blakerson.com

It's quite the experience to return to Seattle after roughly a decade or more.

I came here several times as a kid, as my dad's best friend from college lived up here. I barely remember the experience of being here, much less knowing what to look for in a city, but strangely enough I had a lot of things feel familiar upon my return.

First thing I noticed - the scent of Seattle is etched in my brain. I didn't even know it was. But whatever gives this city its unique air - I guess it's the pine - is very well known to my nose, much to my surprise.

I'm actually out in Bellevue, the northern suburb on the way to Redmond, but this town is so technological that it's got its own downtown section full of office towers. I'm in the midst of that, but on the way here I got just a taste of the 'industrial' version of Seattle - somehow it's nicer than other cities. Old, but well-preserved.

Holy mooooooly, there are tons of Starbucks here. It's like the Louis Black routine, except in real life and on every block.

I'm in Bellevue to visit Valve, the guys who made Half-Life. I'm previewing their new zombie-themed shooter Left 4 Dead, and it's entirely sweet. Highly recommended. They like to splurge on game journalists, so it's a snazzy hotel with corner suites and room service and all that jazz. I'm just happy the internet access works.

I could make this a post about how I'm 'living the dream' - traveling on company dimes, playing games for a living, etc. But my life isn't really that. It's just writing about games all day. That said, I do love my job and I think that, more than the gaming part of the equation, is reason to be proud. It's a job that fits me perfectly, and I'm happy to have found that and have snagged the job after just one year out of school.

It makes for an awkward conversation on flights sitting next to strangers. The "what do you do?" conversation starts with some blah job that somebody else does and ends in me having this perfectly fitting, awesome job I'm satisfied with. I'm afraid of it being a depressing thing for most people, because I can't relate on the "work sucks" angle.

I just hope it inspires someone. After all, it was my mom's own Office Space-like work situation that made me commit to doing something I enjoyed everyday.

A couple weeks back, my mom's father, my last grandparent, passed away at the age of 83.

This had been a long time coming, as the poor guy had been senile beyond comprehension for several years, but it naturally took a pretty heavy toll on my mom anyway. We headed off to Oklahoma for funeral arrangements and to say goodbye.

Personally, I wound up saying 'hello' to some family members I had never met before. Mom and I were welcomed with open arms into a lovely home and found ourselves comfortable: me, with the lovely patio on which to watch Monday Night Football; Mom with her favorite family members who she hadn't seen in dunno-how-long-but-it's-been-too-long.

And just when I started to feel truly comfortable, I had some Red State talk dropped on me: talk about "the gun safe" and a "black problem" my mom's tiny hometown had some years back. Maybe it was the couple of Modelos I had thrown back by then, but I found it easier than before to shrug it off. These were genuinely good people who just happened to be living the Oklahoma lifestyle as they knew it. If they didn't live and talk the way they did, they'd be seen as outcasts, as weirdos.

For his part, I have no knowledge of my grandfather taking part in any such Red Statery. Telling by my mom's description of him, he was too simple a man for politics or the anger that arises from its modern incarnation.

Like my knowledge of the rest of my family, I barely knew the guy. My only real memories of him involved my youthful video game habits. He'd clamor for a turn on my Super NES, grabbing my controller and saying "it's mah time" in a way that only an Oklahoman grandfather could. That, and he dispensed more money in my direction than an ATM when it came time to go to Putt-Putt. We'd play some mini-golf and then he'd sit around while I played arcade games for hours.

That generosity, I learned at his funeral, was his trademark. Distant cousins of mine, my mom's childhood friends, experienced the same generosity at the bowling alley and the movie theater.

He was a simple man. He only left his corner of the earth once - to fight in the Pacific. Like my paternal grandfather, he fought the Japanese so that I could one day befriend them.

He was a simple man. He worked at one company his whole career - the phone company, back when it was the phone company. He started there after returning home in 1946, and he worked there until the day of his retirement in 1990.

He survived on that retirement - built on what became Verizon stock - for 18 years. He didn't buy much of anything. He lived peacefully.

When my paternal grandparents died, they left me - not my father - an inheritance. I used a portion of it to leave the country, study in Spain, explore Japan. I'm more proud of those things than virtually anything else I've ever done.

This time, the inheritance goes to my mom. I couldn't be happier. She hasn't worked out the numbers - and I wouldn't write about them even if she did - but there's an inkling that my grandfather may have given his daughter something that her whole career, with its VP status and stock options and car allowance and big city hustle-and-bustle, may never have let her buy: her retirement.

For a post with a name like that, four weeks before the election, you'd think it's political.

But it's not.

It's an invitation for you to join me doing stuff! I'm trying to grow some roots in Dallas, now that I'm living here full-time, and it's got me going in several different directions at once.

First off, I'm taking my running a little more seriously now that I'm back. I've been at it for a year now - I started in Japan because the air was clean and I was really bored. Since I've been back, I decided to invest a little money into my activity and get into Nike+. I got the shoes, the iPod, the chip, the whole deal. And as a gamer, it's a riot to track my stats all the time - you're basically trying to beat your own high score every time you go run, and it's good for you. Here, have a widget with my stuff:

Feel free to berate me or encourage me.

If you're feeling a little more indoorsy, then join me in building stuff! I got into the LittleBigPlanet beta, which is an awesome co-op platformer game for the PlayStation 3 where you can build your own levels. If you're a girl, bug your guy friends or boyfriend - the little character in the game is really cute. If you have a PlayStation 3, add 'blakerson' as your friend and we'll play together.

In other news, I'm thinking on starting a regular 'game night' at my house where people meet up and just play whatever's on tap. If you're in the DFW area and still reading this puppy, let me know. You're invited.

Update: I forgot one! If you'll be playing any PC games this holiday season, be sure to join the group on Steam. Or, if you're not part of my old high-school crew, just add me as your friend.

If I've done my calculating right, I'm 4 weeks into my new writing gig. I still love it, for all the reasons I listed the last time we talked, but I've learned about The Media very quickly from working here.

The big, big thing I've learned is that absolutely everything said on TV isn't said for the sake of being spun - it's already been spun. Not to get political here, but the spin on Sarah Palin, for example, isn't "She's an oil-drilling charmer" vs. "She's an insane, corrupt babymaker." The story came pre-spun - make a VP selection so bad that the world's incredulity monopolizes what's on TV.

The result? Barack Obama's face hasn't been seen at all in the last 10 days.

I'm not getting political here, I'm making a point that Karl Rove is alive and kicking, and his mastery of The Media is more clever than ever.

The last thing I want you to think is that this is just about politics. I'm seeing first-hand how - even in video games - bleeding leads, controversy leads, even on occasion speculation leads because it gains traffic from your own users bitching at each other and at you. It's the tabloid effect in full force. I've already passed up countless interesting articles on great game design, or genuinely interesting news about games that aren't big enough to draw any sort of traffic.

All in all, I get the impression that maybe 10% of what we see as 'the news' is the interesting stuff, and the rest is what sells ad banners- I mean, commercials.

Well, in all fairness I've been back for two weeks. This weekend marks 4 weeks of being done with my JET work and moving on to new stuff. Two of those were a fantastic vacation all across Japan, with friends American and Japanese, culminating in a last night here, and I've spent the last two reacclimating to life in the States.

I've already gained a little bit of weight - thanks a lot, American food - but I've also gained a lot more.

My big "reverse culture shock" moment came and went while I was still on a layover in LAX. Creepy greasy-haired LA motherfucker posing as a missionary tried to get me to follow him out the airport, when I had an inkling feeling I was very near my connecting gate. I was. Rip-off exchange rates mean I'm still carrying $90 in yen. The pizza was horrible, but pizza has since redeemed itself with my taste buds.

I've moved into 'home' - that is, mom's house. And honestly, it feels fantastic. Mom and I are two highly symbiotic creatures, moreso now that she's quit her job and gone into semi-retirement. She's getting more relaxed by the day, and she's quickly gotten used to having me around again.

I'm also working from home! This is the big part. I'm the newest writer at Shacknews.com, one of the big video game news sites. It's a great gig for all of these reasons:

-I work from home
-I semi-set my own hours: I work 11am to 7pm right now
-No dress code (my hair already has some fireball red streaks in it)
-Shacknews is a community I was already part of anyway; it's good to contribute to it
-It's a salaried, regular job - no freelance pitching, regular paychecks, and many other things that make other writers jealous
-Air-conditioned workplace (last place didn't have that..)
-Co-workers that speak techie, know games, and can take some smack talk

And above all:
-I'm doing what I've always wanted to do - I write for a living, and I'm in the video games industry.

Usually, I'm humble when it comes to things like achievement, but I've been way too happy with myself to be humble on this one. This really is what I've wanted to do for a very, very long time, and to achieve that goal is intensely satisfying.

I got the offer a little over a week ago (yes, 5 days after getting home), and I've now worked a week at the job. It's a little tiring to sit at the desk all day, but other than that it's everything I've wanted from a job and I certainly don't see myself wanting to leave anytime soon.

As soon as I got the offer, I caved, rushed out, and got myself an iPhone. As a techie, it's the only phone worth taking seriously. No, really. (Tip: add yourself on your family's plan and pay $40 a month instead of $70.) I've got a new phone number, so I hope you visit my Facebook profile and add me and all that good stuff.

More importantly, I've also gained a new appreciation for my family. I'm off to visit my brother (and my new niece!) this weekend, and I've already been in contact with a couple other relatives. And obviously, it's nice to have my mother's sanity return.

And next week is a 4-day work week! From here I'm working on visits to Dallas proper (I'm way out in the burbs) and Austin (of course). Here's to seeing you soon!