Agent of Change

A Blog by Cory!! Strode, who really should write something interesting here.

Archive for the month “October, 2019”

28 Oct 2019

What I am thinking about today: 11/28/2019

What I am thinking about today:

Saturday night, I was working at the group home alone, with all of the clients either in bed, in their room, or snoozing in a chair. It got incredibly lonely, and I’d like to thank you folks on the Facebooks for posting things to make me feel like I was connected. I really love reading about your lives, your creations, your jokes, your memes, seeing your selfies, looking at your meals, and everything else. I was able see what people were doing all over the world, and I will never ever not be impressed by this.

The new American Godzilla movie from this summer is in a DVD two pack with the American Godzilla movie from a few years ago. I am thinking that it didn’t quite meet financial expectations.

I am shocked that the people of DC and Baltimore were mean to the President after he said repeatedly that their city was a rat and roach infested trash heap. It’s like they thought he was insulting them or something.

Much love to friends old and new.

Facebooktwitterredditpinterestlinkedinmail
Posted in Personal
25 Oct 2019

What I am thinking about today: 10/25/2019

What I am thinking about today:

If you want proof of our priorities as a country, we have pulled troops away from protecting our allies in Syria because they only paid in blood and lives. We are moving troops into Saudi Arabia because they pay cash, and to protect oil fields in Syria because that pays in oil. Message to the world: We don’t’ give a damn about anything but oil and treasure. Alliances and promises are as worthless as a contract with a Trump company. I realize that other than voting next year, nothing is to be done about the above, but it is disturbing to me. In the past, we were just as horrible, but we tried to cloak it in good intentions, or attempt to mitigate it with other assistance or aid. Now, under Trump, we’ve become the caricature the world had about the US at its worst, and he brags about it openly. Reagan, who was as dirty as the day is long, and never met a 3rd world country his people didn’t think needed to be taken over by right wing thugs, said we were a “shining city on a hill.” Now, we’re third rate thug with a thumb ring.

I am thinking that Pumpkin Spice Flavored Wine would be to “Live, Love, Laugh” women like “75% off graphic novels” would be to me.

We just got Marvel’s January solicitations yesterday, and they are dropping information about their February books today. Slow down, buddy. I know you’re excited, but how about hyping the books you’ve got coming out next week instead?

I know people are wary of smart speakers, and some with good reason, but I adore mine. I have put together playlists, routines to give me information in need in the morning, set it for reminders and more, which helps in dealing with juggling two jobs, one of which is fairly mercurial. I feel bad for people who are “covertly listening” to me, as they will quickly realize how incredibly boring I am.

My only group home shift this weekend is Saturday night, so I have broken my promise not to work Saturday nights. I will also be doing extra hours at the office job, or evenings at the group home all next week. So, check-ins are appreciated, as is pie, obscure crime and detective novels from the 5-‘s and 60’s, phone calls from the Netherlands and offers of asylum.

Much love to friends old and new, and I hope you are able to do something wonderful over the weekend.

Facebooktwitterredditpinterestlinkedinmail
Posted in Comic Books, Personal, Politics
24 Oct 2019

What I am thinking about today: 10/24

What I am thinking about today:

Lately, I have been buying an extra package of socks when I go to Target or Wal-Mart to donate to the new homeless shelter in my area. Everything I read is that the one item of clothing always in demand is socks, and people rarely, if ever think of it when they donate clothing. I also saw that internet pal and friend of many of my friends Ely Mattson does kind things for others on her friend’s birthdays, so I will be packing up that baton and doing some kind things for people as someone who drifted out of my life has their birthday.

I am four weeks into doing coverage of AEW for PWInsider.com. I do the play by play recap and an audio hotline that you need to buy a membership to listen to. It’s always a rush to get it written in a timely manner, since the show doesn’t have a lot of rest holds or commercials. It’s tiring but exhilarating at the same time and like no other writing I have ever done. Hopefully, I am halfway decent at it, since there isn’t a lot of time to polish or wordsmith.

Much love to friends old and new.

Facebooktwitterredditpinterestlinkedinmail
Posted in Personal
23 Oct 2019

What I am thinking about today: 10/23

What I am thinking about today:

For the longest time, I have meditated on the question, “What do we owe each other?” This seems like a complex question, and delves to the heart of community, society, and kindness. Now, I am going to start asking, “What do I have to do for me?” Not in a selfish way, but what I do I need to do in order to hit Maslow’s highest plateau of self-actualization. It would be easy to point at time in the past when I was insanely productive, in a relationship that felt effortless, or was incredibly fulfilled by work, but those things are all transitory. It’s a mix of finding the best self-care, being productive on what I feel is important, and communal responsibility. This will keep my mind occupied more than it probably should.

I’m thinking that waking up and getting out of bed was the incorrect choice today. Not because it’s a bad day, just that I am exhausted. OK, and they have put me on yet another client at the office job, but only for a few days because they under-estimated the demand for phone reps.

A friend of someone I used to know is posting pages of books she reads with relevant passages highlighted. I think I will start doing that, as it’s a cool way to spread the ideas and prose I am reading.

I have been reading articles about how American discourse has been made angrier, and they lay the blame at the feet of Trump. I will say that Trump’s bully-boy, tough guy, lowest common denominator pandering to the worst of his base isn’t helping, but I still say that in politics, it all goes back to the end of the Fairness Doctrine in the 80’s. That ushered in an era of political talk radio that was more akin to Sports radio. This then bled into a politicized form of TV news so that other than a ridiculously few examples, cable news is just people who disagree with each other shouting and name calling. Of COURSE this would eventually become how we do politics because for over 30 years, this is how we are shown to discuss important issues about how to solve shared problems.

Much love to friends old and new, and I hope that today, you are able to put aside some time for a single moment of bliss during your hectic day.

Facebooktwitterredditpinterestlinkedinmail
Posted in Personal, Politics
22 Oct 2019

What I am thinking about today 10/22/2019:

 It’s entirely too clear that I should not have worked every night last week at the group home job. I still exhausted, irritable and feel like I am months behind on things. Could it be I am getting too old to put in 60 to 70 hour weeks? Nah, it’s got to be something else.

It’s about time for NaNoWriMo.org, National Novel Writing Month, and I’ll be taking part again. I even have a keyboard for my tablet so that I can write pretty much anywhere. I like November for writing, even though it’s our busiest month of the year in the Benefits world because it helps me focus on the writing. I know it’s hard to believe, but with two jobs and multiple podcasts, I find it hard to put aside time for writing and usually only do it a couple of times a week during the rest of the month. All I want to say about this year’s novel is that the theme will be how hard it is for groups to stay together and the cost of bad leadership.

Speaking of our busy time, the Overtime for the office job has been coming every week, despite them saying that there will be no overtime. Now that we are hitting the busy time of the year, there is even MORE of it. I pretty much take it since I live by myself, don’t date, and can schedule podcasting around it. So…there’s that.

I was reading through some older comics last night and it struck me just how good Robert Loren Fleming was. Of course, Thriller was ground breakingly brilliant, but his Ambush Bug scripting still cracks me up, and his work on the mini-series Underworld as well as the Ragman revamp from the 90’s. A damn shame we don’t have more work by him. I’d also love to get that pitch his did for Thriller, since DC Editorial at the time said it was the best pitch they had ever received.

Much love to friends old and new.

Facebooktwitterredditpinterestlinkedinmail
Posted in Personal
01 Oct 2019

Podcast schedule

I am putting together my Podcast schedule for the next 6 – 12 months, and so far I will be doing:

Kray Z Comics and Stories every Monday where Krayz Joe Rider and I talk comics every week.

Novelcast every other Wednesday (quiet, I mean it this time) Where I turn the novels I have written into podcasts.

Series in review at least once a month and maybe more. This is where I, and sometimes someone else, give DVD commentary on comic series of the past.

Solo podcasts on an ad hoc basis

I am still working out when the podcasts I do with Dan Mohr and Adam Vermillion will be updated and moving. I didn’t plan on taking the summer off from the other stuff I do, but it just worked out that way when the Group Home job needed me every night.

Now, they don’t, so I can get back to the stuff I love. Hopefully, there will also be a revamp of my long neglected webpage to become a hub for all of the audio goodness and other things I do, rather than the leftovers from my website from the early 2000’s.

My other plans for the rest of the year are work, paying bills, watching TV, going to the art galleries in the Twin Cities, driving in the snow, and cursing at my alarm clock every morning at 6:20 am.

Facebooktwitterredditpinterestlinkedinmail
Posted in Housekeeping., Personal, Writing

Post Navigation