The Collection, 2023w26

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Slightly mortified that, while I amassed most of The Collection in only a few months, there's enough stuff on my overflowing shelves to be considered a lifelong collection – but, as K reminded me, I've had this space and the things populating it in my head for the better part of 30 years. Anyhow, here are a few of the treasures that I’ve added to the overflowing Paintshop shelves this week…

First up, this 1943 Dick Tracy postcard, from part of a set released by Coca Cola to soldiers and their families during WWII. I have a set of the 1942 issues, but these ‘43s are exceedingly rare. No clue what the other ‘43s look like:

Next up, this 1950 Line Mar Japanese tin Superman (in yellow garb - Mighty Mouse meets Fleischer?) wind-up toy, in which the Man of Steel lifts a tank. Not sure if it still works as I don’t have a key (adding one to the list of things to procure) but I am, nonetheless, in love with this little gem:

Continuing the Superman trend, this 1940 Saalfield puzzle, which is, when assembled, a beautiful, full-color piece of early Superman art:

Next, a mid-70s Shadow bagatelle game, from Madison, the same group behind that odd bunch of similarly-branded Shadow merchandise I wrote about a few weeks back. Been looking for this one for a long time.

And finally, a few of the (major) additions to the comics collection. The two issues of SHADOW COMICS are Volume One, issues two and three (Spring, 1940) while the two AMAZING SPIDER-MAN issues are 11 - Ditko! second Doc Ock! - and 31, the start of the seminal “Master Planner” story (need to get issue 32 to complete the story) and the first appearances of both Gwen Stacy and Harry Osborn.

A banner week, to be certain.

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Pondering: can the day's (creative) work be considered honest only when you combine the discipline of showing up with the willingness to set aside the perceived expectations of yourself and the imaginary audience and follow – without thought of gain or productivity or any other artificial metric – the path of your inspiration even if, at day’s end, it led you down a (temporarily) unusable path? Leaning towards probably…

tracks

in

The sameness of my days keeps me sane until I think about it: the perpetual repetition, the same thing day in and out. Remembering something from ZEN MIND, BEGINNER'S MIND about not looking down at the track: summers tend to open up too much time to look down.

Maybe it's that I'm jamming everything that I consider to be forward motion (writing) into a single morning chunk – basically 0445 to 0745, which I do love: not only is it the closest I can get to working at night but the knowledge that this is all I get tends to cultivate deeper focus – and the surplus of time outside of that – shock of shocks, I do want to spend time with my wife for the three months she's a.) not drowning in the needs of seventy-five representatives of the future and b.) I don't have to worry about her being shot for doing so. But she's on her break, which is necessary for her – even if I don't do well with breaks.

Also: this could be a symptom of withdrawal from social media – as much as I love Mastodon and the Fediverse and what it means and what it stands for, it's still social media – and the perception that it, social media, was part of the forward motion, my only option for opportunity in this backwoods hell. It wasn't and isn't: the only thing that moves me forward is doing The Work and sharing it here or in the NL but I'll cut myself some slack (my therapist would be proud): when you've spent the last decade and a half hooked on an addictive substance like social media, coming off of it and finding clarity in the space the release allows will take some time. It took me eleven tries to quit smoking, after all.

Head up, walk the track. Don't look down.