So I've been pretty silent for some months... thought I'd share some updates.

Last year I left The Getty for greener pastures after five years (to the day). It was time to move on, but I felt good about my stretch there. I landed a consulting gig at Fox, doing digital asset management strategy - or so I expected... it turned out to be more tactical than strategic, and though the money was great, the hours even better, it was most definitely not what I was looking for. I was yearning for a challenge, and though it was challenging it wasn't in the ways I hoped for.

Before I went to Italy, I saw Playboy was hiring; zing! I sent in the resume, and began a long courtship in May. After I returned from my travels the process continued, and finally in September they brought me on. Excitement! Another iconic company, another great step for my career. Unfortunately all was not meant to be - for many reasons I won't get into here - and the job wore me down quickly. I saw little, if any, chance for success, and just felt more and more like a patsy - I took responsibility for a situation I couldn't fix, so in the end it was going to be my butt.

Around the time this realization was setting in, a friend at an ex employer began making quiet overtures. Nothing concrete, just asking if I was doing any consulting. I had kept a lot of distance from this company since leaving (on good terms) so I had no idea what to expect, but I dropped the CEO a note asking if I could come down and have lunch, chat, see what was going on. After about 6 hours we had reached a tentative agreement to bring me back on in a senior role, provided we could work out all the details. In another few days we had it all nailed down, and I put in my 2 weeks - all I could afford - with Playboy, knowing whether it was 2 weeks or 2 months wouldn't make a real difference.

It's been about 70 days now I think, and I've had almost no time to come up for air. Strangely, that's the best thing I can say about it - I'm having a lot of fun, working with old friends, with a broad assignment and a lot of responsibility, and things are never dull. Working 70 hours here is less draining and a lot more palatable than working 40 hours at Playboy, or 36 at Getty!

So if you haven't heard from me, don't take it too personally. I might be ignoring you, but it's far more likely that you're a casualty of my new schedule. Fortunately, Julia is doing more or less the same, wrapping up grad school, so we're both highly productive and with basically no personal lives outside of the time we spend together (mainly eating, studying, and sleeping!).