“Another name change?!”

This is the last one, I swear.

This is also the first time we’ve talked since Thanksgiving. Christmas is nigh. I didn’t even sign online to post wrestling predictions. The second half of the year has been absolutely crazy. Last night I decided on this minor name change and it felt like the final piece in this series of changes. So many longtime readers have stuck with me on this trip from hell and back and to an entirely new place. I owe it to all of you to share the tale and what has happened in recent months.

Earlier this year, for many reasons, I walked away from the previous site. Maybe the entire story will come out one day, but not today.

Meanwhile, I was growing increasingly bothered by the world of retail. All told I’ve most likely put in 20 years at various stores. Tiny mall stores to big boxes. Entry level to management. I’ve seen it all and I could feel a pull away from that world. Enough odd things have happened in my life that I truly believe there is at least some sort of fate or cosmic plan. My frustration at where I was working led to me looking online at job openings. Once a night every night. For what, I didn’t know. Really I just wanted to feel happy. Equal money, less stress, more fulfilling. Which is maybe the toughest thing I’ve ever had to look for. I kept looking, applied for some that had potential, and trudged forward. Maybe it was coincidence, or maybe a push, but I was having increasing issues at the then current job. My writing dropped, my enjoyment of things lessened. I would get home and just lay on the couch.

Fate returned through Facebook of all things. A friend who I haven’t seen in years posted a job listing. No reason, no plan, just sharing a post she thought was interesting. As millions of people do every day. Maybe I was online at the right time. Maybe because of my job searches I had triggered the algorithm. I don’t know why, but I saw her post near immediately. Saved the post and applied when next I could. One of the best things I’ve ever written. And then I waited.

Waited until the open application closed. Waited for a phone call. A phone interview. An in person interview. A reference check. Another phone call. This entire process was 2-2 1/2 months. All the while never getting my hopes up too high. If this happened it would be it. IT. My wife and child are amazing, and I’ve had some cool things happen in life. I really didn’t feel…. deserving. Imagine my shock when I was finally offered the job and then saw the change coming while serving out my two week notice.

Disclaimer. All opinions are my own and in no way represent my new place of employment. I speak on my own and not as a representative.

In November I started at the library. It’s not an open facility, more a hub for the area and a center for the other libraries. Monday through Friday, same hours every day. And it has taken me until this week to lose enough of the weight from retail. Not actual body mass, if anything I risk gaining some weight. No, the fear of getting yelled at any moment because insert manager name here is in a mood and taking it out on everyone. I am far from perfect, and I will make mistakes. But I am going in every day trying my hardest and learning all I can.

And I love it.

I work with probably one tenth the amount of people I did before. Give or take. Everything I do feels like it matters. Getting this book into someone’s hands. Answering this question. Even editing a spreadsheet. Every task is for an overall mission to make the community better.

Just over 15 years ago I started at Borders. I thought I was home. Job for life. Start planning day one to work my way up to management and retire there. Well, that didn’t happen. That feeling came back. I walk through the rows of books and stick out my hands to hit every spine along the way. Every day is a new discovery. Each shelf holds information and entertainment and excites me.

When I initially renamed the site I thought the idea of “Ephemera” would work. The forgotten, the cast aside, the ignored pop culture content. Then I discovered all that the library holds and while I don’t have a Masters of Library Science, and I’m not a librarian, I can make this site in that image. A curation of geek, ridiculous, retro, nostalgia, underground. All of it. Come on in and browse the shelves. The focus will still be on comics, wrestling, and metal. But it’s all going to show up here.

Every day I handle hundreds if not thousands of pieces of media. Every day I take pictures of something that I want to check out. It also reminds me of the importance of reviews. More eyes on any creative endeavor not only gets that artist more money, but shines a light on related similar works as well.

I thank all readers for sticking with me. I’m now used to my new schedule. I feel like I’ve finally shaken loose many an issue. I’m going to show all of you a lot of cool stuff that I’ve found in the last month and then be prepared for years of more and more.

And hey, if you have something cool you want more eyes on let me know. Maybe my review will be so great I’ll see a blurb on your book when I’m in the library.