Category Archives: Life

Life, Work

A Real Job!

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Imagine Publishing

It’s been seven months since I left uni, and I’ve filled the time with a heady mix of working in Smiths (passing the five year mark along the way), doing volunteer PR work with Julia’s House, and sitting in bed playing games and watching DVDs. As intoxicating as such an existence can be, certain pressures mandate that you can’t keep it up indefinitely.

I’ve of course been job hunting in the meantime and have interviewed for some fairly prominent positions – mostly more than slightly optimistic for someone straight out of uni with little more than freelance experience – and found myself hitting that annoying wall that comes from every student being chucked into the real world at the same time. Coupled with working retail during the Christmas season (anyone who’s done it will understand), my recent career hasn’t inspired too much optimism.

Now, though, I’m on the ladder. From the middle of this month I’ll be taking up a position as a sub editor at Imagine Publishing (specific title TBD), where I’ll be doing various subbing activities and also taking up internal freelance opportunities on their other magazines. Gaming magazines are their bread and butter (they also have sci-fi, HD, and computing magazines, amongst others) and I don’t have to move away, so it’s certainly a convenient place to start. I’m looking forward to getting underway.

Happy new year, everyone. Enjoy 2008.

Life, Work

Job Hunting Sucks…

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The dissertation is done, and with my only exam now finished that means I’m one deadline shy of actually finishing uni for good. Hooray! Of course the downside is that I need to get a job, and that’s proving even harder than finding that elusive last agility orb. At least that dropped some hints as to its whereabouts and gave achievement points.

So far applications and CVs have gone out to Imagine (an acknowledgement and then nothing), Future (being reviewed), CNet (aka GameSpot; a rejection), and Blackfish Publishing (nothing yet). I assume it’s the same in any career, but I can’t stand the void when you get no reply at all, or even an acknowledgement with no follow up. When I got the rejection from CNet they were kind enough to take the time to send a personal email to say why which I really appreciate, along with an invitation to apply again in the future.

Still, I’ll always have this place, right? Hello?

Games, Life, PC games, Xbox

Finished!

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Dissertation Word Count

After countless hours of research and wearing my typing fingers (little-known fact: I only type with three fingers) down to stumps, I’ve finished my dissertation. Not only does this mean that I’m mere weeks away from being kicked out into the big bad world, it also means that I can play some games and post on here again. It sucks when life gets in the way of the really important things, doesn’t it?

26 pages or 11,222 words was the final count, all in. That beats my previous biggest Word document by some 22 pages. I could be forgiven for being put off ever blogging again after writing that much about the things.

The current games of choice are both on their second wind with me: Halo 2 in anticipation of a little event in a couple of weeks, and alternately another futile attempt to master Counter-Strike Source and find out how much better at it most people are than me. Give me a week to get back in the swing of things and I’ll be on about the summer drought again.

Life

Dissertations…

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Considering that I’m supposed to talk about games all the time, ostensibly at least, I haven’t been doing a lot of that recently. I haven’t even been playing them, much to my 360’s chagrin. No…I’ve been knee deep in the bane of any university student, my dissertation.

*sound of thunder*

Nobody likes essays, and they’re odious enough when you have to write 2,000 words on something that doesn’t really interest you. Quintuple that and it’s simply painful. I chose a journalism subject that was closer to my heart than most, blogging and citizen journalism, but writing is a lot less fun when you can’t slip an innuendo in there or joke about that time you swapped the picture on Ken Kutaragi’s Wikipedia page for one of Kim Jong-Il.

It’s due in 27 days and I’ve written a bit over 5,000 words, with the aim of getting at least another thousand down before the Easter break ends. This being the last couple of months of my last year at uni, things are complicated by assorted other projects and impending exams, which at the rate I’m going will necessarily be over-the-weekend jobbies. How I wish they’d stagger deadlines instead of encouraging us to put everything off until the week before. I could procrastinate for England.

I know what would make this better, though, and it involves Games for Windows Live. How about some achievements for Microsoft Word?

Achievement unlocked

Sorted.

DVD & Blu-ray, Life, Movies & TV

I’m Seeing Kevin Smith!

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Kevin Smith is going to be appearing next month for one of his legendary Q&A sessions at the Prince Charles Cinema (complete with Tarantino-themed bar, which defies awesomeness) in London, and I’ve got tickets! Hooray!

I’ve missed out on the chance to see him speak a handful of times now but have an unhealthy enthusiasm for his ‘Evening With…’ DVDs, and although this one won’t be recorded it’s all worth it to hear some more material. Especially if said material ends up being a tirade against Jonathan Ross, ? la his bash of the 3AM Girls on the last DVD. I’d like to have a bit of a rant about Ross in front of an audience myself, but that’s another story.

Suffice to say I’ll post a report (hopefully some photos as well) on the day after. I can’t wait!

Games, Life, Xbox

I Am Win!

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Halo 3

I can’t remember the last time I won anything, but I’m thoroughly chuffed with this (clue: it’s under ‘N’). Saves me spending £40 on Crackdown for a while, at least. Unless it turns out to be good, in which case I’ll buy it anyway and have two beta keys.

I used to win stuff all the time, and now maybe it’s only because I enter competitions for stuff that I can’t really buy without a massive overdraft (Premiership tickets and wall-sized televisions, for example) but as far as I can remember the last time I won anything was an advance copy of Batman Forever on VHS in 1995. Maybe that was why I stopped entering competitions…

Regardless, I don’t have to buy a game that I don’t really want, and I’m guaranteed to be playing lots and lots of Halo 3 multiplayer (surely the only game that will ever prise us away from COD2 multi?) in a couple of months. Right when my dissertation is due…

Shit…