Reading

We have a visitor today

This weekend is Arlington SkyFest, the aviation event Garrett is on the board of and has been involved with since 1992 (I think?) when it was the Arlington Fly-in. He always spends a few days up there leading up to the event and I bring his mom for the best parts Saturday evening. She and I always hit a casino and get some food on the way, and this time we'll be seeing the newly-expanded Tulalip casino for the first time. If the name's familiar, that's because the amphitheater where we recently saw a concert is there. It was surprising to see the casino's new north entrance so close to where the show was.

Garrett's cousin Becky is volunteering this year and since I'm home today I'm watching her dog Bear. A visit where Bear and Tuvix had a swell time was how we ended up deciding to meet Tilly and adopted her. Here's a brief break from the chaos.

Flat, buildable land is a premium resource

Over 16 years ago, I had Thomas Graham tattoo panel 2 from Dinosaur Comics on my shin. If you aren't familiar, he created the comic back in 2003 out of clip art and has changed the captions five days a week while keeping the art the same. I discovered it and Achewood at the end of a very dark period in my life. Reading the archives up to that point of those comics was a great way to fill up a very lonely time and they were free, which was perfect because I was beyond broke.

I figured I'd always keep the caption portion of the tattoo empty so people could write in it, and that happened quite a few times over the years. But I don't go out much or work in an office with other people or make it to many events, so when I thought about getting a QR code tattoo, I decided that was the spot for it.

I tapped Gage Young for it because he had already done an incredible job with the pixel details on this mystery box gap filler I have from his Super Mario Brothers flash.

I know the QR code will eventually stop working and when the time comes, I can black out the entire background for a night mode T-Rex, or just keep it because it looks rad.

Entry tags:

MCU Meme

Stolen from

snickfic.

Bold = Watched Entirety
Italic = Watched Part
* Watched more than once.
† Watched in the first few weeks of release (at least initially, for TV shows).

( the whole MCU under the cut )

In looking at this list, lmfao you can see precisely what year I quit the MCU. I have seen none of Phase 5 and don't really have any desire to seek any of it out. I honestly had not realized that there was a four-year gap between the last Marvel movie I'd seen in theaters and Fantastic Four! That is almost as long as I was actively in MCU fandom!!

Doing this meme also made me realize how few of these movies I have rewatched. Almost all of them were one viewing in the theater and then never again. Winter Soldier is definitely my most rewatched - I saw it four times in theater and have rewatched it more than once on DVD since then.

FWIW, I really liked Fantastic Four, and I have been thinking about going to see it again before it disappears from theaters. I liked that it was self-contained and that it felt very old-school both aesthetically and in its plotting. (It's tightly written, especially for a superhero movie. There are no scenes I'd cut, and that includes the big fight scenes/set pieces.)

I have negative interest in the Phase 6 movies that are to follow it, though. I don't know who the Avengers even are anymore, and I don't really care.

Nasty morning surprise

Right around when I got to the Y this morning, my lower back started to hurt. It's been a while since I had any back pain and I thought it'd stay away long-term thanks to deep water fitness. There are quite a few core-centric moves I have to demo and I always do as much as I can. I slept pretty well last night and I wonder if it happened because I spent too much time sleeping on my back because I wasn't tossing and turning so much.

In a couple of months when my job has gone from part-time to full-time for a spell, I think a new mattress is in order. Someone I chatted with after class today said a nice, new firm mattress would be great but I think it's time to get a soft one. I've had a firm mattress for years now and and the only reason I can stand it at all is that I have a topper on it. I'll go to a store and try out a soft one and make sure I can exchange it if it doesn't work out.

Everyone in class was very understanding as I struggled through the hour, just like they were when I hurt my knee. I've already arranged for a sub for Monday if I need one, but I'd really like to teach that day since my last two classes there were canceled. I'm subbing for Nelly who does the other deep water day, so I'll do that class twice next week.

I got some feedback today regarding deep water, that it can be hard to keep up with the combination moves. The transitions are supposed to be part of the challenge but I'd rather up the reps for less switching around in order to keep the class happy. I polled the class on Tuesday to see if I should introduce a new routine and people were into the idea. A couple said they didn't want to switch immediately, so I said my goal would be to introduce a new routine in three weeks. It's about time I got some more use out of the site I subscribe to for lessons.