It's Business School Time!

Well, whaddya know. I didn't realize how long it had been since I wrote in this blog. Time to revive it, especially consider the ups and downs of the stock market of late!

To update: my freelance writing business is still going, albeit with a smaller projected income than I anticipated at the beginning of the year. So far I'm looking at a 2008 before-tax income of -- drum roll, please -- about $7,000, if all goes well.

I know, I know, who can live on that? Apparently there was a time (the 1960's and before) when a writer could somehow put body and soul together on earnings from writing, including column and feature writing, along with the occasional book review, but no more. Although I've written probably 125+ pieces this year -- a mix of advertorials, features and press releases -- as you can see it's not nearly enough to live on. Still, I suppose it's not bad for a first-time, full-time freelancer.

However, as I'm also in my mid-thirties looking at the "certain age" of forty not too far off into the distance, I've made the decision to -- one more drum roll, please -- go back to school and pursue a business degree, specifically an MBA. I know, I know, what's a creative writer doing with a biz degree? Well, I suppose the name of this blog should give you a hint that while my right brain remains busy with its artistic activities, my left brain isn't exactly idle. I've worked in business for a few years and was pretty good at it, if I may say so myself.

More importantly, as the pragmatic, thirtysomething Asian that I am, I'm at the point where the whole starving-artist routine has gotten very, very old. I'd love to be able to pursue a career without having to worry about money concerns hampering my creative output. So far, as I study for the GMAT (the Graduate Management Admissions Test, the biz school equivalent of the LSAT, the MCAT or -- for general college admissions -- the SAT), I'm finding that I actually enjoy the quantitative sections far more than I did in college a million years ago. Maybe I can do this after all.

More updates soon!