Work-related mutter

October 16 marks my 10 years with this company. Except it doesn't, actually. I started out as a casual in mid-1999 on a "spoiler" mag that folded when its job was done (picture Drizzt Do'Urden hamstringing a firbolg). I was soon hired as a full-timer by my present periodical. But then, amid the ballyhoo surrounding the Sydney Olympics, I decided to have a crack at tech writing, jumping to what I didn't realise was an unseaworthy ship. Laid off in the second round of sackings there, I returned to the fold, where I've remained contentedly ever since. (Apart for an internal move from men's to women's rags and back. The grass definitely wasn't greener in that pasture!) The lesson to be learnt from this self-indulgent ramble is that if I hadn't erred in entering the IT sphere while the "dot.com bubble" was bursting, I'd have reached the decade milestone – and be accruing luvverly long-service leave. Oh well, not that far to go. Touch laminated wood.

Power trio

Canberra was great, but I have no desire to type about it in detail right now. Suffice it to say that we bought games, we played games and we talked games. We drank a lot of Beck's with no ill effects (hurrah for the German Purity Law of 1516), we patronised some excellent feeding holes (I can still taste those stuffed eggplants from the Thai joint in Dickson), we caught up with my locally based cousin TH (a real stand-up guy) and we bonded. Check my Twitter page for additional tidbits.

Slow to ACT

Apols for the lack of postage lately. The arguably good news is that I'll be in Canberra from Friday to Tuesday, attending the annual Cancon gaming convention with TC, LPO and not literally millions of others. Expect a post facto report, y'all. Unless I'm using that term improperly - then expect an ordinary report. Shade and sweet water ;-P

Musty thinking

No-one ever "opened" an e-book to discover a lovely handwritten dedication like: "To Clare, We hope your results do justice to the effort you have put in for your exams. June 1989. With love from Dad, Mum & Emma XXX."

Nor did they make their way through one and have the pages bloom with the scent of fresh paper, or finely aged, or perhaps a heady combination of cigarettes and French perfume...a dab here, a tiny fall of ash there.

They certainly didn't encounter dog-eared corners, makeshift placeholders from ferry stubs to grocery lists, underlinings, margin notes, the stamps of libraries and secondhand dealers, angry creases or accidental tear stains.

No-one ever opened an e-book.

Just don't call him a photo director

Mein colleague AH has a knack for finding striking images and cool or amusing vids. Visit his virtual magpie nest at - hanguy.tumblr.com

Eye Of Sauron Vindaloo

It's not that I dread returning to work tomorrow, it's simply that I'd rather be doing almost anything else :-) But let's face it, as paying gigs go, publishing is cushier than most. I could be cutting, bending and lugging metal pipes in the hot sun (been there, hated that).

This twelvemonth promises several changes, too, beginning with the editor reducing his in-office time to four days p/w, thus placing extra responsibility on the shoulders of Deputy Dawg here. No biggy. I'm treating it as an opportunity to improve my magazinecraft and have greater input into our product.

Will we be able to buck the long-term general downward trend in circulation? It won't be easy. We have a talented crew and continue to turn a profit in an over-saturated market. However, there are internal mutterings of further cutbacks and we really can't afford to lose more people and maintain our current standard. (I'll spare you the nitty-gritty about ad counts, print runs, etc.)

None of which has anything to do with ring-stinging curry - I just thought it was a funny name.