I’ve always enjoyed Jerry’s writing over at Penny Arcade, so I suppose it should come as no surprise that I think he damn near nailed the game industry metaphor when he said this:
The stakes are high, and getting higher, and publishers who were once merely gun-shy are now officially paranoid, rolling around in a padded cell until the drugs take effect. Part of the reason GDC made me uncomfortable is that I could feel its culture pressing on me from all sides, and I knew it wasn’t mine. But the other part was that I got a sense of how brutal that life is, how unstable it can be, how maddening, and I just wanted to come home and match gems or some shit. I didn’t want to see it anymore. I don’t want to think about a cow’s quiet eyes every time I grip a hamburger.
(Link)
I got linked to this from my friend Alyssa, and I have to say, as much as I currently fail at a number of the things he lists, John Scalzi makes some damn good points. Writers and artists in general would benefit from taking a read.
So, I just got off the phone with my landlady. I’ve given notice on my apartment: the plan is currently to be packed and everything in storage by the end of the month, and then take a few days in March to clean (the more March is open, the more likely I’ll be able to recoup some money, since I already paid February, and I paid first and last back when I moved in). Now, this isn’t that scary at first glance, since it’s just normal moving procedure.
The scary part is that I don’t know where I’m going next, just that it’s time to try somewhere else. My inclination right now is to head south, probably Portland, see how that sits. I may end up further south, somewhere in California (expensive, but work I’d like to be involved in is there). I really don’t know. A lot will depend on what sort of work I can find between now and then. Anything could happen: I could find a fantastic job tomorrow and be set. Or I could end up scrounging for cash, couch surfing, and living out of my car. It is a vast, grand, frightening unknown.
Well wishes and suggestions would be decidedly welcome.
