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Free Comic Book Day is this Saturday, 06 May 2023! You may be asking: “What is Free Comic Book Day?”

Free Comic Book Day (FCBD) is the biggest event in the comic book industry—a single day when participating comic book specialty shops across North America and around the world give away comic books absolutely free to anyone who comes into their shops! Founded on the belief that for every person out there, there’s a comic book they’ll love, the annual event offers a huge selection of free titles designed to appeal to a broad range of age levels and their tastes.

Most comic shops will allow you to take up to five (5) of the free books, others may allow you to take more. Please be sure to ask the employees of the shop you visit for their particular rules.

In the Salt Lake City area, participating shops include:

• Dr. Volt’s Comic Connection in Millcreek,
• Black Cat Comics in Sugar House (across from the Cinemark Theatre), and
• The Nerd Store in Valley Fair Mall.

Diana and Vanessa will be going to our favorite local shop, Dr. Volt’s. Doors open at 11:00 am, but we will be getting there a little before 10:00, as there will be a line. And costumes are welcome! In fact, Dr. Volt’s will have members of Heroic, a local charity cosplay group, and members of SLC’s own Velleity Studios, publishers of comics like Salt City Strangers, The Gull, and Ruthless. (Check other stores to see who they will have as guests!)

Sunday – 30 October 2022
Fifty-two trips around the sun, while simultaneously avoiding The Dark Lady’s embrace.

I’d like to start off by thanking everyone who took time to wish me well on my birthday. It may seem like a small gesture, but I truly appreciate the thoughtfulness.

Oh… and let’s take care of the comic elephant in the room: DC used “The New 52” as their banner for their umpteenth reboot universe. And… it wasn’t… great. Different? Sure. Were there some decent things that came out of it? I’ll grant that, too. But, on the whole? Meh. But, using “The New 52” as a starting point for the next year? Brilliant. So, I’m liberating it in the name of the people! Sorry, Jim Lee. #sorrynotsorry

It’s been a good birthday extended weekend; I took Wednesday through Friday off. I mean, it’s one thing to take your middle-of-the-week birthday off, but who wants to turn right back around to go to work for two days and then get a weekend? Besides, that’s what vacation days are for, right? I also received two of THE BEST gifts ever from Team Diva: Vanessa painted a Green Lantern and Diana made a piece of embroidery

The most productive thing I did with most of the time was get back into something of a gym routine.

Three straight days in – and my usual Saturday morning two mile walk with Evie. It was good. And painful. And a little humbling – I can see what I used to be able to do in the gym; it’s going to take some work to get back there. The biggest hurdle is going to be figuring out how to fit gym time into the rest of my day. The nominally “best” thing I’ve come up with so far is to start my days about an hour earlier and hit the gym first thing in the morning. We’ll see how that shakes out.

Friday, Sara and I had 1-on-1 night with the ladies. This week was my time with Vanessa. She wanted to go bowling. So, I broke out my bowling bag and off we went. We bowled 2.8 games before our time was up. More importantly: We both had fun.

Saturday saw us getting a jump on weekend chores, errands, and other housework things. We also had friends and family over for cake, ice cream, and conversation. It was a great way to spend the evening.

Sunday, we headed to The Kinlands to pick pumpkins. Despite being the day before Hallowe’en, they had a great assortment of pumpkins and gourds from which we were able to select.

Back home for football… and installing a new porch light… and then, off to the in-laws’ for dinner and cookie decorating! And, next, home again, home again, jiggety-jig for pumpkin-carving and setting up a few decorations in the yard.

Tomorrow, it’s back to the grind… but I had a fantastic weekend, with just the right kind and amount of recharge to power through the next few weeks.

I look forward to seeing what the coming year brings.

Saturday – 01 January 2022
A new year begins.

For whatever 2021 may have brought you, I hope that 2022 brings you and your loved ones, peace, happiness and prosperity.

Be well and be good to each other.

Namaste.

Tuesday – 09 November 2021
Today, I had the opportunity to volunteer/chaperone for Team DiVa’s class, as they participated in the Junior Achievement City “BizTown.”

JA BizTown combines in-class learning with a day-long visit to a simulated town. This popular program allows elementary school students to operate banks, manage restaurants, write checks, and vote for mayor. The program helps students connect the dots between what they learn in school and the real world.

There was an additional bonus: The girls had NO IDEA that I’d be there.

That was a definite #win.

Both ladies were the CEOs of their respective businesses:

I didn’t work with either of the ladies. I was assigned as a volunteer in City Hall. I worked with the Mayor (CEO), Town Treasurer (CFO), Attorney, Two Account Executives, and a DJ.

Twenty businesses were represented, ranging from retail, food services, utilities, a school district, news and television outlets, and even sports. Each business started the day by taking out a loan from one of the two banks; kids were then responsible for making sure that their businesses made money, paid payroll, created and/or paid invoices, and more. Businesses could also create ads to run on the radio or television – which created revenue for the media outlets and hopefully turned into awareness – and sales – for the business featured in the ad.

The morning opened with an opening meeting and remarks from the Mayor, along with speeches from a few of the business’ CEOs. Diana, gave one of the opening speeches.

One of the things that I wasn’t aware of until the day was over: She didn’t have a script for her speech. (There WAS a script for her speech, but her volunteers didn’t tell her to bring it. *facepalm*) She ad-libbed her entire opening, based on things she heard from some of the CEOs who spoke before her! She was so calm and cool about it that I – and I’m sure no one else, aside from possibly the JA staff – had no idea that she was going completely off-the-cuff with her remarks.

After the speeches, it was off to the proverbial races!

At first, it was a little like herding cats – this was largely due to the amped-up energy of the kids, trying to figure out what to do and how to do it. (As volunteers, we were there to support and guide, not to do the jobs for them.) Some things were done “a little” out of order. Some things got overlooked, until someone realized that something was missing. But, after a while, they got the hang of things and the day, while hectic and a bit frenetic, moved along nicely.

The day ended with a closing meeting, during which Vanessa gave one of the CEO speeches.

In all, it was a great event and I was glad to have been part of it. I was also incredibly proud of not only the ladies, but also of the City Hall employees and how well they did.

Friday – 25 December 2020
Merry Christmas from our family to yours!

This year’s card layout (above) was chosen by Team DiVa.  🙂

Wishing all the best for you and your loved ones for the new year.

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).”

Like I said, it was a good day.

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.

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.

And has come… full circle.

Namaste.

Wednesday – 25 December 2019

Merry Christmas from our family to yours!

May the peace, love, and joy of the Christmas, Hanukkah, and Kwanzaa season be with you and may you spend it in the company of family and friends.

Wishing all the best for you and your loved ones for the new year.

Monday – 28 October 2019

Saturday was my 49th birthday.

CAKE!

I would like to thank everyone – and there were a lot of you – who took time out of their day to wish me well as I start another 2?93,000,000 mile trip around the sun. It made the day that much more special to know that people thought enough of me to write or call. So, a very heart-felt “Thank you” to each of you.

As my birthday was on a Saturday, I took Friday off. I even went to the gym. (WHAAAAT!?) Yeah, first time in [REDACTED] that’s happened. Friday night’s soreness spoke to that. Loudly. There was a trip to The Train Shoppe and I took myself out for Chinese food for lunch, as well. Later in the evening, I had dinner with Team DiVa – no SaraRules!, as she had to work – and a few friends.

Saturday included sleeping in, breakfast spaghetti (!), a VERY cool birthday present…

“In brightest day, in blackest night…”

…heading to a hobby shop to pick up more accessories for Action Figure Theatre, and then cake and ice cream with Sara and the ladies.

Sunday started with a dusting of snow (!), once again proving my statement that it usually snows in SLC before November.  There were chores to be done, but we also took a trip to the Clark Planetarium.

Not On My Watch

Any Landing You Can Walk Away From…

Into the Unknown

The night was capped with dinner with Sara’s side of the family, MORE cake and ice cream, and Hallowe’en cookie-decorating.

In all, it was an excellent start to 49. I can’t wait to see what the rest of the year brings.

Namaste.

Saturday – 20 July 2019
Today marks the anniversary of man’s first landing and footsteps on the moon.

 

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A post shared by Rob (@shadorunr) on Jul 20, 2019 at 8:38am PDT

After being up and down all night – until 4:30 this morning! – with a sick Team DiVa, I think that the worst is behind them. They aren’t back to full steam, but they are far better than they were at this time yesterday.

Of course, Evie decided that since this isn’t Thursday, bad news was just fine. Today’s “bad news” came in the form of a VERY awake puppy at 6:45 AM. A very awake puppy who wanted to get out of her crate and have some human interaction. Therefore, I was up at 6:45, too. Yay. Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve learned that Evie can be entertained/distracted by the early morning shows with animals on them. So, that’s what we watched until it was time for her to go outside and take care of her morning run around the yard/go to the bathroom time.

Once Sara and the DiVa were up, things were back to a greatly scaled-back form of normal. Fortunately, we didn’t have anything on the day’s agenda. This is good, as it gives the ladies more recovery time. And, despite tomorrow being National Ice Cream Day, we’re going to have to postpone our annual Ice Cream Social. Again, more recovery time and less chance for possibly spreading contagion… if whatever they had was contagious. *shrug* And, check out these freebies/discounts on ice cream, by way of USA Today:

Pet owners – PetSmart: This ice cream freebie is only for dogs. At stores with PetsHotel facilities, dogs can get a free 4-ounce serving of dog-safe ice cream topped with dog biscuit treats Saturday and Sunday, while supplies last.

It’s a little after 5 PM now. I’m basically awake through sheer willpower and the remnants of this morning’s caffeine infusion still coursing through my veins. I have no illusions that I’m going to crash hard tonigh, most likely while sitting in front of the TV, watching whatever show or movie Sara and I delude ourselves into thinking that we’ll finish in one viewing.

Namaste.

Monday – 17 June 2019
Yesterday was Father’s Day. My day started with Team DiVa and Evie waking me up for breakfast – after I got to sleep in. (Not a bad way to kick off a day, to be honest.) For breakfast, I had French Toast, eggs, bacon, and fresh berries. I was then told to get dressed and get ready for a series of adventures that Team DiVa had planned for me. I was intrigued.

Our first stop was a Bonwood Bowl. Somehow, the little ladies had decided that I would really like to go bowling. (They weren’t wrong.) A frame or two into the first game, I realized that my bowling balls and my hands weren’t going to be friends and wound up having to switch to a house ball. My first game wasn’t great, but it was fun; I had a better second game. From there, I was taken to a (relatively) nearby Baskin-Robbins for ice cream. Double-scoop waffle cone. Aw, yeah.

Back home for a little down time, while Sara and the girls prepared lunch. Let me clarify that: I was told that downstairs would be a good place for me to be while they got things ready. When I was finally able to come back upstairs, there was no one there. That was… odd. Turns out that they had set up a picnic in the backyard: Ham, roast beef, pretzels, and berries. It was very cute and sweet.

The rest of the afternoon was rather full of doing lots of nothing. I also played a little Skyrim involved, as the ladies played LEGO Marvel Super Heroes 2.

Later, we headed off to dinner with Sara’s side of the family. Then back home, to get the ladies ready for bed. Once they were down and out, Sara and I headed to the backyard for cigars and drinks, which was an excellent way to wind up the day. And, after all of that, I found myself back in Skyrim again for a couple of hours before calling it a good day.

And, my Father’s Day presents included some fun items:

• Sideshow Collectibles Sixth-Scale Luke Cage
• Mythic Legions Thallyn Frostbow, Shadow Elf Ranger, and Ragna Stormforger, and
• DC Collectibles DC Multiverse Wonder Woman (Lynda Carter)

It was a very good day, indeed.

Monday – 27 May 2019
Today is Memorial Day in the U.S.

 

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Remembering the sacrifice of those who gave their lives defending the freedoms that we enjoy… and sometimes take for granted. #coffee #?? #morningcoffee #ActionFigureTheatre #1028 #MemorialDay @usarmy @usnavy @usairforce @usmarinecorps @uscg #Spartans #BravoSquad #CaptainKeyes @halo @xbox @mcfarlane_toys_official #articulatedcomicbookart #acba #actionfigures #toys #actionfigurephotography #toyphotography #toysofinstagram #tinyplasticfriends

A post shared by Rob (@shadorunr) on May 27, 2019 at 9:58am PDT

Here are a couple more tidbits of Food for Thought for the day, with a big tip of the hat to my cousin, Vivicca Whitsett, for pointing them out:

• Memorial Day: America’s strained salute to its black veterans

• Groundbreaking World War II unit of black women honored decades after their service

Thursday – 28 February 2019
This year, I opted not to do a month-long Black History Month series of posts. I did a post on February 1st on Facebook, but I think that last year’s run of Black Panther posts – while fun – may have burned me out a little.

I was going through old blog posts and wound up stumbling upon part of an entry from nine years ago – nine years ago today, in fact – that I thought bore being brought to light once more:

Chew on This: Food for Thought – Black History Month

Today is the last day of February and, as such, the last day of Black History Month in the United States and Canada. Of all the things that we’ve looked at over the past twenty-seven days, one question has not been asked: “Why do we have a Black History Month?”

The remembrance was founded in 1926 by United States historian Carter G. Woodson as “Negro History Week”. Woodson chose the second week of February because it marked the birthdays of two Americans who greatly influenced the lives and social condition of African Americans: former President Abraham Lincoln and abolitionist and former slave Frederick Douglass.

The celebration was expanded to a month in 1976, the nation’s bicentennial. President Gerald R. Ford urged Americans to seize the opportunity to honor the too-often neglected accomplishments of black Americans in every area of endeavor throughout our history.

While I believe that it is good to set aside time to recognize the achievements and pitfalls of the past, we still have “…miles to go before [we] sleep.” Black history – and any ethnic group’s history, for that matter – shouldn’t be relegated to just one month of the year. In the same way that America was known as a melting pot of cultures and ethnicities, our history is an amalgamation of those peoples’ struggles and stories. These are things that should be studied and celebrated throughout the year, as a common history of the people of the United States of America.

Quite frankly, that seems like the perfect coda for this month.

Wednesday – 03 October 2018

All the journeys of this great adventure
It didn’t always feel that way
I wouldn’t trade them because I made them
The best I could, and that’s enough to say

Some days were dark
I wish that I could live it all again
Some nights were bright
I wish that I could live it all again

     -“Headlong Flight,” Rush

From Summer 1999 (I think…) (c) NoteablePhoto

Gettin’ married!

All the treasures, the gold and glory
It didn’t always feel that way
I don’t regret it – I’ll never forget it
I wouldn’t trade tomorrow for today

Sunday – 15 July 2018
Man, it’s already after 9:00 and I am sitting here wondering where the weekend went. There’s just one “problem.”

I know exactly where.

Friday, after work, I left work a little later than planned, made a quick stop at a local toy store (again, surprising absolutely NO ONE), met Sara and Team DiVa for dinner, and headed off to Clitorati. After that was all buttoned-up, back home for some Overwatch with friends.

Saturday morning, I did not want to get out of bed… which might have had something to do with staying up late. Maybe. But, I got up, ate and went to work out while DiVa had swim class. For some, as yet unknown reason, I decided to throw squats into the mix. For the record: NOT MY FAVORITE. (Put a pin in this, we’ll be coming back to it shortly.) Back home to shower and change and head off to Dr. Volt’s to judge a tournament. I was pleased; it went well.

Back home to knock out a couple of things and get ready for an evening out with Sara – we finally got around to celebrating promotions that we got back in the Spring. We dropped the ladies off with their grand-parents for the evening and headed downtown. We had dinner and dessert at Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse and Wine Bar; it had been far too long since we had been there. As usual, the food and service were both excellent.

Next, we decided to check out Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom. Yeah, yeah… not exactly Oscar fare, but we kind of knew what we were getting into. Kind of. Our best summation was that it wasn’t the best movie we’d ever seen – and it was far from the worst – but we were entertained. C’mon… it’s got dinosaurs, for Pete’s sake! Yeah, you know what I’m talkin’ about. Back home and we both crashed pretty hard.

This morning, I woke up tired. Remember that pin from earlier? Here’s where it makes its reprise: Somewhere in the middle of an already not-great sleep (a series of unpleasant dreams kept waking me up), I encountered “The Revenge of the Squats” – my thighs delighted in making turning over and even lying still “somewhat unpleasant.”

Ibuprofen, my old friend…
I’ve come to be with you again…

We headed back to the in-laws’ for breakfast. Oh… and to pick up the girls. My father-in-law makes a mean waffle. And he makes LOTS of them. Sara’s local sibs and their families were there for breakfast, too. It was a good way to start a busy day.

It was a “busy day” as today was (“is,” still… technically) National Ice Cream Day, which means Sara and I put on our annual Ice Cream Social.

Please note: It was, apparently “The Twins’ Ice Cream Party” Fine. Next year, they get to foot the bill and do the heavy lifting.

That meant a lot of “spending the rest of the morning and afternoon getting ready.” Thus, we did. One thing that we didn’t fully account for were the number of unexpected guests, in the forms of bees and wasps.

Fortunately, there were no cross-species incidents, for which I was supremely grateful. There was ice cream, toppings, pink lemonade, good company and conversation.

After our guests left, there was a little bit of clean up – we pretty much have set up and teardown down to a science after… six or seven years of doing this – and then time to get ready for dinner. I somehow managed to convince Team DiVa that it would be a “good idea” to take their showers while dinner was getting ready. Not quite sure “how,” but I wasn’t about to look a gift horse in the mouth. We ate dinner – salads (light post-ice cream fare = WIN) with chicken. And lemonade. Duh.

Sometime during the post-dinner “What do we do now” period, I stretched out on the couch. My mistake. I fell asleep for almost an hour. That might not have been such a mistake, after all. I woke up in time to find Sara and the girls watching the tail-end of a two-part Sofia the First episode… with mermaids. Yes, I just made that pun and decided not to edit it out. When the episode was over, the girls got ready for bed. Once they were tucked in, it was time for a greatly sought-after cool summer shower. It was sublime, just in case you wondered.

Now, I still have a little bit of free time before I have to make my way to The Dreaming. I should probably figure out what to do with said time…