Inspiration

Life has a habit of throwing all kinds of things our way. Sometimes life throws chocolate covered strawberries in our direction and we savor everything it has to offer, unless of course you’re allergic to strawberries, then it’s a quick trip to the hospital and adrenaline shots straight in the ticker. What I’m trying to get at here is that whatever life has to throw at you, it’s comforting to know that there is someone there to help you through it – good or bad. For me, that someone is my wife, Dianne.

As the two or three of you who accidentally stumble upon my blog and force yourself to read it might have known, I’ve had a rough year employment-wise. It’s been very rough, in fact. But despite all that roughness, I would not have been able to get through it without Dianne. She has been more than supportive, understanding and just plain awesome through and through. She went back to work in her marketing profession full time in order to make ends meet while I continue to search for a game design position and, in the meantime, also do some freelance work in between my Mr. Mom duties. Taking care of the wee-one has been great and I love spending the extra time with her, but our ideal situation is me at work and Dianne being home to run things. But sometimes roles get reversed, and that’s what marriage is all about – love, support and teamwork. We are a team, and Dianne has been so supportive that it gives me a warm fuzz whenever I think about it. Whenever I have doubts about my capabilities, my future, my part, etc. (the male ego is a fragile thing), she’s always right there to set me right and lift me up. We communicate very well to each other, though sometimes she has to coax me to get out what’s bugging me (guys have a hard time figuring out their emotions sometimes – it’s a clinical fact, I think), but it is that ability to communicate with each other that makes us strong together. Dianne is the best part of me and I am thankful each day that she is in my life and helps me get through it – the good times and the not-so-good times.

I love you, Dianne, and thank you so much for always being there for me.

Time to move on...

Austin as a game development Mecca is a fish out of water, flopping on a hot deck, baking in the Texas sun. There have been so many layoffs and developer closures out here that I've now completely given up on ever finding game design work out here. If I'm to continue my career in game development, I must relocate.

I would love nothing more than to become part of a stable studio that makes great games and has its act together. When I first got to Austin and started at NCsoft, Austin was rapidly growing as an MMORPG Mecca, but that's far from the case anymore. I just want to help make fun, compelling, great games and get paid for it. And now I'm just going to have to suck it up and relocate to do it.

I'm actually flying out to the Bay Area in CA tonight to interview at a dev company tomorrow, so wish me luck!