Monday, August 01, 2016

Monthly Update - July 2016

RESOLUTIONS (Mid-year checkin:

1. Reasonable bedtime - Failed, for the most part. Bedtime remains somewhere between 1:30 AM and 3:30 AM, and always too late. However, I have succeeded in waking up around 10:30 AM - 11 AM most days.

2. Cook More - Same pattern as last year, I learned 14 new recipes in the first few months, added 2-3 new recipes to the regular rotation, and fell back on ordering pizza, eating out more often and grilling during the summer. So about right, really.

3. Exercise - Pokemon Go is putting me back onto a bit of a walking pattern, but I failed at this one too. Now that I know I might not die soon, I may work a little more at keeping in shape. Which leads me to...

4. No Cancer - Doctor said the words "you might be cured." Next CT scan is in January. Unless something goes horribly wrong, for all it's shittiness, 2016 is the first year I've been cancer-free since 2012.

5. Halloween Costume - Pretty much decided. Either Stormtrooper and Imperial Officer, if we decide to be less ambitious, or something Overwatch-related, if we decide to be more ambitious. Katy is considering Eleven from Stranger Things.

6. Spend More Time with Kids - Between Pokewalks, watching TV with Katy (Stranger Things, Person of Interest, etc.) and playing videogames with Aaron, I've done pretty good on this score.

7. Stay on budget. I've bought 8 of my 12 seasons (Angie Tribeca, Better Call Saul, Full Frontal Seasons 1-2, Supergirl, Last Panthers, Preacher, Night Manager) which means I'm slightly past my goal of one a month, but I'm sure I'll have a quiet month or two during the summer. I probably shouldn't have bought Last Panthers, since I've only watched episode one, or Angie Tribeca, since I've loved what I watched but haven't gotten around to the back half, and both are streaming on Amazon Prime right now. Still, 6 out of 8 is pretty good.

Still only at 2 games, Overwatch and No Man's Sky. X-COM 2 and Injustice 2 are on my radar, but this should be easy, because those might wind up on a Christmas list.

8. Try new things. Turns out I like old things. But... I did launch a new podcast in midsummer, did a little work on a Heist RPG that may never finish, and went out for fireworks on the Fourth, all of which are pretty new.

9. Less Negative - Nope. 2016 has been a shit year, with all the deaths of celebrities I admired, including Darwyn Cooke, who I knew and liked a lot, plus there's a contentious Presidential election. Now I'm trying a variation on this, which is to try and be polite in my direct confrontations, less sarcastic and dismissive. It is, in fairness, not going well so far.

POP CULTURE GOALS:

1. Read 15 Books (3)
  • Um...
2. Read 100 Graphic Novels (53)
  1. Darth Vader Vol 1 HC
  2. Avengers The Serpent Crown HC
  3. Usagi Yojimbo Vol 30 TP
  4. Tales of the Batman Alan Brennert
  5. Suicide Squad Vol 4 Janus Directive
3. Catch up on TV/Movie DVDs and Blurays
  • None this month
    4. Play 15 New Boardgames (21)
    • Sushi Go Party!
    • Dastardly Dirigibles
    • DC Deck-Building Forever Evil Crisis 3
    • Just Desserts
    • Pandemic Legacy
    5. Go to 5 Comic Book Conventions
    • Dallas Comic Con (February)
    • STAPLE! (March)
    • C2E2 (March)
    • Heroes Con (June)
    • Alamo City Con (October)
    My Picks of the Week For This Month:
    1. Kim & Kim #1
    2. The Fix #4
    3. New Super Man #1
    4. Detective Comics #936
    5. Black Hammer #1
    6. Nighthawk #3
    7. Captain Marvel #7
    8. Ms. Marvel #9
        Other Comics I Read This Month (301+64=365):
        • Action Comics #959-960
        • Agents of SHIELD #7
        • All-New Wolverine #10
        • Amazing Spider-Man #15
        • Astonishing Ant-Man #10
        • Batgirl #1
        • Batgirl and the Birds of Prey Rebirth #1
        • Batman #2-3
        • Beauty #9
        • Birthright #7
        • Black Hammer #1
        • Black Panther #4
        • Black Widow #5
        • Captain America Sam Wilson #11
        • Captain America Steve Rogers #3
        • Captain Kid #1
        • Captain Marvel #7
        • Chew #56
        • Civil War II #3-4
        • Civil War II Amazing Spider-Man #2
        • Civil War II Gods of War #2
        • Civil War II Kingpin #1
        • Civil War II X-Men #2
        • Daredevil #9
        • Daredevil Punisher #3
        • Darth Vader #23
        • Descender #13
        • Detective Comics #936-937
        • Empress #4
        • Faith #1
        • Fix #4
        • Flash #3
        • Future Quest #2-3
        • Green Arrow #2
        • Heartthrob #4
        • Kim & Kim #1
        • Lazarus #23
        • Merry Men #2
        • Moon Knight #4
        • Ms. Marvel #9
        • New Super Man #1
        • Nighthawk #3
        • Nightwing #1
        • Nightwing Rebirth #1
        • Paper Girls #7
        • Power Man & Iron Fist #6
        • Predator vs Judge Dredd vs Aliens #1
        • Silk #10
        • Snotgirl #1
        • Spider-Woman #9
        • Star Wars #21
        • Star Wars Han Solo #2
        • Superman #2
        • Titans #1
        • Velvet #15
        • Voltron Legendary Defender #1
        • Vote Loki #2
        • Wonder Woman #2-3
        TV I Watched This Month:
        • Bojack Horseman "Season 3"
        • Casual "Big Green Egg" "Bicycle Thieves" "100 Cows" "Threesomes" "The Magpie" "The Lake"
        • Full Frontal with Samantha Bee "Cleveland" "Special: Full Frontal Election Documentary"
        • Inside Amy Schumer "Madonna/Whore" "Fame" "Psychopath Test" "Everyone For Themselves"
        • Last Week Tonight With John Oliver "Republican National Convention"
        • Mr. Robot "eps2.0_unm4sk-pt1.tc" "eps2.0_unm4sk-pt2.tc" "eps2.1_k3rnel-pan1c.ksd"
        • The Night Of "Part 1: The Beach" "Part 2: Subtle Beast"
        • Not Safe With Nikki Glaser "Is This Your Belt?" "I Miss David Bowie" "Really Real R&B" "Make America Horny Again"
        • Person of Interest "The Fix" "Witness" "Foe" "Get Carter" "Number Crunch" "Super" "Legacy" "Root Cause" "Wolf and Cub" "Blue Code" "Risk" "Baby Blue" "Identity Crisis" "Flesh and Blood" "Matsya Nyaya" "Many Happy Returns" "No Good Deed" "Firewall" "The Contingency" "Bad Code" "Masquerade" "Triggerman" "Bury the Lede" "The High Road" "Critical" 
        • Preacher "Monster Swamp" "South Will Rise Again" "Sundowner" "He Gone" "El Valero"
        • Roadies "Pilot"
        • Stranger Things "Season One"
        • Terriers "Dog & Pony Show" "Change Partners"
        • Vice Principals "The Principal"
        Top Ten Shows This Month:
        1. Stranger Things
        2. The Night Of
        3. Mr. Robot
        4. Bojack Horseman
        5. Full Frontal With Samantha Bee
        6. Last Week Tonight With John Oliver
        7. Casual
        8. Preacher
        9. Not Safe With Nikki Glaser
        10. Inside Amy Schumer
        Movies I Watched This Month:
        • Fletch
        • Ghostbusters (2016)
        Places I Ate This Month (148+28=176):
        • Outback Steakhouse
        • Smokey Mo's (x4)
        • Second Bar Congress
        • Vera Cruz Tacos (x2)
        • Sushi Nini
        • Original Pancake House
        • Black Star Co-Op (x2)
        • Blackfinn Ameripub
        • Jack Allen's Kitchen
        • Firehouse Subs
        • Fuddrucker's
        • Hopdoddy (x3)
        • Noble Sandwich
        • Wendy's (x3)
        • Mod Pizza (x2)
        • Pluckers
        • Hoodie's
        • Terry Black's BBQ