…and 365 days after that

Hello again, internet.

It’s been awhile.  Exactly one year since my last blog post; which, in turn, was about a year and a half after the post before that.

My life took many sudden and significant turns over the past few years.  Unfortunately, that led to the neglect and abandonment of this blog.

But I think it’s time for a new start.

I’m finally seeing a therapist for my depression and anxiety.  I’m the aunt to an incredible little toddler.  I’m dating an amazing woman who makes me want to be a better person.  I have a good job in a great city.  I feel more like “me” than I have in a long while.

Sure, there are many things with which I am still struggling; but for the most part, things in my life have become much more stable and trending towards some semblance of happiness.  So I am using this opportunity to further push myself to be better.

I want to challenge myself.

I want to reinvigorate my faith.

I want to learn more about the things that intrigue me.

I want to get back into writing more regularly.

I want to explore and enjoy more of what life has to offer.

I want to further delve into what makes me “me,” and how I can share the unique aspects of myself with others who might appreciate them.

While I haven’t quite figured out what the rebirth of this blog will ultimately be, I’m excited to tap into whatever comes from it.

The tagline of this blog reads:

Life. Faith. Imagination. Geekery.

I’m sure I’ll be writing about many of the same types of things I wrote about when I started blogging, since many of those topics still interest me.  But I have also grown and changed over the past few years.

My hope is that through this blog, I can capture some of that continued growth and change in the days to come.  That doesn’t mean that there won’t be a lot of fun and silliness along the way; I live for fun and silliness.  But life is a curious, surprising, ever-changing, incredible thing; I hope to capture even just the barest sliver of that as I share with you all here.

Thanks for joining me along the journey.

Much love,

Wise the Simple

 

K is for Kamala Khan

“I don’t know what I’m supposed to do.  I don’t know who I’m supposed to be.”

“Who do you want to be?”

-Ms. Marvel Vol. 3, #1: No Normal

I didn’t grow up reading comics.  Most of my knowledge of all the iconic characters came via television and movies.  I watched Batman’s adventures on film thanks to Burton, Nolan, and, yes, Schumacher; and watched Terry McGinnis take up the cowl every Saturday morning in Batman Beyond.  While I never actually read them, I remember flipping through the pages of my Wolverine-obsessed cousins’ X-Men comics as a kid, looking at the pictures.  Then the film came out in 2000, and I would race home after school to learn more about the mutant heroes via reruns of the animated series.  And now, like many people, I am currently obsessed with every part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

All that to say, I love the stories and mythology of superheroes, but haven’t really experienced them in their original form — comic books.  I’ve read one or two here and there, (The Killing Joke comes to mind), but never followed a full story arc.  As a bit of a completist, the amount of backstory I would miss by jumping in now is disheartening. Comic book characters and storylines are so intertwined; it all seems so daunting as a new reader.  Because of this, I have heretofore stuck with non-superhero, non-Big Two comics/graphic novels. (For the curious: I’ve finished Scott Pilgrim and Y: The Last Man, dabbled in Fables, and am currently working my way through Saga.)

But this past year, I kept hearing about a new superhero.  That is, a new person taking up the mantle of an established hero.  A new character that felt different and fresh.  All the reviews were glowing, and the excitement surrounding this introduction spread like wildfire.  I am referring, of course, to the new Ms. Marvel.  A superhero whose alter-ego is a teenage, Muslim, Pakistani-American girl from Jersey City — Kamala Khan.

Ms. Marvel Vol. 3, #1: No Normal (via Marvel)