So anyway … where were we again?

Oh, right. I was saying goodbye.

I was all, “The last nine years have been great, I’ll really miss you, Brandy, you’re a fine girl, it’s not you, it’s me … You see, I’ve always wanted to work in advertising.

Exit, stage left.”

(I hope you read that last bit like Snagglepuss. Did you? Good.)

And now …

Well, now I’m back.

And I’m a little embarrassed about it, honestly. If I’d known that I was only going to leave the newspaper for four years, I wouldn’t have been so melodramatic with my goodbyes. (Nor so generous with my goodbye kisses.)

The thing is, I didn’t really expect to come back.

Newspaper columns aren’t something you can put on hold, you know? You can’t set your purse on the front page of the Midlands section and say, “I’ll be right back.”

That’s part of what made leaving The World-Herald so difficult — knowing that I was giving up a job I really loved, and probably giving it up for good.

If I loved it so much, why did I leave? That’s the obvious question, right?

Well, at the time, I had a hard time explaining it, even to myself.

I guess I felt like I’d been standing in the same place for too long.

Like I’d been treading water and collecting dust. Like I was something pigeons could land on.

And I had an incredible opportunity to try something new. I remember feeling like Tarzan. (Stay with me here.) When you come to the end of one vine and another one swings toward you — you jump.

So I went to work in advertising. Which I loved, by the way. I’m going to write more about that on Wednesday. (That’s right, Wednesday. I am back in black, baby. And white.)

I left. But my brain didn’t go all the way with me.

I’ve been writing columns in my head for the last four years.

I’ve been writing columns in my head since I was 16 years old.

That’s when I wrote my first column for the Omaha North High Star. (I think it was about public displays of affection. I was firmly con.)

If there had been such a thing as blogging then, I would have been all over it. It isn’t just the writing that I’m hooked on, it’s the connecting. The knowledge that someone, somewhere out there, is nodding her head — or vehemently shaking it.

There’s something about this job that feels absolutely right to me. In a weird way, this is the place where I best recognize my own voice.

So, anyway …

I’m back.

And I feel so lucky to be back — and really, super, stupidly lucky to be in the Living section.

Anyone who knows me or who’s read my columns in the past knows that I’m a pop culture junkie.

I don’t just know who’s directing the next “X-Men” movie — I actually care. I want to know who gets voted off the island. And who America’s favorite dancer is. I would have liked Elena Kagan better if she could have answered, “Team Edward or Team Jacob?”

This stuff matters to me.

And, obviously, there was only so much of it that was appropriate in the Midlands section. People who turn to the Midlands section expect to find some news there.

But back here? I don’t want to use the term “no holds barred” — but I could. I could even write about “No Holds Barred,” the 1989 cinema gem starring Hulk Hogan.

This column will be a pretty broad affair. (But not just for broads, gentlemen. And not just for dames either.) I’ll be writing about TV, movies, music, books, comics, trends and technology…

I want to write about Omaha. About what life is like here. Sometimes about what my life is like here.

(We’ll get to all that later, too. Highlights: I have two kids now, boys, 3 and 6; and I have a book coming out in April, “Attachments.” It’s a romantic comedy and it takes place in a newsroom. Fiction, obviously.)

My column will appear in the Living section on Sundays and Wednesdays, and I’ll write other kinds of stories here, too. I’ll also have my own corner at omaha.com — I’m pretty excited about this — with all sorts of extra (hopefully) fun stuff that won’t fit in the paper.

If there are things you want me to write about — a show you like, a place you like, something that’s bugging you — tell me. There are about a million ways to get in touch with me now; I open my mail, I answer my phone, and I check Facebook constantly.

Okay, I think we’re mostly caught up here. If you’ve read this far, thanks for sticking with me.

I’ll try to keep making it worth your while.

Contact the writer:
444-1149, rainbow.rowell@owh.com