that they're all fantasies

[Rob Gordon's] Top five dream jobs

1. Journalist for Rolling Stone magazine, 1976 to 1979 - Get to meet The Clash, Chrissie Hynde, Sex Pistols, David Byrne, get tons of free records.
2. Producer, Atlantic Records - Get to meet Aretha, Wilson Pickett, Solomon Burke. More free records and a shitload of money.
3. Any kind of musician. Besides classical or rap. Settle for being one of the Memphis Horns or something. I'm not asking to be Jagger or Hendrix or Otis Redding.
4. Film Director. Any kind except German or silent.
5. Architect

Rob of course readily offers, "I'm not sure I even want to be an architect."

Laura critiques his choices: "So you've got a list here of five things you'd do if qualifications and time and history and salary were no object? ... One of them you don't really want to do anyway."

Rob proffers, "Well, I did put it at number five."

And, Laura makes the point that matters. "Wouldn't you rather own your own record store than be an architect?" See, he does own his own record store. We can get to the potential negatives of High Fidelity tomorrow. For now, there's this: you can dream big, sure, but not every dream has to be outside your reach. And, I'm not saying don't dream outside your (current) reach. No. You'll never accomplish anything interesting if you don't try to do something you haven't already done or don't already do.

Plus, maybe you're happy already. I mean, if you're reading this, especially. You've got time on your hands, so you've probably got a job, got a place to live... You've got your shit together. Mostly. Or you wouldn't be checking in on Facebook or Twitter or Blogspot... Or Google Plus. I almost forgot Google Plus.

But hey, you're human, right? So, something's got to be wrong with you. If nothing else, you're probably overworked because... Capitalism, am I right?

So, yeah, you totally have dreams. Better things you could have in your life, better things you could be doing. But, consider: maybe you're already doing something you love. Nevermind Rob being an asshole. Nevermind his selfcenteredness. The thing this movie promotes through him is the self-improvement and doing something you love, loving something you do, being content because what you have is good enough when you stop pretending that you need something better.

Sure, some things suck. Some things you need to get past, move beyond, put behind you, but I'm talking stuff like Rob's top five dream jobs above. He loves music so three things on his initial list are about music. Film director is... Well, you could see how it's in the same ballpark. Then, there's architect. I wanted to be an architect, too, once upon a time. But... See, take me for example. Dreams jobs: film writer/director, novelist, actor, film critic, (paid) blogger, singer, architect. Had to include that last one even if I was already at more than five. But then, ever since I went back to school eight years ago, I've had a new dream job--teacher. And, I am a teacher. Sure, for now, still in grad school, I'm stuck teaching a limited number and type of classes, but soon...

Still dream about other things, imagine getting back to writing fiction on a daily basis, making a living at it, imagine making movies, imagine critiquing films and getting paid for it... But--and maybe this is just me, right here, right now, talking, and not some longer-term opinion--what's the point of dreaming when the present is going pretty well? And, why do I qualify the present as just "pretty well"? That doesn't sound... great.

I think I can relate a little too much to Rob Gordon. Obsessing about shit, convincing myself of the importance of things that aren't important, holding on to the edited past and imagined future over the present, and making the wrong decisions all too often when I absolutely know better.

And, Rob's an asshole, so--