celebrity hotlist & corp vs. org

So, Dawn can't post a response comment on my blog because she doesn't remember her friendster password. So, she emailed me this:

"Christian Bale is only the best and hottest actor of his generation. That is all."
And to that, I would like to say, Dawn, that I would happily trade you my C.B. sighting for your day on the set with Zach Braff.

My celebrity hotlist may be a bit off the beaten path, but I would have to say that the following is my current list in no particular order:

Zach Braff, Eric Bana, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Clive Owen, Aaron Eckhart, Ben Stiller, and Matt Lauer.

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Okay. Today I did something fabulous. I did something long overdue.

I resigned from the board of the writers association.

It was tough. It was complicated. It was a moment of brutal honesty. But I stuck to my guns and feel totally relieved about it. I have a lot of personal projects I'm ready to re-allocate my free time to that involve writing and reading and research and art. I decided some time ago, in the midst of the development of a non-profit organization, that I am not cut out for non-profit.

Don't get me wrong. I have done a lot of volunteer work in my lifetime, more than most people I know even, and I do enjoy volunteering for a worthy cause. But, the thing is, at least with a for-profit corporation there is no illusion of existing for the sole purpose of a good cause. A for-profit corporation doesn't claim to love you back. A for-profit corporation is pretty up-front about the fact that it will use you and, perhaps, abuse you in order to meet the bottom line, to appease shareholders. This is a standard practice. The nature of business. You are just a means to an end. Non-profits, however, will use you and abuse you just the same, but they will do it in the name of a good cause and aren't afraid to guilt you into doing more than you originally bargained for. There are plenty of lazy people employed by each, but eventually, in a corporation, (unless the lazy person is the owner or a relative of the owner) even they will be sacrificed for the sake of the goal: production and profit. Non-profits, however, not so much. I am convinced that displaced lazy people from corporations seek out jobs at non-profits and then camp out there. And, all the while, the few gems, the hard-working, creative problem-solving, highly-organized, put-in-the-extra time people who thought the org would make good use of their talents find that they carry the burden of the responsibility of making up for the people who are lazy or difficult and they are managing train wrecks. They get burnt out. They start to resent their job and then they feel guilty about resenting it in this really ugly cycle. This is why my day-job is for a blood-sucking corporation. At least, in this case, the vampire isn't pretending to be an angel and I don't feel guilty when I have to say, "Sorry, but you're gonna have to find another vein to tap." This is essentially what I had to say today in the kindest of ways and I feel good about it. My official resignation is effective November 30th. I have one more event to do in the meantime. And then, on to a better cause...me. Charity begins at home, after all.