Friday morning’s appointment (10-09-26) with Aaron went well, I think. I’m glad his treatment is going well. Our friend Bernard was going to drive us but had some medical problems and had been in the E.R. the night before, so we took an Uber, which was expensive. Aaron asked if I might do some of the driving from now on, driving us from his appointments from White Plains to just outside Manhattan, and that by then he should be able to park the car. I’ve never really driven anywhere near New York, even though I’ve lived here for 14 years, but I agreed I could do that. Aaron appreciated my attentiveness and support.
The trip wasn’t without its triggers and I wrote something new, though I’m not sure that it’s any good. It served its purpose. I was tired all day and took a few naps. I went to bed early, before 7pm, slept until around midnight, then got up until around 4am (10-10-26) and went back to bed, cuddling with Aaron for a big chunk of that time. I had good dreams, though I can’t remember the details now. When I woke I worked on my Marvel Viewing Order, which is far from finished, but is finally in a less embarrassing state – I don’t mind if people stumble on it now, and I might ask a few friends for feedback. I updated several other pages also.
I showered, ate, and checked to see if there was any Star Trek news from NYCC, the main piece being that Season 2 of Starfleet Academy will arrive in March of 2027. That series was cancelled earlier this year (which seemed to be political in nature) and the final season of Strange New Worlds will also be released next year – and this era of Trek that began with the first Kelvin Timeline film in 2009 will come to an end. They’re working on a new movie but it will be a new creative team with no ties to the old, as far as I know. I loved a lot of this era, but I’ve had a few disappointments as well – most notably, Season 2 of Star Trek: Picard and the 2 recent seasons of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds + Section 31 – otherwise I was pretty happy with everything.
Today’s journal entry song quote title is from “The Ubiquitous Mr Lovegrove” by British-Australian neoclassical darkwave band Dead Can Dance, from their 1993 sixth studio album “Into the Labyrinth”, which I first heard in late 1994 (via Gene Warrick), though at the time, I assumed it was much older than that. Gene was a creep, and a rapist, so I used to have really bad associations with a lot of the music that he played for me, but I eventually softened on Dead Can Dance, New Order and Kate Bush – but I’ve never really come to enjoy Christian Death.
I didn’t go to the party Saturday evening. I tried to get ready for it and so much was going wrong that I was quite stressed, but once I decided not to go (and had a rare Xanax) I calmed down considerably. I walked Aaron to the lot where our car was parked and then continued walking for a bit, first to Bennett Park and then heading back home. Oh, and I did text Ilyssa and Christopher. 🙂
The Marvel Comic Con news was slightly disappointing – but it was what I was actually expecting. Before it started I remembered that D23 is happening next month and how they have separated film and series news between the two presentations, so I figured we wouldn’t be getting the news I most wanted, which was for VisionQuest – which I do expect we’ll learn about at D23. They did make a few big announcements, including that Ryan Gosling will star in a Ghost Rider movie in 2028 & that Black Panther III will be out in December of 2028, with David Jonsson playing an adult version of T’Challa’s son from “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”; how the character is aged up is rumored to be explained in next year’s “Avengers: Secret Wars”. Letitia Wright and Winston Duke are also confirmed to be returning in that movie (as Black Panther / Shuri & M’Baku), while Denzel Washington was revealed to have a role in the movie a long while ago. Ryan Coogler will also return to direct. I don’t really care about Ghost Rider. I’ve never been a big fan, though I did enjoy the version on Season 4 of “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.”, played by Gabriel Luna. But I’m hyped about the Black Panther trilogy being completed 10 years (and 8 years and 10 months after the first film). That’s cool
There was also an “Avengers: Doomsday” panel, with another trailer, which hasn’t been officially released publicly. I’ve not watched the bootlegs because I’d rather wait to see it in high quality. But reports suggest the new trailer is even better than the first, with more context for who Doom is and what the film might entail. And though I was already aware the character would be returning, Hayley Atwell was on-hand to confirm that Peggy Carter will be in the film. Ryan Reynolds also made an appearance, which implies the the character MIGHT be in the movie. I’ve heard rumors that he is, but I try to avoid spoilers so I don’t actually know if he is or not, and I’d rather not know unless they officially announce it. Though, I suspect there are more than a few characters returning in either “Doomsday” or “Secret Wars” that we don’t know about, or at least I don’t, which is fine with me. Oh. And sadly, the Latverian Witch display did not feature a Scarlet Witch reference on the final day, and while many people are buzzing about her possibly returning, if it’s in “Doomsday”, we just don’t know yet. I’ve heard from a reputable source, that even if she’s not in the movie, she will be back soon. I just hope it’s true. I very much want Wanda, Vision, Billy & Tommy (and Agatha) to be reunited.
They did not announce the new “X-Men” film, despite it being in development and likely coming out in 2028. It’s rumored that they didn’t talk about it so as not to spoil anything from “Spider-Man: Brand New Day”, which opens on Thursday – and if so, there’s a very good chance that they’ll announce that at D23. And I’m looking forward to that for sure.
Sunday. I ate well, healthy. I went for a walk around the neighborhood, twice. Really it was one walk but I stopped by the apartment to drop off some groceries (pita bread and grape fruit yogurt), then headed out again. I’m sure I walked at least a mile, probably more. I was really pushing it.
I didn’t spend much time with Aaron on Sunday. When I was home he was really into watching Marvel. He told me that he wanted to watch Star Trek with me, but when he’s really into something, I have a difficult time interrupting him, even when I know he wants me to. It’s weird. It’s been a problem over the years. I was also just very tired after my walk. I didn’t sleep, but I was physically tired.
This morning (well, it was around noon) I weighed 190.4 lbs. I’ve lost over 30 lbs since 2024, 21 of them since March. It’s exciting to see results from what I’m doing, but it’s weird too. I’m really into it, but I’m trying constantly to let myself relax and not worry about it. I mean, despite being 20lbs overweight now, I’ve vastly improve since my last doctor’s appointment, well, the one where I got really horrible feedback and weird test results that were totally invalidated by their methods. But I’m excited to return and prove them wrong. A pound or two off is easy to ignore because people gain and lose a few pounds pretty regularly, but this can’t be ignored. All of my health scores have improved. All of them. Some of them still rank as higher than what they should be, but the improvement is impressive. And that makes me happy. that’s all. And I’m happy with what I’m eating. Today I’ve had a smoothie (Boost, protein powder, fiber, coffee, blueberries, almond milk, zucchini), several bottles of water with fiber, 2 pita breads with lettuce, hummus & Italian dressing, a piece of toast (high fiber bread) with chia seeds, a kiwi, and a mix of olives, almonds, pistachios, peanuts, sunflower seeds and pecans. That’s so different from when I was eating ice cream and potato chips every day.
I stumbled on this pendant, the central one with greyish stone, which my cousin Starr had given to me years before. She was wearing it and I told her I liked it and she immediately took it off and gave it to me. She was like that. That was also the last time I ever saw her alive. She died on January 31 of 2001. I thought about her while I got ready to go out. It was really just a series of moments, but she was very special and I can still remember how she looked and what her voice sounded like. She was one the relatives I came out to when I was finally telling more people and she was really lovely.
Also on my way out I traded calls and message with Mark Adams. He and his daughter Raven are watching most of the mainline Marvel Multiverse entries, in release order, as that’s how Raven wants to do it. I gave them a list and they’ve been following it. He said that they’ve finished “Thor: Love & Thunder” and will begin “She-Hulk: Attorney at Law” soon. They had been watching “Moon Knight” the last time I saw them, which means they’ve also seen “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” and “Ms. Marvel” since then, which I hadn’t thought of, so I didn’t ask what they thought of them. I’ll have to remember to talk about that next time.
I went for another walk today. It was overcast, very warm and extremely humid but I enjoyed the exercise. I had to stop at the pharmacy on the way home to fill a prescription that I’ll be out of before we return from FL. It was so HOT in that store. I was sweating a lot. When I got home my shirt was soaked through and I showered for the second time – I usually shower and shave before I leave as well, like I did today.
And then I sat down to write this while I ate. I really shouldn’t eat at my computer but I keep doing it just the same.
Today’s journal title song quote is from “The Only Living Boy in New York” by Simon & Garfunkel, which is the eighth track from the duo’s fifth and final studio album, “Bridge over Troubled Water”. The song was also issued as the B-side of the duo’s “Cecilia” single. I’d heard a lot of their music growing up, “The Sound of Silence” being one my mother’s favorite songs, but somehow I’d never heard this one (or I at least I didn’t remember it) until it was used in the final scene of the HBO film version of Larry Kramer’s “The Normal Heart” (2014), which I didn’t see until September 19, 2016 – and it was fucking incredible. I’ve since seen it at least twice more, and I’ll likely always associate the song with that movie.
I watched the latest episode of Daredevil: Born Again (S02E04 “Gloves Off”). This series for me has been extremely problematic. Subpar directing, special effects, a cobbled together feel that has just left me feeling a little underwhelmed. I’d heard reports from sources that I trust that the first 3 episodes this season were bad but that starting with episode 4 things improved drastically. I wasn’t sure I believed the last bit but they were right. At least about this episode.
This is the first really great episode of this series. It was fantastic in ways that previous episodes could have / should have been. The effects and direction were on point. The character dynamics which have been lacking (Matt / Karen) felt far more successful here. Everything seemed of a piece with no crazy editing. This was a such a pleasant surprise! More of this PLEASE! Again, I’ve heard that the final 4 episodes are all very good and someone told me that the finale is “fire” (in a good way) so I’m finally getting excited about this.
They also released a trailer and 2nd poster for the upcoming Punisher Special Presentation, “The Punisher: One Last Kill”, which looks good. I do hope the special explains where Frank has been and how he ends up in the upcoming Spider-Man movie.
