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 My primary Writing.com blog. |
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Logocentric (adj). Regarding words and language as a fundamental expression of an external reality (especially applied as a negative term to traditional Western thought by postmodernist critics). Sometimes I just write whatever I feel like. Other times I respond to prompts, many taken from the following places: Thanks for stopping by!  |
I'm a little late posting this, but it's time for my annual accounting of all the reading and listening I've done over the course of 2025. Here's how this past year broke down in terms of titles and numbers: = favorite = also really enjoyedTOTALS Books: 51 Podcasts: 1,153 Comics: 444 Scripts: 12 According to Goodreads, my stats were: 14,605 pages read (down 4,003 words from last year), 292 average pages per book (down 40 pages from last year), the shortest book I read was 38 pages (up 8 pages from last year), and the longest book I read was 560 pages (down 285 pages from last year) BOOKS Fiction 3 Days, 9 Months, 27 Years by John Scalzi Artificial Condition by Martha WellsBad Date by Ellery Lloyd City of Last Chances by Adrian Tchaikovsky A Court of Thorn and Roses by Sarah J. Maas Daggerheart Core Rulebook by Darrington Press D&D Monster Manual (2024) by Wizards of the Coast Eberron: Rising from the Last War by Wizards of the Coast Eerie Basin by Ivy Pochoda A Farewell to Arms by John Steinbeck Fog & Fury by Rachel Howzell Hall Full Dark, No Stars by Stephen King Gemini Blue by Kara Cavalli Heir to Atlantis by Chris Fox Hero of Metalhaven by G J Ogden I'll Follow You by Charlene Wang The Kidnapping of Alice Ingold by Cate Holahan The Magician's Nephew by C.S. LewisThe Magitech Chronicles Roleplaying Game by Chris Fox Murder Your Employer: The McMasters Guide to Homicide by Rupert HolmesOne by One by Ruth Ware Only Way Out by Tod Goldberg The Shadow of the Gods by John Gwynne Something Under the Bed is Drooling by Bill WattersonThe Starless Crown by James Rollins Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide by Wizards of the Coast Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting Reborn by Matthew Mercer Voice Like a Hyacinth by Mallory Pearson What Happened to Lucy Vale by Lauren Oliver While the Dark Remains by Joanna Ruth Meyer Without Fail by Lee ChildNonfiction The 16 Undeniable Laws of Communication by Robert C. Maxwell Abundance by Ezra Klein & Derek ThompsonAmerican Black Widow by Gregg Olsen The Artful Edit by Susan Bell Atlas Obscura by Joshua Foer, et alEverybody Has a Podcast (Except You) by The McElroys Finding Your Voice as a Writer by C.A. Mason For Your Eyes Only: Ian Fleming & James Bond by Ben Macintyre The Game Master's Book of Astonishing Random Tables by Ben Egloff The Game Master's Handbook of Proactive Roleplaying by Jonah Fishel How to Be a Rockstar Screenwriter by David Silverman & Rogena Schuyler How to Read Nonfiction Like a Professor by Thomas C. Foster How to Sell 1,000 Books a Month by Susan U. Neal How to Write a Screenplay That Doesn't Suck & Will Actually Sell by Michael Rogan Open by Andre Agassi Poverty, by America by Matthew DesmondSteering the Craft by Ursula K. Le Guin The Ultimate RPG Character Backstory Guide (Expanded Genres Edition) by James D'Amato The Ultimate RPG Game Master's Guide by James D'Amato The Ultimate RPG Game Master's Worldbuilding Guide by James D'AmatoPODCASTS Adventuring Academy — 22 episodes Ask NT Wright Anything — 53 episodes Dead Pilots Society — 13 episodes The Economics of Everyday Things — 48 episodes Explain It To Me — 48 episodesThe Ezra Klein Show — 71 episodes Freakonomics — 49 episodes The Gray Area — 30 episodes How Did This Get Made? — 9 episodes How I Built This — 3 episodes Imaginary Worlds — 21 episodes Interesting Times (f.k.a. Matter of Opinion) — 37 episodes Not Another D&D Podcast — 11 episodesOffline with Jon Favreau — 50 episodes Pod Save America — 138 episodesPod Save the World — 54 episodes Politix — 51 episodes Q&A — 17 episodes The Rewatchables — 25 episodes Runaway Country — 10 episodes Scriptnotes — 24 episodes The Slate Political Gabfest — 60 episodes Slow Burn — 14 episodes Strict Scrutiny — 15 episodesTED Radio Hour — 17 episodes Untitled Female Driven Podcast — 5 episodes What A Day — 224 episodes Worlds Beyond Number — 14 episodesWrite On — 12 episodes Writer's Panel — 8 episodes COMICS Alien Paradiso — 4 issues Alien Romulus — 1 issue Aliens vs. Avengers — 1 issue All-New Venom — 4 issues Alligator Loki — 1 issue Amazing Spider-Man — 18 issues Avengers — 7 issues Avengers Assemble — 4 issues Blade — 4 issues Bloodhunters — 3 issues Cable: Love & Chrome — 3 issues Captain America — 5 issues Chasm: Curse of Kaine — 3 issues Conquest 2099 — 5 issues Crypt of Shadows — 1 issue Dazzler — 3 issues Daredevil — 7 issues Daredevil: Unleash Hell — 3 issuesDaredevil: Woman Without Fear — 2 issues Deadpool — 9 issues Deadpool & Wolverine — 3 issues Eddie Brock: Carnage — 2 issues Exceptional X-Men — 6 issues Fantastic Four — 7 issues Fantastic Four: The Dinosaur Fantastic Four — 1 issue Get Fury — 1 issue Giant-Sized X-Men — 1 issue Hellhunters — 4 issues Hellverine — 4 issues Holiday Tales to Astonish — 1 issue Hulk — 1 issue Immortal Thor — 6 issues Incredible Hulk — 5 issues Insurgent Iron Man — 1 issues Infinity Watch — 2 issues Iron Man — 5 issues Kahhori — 1 issue Kid Venom — 2 issues Kidpool & Spider-Boy — 1 issue Laura Kinney: Wolverine — 3 issues Magik — 3 issues Marvel Must-Haves — 1 issue Marvel Mutts — 1 issue Marvel Zombies: Dawn of Decay — 3 issues Miles Morales: Spider-Man — 7 issues Moon Knight: Fist of Khonshu — 6 issues Mystique — 5 issues Namor — 6 issues Negasonic Teenage Warhead — 1 issue New Champions — 3 issues Nick Fury vs. Fin Fang Foom — 1 issue Nyx — 7 issues One World Under Doom — 11 issuesPetpool: Pool Party — 1 issue Phases of the Moon Knight — 3 issues Phoenix — 7 issuesPower Man: Timeless — 2 issues Predator vs. Black Panther — 3 issues Psylocke — 5 issuesRobbie Reyes: Ghost Rider — 1 issues Rogue: Savage Land — 2 issues Sabretooth: The Dead Don't Talk — 4 issues Sam Wilson: Captain America — 3 issues Scarlet Witch — 6 issues Secret Wars — 2 issues Sentinels — 5 issues Spectacular Spider-Men — 6 issues Spider-Boy — 6 issues Spider-Gwen — 7 issues Spider-Man — 6 issues Spider Society — 2 issues Spidey and his Amazing Friends — 2 issues Spirits of Vengeance — 5 issues Star Wars — 30 issues Storm — 6 issues Timeslide — 1 issue TVA — 4 issues Ultimate Black Panther — 6 issues Ultimate Spider-Man — 6 issues Ultimate Wolverine — 2 issues Ultimate Universe — 1 issue Ultimate X-Men — 5 issues The Ultimates — 6 issues Ultraman x Avengers — 3 issues Uncanny X-Men — 13 issues Venom — 2 issues Venom War — 20 issuesWeb of Spider-Verse — 2 issues Werewolf by Night — 7 issues West Coast Avengers — 5 issues What If...? — 7 issuesWolverine — 13 issues Women of Marvel: She-Devils — 1 issue X-Factor — 4 issues X-Force — 7 issues X-Men — 10 issues Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man — 3 issues SCRIPTS THE 14TH FLOOR by Amy Reed & Brennan Scannell RICH DAN POOR DAN by John Enbom BUFFALO TENS (Episode 1 and 2) by Riki Lindhome & Natasha LeggeroCAMP FRIENDS by Lauren Herstik LETTERS TO BEYONCE by Austen Earl HOW TO GET OVER BRYAN BYERS by Ilana Pena & Anne Sundell BLESSED AND HIGHLY FAVORED by Chris Marcil & Sam JohnsonHERE SHE LIES by Gracie Glassmeyer CHEAP SEATS by David S. Rosenthal HUMANS OF THE AMERICAS by Jim Brandon & Brian SingletonDREAM by Lisa Muse Bryant GUY TEXT by Aaron Brownstein & Simon Ganz |
| To qualify for my Watch List every month, the following has to be something that I've watched that's new to me. It doesn't necessarily have to be a current show, but it can't be reruns or rewatches of something I've already seen. So if I'm including it in this list, it means this month is the first time I've watched it. I'll put "DNF" (Did Not Finish) next to anything that I stopped watching and have no immediate plans to finish. Movies  Anaconda (2025) Avatar: Fire and Ash The Bad Guys: A Very Bad Holiday The Boss Baby: Christmas Bonus Eternity Hamnet The Housemaid Marty Supreme The Night Before Wake up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery Wicked: For GoodThe movies that I didn't think were that great and I don't have much more to say about were Boss Baby: Christmas Bonus and The Night Before. The movies that I thought were just okay or pretty good and I don't have much more to say about were Bad Guys: A Very Bad Holiday, Wicked: For Good, Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery, Marty Supreme, and Hamnet. Going down the list of others, Anaconda was a surprisingly good spoof/remake of the franchise. Jack Black, Paul Rudd, and Steve Zahn are all hilarious, and there are just enough twists and references to the old franchise to keep it fun and interesting. It was probably my favorite movie of December from a pure enjoyment perspective; everyone in the theater was cracking up as we watched it. Avatar: Fire and Ash was much better than the last installment, IMO, even if it felt repetitive from a storytelling perspective (oh no, the humans are converging all of their watercraft into one place where they'll have a climactic air and sea battle!). But Varang and her fire tribe were great antagonists, and the pacing of this one was much better. Eternity was a great premise for a romantic movie (which I don't want to spoil), which felt a little slow to start, but got much better as it went on and the tension ratcheted up. The Housemaid was a decent adaptation of the bestselling book. I thought Sydney Sweeney and Amanda Seyfried played really well off each other, and the film did a good job preserving the twists in the book. It was an entertaining domestic thriller. Television Black Rabbit The Franchise (Season 1) Industry (Season 2) Law & Order (Season 25) Law & Order SVU (Season 27) Only Murders in the Building (Season 4) Owning Manhattan (Season 2) St. Denis Medical (Season 1)I don't have much to say about Law & Order and Law & Order SVU, and the second season of Industry was pretty dull expect for a few episodes toward the end. Same with the third season of Only Murders in the Building, which feels like it's getting further and further away from the magic of the first season. The Franchise was pretty terrible, with the sole exception of Richard E. Grant's performance... I definitely understand why it was canceled after one season. The second season of the reality series Owning Manhattan was pretty good; I like the fact that this season focused more on the challenges of growing his business rather than the drama of fame-hungry real estate agents. Ryan Serhant is an interesting guy and it's definitely entertaining reality television to watch him try to build his own brokerage into one that competes with the giants in the space. The two shows that I really enjoyed this month were Black Rabbit and St. Denis Medical. The first is a Netflix limited series starring Jude Law and Jason Bateman as brothers who own a restaurant and get in over their head with debts that they owe, and the latter is a broadcast sitcom from the guy who created Superstore, which could probably best be described as "Superstore, but this time at a regional hospital." But the formula works and they got a great cast, so who am I to complain? TOP PICK: Anaconda |
I was reading "Six Things About Me"  from Šuŋgmánitu Tȟáŋka  and decided that I'd do the same. The following are six fun facts and bits of random trivia about me:1. Although I've received dozens of screen credits on big budget studio movies for my work as a Marvel employee, the screen credit I'm proudest of is for a low-budget made-for-TV movie romantic comedy few people have seen, where I was credited as a co-writer. 2. Some of my more memorable celebrity encounters include helping Meg Ryan figure out how to use a microwave, firing an intern who fan-girled a little too hard over David Duchovny during an elevator ride we all shared, and personally delivering contraband merchandise to Quentin Tarantino at his house. 3. I am technically a third-degree brown belt in mixed martial arts (back in the day when it was truly a mix of disciplines like karate, tae kwon do, kung fu, etc. instead of just mostly Brazilian jujitsu and cage fighting). I quit just a few weeks short of my black belt test during my senior year in high school because a childhood friend of mine died of bacterial meningitis suddenly, and I had to write her obituary and interview her family for the school paper, which messed me up pretty bad at the time. 4. I once spent the night on Alcatraz, in solitary confinement. I should probably clarify this was during its National Park era and not it's "active federal prison" era.  5. Based on some amateur genealogy on the part of my uncle, it is believed that our family is distantly related to one of the early U.S Presidents. Unfortunately, it's John Tyler and not one of the cool ones. 6. When my wife and I were planning our wedding (a small-ish beach wedding with about 100 guests), my wife's parents were in the middle of an ugly divorce and we briefly had to consider hiring private security because certain family members were seriously threatening to show up uninvited to physically jump/beat up my wife's father. It might be kind of interesting to make this an ongoing community activity, so I'm going to nominate three other people to do the same, and hope that they participate and nominate folks of their own. You know, just like one of those old school email chain letters, except without the threat of years of misfortune if you don't do it.  I nominate: Jayne  Jeremy  Annette  |
| WDC 48-Hour Challenge: Media Prompt | Prompt ▶︎ This Kelly Clarkson holiday song was one that I featured in a prior "12 Days of "Christmas"" playlist back in 2022 (see: "Underneath the Tree" ). We didn't make tamales this year so the reference to playing it while family is around wasn't quite the same, but it did come up constantly on the holiday playlists we've had in the car at playing in the living room all season long.Christmas this year was a pretty low-key affair. We went to a Christmas service at a church with friends, then spent Christmas Eve and Christmas together with just our family. We had dinner last night, opened presents this morning, and mostly just spent the past two days as a family. It was a modest haul of presents, we made cookies, and we called relatives and texted friends to wish them a Merry Christmas. Next year, we'll probably do it up a little bigger, but every once in a while it's nice to have an easy, laid back holiday. |
 "All I Want for Christmas Is You" by Fifth Harmony On the Twelfth Day of Christmas, last but certainly not least, I had to include "All I Want for Christmas Is You," a perennial favorite of mine. In this case, I decided to feature the version by Fifth Harmony (pre-Camila Cabello departure), just to mix it up a little bit. I think the group does a pretty good job of covering the different range of notes that Mariah Carey hits in her original... if you can get past some of the blatant product placement in this video. |
"A Nonsense Christmas" by Sabrina Carpenter On the Eleventh Day of Christmas, I went with another Sabrina Carpenter song, this one of her own design. I really enjoy her music, especially the way she's unapologetically suggestive and sometimes even raunchy. I don't know anyone else who could make lines like, "I might change your contact to 'Has a Huge North Pole'" and, "When you're coming down the chimney, ooh, it feels so good / I need that Charles Dickens" actually work and sound lyrical. This is definitely not a song you'd want to play at an all-ages Christmas party or family gathering (unless you enjoy watching your friends and loved ones' befuddled looks as they wonder whether they just heard what they thought they heard in the lyrics of this song ), but this is a great one to play when you're alone in the car or listening with your headphones. |
"Winter Song" by Sara Bareilles (feat. Ingrid Michaelson) On the Tenth Day of Christmas, I picked a collaboration by two of my favorite indepdent female singer/songwriters. Ingrid Michaelson and Sara Bareilles are both incredible talents, and hearing them do a duet on a track is really incredible. I suppose this isn't technically a "holiday" song because "Winter" isn't a holiday and the song doesn't make any explicit reference to Christmas or any other holiday... but I'm including it anyway because it fits with the theme of the season and, well, I really like it.  |
"Merry Christmas, Please Don't Call" by Bleachers On the Ninth Day of Christmas, I picked something from Bleachers, which is one of my favorite bands in recent years. Jack Antonoff is an incredibly talented music producer, and an unexpectedly good musical artist. Like yesterday's song, I like the alternative sound of this song and, while I wouldn't necessarily listen to this song on repeat over and over again like I would some other holiday classics, it does a great job of adding some texture and depth to a Christmas playlist that's also filled with more traditional Christmas songs. |
"Christmas in the Sand" by Colbie Callait On the Eighth Day of Christmas, I wanted to pick a nontraditional Christmas song and I've always liked Colbie Callait's voice and musical style, so I thought this was the perfect song to feature this year. It's fun, lighthearted, and makes for a good palate cleanser between the more formal, traditional, and familiar songs on a Christmas playlist. It's always fun when this one comes up on a playlist at a party. |
"Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" by Lauren Daigle On the Seventh Day of Christmas, I wanted to pick "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas" and was tempted to do a more popular version like the one from Michael Buble or Sam Smith, but went with Lauren Daigle - a popular contemporary Christian artist - because I like the instrumentals on this version. It's got a classic, acoustic sound that I really like and think fits the intent of the song perfectly. |
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