Here I am again, writing yet another journal at deviantART. I wonder how many of these I've written over the years? I know I deleted a huge amount a while back, but I was writing one a day for a while there. Back when I was active when the community was small enough to be involved and be noticed.

These days, I check in maybe once a month, read the odd journal from the few people (all ten of them) I still have on my watch, delete the fav messages from my message centre, then go back to whatever I was doing. It's nice that people still like my stuff and want to fav it, but quietly I giggle to myself when someone adds me to their watch-list because I know I'll never submit anything here again. I've well & truly moved on.

There's no interest here for me anymore. There's nothing to keep my interested - the "community" is ridiculously massive and the sheer volume of submissions makes it so overwhelming to even consider diving into like I once did. My passions lie elsewhere now - my friendships, interests (while still mostly the same as when I was active here) and likes have moved along on the intarwebz these days. My website is a good starting point if you're looking for updates on me, as well as My Flickr gallery. I'm also cruising around Twitter a lot these days so if you're interested, you can follow my ramblings about life, work and other shit on there. I'm on Facebook too, but I'm more protective about who I add as a friend there. So if I've declined your friendship request lately, don't take it personally. I just keep a tight grip on who sees that much information about me these days. I play a bit of Call Of Duty (MW & MW2) on the PC - my nickname is bigbadadam. If you see me in a multiplayer game, say hi.

I'm not hard to find, you just have to know where to look.

I've stored all my submissions for now - haven't quite built up the courage to delete them all yet. They've been on here since July 2001, so there's still a lot of history attached to them. I've left my prints up for now - seems the odd person likes to buy one now & then. But I'll see what happens with that side down the line.

So I guess now is the time to slip off into the ether and get on with living again. It's been fun, I've made some awesome friends (one of whom I even went to the other side of the planet to meet - thanks again, Tommy!) and of course met the love of my life here. But it's time to shuffle off and focus on other things, rather than hold on to a long-dormant part of my life, that was fun but really these days doesn't interest me anymore. If you remember me from days gone by, it's a safe bet I remember you - I don't forget those who made an impact on me.

Take care of yourself and those important to you, and just enjoy your life. It's not a race or a competition. It's about the experiences and savouring them. It's about living, not rushing. That's what I plan to do next year. This year was about fixing my body - I've lost 31kg since January - so next year will be about enjoying the changes and moving onwards and upwards.

And just remember, every time you burp, think of my little contribution to the emoticon list:



A.

The Galvatrons




The Getaway Plan




The Gimmies

Well, sort of.

So I bet there were a few people who, when something new from adam1975 popped up on their messages, wondered "Who the is that again?"

My first submissions in over two years (March 2007 was my last one) are here for a reason. I'd love to tell you that it's because I'm feeling re-energised about deviantART. But let's be honest, I'm not. My love for this place waned a while ago, probably about the same time life took me away from the computer a little bit.

I guess I had this romantic notion of the old-world community dA was when I first started being active round these parts. But reality struck eventually when I realised just how goddamned big this place is now. So I started to shuffle out of what piss-ant spotlight I was apparently in.

Anyway, enough dribble.

I'm uploading (actually Kel did it for me) because I'll be beginning to sell my work at local markets later this month. Work has cut eight hours a week out of everybody's pay packet, as the omnipresent Global Financial Crisis hits. Our customers have tightened their belts, and as a result, our sales nose-dived in April. So we've had to look at alternate ways to bring the cash in. The bosses at work seem pretty certain we'll survive the GFC, so I'm confident that the cuts will end. Hopefully sooner rather than later though.

So the new works (which are actually pieces I've had on Flickr ) are being uploaded because I'll be ordering prints of them to sell. Well, more so for the gift cards - they seem pretty damn good value. The print costs aren't so much of a bargain once I factor in shipping. Postcards might be a go down the line too.

So you'll probably start to see more from me coming through, and now you know why.

One thing I noticed that's changed is the kind of response my work is getting. 76 messages, and 15 comments. Looks like dA has become a - wh0re place by the looks. Not that I really give a damn. Just sayin'.

Anyway, hope you are well, and that the world is looking after you.



A.