i win

today was a terrific day. i stopped by the bakery at work to get some cookies, but their credit card machine wasn't working so they just GAVE them to me. and that was only the beginning. after that, i got my friends and myself some delicious orange soda, which we all enjoyed to the tune of some christmas carols. then, later, one of the bigger (as in nerdier, not as in heavier) nerds and i started a pool: everyone was going to pick a superhero who deserved to be pulled from the archives, and we were going to put money on the one we picked to be the first to appear in a comic book movie or have a movie of their own. the rules were, no one who already had a movie or one obviously in the works, and the hero had to have his or her own series. well, i have been on a real doctor strange thing lately. i just read the issue that frank miller did where spiderman saves doctor strange from "the dread dormammu," and doctor strange is the ish. honestly, as a little child reading my dad's "origin of marvel comics," he was my favorite. as i got older, i abandoned him for flashier and more popular superheroes; spiderman, the x-men, iron man. but he deserved more from me. his powers aren't the result of an experiment-gone-wrong or the benefit of technological know-how combined with gobs of money; he studied for years to be able to understand the power behind the mystery he controls. while he was more or less a product of the late sixties, as is obvious by his sensitive and open-minded perspective on his playboy lifestyle and his new-age approach to the concept of magic (astral projection, entering dreams, crystals) the time is ripe for a reinvention of doctor strange. he has a very batman begins-esque backstory, complete with intense training on a mountaintop and a later adversarious encounter with his former master. what with the popularity of harry potter, the entertainment industry is rife with stories about magic and the supernatural; if they just got rid of the clouds of pink smoke that come out of his hands and some of his hokier mumbo-jumbo, doctor strange could fill both a superhero and a magician niche with panache. as everyone knows, x3 is being used as a jumpoff point for four spinoffs: wolverine, emma frost, xavier school and magneto. i predicted he would appear in at least one of the wolverine films, as wolverine went to doctor strange for help uncovering his past when professor x first refused him. maybe this would lead to his own spinoff, who knew. then, my bubble was burst: doctor strange has his own animated film slated for release straight to dvd next year. they could have really done this up right: big-name actor, maybe even two, one for a younger and one for an older doctor strange. big-name actress who he saves from trouble in various dimensions. tie-ins, amazing special effects, everything. but no. animated, straight to dvd. this was a heartbreaker. definitely the biggest bummer of the day. but you know what i realized? i had had probably a half-hour conversation with someone at work who i wasn't sure was even really my friend anymore about my passion and predictions for doctor strange, and he kept this information from me because he wanted me to enjoy my optimism. a lot of good things happened to me today; that was probably the nicest. i think now i'll put my money on thor and hope they don't make him as much of a weenie as he was originally. let's just hope they leave the silver surfer buried.

then a work friend gave me a tip, and i found that i could get a christmas present that i was feeling guilty over how much i had paid for it for twenty bucks less tomorrow! that felt great, especially since it's a really good present that i'm excited about giving. then, on my way out of work ( i work in a mall), i waved to santa and he asked me if i "still wanted that pony." "how did you know?!" i asked him. he winked and held his belly while he chortled, then he rang a little bell at me while i was on the escalator. it was perfect. then, when i was crossing the street outside, the light was red and this guy i had covertly stared at a little before was like, "let's do it." "i'm in," i said, and we jaywalked together. i don't jaywalk, but how could i refuse? when we got to the other side of the street, we shook hands. yes.

the weird thing is, yesterday i ate really healthy and felt awful. today i ate nothing but sugar - the cookies, the orange soda, the cranberry bliss bar, the peppermint cookies i found at trader joe's - and i feel totally awesome. sugar is like the sun to my superman. people use kryptonite metaphors too often. don't they know that superman gets his power from the sun? kryptonite is so negative.


oh HECK yes. am i crazy, or did doctor strange make a cameo appearance in one of the x-men movies, or at least an x-men i've read recently? i feel like there is a shot of them flying over his house ("sanctum sanctorum") with its extremely recognizable skylight (a real house in greenwich village, next time i'm in new york i'm going there gosh i wish superheroes were real so i could meet them i wish that so hard) but he's not home or something.

best things i learned from looking up doctor strange on wikipedia just now:
his address is 177A Bleecker Street
he is mentioned in pink floyd's song "cymbaline" and appears on the cover of a saucerful of secrets, and is mentioned in a t rex song
dr orpheus in the venture brothers is modelled after him (he is the best character on the venture brothers, ask anyone)
he has been in like a million dimensions and time periods
doctor strange is totally, totally rad