Saying Goodbye to the Thirteenth Doctor: A Doctor Who Regeneration Reflection

“I wish…I wish this could last forever.”  Those were the Doctor’s final words, spoken as she skipped stones on the beach with Yaz in “Legend of the Sea Devils,” her last adventure before her regeneration in “The Power of the Doctor.”  The first time I watched the special I found the line poignant.  The closer I got to “The Power of the Doctor,” the more I echoed her sentiment.  I wasn’t ready to say goodbye!  I couldn’t lose the Thirteenth Doctor!  I couldn’t lose Yaz!  Not yet!  However, as the personification of Time itself ominously told the Doctor at the Temple of Atropos, “You can leave here, but you won’t outrun me.  Your time is heading to its end.”  Defiant and with more than a little fear the Doctor said, “No…it’s not.  You’re wrong.”  But Time solemnly replied, “Nothing is forever.  No regeneration.  No life.”  I wish Time was wrong!  But alas, the Doctor regenerated, whether I was ready for her to or not.  This piece is me processing; it’s a reflection on the Thirteenth Doctor’s regeneration and her era of Doctor Who.

A Life in Love – My Tribute to Grandma

This piece is my eulogy for Grandma, delivered at her funeral on 8 August 2020.  The pictures throughout are family photos and the featured image, as with many of the pictures within, came from one of our many Friday night dinners at Grandma’s.

Grandma first asked me to write her eulogy ten or fifteen years ago.  Every year or two she’d circle back around to the request, double checking I remembered I said I’d do this and making sure I was still planning on it.  I always assured her I did and I would.  But even for me, someone who writes a lot for fun and is kinda paid to talk for a living, this is intimidating.  How do I begin to pay tribute to Grandma?  How do I begin to capture all she means to me?

My Life in Costumes and Cosplay

When David and I saw Logan last weekend I did something I’ve never done – I dressed up for the premiere.  For years David has asked me to embrace mutton chops for the opening night of an X-Men movie but I never did either because I wasn’t feeling it or I didn’t remember soon enough to grow them in all their glory.  However, to honor Hugh Jackman’s final performance, as well as the seventeen years he spent playing Wolverine, I did it.  I went full on Wolverine!  There were no claws of course; I didn’t need to make things awkward for the theatre staff as they understandably ask for no toy weapons at these things.  But I did my best to capture the rest of his look.  And it was a lot of fun!

First Impressions: The X-Men

Of course I saw Logan over the weekend.  But I don’t want to write about it.  I can’t yet.  I need time to sit with the film, to let it move through my heart and mind until I reach the place where I feel I can write about it in a way that honors the experience.  However, I still have Wolverine and the X-Men on my mind.  So I’ve decided to take a little trip down Memory Lane and revisit the very first X-Men comic I ever read.  Ahh…the early 1990’s.  What a great time to meet Wolverine, Cyclops, and everyone else!

A Lifelong Love Affair with Spider-Man

The costume was more exciting than any of the others.  He was funny – equal parts heroic and hilarious.  His powers came from this awesome mix of accidental mutation and his own ingenuity.  He was the underdog, occasionally on the superhero/super villain battle scene but always struggling to make ends meet and balance his own life.  He stood up for the little guy, protecting his neighborhood and leaving the world/cosmos saving exploits (most of the time) to the other guys.  He experienced incredible loss…but let it teach him.  He held tight to a moral code that was nonnegotiable – with great power, comes great responsibility.  I’m not sure which of these first drew little four-year-old Michael to the amazing Spider-Man but I have loved him for over thirty years now.  This is perhaps my most personal post yet, the story of why Spider-Man has always stood above all other superheroes for me.