BLOG: Holiday Spirit and Starting Over!

Hello my friends! So far this new substack blog is really doing well for me. Lots of new readers and its still growing! If you are new here, sign up and get my blogs sent directly to your inbox! ITS FREE! And its pretty much the only way to keep up with me, since I left all social media except for Blusky. So put your email address in to keep up with me and join our fun here. And coming in the new year, you’ll want it, trust me! Big things are coming here on the substack. I shall reveal more later but for now, sign up and be ready by putting your address in right here:

Well, another week is upon us. One week before Christmas! I get to work from home this week so yay! We had some snow here in the mitten last week, so I am ready to hibernate and wrap up here in my hobbit hole and not emerge for 9 days or so! Some exciting things are happening! First up, my pal Barry has launched a new Kickstarter, which features ALL ME! Its all the stories I’ve done for him over the last few years all collected! Its already attained funding, but if you want to be an Adam completist, you gotta score yourself a copy! Link: http://kck.st/4gwovQ0

Another Kickstarter that I must recommend is the relaunch of the Heavy Metal Magazine! Good speculative fiction comics and I might even submit something of my own! Jump in and enjoy it! http://kck.st/4g3zVdP

I finished the art on Issue #6 of Pleasant Life and have started Issue #7, which revolves around a table top game and I get to draw the characters in a Dungeons and Dragons setting!

So that is coming along. I’m also hip deep in new pages for the next Patreon NSFW story. I had one thing I started doing for it, but I decided to shift gears and go another way and do a totally different story. One I know will excite everyone! All will be revealed on the upcoming year end episode of my Podcast: The Idiothead.com Morning Show! Search for Idiothead Morning Show on your podcast app of choice, subscribe and listen. It’s FREE! Been doing it many years and I have no intention of stopping anytime soon. And my big year end is always my most downloaded episode each year. I tribute the events and celebrity deaths of the previous year and talk about next year goals. Its coming up after Christmas and you won’t want to miss it!

Christmas is fast approaching! I got 99% of my shopping done. I’m just buying for the boys this year and I got myself a couple things that I haven’t opened yet. I will wrap them up and open them on Christmas day with the boys. And man, the tree turned out beautiful! (if the cats can quit messing up the underskirt and knocking my stuffed santa over!)

Beyond that, things are going okay. I’m still struggling with maintaining new and better eating habits. My A1C numbers are still normal but I am not dropping any weight. In fact, I’ve gained weight. It sucks. But I’m trying to not be so hard on myself. I’ve weathered a lot of storms in my life. I’ve learned not to beat myself up so bad like I used to. Its always a work in progress.

Mental health has been really good, all things considered. I’ve backed away from the news and social media and have focused on work. The day job is in heavy overtime and at night I’m slinging pencils on new art. I even got to paint a couple things this last week. (I’ll share those after Xmas as they are presents for someone dear to me) But I am rolling through just fine. I feel fat. I don’t like that I have REALLY gotten balder in the front. I’ve just learned to accept it and just live my life. I’ve been reading some comics I had in storage. Still working my way through reading a couple newer short story collections friends of mine have made. I’m listening to newer music (Still been on a huge Lindsey Buckingham kick) and yesterday I re-watched some Trek.. always my go to happy place.

Life is crazy. I was thinking… it was ten years ago today… TODAY… that my life completely changed overnight. Ten years ago today I found out that my marriage was over. Shortly after that I moved out on my own into a small one bedroom place, became a weekend dad, working two jobs to make ends meet. I had nothing to my name. Just my clothes, computer, a handful of DVDs and some books. I slept on a $25 couch I bought from Goodwill and Febreezed into submission. So everything in my house now I’ve accumulated over the last ten years since that happened. I lead a totally different life now. Its been a struggle but I know I have also triumphed over what happened. I now lead a completely different life now. One where I am very, very, very happy and stable. Hard to dwell in the sadness of that day when so much after that day went so right.

I wrote a blog a month after that day, that I considered suicide. Just to hurt the person who I felt hurt me. I didn’t think I had a life left. I was 37 (In a row?) and fat, lonely, no job, no future, kids taken from me, my whole life taken away and stuck in a wheel of hurt and bitterness. I remember sitting there staring at the bottle of pills I was going to swallow and just end it. It was about an hour I just sat there staring at the bottle. I didn’t think about my kids, my friends or my dad. Just that this was my way out. And two things popped in my head. Out of nowhere. It said this:

1-You’re a good person, Adam. The world needs people like you.

2-You’re not done yet. You have things to do.

I tossed the bottle and lived on. I worked two jobs and then one shitty one until I scored the one I have now. It enables me to pay my bills, raise my kids, save for my future and a nice smattering of a retirement and health insurance. I’ve met people there who have impacted my life in ways I cannot begin to count. I published 12 of my graphic novels. (4 Starslams, 6 Late Night Shorts, Confessions, The Erotic Zone) I’ve restarted my beloved comic PLEASANT LIFE and have released 3 issues with 4 more on the way next year. I started a new book this last week that I will launch on the Patreon. I’ve wrote a lot. I’ve traveled. I’ve seen even more live concerts. I’ve fallen in love. Dealt with the heartache of another breakup. I’ve learned how to be happy on my own. I’ve supported my friends and loved ones. I’ve been a good dad to my three boys. I have a house FULL of things I’ve always wanted and love, creating my own little isolated nerd cave/Xanadu that I will cherish all the days I have left on this ball of mud suspended in an endless nothing. And these things are just the tip of it.

The point is, no matter what happens in your life, its never the end. Its a challenge and its part of your story. You can grow. You can change. You can overcome what comes your way. Never think you got nothing left. Cause you do. Life is for the living, warts and all. Celebrate it and cherish every moment you have. Find your happy place and start living.

I think of a Trek quote.. here’s something Dr. McCoy said to Captain Kirk in a very early TOS episode and I think about it often…

McCoy: In this galaxy, there's a mathematical probability of three million earth-type planets...and in all the universe, three million million galaxies like this one. And in all of that, and perhaps more, only one of each of us. Don't destroy the one named Kirk.

And of course, that great speech in Rocky Balboa and its become my mantra:

Let me tell you something you already know: The world ain't all sunshine and rainbows. It's a very mean and nasty place and I don't care how tough you are it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, Me or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain't about how hard you hit. It's about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward. How much you can take and keep moving forward. That's how winning is done!

So yeah, ten years ago… it wasn’t an end. It was a beginning. And so far, I’m liking how the story is playing out!!!

Thanks for reading my friends. Year end podcast coming soon. All will be revealed. Lots of things are gonna start happening in 2025. Its gonna be great on my Patreon and here on the Substack. I’ll keep you entertained and happy from the shit that is about to go down. Trust me, its big news. You’re gonna love it. I cannot wait to tell you all.

Soon! —Luvs, T

__________________PLUG TIME!_____________________

My only social media: Bluesky!

https://bsky.app/profile/phymns.bsky.social

Get my comics via DIGITAL download. https://www.drivethrucomics.com/browse/pub/14301/phymns

Get PHYSICAL copies of my comics:

https://idiothead-comics.storenvy.com/products

My NSFW Patreon:

https://www.patreon.com/c/ADAMTALLEY

Always feel free to email me at: phymns@yahoo.com