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BACK TO LIFE
By Alex Ness
February 25, 2023

LIFE

I BELIEVE IN UNIVERSAL HEALTH CARE

Being saved by my Dr. Teresa Wrobbel and various oncology staffs and surgeons, I'm exceptionally grateful. It seems to me, though, that however grateful I am, I shouldn't have received so much attention to save my life, when others die from simple things, due to their lack of insurance, or of the quality of their insurance. So for those who constantly ask my politics, for whatever reasons, I believe this.

I DIDN'T AGREE WITH HOW IT WAS ARGUED, BUT THE CLIMATE IS CHANGING

The issue for me, now, is that when one exaggerates to make a point, it can leave the whole of the argument more quickly and easier debated. Climates change, they always have done so. The earth shows evidence of that in Ice Ages and periods of excess heat. For whatever reason it changes. I am concerned about this, but rather than worry, and do nothing, I'd suggest we educate the planet how to improve the chances of our survival. For instance, I've heard dozens if not hundreds of times that the Doomsday glacier about to cleave from Antarctica will raise sea level by unbelievably huge amounts. But think of ice in a glass. Ice floats. It will be catastrophic, but it will take a very long time to melt such a thing. Rather than tell everyone 12 feet of sea level will rise when, not if, that glacier breaks off, and the sea level will certainly rise, tell them the time we have before so much is lost. It might be decades.

EXTINCTION OF SO MANY SPECIES

I don't look at the impending extinctions with such hope. I have no answers for loss of habitat, loss of the food chains needed to sustain creatures, or the ignorance and apathy of so many humans involved in the extinction. We don't even care about the two more common companion species to humans, dogs and cats are treated as property, not life we can't afford to lose. And I'd suggest, we neuter and spay all the fucking abusers of animals on this planet. My cat Katya has received much praise and thanks from me, in print and in person. She literally saved me from doing something permanent and stupid when I asked God for proof anyone on earth cared for me, and within seconds, she climbed upon me, and wouldn't let go of embracing me. I know others aren't so moved, but we treat non humans as if they have less worth, or are less deserving of kindness and care. I love my Katya more than 99% of the humans I've met. And that isn't being a misanthrope. OK maybe it is a little of that.

WAR AND OTHER OBSCENITY

I believe I covered that in a prior/recent article. Ask yourself, have you ever seen such a combination of war, cruelty, financial despair and ruin, and worries over the future? AI, Cloning, Pandemic diseases, all pose existential threats.

HIATUS UNLEASHED MEDIA

Hiatus was not truly hard, I felt an urge to write somehow, so I started a back up blog (named Alex Ness fictions, rather than the life of or the daily writings of Alex Ness in case I decide to aim elsewhere). And fortunately, somehow I had some extra money, so ebay and in person shopping led to many wonderful finds.

I enjoyed finding 5 dollar discounted Mint in box, Retro Marvel Figures, and a similarly $5 mint in box Mandarin Spawn figure.

I've continued to buy and greatly enjoy Savage Dragon from IMAGE by Erik F*cking Larsen, and a new DARK HORSE series, Mortal Terror by Golden, Lebbon and a fellow I adore, Peter Bergting on art. Michael Baron has been seeming to be writing, kickstarting successfully and constantly creating.  His works all grab the reader by the throat. And why not, he is well able. I wanted to mention that over time, different comic shops do a range of quality of ordering. I don't find Image and DH or other indy comics as well as with DC and Marvel. I go to Hot Comics because they get it. They never let me down. Good staff, great owners, don't leave gaps in my collections. Thank you Mike Harmon, head of Hot Comics. And very cool dude, an eclectic combination of cowboy, punk, romantic and hungry mind.

I've been searching for and filling a few nostalgia oriented back issue series that I enjoyed, but as much for the covers as the writing within. One is Tarzan with the Boris or Neal Adams covers, and the other is 1960s Fu Manchu novels by author Sax Rohmer.  Ebay and Half Price Books and my friend Rich have helped me grow my Fu Manchu collection.

The Marvel Special Edition books I mentioned have almost all been found, and at a reasonable price. I found the Doctor Strange book, but at insane prices, and the New X-Men special edition for equally insane prices. If you like my work, found at a link below, talk to me, perhaps we can trade.

I wanted to mention, that during my Hiatus, I finally saw the band I love so much, the Swallows live. They add ten layers of awesome to their in person concerts, but their CDs are amazing too.

NEXT WEEK I HOPE

I hope to post a well deserved review of a Top Shelf Productions work, and have some PR for a brand new work from Alan Moore and Top Shelf to share.  Either that or I'll talk more about my love of cats.

CONTACTING ME

CONTACTING ME FOR REVIEWS OR OTHERWISE: I can be found on X, Bluesky or through email Alexanderness63@gmail.com. I accept hard copies, so when you inquire at any of these places, I'll follow through by telling you my street address.If you send hard copies for review I will try to always review them, but if you prefer to send pdf or ebooks to my email, I will review these at my discretion. I don't share my pdf/ebooks, so you can avoid worry that I'd dispense them for free to others.

My Creative Blogs:

5k poem blog           AlexNessPoetry.Blogspot.Com

My personal blog    AlexNessFiction.Blogspot.Com
Published works     AlexNessPoetry.Blogspot.Com/2007/01/My-Work.html

Social Media:
Bluesky
X/Twitter

All images are copyright © their respective owners, use is simply as fair use and no ownership rights to anyone else's work is asserted.

Surprise Surprise, Hiatus Over

What I did on my hiatus?
Alex Ness
2/21/24

GUESS WHAT?

I no longer have cancer.  I am ready to start living again.

WHAT I DID UPON MY HIATUS

I am still in pain, and still have issues, but during my hiatus I read many books. I played some games. And my son and I chased cats, because they are cats, and I am a famous cat rancher.  Oh it is true, I am a failed one, but still I am one.  And, with some recent sales, I used the profits from those sales to buy books and comics, mostly on ebay.

WAR

While watching the world collapse, I wondered how much more it would take to tip the balance and make the world lose its mind, and fall into a world war of such magnitude, that we'd never dig our way out of the pit we've dug for ourselves. Before anyone forgives anyone in the lead, remember, most leaders say they are not the ones to start wars, only to defend themselves.  I'd argue, does that matter?This insane world is experiencing truly dangerous wars and this time, nuclear, chemical and biological agents might well come into play. 

WAR IN MANY MEDIA

I chose to feature images of works where the subject is the world after the war, or the war itself, beyond the present, or beyond the cold war, if written or created decades ago. There are some truly frightening outcomes possible, but when I created this list, I included some creative considerations, and some where the cause of the conflict isn't known. To read, view, play or enjoy the escapism of not really escaping the future, there is a great amount of speculation, which in itself isn't bad.

The books shown range from clever, adventurous, dangerous and somber. Each is good for what it is, and how it treats the subject, but only On the Beach is worthy of sharing it with others. It deals with the aftermath of the world's foolish Nuclear war. 

I particularly enjoyed the comic book section here. There are many ways to deal with a world gone made, but the comics did a great job without a focus on cause. That is a means of telling a story without the politics found so many other places.

A work found heavy handed, blamed a 1990s environmental collapse and a world in absolute war upon the GOP's VP and President. Not that I liked either of those people, but it felt cheap. It wasn't well explained, neither were the sort who voted for going to war. It was simply a cheap means to insult Republicans than to create a backdrop that made sense.

Now, I don't care about party, I vote 3rd party, not at all, or in extremis I will choose a leader who I think would do the least damage. You are free to vote for who you like, my point is simply, rather than do the work to see who might be running at such a time, who would remain popular, they just chose to show their outlook, not that of the one blamed.

I am a fan of the quality of the games shown, but I also realize, it is a very difficult thing to predict a future conflict, as to reasons, the means, and the results. So, those games didn't occupy much of my time, however well done.

CONTACTING ME FOR REVIEWS OR OTHERWISE: I can be found on X, Bluesky or through email Alexanderness63@gmail.com. I accept hard copies, so when you inquire at any of these places, I'll follow through by telling you my street address.If you send hard copies for review I will try to always review them, but if you prefer to send pdf or ebooks to my email, I will review these at my discretion. I don't share my pdf/ebooks, so you can avoid worry that I'd dispense them for free to others.

My Creative Blogs:

5k poem blog         AlexNessPoetry.Blogspot.Com

Published works   AlexNessPoetry.Blogspot.Com/2007/01/My-Work.html

Social Media:
Bluesky
X/Twitter

All images are copyright © their respective owners, use is simply as fair use and no ownership rights to anyone else's work is asserted.