“But she knows this and she smiles…”

I had such a productive day!!!

I got quite a lot done on my Multiverse Saga draft for this place. Then I noticed that our home was verging on cluttered again, and started to clean. I cleaned the living room and the office, and then I started cleaning the bedroom, which I didn’t think to take before pictures of, but trust me, it looks so much better. I think I threw away 20 bags of things that will never fit me again if I’m lucky. I know that I’ve said that I want to lose weight, but much of this was stuff I saved from when I was thinner than was healthy for me to be, which I hope to avoid in future. Again, I’m trying to find balance.

I ate relatively well. I had some less balanced meals towards the end (a slice of pizza with chia seeds and then some chips) but earlier in the day I had a salad and later some kiwi. When I cleaned the bedroom I did hold onto a few pieces that have sentimental value – even as I threw out many, many more things that I’ve felt too attached to, to let go of in the past. The only thing that I really struggled with is this purple shirt, which an ex-bf left in my bedroom the last time I saw him before he joined the military. He’s alive, as far as I know. I mean, I’ve seen him since then, but he was a dick then and a dick much later on, which is why we’re not in touch. But when he left that first time I was in love with him, and I held onto this shirt for a long time because it smelled like him. It doesn’t anymore and I can see this past relationship more clearly now, but the memory of needing that shirt with me at the time, it lingers, and no matter how much I tell myself that this is stupid, and I should let it go, I haven’t been able to yet. But everything else I either outright wanted or just plainly didn’t need anymore.

After all that I showered. Then I got dressed and took a fast walk around the block. It’s not far. But the point of doing it is to move and also to get outside, which has been challenging for me for about 6 years now. But this marked 5 consecutive days that I’ve gotten out, mostly of my own volition, and even when Aaron gave me a ride or something, I headed out on my own to other places. This is actual progress. I’ve not been out 5 consecutive days in…a very long time. So that felt good.

Later still, some clothes that I ordered recently arrived. New underwear and socks. New boots. And 2 pairs of shorts. There’s more on the way. And I didn’t take pictures of the underwear / socks, even though those are cute too. I keep trying to get myself to buy more clothes, but I hate shopping. Oh – and everything fits!

I’m winding down now. getting ready for bed. I like going to bed early. Very early or very late. I guess I’m extreme? I’d like to get more work done on my site. I’d also like to order those clothes. And maybe see about seeing a specialist for a problem I’ve been struggling with for decades, but that last part might require Aaron’s assistance. I’m getting a lot better at being more independent, but sometimes I need help, and that’s okay. I mean, I did all the heavy lifting myself today!

Oh. And I read more of my Star Trek book, which is slowly taking shape. But just as has happened many times in my life before, I was tempted today to start a whole new series, which I’m trying to resist. I’d really like to finish a book. I used to do this quite often, but in the last few years, holding my attention has been pretty difficult. I was reading the Wicked Years and the spin-offs but when the author announced more were on the way, I stopped. I’ve not finished a book since. I think that was in 2024 but it may have been 2025. I don’t know.

Okay. I’m starting to get my thoughts jumbled which means I really should go to bed now.

“Where can I run to? Where can I hide?”

I didn’t realize this but Aaron will be staying in Philly tonight and then he has stuff tomorrow too, so he won’t be home until tomorrow afternoon. This might be good for me because I can try my less effective night medication with no pressure to be asleep. And I’ll get plenty of work done on my website, which I already have. I got several pages of my Star Trek viewing order up, which I’ve been struggling with for weeks.

I’m having an interesting conversation with this guy named Emanuel. He lives in the Bronx and we’re discussing the value of sex in culture and in relationships. His views are not quite the same as mine, fascinating, but also kindly expressed. I wish more people discussed such things so openly and without rudeness as a cover. It’s refreshing.

I ate a salad and later a smoothie. I had a few olives too. All fruits and veggies today it seems. Oh, I had some bread this morning, before the sun came up. Anyways, I’m sitting still while I try to calm my stomach down. Then we’ll see where the day takes me.

“And do you feel scared? I do…”

Aaron’s endoscopy went very well yesterday. He had another endoscopy 3 months ago and they discovered he had an ulcer which they’ve been treating with medication and therapy. Yesterday’s procedure revealed that the ulcer is gone! This was a wonderful outcome. And the wait time for the procedure was greatly reduced this time – we were essentially in and out in about an hour.

I traded texts with Glenn, my nephew Jon and my cousin Ariel. Glenn was concerned for Aaron. Jon and I were talking about Daredevil: Born Again. Ariel invited us to her graduation party, which will be held in Michigan, despite her living in Georgia. We’ll see how that plays out. I also later traded messages with my old friend Flordeperla, who was a co-worker at Starbucks in Manhattan.

He was a little groggy after and I was dealing with another migraine. I always have lots of migraines, but this time of year, when we get far more rain, it’s always the worst. I went to bed relatively early, hoping that I’d wake up early this morning to get some work on my site done, headache free. Part of that was true. I woke up early. And my headache isn’t as bad as it was.

I have gotten a lot finished! But it’s in a draft stage so nobody can see it yet. It’s part of the Star Trek viewing order section. I also uploaded a bunch more LGBTQ+ movie reviews from 2024 yesterday.

I’m not sure what’s on my agenda for the day. It’s very sunny outside this morning. The weather says a high of 63 this afternoon. Maybe I’ll get outside. Aaron has a trip to Philly planned this evening. Maybe I’ll go out then? Or maybe I’ll start my new Star Trek book? I’ve been having a lot of trouble finishing books in the last couple of years. I was doing really well; I was re-reading The Wicked Years in hopes of reading the sequel trilogy for the first time, but then they announced 2 new books, set earlier in the timeline and it killed my interest. I figured I’d wait a bit for those and then do the whole thing again. And I’ve stumbled over everything since then.

The new Trek book is a sequel to Star Trek: Picard, set during a time-jump in the series finale (S03E10 “The Last Generation”) the book has been described as continuity porn, filled with references to various Star Trek episodes from multiple series and films – which sounds like just the kind of thing that I might enjoy at the moment. So, that’s definitely an option. Plus, as the book features Seven and Raffi, we have our LGBTQ+ representation right there. Nice. But who knows if I’ll finish this one? I’ve wanted to finish everything I’ve started in the last few years; I didn’t begin anything with the intent to stop reading, so we’ll see how it goes.

Oh. And I spoke, briefly, with my sister Janice before I passed out. She tried talking to me about her conspiracy theories about 9/11 but I told her I couldn’t listen to it. 9/11 stuff gives me nightmares and always has. I imagine it would likely be worse now that I’ve lived in Manhattan for nearly 14 years. I wish she had more time to relax. She’s always so busy, even on her days off. I love her. She can make me laugh like almost nobody else. Aaron is good at it too. I’m feeling sleepy again and might go back to bed for a nap. I actually didn’t sleep very long last night. I was in bed quite early but it took me a long time to get to sleep and then I was only out for about 5 hours.



Star Trek: Discovery – Season 2 (2019)

2024 Entry #30 01-31-24 The second season of the American TV series “Star Trek: Discovery” begins in the year 2257 and ends in 2258, 7 years before the beginning of “Star Trek” (The Original Series). Until Star Trek: Discovery LGTBQ+ characters in Trek were exceedingly rare and often only there via interpretation, but the first season introduced brilliant Astromycologist Paul Stamets (played by openly gay actor Anthony Rapp) & his loving physician husband Dr. Hugh Culber (played by openly gay actor Wilson Cruz). That season saw the death of the latter character, but death is often not permanent in Trek, and this was to be the case here; it’s more a wrinkle in their extended love story than an abrupt ending to one. And in the Mirror Universe we met Her Most Imperial Majesty, Mother of the Fatherland, Overlord of Vulcan, Dominus of Qo’noS, Regina Andor, Philippa Georgiou Augustus Iaponius Centarius (who is pansexual, and played by Oscar Winner Michelle Yeoh).

Season 2 was released in 2019 and not only brought our gay and pansexual characters back with a vengeance, greatly expanding on them, but also brought us a widowed lesbian engineer in the form of Jett Reno (played by lesbian comedian legend Tig Notaro). If that seems like a lot of representation after barely having any, it is, but this series doesn’t rest on its laurels and the series gets more Queer as it goes – which is wonderful. Season 2, picking up right where Season 1 left off, completes a story which leads into Season 3 but also feels complete, while also launching spin-off series, “Star Trek: Strange New Worlds”, which is currently shooting its third season and has been renewed for a fourth. If you stopped here it would be satisfying. But if you keep going, there’s so much more! And I love it all! Well worth checking out!

And for completists, the first “Short Treks” installment, titled “Runaway” fits in between episodes 2 & 3 of Season 2; that’s “New Eden” and “Point of No Return”.

I plan on re-watching Seasons 3 & 4 before watching the final season this summer. I’ll probably post a review for those 3 seasons together.

Star Trek: Discovery – Season 1 (2017)

2024 Entry #015 01-12-24 “Star Trek: Discovery” is an American science fiction television series created by Bryan Fuller and Alex Kurtzman for the streaming service CBS All Access (later rebranded as Paramount+). It is the seventh Star Trek series overall and the second series chronologically; it debuted in 2017. The series follows the crew of the starship Discovery beginning 101 years after “Star Trek: Enterprise” and 9 years before the introduction of Kirk in “Star Trek: The Original Series”.

For LGBTQ+ Star Trek fans who wished to see themselves presented in Star Trek, this was the first series to feature such characters prominently. Other series had flirted with the idea of LGBTQ+ representation (most notably “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine”), but these storylines were mostly relegated to analogies or random episodes. DISCO was the first Trek series to truly bring LGBTQ+ equality to the franchise. The first season of the series runs 15 episodes and features familiar Trek staples like the Federation, Klingons, Vulcans, Andorians, Tellarites, the Mirror Universe, the Enterprise, etc. But the series is accessible to new fans.

Having just binged watched the first season again, partially in preparation for the streaming premiere of the final season in April, I reaffirmed this series as my current favorite Trek series, and I enjoy them all to some degree. There are so many elements of this series that I love that I doubt I could do them justice here, though I could ramble on about it for hours. Suffice it to say that I love it and I recommend it.

Having said that, I do feel that I need to talk about one aspect of the series, specifically for queer fans, a kind of trigger warning – and a bit of a spoiler, but this was something that the creative team were quick to reveal to the audience in real time and with good reason. So SPOILER, one member of the gay male couple featured in this season (both of whom are played by openly gay actors) dies in the course of this season in a brutal murder. However, this is NOT meant to be part of the “Bury Your Gays” TV trope, but instead is actually part of a Star Trek trope in which characters often don’t stay dead. Indeed, the couple are reunited in Season 2 and keeping other spoilers to a minimum, are alive and well through at least the start of the upcoming season. And I would also like to mention that while they’re the most prominent queer characters in season 1, others are seen in ways that were new to Trek, and this is expanded on in the following seasons with prominent lesbian, bisexual, non-binary and transgender characters all being represented.

I fucking love this show.

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