many moons ago (about 9 and a half), i made a journey to a strange place with strange people. i have returned. with tales to tell.
for the first time in my 25 years under the sun, i got to live completely on my own for an extended period of time. i was away from everything i’d ever known since january. it’s october. that’s basically the entire year, so in a way, this is going to be a very early year in review. so, (in fez’s voice) let’s review.
as we do in these things, we’ll break it into the good and the not so good. starting off the good, i’ve managed to wrangle another certificate of sorts. okay yes, this one was legally mandated and grafted to the journey, but it still counts. i had to do it, and not die/slit my throat before i managed to do it. success.
i also managed to somehow add to my comic book collection. for years, i’ve wanted to read fantastic four and, at the very end, i was able to snag it. everything, right up to the last trade of ryan north’s run (i hear it’s great).
i’m something of a cinemahead (i fucking hate the term “cinephile”), and i’ve had very expansive lists that needed clearing. the 100 movies bucket list that i started in 2022 finally got cleared, mostly. i will not be watching baahubali. but still, 99 movies is pretty damn impressive. i went to the theater more times than i’ve ever managed in a single year, aided in large parts by the remarkably cheap ticket prices (benefits of living away from civilized society). i saw seven movies in cinema, and eight movies released this year. i even had a little streak going. from march to september, i saw a new movie in theaters every month. i’ll be honest, it felt realy fucking good. on top of that, i saw a bunch of shit that was on my personal watchlist, and several old favorites. all told, i watched 135 movies in the ~10 months i spent on foreign soil. that’s one shy of all the movies i watched last year. not too shabby, if i do say so myself.
met, new people, made new friends (kinda, it was location contingent), made two videos that i put up on youtube (they’re here if you wanna see it), made headway on the screenplays (though not as much as i could, wanted to, or liked), and all in all, got to experience a life very different from what i’ve been used to.
now for the bad. right off the bat, we were not in a good place mentally for a large part of the time. cut off from all my friends, everything and everyone i know and plopped in a place where (if we’re being very honest), not a whole fucking lot happens, it takes its toll on a person, especially someone like me. yes, i was never the most outgoing, but at least back home i had the option. i chose to never leave the house. here, i had no choice. wasn’t long before we started to withdraw into our minds and let me tell you, that is never a good place to be. it got very dark, very fast, and for way too fucking long. so when i say that my not my not punching my own ticket early is an achievement, i fucking mean that shit.
pivoting over to a much less depressing low point, i decided (foolishly) to come out of romantic retirement. if you remember in my last year in review, i said i was done. you get struck out enough times, you start to think, “maybe i just stay in the dugout. save the pitcher’s elbow.” well, i didn’t listen to myself. in my defense, i thought i saw what were genuine opportunities, and when you add that to the fact that i was living alone for the first time in my life, and it felt almost irresponsible to not even try. and try i did. well, you’ll be happy (or not) to hear that time off did not change my form. 0-for-3, plus one foul ball. one of the outs was particularly painful because i felt we had a lot in common, but such is the nature of the beast. didn’t help the mental in any way but, in the end, it is what it is.
final downer is cosmetic. i’d been keeping my hair for well over 2 years before this ordeal began and, before the start, i was told to bring it down. and bring it down i did. i didn’t like it, but i did it. i figured by the time it’s all done, i’d be well on my way to being where i was. and that was holding true. until literally the last weeks. one gushing head wound and it’s bye-bye hair. so, as a final parting gift from the place beyond the pines, i was made to start from nothing for the first time since i was 8 years old.
so, there it is. condensed into a medium article for your reading pleasure is 9 months and change of my life. some of it good, some of it bad, and may we never see its like again.
until next time, hasta luego ✌🏾
