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Playing the Game: The Benefits of Gaming for Kids

With the recent success of video game movies such as the Sonic the Hedgehog and Super Mario Bros. movies, the discussion on the impact gaming has on kids seems to be making its rounds in some circles, so I decided to throw out my two cents on the subject. Video games have been a controversial topic when it comes to their effect on children’s development. Some parents and experts argue that they…

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Parenting in the Apocalypse

Parenting in the apocalypse is a challenging and often heartbreaking experience, as seen in popular media such as The Walking Dead and The Last of Us. These two post-apocalyptic stories explore the struggles of surviving in a world overrun by zombies and other dangers, and how parents must navigate the new rules and realities of this harsh world in order to protect their children. In The Walking…

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Spider-Man and Self-Confidence

Spider-Man is a beloved superhero who has captured the hearts of generations of fans. He has inspired countless individuals with his heroic deeds, impressive abilities, and unwavering sense of justice. However, Spider-Man’s impact goes beyond just being a popular superhero. He has the potential to be a powerful tool for building self-confidence in children. Self-confidence is a crucial element…

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What Scream Gets Right and a Scream VI review

Just some thoughts about the Scream franchise and a little Scream VI review

Since it’s release in 1996, Scream has been at the top of my list of best horror movies. I think the writers of Scream 5 say it best with Richie’s line about the Stab movies being “classic slasher who dunnit” films. And while the sequels couldn’t fully recreate the magic of the original, the writers always found a way to keep the viewers guessing on who the killer really was. But in my opinion,…

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We Can Come Back

We Can Come Back

The one thing that anyone who has any kind of interactions with me knows is that I struggle with Borderline Personality Disorder, sever anxiety, sever depression, and a few other disorders. I am currently unmedicated because the health care system in America is a joke, but also because I have a substance abuse problem on top of everything else that three years ago lead to me being hospitalized…

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I Tried

For the past three years I’ve been trying to pull a life together that has never quite felt like it was my own. It seemed like with every step I took forward, something was there to pull me back to the start. Like a big game of chutes and ladders. I got a job, a promotion, and then had it all taken away. I had to restart and right as soon as I felt like I was getting back on my feet, I got hit…

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J is an electric type @pokemon trainer. I called him J Katchafew right before taking this picture. He was not impressed. #fanx https://www.instagram.com/p/CT7bN7zLpxT/?utm_medium=tumblr

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To Whom it May Concern

To Whom it May Concern: This is something that started off as a cover letter for job my resume but seemed to take a turn.

My whole life I knew that I wanted to work with audio. It all started the first time I saw Star Wars. I wanted to know how each sound was made, recorded and added to the film. My love for audio grew when I sat down and listened to the radio dramas that were produced during the 30s and 40s. I found a radio station that played every episode of the classic Superman radio show Monday-Friday and would…

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On Your Left

"On Your Left" is a look into how I tied the last fight sequence in Avengers: Endgame to my own battle with anxiety and depression.

In the last week, I have watched Avengers: Endgame over 10 times. Every viewing had me thinking about how many sequences could be tied to Mental Health. In Steve Rogers’ support group, 5 years after the snap, you see that people are still struggling with the aftereffects of Thanos’ actions. We see Thor as a demigod who is utterly dejected because he was not able to stop Thanos. Hawkeye…

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Suffering In Silence

***TW: This post will talk about addiction, self harm, and other things that be hard to read. If you feel like you are at risk and need to talk to someone, please call the National Suicide Prevention Hotline at 1-800-273-8255***

  The last almost 2 years have been the hardest years of my life. 2018 started off normal enough, but by the end of March everything seemed to turn upside down. First, my…

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I’m so lucky that @target is flexible with my schedule so I could attend these field trips with the kiddo!! https://www.instagram.com/p/B7mBzvQBub7/?igshid=13fgoju3q5bno

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J is really loving the performance by @blackviolin!! (at Kingsbury Hall) https://www.instagram.com/p/B7l2KI5Bst-/?igshid=gdpxq7cdksz4

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Kiddo - A Poem

Kiddo – A Poem

Without you by my side I’m lost

I guess I didn’t understand the cost

That all of my recent mistakes would take

Now I’m just hoping that it’s not too late.

  Almost fifteen days without hearing your voice

Has been long enough for me to make the choice

That I should have made a long time ago

To let all of the hurt and those bad feelings go.

  It’s time for me to put in the work

It’s time for me to…

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Added a sticker to my laptop. https://www.instagram.com/p/B0qdurUB7lr/?igshid=ewv269kxrbrz

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***All images are under copyright to Marvel Characters, Inc***

On October 1st, 1985, Marvel Comics released issue 269 of The Amazing Spider-Man. Fourteen days later, I was born. You might be asking yourself, “what do those things have to do with one another?” I’m here to tell you that they have absolutely nothing to do with each other. An interesting thing to me is that while I was a big Superman fan growing up, I always seemed to identify with Peter Parker/Spider-Man. The reason why this specific issue of The Amazing Spider-Man being released just two weeks before my birth is interesting to me is because it has more to do with who I am today and the struggles I face with my mental health.

Before we get into this specific issue of The Amazing Spider-Man, I want to challenge you to find a comic book that you feel shares a connection with your struggles. For me, it was very cathartic and eye opening to make the connections that I made between Peter and myself. Remember, even in comics, most of the heroes are flawed just like you and me and they will deal with these issues in similar ways to us.

Issue 269, Burn Spider Burn, takes place shortly after the events of the Beyonder and Secret Wars 2, It starts with the character Firelord, a former herald of Galactus, flying through space trying to outrun his own demise. After escaping death, Firelord decides to visit the closest planet to him while he contemplates his next move. The planet he chooses to visit is a planet that he has been to before, and that planet is Earth.

Firelord is feeling famished after his journey through space, so he starts looking for a bite to eat. All of the sudden he spots a big sign for Tony’s Pizza and he decides that Tony’s Pizza is where he is going to eat. The comic then cuts to Peter having a family dinner with his Aunt May and some other relatives. As they prepare to eat, a fearmongering news report about the “rise of mutants” airs. Peter excuses himself to the kitchen to help Aunt May.  While helping May, Peter’s Spidey Sense (Peter Tingle) goes off with such an intensity that he believes the Beyonder is back. Meanwhile, a misunderstanding takes place between Firelord and the owner of the pizza shop. The earthlings have seen the report about mutants and they believe Firelord is a “mutie”, so they hatch a plan to attack Firelord, who fights back.

Eventually, Peter shows up in his black Spidey suit to save the humans and to do battle with Firelord. After a tough battle, Peter decides that he is no match for Firelord, so he makes the decision to enlist the help of the Avengers or the Fantastic Four. Peter starts making his way toward the HQ of the Fantastic Four before he remembers that their HQ was destroyed a few weeks prior. Peter starts thinking about how to get to Avengers Tower without Firelord spotting him. After much considerations Peter comes to the conclusion that the only way he can get back up is if he were to travel to Avengers Tower as Peter, not Spidey. While changing, Peter notices that his wallet was on the ground. As he picks up the wallet, it opens to a picture of Peter, May, and Uncle Ben. He thinks of the possibility of Firelord going “berserk” when he is not able to find Spider-Man and how that could lead to harm or the death of innocent people. Peter then decides that the best course of action is to take the fight to Firelord because he doesn’t want to “duck out on his responsibilities,” and because he didn’t want anyone to die because he failed, because he was afraid.

After reading all of that, you might be wondering, “what does this have to do with mental health?” Well, when I was reading this comic and when I got to the part about Peter wanting to take off the suit and run from Firelord incognito, it reminded me of how I’ve always dealt with my anxiety. To me, Firelord represents my anxiety. No matter how hard I fight, I never feel strong enough to win. I take off my suit and run from my anxiety on a regular basis and I watch as my anxiety hurts those who are closest to me. I ducked out and failed because I was scared. After reading this comic, I realized that I want to put the suit back on. I want to take the fight to my anxiety, even if I feel like I’m not in the same weight class as the Avengers or the Fantastic Four.

Comic Books and Mental Health ***All images are under copyright to Marvel Characters, Inc*** On October 1st, 1985, Marvel Comics released issue 269 of The Amazing Spider-Man.

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This article will make more sense if you read it while listening to the accompanying playlist, that J curated himself. Before you hit play, close your eyes, think for a few seconds about the first song that made you feel like you were part of something bigger than yourself. A song that felt like it was written for you. Was the song a song that you heard on the radio? Was it a song from a tv show that you loved as a kid? Was it a song from a movie or a video game?

Music has a way of taking you to a deeper level of existence. It has the power to invoke any emotion at any time. It has the power to enhance every single feeling you have ever felt. Music can bring back memories of times long since forgotten. Music is an integral part of life. In my opinion, without music, life has no soul. It is my opinion that music, more specifically music from geek/nerd culture, can not only do everything that I mentioned above, but it can do so much more.

There was a time in our lives, when J knew nothing about Star Wars, comic books, Doctor Who, Marvel Studios, etc. In that time, I was so nervous that I was going to find some way to mess up that I made sure that we read all the “Baby’s First” books, listened to all different kinds of instrumental music, and watched Sesame Street video after Sesame Street video. While he seemed to enjoy all those activities, they never seemed to keep him engaged for more that 5 minutes. I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking to yourself, “James, you were being way too hard on yourself as a first-time parent. Nothing is going to keep a that young of a child’s attention for more than 5 minutes.” I myself was coming to that train of thought myself, until one magical day.

One day, after my wife (at the time) had left for work, I fed J, gave him a bath and sat him in his little chair so I could do some cleaning around the house. At the time, we had a dishwasher that didn’t really work that well, so I mostly washed the dishes by hand. I had the tv tuned to the local news channel so I could have some background noise while I was doing the chores, and I was turning and talking to J every now and then to keep him from getting upset. Nothing I did was working to keep him still. After about 10 minutes I decided I wanted to listen to some music instead of the tv, so I grabbed my laptop, logged into Spotify, and played the soundtracks from Star Wars: A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back.

In what seemed like an instant, J’s demeanor seemed to change. No longer was he frustratingly swaying in his seat, he seemed to have a calm about him. It looked like his imagination was taking over, helping him to create a story to go along with the music we were listening to. His body language would change with the songs as if he knew exactly was happening in the scenes that the songs came from. A smile went across his face as we listened to Leia’s Theme, and he got a nervous when the Imperial March started playing. It was such an interesting sight to see. This became our daily routine for about a year.

Right before J turned 4, I decided it was time to show him A New Hope and Empire. We popped some popcorn, got some juice, turned on our TV and VCR, and watched both movies back to back. J seemed like he wasn’t sure what was going on, that is until the main theme hit. His eyes instantly widened and he looked at me and said, “I know this song!!” J was on the edge of his seat for every shot of a blaster and swing of a lightsaber. It was amazing to see J’s reactions when he would recognize the songs, but what was even more amazing was that the next time we listened to just the soundtrack, J was able to describe almost everything that was happened during the accompanying scenes. This is something that has continued to happen with every other Star Wars film and even transferred to almost every single Marvel film and even the Harry Potter films.

Not only is J able to tell you what is happening in the scenes of the songs are in, but he has now started creating his own stories to go along with his favorite music. This doesn’t just happen with film scores, but also with video game music. J will sit in his room, create playlists on our Spotify account filled with music from and inspired by his favorite games. Whenever he is listening to this music, he is either drawing characters from those video games, or he is making the most amazing creations with his LEGOs.

Music is the lifeblood for a lot of the things we create in our home. When I am making a costume for J, I am listening to the soundtrack of whatever show, movie, or game that character is in. It inspires me to keep going when I don’t think I can. It helps me push through the creative mental blocks and makes me think outside the box for new solutions. Music from these movies, games, and tv shows has created a bond between J and I that will never be broken. No matter what happens in this life, whenever he hears certain songs, he will think of me and of the love we had for our geeky culture.

Decided to write something new tonight. Check out "The Significance of Music" and make sure you click the link to hear the playlist that J put together for this piece. This article will make more sense if you read it while listening to the accompanying playlist…

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@themrmiah moderating a fireside type panel with Lisa Marie Varon aka Victoria from the WWE!! https://www.instagram.com/p/BzQ73EZBQhp/?igshid=1ekd3dvmd6w4b