Oh hai, everyone!
Remember that farewell post I wrote at the end of last year? Well, it turns out that I may have been lead astray. See, at the time that I wrote it and the months leading up to it were some of the hardest months in my life so far, personally speaking. I was suffering from loneliness and depression and just overall anxiety about my whole move out West. I think I started getting homesick, and one of the best ways I dealt with it was deciding to move on from a lot of the things that I was currently holding onto back from my life in Chicago. This site, and blogging, in general, were two things that I decided to try to put on hold for a little bit. I needed to take some pressure off and dedicate a little more time towards my work and my other social hobbies.
Fast forward a bit to last Thursday. That’s when I got the call from my boss’ boss’ boss with the news that I was one of the many that was being let go from Google due to the fact that they “over-invested in some areas,” among other things. It’s not so often when the cosmos align like they do, and I’m always looking to read between the lines even when I probably shouldn’t — but I took this as a sign that the universe was course-correcting for me a bit.
It was just last year, while at SXSW witnessing the amazing My Morning Jacket NPR show, that I told myself that sharing my love for music was something I wanted to continue to do for a long time. I felt that it was something I could be passionate about all stages of my life, and maybe the Lone Stars exaggerated my sense of self and I overestimated myself for the next year let alone continuing the site into the future past that. Still, my point is, I took one path and I just kinda got tossed back onto the path I was on in the first place. Life is crazy like that sometimes. And it’s time to turn lemons into lemonade.
The Inevitable “We’re Back” Post
I’ll admit that it was weirdly bittersweet that Phish had announced their return around the same time that the site got put on hold. The band’s was a major reason for me starting the site, so the fact that they returning seemed to fit the fact that I would leave the music blog scene to greener pastures. As much as I loved doing it, I was majorly burnt out and really not taking care of the site in the way it needed to be worked on. So I took the time off and really enjoyed myself quite a bit. And I still went and saw tons of great live music and anxiously awaited the return of Phish earlier this month in Hampton, VA. I wasn’t going to be there physically, but I knew that the internet would allow me to feel somewhat there in spirit. Phish fans have a way of making sure the experience is something that gets transferred into the living room and/or home office.
So when the weekend finally rolled around and Phish was back, a buddy and I got together and downloaded the first “No Spoilers” set from Mr. Miner’s site and it took me about three seconds before my spine was tingling and I had regressed to the person I was in college that would be antisocial while listening to music. It was amazing. And now that the band is heading out on a West Coast tour that will allow me to catch at least two of the dates — I’m still holding out for a miracle on Red Rocks…who’s got my extra?!? — it only seems fitting that I get pinkslip’d at work a few months ahead of time, leaving me plenty of room to plan ahead for what the future holds.
It became clear. The site must come back. I miss it too much.
What Now?
We’re back. Tell your friends. Mars, bitches!
