Great post, Cary. Thanks for letting the GFY community know you a little better. I remember reading that Salon.Com story as well. I believe it is:
http://www.salon.com/tech/feature/2001/07/03/webmaster/
The Dot Com BUST of 2000-2001 definitely displaced a lot of 'dotcommers' into either adult or gaming. I was one of the people displaced. I was making money on the side with adult programs while working for a venture capital / incubator firm. When the bust happened, I just switched to webmaster work. I've been my own boss ever since. Come to think of it... the dot com bust... as stressful as it was, was one of the best things that happened to me. Sometimes... great problems/crashes also carry great opportunities. I like to keep that in mind.
Thanks for the inspiring story. I definitely learned from it.