Tuesday – 13 July 2021 This has been an interesting day.
I woke up this morning to the sound of the coffee maker making coffee. However, the thought process that accompanied hearing that went more like this:
Why is the coffee pot on so early… on a Saturday?!
I decided to let it go, rather than to get up and stop it and restart it later. We’d just have to deal with twice-baked coffee.
Reality settled in a few moments later, a little sadly. I got up and started the day.
Fast forward to noon: We’re having a Teams-based training session, that I had to support. #LifeInIT About thirty minutes before the meeting, I went to Crown Burger (local, family-owned chain) to pick up lunch. Since it was National French Fry Day, potato-y goodness was in the forefront of my mind. And a pastrami burger seemed like a good counterpart for it.
I got back to the office, joined the meeting, muted my mic, and made sure that my camera was off. And then began to eat.
In order to make things easier to organize on my computer’s desktop, I lifted my laptop lid to rearrange screens. Almost immediately, I received three (3) messages, all basically saying the same thing: I want french fries, too!
Nine Hells…
I’d neglected to check to see if opening my laptop screen would cause the camera to automatically activate. (It did.) And, thus roughly two-hundred people had the opportunity to watch me shoveling french fries into my mouth. (It wasn’t quite that gluttonous an event, but you get the gist.)
Once I realized what happened, I ran through a short and semi-panicked checklist to see if I’d done anything untoward after opening my laptop (I hadn’t) and shut down the camera. Mischief managed, I resumed eating. And quietly thanked God and the rest of the Heavenly Host that I hadn’t leaned in for a bite of my burger. My big thought – after realizing that I hadn’t done anything truly embarrassing – was: If people watching me stuff fries in my face was the worst thing that happens to me today, I’m fine with that. And, let’s be honest: All things considered, it was a fairly innocuous thing to have caught on camera. And it actually makes me laugh, when I think about how it must have looked to everyone.
Fast foward again to this evening… We’ve extended Team DiVa’s bedtime to 9:00 PM in the past couple of months, with a caveat: They can stay up until nine, but they have to be in their room and can read in bed. Typically, one of them will ask Sara to join them. Tonight, I got called up to the big leagues! Vanessa asked me if I’d read with her. I was delighted to do so. It also gave me the opportunity to finally start in on a book that I’ve had for months: Ta-Nehisi Coates’ The Water Dancer. I’m about twenty pages in, but I’m liking it.
Hopefully, Sunday Wednesday won’t be quite as eventful.
Sunday – 06 June 2021 Kids can delightful, laughter-inducing angels of joy.
They can also be emissaries from the deepest pits of Hell.
And sometimes they can be both, within a matter of minutes. Seriously. The change can be as fickle and swift as the direction from which the wind blows.
Something that people – usually those who’ve had a kid or two before you – neglect to tell you is about the vigor with which kids sometimes glom onto new things, like toys, games, TV shows, or music.
Our ladies are BIG FANS of the L.O.L Surprise Dolls line of toys, for example.
And, NO, I’m not giving them flak for that, given that I have an ever-growing collection of dollsaction figures “photography subjects.” I’m self-aware enough to realize how hypocritical that would be.
Likewise, they have become big supporters of our Nintendo Switch, especially when they ask me to play The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.
And when I say “ask me to play,” I actually mean “get me to play so that they can tell me what to do/where to go in the game.”
I won’t even go into how they’ve binged TV shows that catch their interest, but I will say that I had NO IDEA how many “magical girl,” Sailor Moon-esque series there were and I’m sure that we’ve only barely scratched the surface there.
And, music…? Same brand, different flavor.
I should have known that something was up when I started listening to Jungle’s Busy Earnin’ and they effectively put it on solid repeat on our smart speaker.
But I didn’t.
Perhaps I should have gotten a clue when they did the same thing with Just Loud’s Soul Train.
Nope.
Ghostbusters (I’m Not Afraid), by Fallout Boy? Still nope.
Sucker, by the Jonas Brothers? I might have started to get an inkling of an idea. Maybe.
What can I say, I’m a slow learner sometimes.
The Weeknd’s Blinding Lights?
Okay, by this time, I finally managed to find two brain cells to rub together and come up with “a clue.”
Their latest infatuation has been Dua Lipa. Mostly Levitating…
…but they have branched out a bit and will just tell the smart speaker to shuffle her songs. And it’s not just playing her songs, but randomly breaking out into song, like they’re on Fame or in Enchanted. Repeatedly.
At this point, I might as well just save some money and quit my Spotify and Amazon Music subscriptions because I have in-home, stereophonic singing. On repeat. Sometimes with the added benefit of dancing.
Monday – 26 April 2021 As I write this – 34,000 feet above… wherever I am… I am reflecting on the whirlwind of the past weekend.
A few weeks ago, I received my second COVID-19 vaccination. At the time that I had scheduled it, Sara suggested that I should go visit my mother. I couldn’t fault her logic and that’s what I did. Among other things.
I flew into BWI Thursday afternoon, arriving much later than planned, thanks to a mechanical issue with my outbound flight.
I had made plans with three of my Godparents’ kids – and my three oldest friends – to meet up at our aunt’s house as a surprise to her. It’s been over 15 years since the four of us have been in the same place at the same time. Unfortunately, my flight delay caused me to miss seeing one of them. But, the surprise for my aunt worked all the same, as she didn’t connect the dots as to why three of “her kids” just showed up so unexpectedly. (I later found out that she had attributed the arrival of two of them to having recently talked with their mother.) When I showed up, she was surprised. Again. She even asked if I knew that the others would be there. I smiled and simply told her, “I told them to be here.” It was great to see everyone.
Leaving there, I took “the back way” from her house to my father’s. I knocked on the door and my father answered. I told him that I thought I might have taken a wrong turn somewhere. He laughed at that and ushered me into the house. Surprise #2: CHECK!
Years ago, when my paternal grandmother was alive, I’d occasionally drive from North Carolina to West Virginia to visit her for the day. I’d often arrive unannouced, so that she wouldn’t go to a lot of trouble preparing lunch for me. (Surprising no one, she still wound up feeding me well whenever I did that.) Since I’d showed up unexpectedly in Baltimore, I figured that I could get away with a light something to eat. My father is most definitely my grandmother’s son. Within minutes, he’d prepared a meal of mashed potatoes, green beans, chicken, sweet potatoes, and rice. Again, I ate well.
The next morning I woke up – perhaps a bit more leisurely than I had originally intended – and watched the finale of “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.” I had some speculation as to how the series might/should end and had decided to prepare the day’s #CapesAndCoffee Instagram post to reflect that. I also posted it Thursday night, so that they were still firmly in the “fan speculation” camp, rather than the “Spoilers, Sweetie…” camp.
After getting ready, I stopped by my Godsister, Tammy’s, house and basically told her “Get in, Loser. We’re going to North Carolina for the weekend. She needed some time away, after dealing with the recent loss of her mother. She fought me for a while, but eventually decided to go, after her husband agreed that a change of pace might do her good.
The drive to NC was good. And slow. Construction traffic slow. Extra hour-and-a-half construction traffic slow. Fortunately, I had Tammy with me. We gabbed the whole way down.
We arrived at my mother’s just as they were getting ready for dinner. The look of surprise on her face as she saw the two of us at the dinner table was priceless and easily worth all the Secret Squirrel-like efforts it took to keep my trip a secret.
Saturday, I drove into Greensboro to meet my friend, Don, for lunch. While waiting, I stopped in to visit my old comic shop stomping grounds, Acme Comics. It was fun to be in familiar (though updated and different) surroundings. When Don walked in, the manager immediately recognized him and we all chatted for a bit.
Our original lunch choice had a longer wait than either of us wanted, so we went to Mac’s Speed Shop – a barbecue place. The food was good, but again, the company was better. Over lunch, I noted to Don that we actually met 31 years ago (plus or minus a couple of weeks) from this weekend. At Acme Comics. Trippy.
After we parted ways, I ran an errand for my sister and headed home. On the way, I called William, a friend with whom I also hadn’t seen/spoken with in a while. As we chatted, I remembered that he lived on the way back to Mom’s… if I changed my course a little. So I did. As I got nearer to the address that I remembered, I realized something: He’d moved in the past few years. Bugger. I didn’t remember “where” that was, although I knew that it was in the same rough area. I pulled off the road I was on, into a cul-de-sac, to get the new address. As I pulled further into the circle, I saw a truck. With the logo of the company William works for on the side. That’s right, serendipity and/or dumb luck put me at his front door.
I went in and saw William, his wife, and his youngest son… whom I hadn’t seen since he was roughly Team DiVa’s age. I also noted to William that we’d met 31 years ago, when he worked at Acme. William then called his daughter, my Goddaughter Britney (so named long before Ms. Spears became a household name) and turned the phone in my direction. She told me to hold on, she was coming over, as she only lived a few miles down the road. I hadn’t seen her in about the same number of years. She also introduced me to her husband and toddler. (I told William that he must be getting old.) It was yet another good reunion.
Back home to hang out with the family. I also installed a new shower head (the errand). We watched part of the memorial for DMX, which was something of a hot mess. And by “something,” I mean “totally.” We used Mortal Kombat as a palate cleanser. It was, as Don had called it, “big, dumb fun.”
Sunday afternoon saw Tammy and me back on the road, heading home. She admitted that she didn’t realize just how good that was for her and how much she needed it. She even told me that I won that round. I told her that I wasn’t trying to win, I was just trying to help.
The drive back was marred by the revelation that my old familiar stop in Richmond – Friendly’s Restaurant – was no longer there. (There are actually NO Friendly’s in Virginia these days, apparently. Mood: CRUSHED. I was able to ease the pain with a chocolate-dipped cone from the Dairy Queen one exit further up the road. Traffic then got a bit dodgy, not because of construction, but because of a couple of accidents. It wasn’t as stop-and-go as the construction traffic on the way to North Carolina, but it did go from freeway speed to 45 MPH more than “a few” times.
After dropping Tammy off, I called a cousin with whom I hadn’t spoken in far too long. He was at his sister’s house, not far from my father’s… so I stopped in to see them both.
Turns out that we haven’t seen each other in over 15 years! This was also made evident as I was introduced to two of my second cousins, both of whom had been born in that time.
Back home. More food.
This morning, I got ready, packed, and took my father – my stepmother wasn’t up for it – out to breakfast at Miss Shirley’s. I had a delicious omelet with lump crab meat. Crab. Not Krab. Straight out of the bay. Did I mention that it was delicious? Because, it was. I dropped Dad back at home, said “Goodbye” to the parents and headed back to the airport.
But, wait! There’s more!
My flight to Salt Lake City had a stopover in Detroit. I got to see Amy – former Utah resident and Evie’s breeder – for the first time in five years!
She brought a very tasty gyro and coffee(!) with her. We didn’t have a lot of time to spend, but it was great to see her.
Back to the airport and on to SLC. At this point, we’re about forty-five minutes from landing.
To say that this was a good weekend would be a horrible understatement. Seeing my mother was the main point of this trip. Sure, I’ve been able to see and talk with her online, but to BE there and talk with her was on an entirely different level. Add to that the fact that I was able to:
Surprise BOTH sets of parents…
AND surprise my aunt (not just me, but also with the others!)…
AND see so many other family members and friends…
AND be able to give my grieving Godsister a couple days’ respite and breathing room?
All of these things together were a great balm for the mind, body, and soul.
Saturday – 23 January 2021
I spent a bit of last evening chatting with my brother-in-law, John, and my nieces. We hadn’t chatted in many months, possibly not since before the pandemic hit.
It was fun to be able to see/hear of my Niece 1’s advances into geeky nerd-dom, which I fully support. During one part of our chat, she asked about the action figures visible on shelves on the wall behind me. There was a lot of “Wow…,” as I showed her those and explained to her that there were even more in the bookcase below the shelves. At one point, she noted that Black Widow was her favorite figure; I went to pull out two figures (classic comic and Endgame versions) and with a total pre-teen deadpan, she said, “Uncle Rob… don’t flex on me.” Which cracked me up.
Niece 2 perked up at this point, asking me if I had THIS figure and THAT figure. I showed her the ones she asked for. She was happy.
The Niece 3 was delighted just to show me her Baby Yoda and to inform me that it was “Upside-down Day,” as she rotated the iPad they were on so that she would appear upside-down. I also got to explain to her where Venom came from and how he was “related” to Spider-Man.
Niece 1 may have gotten a bit of flexing revenge as we were closing out our conversation and I was talking with John. She asked if I played “Breath of the Wild” and I told her that I didn’t have a Switch. She just walked away with a grin. I’ll give her that one. This time.
It was nice to have an opportunity to see and chat with them, as they are far away and schedule alignment doesn’t always work out.
Tuesday – 17 October 2020 Just so you know, the irony is not lost on me.
That moment when you realize that the thing you joked about and maybe even mocked a bit becomes something you own.
But, I’m getting ahead of myself…
Back in the 90s, my friend, Christine, was a pretty big fan of Saban’s Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. As any good friend would, I gave her a fair bit of good-natured grief about it, over the years. But, I also got it: MMPR was one of her warm, fuzzy, happy places, much like some comics were – and still are – for me.
So, you can imagine how stupidly and ironically funny it is to me that I would be able to take this picture. At home. Thirty-odd years later.
Yep, that’s right… I have added all five of the Quick-Change Color Kids to my tiny plastic friends.
It started with the Pink Ranger, as a figure to use with Gwenpool and Ghost-Spider for my Wednesday #CapesAndCoffee posts. (Because “On Wednesdays, we wear pink.” Duh.) Then, I wound up getting the Blue Ranger, because I have a horrible song-related pun in my head that’s eventually going to work its way out. Next up, the Yellow Ranger. She was fiendishly hard to find when released – and I also still had no interest in getting her when originally released – but word got out that a local clearance center wound up with a dozen or so, and I thought, “Why not,” and picked up two. That turned out to be a fortuitous move, as a friend who collects figures had a Yellow Ranger with a bad paint job. I offered up my extra Ranger… for which he traded me the Black Ranger.
Damn. Now I had four-fifths of the team, I couldn’t let that go. So I wound up ordering the Red Ranger last week.
Yeah, I know.
Fast forward to this past Saturday: I’m up early with Evie and, after a trip outside to let her use the loo and run around a bit, we were hanging out on the sofa. I was surfing channels and wound up hitting Shout Factory TV. And there it was: Super Sentai Zyuranger – the show from which Saban’s Mighty Morphin Power Rangers was… derived, if not born. (If you’re not familiar with the “how” and “why,” check out the MMPR episode of The Toys That Made Us.) And I watched about half of an episode. It was the introduction of the Green Ranger. In SSZ, the Green Ranger turns out to be the brother of the Red Ranger, as opposed to a relatively random kid chosen to foil the Rangers’ efforts.
So, here we are. I will also freely admit that I’m debating whether or not to add the Green Ranger to the Color Guard, at this point.
But, as I said above: The irony is not lost on me.
Saturday – 31 October 2020 To say that this Hallowe’en has been different from others in recent memory is… well… a gross understatement. But that didn’t stop us from making it a good day.
The day’s costumes…
Here are this year’s pumpkins — Diana turned hers into a fairy house
Searching for bones in barn owl pellets…
Sara set up a scavenger hunt for Team DiVa, which was a BIG hit.
We had a visit from a another, mysterious Grim Reaper
We had a dinner of Mummy Dogs, FrankenFries, and Spiced Apple Spider
There was bobbing for apples and trying to eat doughnuts suspended by a string…
And even an impromptu magic show!
We rounded out the night with our traditional viewing of “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (1949).”
Monday – 26 October 2020 I guess they’ve really been more “ellipses” than “circles,” but let’s not get too pedantic here. Regardless, as of 7:00 AM EDT this morning, I have completed fifty of them. “Them” being orbits of the sun.
The best part: It doesn’t feel like it’s been fifty years.
Playgrounds say “youthful,” right?!
In the last fifty years (that still sounds really weird…), I’ve been able to do a lot of amazing things. I look forward to discovering and doing a lot more.
I need to bring up kids, for a minute. (Don’t worry, this stays with the “circle theme.”) Becoming a parent has been a highly educational experience. And I don’t mean helping them with schoolwork while they are distance learning, either. I mean in terms of seeing things “for the first time,” again. (See? brought it back right there.) The most recent example of this came over the weekend:
I’ve had an old game, X-Men Legends, on my mind, since referencing it in a “Capes and Coffee” post a couple of weeks ago. So, I unearthed my Xbox – my Gen1 Xbox – Friday night. After a little searching, I found my copy of Legends… along with the 2001 Spider-Man game, X-Men: Next Dimension, and Marvel Ultimate Alliance.
I fired up X-Men: Next Dimension first, because… X-Men fighting game! That was a slog. Not just the play, but also the graphics – they were far from “high definition.” That didn’t stop me for playing for an hour or more before going to bed.
Saturday, I played a little bit of Legends.
And that’s when Vanessa came out to see what I was doing, eyes wide as if to ask “What is THIS videogame goodness that I have not seen or played before…?!” She asked if she could play and I let her. She was over the moon. While I had a nostalgic fondness for the game, she was discovering it for the first time. (I make a point of not typically telling the ladies “how” to play games, so they have to learn on their own and also have the experience of playing without me just walking them through games.) Vanessa did ask me to help her get past Mystique at one point; I obliged.
Sunday afternoon saw both ladies playing – handing off the controller at first and later playing co-op, after they had unlocked another character. Both of them discovering new things.
And having fun.
And I’ve had fun “replaying” the game, albeit vicariously.
These two young ladies keep me – and Sara – on our toes. And I don’t really think that we’d want it any other way.
Continuing the Sara and Team DiVa train of thought – and returning to the birthday mainline – they made sure that I had a good birthday. They let me sleep in (a bit) this morning. Evie came in and gave me her happy birthday wishes. Sara went to off to work, leaving me at home with Team DiVa and Evie. Later in the day, I went gallivanting around town; I found nothing that I couldn’t absolutely live without, however. Back at home, we had dinner from Macaroni Grill (“Hello, Chicken Marsala!”) and an ice cream cake. And, yes, there were presents:
A new sketchbook,
A gift certificate to my local comic shop,
The new Madden game,
The new Rogue and Pyro Marvel Legends set, and
a candy dispenser that Team DiVa made without our knowledge or assistance!
Yeah, the ladies worked together to make a candy dispenser, based on something they saw in a science video series. They said that it wasn’t quite the same as the one they saw, but this one works pretty well – candy goes in the top and comes out the bottom! We have some precocious kids! (I discovered, after taking this picture, that the candy dispenser was NOT for my birthday, but was a family present. Oh, well. I’m still very proud of them!)
Fun Fact – Something that didn’t dawn on me until last night: I was born on a Monday. And thus, the theme of circles I started this post with has another level of depth.
King T’Chaka: What is wrong, my son? T’Challa: I am not ready, Baba. King T’Chaka: Have you not prepared to be king your whole life? Have you not trained and studied, been by my side? T’Challa: That is not what I am talking about. I am not ready to be without you. King T’Chaka: A man who has not prepared his children for his own death has failed as a father. Have I ever failed you? T’Challa: Never.
John Kani and Chadwick Boseman as King T’Chaka and Prince T’Challa in Black Panther
Friday, after a four-year long battle with cancer, Chadwick Boseman departed this world. Too soon. Too young.
It turns out that it was we who were not ready.
I did not know him personally. I never had the opportunity to meet him. But, I appreciated the works of his that I saw. I also appreciated his love for his fan base and his dedication uphold what appears to have been a rather high personal standard.
The world is a little bit darker place with his death.
I wish his family and loved ones well in this time of loss.
I could sit here and find any number of things to say about his life, his work, and even his legacy. The historic figures he portrayed, as well as characters created specifically for stage and film. Instead, I will simply refer you to the following links for a few of things in which I was privileged enough to participate that tied into his role as Black Panther:
Unfortunately, recordings of the Black Panther-related FanX panels in which I participated do not appear to be available.
T’Challa: In my culture, death is not the end. It’s more of a stepping off point. You reach out with both hands and Bast and Sekhmet, they lead you into the green veld where… you can run forever.
Chadwick Boseman as Prince T’Challa – The Black Panther in Captain America: Civil War
Saturday – 06 June 2020 On the television show The West Wing, President Bartlet was famous for uttering the phrase “What’s next?” as he moved from challenge to challenge.
A bit of context that might not be readily apparent from this clip: When The President asks his staff “What’s next?” it’s most often not to just shut them up (or down, in some cases). He does it to move forward, as they have discussed the previous matter, come to a decision and course of action, and he is ready to stop wasting time on that topic and is ready to tackle the next one.
Over the past few day, it’s been amazing to watch as people have come together to speak out and protest against the inequality in our society.
But, and of course there has to be a “but…,” what’s next?
It’s easy to throw a black image block on your social media and say “We stand with you,” or to look at someone and tell them “I’m with you,” but what’s next?
Where do we go from here? How do we ensure that, having overcome inertia, momentum is not lost?
One way is to vote. Are you registered? Do you know where your polling places are? Do you know who your representatives are? Not sure? Find out and take action.
Talk with your friends of color. That’s right: TALK. Engage with them. Create new avenues of communication. Find out what they need. Find out what they hope for. Find out what it is they fear. Do what you can to help.
Support minority businesses. Black. Hispanic. Asian. Indigenous Cultures.
Support businesses who have not just given lip service to “We stand with you,” but who have pledged to make actual change within their corporate structures and who are willing to make financial commitments to organizations that help lift up those who have been downtrodden and ignored for years.
These are not the only options, they’re merely ideas, stepping stones, and jumping-off points.
Friday – 05 June 2020 I have been of ill humor most of the day, in fact. Despite this foul mood, I still want to find a way to bring a lesson and some light out of this darkness.
Most weekday mornings, I listen to a local radio station’s morning program. This morning was no exception. The station also has a “listen live” option, as well as studio cameras, so you can watch the on-air personalities. And the morning program even has its own chat room. I often listen to/watch the live stream and interact the people in the chat room. Over the course of the past two or three years, it’s become something like a mini-Cheers.
This morning, like so many others, started the stream and joined the chat. Things proceeded as they usually do: The radio hosts hosted, people in the chat room commented on whatever topic came up or struck off on their on tangents. I was working, so I was distracted from the chat, but tried to follow along with the radio program. Some indeterminate amount of time later, I came back to look at the chat…
…just in time to catch a semi-regular chatter make the following statement:
Bi-racial children are so cute. Like little oreos.
It took a few seconds for my brain to fully comprehend what my eyes had just seen, but when it did, it sent an urgent message to my fingers to be relayed to the others in the chat room:
As a parent – let alone the parent of a couple of bi-racial children: What The Fuck!?
I can’t tell you how absolutely delighted it made me to see others in the room express much the same sentiment.
I also realized that I was mentally “done” at that point – my threshold for ignorance and the stupid things that humans do is threadbare these days. I bade goodbye to everyone, wished them a good weekend, and left the chat. I tuned into an audio-only stream and listened to the rest of the show that way.
A short while later, I pinged a friend (who had remained in the chat) to ask them to forward me some information they’d previously mentioned (link). At the same time, they informed me that the person tried to walk back their comment by saying:
Oh.. shit. Sorry. I did not mean that to be bad!
…and…
That wasn’t meant to be mean. I apologize.
…and, when asked: “What was it meant to be, insensitive?”
No, I just love oreos. I feel super bad now. I sometimes just shove my foot in my mouth.
I realize that Utah isn’t the most diverse state in the Union, but damn. As my father would say: “That doesn’t even make good crazy people sense…”
Let’s look at a couple of things:
Utah’s population, as of July 2019, was 3,205,958 people.
The demographics break down as follows:
At 1% of the total population, that puts Utah’s Black population at just over 32,000 people. In the ENTIRE STATE.
That doesn’t exactly say much “cultural diversity or sensitivity.” But, it HAS to start somewhere. I truly appreciate that so many people were quick to take this person to task and point out that it was insensitive at best, but was also definitely racist.
Yes, this was a “foot in my mouth” moment, but it could have quickly and easily become a “boot-to-ass” moment had this occurred in a public situation, around someone prone to violence and for whom this was the catalyst they needed to “prove a point.”
But I digress.
Why was I so off-put by a “simple comment?”
First off: My children are a couple of intelligent, beautiful, creative, thoughtful, expressive, and dynamic human beings. Period. Full stop. What they most definitely are NOT are things to be dismissively objectified.
Next: Why do you find the need to qualify children as “bi-racial” to call them cute? Does their special genetic makeup cause them to stand out above other children? I will be the first to admit that I’m biased about how cute my kids are, but to hear someone call them – or any other child of mixed race – “cute” just because of a quirk of their heritage is asinine. It is also patronizing and subtyping.
And WHAT in all the Heavens and Hells does “…like little oreos” even mean? Because, given the inherent lack of diversity around here, I’m pretty sure that we’re not talking about the generally-accepted slang usage of “oreo” here. And if that IS the case? We need to have an entirely different conversation.
Finally, if anything wrote in those last three paragraphs bothers you or makes you uncomfortable…? Perhaps it’s time to take a look at the way you perceive the people around you who don’t necessarily fit into the pigeonholes you expect. If you want to discuss things and learn more? Let’s do it. I’m willing to put in the work to help bring about understanding and empathy.
Alternately, if you see nothing wrong with them, then I think it’s time we part ways. As I’ve said before: I’m tired. And I have neither the time nor energy to carry dead weight.
Sunday – 31 May 2020 This morning, I woke up a little earlier than expected. Nothing was wrong, I was just awake. I went to the kitchen to start coffee a’brewing, opened the blinds, let Evie out of her crate. A pretty typical start to the day.
After taking Evie outside for an uneventful – and non-productive – excursion, I came in, sat on the sofa, and turned on the TV. The past few weeks, I might have turned on CBS Sunday Morning, but my heart just wasn’t up for news today. I flipped past NBC’s Meet the Press and wound up letting it play in the background, while I distracted myself with other things.
At 9:00, I turned to Heroes & Icons to watch an episode of Old Man in TightsThe Adventures of Superman, because… Superman.
George Reeve in The Adventures of Superman
As the last few episodes that I’ve watched were in color, I was a little shocked to see that it was a black-and-white episode. When the title card came up, it was one that I didn’t recognize: “Superman on Earth.” So, I sat back and took it in…
It was the FIRST episode of the first season, one that I’d never seen in all of the years I’ve watched the show! It went all the way back to just before Krypton’s explosion, as Jor-El tried to explain the ruling council members that they should make preparations for the planet’s demise.
Sidebar: If you have a young, hot-shot scientist – who isn’t given to hyperbole and whose expertise no one has had any reason to doubt, by the way – and he tells you, “We’re on the clock… start building ships, ’cause we need to raise up and roll out,” you might want to listen to him. Just saying.
Anyway, you know the spiel:
Jor-El tells the old dudes.
They scoff.
Jor-El and Lara put their only child in a prototype rocket.
Planet goes ‘splodey.
Rocket lands on Earth.
And here’s where things get a little different than what most people currently know about Superman: There’s no Jonathan or Martha Kent.
That’s not to say that there aren’t any Kents, just not the ones modern audiences know. The characters that we’ve come to know as “Jonathan” and “Martha” were originally named “Eben” and “Sarah,” even in the comics. Still farmers. Still in Smallville, Kansas. Just not “Jonathan” and “Martha.”
Man, that would have screwed things up in Batman vs. Superman…
But, I digress.
In the 22 minute episode, not only did we see all of the above, but also:
a twelve-year-old Clark wondering why he was different than other kids and being consoled by Martha.
The death of Jonathan.
Clark’s journey to Metropolis, and
How Clark met the Daily Planet gang AND scooped Lois on the first appearance of Superman.
All-in-all, I was not only thrilled to see an episode I’d never seen, but I also quite enjoyed how tightly – if dripping in 50’s Sci-Fi cheesiness – it introduced the characters and set up all you needed to know about Superman.
