On Subtlety

I don't like saying I'm unemployed. I am "willfully so," "willfully unemployed." I am "a slacker." I have no job by choice, and for that matter I only have no job until I sell a single piece of writing and get reimbursed for it.

Yeah, then I'm self-employed. Suddenly I'm a hard worker and a go-getter, aren't I? I'm a serious but creative guy. I'm the guy who could be very successful at a major firm but risked it all and took a chance to go into business for himself, be his own boss, make his own hours, spend more time with his family. Yeah, suddenly I'm that guy everyone wishes they could be like. Moms'll see me with a stroller at the sideline of my kid's soccer game and wonder, "Is he married? Look how good with the kids he is! Are those khakis Dockers? Look at his expensive cell phone. He must make so much but he's completely ignoring it for his kid. HE IS THE PERFECT MAN I MUST HAVE HIM."

Yeah, that sounds a lot better than "living with his mom."