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Sep. 7th, 2015 10:08 am1. In full sugar detox mode. ( Read more... )
2. Rather impressed with Brian Mendes writing in the X-men arcs...just finished the First Five issues of the All New X-men. Where the original X-men are basically brought to the future to force Scott Summers, Cyclops to see the error of his ways.
Except, it's not that clear cut. There's a great deal of evidence that Summers wasn't in complete control and the power, like it has everyone else, corrupted him. Also the people who are the hardest on him, more or less have been responsible for doing the same things themselves. And, if you know the history, the leader, Professor Xavier, who Scott killed, did far worse as Onslaught -- which emerged from his choices and dark thoughts.
On the other hand - there is a rather wonderful exchange between Magneto and Summers (my two favorite characters) in the book -- it occurs right after Summers comes face to face with his younger self, and more importantly the younger version of Jean Grey, who died about five years ago.
Scott tells him - that it wasn't him. That the Phoenix Force possessed him and made him do those things. And Magneto replies, that he's been around a lot longer than Scott and is a lot older, and has done far worse things over a longer period of time and often out of madness. And as much as he'd like to blame someone or something else -- it was always him. It's always you. You wanted to kill your father figure for defying you. You wanted to change the world to your liking. You felt you were justified. If you want to make amends, you have to first admit to that. It's always you.
And that was my problem with Angel's arc at times, and why I liked Spike's monologue in Never Leave Me. In which Buffy says, was that you? Spike responds - no one else. He made the choice to let the First use him -- he's responsible for what happened next.
The message is clear, I think, if we let our demons take over - those niggling voices in our heads telling us we should have that second piece of cake, or that third drink, or shoplift, or take what isn't ours, or that our neighbor's life is better, etc, etc...then yes, that's on us. We always have a choice.
That was the theme in The Light Between the Oceans by ML Steadman - that I just completed. We always have a choice. All of us. We can choose how we react and what to do next. We can choose to be grateful, or choose to be dissatisfied.
It's a beautiful day today. Birds are tweeting outside my window. Flowers sit below a stained glass star. It's quiet, with just a fan buzzing and the typing of my fingers across the keys. I have purple nail polish on my toe nails. And the world is full of possibilities. I can take a walk. I can read.
I can watch tv. I can draw. I can write. And tomorrow, I get to go to work - and procure services to remove pollutants from the environment, rehabilitate train stations to provide access to the handicap, and ensure disadvantaged minority businesses get work.
The sum total of my life? Is good. Not perfect perhaps. There are things I wish were different or better or that I had. I wish I was less lonely, that I had more people in my life, and was more active, but these things can change. Nothing is stagnant. Life is a river, not a puddle, after all. And even puddles change.
2. Rather impressed with Brian Mendes writing in the X-men arcs...just finished the First Five issues of the All New X-men. Where the original X-men are basically brought to the future to force Scott Summers, Cyclops to see the error of his ways.
Except, it's not that clear cut. There's a great deal of evidence that Summers wasn't in complete control and the power, like it has everyone else, corrupted him. Also the people who are the hardest on him, more or less have been responsible for doing the same things themselves. And, if you know the history, the leader, Professor Xavier, who Scott killed, did far worse as Onslaught -- which emerged from his choices and dark thoughts.
On the other hand - there is a rather wonderful exchange between Magneto and Summers (my two favorite characters) in the book -- it occurs right after Summers comes face to face with his younger self, and more importantly the younger version of Jean Grey, who died about five years ago.
Scott tells him - that it wasn't him. That the Phoenix Force possessed him and made him do those things. And Magneto replies, that he's been around a lot longer than Scott and is a lot older, and has done far worse things over a longer period of time and often out of madness. And as much as he'd like to blame someone or something else -- it was always him. It's always you. You wanted to kill your father figure for defying you. You wanted to change the world to your liking. You felt you were justified. If you want to make amends, you have to first admit to that. It's always you.
And that was my problem with Angel's arc at times, and why I liked Spike's monologue in Never Leave Me. In which Buffy says, was that you? Spike responds - no one else. He made the choice to let the First use him -- he's responsible for what happened next.
The message is clear, I think, if we let our demons take over - those niggling voices in our heads telling us we should have that second piece of cake, or that third drink, or shoplift, or take what isn't ours, or that our neighbor's life is better, etc, etc...then yes, that's on us. We always have a choice.
That was the theme in The Light Between the Oceans by ML Steadman - that I just completed. We always have a choice. All of us. We can choose how we react and what to do next. We can choose to be grateful, or choose to be dissatisfied.
It's a beautiful day today. Birds are tweeting outside my window. Flowers sit below a stained glass star. It's quiet, with just a fan buzzing and the typing of my fingers across the keys. I have purple nail polish on my toe nails. And the world is full of possibilities. I can take a walk. I can read.
I can watch tv. I can draw. I can write. And tomorrow, I get to go to work - and procure services to remove pollutants from the environment, rehabilitate train stations to provide access to the handicap, and ensure disadvantaged minority businesses get work.
The sum total of my life? Is good. Not perfect perhaps. There are things I wish were different or better or that I had. I wish I was less lonely, that I had more people in my life, and was more active, but these things can change. Nothing is stagnant. Life is a river, not a puddle, after all. And even puddles change.