T-shirt #154: Captain Marvel: Shazam

T-shirt #154: Captain Marvel: Shazam

I am not fully back, but I am back. Sort of. Kind of. Almost.

I am reporting CLEAR MARGINS. The prostate contained 100% of the cancer.


I tried to go off the narcotics today and failed. More pain today. Felt a little weak and light headed after my walk. Went farther on the walk today but not yet up to two walks.

And the Tigers lost.

Today, I present (in some cases for the second time) pictures from a party I attended in 2006 at the home of my friend Darrough West.

You see me in all these pictures togged in my SHAZAM! or Captain Marvel shirt. The intent was to be Doctor Strange, hence the cape and Eye of Aggamotto on my forehead. However, as I have shared before, I do not have the Doctor Strange blue symbol shirt. So...

I improvised.

I thought my costume was a good improvisation as my goal was to create something iconic, with which I believe I succeeded.

I have less to say about Captain Marvel than most heroes. He's cool and all. I read a lot of his comics as a  kid. I loved the Jerry Ordway book (definitive), and I loved the recent reboot in Justice League as drawn by Gary Frank, which I mentioned in T-shirt #99. I also enjoyed the old 1970s TV show dedicated to Captain Marvel and his SHAZAM! transformation.

Plus, I may explore more on this hero whenever I finish my Alex Ross post as Captain Marvel (known to many by his magic word: SHAZAM) is featured prominently in Kingdom Come.

I also wanted to point out the striking resemblance between my friend Jeremy Welter and Captain Marvel, but I do not have a good picture of Jeremy. Maybe I will update.

I have other sundry content items (such as finishing my stack of Uber comics and the first volume of Mind Mgmt) but these subject will have to wait for another day.

This is going to be a short one. Still recovering but done with pajamas.

Enjoy the photos. Some kooky kids at that party 2006 Halloween party.

- chris tower - 1308.22 - 17:25

T-shirt #153: Pajamas: Free Tigers Shirt

T-shirt #153: Pajamas: Free Tigers Shirt

This picture is misleading. I NEVER sleep on my stomach, and even if I did, I can't now because I would crush the tube running from my catheter to the bedside bag.

I decided to take another day of hiatus. Semi-hiatus.

Energy is starting to return slowly.

Mr. T-shirt Blogger is taking a hiatus from the T-shirt blog for probably four days (that's the plan anyway.. and now I am up to six days). I will resume crazy, long, ridiculously complex posts that make your mind reel on  Thursday August 22nd (I hope).

Check out the photo below. I should look stoned. This photo was taken just a few hours after surgery. I had a lot of narcotics in my system. But I have already been able to start reading as evidenced by the books on my little table. And I was lucid and speaking clearly (more or less).

RANDOM THOUGHTS AND NEWS TIDBITS

• Supposedly coffee irritates the catheter line. I have cut back but did not eliminate the life-giving liquids. So far I have not felt any additional irritation.

• Speaking of irritation, my patience is directly proportional to my pain. I have to keep talking to myself to determine if something that is irritating me would normally irritate me and/or if I should be irritated about the thing I am irritated about.

• The Tigers sent down Phil Coke, which is a good idea. Maybe he can find his control in Toledo.

• Miggy is injured. Okay, we knew he was injured. But he may have a new injury. This may not be terrible as the Tigers played pretty well when he sat the last time.

• Apparently, The NSA scans 75% of the Internet: ARTICLE HERE.

• John Oliver geek rants over Iron Man fact fail. FUNNY. I happen to agree. Get it right, Mainstream media. Some of us take this comic book stuff seriously.
  
• My Jam for today is "King for a Day" by XTC.

• I had another bowel movement. I know that many of you tune in to my blog just for that fact, so there you go. It's big news for me right now.

• Energy is low, but I am reading and resting and daydreaming and sleeping and walking and cuddling with the pets.

• One week after I blogged about Geof Darrow and complained that he was not producing enough work in comics, he announced the release of a new issue of Shaolin Cowboy due in October.

• I may use this convalescence time to catch up on movies that I have been wanting to watch, such as X-Men First Class, Anchorman, The Island, Tron Legacy, Batman: The Dark Knight Returns parts one and two, Batman Year One, Superman:Doomsday, Road to Perdition, Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, and Moneyball.

• I started watching Under the Dome and discovered that I know one of the lead actors: Alexander Koch. Congratulations Alex! He's doing a great job playing Junior Rennie.

• I often feel badly when I fall behind on a comic book I dearly love. I just read six issues of Fables, which has consistently been a GREAT comic book for over ten years and one of my favorites. I love it and should not allow it stack up. On the other hand, I also caught up on Batman Incorporated, which was the subject of T-shirt #7, which was good but not mind-blowingly fantastic. I like Grant Morrison's work a lot, but sometimes, it seems a bit obscure and overly complex. He seems to introduce storylines that don't go anywhere, or, rather, do not reach a natural or even a satisfying conclusion.

• I finished Stephen King's Joyland the day before my surgery. Very enjoyable read. King is great with "Americana" and "American" character. Carnies are the heart and soul of old-time America. Fun, short, and worth reading. King should do more short novels.

• I started reading City of Bones: the Mortal Instruments #1 after finishing Joyland as I want to get the book read before I go see the movie. So far, I am unimpressed. It's okay but hardly fabulous. But I will read the whole thing before I pass my final judgment. This book will not make even the top twenty books I read this year, so far, but I do expect the movie to be halfway decent.

• I am not yet off the narcotics; I am walking a substantial distance at least once a day.

• Satchel just went to Camp Fido, using the Pet Taxi for the first time.

• I kept my surgery private prior to the having of the surgery mainly because I did not want to think about it very much, and the more people I told, the more conversations I would have to have about it, which I was trying to avoid.

• I feel a little helpless, so I had to clean up the kitchen last night even though I was a little painful. Not doing laundry is also bothering me. Though Liesel has done a great jobs with these chores that are usually mine.

• Men my age or even a bit younger should have their PSA checked regularly.

• My two day hospital stay (not sure if surgery is included but I think it is) cost $33,000.

• Picture to the right is of me leaving the hospital after a two day stay wearing T-shirt #49, in which I discussed the coolness of wings and flight. These themes are probably why I grabbed the shirt to wear out of the hospital.

• Damn, why didn't I think to wear a T-shirt to surgery and photo document the whole thing? I actually did think of it and then rejected the idea.

• Liesel has gone back to work, and I have to teach another class this morning. Ho hum. Back to work.

- chris tower - 1308.21 - 8:40

T-shirt #152: Pajamas: SeaLab

T-shirt #152: Pajamas: SeaLab

Mr. T-shirt Blogger is taking a hiatus from the T-shirt blog for probably four days (that's the plan anyway.. and now I am up to five days). I will resume crazy, long, ridiculously complex posts that make your mind reel on Wednesday August 21st (though maybe not).

Taking at least one more extra day of recuperation.

Had a bowel movement!! I know that's something you all wanted to know. It's important to me that the bowels are waking up. I am very in tune with my bowels.

Recuperation is taking longer than I expected. I did not think about how much pain there would be after having my prostate cut out of my abdomen. I know; I mentioned this yesterday. But I think it needs repeating.

I thought I would be writing ahead on the blog while recuperating, but so far that has not happened. I may take another day or two of hiatus before I launch the next crazy long and complex posting.

This T-shirt came to me via John Kasdorf, a good friend of mine and Liesel's.

Back to comics, TV watching, and rest.

- chris tower - 1308.20 - 10:27

T-shirt #151: Pajamas: Grey

T-shirt #151: Pajamas: Grey

Mr. T-shirt Blogger is taking a hiatus from the T-shirt blog for probably four days (that's the plan anyway). I will resume crazy, long, ridiculously complex posts that make your mind reel on Tuesday August 20th if not before. (And, obviously, now, it's not going to be before.)

I look happier in this picture than I am, though I am not terribly unhappy. I am waiting for my bowels to wake up. I figured a fact like that had to be in the public record.

I think my reticence to discuss my impending surgery with very many people prior to the date of having the surgery was because I did not really want to think about it. One thing I did not really consider is how much pain there would be. Of course, I knew there would be pain, but I put zero thought into how much pain one has after having one's prostate removed. Still, I am told that it would be much worse if my prostate had not been removed by the robots. The pain is unpleasant buy I am managing.

I am not just resting and idle. I am walking and eating, and this morning, against my better judgement--or my wishes--I taught a class. Granted it was an online class that I taught in the comfort of my own home, but still, three days after surgery I had to be back TO WORK. I completed the day's work by about 12:30, and I cannot claim that I put in constant effort from about 8:30-12:30. But still, I was up and in the office chair for most of that time doing something.

Grading Robot does not really get powered up until next week.

WEEKLY COMIC BOOK STACK

I am getting in time to read, though I used some of my convalescence time to re-read Marvels, Kingdom Come, and Batman: Earth One. I just caught up on my black-log stack of Fables comics and hope to catch up on other back logs, soon. I have other books on hand to help me recuperate, some of which I bought recently like Mind Mgmt and the Harlan Ellison story drawn by Paul Chadwick.

I did some catching up of back log before the surgery, knocking out Green Lantern, Avengers Arena, and World's Finest among others.

As for this week (well, last week), Walking Dead continues to claim the top spot, though the tension of the story is getting artificially enhanced by shorter chapters or maybe chapters that seem shorter as less time passes. I am fond of Fantastic Four, especially the work of Fraction/Bagley, and so this continues to be a top book for me though others may not rate it as highly. I enjoyed JLA, though I do not like the updated Martian Manhunter. I prefer his classic look, dorky as it may be. Infinity was an excellent read, and it definitely superseded the impetus of the book, which is to re-establish Thanos as a main villain in the Marvel landscape prior to the release of the Avengers 2 film next year.

COMICS FOR 1308.14
Walking Dead # 113
Fantastic Four #011
Justice League of America #7
Infinity #1 of 6
Uncanny X-Men #010
Thor #011
Batman #23
Defenders #008
Batgirl #23
Buffy the Vampire Slayer (Season Nine) #24
Saga #13
Mind the Gap #12
Red Sonja #2
Avengers Arena #013
World's Finest #15
Nightwing #23

BACK LOG FROM THIS WEEK - 1308.14
Great Pacific #9
X-Force #010
Secret Avengers #007
Ultimate X-Men #30
Wolverine #008
Astro City #3

Locus - magazine of the SF industry

- chris tower - 1308.19 - 17:59

T-shirt #150: Pajamas: Red

T-shirt #150: Pajamas: Red

I am in Bronson Hospital, and for some reason I cannot upload a photo. This post may be completed in stages as I may need to upload the picture later. I typed the previous Saturday night. It's Sunday. Success!! I managed to load it here at home.

I figured it was time for a solid color T-shirt with no logos.

I am better. I am recovering. I am getting lots of TLC.

Mr. T-shirt Blogger is taking a hiatus from the T-shirt blog for probably four days (that's the plan anyway). I will resume crazy, long, ridiculously complex posts that make your mind reel on Tuesday August 20th if not before.

- chris tower -1308.18 - time

T-shirt #149: Pajamas: Earth Day

T-shirt #149: Pajamas: Earth Day


Another Pajama shirt. Second favorite these days.

Mr. T-shirt Blogger is taking a hiatus from the T-shirt blog for probably four days (that's the plan anyway). I will resume crazy, long, ridiculously complex posts that make your mind reel on Tuesday August 20th if not before.

I have scheduled this blog post to automatically publish on Saturday August 17th.

I love this motto: HERE TOMORROW! HERE TOMORROW!!




I wrote the above text on August 15th. I am pleased to announce that I am still here. I may not understand how the schedule function works as I set this post to publish this morning, and it didn't. Yesterday's post was also supposed to publish during my surgery and didn't. I published it later from my tablet while under the influence of strong narcotics.


UPDATE from Bronson hospital: I am recovering from having my prostate removed. I am all right. I am getting a lot of TLC from my amazing wife, and I am re-reading Marvels and Kingdom Come in advance of my Alex Ross post. Thinking about heroes, wonders, and marvels.

Thanks for reading!


PS: Today is my wife's birthday. I love you, hunny.


                                                     - chris tower - 1308.17 - 11:35

T-shirt #148: Pajamas: Oxford University

T-shirt #148: Pajamas: Oxford University

I visited Oxford, England in 1986 on a trip with my parents and my sister. I bought this shirt. Though it may have been a shirt for my mother. Either way, the shirt never fit right. It is currently my favorite pajama shirt. I plan to wear it today. I have scheduled this blog entry to publish on August 16th.

Mr. T-shirt Blogger is taking a hiatus from the T-shirt blog for probably four days (that's the plan anyway). I will resume crazy, long, ridiculously complex posts that make your mind reel on Tuesday August 20th if not before.

Thanks for reading!

PS: Today is my parents' 55th wedding anniversary.
I love you guys.

- chris tower - 1308.16 - 11:29