Thanks, Nov 23 (for Nov 22)

Today, I am thankful for doctors and readily-available medical care.

A large dog jumped on my leg, and I had been having increasing troubles with it, so much so that I was using a crutch to get around. Well, after x-rays and examination, the doctor and his student doctor assistant shadowing him for a month did not find anything specific. But through that examination, I'm back on my diabetes and blood pressure medicine that I'd been off since February. Also, through that examination, they flexed my leg and foot enough that it broke through whatever was causing the discomfort so that I can flex my leg and walk normally now.

Thanks, Nov 21

Today, I had a hard time picking something specific to be thankful for. Perhaps I've been too general the past few days and covered most everything. Which tells me, regardless of how trite or cliché it might be, if I'm thankful for it, I will list it.

Today, I am thankful for air conditioning. Living in Houston (or the South), it seems a necessity. And with my sinuses, I run my A/C longer than most people and must keep the temp lower. Being overweight probably has something to do with wanting lower temperatures, at least to sleep comfortably.

Here's a link to the Wikipedia page about air conditioning; read under your own sweat.

Thanks, Nov 20 (for Nov 20)

kind of funny: I actually looked at the stats for this blog just to see what I could see. I don't post anything for months and get 5 followers (which I find funny). Then I start posting, and I lose 2 followers. I'm glad I don't do this for the followers or have an ego about those kinds of things. Heh.

Today, I am thankful for the little things in life that we get so busy and presume are always there, like food, a breath, shelter, a car/truck, plumbing, appliances, etc. We are so blessed here in the United States, so much so that we tend to think we are entitled to these things. There is no guarantee of any of this.

Edit 11/21/2010: This is my 300th post!

Thanks, Nov 20 (for Nov 19)

Today, I am thank for a couple of things, like Benadryl to combat my severe sinus attack, and rolling chairs (because my leg is hurting - Doctor on Monday).

Thanks, Nov 18 (for Nov 18)

Today, I am thankful for my friends. To laugh, to cry, to share, to experience life together, my friends are my family in lieu of immediate family nearby.

Thanks, Nov 18 (for Nov 17)

This is beginning to be a trend, posting every other day... Not intentional, and as I was driving home last night, I was thinking of what I wanted to put in this post, but then I was tired and blinked, and it was out of mind.

It being Wednesday, the day comic books are delivered every week except when there is a holiday at the beginning of the week or UPS messes up the delivery, it dawned on me how much I love my comic books. If you think comic books are just for kids, you clearly haven't seen any lately. Sequential Art is a really good term to describe what's out in large part right now. I get hours of viewing pleasure (more because I read too much) with my comics, and I wouldn't trade 'em for much of anything.

But what I'm thankful for are the creators of the comic books using their God-given talents to tell stories that thrill, entertain, and make one think (sometimes). Writers, pencillers, inkers (or tracers, if you're familiar with Chasing Amy. heh), colorists, letterers, and the indirectly-involved people such as editors, publishers, printers, delivery people, comic shop employees, etc. It might be a simple comic book, but there's a lot going on to get that simple comic book.

Thanks, Nov 16 (for Nov 16)

Today, I am thankful for my vehicle. I drive a Trailblazer, and it is tons different from my Regal I used to have. The only luxury on the Trailblazer is keyless entry and electric driver's seat. No moon roof, no cassette player (but it does have a CD player), no steering-wheel mounted radio controls, no thermometer or compass, no leather seats.

But I love driving my Trailblazer; it's easy to drive, comfortable, and a lot of fun.

Thanks, Nov 16 (for Nov 15)

Sorry, Mondays are packed for me, and I didn't get to this. Excuses, excuses...

Today (and most every day), I am thankful for music, in particular thinking about Arcade Fire (because they were on SNL last Saturday and were great). Their music pierces my very soul and speaks to it at a level beyond consciousness. I know, that's all kinds of New Agey gobbledy-gook, but not really.

Music has a way of reaching in to things we're not necessarily aware of and bringing said things to the forefront. I understand a concept of "God is a DJ". Sometimes (especially with trance music), I get a vision of heaven, where we're all dancing together in celebration of the holiness of God and the life we have through His Son, Jesus.

Also, God hates country music. Fact.

Thanks, Nov 14, 2010

Nov 14, 2010: I am thankful that I have a job, and that our company is doing decently, decently enough that I got a pretty nice raise which will be retroactive to Oct 1 on my next paycheck at the beginning of December!

Untitled (almost completely)

I'm all alone. It's scary.

Yes, I know I have God/Jesus/Spirit, and that's not nothing. But a real live person? Nada. And I don't see that changing in the next 50 years or so.

If only I could figure out how to be the guy that won't automatically screw things up, because that part (screwing things up) I seem to have down pat.

Maybe I should start my Thanksgiving posts for the rest of the month of November. Sounds like a plan. One thing I'm thankful every day through November 30. That's a few days past Thanksgiving (get your T-Day tree up soon!), but I'm starting a little late, and I'm sure there's a few things for which I am thankful.

Remembrance

Next Monday would have been my dad's 69th birthday.

I wish I had some kind of artistic outlet so that people could see how devastating his death two years ago has been to me.

Instead, I put on a brave face and try to press on. But wow do I miss him tremendously.

so much

[hey, look, a new design. Blogger provided; I played.]

Wow, there's so much to do: work, movies, dinners with friends, good TV shows, bad TV shows, plans for the future, cleaning up the apartment, stories to write, new skills to attain, new things to learn about, books to read.

And I do almost none of it. I work, and I watch some movies and TV (both the good and the bad). Sometimes, I get together with friends, but not as much as I would like.

I miss (my local) church the way it used to be, and I believe that has as much to do with me as it does with the church. Floundering would be a good description.

I'm a media guy (of my own description), but I don't know what that entails. I'm 46, and I don't know what I want to be when I grow up. That's a partial lie: I do know what I would like, but I don't have the foggiest notion how to get there. This might be called a "Paralysis of Options". I have too many things I want to do, so I don't know where to start. Hence, I don't.

Recently, I was encouraged to make some goals. I know how to make goals, and I can help anybody with it, but like most things dealing with me, I have no inkling where to go. I need help, but I don't know exactly what kind, and I wouldn't know what to ask for.

I am tired of defining myself by everything I'm not and everything I can't do. Other than work, though, which I know I'm decent enough at, I don't know what positive things exist about me. My self-view is extremely binary: either I'm perfect, or it's worthless/pointless/irrelevant. How's that for a standard to try to live up to? I'm not sure how to turn that around.

The Wolfman

I went to see The Wolfman today. To be honest, I wasn't sure what to expect. I've seen the old Universal Studios Frankenstein and Dracula films, and it's possible I saw the Wolfman film, but I don't recall too much about it.

I'm familiar with werewolf legends in general: full moon raises the werewolf up; a silver bullet through the heart will kill them (or is that being shot anywhere with a silver bullet? and does it have to be a bullet, or can anything silver be used to do the deed? Imagine you had a stake make of silver and wood (like a candy cane). You could then hunt both werewolves and vampires with seeming impunity. And if you happened to come across some kind of hybrid vam-wolf or were-pire, you'd still be set because you could take care of both halves at once. [No, I don't stay up nights wondering about stuff like this. It just comes to me naturally.] [Also, not sure where the abs-ful werewolves come from, but those aren't real vampires, either. Underwear models do not make convincing vampires OR werewolves.]

Back to the movie.

This current The Wolfman is Universal Studios' attempt to resurrect the monster franchise. While there were some interesting things in the movie (Emily Blunt did a really good job as Gwen, I thought), if it were up to me, the movie itself is just not strong enough to warrant a franchise being established.

A movie being strong enough to spur a continuing story, though, has almost nothing to do with the story itself and everything to do with whether it made money or not. Only time will tell if Universal (and, more importantly, the accountants) declares The Wolfman a success and proceeds to another outing.

Aside: Hollywood accounting is a strange animal as far as accounting goes. For instance, Warner Bros. accounting declared that Batman (the first Tim Burton movie from 1989) made no profit. This was only mentioned in the lawsuit raised by someone due a percentage of the profits as stipulated in their contract. No profits, no payout, end of story. End aside.

Sorry, keep getting distracted away from the movie. And I guess that's my problem with it: I didn't find there to be much to get excited about during the movie. I saw a big plot twist from almost the beginning of the movie, so that wasn't a shock. The transformation of Benicio Del Toro into the werewolf was not that exciting.

Maybe this is a "hard problem", but I think the original transformation way back when was far more ahead of its time than this transformation is with all of the fantastic CGI tools available which are seemingly limited merely be one's imagination. One's imagination was not necessarily near any kind of breaking or even stretching point here.

See, it happened again: following another distraction away from talking about the movie. There's just not that much to say, really (and still I'm long winded). I don't regret seeing the movie. There were some intense moments, but I wanted more. I can't remember the director or the movie, but an actor on a talk show (or commentary) talked about a director only saying "better" after every take (meaning, "do it better") until the actor broke, stopped acting, and became the character, at which point the director was satisfied with the performance and wrapped for the day.

Closing 1: Universal, "better".

Closing 2: The Wolfman 2: Electric Boogaloo

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