2022 Half Way Point

 Since 1 July represents the midway point of the year, I thought it would be nice to reflect on how 2022 is going thus far. It makes sense to me to start with my blog. This will be my 54th post of the year. That tracks. I post two times per week on Mondays and Thursdays. With fifty-two weeks in the year I should end at a minimum of One Hundred and Four posts on the year. 

In that number I am not counting posts I have taken down. After fifty-four posts I have learned a few things about myself. I have no desire to be controversial. My posts that have stirred up animosity make me deeply uncomfortable. As a result I do not think my blog has much substance. At this point I will see out the year to prove to myself that I can, but I will probably retire from blogging.

The reality is that my passions like writing, drawing, video games, and comic books do not make the best blog posts. I have no desire to write reviews. What comes out of them instead are just opinion pieces without substance. I find myself thinking," Yes, David, all Final Fantasy games are nice and fun to play. Even you don't care that you are writing this."

The other things I like to write about are personal growth and philosophy. These pseudo psychological posts are typical driven from some personal epiphany, but diluted down enough to become somewhat socially acceptable so I don't ruffle too many feathers. Again, I find myself asking," What are you trying to do here?" 

The answer to that is that I haven't examined why I still blog until recently. When I started writing in 2005 it was because a possum fell through my then under-construction roof and I doubted anyone would believe the story without me having pictures to share. I found it fun. I kept trying to find ways to connect to people online with my writing. 

I don't want online connections anymore. Well, that is mostly true. There are a few people that it is nice to have the social media connection to. I would almost sign out of the social media rat race all together if it weren't for them. I am writing these blogs out of habit for the last several years. That would be the reason to stop if I hadn't challenged myself to get through the year posting twice a week. For all that, I will try to remain as engaging possible for the rest of the year. 

In a similar expression of a massive change of heart, I have no desire to record podcasts or anything of the like. I just don't want to be out there in that way. I don't want to create content. I don't want to be popular. On that front my blog is a massive success. The temptation is to make the next 50 or so posts fully works of fiction since that is the type of writing I want to continue once the blogging is done. 

I have read 147 comic books year-to-date. 2022 marks a milestone in that front. In all the years I have been a comic book reader, I have never been active in comics and not been reading the X-men. I canceled all of my X titles back in March. 

Those 147 titles include seven volumes of One Punch Man. Yes, David is reading manga. I like Saitama quite a bit. It helps me that the whole thing seems to be a satire on the ridiculousness of America comic books. I have all twenty three volumes on my book shelf (a strange source of personal pride) and they fill in nicely during those weeks when I am out of regular issues. I am open to enjoying more manga, but I don't have a guide I trust in the genre. Expansion is likely to be slow. 

My comic book reading will probably slow down in the second half of the year as well. I am loving Thor, Punisher, Radiant Black, and Moon Knight. The newest volume of Amazing Spider-man has been an improvement over the last. I am holding my breath a bit for Chip Zdarsky to take over Batman. As always Sean Murphy's Batman universe keeps it all feeling fresh and enjoyable. I fear for Fantastic Four after Dan Slott exits. 

By far the thing I have enjoyed most in comics are the Reckless graphic novels. They are worth the wait to get my twice yearly fix of greatness from Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips. I enjoy them even more than the Parker novels that they remind me of. I hope to have an entire shelf of them. 

I have only completed a dozen video games this year. Final Fantasy V -VIII are no surprise to anyone. What may blow your socks off is that I have completed six Super Mario Bros. games. I also completed the first Borderlands game and escaped from Hades on my 69th attempt. 

On the exercise front I am not doing great. I have spent the last six days barely feeling up to leaving my bed with what feels like I am hacking up a lung. I feel like I stay sick. I am sure exercise would help if I could breathe well enough to manage it.  I have take 339,577 steps (that have been tracked) so far this year. I have walked about 110.25 miles. I am not encouraged by these numbers. 

In a similar sense of disappointment, I have only drawn 59 pictures this year. To be on track for one a day I should be around the 183 picture mark. Yikes. 

I have read 26 novels so far this year. I am happy to report that nine of these were Discworld novels by Terry Pratchett. That alone makes me feel I am doing something right. 

Conversely I have watched thirty one movies. I can be proud that this includes all of the Legendary pictures monster movies. They made me fans of Millie Bobby Brown which eventually got me to watch Stranger Things. I have watched eighteen seasons of different shows. The aforementioned Stranger Things has been a recent focus. I have also invested heavily in The Orville. 

It makes sense that I am watching TV as often as I am feeling bad. I also feel good that my watching has been intentional rather than just mindlessness (except maybe the three seasons of South Park.) 

I hope to accomplish quite a bit more in the second half of 2022. It is so interesting what you learn about yourself when you track things.