For my faithful readers, thanks for sticking with me over these years and no, I’m not throwing in the towel. Picayune is just undergoing a lull. It hasn’t been for a lack of material. I mastered the art of finding something long ago. As the cliché went in journalism classes at Marquette, there are no boring stories, only boring writers. My ex-roommate Paul definitely proved this. The man wrote interviews and the inverted pyramid as easily as the rest of us could breathe.
Digression number one over…
This year hasn’t been very inspirational, it has been more a shortage of will or desire. Don’t worry though, I have seen the doctors (multiple times, you usually have them scheduled at intervals to progress) to address the malaise because it’s not exclusive to Picayune. Illness has cascaded into D&D (the energy to prep for the next session or even wanting to run), attending shows (I think I had a ticket to Brian Posehn I didn’t use, definitely a few Stars’ games) and trying to just enjoy the day. Austin’s recent rain storms don’t help, I hate getting soaked when leaving the car to then enter a building…Austin businesses love to overcompensate with their AC systems!
Recently I just had my 17th anniversary with Apple. Hmm. The memories of hitting 10 are still too fresh as I sit here going, “Seventeen? Where the hell did the time go?” I remember when I used to be stoked to come around to this landmark in a time. Now it’s getting categorized into the same slot many adult friends put their birthdays, one once said, “It’s just another workday for me.” I wish he knew Patton Oswalt was only joking about putting restrictions you were allowed to celebrate (or mention). The point is it has sent me into a more reflective move over where I want to go next. No one ever plans to spend a third of one’s life working at the same place. Well, not in this era, especially when Capitalism has been allowed to return to its rapacious nature thanks to St. Reagan, so it’s a borderline miracle I have remained. But now I think it’s time for a change. I would like a different role/workday which is pretty unlikely given the philosophical shift my division has undergone; it’s not terrible, it’s pretty close to what it always has been. I just miss support higher-end systems and actual computers. iPhones and iPads may be the trend, they just have more limiting roles. Trust me, Steven Spielberg won’t be shooting, editing and adding effects to his next blockbuster via a tablet/cell phone. High-end workstations have at least another generation in them.
My point? I will just have to keep an eye/ear open for another opportunity to re-ignite my passion in general. Work will be fine. One doctor reminded me, many people are terrible at jobs they love. I do remember being in such a situation 25 years ago, GDW. I also recall the love evaporating yet I don’t think I ever reached a level of competency I have at Apple.
Meanwhile, I would like to see some comments or requests for comments because the site now requires an account; Picayune is hosted through a friend’s site and the spammers can overwhelm the whole eecosystem, thus you must go through the onerous process of logging in. Please make the effort. The whole idea behind moving toward a more interactive platform was to create an interactive experience or a conversation. Not really a traditional top-down magazine like I used to do although I miss those, it was fun laying out pages in QuarkXpress, imitating the designs of Entertainment Weekly or Newsweek.
You know how to reach me, my last name at mac dot com. Plus I’ve migrated to Twitter as I abandoned FaceBook (aka NoiseBook). I got totally lucky in the Twitter gold rush, I can be found under “at” my first initial followed by my last name!