STORY
Meeting Powell's Employee at Karaoke
Meeting Powell's Employee at Karaoke
- A fun local anecdote highlighting Portland's small-world tech connections.
The Encounter
- On February 15, 2025, during a Karaoke night in Portland, a woman approached me after I sang and asked if I was Randal Schwartz.
- It turned out she had worked at the Powell's Books technical store in downtown Portland during the dot-com boom.
- She recalled watching the Camel book, Llama book, and Alpaca book climb up and down the "Top 20 Books" shelves for years.
- Her friend at the table had also worked there, specifically during the evening when Wil Wheaton did a reading for his book Dancing Barefoot (which later featured in Just a Geek—a book in which I am mentioned).
These facts are as Randal recalls them, but much time has passed for most of this. If you find a factual error, please email realmerlyn@gmail.com.