Maybe “Tightening the Belt” is not really the best way to describe what I’ve been doing of late, but I am on a trajectory to make my online presence a bit leaner (and maybe even a bit meaner). As I announced a week ago, I’ve put SNOW Magazine on indefinite hiatus, and I’ve done the same with my little GAME site.
Yes, I’ve had to come to terms with the fact that I just can’t handle all of the things that I’d like to be doing online, at least in terms of my personal projects (i.e. the stuff that doesn’t bring in income). It was getting to the point where I’d feel guilty about not updating these various sites, and I finally figured that enough was enough.
For now, and for the foreseeable future, expect me to stick to just The Magaziner, new episodes of the Codex, the monthly editions of PauseTalk, and the odd scribblings here — there’s another podcast project that I’d like to get off the ground too.
As for the day job — I’m Executive Director of the PechaKucha organization — things have never been more exciting, and we have a lot of very cool things in the works. It’s also been a pleasure to be working more closely with my good friend Ian Lynam, who has taken on the big task of refreshing our visual identity and online presence.
It’s a double dose of Codex episodes tonight, recorded back-to-back. First is 29, a regular show, and then 30, which is the all jazz show I’ve been promising to do.
Let me start by thanking everyone who came to last week’s 50th edition of PauseTalk. For the most part it was run as usual — except for me taking more time at the start to talk about how it all started, and how it developed — but it had a great vibe, a great turnout, and I think those who attended had a great time. As I mentioned, I prepared a commemorative badge for the event, which was limited to 15 and handed out to the first people who arrived, as well as a little booklet, which you can download as a PDF.
Also, big thanks to photographer Michael Holmes for another nice gallery of photos he shared on Facebook (of which the one of me at the top of this post). And speaking of Facebook, please note that the original Facebook group is disapearing (because of a new Facebook policy), and so instead I invite you to join (or “like”) the new PauseTalk page to keep receiving the monthly event reminders.
Below, the list of participants who filled out the attendance sheet. PauseTalk Vol. 51 is set for June 6.
As you’ll notice if you visit SNOW Magazine right now, I’ve decided to put the site on indefinite hiatus. I’ve been quite embarrassed by the lack of updates to the site over the last few months, and I think it’s just better to have it go on leave for a while, instead of the lame life support I’ve had it on.
Why the lack of love for the site? I just haven’t really had the time to focus on it like I’d want, and to be fair, I’ve been much more passionate about what I’m covering on The Magaziner — and the Codex podcast — and I think it’s best that I just let myself embrace those things, instead of continually feeling like I should try to come up with something to write about on SNOW, and feeling stressed about it. In the end, it’ll be for the better for everyone, as it frees me up to do more casual writing here, and to continue my exploration of how the magazine landscape is shaping up as it embraces new digital platforms.
As for SNOW Magazine, I’ll just say that it’s going away for now, with no definite plans on when it will be back, or even in what form. I don’t think I was ever really able to do what I wanted to do with SNOW, and I think — and I’m hoping — that what I’m doing over at The Magaziner will eventually inform what the next stage will be. And yes, I’m already thinking — and it’s what, in the end, I’ve really wanted to do — that this next stage or new form will be more publication-like, as in regularly released packages of curated ideas and stories (some people call these magazines).
Oh, and I will eventually reinstate access to the archives.
Because of Facebook’s upcoming policy to archive old groups — and since it appears that PauseTalk doesn’t really fit what Facebook describes as a “group” — I’ve created a new “fan page” for PauseTalk. Please “like” this page if you’d like to continue receiving the monthly reminders I send out before each edition.
Also, I’ll soon be posting the round-up from last week’s Vol. 50, but please note that the next PauseTalk (Vol. 51) will be held June 6.
As promised, I’m catching up to my slow start in May with already a brand new episode of the Codex (28), a mix of old and new, ready for download now.
I’m a bit late with the first Codex of May, but hey, it’s here, better late than never. Also, I’ll be playing catch up to make sure that at least 4 episodes are done by the end of the month.
So tomorrow (Monday, May 9) will mark the 50th edition of PauseTalk, and to commemorate the event I’ve decided to prepare a few things, both pictured below. First up is a little booklet I quickly put together that talks about how PauseTalk started, what it’s about, and gives thanks to every single person (well, at least the ones who filled out the attendance sheet) who has attended at least one PauseTalk (277). I’m going to print out and staple a few copies for the event, but I invite everyone to download the PDF version.
I’ve also made a few badges for the event, using the “PauseTalk 50″ logo, but these are very limited (only 15), and I will hand them out to the first people who arrive.
It doesn’t matter if you’ve attended one before or if this would be your first one, come join us tomorrow for a bit of talking. It all happens at Cafe Pause in Ikebukuro with an official start time of 20:00, although I’ll be there from around 19:30.
A new episode of the Codex (26) is up for your listening consumption. And in other Codex news, I think I’m going to try and record an episode at the upcoming PauseTalk Vol. 50 (on May 9), if the tech allows it (meaning, if I can record it while having it all play on the cafe speakers with no feedback). If I can make that work, I imagine it’ll be a mix of music and short interviews with some of the people in attendance. I’ll have more news on this next week.
Jean Snow is a contributor to 
He will be contributing to the upcoming fifth editions of 
