Javins for Mayor

I was looking through old photos and found this one of me and my mom from the year 2000.

My mother here is the same age I am now.

I know I'm doing all right, but maybe I should've spent less time in sun. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Everyone Loves A Parade

The backyard is on a parade route.

There the Whole Time

We stumbled over the earthquake emergency supply cabinet at work yesterday.

That in and of itself isn’t as weird as it seemed at first glance. It’s Los Angeles County…makes sense businesses are prepared for emergencies.

What was weird was the boxes of N95 masks which were presumably in there the whole time we were desperate for them. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Late Pandemic State

This isn't special.

Today, I got a late start and walked to work, taking a meeting from my phone as I headed in. I spent all day at my desk in the office except when I went to Coffee Commissary for a takeaway sandwich. I got a lot done but of course ended up with more in my in-box than I eliminated. An editor stopped by and we had a brief meeting with a boss-person via my laptop monitor.

I left work at 7:30 after becoming distracted by reviewing some covers and packing a few boxes.

And then I stopped by the supermarket on the way home, and I didn't feel like making dinner, so I picked up some samosas and a little salad.

So what, you might say. There is nothing worth talking about here on this update.

And that is what makes it so wonderful and not the least bit special.

I did put on my mask when I picked up lunch and when I walked into the office building. And there were only three others in all day. But ultimately, today felt perfectly, exquisitely average.

Basking in normalcy feels pretty good at the moment.

Editors Gotta Edit

JLA/Avengers reprint is out in the world now...and this is how it looked to me just a few months ago.

I found three mistakes!

Striped Black Cat

 Good morning, skunk. 

I Hope This Is Temporary

I have a bone spur on my right heel and plantar fasciitis, and of course I already knew about the high arches.

The doc stuck my foot with cortisone and took molds for fancy insoles cuz my insurance covers them. I have all kinds of other over-the-counter options too, since this started a while back. Doc told me extra-lots of people have this now from working at home and not wearing shoes. 

Alas. "Wear shoes more often" isn't something I ever expected to hear.

A Less Innocent Time

Once upon a time, as the former Austin Chronicle intern, I went to the first SXSW. I think I flew from Dayton Airport that year, since I was going to college in Ohio. Later, I went to subsequent SXSWs, those times from New York.

This was a different world, a world where everyone you knew was at one show or another, and you’d see all your friends over the course of the night. Parking was plentiful, BBQ and tacos were cheap, and lines were easily avoided by a few quiet words to a friend at the door. Back then, we didn’t stay in hotels because we were young and sleeping on friend’s floors or sofas seemed perfectly acceptable. You’d go to a bar with a friend to see a band, then they’d wander off to a different show, and you’d go along with someone else to another spot. Eventually, you’d all end up at the same spot again, the best spot, the place where everyone you knew was laughing and enjoying the band the whole town had turned out to see. Or maybe it was a party, but there was always a band there, too.

A Look Back at 2015

Seven years ago, we moved from Broadway to Burbank. Feels like five...because we just spent two years in pandemic-weird-zone.

Even Tinier Than My Tiny JC Studio

I’m staying in a backyard tiny house in Austin this week. The layout is ingenious, and it makes me want to be more clever with my studio in Jersey City.