Today was the kind of day where I just seemed to get distracted every other moment. Tick, tock, tick, tock – like a metronome….

• Start the day in the unofficial second office with coffee, and a good ol’ fashioned brainstorm. Haven’t done one of those in a while….
• We’re talking Christmas party. Yes, this is part of what we do. Yes, we’re talking about it in April. IT WILL BE THAT BIG. Maybe. Possibly. Come work here and find out!
• Satisfied that we have a corker of an idea, we come back to the office to find that apparently, someone has sent me a brick through the post. “Perhaps it’s a note… wrapped around a brick… sent in the post. It’s the genteel way of making a very serious point,” I wonder aloud.
• Actually it turns out it’s a stack of fliers for the UK Games Expo, which we’re exhibiting at, and which we’ve said we’ll pass around at other shows. Unfortunately they didn’t arrive for the MiniCon, so now I just have to tell you; we’ll be at the UK Games Expo. It will be excellent.
• As I sit down, I notice that people keep disappearing into the meeting room near me and coming out looking happy. Then remember: it’s massage day! And I have a half-hour slot booked at 11:45! Woooo!
• Crack on with the artist bios spread for the sketchbook, which still needs to be fully edited and is still missing a few bios and pics. Andrew’s provided a couple overnight, but there are still holes, and our designer is needing to get the page laid out…
• Work on that until – yay! Massage time! In case you’re wondering, a local company sends a masseuse around to our offices every couple of weeks. The company subsidises it, so you get a cheap massage if you want one. Boy, did I.

…. Imagine half an hour of blissful massage here, accompanied by strange techno-chanting music….

• After that, out for lunch with the wife. The sun’s shining, people are looking happy, and all is good in Brighton. We even get a free paper to read as we wait for food.
• Back at the desk, browse the web a bit. Very behind on news generally, but nothing major jumps out. That sort of stuff is usually sent direct to me via Spaff IMs, sometimes with a pair of shifty eyes for good measure.
• Update two of the four Sidekicks with their Forum titles. Behold, Fat Beardy Sidekick and Thing-doing Sidekick!
• The press release and screenshots regarding in-game adverts in City of Heroes fly through my inbox….
• A new piece of merchandising is spotted across the office in prototype form; a few of us crowd around for a look. It’s good, just not quite there yet. That’s what prototypes are for….
• Tick. Back to the artist bios for a while. Editing’s slow, trying to find a semi-consistent tone’s tough.
• Tock. Flip back to email and try to clear a few out. I hate having more than 30 items in the inbox. (Many, many people have hundreds, so I guess I’m doing alright.)
• Tick. Before I clear anything, send out an email to see if we can get some swag for Bristol Comic Expo’s goody bags (first 500 people through the door get ‘em).
• Tock. Realise as I’m writing it that I need to know how many MOO trial cards we have left after the player meet, before we order more. Ask Chris sweetly to count them; he does.
• Turn to Spaff, who’s the resident MOO expert, and tell him I’m going to need a few hundred more, which means a lot of work. We talk about alternatives. I have to call MOO.
• Tick. Before that, quickly read reactions to the in-game ads announcement… which are generally good! Yay!
• Tock. Call my MOO contact; leave a message.
• Tick. Get proof for the sketchbook intro spread. While I’m looking it over and making tiny changes – a hypen here, a semicolon there – MOO call back.
• Tock. After a couple of minutes on the phone, we have a solution that should suit both sides. Result!
• Tick. Send the changes from the proofs to Mat, answer a few more emails, and wait for Chris to get ready with the podcast setup so we can record Episode 2 stuff.
• Chris can’t find our two microphones. Momentary panic and ‘Oh noes, did we leave them at the MiniCon’ concerns, ended when Spaff says “Oh look, here they are in this box.”
• Record as many of the words I’ll need to speak as possible for Episode 2 of the official podcast, including a chat with GhostRaptor about Task Force: Omega. It goes remarkably well, but doesn’t finish until 8pm.

Which is why, for the record, I didn’t hit the gym tonight. Dammit.