The end of “A Beer For The Shower”

The highlight of my Mondays was, for a number of years, the latest comic of the fun blog called “A Beer For The Shower“. A collaboration of two friends – both aspiring and later book authors – it made light of the daily struggles of becoming an adult. Their shenanigans often revolved around beer. At the end of the post, they used to add recommended beer pairings for the situation. I’m convinced they got drunk off the chosen style every time. Artistic integrity is what I call it.

One day, years ago, I clicked on the link seeking the levity that would rescue me from a long and painful workday. But the blog wasn’t there anymore! All posts had been removed, and only the banner remained. I looked for information around the site, in the comments, online… There was no explanation and no reason. It was just… gone!

Days went by, and I kept clicking the link to see if that was a mistake. Or, maybe I imagined it was gone. Or the authors changed their mind. But no, it really was down. One of the small things in life people talk about as our source of happiness was gone, possibly forever.

Days, weeks, months went by. Then they turned into years. Every once in a while, I’d type the link in my browser. This became one of the few areas of my life where I allowed myself to be hopeful. After all, the worst-case scenario was that it was still down, right? Right.

A warm summer afternoon in May of last year, an idea came to my head. What if I looked these guys up and asked them directly if they had plans of resuming posting? Or at least make the old entries available for us, their fans. I found one of the authors, Brandon Meyer. His Amazon author profile included an email address. So, I emailed him.

From: Me
Sent: Monday, May 10, 2021 at 9:47 AM

To: Brandon

Cc:

Subject: Re: A Beer for the Shower

hi Brandon,
I hope this message finds you well.

I’m a fan and former follower of your blog, “A Beer For The Shower”, and the books I have read authored by you and Bryan. Slim Dyson’s was one of the best stories I’ve read, full of heart and innocence. It made a big impression on me. But it was the weekly entries to your blog that made me look forward to Mondays.

Wanted to ask you about the blog. Some years ago all posts disappeared and never came back. I click on the blog site every once in a while, hoping it would get miraculously restored. But it looks like it is gone for good.

Did you move it to a different domain by any chance?

Cheers!

Exactly three months later to the day, he replied.

Tuesday, August 10, 2021 at 10:31 PM:

Hi J,

Sincerest apologies for the delay in getting back to you. I had your email earmarked to respond to, but things have been unexpectedly hectic here since the spring (I do construction) and I’m finally getting caught up with myself.
Thank you for the kind words and I’m glad you enjoyed the blog. We had a hell of a good time working on it, though I think my greatest contributions were to the written work, before we started mixing in the cartoons. Bryan was the real mastermind behind the comics. Those were good times, man. I miss the recklessness and fury. Eventually, I wasn’t able to keep up with my blogly duties and had to step away from the production when I started a family and a new business. I just needed to start focusing on providing for a family and had to start making money. I do still occasionally chat with Bryan but it’s very infrequent. No bad blood or anything like that, we both just kind of grew apart. Honestly, I saw he’d taken all the work offline a few years back and never asked him about it. I know some of it is still accessible via the wayback machine, but it’s not easy to navigate.

Thanks again for reading and supporting our work, J. It really does mean a lot and I appreciate knowing you enjoyed reading our stuff. We put a lot of ourselves into it

Cheers!

Brandon

Out here, within this perimeter of existence, I don’t know why I asked. What type of response did I expect? This was closure, alright. But it was also the official end of hope. And it was a lesson on temporality. And it was a lesson on seizing the moment, and cherishing the small things that make us happy. And it was a lesson on the reprioritizing that takes place when we stop being kids and gradually turn into responsible, well-adjusted, dogmatic, conservative, complacent, functional adults. And, in my opinion, this is exactly what the comics were about. They were about growing up, moving on, and letting go. It’s not that the memories won’t bring a smile to our face here and there. But these moments sure are gone to never ever ever ever come back.

I decided to cut myself some emotional slack and only click on the link once in a while. It’s not elegant to obsess over something like this. But then, one day, I noticed something different.

Under Construction! All new comics coming in… August!

Something must have happened. Maybe they got together again and started working on something awesome? Maybe Brandon felt the need to write something and use the old domain to post it? Maybe someone else took over? Maybe, maybe, maybe… The possibilities assaulted my mind with heavy artillery. There was something to look forward to, and it had a very clear deadline: August, goddamit! That’s just a few months away! This is going to be… epic? Epic!

.
.
.

I’m posting this in late September. Only now today did I allow myself to look. I even set a reminder in the calendar, just in case. It’s one of those “No, let me wait until way after the posting day to prevent unnecessary heartbreak”. Because, what if they/him were/was delayed a bit? “Give it some extra time” – I told myself. Patience gets its reward, eventually.

Today, I clicked. I clicked hard, my thumb hurt a bit. The WiFi connection *obviously* fucking stalled. Come on! It’s been over 30 seconds! How long does it take for this signal to go to space and back?! Jesus!!!

Okay, we are in. And the image is displaying, slowly. Okay, here it is. Finally, I was able to see it in all its glory.

Still under construction, but we were already deep in September…

But it was okay, and it is okay. And I’ll be okay.

May 2024 Update. Hope was useless, as it usually is. It wasn’t okay, and it was never going to be.

Cheers and thank you, Brandon.

Cheers to you too, Bryan. And thank you, wherever you are.

Beer: Mashbuild Rye Whiskey, Barbados Rum Finish

Music: Charlie Crockett – The Man From Waco