The Best of 2016

Marvel’s Luke Cage

When I first heard of the slate of Marvel shows for Netflix, I was really excited for three of the five. Those were Luke Cage, Iron Fist, and the Defenders. Power Man and Iron Fist was one of the first comics that influenced me. I am sad that we will not get the buddy show, pairing Luke Cage and Iron Fist together before Defenders. That is just me. This show fuses 70’s African-American Action Films with New Jack films of the 90’s, while paying homage to the Harlem Renaissance. The show runners understood what needed to be done and said. The show was being filmed before the Black Lives Matter movement, but it reflects it in the tone and subject matter. This was my most favorite TV show of 2016.

DC’s Legends of Tomorrow

Everyone who knows me knows I am more a DC guy that Marvel. This show is such a wild ride in the DC Universe. First, one of the main characters is the Silver Age Atom, Ray Palmer. It also has had versions of Firestorm, Hawkman, Hawkgirl, Black Canary, and the JSA (Justice Society of America). This show was seriously in my wheelhouse. Season two has been as good in my opinion. It seriously mines the deep end of the DC Universe. I love its rollercoaster/mad ride elements.

Star Trek: Beyond

I enjoyed the 2009 Star Trek reboot, but was severely disappointed in the 2013 follow-up Star Trek: Into Darkness. Both films seemed lacking in something. They were missing an inherent element that Star Trek: The Original Series had. I was nervous coming into Beyond, but all my fears were for naught. This film was everything the Original Series was and were many of the films based on it. The missing elements were the depth of relationships, and not relying on action and special effects for the storytelling. Simon Pegg was able to get the right tone in the script and Justin Lin was able to get it all correctly on the screen. Lin proved to be as much a Trek aficionado as his screenwriter. It also was a great homage to Leonard Nimoy who we lost in 2015. It also is the last we will see of Anton Yelchin as Chekov with him passing in 2016. With the success of the film both monetarily and artistically, there is hope for this film series.

Shambling Guide Series by Mur Lafferty

Both books in this series, A Shambling Guide to New York (2013) and The Ghost Train to New Orleans (2014), were released before 2016. I did not read them till 2016, so they are here. This is about how Zoe, a human travel guide editor, finds herself writing a travel guide for Coterie, AKA Monsters. It is sort of like an Urban Fantasy Horror Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. Mur Lafferty combines horror, urban fantasy, and humor for a wonderfully fun read.

Moana

Disney had three entries in 2016, Zootopia, Pixar’s Finding Dory and Moana. I was anticipating Moana for multiple reasons. First, it is a Pacific Islander tale. Second, one of the voice Actors was Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. Third, it seemed to be giving us another strong female lead. It was as good if not better than I thought. For the music it paired Lin-Manuel Miranda from Broadway’s Hamilton with Pacific Islander Opetaia Foa'i and Hollywood composer Mark Mancina. It was a wonderful fun ride.

A&A: The Adventures of Archer Armstrong

2016 saw the return of Archer and Armstrong at Valiant comics. The series starts with an adventure in Armstrong’s satchel, which is reminiscent of am AD&D Bag of Holding. It brought back the humor with the vast international historical conspiracies that are treated with the absurdity they deserve. It is everything that worked so well with the series’ previous incarnations.

Various Cooking Equipment

In 2016 I received an electric skillet, a tea infuser bottle, and a hand shredder. The skillet has been used on countless dishes since I got it. The tea infuser was received just before Christmas via a gift card from work. The infuser has made making tea easier, especially paired with the eclectic water kettle. The hand shredder is a hand held grater. The shredder was used in grating cheese, but also making noodles out of green papaya. The hand shredder makes longer shreds.

Elemental Masters Series by Mercedes Lackey

Back in the 1990’s, I read Mercedes Lackey’s Fire Rose. I have since learned she wrote more in that world with the series Elemental Masters. Fire Rose in not officially in the series, it is viewed as the first glimpse into the Edwardian world these books inhabit. I have completed the first three: The Serpent's Shadow, The Gates of Sleep, and Phoenix and Ashes. Each book including Fire Rose is based on a classic Fairy Tale: Fire Rose (Beauty and the Beast), The Serpent's Shadow (Snow White), The Gates of Sleep Sleeping Beauty), and Phoenix and Ashes (Cinderella). Lackey’s villains are so well written and are so evil. She explores the questions of equality in the regards of race, religion, gender and so on. I was glad to discover she continued to write in this setting.

Black Magick by Greg Rucka and Nicola Scott

I discovered Greg Rucka, not through his Batman run or Batwoman runs. I discovered him through Whiteout, and Queen & Country. I again discovered him through his Image title Lazarus, a dystopian future series. Black Magic is a supernatural detective story. The tale is about Rowan Black, a witch and a detective. It is about a case in which the two halves of her life collide. This is just the beginning. The series is scheduled to return in 2017. I love both the mystical and police procedural in this book.

Doctor Strange

This was one of the Marvel Movies I was most looking forward to. For me Marvel has been the Mythic (Thor, Hercules, and so on), the Mutants (X-Men and related titles), and the Mystic (Doctor Strange, Blade, Brother Voodoo, Werewolf by Night, Man-Thing, and the like). We have seen the Mythic and Mutants; it was great to see the Mystic. There were a few things I was concerned about, the Ancient One as a European woman, a third tier villain, and how they would explore the psychedelic realms of magic, which Steve Ditko drew so amazingly in the introduction of the character in the 1960’s. They relieved most of those concerns with the execution. Their version of magic is similar to White Wolf’s Mage: The Ascension. Magic is the ability to change reality. It is kind of like being able to hack and mold reality to your needs. The villain seen in the trailers was just the tip of the iceberg. I loved this and I cannot wait for Stephen Strange’s return.

David Walker (Power Man & Iron Fist, Cyborg, Tarzan on the Planet of the Apes, Shaft: Imitation of Life, Nighthawk, and Occupy Avengers)

David Walker started to gain momentum as a comic book writer in 2015. In 2106, he was hitting it like gangbusters. David has been a print film reviewer, an independent film maker (Macked, Hammered, Slaughtered, and Shafted/2004, Damaged Goods/2005, Uncle Tom's Apartment/ 2006, Black Santa's Revenge/ 2007, My Dinner with A.J./ 2011, The Day They Ran Out of Bullets/ 2012), a YA novelist (The Adventures of Darius Logan: Super Justice Force/ 2013), and recently a comics writer. His comic book writing credits include Number 13 (Dark Horse Comics/ 2012), Army of Doctor Moreau (Monekybrain Comics/ 2014), The Supernals Experiment (Canon Comics/ 2014), Shaft (Dynamite Entertainment/ 2014), and Cyborg (DC Comics/ 2015), and various one shots for various publishers. Cyborg in 2015 was his first on-going title. In 2016, he wrote Power Man and Iron first (Marvel Comics), Nighthawk (Marvel Comics), Occupy Avengers (Marvel Comics), Shaft: Imitation of Life (Dynamite Entertainment), Tarzan on the Planet of the Apes (Dark Horse Comics), and finished his run with Cyborg (DC Comics). I read all of his on-going and limited series works to the present. Mr. Walker is one very good author. He is a master at hitting one with the bigger issues without being preachy. He uses his knowledge of Blaxploitation films for works like Shaft and Power Man and Iron Fist. In Cyborg, he looked into what was machine and what was human when involving a hybrid of both. I cannot recommend his stuff enough. Try it folks, it is definitely worth the time.

Identity Revisited

I wrote Identity almost 4 years ago. After 4 years much has changed. I discovered what my sexual identity truly was after over 30 years of struggles. I discovered I had severe depression and anxiety disorders. I have come up with a label to describe how I do not fit in with the traditional gender roles. I am not as involved with the geek/nerd culture as I thought I would be, and I am fine with that. I have created a wonderful circle of friends that have become a great support to me. That circle keeps expanding. I left a job, was unemployed for 2 and a half years, and I am now reemployed in a rewarding field I am rediscovering. I am working to move into a new place with a more positive atmosphere.

I am still an Uber-nerd/geek, but my attachment to superheroes in comic book form has lessened to a great degree. I still love them in merchandise, movies, TV and so on. I have worked hard to trim down my Television watching. I felt it got too out of hand. I thought I could plug myself into existing Portland Nerd/Geek community circles and no problem. It did not happen that way and I am glad. I have created a couple of circles of my own. Some are close and some are casual.

I have made lifelong friends in so many people. Even though, I have non-White and non-Christian heritages, and I have various disabilities, due to my Caucasian appearance I have had White privilege. That realization was hard to swallow with my experiences growing up in a Blue Collar family and living in a lower economic neighborhood. I have experienced sizeism, ableism, and classism. However, I can do things that my friends of color cannot. I do not have to worry about certain behaviors in public and how to conduct myself with the authorities. Is this right? No, it is not. It is however how things are. It is my duty as a human being to fight for equality and equal opportunity for all human beings.

I have come to embrace the rich multicultural, multiethnic, and multifaith upbringing I had. I come from a very diverse gene pool. The heritages I know I belong to are English, Ulster Scots (Scots Irish), German, French, Dutch, Swede, Norwegian, Italian, Dane, Middle Eastern Jew, European Jew. Plus through cousins, aunts, and uncles there is Korean, Japanese, Filipino, Mexican, Welsh, North American Indigenous, and Puerto Rican. Knowing my family history there could be Irish, Scots, Spanish, Mexican, African-American, Welsh, Eastern European, and who knows what else. I also grew up near Mexican-American and Japanese-American communities in Southern California. I try to honor the cultures I do not come from, but not to misappropriate anything.

I learned I have severe depression and anxiety disorder. The depression has lessened to a great degree since I became employed again. The anxiety it seems stems from the various traumatic experiences I encountered as a child. Between the many surgeries for 0 to 16, the physical and sexual child abuse, and more recently the domestic abused I suffered, it is no surprise that my fight or flight responses are on the wonky side. I am seeing a therapist and a psychiatrist to get these issues under control

Milepost 5 on the Road to Wellness

December and January were tough months for me.  On January 29, 2106, I was weighed at my dietitian’s office. I ended up at 370 lbs. I struggled with dietary choices and keeping up my exercise regimen. Part of it was holiday indulgences. With my weight goal from a total weight loss of 50 lbs by January changed to 50 lbs total weight loss by April, things seemed more possible. My depression was also affecting my choices. Compared to a year ago it was still a marked improvement.

In January 2016, I did not eat as much fruit or vegetables, I also had a tooth pulled and had to lighten my physical excursion to minimal for almost a week. In February and March 2016, I increased my vegetables. I worked my best to add vegetables to every dish. With my daily yogurt, banana, and fruit smoothies I had fruit under wraps. To help with my digestive heath, I added chia seeds and flaxseeds to my smoothies.

I tried several new vegetables, in February 2016 (calabacitas/Mexican zucchini, and piquillo peppers) and in March 2016 (chayote/Latin American squash, and taro leaves). I chose Cuban style yellow rice over Puerto Rican Style. Puerto Rican yellow rice had rice, seasoning and annatto oil. Cuban yellow rice had garlic, onion, peas, and red bell peppers. I was choosing dishes with more vegetable matter than those without.

I have limited how much potato chips I eat. In January I made nachos and used pre-made chips instead of making my own. As a holiday gift I received some Omaha steaks. Those probably did not help. I did increase my seafood intake. In December2015, I had my stocking stuffers (canned octopus, sardines, and oysters), tonnato sauce (tuna, anchovies, lemon juice, olive oil, and capers) with cucumber noodles, and my monthly sushi. In January 2016, I made California roll nachos and had my monthly sushi.

In February 2016, I started making bagels and lox (cold smoked salmon) sandwiches and added shrimp to my family’s 7 layer salad recipe. In March 2016, I made inarizushi with shrimp, avocados, and spicy Japanese mayo. In April 2016, mom, who was visiting, bought some paiche. It is an Amazonian freshwater fish. It is huge, meaty, and delicious. I made several dishes with it.

The end of March 2016 and the beginning of April 2016 were eventful for my health. I had tried to get a more consistent mental health care. I had two choices the county and Lutheran Community Services. The county for the initial mental health evaluations were daily but only a handful a day. They were also first come first serve. With my depression getting up early to get there was difficult. The depression was causing me to experience insomnia. With open ended appointments, I fell victim to procrastination. I do better when told to show up at a specific time and date. I decided to go with Lutheran Community Services.  

The end of March 2016, I got my mental health evaluation. I finally got a diagnosis. I suffer from severe depressive disorder and general anxiety disorder. I am getting treatment. I am on a waiting list to see the clinician for pharmaceutical treatment. That is still better than what I had last year with no possibility of that kind of therapy. I have had tons of support from friends and acquaintances about my diagnoses and work to get treatment. I am currently looking to apply for disability in order to get out of my living situation. My depression, anxiety, and insomnia are making my job search difficult. I am not looking into permanent disability, just long enough to get me out of my situation and on the road to mental health.

At the end of 2015, I was encountering localized sourness on the left side of my chest. I had this happen in 2002. It turned out to be gynecomastia. This is the development of breast tissue in men. The first occurrence was due to medicine. I had another mammogram done in April 2016. I was clear of cancer. 1% of all breast cancer cases are men, so if you find a mass or have localized soreness, get it checked. I am very embarrassed by my gynecomastia. My ex was brutal in emasculating me about it. Now instead on being unilateral, it is bilateral, meaning I am no longer one sided. I would rather have my diagnosis than breast cancer.

In January 2016, I had my broken molar removed. I followed the directions to the letter and was able to avoid dry socket. The previous pulled tooth resulted in dry socket. I also had my problem wisdom tooth removed at the end of March 2016. I once again avoided dry socket like I did in January. It was not as painful as I had thought it would be. I think it having a cavity made it easier to remove. My jaw was sore and I had a dull ache for weeks. With my problem teeth removed, I should be doing better with eating. With the two problem teeth gone, I have any possible cavities left to deal with. My dental health is much better.

I was supposed to see my dietitian at the end of March 2016. She is no longer working for the hospital where her office was located when I saw her. I found out the day of the appointment. The hospital somehow did not inform me of the change that occurred two weeks earlier. This made me feel depressed. I backslid and ate three Hershey’s Whatchamacallits. The three candy bars in a sitting made me sick. I no longer can eat like I used to.

At the end of March, I was weighed by my primary care physician. I came in at 363 lbs. I was 13 lbs short of my yearly goal. Still I was able to lose and keep off 37 lbs. My goal weight for April 2017 continues to be 300 lbs. I had my ups and downs. I have had my lapses in following my dietary regimen lately. Overall, I have made to serious long lasting life choices. I am working on getting back to the better choices.

Kitchen Comeback Update 4

January 2016 ended with two Thai dishes. My second attempt at Thai peanut sauce was more successful. Adjustment is still needed, less red curry paste, more soy sauce, and more of the sweetener. The massaman curry was good, but again some adjustment needed there too. That I need to lower the amount of tamarind and lime juice just a tad.

In the beginning of February 2016, I made Tortilla Española, again. This time I used a smaller frying pan and half of the recipe. This worked out wonderfully. It looked and held together the way it was supposed to. I ate it with piquillo peppers, chorizo Español, and salchichon (Spanish salami). I had bought manchego cheese and Serrano ham, but I ate them the night before. I have been eating bagel and lox sandwiches with cream cheese onions, and capers in February and March of 2016.

My work to increase the amount of vegetables in my food continues. I worked with calabacitas (Mexican zucchini) in February 2016. In March 2016, I made chayote squash and taro leaves. The calabacitas were great and the taro leaves were amazing. I do need to adjust the amount of lemon juice on the coconut milk braised taro leaves. The chayote was made into a great hash. The recipe called for eggs. I removed the eggs since this was a dinner side dish. The hash had chayote squash, recaito, tomatoes sauce and some seasoning. With my inarizushi I made a cucumber namasu salad using the Veggetti device.

In February 2016, I made two spinach dishes; Indian Saag Paneer (Indian curried spinach with paneer cheese) and a Greek inspired spinach egg bake (spinach, garlic, onion, feta cheese and eggs). The Saag Paneer could have used a bit more heat. I made a variation of my Grandma Mac’s 7 Layer Salad. I made serrano pepper coleslaw and added vegetables to much to what I made. I chose the Cuban style yellow rice over the Puerto Rican version, because the Puerto Rican had rice, seasoning, and annatto oil. The Cuban style yellow rice included peas, onions and red bell peppers.

I made Hawaiian chicken teriyaki in March 2016. I over compensated with the amount of soy sauce. Using the juice from canned pineapple and lowering the amount of honey worked very well. The drinking pineapple juice I used the first time was too dang sweet. I also paired this dish with the coconut milk braised taro leaves. Uwajimaya in Beaverton and H-Mart in Tigard are becoming great resources of Asian and Polynesian ingredients.

I discovered a variation of the enchiladas Suizas, I have yet to do. That is adding sour cream or crema Mexicana to the salsa verde. I will try that next time. I am remaking dishes I forgot to take pictures of. Enchiladas Suizas was the first. The next was Cuban mojo marinated pork shoulder. I think the roast was slightly overcooked on the second go around. I also did a better pairing with the sides. I made Cuban style yellow rice and Puerto Rican chayote hash. I also did not remake the sauce. I used the discarded marinade, the roast pan drippings and cornstarch.

I worked to recreate my Grandma Mac’s hamburger hash. That was a fun experience trying into to make something from memory, actually my mom’s memory as well as my own. It was a great exercise in cooking. I also made another pot of beans this time using a ham hock. I prefer the smoked pork shank, more meat less salt and less fat. That is just my preference. I tried a variation of the serrano coleslaw. I removed the dry mustard and caraway seeds. I added the juice of half of a lime. It turned out to have the right balance of heat, sour, and sweet.

With saag paneer, inarizushi, Thai massaman curry, enchiladas Suizas, and the bagel and lox sandwich, I am making things I crave instead of going to a restaurant, deli, café, or diner. These are dishes I missed and wanted again. Some of them are still works in progress, others I have perfected like my tacos, chili con carne, and others.

January 2016

Rice noodles in Thai peanut sauce, ham and mashed potatoes, meatloaf and mashed potatoes, and Thai chicken massaman curry with jasmine rice.

February 2016

Tortilla Española (Spanish tortilla) with Spanish chorizo, piquillo peppers, and salchichón (Spanish salami), cream cheese and lox bagel sandwiches with onions and capers, Saag Paneer (curried spinach with Paneer cheese) with basmati rice, enchiladas Suizas with calabacitas ralladas (shredded Mexican zucchini), shrimp salad (shrimp, avocados, spicy sushi mayo), crunchy tacos with homemade taco meat and serrano coleslaw, beef and bean burritos with homemade meat filling, spinach egg bake (spinach, onions, garlic, egg and feta cheese), 11 layer salad, ground turkey tacos with serrano coleslaw, beef and bean burritos, pork chops with rice and coleslaw, pork loin roast with coleslaw, peas and corn, and beans with ham hocks.

March 2016

Cream cheese and lox bagel sandwiches with onions and capers, turkey cheese bratwursts with mashed potatoes, Hawaiian chicken teriyaki with coconut milk braised taro leaves, chorizo and eggs with corn tortillas, inarizushi special (fried tofu pockets stuffed with sushi rice and topped with salad shrimp, avocados spicy Japanese mayonnaise, and sesame seeds) with cucumber namasu salad, hamburger hash, cucumber noodles with tonnato sauce, bean and cheese burritos, Cuban mojo marinated pork roast with mojo sauce, Cuban style yellow rice, Puerto Rican chayote hash, ground turkey tacos with serrano lime coleslaw, beans with ham hocks, eggs with hash browns, chili con carne and shoyu chicken with jasmine rice.