HR Boards
March 28, 2024, 01:24:32 PM*

Welcome, Guest. Please login or register.

Login with username, password and session length
News: Kung Fu Panda 4 premieres in theaters March 8, 2024!
Advanced search  
Pages: [1]   Go Down
Print
Author Topic: I am fading  (Read 3485 times)
Jimmy T
Global Moderator
HR Celestial
*****
Posts: 5579



« on: July 27, 2019, 07:39:28 PM »

Fading away.

As you guys know, I've quit all hard copy purchasing of comics.

I have a near 3 month stack of DC floppies I've yet to read. As it is, I'm packing for showing the house to be able to sell and move, and well, all those floppies are put away. I have, last I checked, 74 unread in Marvel Unlimited. I stopped adding new issues on Mondays, as they will show up with 'read next issue' if/when I actually get to that point in reading. I have at least 9 trades on comixology (44, East of West to catch up and read, more still).

I just don't...feel like trying. Mind you, depression is around because financially, my wife and I have been a little ignorant of how things have been. We simply have a hard time making ends meet (in a first world sense). Daycare....is daycare. Just because you have kids, as you all know, you don't get a raise to accommodate that event. I don't suddenly make $16,000 more a year to cover this expense. Work is somewhere I hate being, I've been looking for new positions, but I made myself 'feel' better by leaving at lunch, taking extra time, and just sitting eating at Subway or Hardees or what have you.

Do this for a year and more...well shit, how's 10+ grand in debt with credit cards for gas, grocery, and all the other bills that go over the top of the monthly budget?

So, yeah, I've kicked all my paying habits. I don't do...anything. I havne't seen Far From Home...and most likely will not in theaters. I've stopped eating out.

Comics just don't seem an avenue to take me out of where I'm at. I mean, there's my general malaise with Marvel stuff (the same complaints, but there are some very good reads there, and tha'ts full honesty), and we all know how much DC is in the tank for me due to bending over for Bendis. so....I just walk away from it.

But I miss it. At least, I miss what it once meant for me. I feel this weird fear about stopping something that has been such a positive for me (I went to college for ART because of my talent and love for this). I've always been the 'comic guy' even before it was ironic, hipster cool, and or the most awesome thing about pop culture like now.

And now I'm not that. What am I?
Logged

Jimmy T since 2001
Perry
Just an old man
Administrator
HR Celestial
*****
Posts: 13806



« Reply #1 on: July 28, 2019, 03:30:39 PM »

So much to discuss here, my man.
I'll be back!!!
You check back!!
 Grin
Logged

Avatar mash-up is from Ross Pearsall... and of course those that own the original characters Smiley
Jeff
Administrator
HR Celestial
*****
Posts: 13278



WWW
« Reply #2 on: July 28, 2019, 10:04:20 PM »

So much to discuss here, my man.
I'll be back!!!
You check back!!
 Grin

Same here.  So much I want to say but don’t have time to type at the moment.
Logged

“If I could go back in time and like tell 11 year old me that like not only do you get to go to Comic Con but you go every year.  So much so that you get greeted by Stan Lee when you show up.  And 11 year old me would be like - How did we get so fat?”- Kevin Smith
jedicow
HR Super Hero
*****
Posts: 863



« Reply #3 on: August 03, 2019, 02:11:03 AM »

You're JimmyT. 

I feel you, dude.  Been there, done that.  Kids are rough, man, but I wouldn't have it any other way.  Hell, I want to go back to the days when my kids were 5 and 2.  Kids are not cheap and you think it will get better once they are a little older, but nope.  There's always something that you NEED to buy or pay for and then the stuff you just WANT them to have.  I finally kicked my new comic habit when I got so far behind on reading and Marvel was really not doing it for me anymore that I just stopped caring about new stuff.  Then a few years later, I went out and started buying cheap back issues at small cons and in shops when we would travel somewhere and that's still where I am and I have rekindled my love for comics even if it's not the new stuff.   

You're in a funk and it happens to EVERY father and maybe even every mother.  You'll get through it if for no other reason than that you're family is worth it. 
Logged

Perry
Just an old man
Administrator
HR Celestial
*****
Posts: 13806



« Reply #4 on: August 04, 2019, 11:55:47 AM »

You're JimmyT.

Yep. To even further expand, you're every man. Well, most men I guess I should say. Men that had to raise a family without the aid of millionaire parents or a cushy fund to live comfortably. You are a dad. A dad that does what he has to do because he both has to and he wants to (even though there are going to be days you question that last one  Cheesy Wink). And you're a comic fan and as we all know that title can become more cyclical than the rise and fall of the Sun. Sometimes we are not a fan at all.

When I was 17 I had the responsibility of raising a young daughter. Now this is coming off being irresponsible enough to produce the daughter in the first place, though I regret nothing about it. Things were tough, to say the least, especially as time went on. And although there were times when I was trying to work two jobs to support said daughter and the wife that was craziest enough to marry me that I was at wits end, I got through and I have to say comics helped in that endeavor. Sure I couldn't afford a pull list, but if I could just get one or two comics a month ... man ... that helped the ole outlook.

Your situation is different than mine in so many ways, you are older with a child, you have that college edumication that I was never able to obtain and you have a lot more debt than I did at the time, but you are also very similar in the fact that you too will get through.

Life can be a ... insert your favorite here ... but man, it can be so grand as well and comics, often the bane of our existence, can also be the means of survival. They can also the thing that puts a smile on our face. Comics are great, especially for those of us that love the medium. It is okay to walk away for awhile. Hell I did for almost ten years. But don't give up, just take a break from comics, smile when you can even if you have to force yourself, take care of the little one, take care of the Mrs, take care of you and know that if the bills get too bad there are ways to go about it (either from credit payment plans or whatever).

Yeah, don't worry about the comics, buddy. They will be there for you when you desire to return and hey, we will be here if you need to vent or discuss!!

Ha, holy crap, sorry for all this. Way too much coffee this morning. I'm all over the place.

Bottom line, just take care man. Get through. Maybe read your kid some classic Casper or something. That was always a way for me to unwind with the little one. Well, the first one anyway. The next kid had computers ... no time for it
 Undecided Roll Eyes
(Yeah, I'm still going all over the place. Sorry)
 Cheesy
Logged

Avatar mash-up is from Ross Pearsall... and of course those that own the original characters Smiley
Jimmy T
Global Moderator
HR Celestial
*****
Posts: 5579



« Reply #5 on: August 08, 2019, 01:26:47 AM »

Thanks for the thoughtful words.

Still swimming, well, treading water as it is. I'll always be around here, and at some point, I'll plop down and get caught up on 90 issues on Unlimited.

And the 2 final trades of East of West.

And all of 44.

And the entire collection of 'The Boys' that I got from a Humble Bundle.

And 4 months of DC comics that are still in a bag packed in a long box.

Then I'll reread some stuff I've been meaning to.

HA!  Cool Grin
Logged

Jimmy T since 2001
Pages: [1]   Go Up
Print
Jump to:  

 B l a c k - R a i n V.2 by C r i p ~ Powered by SMF 1.1.21 | SMF © 2015, Simple Machines MySQL | PHP | XHTML | CSS