Latest COMC Order Highlights

Which was more than a month ago, but hey, I gotta get back in the habit of posting (and just writing in general) again.  Nothing I post is even gonna be as timely as this anytime soon, and I’m buried in tons of stuff needing to be scanned again.  So just enjoy the pretty pictures of cards & politely tolerate my struggles to saying something of note about them, eh?

Starting off big with a Boog Powell RC!

I couldn’t pass it up at the price.  Condition is surprisingly decent too.  Ol’ Boog was intended for Project ’62, but he already has three apparently.  Thus, it remains with me.  I will entertain offers, but I’m in no hurry at all to let it go.

Jamaal Charles Number Patch..

I put Jamaal Charles back in my full-on collection category after his amazing return to form last season.  Due to being by far the best player on a historically sucky team, his return from serious injury got overshadowed, but it’s no less impressive than Adrian Peterson to me.  To put up the same kind of yardage & yards-per-carry Charles did before the injury, with the total QB incompetence he was working with in 2012 (at least Ponder bothered to show up for AD & didn’t actively hurt the Vikings chances of winning most weeks), damn impressive.  I think, due to his penchant for breaking off more big runs than maybe anybody else going right now, Jamaal Charles could easily break 2000 yards with a more competent team around him.  And he might be able to do it with fewer carries than anyone that’s come before.

It would be safe to say I’m a huge Jamaal Charles fanboy at this point.  Also, I hope whoever the dipstick that let Orton go and replaced him with Brady f*cking Quinn got fired so hard he’s never allowed to make any even the most marginal of what could be considered important decisions for the rest of his days.  Because HOLY CRAP dude!

1974 Topps Bob Gibson..

Just about the only Cardinal I’ll allow in my random baseball binder (only Lee Smith as a Card, Ozzie Smith as a Padre, & maybe crazy-hot prospect Oscar Tavares have exceptions made for them).

In the meantime, my asshole neighbor just threatened to call the police on me for noise right after she just slammed the hell out of her door.  Have I mentioned lately how much I absolutely HATE this godforsaken hellhole in which I live?  Moving on.

Andre Dawson Leather Nameplate ManuPatch..

Monte Irvin Leather Nameplate ManuPatch..

I never really cared for these nameplate things until I finally got the above two in my hands.  Much nicer in person.  Got them for what totaled out to just over $2 apiece, if I recall collectly.  I’ll gladly do that anytime.  These cards are also pretty much the upper limit of thickness that will fit in my current favored binder pages.

Matt Murton UD auto..

Japan’s single-season hit king (last I checked), and quite probably my favorite “failed” Cubs prospect.  He might’ve been the name I gave my ginormous 3 foot tall stuffed bear from my toddlerhood if I were a wii youngling in the mid-2000s rather than the late-1980s/early-1990s (it was named after Jerome Walton, for the record).  Anyway, thanks to this and an ’06 Chrome Black refractor, I think I’ll be up to 4 or 5 keepers of Murton, once the I get ship one I picked up after this, and once my Just Minors auto turns up.  That auto being from the infamous 4-Just Minors auto lot I picked up for $6-something years ago just for Murton, that also included some guy named JOEY VOTTO.  No, I never get tired of mentioning that Votto auto falling into my lap before he became a thing.  Thanks for asking. 😛

Harold Baines auto!

I picked up freakin’ sweet (though the photo is kinda depressing) Harold Baines auto for my dad, because I finally brought the Gordon Beckham Heritage auto back to my place, because he’s one of dad’s all-time favorite White Sox.

Vintage George Brett..

Not exactly minty fresh, but it was cheap as can be.  Looks nice on a page across from the above Bob Gibson.  Can be had for something I’d like more.

Bonds rookieness..

What a pleasant looking fellow.  I’m sure he’ll never turn into a giant raging ego case that will topple records through questionable means and bring (preposterously overblown) scandal to the game.  Nope, never gonna happen.  Straight class, this guy.

A trio of Fergie-Ferg-Ferg..

I now have Fergie Jenkins RC & 2nd year cards.  I’m trying to get all the regular issue cards from his playing career.  It is going to take awhile, but progress is being made. 🙂

1955 Bowman Bill Wightkin..

Random Bears vintage!  This feller immediately became my oldest football card by far upon landing (and 4th oldest overall), by about a decade.  I believe my prior oldest football cards were two Bears defensive backs from the same year, from sometime in the mid-1960s.

More Fergie!

We’ll finish out this post with THE card of the order.  Leaf Legends of Sport Fergie Jenkins auto #’ed /20.  I’ve been wanting an inexpensive Fergie auto ever since I gave mine to Mario back in the day.  This only set me back a little over $6, I believe.  I didn’t realize it at the time, but it turns out these cards (or at least this one) are super thick, so I had to pick up an extra 130pt magnetic holder for it.  Weirdly, despite the sorry state our local K-Mart is in (corporate raider suck ‘er dry tactics, from what I understand), they still have these things with two extra thick Ultra Pro magnetic holders + a stand for $4.99 that I’ve seen nowhere else.

Update: The cretin next door actually did call the police on me.  So I politely informed the officers that those two started things in the first place with their constant door slamming & how utterly useless the office has been, then sent them upstairs to deal with the stompy jerkass up there.  It was all very pleasant and easy, and it feels like a weight has been (at least temporarily, cuz THIS F*CKING PLACE) lifted off my shoulders.

So I guess that be that.  Apologies for the weird tangents and asides, and that unintended dramatic subplot, and thanks for stopping by!

My soul is gentle, but don’t doubt my fire…

Weight Loss

For the entirety of 2013 I have weighed in comfortably below 200 lbs (as low as 189).  I’ve been running (maybe more like leisurely paced jogging, but still) since sometime last summer, when I realized I could make the entire 2+ mile trip to my parents without stopping.  I eat… well, not healthily.  Healthy food is often not cheap, and the lack of space for preparation and my tolerance for the tedious work involved make it difficult even for relatively simple salads.  However, I usually eat the usually-not-as-healthy-as-I’d-like food in an relatively controlled way.  My body tends to back up on me and my stomach turns into an atomic fireball of horrible pain until sufficiently unloaded if I gorge too much.  Even aside from that though, I learned that I don’t particularly enjoy eating anyway.  I despise the feeling of not being able to control myself when I eat.  Something to do with all that time on the bad med combo that made me constantly, desperately hungry and ballooned me up to around 300 lbs made, I’d imagine.

As for the physical improvements elevating my activity level and not pigging out that often have caused, well, my posture seems to have noticeably improved.  I feel taller in certain situations anyway.  My thighs are still rather spindly, but they are noticeably more solid and less flabby.  My bootay is a little smaller and less gelatinous too (my apologies for that mental image).  I can pretty comfortably fit into all my 38″ waist shorts & pants, and my 42s are almost too big to wear anymore at all, even with belts.  My calves, which have always been the only part of my body with any noticeable muscle, thanks to being relatively active in my youth I guess, almost seem a little smaller, but they are unquestionably sturdier & stronger as well.  Last, but certainly not least, it seems the more I run, the less my ever creaky (due to being naturally misaligned) knees seem to bother me.  This is undoubtedly due to less weight being put on them, and perhaps also the overall increase in the strength of the rest of my legs.

Me at approximately 193 lbs.  Unfortunately I have no real “before” pics to show the difference, but you wouldn’t have needed to see me shirtless to know how far I’ve come along anyway..

As you can see, my upper half is still very much on doughy side, but despite not doing a much work on my upper body, there’s an awful lot less dough behind that gut than there used to be.  I had started working my upper body a bit by dancing/flailing around with light, 5 lbs weights for 20-30 minutes at a time recently, but that got derailed for awhile after I tripped while running and landed awkwardly on my wrist & elbow.  My wrist & forearm are feeling about right again though, so immediately after I post this, I’m going to start back up with it, though I’ll probably need to ease myself back into the flow of things.

Make no mistake, I am not strong yet, and I am not slim yet.  But, for the first time in my life, I feel like I’m finally on my way.  To know I’m making noticeable strides… That is a pretty damn cool feeling.

So take heart if you yourself are struggling to get in better shape.  It has literally taken me years of little tweaks just to get to this level of small personal victory, and I think that is the probably best way to go for most people.  I think sometimes it’s just best to forget the specific regimen/goals, and just try to change one little thing for the better here & there, where and when you can.  It’s also much easier to bounce back from setbacks, and there will be setbacks, when you aren’t putting a huge amount of pressure on yourself as well.  I guess what I’m saying is, that idea of just trying to be a little better every day… I think there might be something to it. 😉

So I guess that’s all for this one, folks.  We’ll probably get back to cards, or at least art, in the coming days.  Thanks for dropping by!

 

I haven’t peaked yet, not even close.  I have barely even started climbing the mountain…