A few months after I was released from my obligation with Hot Topic, I found an interesting job site. I’d already made the decision to freelance, but figured it couldn’t hurt to use job sites – what if a really great job popped up? A really good one? I’d take it. Someone told me about CreativeJobsCentral.com and as a matter of happenstance, they had a section especially for photographers. Low on cash, I thought I’d sign up for a few months to see if I liked it. Accidentally, I signed up for 6 months which cost about $78.00. After a few months, I realized the site wasn’t worth the HTML it was written with, so I canceled my subscription. I didn’t hear from them again until last week a mysterious charge appeared on my bank statement. CreativeJobsCentral.com had charged me another $78.00.

I called my bank immediately and they recommended I call CreativeJobsCentral.com and ask for a reimbursement. I did and CreativeJobsCentral.com said they’d refund my money in about 10 business days. In the meantime, I’m accruing NSF fees at the rate of $32.00 per day. I am currently in a deficit. Once CreativeJobsCentral.com refunds my money, I have to submit a claim to my bank asking for the NSF charges back. Meanwhile, I can’t deposit money into my account because it’ll get eaten by the NSFs. I asked CreativeJobsCentral.com to pay for the NSFs and they won’t do it. They’re mistake, my suffering.

That said, CreativeJobsCentral.com is a total waste of time. In all the time I was subscribed, not one job jumped out and screamed at me. In fact, I did better finding work at free sites.

And now for something new…um, old?

The Cure released yet another new album this week. Is this number 57? I lost track. I stopped listening to The Cure after Wish (1992), which I didn’t really like, but bought anyway because I was hoping it would be good. It was alright. Everything after that has been, what one reviewer called “phoned in” and I have to agree. Nothing Robert and the gang have released in the last 10 years has been worthy of the memories I associate with The Cure…and not even close. I sampled the new album on iTunes, you know, just in case I might want to download it from a disreputable source…but nah, I’ll pass. Just as I’ve passed on every other Cure album since Wish.

And this, my friends, makes me a sad Cure fan. I mean, you know, sadder than most Cure fans. I used to love The Cure. Love, like the poets talk about. I’d stare at my Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me poster and dream of kissing him, kissing him, kissing him. Everything they did was art and I knew, undoubtedly, that I would love The Cure forever. I was a teenager at the time. We tend to make promises we can’t keep when we’re young and love is fleeting.

The Cure is a classic example of the failure of the “quit while you’re ahead” saying. Take your chips and cash out before you lose it all! It’s the law of Vegas and should be the law of the music industry. I don’t know who to blame, Geffen Records or Robert Smith? I can’t help but think that this is all Robert’s doing. You’d think that after 30 years on the field and 12 successful albums later, you’d be able to write your own meal ticket. You’re on top of the world, you’re selling out stadiums…so why make a new album that sounds exactly like the last one? And the one before that? I don’t get it. What I love about David Bowie so much is that he is constantly altering himself. Every new album, we get a new Bowie and the songs may not be Top of the Pops, but it’s different and most of it is actually quite good. It’s different, anyway. The thing is, he tries to reinvent himself and reflect his life at that current stage. His last release, Reality (2003) felt more like a swan song, but somehow seemed like a fitting end. You feel like he’s constantly challenging himself rather than rehashing the hits. Now, The Cure? They’re a bunch of rehashers.

4:13 Dream is getting good reviews. NME is saying it’s a call-back to old Cure. Eh, I don’t think so. That is, unless you consider Bloodflowers “old Cure”. I don’t trust reviewers. Having been one myself, I know how much flak you receive for giving a bad review or (heaven forbid) saying what you really think. Official reviews are often laced with pressure to perform and the necessity to keep one’s job. User reviews on random sites? Actually, a little more trustworthy.

I won’t pay for the new Cure album. I might find another way to procure it. I’ll do it because even though the samples sound disappointing, even after all these years, I’m still willing to give The Cure another chance. Although, at this stage of the game, I’m not sure why.

A user review from iTunes that I wholeheartedly agree with: