I Got "Life Block"

Lately I find myself sleeping every chance I get. I always tired. Or, maybe I am always bored.

Bored with my life, bored with my position in life, bored with being broke all the time, bored with the culture that surrounds me, bored with my body and the lack of progress there in, and perhaps just a general boredom in life.

This poses a question: when this happens to others, as I am sure it has, how do you get out of the funk? In a book I would find a suitcase that was thrown over my fence and upon opening it find millions in cash which would then be my ticket on a round the world trip filled with adventures and lots of carefree, random sex.

If it was a movie some exotic woman would run up to my car at the Costco parking lot and beg me to rescue her igniting an adventure that would begin thus changing me and lifting me out of the sludge that is this funk.

If it was a comic book something would somehow alter me and I would become a super-hero who would save people and yet also create a crisis of identity but would, none the less, end the fog that is this depression.

If it was a dream then I would be rich, famous, happy, and probably late for a chemistry test I am not prepared for and I arrive naked.

Sadly, there are no fictional- or spicy food induced- solutions to this dilemma.

And yet, by writing this and posting it I have done something that triggers the core of my being: I have accomplished something. Like so many I am accomplishment driven and if I can do something and produce something (mowing the lawn, 1000 crunches, cleaning the bathrooms) I am suddenly out of my funk.

Solution to this Life Block (a variation on writer's block): get up off your ass and do something.

And I just did.

More Later

Pop Culture Musings

Friday, May 4th, 2012

Star Wars day: May the 4th be with you.

This is also the day that Joss Whedon's blockbuster "The Avengers" debuts in movie theaters. It will be a huge money maker and I will see it this weekend.

As a rule I am not a big comic book fan nor am I a big fan of comic book movies (ever see "The Fantastic Four?"). But then you see the Spiderman movies, Iron Man, or the Superman and Batman movies and you see that this medium can successfully crossover from one visual format to another- given enough money and talent.

I have been trying to figure out why comic books have been around for so long and I finally got it (sorry for taking so long). It took me a long time to understand the appeal of science fiction: it is contemporary socio-political commentary set into the future. I conclude that comic books are modern mythology.

If you are bored by the Edith Hamilton tomes on Greek and Roman mythology you turn to Marvel and DC. What are the gods but a group of individuals with often singular gifts that separate them from mere mortals but when united they can do wondrous things. Fast forward to contemporary times and you have the X-Men.

So, I apologize to my vastly superior comic book geek friends for getting here so late.

And, I appreciate those who refuse to refer to comic books as "Graphic Novels." That's right up there with tube steak for hot dog and pre-owned for used. Be bold, people and call it what it is.