Wednesday, November 16, 2005

We'd really like to sell you...

Credit for my intro image has to go to CrisVector over at deviantART. As soon as I saw the image I knew I wanted to use it - the whole glam rock thing is very cool. I've just recoloured it a little to suit my page. Lately I have been using a lot of outside art for this page, largely just due to a lack of time. I really enjoy doing vector drawing, but it's so time-consuming that it can be hard to justify doing a major image just for here. Still, I will probably do something more time-consuming when the new myOtaku comes out (I will want to redesign my page at that point anyway). At the very least, I hope it keeps things here visually interesting. ~_^ Ever since I got home from my trip, something has been stirring in me - an urge for a big change. I have few real commitments here in Melbourne these days, as the majority of my freelance work isn't even sourced from here. And most of the media work (ie: magazines) is actually in Sydney. In 2004, I was actually approached by the then-Editor in Chief of Official Australian PlayStation Magazine, to become a full-time writer. OAPM is basically published by the same company that publishes a billion other entertainment magazines here, including Rollingstone, Nintendo Gamer, DVD Now and various others. At the time, I was offered an interview (despite never having spoken to this guy at all) and told that if selected, I'd have six weeks to move to Sydney. At the time, it all seemed too much. I was in the middle of school and I felt that it would be wrong to take the job and leave school early. As it turns out, that was a very silly mistake on my part. I ended up being not entirely satisfied with school and I realize that the job would really have been great for me. It's probably the biggest regret I've had over the last few years. Since that time, I have done less and less freelance writing work. Now I'm not doing any writing for Next Media (OAPM's publisher). So I feel as though I am out of the loop a little. But considering that Next Media was always very interested in me, I am thinking about seriously approaching them once again. Now that I've actually visited Sydney and now that I have no schooling commitments here, there's really no reason why I can't put all of my energy into pursuing a full time career with them. At the same time, the travelling lately has made me feel that I need a change in general - more than just a move of suburbs or something. A big change. My friend on the Gold Coast (who my sister and I stayed with) offered for me to move up there and work for a while. And now I'm seriously considering it. I don't think that I could ever live in Queensland permanently; I really enjoyed my time there and I felt that in some ways, it really suited me very well. But it's not where I want to end up, as there just aren't enough things going on there that relate to what I'm interested in (other than EA Gold Coast, but their studios do little else but produce terrible local sports games). Really, Sydney is where I think I need to be - at least, if I want to work for a publisher full-time. So, I am thinking that I could live on the Gold Coast for a few months while simultaneously pursuing work with Next Media or another Sydney-based publisher. Then I'd move down there for however long. At least that way I'd be a bit closer to home as well (Sydney is about halfway between Melbourne and Brisbane). I guess I'll see how it goes. It's a big decision in some ways, but then again, if things didn't work out there would be nothing stopping me from returning to Melbourne on short notice. So I suppose it doesn't really matter in the end. As long as my siblings can visit me regularly (and vice versa), I'll be happy. CosmicSailor: It's cool, I am like that a bit myself. I tend to have a lot of acquaintances, but there are very few people in the world who are truly very close to me. I kind of prefer it that way though. And yes, seeing things with your own eyes makes a huge difference. Approaching the Opera House from the Botanic Gardens at dusk is pretty amazing. As you round a large arc in the pathway, the Opera House slowly comes into view. It's definitely one of the most impressive sights I have ever seen in my life. John: Did you check out the Brisbane ad? I'm still kind of amazed at how well it reflects the experience of visiting the city at night. In terms of American cities, there are quite a few I'd like to see. New York City, Washington D.C., Chicago, San Fransisco, Seattle...I could go on and on. That's why, if I visited the USA, I would really have to spend a couple of months there. I'd really want to see a lot of places, rather than just visiting one place and staying there. RaR: Birthday extravaganza? Happy birthday! It's good that you appreciate the city. I think that it's especially easy to take your own city for granted, but I've always felt that Melbourne was one of the world's most beautiful cities. Despite the beauty of Sydney and the charm of Brisbane, I still think that. Unfortunately, my state is often advertised around the country, but the ads pretty much don't mention Melbourne. It's the same with Queensland - we get lots of Gold Coast ads here, but no Brisbane ones. And that's a great shame, because I think both Melbourne and Brisbane are like these amazing undiscovered places that would really wow people if they had the chance to visit. I mean, if Sydney lacked the harbour, it would be far less impressive than Melbourne. The city itself is nice, but the expansive harbour areas are really what make it shine. Annie: Sorry for not responding to your PM, I hadn't checked my messages until I came back from my trip. I really hope that you are doing well, though. And I hope we can talk soon. Alan: Yeah, it's romanticized, but so is every other tourism ad really. The thing I liked about this ad was that it really captured the feeling of the city, without actually exaggerating anything. I was in the city mostly during the night and although it was mid-week (and much quieter than in the ad), the general feeling was still there. I'd definitely like to go back on a weekend. indifference: Thanks. I will try to put some up soon, it's just a matter of resizing them and stuff. I also need to get a cable to transfer a lot of the pictures across from my dad's camera. Aaryanna: Travel is expensive, but coming here isn't too bad...especially Queensland. But if you visit a place like Sydney or Melbourne (and if you stay in the city), you'll find that it's quite expensive. But there are plenty of lower cost options for people who are coming in from overseas. SunfallE: I'd love to see your photos of the National Parks over there. I definitely enjoy seeing people's holiday photos, especially if it's at a place I've never been to before. I really like learning about other countries as well. There are a lot of things about Australia that people don't know. For example, a site called Gamesindustry.biz had an article about Australian laws relating to video games and they talked about us having "provinces", rather than "states". It's a relatively small thing, but I found it interesting that they apparently did no research on that. lol

Comments (7)