As always, let’s start with the numbers …

Physical Comics: 0 (105/105)
Digital Comics: 21 (436/)464
Trades/Graphic Novels: 1 (0/1)
Books: 2 (99/107)
Movies: 1 (177/180)
TV Series: 0 (63/63)
TV Seasons Watched: 0 (115/115)
Podcast Episodes Remaining: 126

I was going to write this last week but Labor Day weekend got away from me (or in the very least I wound up just wanting to chill for a few days and didn’t really write anything) and the school year has been taking up a lot of my time, so this is a little late.

These things happen, $8.00.

Anyway, I have a nice big pile of fantasy comics for September and was more into a couple of books that I was reading along with getting through that huge digital archive of Star Trek comics. I had a mind to post a review of some of them, but I’m in the back end of the DC series (just finished issue #60 and there’s 80 issues in the series) and nothing is really jumping out at me that requires an issue-by-issue or storyline-by-storyline review. So I’m just going to write a blog post when I hit the end of it. And I guess it should be said that I’ve been reading an enormous amount of comics on DC and Marvel’s apps, although those don’t technically count toward this project. Still, having access to so much of those companies’ archives is nice and allows me to be more picky with my back issue buying.

Speaking of which, the Baltimore Comic-Con is in two weeks and that will mean adding to these piles on the … well, it’s not a holiday for this blog because it’s the antithesis of the mission. I’d say that it’s “opposite day”, to use a bit from You Can’t Do That on Television. I spent a good hour last night paring down my signature list and I’m actually going to spend a little more time doing that again before I go because I want to do my best to balance my time. Or at least be more cognizant of how long I am standing in line for someone; plus, there are cast members from Aliens going to the con and I’m thinking of buying a ticket for their autograph and pictures. That would actually tick off one of the things on my list.

I’ll get into more about con planning over on Pop Culture Affidavit because that whole experience is going to be the subject of my next episode.

Over here, I’m slowly getting some fall cleaning done, although I think the phrase “I need to …” has come out of my mouth in one way or another every day for the last month. I need to mow the lawn (seriously, it’s “neighbors report me to the HOA” high); I need to call the guy back about that thing; I need to look into a dryer duct cleaning; I need to get the house power washed; I need to clean the junk drawer; I need to grade all these essays; I need to … well, it goes on and on. I feel good about being conscientious about these things, but I also have to admit that they stress me out. And I think I wrote about that last month.

The thing about my mental health lately, or at least what’s been at the front of my mind, is relapses and steps back. I think that consciously, I never assumed that therapy and meds were magically going to change my life or anything like that, but I also get very furstrated when I find myself anxious about the same things over and over or overreacting to the same stressors. I’ve learned so much in the last several years about how to cope or work through things and for some reason, they get forgotten when I am in a high stress situation. And that part of my mind that seems to absolutely hate me is quick to yell at me and say, “I thought we were done with this!”

I know the reason I stress like this is my bullshit, but I can’t help but wonder if I’ve been influenced by the “before and after” images I’ve been seeing in the media my entire life. You know what I’m talking about–“I was like this and then I went on blastofat and look at me now!” These have only gotten worse in the age of social media because it seems the algorithm has been feeding me a lot of “Look at me then/now” weight loss reels and posts, although most of them look AI generated, so I don’t trust them (plus, they just contribute to shitty diet/body image culture). And then there’s the long-winded posts about how someone got their mental health in order that make me feel like a dumbass who failed a test or something.

Again, it’s my bullshit.

Three things that I will say that have contributed to a slightly more positive mental health lately are all cancellations and deletions. I completely deleted TikTok and Reddit from my devices and don’t go ont hem anymore (although my accounts are still active). I found that they were a huge time suck and as much as I liked some of the interaction, I saw how they also contributed to a generally negative attitude. I actually haven’t been on either in weeks. The third thing was that after twenty-five years, I canceled my subscription to The Washington Post. I’m not going to go too deep into the political stuff here, but their coverage of things was getting extremely irritating and I started to wonder why I was paying so much a month for it. So I started reading the Associated Press’ website every morning to get the news and bookmarked a couple of entertainment news sites for that area as well as ESPN for sports. I haven’t really been missing the Post–except, probably, the comics, but I can find those somewhere–and the news is actually a little bit easier to read.

Not that I don’t find myself wanting to consume some of the rageahol that the Internet has been feeding me for the better part of a decade. It really is a compulsion when you think about it. I’ll finish a story on the AP site and then start looking for the comments. Like, why? Well, because in the past it gave me whatever dopamine hit (I think that’s the chemical) my brain really liked. So I suppose this is going to take a little time and effort lest I wind up replacing the comments sections with something else just as toxic.

And that is my stream of conciousness rambling for the month. Maybe I’ll get off my ass and give you a blog post or two before October hits.