A Fond Farewell, and How I Weaseled My Way Onto the HSM Team
by ted2112, HSM team writer
This will be my last article for HomeStation.
It seems unbelievable to write that, but it has come to pass. I want to give sincere thanks and bid goodbye to you, the person reading this. I’ve grown quite fond of you over the years, and have been lucky enough that you have chosen to take this journey with me and stuck by me through my one-hundred-and-seven articles. I have always written in a personal style, and always told you what I honestly thought. Everything from my dog, to far too many articles about the video game Journey, you have been with me — and I thank you from the bottom of my heart.
I wanted to share with you just how exactly I weaseled my way into this publication, because sometimes at the end, you must start at the beginning. It started during the “Great PSN Outage” when I was renting a house on the beach in Florida for a few months. It was this McMansion that I couldn’t afford to run the AC in, and my only furniture was a beat-up couch, a TV, coffee table, and my PS3. That’s it. Just this big, hot, empty house with nobody but my old Lab, Jack. With family and friends a thousand miles away, Home was a saving grace for me; so when the outage happened, I was desperate for information.
And that’s when I found the HomeStation.
Every morning I would drink coffee and comb through the various Home sites — and when I found HSM, I literally started to read backwards through week’s worth of articles. That first article I read was by Burbie, and I loved how she wrote with considerate authority. HSM seemed so different from the rest; it was like reading, if you’ll pardon the expression, a “real” magazine. I was not only hooked, but I wanted to be part of it.
As luck would have it, a writing contest happened, and I quickly submitted an article about Nolan Bushnell; to my great delight, it was published.
That was July 12, 2011. As happy as I was about having one article in HSM, I wasn’t about to give up. I meticulously wrote articles, but quickly realized how hard it is to put together a thousand well-crafted words suitable for publication. Wanting to be part of this team drove me to become better and better, though. And we learn by doing.
My “big break” came in issue 9. You know, the Ralph Baer one. Once again, HSM had a writing contest, and once again I was lucky enough to win. The prize was an autographed copy of Ralph Baer’s biography. As much as I was truly desired to own that prize — and it would have had a place of honor in my bookshelf — when Norse sent me an e-mail asking for my address to ship it, I simply replied, “Will trade the book for a team writer’s slot.”
To my utter satisfaction, my next article had the byline, “ted2112, HSM team writer” — and in the last three years, I haven’t looked back. It’s been an absolute honor to work alongside writers I was literally a fan of before I bamboozled my way in here. I would like to thank Norse for inspiring us, teaching us, and many times carrying us. I would like to thank Terra for her endless patience and friendship, Burbie for that first article, and the entire HSM team; I have truly been in awe of you.
the HSM Team
I think one of the things keeping me together in light of Home’s closure is that we will all still be together at the LOOT community media section. This magnificent team, comprised of some of the most talented and creative people I have ever met, will still be beside me as we branch out to an even bigger stage. I love you all and I’m grateful it is not goodbye.
For you, the person reading this, this is goodbye, but I truly hope it is a small one and you will keep on with me at LOOT. I will miss this publication fiercely, but I promise you I will give not only you, but LOOT the same fire and determination I gave here to HSM. LOOT’s community media section will have the same flavor of journalism HSM has, only expanded far beyond Home.
I truly hope to see you there, but allow me to end my journey here with the final paragraph of an article I wrote about the end of things, called At Journey’s End, over a year ago:
All journeys must come to an end, but in the gaming world there is always another journey to take, another mountain to climb, another game to play, another console that evolves, another friend to make. I feel it is good to stop and soak it in for as long as we can and feel that warm, fuzzy glow of appreciation for respect of the journey. And, like footprints in the snow that lead through the door of light at the end of our game, we will start anew and take the first steps into our new journey.
This is ted2112, signing off one last time from the HomeStation. From the bottom of my heart: goodbye for now — and thank you!
October 3rd, 2014 by ted2112 | 2 comments
ted2112 is a writer and a Bass player that has been both inspired and takes to heart Kurt Vonnegut words...."we are here on planet Earth to fart around, and don't let anyone tell you different."
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Thanks for your articles Ted, you’ve always been a particular favorite of mine to read in HSM. You’ve always done a great job of bringing food for thought and had an ability to switch my perception -- a very difficult thing to do! I wish you well for the future mate; but I’m sure we’ll meet again.
Hi! I have always enjoyed reading all your articles and love all your points of view on things. You also inspired me to write a few articles here at HSM. I am sad to see HSM and Home closing but as you said “all journeys must come to an end”. I am sure there will be more fun journeys in the future and I am looking forward to your future articles with LOOT! Keep up the good work and keep writing articles!!!