This weekend I continued my war against clutter in my office (and to a lesser extent, the rest of the house). In order to fit our extra futon into one of the downstairs closets, Nik and I had to move my old trunk up upstairs. It’s been at least three years since I had opened the trunk, so I had only a vague idea of what was inside. Now this is the trunk I took with me when I left for college and it has traveled with me everywhere since. Inside I found old notebooks, lots of detritus from college-era RPG campaigns and minis battles, magazines and fanzines, address books, odd bits of foreign currency, letters, a few photos, punk rock badges and patches, business cards from my first company and my first GTS, and lots of other random stuff. Naturally, I spent a couple of hours going through things and dusting off the corners of my brain.

All this served to get my thinking about my days in NYC and many of the friends I left behind when I moved. Some I have kept in touch with, but others I’ve completely lost track of over the years. I decided to Google some of them to see if I could find out what they’d been up to. I had more success than I thought I might. My friend Erin, who I remember as an aspiring photo student, is now a curator and has put on a bunch of exhibits in Manhattan. My friends Dan and Samara have been playing in a band for the past five years and are about to release their fourth album. Samara also just put out a solo record and is doing a mini-tour of Europe. Dana left her previous band and put out a solo record a couple years back. Jen has been directing plays and won a Princess Grace Award a couple years back. You get the idea.

Thinking about the friends I had in NYC and the social and cultural circles I moved in back then has made me frankly assess where I’m at now. It used to be that the game industry was one thing I did. Now it’s nearly the only thing I do. Almost all my friends are involved in the industry or used to be. I used to do political work but that fell by the wayside a long time ago. My penchant for seeking out foreign, cult, and B-movies in art house theaters has waned. I do still go to punk rock shows, but I don’t know anyone in the Seattle scene and I don’t feel like I’m part of the community. And of course the “51% equals a mandate so you better shut up and take it” crowd only further the alienation.

I feel like I need to add something to my life. I definitely need to develop a more sane work schedule. It can’t continue to be the norm that I work every weekend. I need to get out more and get involved in…something. Something that’s fun, something that’s just for me, and something that doesn’t involve the game industry. Hmmmm.