Welcome to the Error Dome
I’ve got so much trouble on my mind.
AFTER NEARLY TWO YEARS of not having a full-time job — and navigating some oily-black uncharted depths of existential turmoil — I’m piecing things together and figuring out how to sustain myself (financially, mentally, emotionally, what have you). The tables at which I thought I’d earned a seat have become surrounded by musical chairs (and loose stools) prompting me to (finally!) try to get my sh*rt together … yet again.
My career trajectory has never been a straight line. To wit, my attempts to hang on to my career (such as it was) throughout 2024, have been like following Apple Maps circa 2012¹ when it would cheerfully guide you off a bridge while insisting you'd reached your destination. I'd hit what I thought were the professional heights: with my most recent gig² I’d attained my salaried peak, and the one before that? The coveted E in front of CD.³ After sliding (with surprising ease) back into “the biz” about five years ago (post-nine-year adventure of SAH⁴ dadding, freelancing, and accidentally building a global addiction recovery media empire from my home office⁵), I naïvely (complacently? smugly?!) assumed my career was unassailable.
Spoiler alert: it wasn't.
Almost 18 months later, My triumphant return has begun to feel like a final retreat. I've carpet-bombed the job market with applications — overqualified⁶, underqualified⁷, sideways-qualified⁸ — hitting up recruiters, résumé consultants, and headhunters during my assault on LinkedIn. I've even sought to network (to no end) via offering my services to non-profits and briefly entertained the startup siren song of "work now, get rich later" equity promises.
The result? Crickets. And not like when one gets in your house and it keeps chirring and it sounds like it's coming from everywhere and nowhere and you can never find. No, the kind where you’re outside, in the country, and it’s silent, except for maybe the lazy bark of a dog somewhere off in the distance and the occasional soft rustle of foliage cuz a possum or some shit is rummaging around for something to eat. And it’s dark. Except for the moonlight. And you can see all the stars — those kinds of crickets.
So here’s where I am, I’m bruised, bloodied, and broken but still moving. That old piece of wisdom about starting where you are, using what you have, and doing what you can?⁹ It feels less like inspiration and more like a necessity right now. So I'm cobbling together what I know — a bit of freelancing, maybe selling some merch, cloying blog posts, an irregular email blast. Not exactly a master plan, but I gotta get paid¹⁰ and it’s … something.
With Phrenology Like This, Who Needs Enemies? / Chris / Dec 2024
Public Enemy: Welcome to the Terrordome (Fear 2011) / Remix: Jack Dangers / Video: David C. Snyder.
Ted-XX™, the “face” of the Error Dome
What’s it going to look like?
Well, kinda like my portfolio, kinda like a blog, and kinda like a web storefront — all contained here in what I intend to maintain as a site regularly updated with content that fills each of those three silos.
How can you help?
Subscribe to this email (I promise not to send more than one email per week), engage if you’ve got the time and inclination, and share it.
Who would I like you to share it with?
those you think might need advertising, brand, and/or content creative work
those who might be interested in what I write here
those who might be interested in the merch I’m selling
FOOTNOTES
“Why Apple Had To Release Its Terrible Maps App Now”, Forbes Sep 29, 2012
Director, Brand & Partner Creative, Tappa (mobile tech startup), Oct 2021–Jun 2023
Executive Creative Director, Scorch (B2B content marketing agency), Dec 2020-Jun 2021
Stay-at-Home
Jr. Art Director (I’d gladly do it, but if I’m honest, I’d probably annoy the s#¡† out of everyone I reported to.)
Chief Marketing Officer (Too much emphasis on “driving enterprise revenue growth”. And, FWIW, shortest tenure in the C-suite.)
Cannabis Dispensary Budtender
“Quote Origin: Do What You Can, With What You’ve Got, Where You Are”, Quote Investigator. Dec 17, 2022
“Paid In Full”, Erik B. + Rakim, 1987
Apologies and thanks to the Legendary Roots Crew.
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