The Times, They Are A-Changin'

Things have been--for lack of a better word--wonky, lately. It seems like lots of things in my life have changed recently. And most often seemingly for the better, which has been nice.
My hometown basketball team, the Portland Trail Blazers, are in flux at the moment. Their once promising future has gone by the wayside in the wake of injuries to star players, and general underachieving. To start this season, Brandon Roy, the team's three time all-star and team leader, was forced into retirement due to injuries just as he was entering his prime. Heartbreaking. As if that wasn't enough, Portland's number one overall draft pick, Greg Oden, was waived by the the team just days ago after years of injuries preventing him from taking the floor. On top of all of that, the head coach of seven years, Nate McMillan, was fired. My team--one that once looked poised for a decade of consecutive title runs--is now officially back to the drawing board after dismantling the team at the trade deadline last Thursday. Potential for the future is there, but at the cost of the present. Lacking both a permanent head coach and general manager, this once-promising team seems completely lost. The times, they are a-changin'.
I first learned of Whiskey Media around the beginning of 2008, and I instantly became a huge fan of everything that company was doing. I followed my favorite games journalists from Gamespot to their new venture, Giant Bomb, and my life changed in a meaningful way. I became part of an internet community for the first time ever. I eventually became overly absorbed in the site and decided to step away from it a few months back, but Giant Bomb and the Whiskey family of sites were huge for me. Their awesomeness ushered me into a more internet-filled life, and that was interesting for me in a lot of ways. Now, in 2012, Whiskey dismantles and sells their sites to different buyers. Suddenly the sites that I'd spent so much time on for 4+ years are turning into something different! The fact that it all happened so quickly on one day (the same day as the NBA trade deadline, mind you) almost made my head explode. Giant Bomb and Comic Vine now have enormous financial backing from CBS, while Tested has been absorbed by the MythBusters, and Screened and Anime Vice just seem kind of left out. The change at Tested in particular is still boggling my mind. This family of sites, in a way, was the internet for me. Now everyone's parting ways and moving offices. The former Whiskey staff promises that this is all for the better, but one thing's for certain: The times, they are a-changin'.
More personally, things have been equally as turbulent. I have a job now. As strange as it may be, this'll be my first real job. The first time I'll receive a real paycheck. It's a little scary, but I'd be lying if I said that scary was a negative at this point in my life. I've been out of school for months, and not working. I started recognizing signs of depression going back about a year now. I'd always been the happy guy that couldn't ever understand how people came to be depressed and what that felt like. Well, the learning process was swift and brutal. Thankfully I've made some changes and have worked my way back out of that. I've been working my way out of it for a few months now, but honestly, I think it was the email I received a couple of days ago telling me that I'd gotten this job that provided a huge lift for me. I've found that I'm once again eager to do things that I've always loved, but had lost almost all interest in over that tough stretch. Besides getting this job, I also feel like I'm taking control of my life and doing the things that I want to do. I love computers, and I've dreamed of building a PC for years and years. Well, I'm finally saving money to make that happen. The plan is to build my computer in May, and I can't wait. Things quickly went from bad to worse over the course of 2011, but I'm looking to reverse that trend in 2012. And hey, so far, so good. The times, they are a-changin'--this time, in a very positive way.
Most of this probably sounds negative, but I'm really excited and optimistic for what was formerly Whiskey Media. I'm happy that those guys are doing bigger and better things, as they, without question, deserve all of their success. I'm trying to be equally as optimistic about the sports franchise that I hold so dear to my heart, but that situation is a little more rough. The potential is certainly there to rebuild, so I just hope they can make the best of what they have. Ultimately, my own life is what actually matters, and things in that department are looking up to be sure.
This is a scary, exciting, and uncertain time for me in a variety of ways. The times, they most certainly are a-changin'. To this I say: I couldn't be more ready for change; bring it on.