Announcing My Cool New Gig

Ladies and gentlemen, long(ish)-time readers know that I’ve been without full-time job since October 22nd, 2008. Across the span of eleven months I’ve depended on (in descending order of amount of support) the state of California, a handful of really excellent freelance clients, the United States Department of Commerce Census Bureau, the patronage of friends and fans, residual royalties from my book and short stories, a book signing, and two speaking engagements. I’ve had a couple of “meetings” (don’t we use the words “job interview” any more?) but nothing came along that felt… right.

Finding something that was Right, with a capital “R,” was very important to me. In the past, I’ve allowed myself to be put in employment situations where my own ideals and standards were subverted. I vowed to never allow that again. I even put out a kind of challenge to the entrepreneurs of the world, daring them to take a chance on someone like me…. but when you’re coming up on a year without a steady job, it gets harder and harder to justify idealism in the face of the needs of your household.

Fortunately, I found something that is Right in many ways. Better to say: something right found me. Or we found each other. Heck, lemme just lay it out.

Convergence Again

By convergence, I mean the fortuitous coming together of different elements in one’s life and relationships. Given enough time and with a little bit of effort to keep doors open, convergence happens. I’ve been learning to recognize it for what it is.

Don’t misunderstand me: I’m not talking about “secret” Law of Attraction woo-woo. That stuff is bullshit, straight up. There’s nothing mystical about looking back over a set of circumstances and recognizing the actions you took that made those circumstances possible.

Let’s go back to the late eighties. I’m nineteen or so and my friend takes me to see a band play at the Coach House. This band, Children’s Day, turns out to be part of the same crowd many of the people I worked with hung with. We all end up as buddies in the big amorphous punk rock / poetry / art social thing that was my life from 1985 to 1991 or thereabouts.

At the end of 1991, feeling a chapter of my life closing down, I write a song called Children’s Day partly as a nod of acknowledgement to the role their music played in that time and partly because I felt like we were all children in that time. I was deliberately planting a book-end with that song.

Fast forward nearly two decades to 2008. Facebook — yes, Facebook — reaches a wonderful critical mass. Suddenly, everyone is coming out of the woodwork. I’m re-connecting with people from as far back as grade school. Among those folks are the members of Children’s Day, or at least members from the line-up I remember. They’ve heard their namesake song; they’re kinda moved. I can dig it, and I’m grateful and feel like a scale is balancing, because I’ve been gratified and honored by more than a few people crediting me for similar inspiration in their lives. It’s humbling and strange and I’m happy to return the favor, as it were.

Two of the members of this band now run a successful, well regarded entertainment marketing firm… but their heart’s passion is a very special website to which they simply haven’t had the time or resources to dedicate as much love as they would like.

We have a “meeting” (uh huh) wherein we kinda catch up and kinda talk about this site. I, not being shy to provide my opinion, do so. I see the potential there. I get excited about what they want to do, and when I get excited about something and I’m with people who don’t discourage it, I go to town.

I go to town. Run at the mouth; got on my usual “it’s all about being human / it’s the conversation / transparency / openness / community” soapbox. They very kindly indulge me with minimal glassy-eyed stares. We end the day with interest keen on everyone’s part that I be involved with this… someday. I’ve had a fun day and feel more connected with these guys than I did when we all hung out together when we were kids, so it’s all made of win for me.

That was in July. Last week, we had a phone conversation. October first, I started working for them.

Convergence. I wrote a song that I put up on my website for anyone to hear and to share. I put myself on a social network that allowed me to extend the power of my policy of accessibility. Threads start to meet and intertwine after twenty years of winding their own way. When everything comes together, the right people doing the right thing get to do it together.

Enough with the wind up. Here’s the deal.

So What’s The Damn Gig, Already?

It’s a website: Retroland.com. It’s a time machine — users, including a growing community of thousands of members, share the common experience of their shared formative history, and draw on an expanding Retropedia of articles relating to the pop culture of every decade of the twentieth century.

Retroland.com has been around for years, quietly and slowly growing right through two dot-com boom and bust cycles. Now, it’s time to wake up this sleeping giant.

That’s my job, dear readers: Chief Evangelist, building up and refining the existing community and turning the rest of the world on to what I see as a really unique destination and a huge, untapped resource on the web.

I’m into it. I’m sold on the idea; I grok the purpose, the need Retroland fills more than anything else. Retroland isn’t about poking fun at the forces of our collective past; there’s no smarmy irony for the artifacts of our histories. It’s about love — love and celebration for the things that made us all who we are today.

So it’s the Right Thing. Retroland is driven by love, passion, creativity and community — sound like anyone you know? I’d be using and evangelizing Retroland even if I wasn’t Chief Evangelist, because this thing is Cool and yeah, even Important, with leading upper-case letters.

Give it a whirl. Become a member (it’s free, of course.) Participate in the Retrotalk forums. Immerse yourself in the deep content of the Retropedia and contribute some of you own memories. Friend up the Facebook page (of course we have one; Twitter account is on its way, too, natch, and don’t worry, you’ll never get an auto-DM from it while I’m Chief of anything there.)

I think you’ll find Retroland to be compelling, engaging, addictive and… yeah, human, through and through. It’s just cool.

Moving Forward

As I mentioned and as most of you already know, I’m not bashful with the ideas when I find something worth pouring energy into. I’m already tossing off memos and e-mails like I run the place. The founders and I, we’re feeding off of each other, pushing toward bigger and better things for Retroland. They’ve got me there because their day job still doesn’t quite let them dedicate all their energies to their baby — in a way I feel like their surrogate enthusiasm, the guy stoking the engine with soul-coal and building momentum while they get into position to blow the whistle and plow down the tracks.

I love this, because I’m a Maker; I thrive on making things, and now I’m in a position to help make a culture, a movement, a Thing that is Bigger Than Me. That’s exactly what I enjoyed most about my early days at Mahalo.com, it’s everything about what I loved being part of the early days of podcasting, and it’s why I write stories and make music. Now, the day job is yet another extension of my creativity, and that rocks.

So I’ve got all kinds of plans to build the audience for Retroland.com — ways that don’t just put eyeballs on the site or log uniques in Google Analytics. I’m talking about stuff that brings value and merit and awesomeness to all of you — neat, fun stuff, personal stuff… human stuff, since everything about Retroland.com connects with what it means to be human.

This is gonna be hella fun.

Do Me The Favor

Go check out Retroland.com. Join up. Introduce yourself in the Retrotalk forums. Tell ‘em Matt sent you. Let me know what you think. Enjoy it.

Finally, I’m gonna ask you to do something I usually reserve for my own creative endeavors, or for the creative endeavors of kindred spirits who deserve your support:

TELL EVERYONE YOU KNOW ABOUT RETROLAND.COM

See, this is my creative endeavor, and the founders are kindred spirits. Go, dig it, check it out for me. Tell me what you think. Tell me what you love. If you don’t see the promise, tell me that, too. It’s my job to make sure you do, after all — I’m all ears.

Everything Else

Everything else continues apace. “The Sovereign Era: Year One” anthology is still on track to be released later in the year. New installments of “Hazy Days and Cloudy Nights” will still come out twenty five times a year. I’m still writing. I’m still making music (boy have I got a doozy of an ambitious project to talk to you in that regard… soon.) I’m still asking for your patronage if you enjoy the fiction and music I produce.

My Other Clients

My time working on Retroland fills my daylight hours on the weekdays, but I still have room to continue helping my freelance clients on a limited basis with stuff that doesn’t conflict with or compete with Retroland.com.

I probably can’t take on any more long-term, big-project clients right now… I gotta sleep and eat and work on my own stuff, too. But I’ll do my best to put my existing clients on a track of self-sufficiency, and I’ll always be around to help folks with smaller projects.

One More Time

Please check out Retroland.com. Get involved. You know you’re into it. You’re mostly all beautiful geeks who unashamedly love the toys, cartoons, movies, TV shows and comics you loved when you were kids — all the stuff that’s still front and center, frankly, in our here-and-now pop culture. I’m telling you, Retroland.com will feel like dipping into a bubble bath scented with awesome.

Dive in.

Possibly related posts:

1. Announcing A Major New Fiction Project – Hazy Days and Cloudy Nights

Ladies and gentlemen, long(ish)-time readers know that I've been without full-time job since October 22nd, 2008. Across the span of eleven months I've depended on (in descending order of amount of support) the state of California, a handful of really excellent freelance clients, the United States Department of Commerce Census Bureau, the patronage of friends and fans, residual royalties from my book and short stories, a book signing, and two speaking engagements. I've had a couple of "meetings" (don't we use the words "job interview" any more?) but nothing came along that felt... right.Finding something that was Right, with a capital "R," was very important to me. In the past, I've allowed myself to be put in employment situations where my own ideals and standards were subverted. I vowed to never allow that again. I even put out a kind of challenge to the entrepreneurs of the world, daring them to take a chance on someone like me.... but when you're coming up on a year without a steady job, it gets harder and harder to justify idealism in the face of the needs of your household.Fortunately, I found something that is Right in many ways. Better to say: something right found me. Or we found each other. Heck, lemme just lay it out.Convergence Again By convergence, I mean the fortuitous coming together of different elements in one's life and relationships. Given enough time and with a little bit of effort to keep doors open, convergence happens. I've been learning to recognize it for what it is.Don't misunderstand me: I'm not talking about "secret" Law of Attraction woo-woo. That stuff is bullshit, straight up. There's nothing mystical about looking back over a set of circumstances and recognizing the actions you took that made those circumstances possible.Let's go back to the late eighties. I'm nineteen or so and my friend takes me to see a band play at the Coach House. This band, Children's Day, turns out to be part of the same crowd many of the people I worked with hung with. We all end up as buddies in the big amorphous punk rock / poetry / art social thing that was my life from 1985 to 1991 or thereabouts.At the end of 1991, feeling a chapter of my life closing down, I write a song called Children's Day partly as a nod of acknowledgement to the role their music played in that time and partly because I felt like we were all children in that time. I was deliberately planting a book-end with that song.Fast forward nearly two decades to 2008. Facebook -- yes, Facebook -- reaches a wonderful critical mass. Suddenly, everyone is coming out of the woodwork. I'm re-connecting with people from as far back as grade school. Among those folks are the members of Children's Day, or at least members from the line-up I remember. They've heard their namesake song; they're kinda moved. I can dig it, and I'm grateful and feel like a scale is balancing, because I've been gratified and honored by more than a few people crediting me for similar inspiration in their lives. It's humbling and strange and I'm happy to return the favor, as it were.Two of the members of this band now run a successful, well regarded entertainment marketing firm... but their heart's passion is a very special website to which they simply haven't had the time or resources to dedicate as much love as they would like.We have a "meeting" (uh huh) wherein we kinda catch up and kinda talk about this site. I, not being shy to provide my opinion, do so. I see the potential there. I get excited about what they want to do, and when I get excited about something and I'm with people who don't discourage it, I go to town.I go to town. Run at the mouth; got on my usual "it's all about being human / it's the conversation / transparency / openness / community" soapbox. They very kindly indulge me with minimal glassy-eyed stares. We end the day with interest keen on everyone's part that I be involved with this... someday. I've had a fun day and feel more connected with these guys than I did when we all hung out together when we were kids, so it's all made of win for me.That was in July. Last week, we had a phone conversation. October first, I started working for them.Convergence. I wrote a song that I put up on my website for anyone to hear and to share. I put myself on a social network that allowed me to extend the power of my policy of accessibility. Threads start to meet and intertwine after twenty years of winding their own way. When everything comes together, the right people doing the right thing get to do it together.Enough with the wind up. Here's the deal.So What's The Damn Gig, Already? It's a website: Retroland.com. It's a time machine -- users, including a growing community of thousands of members, share the common experience of their shared formative history, and draw on an expanding Retropedia of articles relating to the pop culture of every decade of the twentieth century.Retroland.com has been around for years, quietly and slowly growing right through two dot-com boom and bust cycles. Now, it's time to wake up this sleeping giant.That's my job, dear readers: Chief Evangelist, building up and refining the existing community and turning the rest of the world on to what I see as a really unique destination and a huge, untapped resource on the web.I'm into it. I'm sold on the idea; I grok the purpose, the need Retroland fills more than anything else. Retroland isn't about poking fun at the forces of our collective past; there's no smarmy irony for the artifacts of our histories. It's about love -- love and celebration for the things that made us all who we are today.So it's the Right Thing. Retroland is driven by love, passion, creativity and community -- sound like anyone you know? I'd be using and evangelizing Retroland even if I wasn't Chief Evangelist, because this thing is Cool and yeah, even Important, with leading upper-case letters.Give it a whirl. Become a member (it's free, of course.) Participate in the Retrotalk forums. Immerse yourself in the deep content of the Retropedia and contribute some of you own memories. Friend up the Facebook page (of course we have one; Twitter account is on its way, too, natch, and don't worry, you'll never get an auto-DM from it while I'm Chief of anything there.)I think you'll find Retroland to be compelling, engaging, addictive and... yeah, human, through and through. It's just cool.Moving Forward As I mentioned and as most of you already know, I'm not bashful with the ideas when I find something worth pouring energy into. I'm already tossing off memos and e-mails like I run the place. The founders and I, we're feeding off of each other, pushing toward bigger and better things for Retroland. They've got me there because their day job still doesn't quite let them dedicate all their energies to their baby -- in a way I feel like their surrogate enthusiasm, the guy stoking the engine with soul-coal and building momentum while they get into position to blow the whistle and plow down the tracks.I love this, because I'm a Maker; I thrive on making things, and now I'm in a position to help make a culture, a movement, a Thing that is Bigger Than Me. That's exactly what I enjoyed most about my early days at Mahalo.com, it's everything about what I loved being part of the early days of podcasting, and it's why I write stories and make music. Now, the day job is yet another extension of my creativity, and that rocks.So I've got all kinds of plans to build the audience for Retroland.com -- ways that don't just put eyeballs on the site or log uniques in Google Analytics. I'm talking about stuff that brings value and merit and awesomeness to all of you -- neat, fun stuff, personal stuff... human stuff, since everything about Retroland.com connects with what it means to be human.This is gonna be hella fun.Do Me The Favor Go check out Retroland.com. Join up. Introduce yourself in the Retrotalk forums. Tell 'em Matt sent you. Let me know what you think. Enjoy it.Finally, I'm gonna ask you to do something I usually reserve for my own creative endeavors, or for the creative endeavors of kindred spirits who deserve your support:TELL EVERYONE YOU KNOW ABOUT RETROLAND.COMSee, this is my creative endeavor, and the founders are kindred spirits. Go, dig it, check it out for me. Tell me what you think. Tell me what you love. If you don't see the promise, tell me that, too. It's my job to make sure you do, after all -- I'm all ears.Everything Else Everything else continues apace. "The Sovereign Era: Year One" anthology is still on track to be released later in the year. New installments of "Hazy Days and Cloudy Nights" will still come out twenty five times a year. I'm still writing. I'm still making music (boy have I got a doozy of an ambitious project to talk to you in that regard... soon.) I'm still asking for your patronage if you enjoy the fiction and music I produce.My Other Clients My time working on Retroland fills my daylight hours on the weekdays, but I still have room to continue helping my freelance clients on a limited basis with stuff that doesn't conflict with or compete with Retroland.com.I probably can't take on any more long-term, big-project clients right now... I gotta sleep and eat and work on my own stuff, too. But I'll do my best to put my existing clients on a track of self-sufficiency, and I'll always be around to help folks with smaller projects.One More Time Please check out Retroland.com. Get involved. You know you're into it. You're mostly all beautiful geeks who unashamedly love the toys, cartoons, movies, TV shows and comics you loved when you were kids -- all the stuff that's still front and center, frankly, in our here-and-now pop culture. I'm telling you, Retroland.com will feel like dipping into a bubble bath scented with awesome.Dive in.