52: Week 8

Originally uploaded by Omar G!.

Comics

A childhood hobby that continues to some degree even today. I’m not sure what the impetus was to begin reading comics. It might have been their constant presence on the wire racks at 7-11 or any supermarket growing up in the 70s. It probably had something to do with influence from other kids at school who were into reading comics.I wouldn’t call it a hobby at that point because it began with reading random issues of various series - Spider-Man, Superman, Batman, whatever.

I can distinctly remember fourth grade as a point where I was actively reading specific books particularly the X-Men series with the classic Claremont/Byrne issues (I just missed the Cockrum issues). That lead to identifying favorite books as well as writers and artists. I would buy anything Byrne or Perez would do. Imagine that a comic might only set you back 35¢ or less at that time.

Considering an allowance of a few dollars a week (part of that went towards a Slurpee for sure), I read plenty of comics. I know my parents certainly extended the allowance to make sure I was able to get an extra comic here and there. More often than not, I would get my comics at the corner Quik Stop. The owners would let me scan through the box of books prior to them putting them on the racks. Another treat was the Flea Market where you could get cover-less issues. Back then, stores would get credit back on issues that didn’t sell by ripping off the covers and sending them back. A few would setup at the Flea Market on weekends and sell those books for 3 for a 25¢ or better if you bought a $1 worth. Collectible? Nah but you could get a bunch of books on the cheap.

Through another friend, I heard about Sidebottom’s comics which was in downtown San Jose just a block or so from SJSU. It was a different time then and it was OK for 9 or 10 year olds to head down on bus 22 (10¢ each way) and spend an afternoon looking at Sidebottom’s new and old books (he had great backstock). We’d usually walk away with 3 or 4 books which we started reading on the bus ride home.

One of the cool things for me was entering a contest that DC Comics ran. It was called Dial “H” for Hero. The premise was that the heroes would change identities/powers each time they used their dials. The characters would be created via entries from readers. One of my entries was chosen and the character even made the cover. Pretty cool especially for a 10 year old.

Soon, other comic shops would pop up all over San Jose and the trips downtown were less frequent. Eventually, I would stop buying altogether. This was probably as I was heading into high school. My attention shifted to other things such as baseball cards ( a story for another day).

I would come back to collecting in the early 90s. I saw some wild things going on with X-Men and saw this amazing artist by the name of Jim Lee. His stuff just drew me in. This was a time when every company would have a crossover and the X-Men lead the way. You couldn’t buy one title - you had to have all 3 or 4 in each line to get the story (sucker!). Long story short, I was back picking up just a few key titles. Eventually, that grew to reading up to 20 issues a month (and sometimes more).

I’m scaling back again. Gonna focus on a handful of titles and the occasional trade paperback. There are no grand illusions of getting rich off my collection. Nah, it’ll just be there for the boys and they’ll get to do their thing reading all those books.

Bath Time

Originally uploaded by Omar G!.

One thing we know is that Joshua is not a fan of being cold. He’d always rather be cozy than get undressed for a diaper change or to get into the bath. By the time he’s wrapped in a towel and getting his hair rinsed, he’s totally calm.

Brothers

Originally uploaded by Omar G!.

Gabriel finally gets a chance to feed his brother. Between illness and such, this past Saturday was the first time he had opportunity to do so. As you can see from his expression, he loved it.

52: Week 7

Originally uploaded by Omar G!.

It’s a Pixar House

I’m a pretty big Disney fan. It goes back to my childhood and the trips we took to Disneyland as a family. So, when Pixar came up with Toy Story, I was hooked. It was different yet it had channelled some of the classic quality and sensibilites of Disney at the same time. Meanwhile, Disney proper was heading south real fast with some less than stellar releases. The Pixar films were fresh and we enjoyed them. More often than not, we’d watch these movies with our nephews and nieces.

It was natural that we’d share these movies with our own sons as they grew up. Gabriel took an immediate liking to the characters as we have visited Disneyland early and often. He latched onto Toy Story and Bugs Life immediately. Then came the releases of Cars and Ratatouille. With those films, he was totally aware of their impending releases and actively looked forward to going to the theatres and digging into a bit of popcorn.

It’s fun to know that he’s into the stories and has actually learned quite a bit by doing so. As a parent, it’s good to have an interesting story with something that we’ll likely watch dozens of times (at least). One side note, until recently, the Incredibles was the one movie he wouldn’t watch all the way through. The initial setup wouldn’t catch his attention. But, after catching it run during the X-Mas TV season, he latched onto it. I’m digging it because it’s a terrific superhero movie. We’ll continue to share these movies with Joshua in short order.

So, let’s just say we have all the DVDs and even a few on VHS. I’ll be getting the Blu-Ray copies as they end up at $20. We also have a quite a number of toys, stuffed animals, prints, posters and dozens of the Cars Hot Wheels. We’ve attended the Disney On Ice with Finding Nemo and the Incredibles. The list goes on…

When it came time to settle on a theme for Gabriel’s “Big Boy” room (as seen in the background), we decided on keeping the red color on the walls and run with a Pixar theme. Turned out well as the color matched the Cars color scheme.

I was happy to see Pixar come under the Disney umbrella. It meant that not only we’d continue to see new films but also ensure that any potential sequel will be produced by Pixar itself. I also suspect that with Lasseter running the entire show, we might see the Disney magic return sooner than later.

Next up… Wall-E!

He’s back

Originally uploaded by Omar G!.

Feeling much, much better. Looks like he’ll back to school next week sometime and he can now snuggle with his brother.

The dermatologist game him some kick-ass cream-based steroid medication (maybe it was "The Creme"?) plus he advised the use of standard lotion atop the medication to soothe the itching. Worked like champ. Within 48 hours, most of the rash was totally gone. A week later, I’d say he’s done.

In the middle of all that, he had a cold and a very minor ear infection which have run their course thankfully.

Best thing is that he can be around his brother. That was the biggest thing for all us. He’s done so well adjusting to his little brother and it stunk that he couldn’t really get too close to him the past couple of weeks.

Fingers crossed that he doesn’t catch anything while he’s at school…

52: Week 6

Originally uploaded by Omar G!.

Sweetheart

A bit of sweetness for my loved one. On the left, the classic symbol of the heart is filled with M&Ms. On the right, a tradition that we’ve had of making a playlist for Gloria featuring love songs. The playlist began on tape, continued on CDs and naturally made it’s way onto our iPods The playlist will always include Tony Bennet’s rendition of “The Way You Look Tonight”. It was “the song” for our wedding and remains that way.

Yup, we’re pretty hardcore when it comes to the A’s

Originally uploaded by Omar G!.

Gift courtesy of my sister.

Got anything else for him?

Originally uploaded by Omar G!.

When it rains, it pours. Just on the recovery side of a rash, he’s now got a cold. He likely got while visiting the doctor’s office for the rash. Ugh.

LF crew

Originally uploaded by Omar G!.

Wishing my nephew a wonderful birthday. He’s primed for another big year in little league!