Do you have any success stories (about you or someone you know)?

Once, Roger Ebert was quoted in a video game magazine for saying that he thinks video games are a waste of time and that they stop us from appreciating true art or getting acquainted with history and social events.

I wrote a letter to my favourite video game magazine, Play, this was in 2007, about how much bullshit this is by first quoting Ebert, and that I didn’t think that movies were any better than games in that respect. (Although I was championing both mediums of entertainment as legitimate and intelligent and I also mentioned that movies suffered the same bullshit that games do today, and that before that it was rock stars.) I gave examples of how I personally think games can be art and how they can teach you things about many subjects actually, like history, philosophy, theology and science through presented subject matter.
(If all you can bring up to counter my argument is Hot Coffee then fuck off.)
I talked about various forms of gameplay too, which I thought were ’‘artsy’’.

Anyways I got Letter of the Month haha. You may think that’s nothing, but Play is an extremely highbrow and posh/artsy game magazine, and they often approach very serious gaming issues and aren’t afraid to cover obscure and unheard of games rather than putting Final Fantasy or Guitar Hero on the front page. You don’t even get a prize for having letter of the month, yet people always send some constantly, because fans like that they get intelligent feedback, rather than to be insulted like EGM or OPM (Fuck your ass, John Scalzi.) always used to do to their writers and readers.

I say that…but my letter was actually the ONLY one featured that month…I think it’s because it was lengthy, but then most in that mag ARE, and span one to three pages, so maybe I was the only one who sent something in that month and I win by default haha.

Back then though my English was pretty shitty, and when I read the letter today I get so sick hahaha.

Still, getting the letter of the month in Play is great for me, especially since that which I addressed must just about be the most overdone issue in the gaming world. All that with shit English AND in my favourite game magazine? Sweet!

@Symbeline That is good to hear, the majority wouldn’t think to write a letter to any organization because we assume we won’t be taken seriously.

@Blackberry Yeah that was back when Electronic Gaming Monthly and Official PlayStation Magazine ruled the day, so I think people got sick of being flamed everytime they sent something in. :/

My dad enlisted in the Marine Corp at 18,made it through the Korean conflict,leaving with a good dose of post traumatic stress disorder,went to work for the auto companies as a toolmaker,read up on real estate during his breaks on the job,invested his savings in rental homes,apartment buildings and other small business ventures and raised 4 kids along with my mother…all without losing his mind.
He did alright in my book :)

My Father-In-Law grew up in New York. He joined his father was in the wholesale garment business, but eventually, the individual sales person was put out of business by Macy’s type businesses. Pops then went into the restaurant business, with a small deli which eventually grew into a large, successful business, which he sold.

While he lived off the profits of the sale, he took real estate classes, then sold his house for a handsome profit, and went on to become a very successful real estate broker. He make several really big sales in Manhattan, and he and Moms retired to California to be with my husband and his sister who had both relocated here.

My husband tried out the real estate business, but was not suited for it. He became interested in computers, which was the place to be in the 1970’s, and is now a very successful manager of an I T department for a well know nation wide company.

And me? Well, let’s just say I got lucky.

Me, most my friends and all my siblings are pretty successful in their own right. It all seems to come down to having at least an idea what you want out of your life and not letting anything derail you along the way. It’s not luck or even sheer determination….it is the ability to clearly see a goal and avoiding the BS that comes your way.

@Cruiser I wish I would have known that about 2 years ago.

I like my husband’s story quite a bit, even though we’re still somewhat young (mid 30’s) so who knows where life could still take us. Not that we’re even close to “rich,” if that’s how you define success.

My husband grew up pretty spoiled, like I did. His main goal in life was to have a good time. He didn’t really care about school, barely graduated, drank a lot and did a lot of drugs. A lot of his friends went to college in Florida, so he went down there too and enrolled in an art school. He took classes for about two weeks before dropping out and just continuing his party lifestyle. The drinking and drugs got worse. Meanwhile, his father’s business failed and his parents had to file for bankruptcy. They had to sell the house they’d inherited, which was in a very posh location and moved to a more middle-class area. At that time, they cut my husband off financially both out of necessity and because they finally started to see that he wasn’t going to do anything else if he didn’t have to. They did tell him they’d buy him a plane ticket home any time, but funding his unending party was over. He got a part-time job at a video store and made a little extra money painting murals for clubs. It wasn’t enough to support his lifestyle and habits though, and now he laughs about how he always had enough to party but wore shoes held together by string and tape.

Anyway, his stupidity caught up with him and he, along with his best friend, got arrested for picking up a prescription for a drug dealer they knew. They spent the night in jail and were on probation for a while. At that point he started to get disgusted with his life and decided that he wasn’t in a place he wanted to be or acting like the kind of person he wanted to be. As soon as he could leave the state, he moved back home. He went back to school for a little while, quit all of the drugs and cut way back on drinking. When I met him, he was working full time, had a nice car, and was saving money while paying off debts.

After we got married, he decided to start his own business. He’d done a mural for the restaurant where we had our wedding reception and started getting phone calls from people wanting to hire him. He quit his job and, without any actual art or business training, started a decorative painting business. It was a learning process and he made some mistakes, but he wasn’t afraid to take risks. I used to worry about him, because he’d get a call from someone who wanted some kind of specific painting style he’d never done before. He’d never let on to the client that he really didn’t know what he was doing. He’d worry out loud about being able to pull it off, I’d worry that he’d screw it all up and never have another client. Then, he’d do some incredible, jaw-dropping thing and amaze everyone.

After a few years, he was making enough money for us to buy our first house. I stopped working to stay home with our kids. He went from using our basement as his studio and office to renting a commercial space. He then started a decorative painting school and went from teaching classes to flying in the most talented and well-known decorative artists from around the world to teach at his studio. He produced a line of instructional DVDs, also featuring these other artists. He started an online forum that has been extremely successful (not in monetary terms, but in terms of popularity and number of users). People in his industry from all over the country know who he is. He’s written a book and been featured in countless magazines and newspapers. He’s been on TV. And he’s really cute. :)

I think he’s been successful because he never takes no for an answer. He doesn’t give up, get intimidated, or even consider that he might not be able to do something. He takes care of people that work with him, loves to share what he knows, and is just as talented at networking and thinking of creative business solutions as is at painting. There were some pitfalls along the way and investments that didn’t work out so well, but overall he has managed to build a solid business and reputation from almost nothing in less than 12 years. He’s also a wonderful husband and father!