Winning the Lotto

I was looking for a specific quote about writing from Steve Martin, instead I found these.

• “I believe entertainment can aspire to be art, and can become art, but if you set out to make art you're an idiot.”

• “Writer's block is a fancy term made up by whiners so they can have an excuse to drink alcohol.”

• “as teaching is, after all, a form of show business.”

― Steve Martin

I love the last one because, after all, I am a teacher.  Steve Martin is a genius, and if Mensa doesn't let him, I will write an angry letter.

I was looking for a Martin quote I read years ago from Steve Martin that said something about how writing is something he does everyday, but acting is how he pays the bills.  I certainly don't have the quote right, but this is how I remember it.

I bring this up because Randy and Keith and Mike were talking about winning the lottery last night and moving to a warm beach somewhere.  Randy had laughed and said if he did win the lottery, he would feel guilty about it, wondering who he could become without all the advantages of money.  "While sipping some exotic drink next to the ocean," he teased.

Funny, writing is something I will always do, certainly, but I always seek interesting jobs and new experiences to find material for my future writing projects.  I won't write about them this year or next year, but maybe in ten years.  

I have a sense that I will always work even if I don't have to pay bills, but I will write everyday.  Writing is something I don't think I can do for more than an hour or two a day, but working on a mammomobile, in a concrete lab, at a hand-soldering table, and behind a hotel front desk have given me lots of material with which to work. 

Maybe not as much money as acting pays Steve Martin, but I'm not as good-lucking as he is.

Excuse me.  I need to watch Dead Man Don't Wear Plaid.  Then maybe Lonely Guy.