Books, Sports, Rhymes & Life
I’ve noticed my old, bad tendencies continue to flare up over the past couple of years and the coping mechanisms to which I immediately default. I can tell the difference in my attitude and temperament, even my perspective.
What if Superman existed in our current reality? How would the world react to a literal illegal alien — the ultimate immigrant — with godlike abilities? And how would he, in turn, react to the world?
Continue reading “The Brilliance of Zack Snyder’s DC Universe”
The April edition of my monthly reading review list.
Continue reading “The Pierznik Monthly Reading Review Volume 43 (April 2018)”
It’s tempting to try to jump on a trend.
I’m willing to bet that many of us that (try to) write have seen a post that looks like it wasn’t very difficult to write go on to do big numbers and major engagement.
I know I have.
I read it and thought to myself, I can do that.
So I did it.
The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) has completely changed Hollywood. From the proliferation of comic book heroes to the notion that every major movie studio now needs its own universe in which its characters can interact through multiple films, Marvel has laid the path that all others are following, praying that they will find the same success. The films within the MCU have combined for a box office total of an estimated $14.8 billion worldwide, including five films raking in more than a billion each. In short, “Marvel has made consistent hits, which is supposedly impossible in a creative business.” But, to hear some tell it, Marvel’s record is not perfect and there are a few black marks on the studio’s résumé.
Actually, one of those marks is green.
Monday morning. The start of another week.
After a Friday and Saturday of perfect sunny, 80-degree weather, Mother Nature’s mood darkened. It turned wet and chilly, just a bummer of a day, so we turned it into a lazy Sunday.
Things became worse overnight and I was even awakened a few times by the sound of the wind and the rain battering my house. This was the weather in a bad horror film. I thought about worst-case scenarios. When you’re a homeowner, everything is cause for worry because everything is expensive and time-consuming.
Shortly after waking up, my wife called me into our daughter’s room.
What’s the first thing you did when you woke up today? Did you reach for your phone?
We as a species are not meant to look at screens all day, but yet we can’t stop ourselves.
It’s not breaking news that most people are addicted to their technology, but many may not know that smartphones are actually designed to be addictive, thus making it far more difficult for them to disentangle themselves.
While that’s even more reason to do so, anyone that has ever gone on a phone or tech detox knows that the withdrawal symptoms are real. It’s a drug, one humans simply cannot handle.
It took thousands of years for sapiens to evolve into our current selves, but our technology has grown exponentially in mere decades — and our brains can’t keep up.
Last month, I turned 38-years-old.
I don’t immediately think of myself as a man in my late-thirties. I’m still struggling with the idea that I’m an actual adult.
It’s not that I feel 18 or 22, but like almost everyone else, I think of myself as some vague, younger version of me. Age has a way of sneaking up on you like that. It’s like growth spurt or a change in your weight. You live with it every day, so it’s gradual to you, but then you walk by a mirror and a different person is looking back at you. I still can’t believe I’ve been married for seven-and-a-half years and have been in the same relationship for thirteen years. I still think of the early ’00s as just a few years ago.
As Gertrude Stein once said, “We are always the same age inside.”
As I received well-wishes on my birthday, I couldn’t help thinking about City Slickers.
“Instant gratification takes too long”
— Carrie Fisher, Postcards from the Edge
It’s a new year, so of course everyone is making resolutions and plans and promises.
The March edition of my monthly reading review list.
Continue reading “The Pierznik Monthly Reading Review Volume 42 (March 2018)”
