I lost the election. I may need to get a job, or something.

The election was Tuesday, November 3, and I lost somewhat resoundingly. Okay, I got only 7%, but at the same time, more than 36,000 people lived in New Albany this year and didn't run for mayor, so I'm serene.

Put up or shut up? Rest assured I won't be shutting up.

I knew all along it would be hard to break through the "same old same old." However, I'm satisfied that my goals were met, apart from the distraction winning. We competed in spite of having very little money, and I put together a platform that was coherent and detailed. The campaign had substance and gravitas. No one else touched the issues the way I did. It was a learning and a growing experience, even at the advanced age of 55.

In the aftermath, here's my political reality: ON THE AVENUES: Confusion, exile, ignobility and resistance.

The big question now: What's next in terms of my career in beer?

I'm not sure. My leave of absence from NABC to run for mayor has concluded, and during the political process, my partners and I decided that they'd be buying me out of the business. We've not concluded these negotiations, so that's the first step.

The truth of the matter is that after eight months away from the daily beer business grind, I'm refreshed, reinvented, encouraged and interested in pursuing future options. Just know that insofar as NABC is concerned, the die is cast.

From games of chance in which the outcome is determined by the throwing of dice or a single die. Popularized by its use by Julius Caesar when he crossed the Rubicon to begin a civil war in the Roman Republic, indicating the commission of an irreversible act, whence also cross the Rubicon.

I'm an owner of NABC until I'm not an owner. Let's hope this settlement comes sooner rather than later, but be aware that legalities can be extensive. Any involvement I have with NABC in the short term is likely to be casual. As far as I'm concerned, I'm a free agent as of now, and very excited about piecing together a few revenue streams.

Wish me luck, and your ideas are appreciated. Thanks to all my friends in the craft beer cosmos who've been so very supportive of my quixotic political stab in the dark. To know me well is to know it's something I had to do, and may do again.  

Until then ... back to blogging.

More yawns as "New Albanian beer co-founder to depart."

"But Roger -- you, using religion as an analogy?"

It's been a strange past couple of days, so why not? I may be stepping away, but until all the documents are signed (which might take months), I'm not going anywhere, and so it's a bit weird to be eulogized before I'm dead.

Though flattering, too.

An ex-brewery owner? A future mayor? 30 years later, there's another fork in the road, and I'm pumped.

If I'm not elected mayor of New Albany, then I'll need to get a job doing something. Free-lance punditry doesn't pay well, although it suits my temperament. We'll have to wait and see.

New Albanian beer co-founder to depart, by Bailey Loosemore (Courier-Journal)

"Good beer's a religion. The business part just gets in the way."

The statement is a shot of criticism at the current state of the craft beer industry by longtime supporter and New Albany brewery co-owner Roger Baylor, who said it can seem nowadays to be more about looks than taste.

It's also Baylor's parting words as he permanently steps away from the New Albanian Brewing Company.

This week, Baylor announced he is in negotiations to sell his portion of the company to his New Albanian partners — ex-wife Amy Baylor and her sister, Katie Lewison — who started operating the business together at the former Rich O's Public House in 1992 ...

An ex-brewery owner? A future mayor? 30 years later, there's another fork in the road, and I'm pumped.

Thirty years ago, I closed my eyes wide shut and jumped -- not so sure where or even if I'd land, but firm in the realization that I needed to do something to change my life.

The PC: Euro ’85, Part 15 … The traveler at 55, and a strange interlude.

I packed a gym bag, converted my life's savings into traveler's checks, bought a plane ticket and a rail pass, and went to Europe for three months.

It doesn't sound like much, and in the cosmic scheme of things, it wasn't. Millions of human beings have done the same, in different ways in different times. I'm just a speck, but it's the only speck I have, and I needed to relaunch the whole process of figuring out exactly who I was, because back then, the mechanism had stalled.

I was fortunate, and the plan worked. Europe made me what I am today, or more accurately, my stubborn determination that Europe would make me what I became actually bore fruit. It has been one hell of a ride, with only a handful of mostly negligible regrets.

Three decades later, it's time for another jump, and another relaunch. It's been time for quite a while. The public end of this process began yesterday morning with the publication of an article by Kevin Gibson at Insider Louisville: After a quarter century, Roger Baylor will move on from New Albanian Brewing Company. 

As usual, Kevin got it right.

... Roger Baylor, well known for his long career in beer and brewing, is now running for mayor of New Albany. If he wins, that will be his new focus. If not, well, he’ll look for another path to follow. Either way, his position as the public face of New Albanian has come to an end. He already had announced he would step away if he won the election — instead, he’s moving on ahead of the decision. It was simply time, he says.

Regarding his growing involvement in local politics over the last few years, Baylor tells Insider, “It seems to be what I’ve been interested in for a while now and seems to be what I spend a lot of time on. That might actually tell me something about where my head is.”

And while he still enjoys beer and brewing, it’s become more of a hobby-level interest, in part because of the popularity of what is now termed “craft beer.”

This is why folks should always spend months, and perhaps even years, reading between the lines to decipher cryptic hints. The private side of this evolving decision has been cogitating for a very long period. True, the devil's always in the details, timetables are inexact, and numerous stories might yet be written about how we got here, but there are three main bullet points that matter to me right now:

I want to be mayor of  New Albany, because this city desperately needs challenging from someone like me, and it's our time.

If not mayor, then I'm looking forward to a "solo" career as yet uncharted; NABC has been and will continue to be, so don't worry.

I am quite serene about these and other developments.

Thanks to everyone expressing support yesterday, today and in the weeks to come. If not for that first leap back in 1985, I'd have gotten to know precious few of you, and be all the poorer for the omission.

The following was published last week at Potable Curmudgeon. I may even have intended it as prelude. The 1985 travel series will continue in fits and starts, as I have the opportunity to write.

Stay tuned, because I didn't say anything about not writing.