Things I'm Thankful For...

Despite the passing of Jerry Bails today, I do have things to be thankful about.

I'm thankful for my wife, Jessi -- probably what I'm most thankful for of all. Because of her, I was able to find love and happiness again after losing my first wife, Barbara. Also because of her, I became a boxer person, which led to my getting Krypto.

I'm thankful for our dogs, KO and Krypto -- and for their continued good health (despite the recent surgery Krypto had to undergo) and for their affection and companionship.

I'm thankful for comic books and their long history, which have become my primary interest from an entertainment point of view. Comic books led to my meeting my first wife, and also led to my making a number of friends over the years (some of whom I've lost track of between moves across the country and back, but I still cherish the friendships while they lasted).

I'm thankful for the internet, which gives me access to a world of stuff I might've never been exposed to, and has also provided me an outlet via this blog, mailing lists I belongto, as well as my weekly "Cover Stories" column.

I'm thankful for Apple Computers and the development of desktop publishing. Thanks to those two items, I found a vocation that I was not only well-suited for, but one which I've enjoyed doing (even if I haven't always enjoyed where I've done it). It's also given me skills that I not only use at work, but also use for my own enjoyment.

I'm thankful for my job. This is the first job that I've not only enjoyed doing, but I also enjoy where I'm doing it, and I like the people I work with.

I'm thankful for the cable company, which not only provides the digital cable and DVR which ensure I don't miss my favorite shows (when it's not malfunctioning), but also with my internet access. I sometimes wish it cost half as much as it does, but it does provide what it promises.

I'm thankful for my family -- I haven't always gotten along well with them, nor have I always agreed with what they've done in their lives, but they've always been supportive of me through the years, and if it weren't for them, I don't know how I could've dealt with losing Barbara.

I'm thankful for my association with Twomorrows -- the transcription work I did for them in the past led to my current association with BCI Eclipse and Andy Mangels, doing transcription work for the DVD releases of the Filmation programs I remember from my youth (and other shows I don't).

I'm thankful for many other things, too... even if I can't always think of them off the top of my head.

And finally, I'm thankful for the readers of this blog, even if I don't always get comments back from you, I know you're there (however many of you there are!). I hope you'll continue to enjoy reading it for years to come!

Jon

Jerry Bails, RIP

It's been reported that Jerry Bails, the man who could rightly be called the father of comics fandom, has passed away.

I never had the pleasure to meet Mr. Bails, but I've encountered his name for almost as long as I've been interested in reading the history of comics and comics fandom. I probably first read about him in back issues of the Rocket's Blast/Comic Collector.

I also never had the pleasure of acquiring a copy of his Who's Who in Comics Fandom.

Still, I feel a certain kind of kinship with him, and I mourn his passing.

Jon

Pre-Turkey Day Post!

Well, maybe I'm not off the Twomorrows mailing list... because I got the latest BACK ISSUE in my mailbox today.

On the other hand, I'm still waiting for some of the DVDs I helped work on to arrive in my mail.

Krypto had his surgery today, getting that tumor removed. Unfortunately, for the next two weeks (until his stitches are removed), whenever we can't monitor him, the poor boy will have to wear one of those cones to keep him from licking and pulling at the stitches.

Aside from the cone, he seems to be doing fine... it'll be long two weeks for him, though!

Not much else to talk about tonight... although if you haven't checked out Patrick Owsley's blog yet (link on the right), you should... he just got married, and he's posted a few pictures of himself with his wife!

Jon

Bullet Points...

Just because there's a few things for me to mention, but mention briefly...

• I realized last night that webmaster Justin at World Famous Comics only has one more Cover Stories column... so I need to write up another bunch of 'em to send off to him!

• I definitely seem to be off the Twomorrows' comp list... been a while since I've seen any issues in my mailbox, and I'm seeing in some people's blogs that there are issues out I haven't seen or read yet.

• Took Krypto to the vet today, because there's been this lump on his leg. Turns out it's a cyst or tumor of some kind, which will have to be surgically removed on Wednesday. It's a routine surgery, but I'm sure the boy won't be feeling too hot for a few days afterwards.

• Haven't seen tonight's Heroes episode (which just ended five minutes ago as I write this) and aren't watching Studio 60 tonight either.

• Early deadlines at work this week, because of the Thanksgiving holiday. Strangely, there doesn't seem to be more stuff turned in than usual so far... but I suspect Tuesday will see a major influx of work. I figure that if I set my daily goals to work ahead two days further along than usual, we should stay in good shape.

• Currently re-reading: Doctor Strange - Nightmare, one of the Marvel Novel Series books from a long time back. Prior to that, I was re-reading "Comic Books And Other Necessities of Life", the first collection of Evanier's columns. If I can figure out where the heck my copy of Showcase Presents Justice league of America Vol. 1 is, I'll likely re-read that next.

Jon

Weekend Wrap-Up...

As is the case every Sunday, my latest edition of Cover Stories is up at World Famous Comics!

Thanks to TV Squad, my two newest bookmarks are PDComedy.com -- a website which streams public domain comedy shorts and the like... and Saturday Morning Fever -- although unfortunately, the latter site (which shows old Hanna-Barbera shows) needs a version of Flash that's not compatible with my current computer...

Aside from the links... it's been a good weekend. Saturday we went to my sister's place in Puyallup for my youngest niece's birthday party (we gave her My Little Ponies, which she loved -- and Jessi was responsible for finding and purchasing). Prior to the party, we stopped at the JC Penney's in Puyallup, where thanks to a 50% off sale on most of the Big & Tall Men's clothing and a further discount coupon that Jessi found, plus the gift card I got for returning the crock-pot from my birthday, I was able to get $170 of new shirts for about $7 cash out of hand.

Today, we originally planned to head south to our friend Tifney's house to walk the dogs and also get some exercise ourselves walking up this huge hill nearby, but the wind and rain cancelled that plan (we did take the dogs for a three-mile walk later that afternoon). Most of the rest of the day was spent relaxing.

This coming payday... I'm going to make my latest attempt to quit smoking. I've never really mentioned this before in this blog, but I've been a smoker since I was 18 (or, about 29 years). Since June, I've switched from smoking cigarettes to smoking a pipe (at Jessi's request), and she's been asking me lately when I'm going to quit smoking entirely. The previous weekend, I made it through an entire day without smoking, but the urges were too strong for me to handle, so I gave in. So, this time I promised Jessi that on payday, I'd throw out my pipe, and buy some of those lozenges that are supposed to help you quit.

We'll see just how well that works out.

Jon