Of everything that's happened this year, Kotaku has been probably the most surprising and made me feel like a fish out of water most frequently. Me? I'm not a pro journalist. Well, I guess I technically am now in some small way - but I've not been to journalism school. I've never had any real desire to do the work of a journalist (give me an archive and books and I'm happy). Writing lit reviews comes more naturally than dealing with breaking news. I've spent the past couple of years aggressively pursuing academia, not breaking into video game journalism. I certainly never thought I'd wind up writing for one of the bigger gaming blogs out there. It was a pretty giant leap from the little site I wrote for to Kotaku Tower, and - just like when I got an email from one of my future advisors saying 'Congratulations, you're in!' - I find myself wondering with some frequency 'How in the hell did I manage that?'.

We get a lot of queries about breaking into the biz, which I always feel totally unequipped to answer. I haphazardly blundered into writing about video games (thanks to a post on Kotaku, of all things), and I found myself writing for Kotaku in much the same manner. How do you break into the business? Good question - let me know if you figure it out.

But despite feeling like the odd one out half the time, I really do love it. Weekends with Flynn are frequently the non-seminar related highlights of the week. While I have plenty of Saturdays where I just want to sit in front of the TV and veg out before plowing through another several hundred pages of whatever I'm supposed to be reading, spending a few hours a week wading through gaming related news and writing about it has been enjoyable. It also dovetails with my academic life in weird and satisfying ways - as I prepare to launch into studying Korean and Japanese, my immediate thought after 'I must be crazy' was 'Oh good, this really opens up my options for games! Wonder if I can squeeze some good feature articles from research trips to Asia?'.

I'm still getting used to explaining the dual halves of my life to people - 'You do what? And why?' is a question I'm used to answering when explaining exactly what it is I study, but explaining life in the video game blogosphere to most academics is a job in and of itself. One of my bookshelves is a good little microcosm of my life: it houses my copies of classic works of the field, the Shiji, Song dynasty lyric poetry, Lu Xun's short stories and ... the smallest members of my KOS-MOS figurine collection? Half-naked video game heroines and high-brow academia do go together!

As 2007 comes to a close, I'm thankful for a lot of things - mostly the fact that '07 was the year I landed a coveted spot at a great program in my field and all the stuff I have to look forward to as part of the Kotaku team. It's a real treat to be part of a great group of people, writing about stuff I love, and hopefully giving a little more exposure to some topics that are usually confined to niche blogs and news sites. Flynn may be living out of a suitcase, I may be busier than ever, and we may be in the middle of a holiday news drought - but 2008 is looking pretty bright indeed. Just keep your fingers crossed for Flynn that the new year brings him permanent digs - and soon!

I have been living out of three suitcases for a while now. Two contain my clothes and various knick knacks that make me feel a bit grounded. The third carries all three of my systems, their various controllers, wires and some games. Now, some people would write this off as blatant idiocy. Carrying around thousands of dollars worth of equipment and games from place to place as I travel, but seeing as I am a games journalist, these are the tools of my trade. My systems have accompanied me to such exotic locales as New Haven, Baltimore, Atlanta and then made the cross country journey in a Uhaul out to San Francisco. Fortunately, my friends have all been very accommodating of me and all my technology. But you don't really realize what a burden it all can be until you are constantly changing passwords to get on new wireless networks, digging out the old cables for your systems when the place your staying doesn't have the right hook ups and I won't even go into what it's like to try and set up Rock Band in a tiny living room filled with my suitcases wedged behind large pieces of 60's collector's furniture (pictured).

I had a pretty sweet set up in Atlanta before I left. All the systems, a nice big HDTV, surround sound and all the trimmings. I was able to enjoy the TV for about the first six months I owned it and now it's sitting in storage, awaiting the day when I finally find an apartment in the outrageous SF housing market. I went for a while feeling pretty sorry for myself until I woke up one day and realized, "Hey, I might be homeless, but I'm probably the most technologically advanced homeless person in SF." I also observed that if it weren't for the need of having my systems set up, I could get by with just an iPhone and my laptop. Scary, but true.

Another incident that really changed my outlook on things was my run in with the waitress in Amarillo, TX who was trying to acquire a Wii for her partially paralyzed son. I thought about how easy it was for me when I acquired my systems and how I may not have an apartment, but I probably had more electronic equipment in the back of that truck than this woman and her son had ever dreamed of. It was then that I decided to make it my mission to get this mother and her son a Wii for Christmas. Fortunately, through the help of other kind souls I accomplished my goal and the Wii along with accompanying games arrived to her on Christmas Eve. It was an event that made my holiday.

As corny and cliche' as it might seem, I learned a valuable lesson this season. No matter how little it seems you may have, there is always someone with less. Having to blow up my bed every night and relying on swag t-shirts I got from conventions for fresh clothes may be a pain in the ass (why the hell are they always XXL?), but at least I have my games, my health, a job that I love and most importantly, my family and friends to support me.