Mourning?

We all know that Prince passed away last week.  Minnesotans seemed to have taken it quite hard.  And why not?  He was from Minnesota, it was a sense of pride that he came from this state.  But it wasn't just the people of this state, but the world mourned.  And is still mourning.  He was a gifted musician and performer.  I did not feel the agony of his passing like the rest of the world seemed to.  I was not a fan of his.  That's not to say I did not like his music or appreciate the influence he had on the musical world.  I say I'm not a fan of his because I didn't listen to his music.  You can appreciate someone's influence without owning or listening to their music.  For me David Bowie's passing was felt more because I listened to him. I suppose that when artists that have made music that I deeply love pass away I will feel that sting for a little bit longer. 

I don't know how to segue into my next thoughts, so I guess I'll just put it out there:  I don't feel much of anything when celebrities pass away.  It sounds cold hearted, but because I do not have a personal relationship with them, I don't feel like going into mourning for long periods of time.  Sure, I'm sad when someone passes away, I'm not that much of a monster, but I don't feel super sad about it.  Does this make me a bad person?  Probably.  I feel bad for the family and friends.  The people that knew them on a personal level. And I understand that if a celebrity or public figure passes away that has had a significant impression on you it can be difficult.  But they have also left their life's work behind.  You will still be able to channel them when you are feeling down or feel like an outcast.  

You will still be able to listen to your favorite song or record.  You'll be able to read the book or poem that your favorite author wrote.  Have a mourning period to be beside yourself with grief. But also have a period of time when you revel in the fact that their work has made a positive impression on you.  Enjoy that song that makes you dance by yourself. Read that chapter in the book that makes you cry. Stare at the beautiful picture someone painted in silence while you contemplate life. 

Musicians, writers, and artists take their emotions and throw them into their work so that we can benefit from it.  The best thing that we as fans can do is to appreciate their work for what it does for us.  How their work makes us feel.  So, while I will be sad for a little while after my favorite author or musician passes away, I will also be very thankful that they left their work for us to enjoy. Forever.

Promotion

Just a quick little post to talk about work.  I always look at my path in retail as humorous.  After graduating college, I couldn't find a job in my field (SHOCKER!) so in an effort to start making money, I started working retail.  Since I graduated in 2004, I have had two jobs.  Both retail.  I kinda gave up on my college field of work although I would love to get back into it.

I started working at a new place on 2013 after leaving my previous employer of eight years.  In the eight years, I went from an hourly team member to department manager within a year because they wanted to promote hard workers.  Makes sense.  After reaching that department manager level, the promise of promotion and training was always there, it just never came to be.  And I wrote about this when I went to my new employer.  You can only deal with so many blocks in the road before you give up on trying to move up the ladder.  

So I took my work experience to a new place.  A smaller company at the store level and as a whole.  It is much more my speed.  I moved from one department to another after a year and a half overseeing the former.  And to no one's surprise, I absolutely CRUSHED IT in my new department.  No hubris, it's straight facts.  And within less than a year of running my new department, I was given a new opportunity.  

A promotion!  I am now a supervisor within my store.  I will be overseeing the logistics processes of our store.  My brain is wired for it.  I jokingly say the German part of my brain has taken over and will be compartmentalizing everything and keeping it all in line and in order.  This opportunity kinda fell into my lap as the previous supervisor moved away.  But I have earned the opportunity through hard work, which is how it should be, yes?  Promote based on experience and work ethic.  That's what I think.  

Like I said, I look at my work path in retail as humorous.  I never really thought it would end up being a bit of a career.  But I've been at it for twelve years or there abouts.  And after all this time, I have been given a leadership chance.  Which my wife jokes is scary because 'they know it's you, right?'

Visual Reading

I have recently found myself drawn to comic books.  I don't know why and I don't know how, but I just find them much more enjoyable than novels at the moment.  Maybe it's because comic book movies are very popular right now.  From X-men to the Avengers to Deadpool, it is gaining momentum every time a movie is successful.  Even television shows are popular.  Arrow and Daredevil are two that I watch through Netflix.  Part of it might also be because it is multi medium.  You have the story telling and plot points, but you also have the visual aspect of it.  My wife jokes that it sure does take me a long time to read a comic, but I enjoy reading the dialogue and then looking over the illustrations for full context of the subject.  Plus, I only read a little bit at a time.  I can't read for hours on end like she can. 

I was never really into comics as a kid.  I had a few.  Mostly random X-Men comics that you could find at a bookstore.  Had a couple of 'What If...' comics.  I did have the death of Superman when it came out.  I hadn't ever read any Superman comics before or since, but I just remember thinking I had to have it.  So I think my brother and I went half in and bought it together.  It is more than likely still at my parents house.  I have no clue. 

For a long time, I read non-fiction books, and while interesting, they were mentally draining.  Sure, you learn a lot about a subject that you are interested in or know little about, but it just isn't always enjoyable.  I'm not in school anymore, I don't really need to learn.  I still have and read non-fiction books.  I have a couple on my shelf right now that I am excited to read, but every time I look at them I give out a bit of a sigh thinking 'that's gonna take a long time to get through.'.  Even fiction novels seem like slow reading to me.  

So, below is my very modest collection of comics and graphic novels.  It started out with 'Watchmen'.  I read my brother's copy several years ago and gave it back.  But then I wanted to re-read it because I felt like there were some things that I just missed in it.  And I thought that while it would be just as easy to borrow it again, it would be a nice book to own.  That way I could read it whenever I felt the need to.  Then 'The Walking Dead' came to be.  Once I got the first and second compendium, I wanted to keep with the theme.  So I anxiously waited for the third one to come out.  And sure, I could just start going out and buying the chapters as they are released, but I like having the big collections.  Just how my mind works.  And thanks to the successful Netflix show, I have really taken interest in Daredevil.  The three that I have I bought for my birthday.  They are the run that Frank Miller did in the late 70s and 80s.  After reading the first collection, I am looking to add as much as possible.  Going back to the very first one and adding everything in between.  This is where sites like Amazon come in handy because you can find literally anything you want.   

What I have found is that collections are the way to go, especially if you are interested in a comic or graphic novel that has been out for a long period of time.  Or if you aren't up to having tons of little comics lying around.  Plus, I'm not going to be running out every couple of weeks to update my collection.  I would rather have these big books versus hundreds of small ones sitting around.  It's all together in binding.  You don't have to try keep going back to the bookshelf once you finish one and then find the next once.  With collections you can just keep turning the pages.

I think that the one problem with comics is that there are just so many.  And I'm not just talking titles, because we all know that, but plenty of comics books have been out for decades.  DECADES.  Daredevil started in the 1960s.  So if you want to read everything that has been published, you are going through sixty years of publication.  So you have the amount of time titles have been out, but then you also have different story arcs, alternate versions, crossovers, all kinds of things.  And that's the cool thing about comics.  In one universe you can have certain characters that are dead, but are brought back in other universes.  Unless it's the 'Walking Dead'.  Once you're gone, you stay gone.  There is no alternate universe.