Month: July 2021

What’s next after hitting bottom?

In addictions such as to alcohol, drugs, gambling, work, nicotine, etc., the process of hitting bottom can be a pre-requisite for recovery. One cliché is that your bottom is where you stop digging. But, what happens after you stop digging?

The first action is to do something to improve the situation. Or, at least, start moving in a new direction. A supplementary process is to notice what you have and protect it. If you don’t value it, you’re more likely to let it go cheaply.

The successes, no matter how small, are something to value and preserve. It becomes an intuitive sense that one wants to maintain them.

It’s a transverse attitude to their focus on recovery systems and techniques. The idea is “I’ve lost everything but now that I’ve found a little better part life; I want it to stay with me.”

Abstinence and fear are repelling forces. Push away the danger; push it all away.

A desire to protect becomes an attraction that leads into the newly opened world.

Low key

I just saw the last episode of the Marvel mini-series Loki tonight.

It was pretty cool. During the main confrontation in the show, there were continued accusations that a character was lying which left some details in doubt. It certainly gives plenty of grist for a discussion by Marvel fans. I don’t think he was completely dishonest, but that’ll become more obvious as Marvel continues develop its Phase 4.

Some of the mysteries from earlier episodes weren’t really solved. They were just left in the dustbin and replaced by newer mysteries in episode 6. However, you don’t need to spell out everything in block letters to carry a story. More discussions…?

It was fun to watch it with my sister. We knew the story well enough that we didn’t have to keep asking each other questions about the plot. We’d been spending the last couple of weeks saying “Where are you?” “Have you seen episode 5?” etc. We did well at not revealing spoilers to each other. Once we were done, I paired my phone with the TV so that we could watch a few YouTube commentaries.

Mobius (Owen Wilson) is my favorite characters in the series. Mobius’s low-key humor and self-satisfaction were entertaining. He was always smug and one step ahead.

My favorite YouTube commentator is Emergency Awesome. It was nice that his videos make it easy to avoid spoilers. He also had videos about the trailers for the upcoming episodes, but I avoided those also.

It wouldn’t be a Marvel movie without an obligatory fight scene. The “green” flashes that were used later in the fight seemed to be “Oh yeah! I have a gun” during a sword fight. Why did the characters wait so long to pull out their magic?

Emergency Awesome said that he would be making commentaries of the upcoming What If…? Marvel animated series. imdb.com said that it’s 11 episodes would start August 11.

Proms and Honeymoons

A movie reel

Nemo (Jared Leto) and Elise (Sarah Polley) have just been married. They are on the way to their honeymoon. Traffic backs up and they are stopped in front of a gasoline tank car. The have a wonderful life planned until the tanker detonates.

The explosion kills Elise and leaves Nemo with burn scars on his face. Later, he stands in front of some photos of Elise. As he pulls away, you see a silver urn as a shrine for her in his study. It was a very powerful moment that ties together different parts of the story.

This variant of Nemo is an example of one of the worst honeymoons one could imagine.

Years ago, I was driving home from Lafayette, Indiana to Fort Wayne on Indiana 25. I passed a boy on a moped also driving northeast. For some reason, I was watching him in my rear window.

Before I got too far, the boy turned left into the path of the car following me. The 13 year old boy, William, flew through the air and landed in the berm. I stopped and ran back to where the accident was. The boy was surrounded by a huge pool of blood. I didn’t want to believe he was dead. When the neighbors came out, one covered him with a sheet.

The police warned me to be careful because after seeing an accident like that, I would be more at risk of having my own accident. I could see their point: I could be distracted by the horror of it. I told the police was looking back because I thought it was a dangerous situation.

I didn’t realize it at first, but the driver and passenger of the car were to teenagers on their way to their prom. Such an awful prelude for what should have been a happy occasion.

The local newspaper published a photo taken after the accident. It had the two teenagers in the foreground and the father of the boy at the side of the frame. The photograph won an award.

Nemo and Elise’s honeymoon is one the versions of Nemo Nobody’s potential life. Mr. Nobody (2011) has different lives and most are full of pain. The lives that he reports are torn by crisis or disaster. A journalist (Daniel Mays) is puzzled by so many contradictory lives. His interview ends with the tape runs out.

Some of the events of life are horrible. Nemo’s honeymoon was cut short. The couple on their way to the prom were just planning to have a pleasant day. They all were faced with events turning in an unexpected direction.

Sometimes the tape is torn. When there’s no way to splice it back together, somehow the recording continues on. Sometimes it’s stronger and sometimes it’s weaker. Sometimes I have tears in my eyes and sometimes the tears in my tape are difficult. Even when I weep, I can realize there is still a ways to go.