Physical Comics to Read: 20 (126/146)
Digital Comics to Read: 0 (435/435)
Trades/Graphic Novels to Read: 1 (5/6)
Books to Read: 3 (105/108)
Movies to Watch: 9 (185/196)
TV Shows to Watch: 3 (36/39)
TV Seasons to Watch: 3 (63/66)
Podcast Episodes to Listen to: 65

It’s weird to me that teaching in Virginia means that July is the end of the summer. Going back in August means slogging through 90+ degree days and severe thunderstorm warnings and by the time fall rolls around, the first quarter is over. We end right before Memorial Day 2027 and I think those first couple of weeks of June are still going to feel weird.

My color-coded to-do list got a good workout this summer. I was able to finish a number of projects–both big and small. It included repainting a bathroom, having some siding repaired (and scheduling another repair), putting up a shelf, and fixing/having some minor things fixed. My podcasts kept to a solid production schedule and while blogging has slowed a little bit, I can say that I finished the second draft of my novel in progress. The third draft begins this week and then … maybe something beyond just keeping it a binder.

And then there’s the stuff. Some of which got cleared out. Some of which is still there. I think that I stop and start too much, but I’ve written about that ad nauseam. My key challenge, as it always is at this time of year, is to keep up with what I’ve been able to do and whatever progress I have made even while the school year is starting. And classes start tomorrow, so we’ll see what happens.

Here are two “best” things from July …

Criminal: The Deluxe Edition vol 2. by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips. So after finishing the first huge volume, I went right ahead and read the second. I’ve also picked up the most recent hardcover. Everything has been just … outstanding. I love how they have created the world of the characters and through all of these stories have established relationships that feel very three-dimensional.

A Toxic Love Story. A Netflix true crime doc that dropped a few weeks ago that’s about what I can only describe as a bat-guano crazy relationship that involves defamation, claims of assault, and some honest-to-goodness twists that I don’t think either of us saw coming. I’m pretty careful with my true crime because there’s certain things I’m not interested in hearing about. This? Definitely worth it.