Filed by Bil at 2:16 pm under Shameless Plugs, Stuff to Read

I only check my mail once every three or four days or so. My mailbox is hard to see, so I tend to forget about it, and when I do remember, it’s usually late at night when I don’t feel like descending three flights of stairs just to throw out a bunch of junk mail.

So this weekend when I finally remembered to check it, I discovered I had received what I’ve been anticipating for what feels like a year: Pith Magazine, containing my poem in print and my $5 paycheck for said poem. Hell. Yes.

I never framed my first paycheck from my very first job at the concession stand at a movie theatre in the suburbs where I grew up. That paycheck was important to me at the time – it meant I was part of society, I was out there helping others and earning my way. But the $120 was also very important to me at the time, so I deposited it into a bank account and felt like a tycoon for a little while. I later spent that money (and more) on a mini DV camera, which to this day has not been used to earn a single dollar, but it’s been fun to have.

I also never framed the first paycheck I ever received for acting, because technically, the first paid acting gig I ever had was at the University of California, Riverside, pretending to be a patient for med students pretending to be doctors. The payment for that work was included in the paycheck I received for my Media Resources job that I had already had for quite a while, so there was nothing really special about that paycheck, and it didn’t say “for acting services” anywhere on it. So, again, I deposited the money and later spent it…probably on pizza and/or beer.

I didn’t frame the first paycheck I received for an acting gig when I came to Chicago; that $300 was deposited immediately and bills were immediately paid. Talk about a poor, starving artist.

So this paycheck I’ve gotten from selling my first poem – which is truly a magical feeling (’cause seriously, who pays for poetry these days?) – this paycheck is getting framed and hung on my wall. $5 won’t pay my bills, won’t buy me fancy high-tech gadgets, it won’t even buy me a pizza. The money is practically useless, and anyway I don’t really need it, I’ve got a damn decent day job right now. This paycheck is getting hung on the wall, and it’s going to serve as a reminder that I am capable of not only writing something worth getting paid for, but also that it is possible to find people who will pay me for my work. That will keep me on track with Project: No Office Day Job by 2016. And that’s worth a lot more than $5.