsman/tradesperson of some kind. There's somebody on Mefi, balisong maybe, who, at least at one time, did custom tile work. Aside from the part where you deal with demanding customers, that sounds lovely. I'm acquainted with a couple brewmasters in town, and that's something I think I'd dig. Baking, too.

There are plenty of other jobs I daydream about doing, but I've got to get to work.

posted by box 30 March | 08:03

Well, I often wish I'd pursued my librarian goal. Work sounds valuable, interesting, and you deal with people.

And I haven't yet ruled out becoming a pathology assistant. From talking to many of the PAs at the hospitals mr. g has worked, they have seemed busy in a good way, not stressed, do important stuff and work 8-5 for 50% more than what I get now.

And like BP, I idly entertain thoughts of nursery/greenhouse stuff. Although it's been years since I've had my own garden (I miss it so) so I've probably forgotten how to look after plants.

posted by gaspode 30 March | 08:16

I'd really like to hear what shane has to say. (Because I get the impression he's just made this move).

This has been a big fantasy in Australia for a while.

Me? I'd leave Homicide and go to the boats, I suppose.

posted by GeckoDundee 30 March | 08:17

I'd be a midwife, I think. I loved working OB and being a part of such an awe inspiring and moving experience.

Miko-my grandfather was a farmer and in his "spare" time he was a framer. My grandmother is an accomplished artist and taught art classes in the basement, my grandfather had his workshop in the upground cellar. I have several works that my grandmother painted and my grandfather framed and they're treasures-you just can't buy carved frames like his anymore.

posted by HollyGoheavy 30 March | 08:18

I've idly wondered about being a professional photographer for National Geographic before.

Something that I'm actually working on achieving, though - professional pilot. The goal is to add "test pilot" to my responsibilities at my current job and do flight instruction on the side.

posted by backseatpilot 30 March | 08:29

I would be a teacher, no question. I may do it someday anyway, but at the moment I can't afford the pay cut.

posted by tommasz 30 March | 08:30

For those days when I hate computers and end users, and the network that feeds them, I used to say I wish I was a lumberjack. Out in the woods, hitting things.

But then, I realized there are a lot of mosquitoes in the woods. So, now, I wish I was a helicopter pilot.

That, or idly rich.

posted by richat 30 March | 08:38

The fantasy is nice, but then that whole reality things rears it's ugly head.

I used to fantasize about teaching, then I became a teacher/administrator. Sure, there were great things about the job, but it wasn't for me.

I considered becoming a professional chef - I like cooking a lot and am pretty good at it, but from the advice of someone who is a professional chef, I read Kitchen Confidential and that put an end to that idea.

Right now, I'm pretty happy where I am, being a software engineer/architect. When I was younger, I had far less tolerance for BS, but age has made it a lot easier to shrug when needed and choose the battles that are important.

What I'd really like to do is own my own time, because the things I'd like to pursue need more blocks of contiguous time than I have at my disposal. It's astounding that I get anything done.

posted by plinth 30 March | 08:38

I'd like to be a video game designer, or more specifically, the person who outlines and details the backstory, and fleshes out the characters. It would give me a chance to be an inventor and a dreamer and a writer and a gamer and a doodler all at the same time.

I'd also like to work in the cosmetics industry, specifically in packaging.

I'd also like to open a taco stand. Really. Like, by a beach or something. I make fucking great tacos. And then every day when it was time to go home I could say "it's time to blow this taco stand" and mean it.

posted by iconomy 30 March | 08:49

Can someone please drag tommasz outside and have words with him? Thanks.

posted by GeckoDundee 30 March | 09:01

1. Disk Jockey - I'd have as much breadth as any college station, but without the obscurantism, as much intelligence as NPR without the arid atmosphere, and as much fun as an old-school top-40 show. And I'd mug and goof like Wolfman Jack.

2. Detective - I've always been fascinated by criminality and why people do the shit they do. Plus I love figuring things out. I also already look vaguely coppish and am good at mumbling and wisecracks. I actually considered applying a few years ago to the NYPD, but health problems held me back and now I'm too old.

3. War Correspondent - I read about the exploits of Michael Herr, Tim Page, Hunter Thompson, Sean Flynn, and Dana Stone in Vietnam when I was younger and it just seemed like both a noble and incredibly exciting way to make a living. Downisde is you could also get your ass shot off.

4. Bar owner - No explanation needed. The place would have a stellar jukebox. I'd also probably be my own best customer, sadly.

5. Working with developmentally disabled kids - I'm not sure why this appeals, beyond the idea of doing something nice for vulnerable people and maybe being able to provide guidance for a young person. I'm probably idealizing the job and I'd probably mess some poor kids mind up.

posted by jonmc 30 March | 09:02

This is so neat to read!

PLinth, what about being a personal chef? You can work, say, three days a week and leave the rest for your projects. Or a caterer? Those give you the chance to cook, but more control over your schedule.

Don't let Kitchen Confidential scare you. The book is fairly accurate in a lot of ways, but don't forget it's centered on the high-end, highly competitive, New-York-Centric restaurant world. Besides that, extreme hyperbole is Bourdain's specialty of the house. I've worked in 4 restaurants and while they had hints of the KC atmosphere, they were far more laid back and I enjoyed them all (and I'm a polite normal gal who doesn't abuse drugs). If cooking actually your dream, there are a lot of ways and places to cook that are friendlier that those he depicts.

Another good read on the restaurant industry is The Making of a Chef.

Podey, I would imagine there are ways to combine librarianship with your science knowledge somehow, if you wanted? Seems like there might be a call for a reference/research librarian that understood scientific disciplines (but what do I know...).

posted by Miko 30 March | 09:03

I would imagine there are ways to combine librarianship with your science knowledge somehow

One of my best buds is a librarian (as is his wife), and when he got laid off from his big corporate recordkeeping job, he was able to combine his love and knowledge of cooking (he's a Louisiana dude) by becoming the librarian for a French cooking school. He's been there a couple of years now, is still deliriously happy, and has a constant "Is this really happening?" look on his face.

posted by BoringPostcards 30 March | 09:08

1) Go back to school for an MLIS, work like a dog to make the under funded public library in my town shine.

2) Beekeeper and apple farmer, or "orchard proprietor" or whatever the term would be. You can see I've thought these through.

3) Apprentice to some local filmmaker and learn about films instead of just watching a lot of them.

4) Acting in small artsy productions. I could probably do this now (as a pastime not as a career), but it's been 10 years since I did anything on stage and my audition-phobia is probably worse than it ever was.

posted by Lentrohamsanin 30 March | 09:10

Christ, I need a "probably/actually/really/just" jar that I have to put a dime in every time I (over)use one of those words.

posted by Lentrohamsanin 30 March | 09:13

You know, the job I have now is definitely a work to live, not live to work job. I had a chance this year to move ahead and I turned it down, because I'm just really not a career driven person. It's unfortunate in a way but coming to terms with it has made me happier - I'm not that interested in being successful; I don't really mind being poor; and free time with my family and friends and time to putter, make art, garden, cook is way more important to me than making money. If I could get my shit together and write novels, that's what I'd do. Although that was the plan during my year of unemployment and it quickly turned into sit around and read mefi all day, so it's possible I don't have the self discipline for self employment. Along those lines, I'd still love to be a graphic designer and that one I am kind of working at. Or just be an artist.

I have always regretted allowing myself to get sidetracked and not going to grad school. I'd like to go back, get my PhD in art history and then go on to be a curator or an academic. I've come very close to doing that a couple of times but never really gotten it together and now? It's pretty much too late; also, I'd have to move.

Chef. I'm a great cook and I've done the restaurant thing. But the reality is I'm not up for 70 hour weeks and that's what scared me off years ago when I started heading in that direction.

posted by mygothlaundry 30 March | 09:21

I love to hear that librarian is somebody's alternate-path fantasy job.

(And if anybody's interested in moving to Little Rock and becoming a public library children's programmer, leading storytimes and running the Summer Reading Club and so forth, we're hiring one. Email's in my profile.)

posted by box 30 March | 09:21

Bartender in the Virgin Islands.

Or a virgin in the Bartender Islands, but it's too late for that.

My entire career (except for the present) has been fantasy jobs.

posted by warbaby 30 March | 09:22

The Bartender Islands exist, and they are in the Whitsundays somewhere.

posted by GeckoDundee 30 March | 09:38

There was a woman at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas who had a job I'd like. She looked after two lion cubs, played with them and cuddled them when they fell asleep.

Alternatively, I'd like to work at an animal shelter, taking care of abandoned creatures.

posted by essexjan 30 March | 09:43

I've often thought of quitting science, moving to Vanautu, Fiji or someplace like that and getting licensed to teach scuba. I love diving

posted by LunaticFringe 30 March | 09:49

Artisinal baker.

Potter.

Maybe both together.

posted by omiewise 30 March | 09:49

Maybe both together.

Mmm. Terra Cotta loaf.

posted by backseatpilot 30 March | 10:06

I wouldn't mind working at the airport. I love airports, for some reason. I like watching all the coming and going. (Pay would probably suck, but discounted travel could make up for a lot.) I've spent hours watching that show, Airline, on a Saturday afternoon.

Ostrich farming sounds interesting. They don't seem like too much trouble, and the meat's deliscious.

I've thought of offering literary tours in the summer, based on the work of particular authors. The Hemingway tour, for instance, might include bullfights in Spain, an african safari, Paris cafes, deepsea fishing off the coast of Cuba, and rum runners in Key West, and we would read and discuss Hemingway books along the way.

Astronomer would be very cool. I loved my astronomy course at Michigan, and I have certain ideas about the validity of the Big Bang...

Hot air balloonist? I actually know someone who is.

posted by Pips 30 March | 10:16

Every waking moment of my day I wish that I had gone to college and ended up as a history professor somewhere. I'd be good at it, I think.

posted by cmonkey 30 March | 10:32

I don't know if I want BoringPostcards' exact job, but I want a job where I can play with the toys he gets to play with.

Travel writer/photographer, except I don't want to do the level of self-marketing and commitment that allows people to actually make a job out of this (plus it is extremely competitive because everyone wants to do it). I just want to travel around on a whim and take pictures and have money rain from the sky somehow.

Llama farmer in Norwary.

Bong tester.

Actually, what plinth said:
I'm pretty happy where I am, being a software engineer/architect. When I was younger, I had far less tolerance for BS, but age has made it a lot easier to shrug when needed and choose the battles that are important.
is pretty accurate for me as well. I'm darn happy with my job right now and it allows me the time and money to have my hobbies.

posted by matildaben 30 March | 10:38

cmonkey, it's not too late.

posted by matildaben 30 March | 10:39

If I'd learned to draw like ten years earlier, and maybe somehow gotten an early start on understanding how freelancing works (so that I could be established before having a mortgage), I'd love to make comics for a living. Dan Clowes-style. I can still sort of do it, but since it shares time with a day job, it happens v-e-r-y s-l-o-w-l-y.

Oh, and PinkSuperhero, you should think about doing doggy day care for real... I've thought about that a couple of times, and I think you could make a pretty good living with it. If you can handle all the barking.

posted by cobra! 30 March | 11:00

i like my work--my job is mostly eh, but then, that's jobs. some of my work is eh, too, but for the most part, i like it. i wish the balance between my primary work (attorney) and secondary work (adjunct faculty) were flip-flopped but that requires me to get off my laziness and publish.

in the fantasy world, i am a wedding photographer.

posted by crush-onastick 30 March | 11:36

Librarian at the Orcas Public Library in Eastsound, Orcas Island. With a side job blacksmithing.

posted by croctommy 30 March | 11:46

I'd like to be a librarian. I'm thinking about going back to school for an MLIS right now, actually.

I've also thought about working as a personal chef. I'm a bang-up cook and baker and it seems like that would be more my speed than working in a restaurant or something.

Or getting a Ph.D. in folklore and then being a professor.

And maybe a side job as a wood-finisher, too.

posted by Fuzzbean 30 March | 12:12

I also used to dream of starting and running the Vermont Sled Museum. It would have contained dioramas of sleds, from maple-sugar sleds to stone sledges, with a heavy emphasis on Flexible Flyers. All would be arrayed in a layer of fluffy cotton 'snow' with glitter on it. Looks like someone beat me to the basic Sled Museum idea, though.

There are a lot of museums on my fantasy job-list, but mostly they're within the scope of my actual career, so I didn't mention them. I'd love to work for a Smithsonian museum, though, or for Ellis Island, or the Mark Twain House, or any number of maritime museums like the Chesapeake Bay MM or Tuckerton Seaport.

posted by Miko 30 March | 12:13

Or getting a Ph.D. in folklore and then being a professor

No kidding, fuzz? That's my long-term ambition, as well. Well, I'd rather do fieldwork or public folklore with the PhD, but still. Working on it, albeit slowly. Wow.

posted by Miko 30 March | 12:14

I'm having trouble with the "job" part of the fantasy...

I used to want to run off to France, Peter Mayle-style. Now I dream of starting up a private therapy practice in the Bay Area, and living on a vineyard in Sonoma, mainly to watch the vines grow. And there would be horses, maybe goats. I know there are some guesthouses on organic farms in Sonoma/Napa/Mendocino, and I could see adding something like that to make money....

But pretty much I just want to help people, drink wine outside, and ride horses. Though maybe not all at the same time. (Though Pips' and Jon's comments about ostriches and disabled kids reminded me of a program one of my classmates was talking about, in which autistic kids worked with horses to learn more about reading and responding appropriately to body language. Maybe y'all could start up something similar, with ostriches!)

Basically, my current dream job is the one I'm working toward, which is good. Because otherwise the tedium of being back in school might start to be a bit much.

I had also for a while wanted to do the tour-organizer thing, because it's totally wonderful to work with people who are on vacation because they're usually so happy, but as I transition out of the travel industry, I'm starting to be glad to leave that behind. People also get very picky while on vacation.

posted by occhiblu 30 March | 12:18

Keep 'em coming, folks. I'm "working from home" (sitting in a lovely cafe) today, pondering these very questions, after a rough night of scheduled server maintenance.

Cmonkey: I had you pegged as a Reedie from the git-go. afterall, there is no finer producer of History Professors in all the land. Perhaps you are, but don't know it yet?

posted by Triode 30 March | 12:22

"I have moved to a farm in Vermont. Henceforth, I shall recognize no period of time shorter than a Season."

I have always loved that resignation letter by an exhausted computer engineer, as related by Tracy Kidder in Soul of a New Machine.

posted by Triode 30 March | 12:27

No kidding, Miko! That's pretty neat. When I was growing up, I read all of Maria Tatar and Jack Zipes and Jan Harold Brunvand's books (at the age of 8 or 10 or whatever), and comparative folklore is *cool*. Ideally I'd figure out something to combine folklore and creative writing, but that shouldn't be too hard.

Are you taking classes now? Where?

posted by Fuzzbean 30 March | 12:31

1. An employee in a plant nursery. I could show up at work dressed in shorts and a sun hat. Peacefully water plants, chat with customers about their gardens, and work on my tan and muscles.

2. A home stager.

3. My new job is very stress-free. It's one or two days a week with very short days. I can't complain. I was chatting with a co-worker that recommended me for the job this morning. She said, "Bring a book on Thursdays, you'll be very bored without one."

posted by LoriFLA 30 March | 12:42

Astronomer would be very cool.

I watched a PBS documentary on astronomers and astrophysicists once. They talked about watching planets and stars form and veiwing black holes and you could hear the reverent awe in their voices, yet they for the most part seemed like regular people. I'm just kind of stunned that somebody who gets to veiw existence on such an epic scale for a living could somehow manage to come home and worry about stuff like the phone bill or the lawn. Must be quite the pespective.

Oddly, the thing that gets my rocks off, intellectually and emotionally speaking, is researching popular culture(music, books, TV, comix, photos, whatever), finding the actual artifacts, making unseen connections and sharing that with people through writing. Not sure how I could make that pay exactly.

I'd also love interviewing people (especially random everyday people and minor celebrities) a la Studs Terkel, since I firmly believe that everybody has got an interesting story or two to tell (and like the aforementioned cultural artifacts, there are connections to be drawn from those stories). Maybe that could be some kind of adjunct to culture digging, I dunno, Haven't the foggiest how to tie it all up into something useful or intersting or fun beyond amateur screwing around as of yet.

posted by jonmc 30 March | 12:44

Another librarian-wanna be here. Or something more artsy: photographer, potter, furniture maker. Or something to do with animals.

posted by deborah 30 March | 12:45

Something more lucrative or community oriented in a community i liked that wasn't soul sucking.

posted by ethylene 30 March | 12:52

Green building architect. I wish I had spent some time in the world before going off to college so I had a better idea of what I'd like to do before the studying.

posted by danostuporstar 30 March | 12:59

I'm already on my alternate path. I worked doing various web jobs for 10 years and then I started working for comedians last year. (I'm still doing web stuff but also doing marketing/promo/secretarial/assistanty stuff now.)

posted by fluffy battle kitten 30 March | 13:04

fuzz: Last semester I took a fieldwork independent study with a professor at the state university here. I have to get an MA in Mus. Studies to hold onto my job prospects, and I'll be starting that next year, but I'm going to try to shoehorn folklore in as an area of concentration. A specific folklore degree may have to wait until I retire or hit the lottery or something. I wish I had gone right to grad school for folklore right outta college, because it's harder now. If I were more mobile and less career-dependent I'd up and go to Chapel Hill or Bloomington right now. I've had more on-the-job experience than education; worked as a part-time assistant to an ethnomusicologist at my last job. I read all the time and have contributed to a couple of encyclopedias in areas I know well, like maritime foklore, children's folklore, and musicology. I think what hooked me as a kid were the Foxfire books. And Brunvand! My greatest glory is that he published my name as one of the earliest reporters of the blow-dried dead-rabbit legend in Curses, Broiled Again, when I was 17.

posted by Miko 30 March | 13:18

jon, yeah, the kind of stuff you mention is needed in museums right now. Oral histories (what Terkel did) and 20th century pop culture are pretty hot areas of research...of course you'd probably need some professional education/apprenticeship/internship/volunteer experience to establish your credibility, but you have the knowledge and skill.

posted by Miko 30 March | 13:21

Really? Where do you get started?

(one thing that sort of spooks me about the idea of getting all 'professional' about my passions (and this is born out of people who've criticized my music writing as 'hyperbolic' etc) is that somehow all that formalism willsiphon the passion and fun out of it and make my writing all dry and shit. But that could be a stupid fear)

posted by jonmc 30 March | 13:27

I'd also love interviewing people (especially random everyday people and minor celebrities) a la Studs Terkel, since I firmly believe that everybody has got an interesting story or two to tell

Studs Terkel changed my life.

In my early 20s I was working as a secretary. I hated it but I didn't know what else I could do. I wanted to be a lawyer but I'd always been told I was useless and believed it.

Then I took a book out of the library called "American Dreams: Lost and Found". It was a collection of interviews Studs Terkel had done with various immigrants to America.

One of them stuck in my mind - the story of a woman named Dora Rosenweig. She'd become a union activist. Her story inspired me, truly inspired me, and made me believe I could achieve my dream.

A few months later I saw an article in the local paper promoting a new part-time law degree that was starting in a few months time. I wrote off for some details, not thinking I had a chance of getting on the course. to my astonishment, I was accepted, and the course of my life changed forever.

I eventually found a copy of that book in a second-hand store, but it got lost in a house move.

posted by essexjan 30 March | 13:32

jonmc: just be Studs; you certainly seem capable of it. We need a new one. I imagine Miko's right about need the credential to make a living with it, but doing it? You should. Just talk to people, write down their stories, edit them and then sort them by theme.

I know people who've written books in their downtime/boredtime/i hate my job time at work. No reason you shouldn't.

posted by crush-onastick 30 March | 13:35

crush-onastick: the other day, while doing my laundry, I went to the bar across the street to pass the dry cycle by sipping a few beers and watching a ballgame while listening to some tunes on the jukebox. I started talking to the guy next to me, who by appearances seemed like a typical mid-50's Queens lug. As the conversation progressed the guy told me that his uncle was the drummer in the Soul Survivors (their big hit was 'Expressway To Your Heart'). True or not, who knows? But the idea of an "After The 15 Minutes Are Up," set of interviews of people who were famous in extremely minor ways might be interesting, I think.

posted by jonmc 30 March | 13:45

Really? Where do you get started?

I know the U of MN has an American Studies program that's all about that sort of cultural analysis. If we have it, other schools must, too. The plus side to going that way: credentials, a defined career path in academia if you want it. The minus side: academia's not necessarily a rose garden, and I think your concern about professionalism sapping passion are (potentially) valid.

posted by cobra! 30 March | 14:02

True or not, who knows? But the idea of an "After The 15 Minutes Are Up," set of interviews of people who were famous in extremely minor ways might be interesting, I think

That's a good idea. Second acts in American lives.

As far as getting started, why not start here? Call or email them and say you're interested in learning more about how to uncover, record, and publish oral histories. They have workshops and all, but you might just ask if you can come in and talk to someone about their work for an informational interview, or if they can recommend someone who'd spend a few minutes chatting with you. I got into my present line of work by starting with informational interviews, then people tossed me leads for internships and jobs, and things worked out.

Still, you have the impulse to write and communicate, so you might also explore nonfiction writing / journalism as an outlet for this. You can try the same informational interview trick at magazines or freebie papers or websites you like. IT seems like an intimidating thing to ask for, but let's face it, it feeds people's egos to hear someone on the end of the phone line saying "I want to be like you. What advice can you give me?"

posted by Miko 30 March | 14:35

Oh, yeah, cobra!. More American Studies programs. You might also like to read around about the Popular Culture Association, a loosely affiliated group of people from various fields - mostly academics but not all - who study the kind of stuff you love.

I've never found doing stuff I'm passionate about to sap my passion away, but some people might, I guess.

posted by Miko 30 March | 14:38

I've never found doing stuff I'm passionate about to sap my passion away, but some people might, I guess.

I know it doesn't always happen, but in my case, I love writing and I love music... but when I started writing about music for pay, it turned into an unpleasant job pretty quickly. But I don't think it's a universal thing, it was probably just the specific situation I was in.

posted by cobra! 30 March | 14:54

Forensic anthropologist, hands down (a fascination that long predates "CSI"!).

But basically I'm pretty much all right with having turned out to be an art book editor. I actually use my degrees on a regular basis (BA in English and History; MA American Studies), so that's a bonus, too.

posted by scody 30 March | 15:09

I'd like to be a restorer, in cemeteries especially. Or a local historian. I love photography, too. And I could happily be a personal shopper for someone else - spend their money, tell them what really suits them and what doesn't. My most peaceful times are spent in nature, though, usually when I'm wandering through graveyards.

posted by redvixen 30 March | 17:51

i think back on a point in my life when i could have gone into art restoration and some academia and it could be one point where i can say i would have been happier and better off in a lot of ways. The conventional ways. Still, anything that makes me succumb to more institutional learning seem like it should be more immediately practical or of a relatively alien school of learning, to my experience.
i still toy with the idea of neuro psycho stuff or even a medical/emergency aspect of science.

posted by ethylene 30 March | 17:57

It seems like every time we go away for a long weekend somewhere, I find a fantasy business to mull over upon my return to my everyday life. The last time we went to La Push, we saw a parcel of about 80 acres with house and outbuildings, right on the Bogachiel River. Good for a B&B, but absolutely fantastic for a goat ranch. We would raise the goats, milk them, and make yummy, creamy goat cheese for a hungry populace. Hey, it worked for Laura Chenel.

When we went to Orcas Island last year, it was the small café in downtown Eastsound that was on the market. Two weeks ago we went up to Index and saw a 100-year-old hotel/restaurant/bar complex for sale. I planned out menus for both in my head, and mentally stocked the jukebox in the bar.

All of these ventures would require amounts of cash and expertise that we just don’t have. (That place in Index, for example, would need some heavy-duty remodeling, as it’s been sitting empty for four years; I suspect that there’s some earthquake damage, too. Just buying the property and getting it up to speed would take a minimum of a million dollars, and that’s being conservative.) Maybe someday we’ll stumble upon an opportunity too good to pass up. In the meantime, stuff like that keeps my little brain occupied while I grind out another week of whatever it is I do for a living.

On a (slightly) more realistic note, about five years ago I looked into starting a CD shop. It would have been fun for awhile, and would probably be out of business by now.

posted by bmarkey 30 March | 20:04

I keep saying I should open a bar called Mango's Place. I would invent shots that had all had something to do with hedgehogs. There would be neon palm trees outside and lots of David Bowie and Queen on the jukebox.

I would love to be a cop. I think I'd get a kick out of giving people tickets.

I also always wanted to just marry into the mob and make pasta for dinner all the time.

posted by youngergirl44 30 March | 20:38

Deep-space exploration. Planets and moons for colonisation and mining, hyperspace pathways, solar, galactic phenomena. Stuff using lasers, coz lasers are like cool.

Something similar to what Planetary (and in a small way, Global Frequency) does, mapping & recording secret histories of the world.

posted by Zack_Replica 30 March | 21:45

going for the 'fantasy' part, and not the 'semi-serious' part, natch.

posted by Zack_Replica 30 March | 21:46

1. Vineyard owner. I'd probably try to be the vintner, too. I'd totally use EnoLogix, and I'd plant a stand of Limousin oak for the future.

2. Computer coder. I'd want to code games, either the UI or maybe work on optimization of the render code.

3. Military sharpshooter/sniper. I've seen so many people die ugly in the last ten years, in ways that were out of my control. "Now he's taking it all back."

4. Goat farmer. I would have Nubians for their fur, and maybe some milch goats to make little organic cheeses that I would sell for stratospheric prices to know-nothing yuppies and their upscale wine bars.

5. CIA medical interrogator. Like snipers, this something I believe to be ethically untenable. I'd never do it. Which is a shame; I know so much about perception, neurotransmitters, drugs, and brainwaves, I'd be crazy good at it.

6. Pastry chef.

posted by ikkyu2 30 March | 23:54

Oops; double. Feh. I am sick.

posted by ikkyu2 30 March | 23:59

30 March 2007