Today: a seven hour drive through cow country, a stop at Pea Soup Andersen's (easily the best German restaurant in Santa Nella), and a hundred rounds of three-player Mario Kart DS in the backseat. It's surreal, feeling a real car swerve under you just as you power slide around a corner.
Tomorrow, I'm joining six other members of Team Winterbottom at my first Game Developer's Conference.
It's been an interesting couple of months... an odd mix of personal successes and failures, of running in place and feeling like everything is happening too fast. I've dreamed for years about going to GDC. I'm glad I can be here as part of something bigger than myself.
So here I am, punching keys at a Best Western in San Francisco, with a TV-friendly version of American Pie 2 blaring in the background. It feels like we're planning a bank heist. Matt and Asher are sitting at dueling computers, furiously putting the last touches on an already-spectacular Flash game. The rest of us are sprawled at odd angles on queen-sized beds, just trying to find our place, help brainstorm titles, knowing that it won't be real until tomorrow.
I'll keep you posted.