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.
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 Passion of Christopher Pierznik 