Unapologetic Zaree [戯絵]

Artwork by the GREEN LANTERN: THE ANIMATED SERIES animation and production crews...

Unapologetic Zaree [戯絵]

Artwork by George Pérez and Jerry Ordway...

Unapologetic Zaree [戯絵]

Artwork by Curt Swan and Bob Oksner...

Unapologetic Zaree [戯絵]

Artwork by Alex Saviuk and John Celardo...

Unapologetic Zaree [戯絵]

Artwork by José Luis García-López (praised be his name) and Frank McLaughlin...

Unapologetic Zaree [戯絵]

Artwork by Dick Dillin and Neal Adams...

The Touch of Time

There used to be a lot of things I could do.

(A number of those things, in hindsight, I probably should not had done.)

However, with age… and injury… and health issues of late…

There are now many things that I can no longer do.

And that list is growing.

But this is my new “new normal.”

This post is really an affirmation for myself…

To accept what I can no longer do…

And cherish everything that I still can do.

Particularly the sex.

Oh, I am so going to cherish the sex…

Ohayou

7 June 2019, 7.44 a.m. JST


For the first time in a long time, I awaken lying beside my lovely wife in Japan...

She still sleeps... She had been up late most nights this trip due in part to the time change... and due in part to worry...

(One day, I will need to explain why...)

But this morning, I smile... for she was up late for an entirely different reason...

*wink*

Cruel and Unusual Entitlement

April 2, 2011

My son, Isamu, was 6, and he loved the Flash. He had watched his super-speed exploits on my DVDs of the 1990s live-action series and my video taped recordings of the Justice League and Justice League Unlimited animated series. So when I had planned to take Isamu to his first WonderCon, which was the last year it was in San Francisco, Namiko bought him a Flash t-shirt to wear. Isamu beamed with pride as he wore it, and he would wave or high-five or fist-bump a few other kids (of various ages) who wore a similar shirt on the show floor.

I was leading Isamu by the hand to one of the vendor booths showcasing vintage toys, and the 30-something-year-old seller there admired Isamu’s shirt and asked him who his favorite Flash was.

I could tell by the way he looked at me that Isamu did not understand the question. At the time, in his eyes and mind, the Flashes he had seen in both television shows were essentially the same character. He thought they just looked different because one was a cartoon and one was live action. He did not know that there was more than one.

The 30-something-year-old seller then said, “I bet it’s Wally West. Amirite?”

Isamu turned to me and asked softly, “Who is Wally West?”

The 30-something-year-old seller suddenly became personally offended. He raised his voice as he asked my son. “You don’t know who Wally West is?! Wally West is the greatest Flash ever! How can you be a Flash fan if you don’t…?!”

I suddenly raised my voice to the seller. “Don’t you dare talk to my son like that!”

Isamu gripped my hand tighter. He no doubt thought he was in trouble, even though he would not understand why. I could see he was on the verge of tears.

I lowered my voice to the man. “So you consider yourself a Flash fan, do you?”

The 30-something-year-old seller smirked at me. “Yep. Twenty years now.”

“And how did you first know about the Flash?”

“The TV show. But then I read the comics, they were…”

I held up my free hand. “Stop. The TV show. The 1990 TV show with John Wesley Shipp, yes?”

“Of course.”

“My son watched that same show… on DVD. That’s why he likes the Flash. And I take it that show is why you liked the Flash as well. Otherwise you would not have bought the comic book… am I right?”

“You bet.”

“So how much did you know about Wally West when you first liked the Flash?”

“When I read the comic, I…”

“That was not my question. You liked the Flash because of the TV show. How much did you know about Wally West when you first watched the show?”

The 30-something-year-old seller looked at me like I had asked a stupid question. “Zero. Duh,” he sneered.

“So you…. dare… castigate my son… for not knowing about Wally West when you yourself knew nothing about him when you became a ‘Flash fan’?” I could barely restrain my anger at both his behavior and his hypocrisy.

That gave the 30-something-year-old seller pause. But only for a second or two. The man then furrowed his brow, as if we was about to make a retort, when…

“Is everything all right here?”

Up walked a 50-something-year-old seller, whom I immediately surmised had been the actual owner, or at least the top man, of the vintage toy booth -- and must had just came back from a break.

“No,” I said softly. “But that is okay. There are plenty of people here who understand that being a fan simply means that you like something.” I then smiled at my son, despite my pain from seeing that an actual tear had rolled down his check. “Let’s go, Flash-fan.”

And we walked away. And through the din of the crowded show floor, I could hear a little bit of the 50-something-year-old seller's faint reprimands to the 30-something-year-old seller for losing a potential customer...