On the downside, this is my last blog post of 2009. On the plus side, I'm blogging! On the downside, I haven't been around here much. On the plus side, I wrote a novel! On the downside, I'm now off to Spain for a 10-day vacation with family and friends, so I won't be here again for a bit, most likely, unless I muster up the energy to blog on the road and don't get yelled at by my family. On the plus side, I'm going to Spain! (And on the down side of that, again, my back is freaking killing me, so this flight couldn't be more ill-timed.)
So, to those of you who tend to spend more time here than I do, well: Hi! How've y'all been! I know that I proclaimed "novel writing is hard" way back in my last blog post, but, you know what, it's totally true. It utterly sapped me of creative/writing energy, which was a bit unfortunate not just for this blog but for my new job as well. So thank goodness for vacation, so I can recharge the ol' brain batteries a little.
This is going to be an extremely interesting 2010 for me. The rusty gears at EA.com are just starting to turn a little bit, and once we're all back in January I am hoping you all will start to see what I have in store over there, which is either going to be a great success or flop wildly. Or maybe just die of indifference. See? I need a vacation. Truly, I'm thrilled that, so far, EA is letting me post whatever kind of nonsense I want, though the sad truth is that might just be because they haven't noticed me yet. But what I really hope is this Brave New Venture into, err, "corporate editorial", or whatever you want to call it, will yield true "transparency" for EA, and help set an example for how a bigass company can communicate with folks in this new age of ours, without resorting to layers and layers of BS. Or maybe I'm just naive and stupid! Time will tell.
All I can say, right now, as the year closes out, that I couldn't be happier in the job change. My time with The Sims group was extremely educational to me, and I have no regrets. (Though they probably don't feel the same way about me!) I have a much greater understanding of How Games Are Made than I ever could have on the press side, and this is now informing everything I do at EA.com. And, hey, some of my bestest pals at EA now are in the Sims group. So all is good.
There is an endless amount of topics I need to catch up on here on this page. More motorcycle diaries. My foray into heavy metal, which turned me on to the splendiforous Crack the Skye by Mastodon. My new love affairs with Dexter, Sons of Anarchy, and Glee. The usual random nonsense and ranting. And, oh yeah, some Cudgel of Xanthor excerpts!
And part of what I need to figure out in 2010 is how to do all of this. How to cover my bases on all the public places I find myself communicating: Here, EA.com, Twitter. I'll be writing more over at EA.com, including a column/blog, but those topics should be different than the ones I do here, which should be more personal. Yet I don't want the ease and immediacy of Twitter to suck away the always-more-satisfying blogging I do here.
In any event, I do thank all of you who ever take any of your time to come here and read this dribble. It's always humbling and flattering to think that anyone actually cares about what I have to say. Have a great holiday/New Years y'all. If I don't blog/twitter at you from Spain, I shall return January 5!
Adios for now,
Jeff
24 comments:
He's ALIVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Enjoy your vacation Jeff!
Good to hear from you again Jeff. Hope you have a good time in Spain!
Mastodon is a band that I really wanted to like, but it just didn't grab me (have only heard Blood Mountain). Love their album covers, though.
Jeff thank goodness your ok. Thanks for updating you blog.
Last time I was in Spain some airport worker tried to steal my passport so be careful there.
I went to Malagal and it was strange as I ordered a salad and it came with anchovies. Nice!
Go see La Mancha and joust with some windmills. Spain is really old it seems.
Hey Jeff I bought a new 2010 Ford Escape and it came with satellite radio and there are all kinds of stations you can listen to and probably your music is on there. Playboy is there and you can listen to the bunnies (playmates) talk.
Have a great time in Spain.
PS just between you and me you must be making some good $$$ (somehow)to always be flying off to Europe.
Anyway have a great time!!!!!!!
Have a great time, old man! Hope you tweet a little while in Espana!
I took a family rip to Spain a few years back and loved every minute of it. We spent most of our time in the Northwest city of Oviato and Barcelona, which was a treat for the art history nerd in me. If you are in Barcelona you have to see the Segrata Familia, which was designed by the local hero, Gaudi. His work is all over the city and shows that public architecture is ins't universally terrible. Hope you have a great time!
You lousy bastard! You work at EA, earn tons more money than you ever did writing and have a loving family that actually even likes you, but you can't offer someone with a loser-of-a-life an invitation to go with you? And to spit in our faces more, you mention you're going to Spain! A place where you have to pay international ticket prices AND luggage fees! BASTARD!
Still love ya, though. And you better keep up with your Greenspeak blog. Or else... (or is it ....?)
To the last mr. anonymous: No, I am not making more than I was at 1up, frankly. :) The EA job only has the *illusion* of glamour! I'd like to tell y'all we're rich, but it's just a matter of choosing to blow our only cash on trips like this. And my kid's education. And a lot of it is on credit, too. :(
Hi Jeff, I follow your "tweets" and enjoy reading your blog. Keep up the good work, and enjoy your trip.
Hey Jeff, I know you like old-timey music but I gotta ask: If you so happen to come across Lady Gaga tickets, you mind selling them to me. Me is a huge fan of hers, even if she might be a hermaphrodite. Frankly though I don't buy it. The so called photo of her having a penis just looks like her panties rolled up. But since you both live in L.A. I thought of asking you for tickets, since you are the BESTEST AND GENEROUS FRIEND EVER TO BE CONCEIVED AND EVEN JESUS CRIES WHEN YOU DO GOOD THINGS BECAUSE HE IS SO JEALOUS OF YOUR AWESOMENESS AND WISHES HE IS ABLE TO BASK IN ALL THAT IS YOUR GLORY.
Have fun in Spain by the way. If only you visited during the Running of the Bulls, though...
It's Anonymous again. I just completely forgot and don't know why I forgot, but I wanted to tell you: check you Lady Gaga's music video of Bad Romance if you haven't seen it already. Just don't let the missus see it, it mind not be to her liking. But to every blood pumping male it's probably the BEST MUSIC VIDEO EVER! Especially toward the very end with her thong shot from behind AND her ultra-dilated eyes in the beginning. Thong is definitely the best part. Okay, Jeff enjoying watching the Bad Romance music video on your ten hour flight. And remember to breathe.
come on, we all know you're making bank.
Nice to know that you're teaching them how NOT to speak corporate! Happy Holidays, Jeff!
I know through Twitter that you're alive. Although it's weird because I had six or seven people's Tweets go to my iphone and now you're the only one left of that bunch who is active. So now it looks like I'm stalking you again =/
That first paragraph was intense! It looked like math and there I was adding and subtracting but I couldn't figure out what exactly I was supposed to be working with. I kept coming up with: -53 exhaustion.
I'm sorry. I didn't know there would be a test.
Have a great time with the family & friends in Spain! =)
Jeff, for some more creative metal, you should check out Gojira's "From Mars to Sirius". It is hands down the best metal album ever made about a man witnessing the end of the world, learning to travel through space from a group of flying whales, then visiting Sirius to be taught the ancient secret of rejuvenating the Earth. For real.
Flying Whales: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9eljjOJwlDY
Also, you should scope some Devin Townsend. "Bad Devil" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rokLH-YRZ1g) is an amazing metal show tune about puberty. "I wanna be your little friend. I wanna live in your underpants..."
If you like Crack The Skye, you should maybe Check out The Blue Album by Baroness. Its great, promise.
I'd love for there to be a RSS feed with everything you post on EA.com. Is there not one? :D
I don't get it. Why is Jeff so popular? He's just another old Jewish guy. Am I missing something? Was a born too late to understand this phenomenon?
Hey, he's back - get it, he's BACK. Ha! I crack myself up.
The Goose.
Also, like a few others have said, I'm pretty jealous about this trip to Spain. There was an amazing cookery show on television a number of years ago called 'Floyd on Spain', which I've watched dozens and dozens of times - since seeing this series I've dreamed about going there.
Spanish culture seems to revolve around food, sex, and sleeping - so they're a lot like university students in that respect. You could probably throw soccer in there as well though.
I swear to god that one day I will get there.
Meanwhile Green is missing out on the massive New Year's sale at Steam, which will likely be over by the time he returns home - so yeah, that's too bad.
The Goose.
I have recently been getting into Mastodon as well... first hearing a reference to them on the RebelFM podcast.
At first I did not like Crack the Skype much, but recently I am listening to the instrumental copy of the album a great deal.
From this thread, I shall check out "From Mars to Sirius".
And I shall leave a recommendation of my own. Opeth's Blackwater Park.
Cheers
España is a great country in all respects. A trip like yours is so much more valuable if you are in the company of local friends to show you around and help you avoid the local tourist traps.
Visit the Del Prado museum, try the 5 Jotas jabugo ham, the Rioja wines and the chuletitas de cordero near Madrid. Avoid the cholesterol bombs since we do actually want to continue reading your posts down here. Enjoy your familia and stop playing videojuegos for this week!
And for Clifford above, you are right Sir, Spain does seem so really old because it actually has a really old and interesting history. LOL!
I want to read Cudgel of Xanthor!
If it ever gets published I'm sure you will let us know, but what if it doesn't? Is there any way you could let us download a word document or something?
Or is it the kind of thing you want to keep to yourself?
Not trying to be too nosy, just curious as I'm interested in reading it. The bit you talked about on 4 Guys 1 Up was hilarious...
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