Ephemera

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Submet’s 2017 Goats

January 3, 2017 / Brandon Schatz

I keep reading everyone’s “year goals” as “year goats” and I generally end up being disappointed because: no goats.

— Brandon Schatz (@soupytoasterson) January 1, 2017

This year’s life goat.

This year’s business goat.

This year’s squad goat.

This year’s relationship goats.

Brandon Schatz // Twitter // Facebook
Danica LeBlanc // Twitter

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Sub-Pop // In A Mirror, Darkly

January 2, 2017 / Brandon Schatz

This year, more to prove to myself that I can do it rather than saying anything of great importance, I’m taking the opportunity to write about our experiences in pop culture. The hope is to get a little better and pull more ideas out of my head – all the while hopefully helping those around us discuss or discover great corners of pop culture along the way.

IN A MIRROR, DARKLY

To wrap 2016 on a very appropriate note, Danica and I took the opportunity to finally watch some episodes of Black Mirror, which so many people had told us to watch. It was often described to me as The Twilight Zone by way of modern technology which… I’ll admit was a reference that was pretty much lost on me. I have yet to see an episode of The Twilight Zone beyond the opening credits which is something I might remedy this year (any suggestions as to episodes to watch or forms of access?).

Anyway, specific pop culture touch points aside, Black Mirror is a show that has a whole lot to say with our reliance on public opinion and social media. It’s also a show that I think will continue to become more and more relevant (if not outright prescient) as the years go by. The show uses the anthology format well to explore different end-points to our fascination with the opinions of a large cloud, so to speak, some edging towards an hour’s worth of fast moving thrill, while others act like putting a frog in water that you’re slowly moving to a boil. Each ask you to confront your attachments to various ideas. It’s a well done show, and while we’ve only made our way through to the first episode of the third season (we’ve been told San Junipero is a particularly strong episode that’s on our horizon), I doubt we’ll be let down by anything to come.

MEANWHILE…

If you’ve completed Black Mirror, or are the kind of person who doesn’t feel comfortable exploring the ideas of The Terrifying Future through the medium of television, I’d like to suggest the novel Normal by Warren Ellis.

Ellis has always been fascinated by The Future, so much so that the bulk of his production focuses squarely on the constant, distant humming of the world that is to come. Normal is no acceptation. The story follows a Futurist who has been deposited at a remote site where broken Futurists go to hopefully cure themselves after gazing into the abyss for too long. Ellis essentially posits the idea that we’re already doomed due to our actions, and the people who this affects the most are those who can already see or are paid to discover the curve of what’s to come. He combines this with a locked room mystery that… well that pays off almost exactly as it should.

Both of these suggestions won’t exactly make you feel good, but they sure will make you feel something. I know they’ve (briefly) caused me to stop mindlessly scrolling through my various feeds as often, with an eye towards producing more content, helpful or otherwise.

Here’s the the terrifying squall of what’s to come.

Happy New Year.

Brandon Schatz // Twitter // Facebook

2017

January 1, 2017 / Brandon Schatz

Because it can’t be any worse.

Right?

…

RIGHT???!?

6 Ways My 2016 Didn’t Suck

December 16, 2016 / Danica LeBlanc

Let’s be honest. This year has been so much more than a garbage fire. At times, it’s felt like all the post-apocalyptic YA’s novels we’ve been reading have come true, except with no choice between two equally drab men. During 2016, my depression hit a new low, I discovered new and awful triggers to my anxiety, and my relationship with Brandon had a wedge driven into it. So I thought, why don’t I try and focus on the positives? Good stuff HAD to have happened this year. How the hell did I get through it if it didn’t?

I left an emotionally abusive relationship where I was treated as less than a person, repeatedly reminded my hard work was worth nothing, lied to and gaslit afterward, and finally screamed at when I attempted to change the situation to something positive and quasi-functional.
I started a part-time temp job with an agency in July, and the company took me on as a permanent part-time employee in November. It’s a small company, and the people are nice. They understand that the majority of my time is focused on Variant Edition, and I work hard and am present the two days of the week I am in the office.
I paid off my student loans back in July. I had been paying them off for nearly 8 years, and they had become an expense I felt was going to be a part of my life forever. Even though I was making very little money the last couple years, it felt really good to take control of one thing in my life and I guess detach myself from at least one financial stress.
I’ve begun to take the occasional day off from the store. It’s a steep learning curve, but I’m trying to ease back into taking some time for myself.
I see friends more often. Money still holds me back from a lot of hangouts, but a lot of people understand I’m working with a really tight budget right now.
I saw the goddess Beyoncé in concert! Even though the weather was horrid, it was still quite the experience. I’ll remember it fondly forever.

When the world feels like it’s falling apart, there’s not always an incentive to pull up my bootstraps and keep going. I hope 2017 is better for me. I say that every year, but I think we all do that. I may not have positivity, but I will try to have hope. Oddly, those two things are quite different for me.

In 2017, I will find some hope.

Squad Goals and Dumpster Fires

December 13, 2016 / Brandon Schatz

The garbage year that was 2016 is about to wrap up, and so naturally, we’re all starting to take stock of what’s been and what might be.

I have the tendency to reset my anxiety at milestones. Lately, this has happened on a monthly cycle, where I feel great about where I am and what the store did on the last day of a month, and then find myself super anxious a day later when I stare at a calendar that is empty and begging for goals and thresholds to be met. While rationally I know that I have the means to work through the month and get at least close to where we need to be, there’s a small voice in the back of my head that keeps whispering “this is it. This is the month it all falls apart.”

The worst part is the implication that I will be forced into a form of pacifism as everything slowly falls apart. I can understand where my brain gets it from: ever since Danica and I started Variant Edition, we have been met with outside forces beyond our control that have seemingly conspired to keep the whole enterprise down. A phone company that can’t figure out how to provide simple internet and phone access. A bank contact who will disappear for long stretches at a time who is terminally slow at processing your information. A business partner who… well… maybe let’s not get bogged down on that last point. That could end up being a whole big post unto itself. Suffice to say, when my brain looks at a fresh month, it attempts to convince my body that it should prepare itself to feel like garbage. Coming up to the end of the year, I’m a little afraid of how that anxiety will translate into the start of 2017.

For those of you who have been visiting the blog this past year, you know that our 2016 didn’t get off to a great start, which was a trend that continued through the year. At about the midpoint, we took some drastic measures to change this circumstance, and while things still aren’t great, we’re finally in a bit of emotional and financial control over our situation. Other than some of the last outstanding bits with our former business partner (a running theme of 2016: waiting for folks to actually accomplish their end of business transactions as promised), we are in control of what we have and what is spent, both physically and emotionally. It’s all on us. While at first glance, that might seem a bit daunting, after this year, it feels great to have that kind of control over our lives – even if it does mean it’s all resting on our shoulders.

So. To combat what will surely be an anxious January 1^st, I’m starting to get my house in order early. It started with Danica suggesting we build a game plan for ourselves both in terms of business goals and personal goals moving forward. It’s extended to the point where we’re starting them now and ramping up to 2017 instead of resting on our laurels, waiting for the clock to tick down before attempting to shift.

I want to say that 2017 will be our year. 2015 was supposed to be our year, and it almost was until the end of the year where it became readily apparent that our now-former business partner had very different goals than we did. That infected the entirety of our 2016, and we are finally clawing our way out of that.

So… 2017. One way or another, this year will determine the direction our entire lives go from here. It will very much be a “sink or swim” thing, one that we are now at least ready for. It… it probably won’t feel great, as we continue to find our footing while running at a full sprint, but… at the very least, it will be lived with purpose. It will be a reflection of who we want to be, and what we are fighting for. 2017 might not be our year in a “we made it” sense, but it will definitely be our year in terms of a statement of purpose.

Thank you for coming along with us on the journey so far, and thank you all for the support that you’ve shown Danica and myself over the past few months and years. Without you, I’m not sure where we’d be, and… hopefully you’ll stick with us through this new year, and see where we all end up. We love you all, and we’ll talk with you soon.

NoNaNo 2016

November 1, 2016 / Brandon Schatz

So it’s November, and like every year, I really, really want to do the whole NaNoWriMo thing, but I know it would be a huge disaster. Case in point: it has taken me over an hour to write this many words.

My brain is actual garbage right now.

Anyway.

While every single synapse in my brain screams for the sweet release of death in the face of what my fingers are typing right now, I am making this challenge for myself official once more: while I won’t be writing 50,000 words of fiction, I will be trying to write 50,000 words this month in the form of posts here, at Comics Beat, and at Variant Edition.

I’ve tried to do this before. I have failed, for obvious reasons.

We will see how long I last through this year’s challenge before retreating back into the world of picking around on social media.

Probably tomorrow.

Oh god, what have I done.

Eve

October 21, 2016 / Brandon Schatz

As I’m writing this, it’s the night before the shop launches our used book section, and I’m relaxed for the first time in ages. This is strange.

At the end of 2014, I quit my job as a comic shop manager. The plan was to go freelance. That quickly changed as my heart missed the particular patter of the weekly grind. And also, I’m not good at writing or hustling. So.

2015 began with a new mission statement: start a business. Build a comic shop. Together with my wife, we came up with a plan. It was a really great plan, so I immediately got scared and compromised. When we launched that version of the shop in May of that year after months of long, restless days. The first day was a good day. There were quite a few after that too… but it wasn’t what I wanted. It wasn’t what we’d pictured. In the fall of that year, things started to strain. In the beginning of 2016, things began to break. As voices raised, I finally realized what Danica had known all along, had been pushing for since day one when I got scared: this wasn’t what we wanted. This wasn’t where we wanted to be.

Flash forward to today. In the late spring, it was decided to split Variant Edition as it was, with Danica and I taking the comics elsewhere in the city. It came at a cost, and the dust is still settling on that front. So far, it’s been very amicable, with everyone taking responsibility for their resources offered, earned and used – costs, profits and all. Danica and I took our depleted energy and resources with us and began a fresh start. We worked hard for months as obstacles were thrown in our way, and… somehow… we’re now here. A few months in, at the precipice of something new. It looks a lot like our original vision… and it feels amazing.

For the first time in a long time, I actually feel like there is solid ground under my feet. For the first time in a long time, Danica and I are in control of where we’re going, and how fast we’re going there. What happens next is on us, and while others might affect our velocity, they can’t affect our direction. This is key.

Tonight, I’m feeling relaxed for the first time in a long time. It feels strange, but it also feels right. The compromising is at an end. Our path is clear and our hearts are full.

Now. To see if I can sleep.

Doctor Whooch // Episode A Hundred // Sober Reflection

October 17, 2016 / Brandon Schatz

In which we celebrate good times. C’mon.

On what is almost definitely Doctor Whooch’s first and only A Hundredth episode, we have a couple of guests that have never been on the show before… sober Brandon and Danica! No lies, this one is weird. But if you ever wondered how much of the show comes about because we’re drunk, and how much of the show is just us, well… you’re going to get your answer.

Thank you to everyone who listens to the show – you mean a lot to us, and we’re pretty fond of you. Here’s to many more over the next few years.

Outro music is “Hang on to The Night” by Tegan and Sara

Always Forward

October 4, 2016 / Brandon Schatz

Life usually shifts in small, unnoticed ways.

This isn’t a new idea. There are reams of words written on slow shifts – how we often accept a norm without thought or make small compromises on our way towards our goals, and suddenly… things are different then they used to be. Life, is usually passive and requires our quiet consent. Sometimes, it doesn’t pay to be quiet.

On Sunday, I started the day with a panic attack. This tends to happen on occasions where I confront the idea of death. As it turns out, I’m not a fan of inevitabilities that are beyond my control and the idea of a stop, sudden or otherwise, fills my heart with dread and my lungs with poison. Danica calmed me down, as she always does, and I walked through the day with a brain filled with a dangerous electricity.

During these post-panic phases, I usually find myself reenergized. As ludicrous as this might sound, I repeat a mantra I discovered from comics – specifically an issue of Fantastic Four that was written by Matt Fraction a few years back. In the issue, Reed is confronting his own mortality in an overly bombastic super heroic way, and has left a message for his children. He speaks about not believing in an afterlife or a higher power, and notes that while some people find that possibility to be bleak, he derives power from it. He discards the idea that nothing matters if this is all there is. In fact, he states that if this is all there is, then everything we do now matters. How could it not? If this is it… if this is all we have… then it is only our actions now that have consequence.

I carry that idea with me. It is what fuelled me to start up a comic store with my wife, and it has been the fire behind the way we run our business, and the decisions that we have made for it. People often ask why we choose to be so outspoken about representation in pop culture as a business entity, when we could merely sell the product with greater ease by keeping our mouths shut. The reason? Our actions matter. Our inactions matter. It all matters.

In the past few months, there have been a lot of changes in my life – the most public of which was the moving of Variant Edition’s from Oliver, to the west end. This was a decision born from the idea that everything we do, matters. When it became obvious that the store’s original form wasn’t going to work with three different parties involved with very different ideas, we split, instead of letting things linger. Time, after all, is a limited quantity, and why waste what we have when we could all be sharper version of who we wanted to be. So, Danica and I moved Variant Edition’s out west, and took our ideas of what we’d like a comic store to be with us. It wasn’t the easiest path we could take… but it was, and is, the right one.

We are not content to let life slip by unnoticed. We want to do more, to be more, but… we also know our limitations. We’re just two people, with limited resources and circumstances. We can’t, won’t and shouldn’t speak for all – and we can’t, won’t and shouldn’t be everything to everyone.

What we can be, is the best version of ourselves, and of our store. We can put forward our ideas, and hope they are met with empathy and kindness. We can be a foundation… or at the very least, help build it, with your help.

The past couple of months have been hard… and while we would never change our decisions, we know that we would be in a far worse state if it weren’t for the community of people who have gathered around us. While our own insecurities cause us to scratch our heads in disbelief when others attempt to tell us about the good we do, we have appreciated all of the kind words, and all of the support that’s been provided to us over the past few months. Because of this… because of you, the store landed on its feet. We landed on our feet. We have the ability to move forward, and that’s saying something.

We are here, because of you. The people who see something in us that we can’t see ourselves. The people who believe in our vision. The people who arrived while, for a period of time, we let life shift around us and compromise where we wanted to go, and who we wanted to be.

Thank you for making us stronger, and for helping us get back to where we need to go.

We won’t let you down.

Onwards.

Monday Monday

August 22, 2016 / Brandon Schatz

That is what today is. So nice, we named it twice.

Either that, or we are really tired.

Here are a bunch of random updates. Enjoy?

++ VARIANT EDITION: CHAPTER TWO

As you all probably know by now, Variant Edition is moving in a few short days.

As you’re reading this, Danica and I are probably painting the new space. I say probably, because it might be super late at night when you get around to this, so we might be sleeping, or it might be midday, in which case, one of us is probably at the old location, selling comics on the cheap. Who knows!

Anyway.

As we get closer and closer to the relaunch date (August 31st!) we can feel the excitement rebuilding inside of ourselves. The past year has been difficult for several reasons, which caused us to realize that we need to take more of a direct approach to our life, grabbing as much control as random happenstance will allow and steering where we want to go. Whether or not we make it? Well, that’s pretty much up to us now, and us alone. It’s both terrifying and exciting, but no matter what, it just feels better. So there’s that.

++ EVENTS

We took the summer off from planning events at the store, partially because we knew the store move was coming up (although we didn’t know exactly when) and partially because it’s foolish to try and plan a summer event when there’s already so much happening in Edmonton over the summer. But now that August is coming to an end, it’s time to get right back into things, and we’re starting with one of our signature events: a Community Clothing Swap.

The rules, as always, are simple: drop stuff off and/or pick stuff up. It’s all free, and everything left over at the end gets donated to a charity. The only changes this time are the location (now at our new store – 10132, 151 Street) and the length of time the event will run (all opening hours on Sat Sept 10th and Sun Sept 11th).

We’re pleased to use this event as an introduction to our new community, and we’ll be continuing to announce more events in the days and weeks to come. Our goal, as always, is to continue the hard work we started – to build a place that doesn’t clandestinely build a secret community or clubhouse, but one that actively invites all inside to experience the joy of pop culture without barriers.

++ HIP

I don’t think I’d be able to post this batch of random updates without at least acknowledging The Tragically Hip concert that CBC aired this weekend. I want to start off by saying that… I’ve never really connected with The Hip before. I could recognize their ubiquitous presence in my life, but for whatever reason, be it the specific batch of chemicals that make up my brain or whatever, their importance never quite sunk into my heart and mind.

And then, there was this concert.

Admittedly, Danica and I were at the new location, doing some light space redecoration in advance of next week’s big opening. We didn’t have the internet, so we didn’t get a chance to stream the show at first, but we brought a radio, and listened to the event on CBC Radio One here in Edmonton. As we started to build something new, we had a soundtrack of pure Canadiana. Songs that we grew up listening to, that had somewhat inadvertently become a part of our life. As we built, those songs became a part of a new foundation. It felt… it felt right.

We managed to make it home before the concert ended, and treated ourselves to the live stream. CBC did a exemplary job of presenting this concert to the country, taking no opportunity to advertise in any way, shape or form. Olympic coverage on their main channels were halted in full for this presentation. Everything about this presentation said that this wasn’t about The CBC – it was about The Hip, and providing this moment in time to Canada.

Seeing the love, and hearing the words that had lingered in the background of my life float through the air, something inside me finally switched. “Yes,” it said, “This. Always this.” Of course, it took an ending to discover a connection, but everyone comes to things in their own way – and none of it is bad. It’s something that Danica and I try to build into the shop – we don’t judge where you’re going or where you’re coming from, and as long as you’re in our space, and as long as you’re not, say, disparaging others for their own journeys, you are welcome. You are home.

Others will be able to say what this moment in time meant a whole lot better than we ever will, but… I felt that it was important to share what it mean to us, regardless.

A great way to start a new chapter… even as one is drawing to a close.

++ TO BE CONTINUED…

Obviously, there’s a lot to be done. New store prep continues, as does wrapping things up at the old shop. Doctor Whooch’s 100th Episode is fast approaching, and we’re still attempting to get our voices out there in general, letting people know that we still exist, despite all the work that needs to be done.

More updates in the coming days, but for now, a very (all too quick) thank you to all of you who have helped us out during this crazy time. We can not express how much your support means to us, and how much it has carried us through these days. We love you all.

Talk with you soon.

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Submet Industries

A complicated pop culture construct made from podcasts, words and gnomes, based in Edmonton, AB.