Despite our shameless, snot-filled pleading, today is Addy's last day here at Gizmodo. Somehow she got the idea in her head that she wanted me to be the one to write her goodbye post. Coming from the best writer (by far) on Giz, that's quite a compliment. Seriously, the top five list looks something like 1) Addy 2) 3) 4) 5), which is only part of the reason why we'll miss her so.
Not only did she bring a unique presence to Giz in that her boobs could be described without being prefaced by the word "man" (she's a lady, get it?), she was a normal person. That's a pretty hard quality to find when you're talking about people who asphyxiate themselves with tech news for the majority of their day. Features like why she's an ultra late adopter served to balance out the rest of our "gimme gimme now now" outlook on gadgets. In fact, her favorite Christmas gadget ever wasn't even a gadget. Luckily for us, she agreed to keep on writing her Sunday columns, so you'll still be able to soothe your Saturday night hangover with her charmingly seductive words.
The shitty part of having a virtual office connected by chat rooms and instant messaging is that unless you're traveling for an event, you don't actually get to meet and interact daily with your coworkers. Based on Addy's posts, isn't she someone you would like drink five bottles of wine after work with? We're forcing her to do a cross-country US tour later this year so we can all (maybe even you readers) feel her presence in person.
Here's one of her earliest IMs to me. "Breastion. Ever seen anything USB with tits?" That, my friends, is Adelaide Dugdale. So long, queen of Gizmodo.
And now a note from Addy:
Guys. Guys. Momentous indeed today is. Right, that's the Yoda impersonation done for the Star Wars fans, now TFSU. I'm leaving Gizmodo for pastures bare. Yes, that's right, as the world teeters on the brink of recession, someone is stupid enough to wave goodbye to her current job with nothing lined up next. And that stupid someone is me.
I've had 17 months at El Modo de Giz and I've loved it all (apart from a few teething problems with HTML to start. And then there was Flickr uploadr. And Photoshop. Oh, all of it at first, you know me well enough now.) But that's all changed-no virginal blogger me any more. Oh no. Well, a bit, I suppose.
Leaving the site has not been an easy decision at all. In fact, I ummed and aahed about it for a couple of months, before taking a deep breath and writing to Blam. He, bless him, gave me a couple of weeks just in case I wanted to change my mind, and I confess that my resolve wobbled a couple of times.
But I need a break. Pro blogging is pretty relentless, and it takes a toll on people. I think it should come with a mandatory week off every two months, but then I'm a soft European pussy and I should STFU, I guess. So, rather than burn out, and end up with that sad little dead-iPod face, knackered, squinty-eyed and suffering gadget blindness, it's time to go and do something else. I'm going to have a month off, get our house sorted out as much as possible, then think about the alternatives.
But, my lovelies, I won't be gone forever. I'll be back in August with a brand new shiny fabulous column (er, still haven't worked it all out, but trust me, it'll be the embodiment of the bastard lovechild of Addy and Giz. That is, if a website could have sex with me. Or if it would want to. Or I with it. Um, like I said, I need to work on the idea a bit).
All your gorgeous comments, especially those of you who have defended me against my detractors (scarbrtj, Drewdraws2, ANoel, SonofMagicFact andFreddicvsMaximvs especially spring to mind) have been brilliant-there's nothing like a bit of encouragement to make you really want to write your socks off for your readers.
And as for the guys I work with-Blam, Wilson, Chen, Mark, Kit, Benny et all -I can't thank you enough for helping me go from really shit blogger to not-so-bad one, really. But most of all, it's down to the Jeezy Weezy, who got me into blogging in the first place. He's the one who deserves most of the credit, the Debbie Allen to my Leroy, or something. Kissy.
Oh, and one more thing. LindsayJoy, easy on the nearly-nekkid pictures with just a bit of LEGO to preserve your modesty that you keep sending to Jesus. It's not pissing me off. Yet.
See you all in August, and my first cocktail tomorrow night will be raised to you all. Cheers!