In many ways, my scratchings here at this little outpost of mine have been a form of personal catharsis for me. A way of protecting my sanity, organising my own thoughts, and keeping my head ever so slightly above the relentlessly rising tide of utterly shit advice that's out there. Frankly I've enjoyed writing most when it's been driven by burning indignation, frustration or even from time to time, rage. And heaven knows our industry gives us triggers a-plenty. I've a dozen half-arsed, half-drafted posts gathering digital dust somewhere, but lately I've felt the urge not to write. I've been reminding myself that I do not have to give in to the temptations of shameless self-promotion - even though my fragile ego still craves attention and validation. I'm enjoying detaching myself from the industry chatter which for the most part never fails to regress to the mind-numbingly banal. And I'm protecting the time to absorb and reflect on the new lessons that new assignments are teaching me. Cortical plasticity. I swear I can feel it happening in my brain sometimes. Which at this stage in the game is a bit of a fucking relief. All of which is to say (knowing that I'll probably sound like a jumped up little blog diva) that I've noticed a whole bunch of you have subscribed lately and I just wanted to say thank you - and to apologise if you were expecting more. I promise you that I'll come back in due course with fresh bile and snark. In the meantime, if you don’t already, read everything Rob Campbell, Jim Carroll, Tom Roach and James Hankins write.