RAT Re: No Subject

[KSTUARTXX@aol.com]

Jim Lineberger-

what you express is a lovely sentiment. I used to feel that way myself. It's 
true that for me, the times when I've done work where there was no money... 
etc, were sometimes the most fun... but these days... hell I am just too old. 
   I gotta find a way to squeeze blood from the turnip, other wise I won't 
have time to be making any art, cause I'll be like, xeroxing at Kinko's or 
something for a living. Hunger is pretty corrupting too, and I'm not talking 
metaphorical hunger.  All last year my kids were saying..."mom, would you 
just get a real job" and "we don't want rice and beans again" etc.  

Only in America are we so scared of grants, it's that old up from the 
bootstraps thing. Of course only in America do we have the insane PURITANICAL 
strings attached to the purse. Europe... Australia... (Australia may have 
problems but they are SPOILED when it comes to funding. though now, right 
wing government is slashing right and left) lots of other places build 
support for the arts right into their culture and I don't think those artists 
are destroyed by it. Here we don't, and there's no use crying about it, just 
finding other innovative ways to survive... if you can do it by stealing, so 
be it.