I used to tell people that I’ve got a head start on my career because I work in a coffee shop, which is just about the best job a creative writing major can hope to get when they’ve earned a degree. now I’m feeling the burn as I suffer the loss of a stolen bicycle (=$250), the need for a new car because mine is falling apart (=$4000), paying off these damned braces so that I can have pretty teeth when I go on book-signing tours (=$2000 left to go), and now a periodontal surgery to the tune of $800 to repair receding gums. apparently they’re going to graft gum material from the roof of my mouth onto my gums above my two front teeth, and it was explained that it will feel like I’ve suffered a two-week long hot-pizza burn. ughh. if it’s going to hurt that bad, couldn’t I get some kind of discount? riiiight.
anyway. I’m getting pretty nervous about all of these expenses. . . and it makes me wonder if I was right to say that I wanted to be a starving artist when I grow up.