I reached/passed 100 followers on WordPress a little while ago. That might not seem like much, but 100 people took a look at what I’m doing here, at my journey, thought, “Yeah, okay,” then took the effort to move their mouse or finger over to the ‘Follow’ button and clicked it.

That deserves a special Happy Blog.

Thanks for joining me. Here’s to 100 more. I’ll try to keep up the good work.

This is semi-stolen (or if you prefer, completely stolen) from comic writer Jason Aaron’s newsletter, Beard Missives, which tells you two things:

  1. That he has a massive, glorious beard, which is true
  2. That you can sign up for it here.

In his most recent telegram he talked about the things that make him happy. Referencing an issue of a comic he wrote wherein Wolverine (yes, THAT Wolverine) talked about liking bath bombs, Aaron discussed his own love for the sudsy bringers and delved deeper into what else brings him joy that you may not be aware of.

Everything from professional wrestling (a sentiment I also share; more on that in a minute) to Disney vacations, Aaron talks about all the things that make him happy.

And I feel we don’t do that enough. I’ve almost quit Twitter about three times this week because, for whatever reason, most of the people I follow feel the need to only address the things and/or people they are currently hating on. With that the top of mind, here are my Happy Places:

Going to Disneyland

Call it cliché, but I love the feeling of walking up to those gates with a loved one or two, ready to engage in a magical experience (for as long as I can afford it). Maybe it’s because we never went when I was a kid? Maybe because it’s literally walking around life-sized castles (sorry, not everywhere can be Europe), but it’s the best.
I still don’t think I’ve taken the Ultimate Disney Vacation yet, something involving staying in the hotel, with appropriate dress attire, and multi-day park hopping, but that’s soon to come.

I’ve yet to go to Disney World, however. But I’ve been Tokyo DisneySea!

Disney Inspired

Reading Comic Books

My first foray into reading. I love prose books, but there’s something about comics that keeps me in place and won’t let me get up until I’m done. “Why don’t you want to write comics?” I’ll get asked sometimes. It’s more about wanting to always be on the other side, you know? I’ve had ideas (what comic fan doesn’t?) but for me I’d prefer to be a passenger.

My main love is Marvel comics, but I’ll grab a ton of DC stuff as well a few smaller press books.

Playing Tabletop Games

I’ll go ahead and throw Magic the Gathering in this one, as you play it on a tabletop, but I jumped on board the Tabletop bandwagon right around the time everyone else did when Wil Wheaton launched his YouTube series demonstrating how much fun they can be. Personal favorites include: Elder Sign, Munchkin, Pandemic, Gloom, Smash Up, and (a new favorite) Santorini.

And no, we don’t play Catan in our house. That’s basically Monopoly with wood instead of money.

Playing Pokémon

I’ve played this franchise, in numerous forms, for over 20 years now. My primary source of enjoyment are the main series games (Blue, Gold, Black, X, Sun, Sword, and so on), but I’ve played the trading card game with my students before, too. Call it a comfort, knowing that I’m playing with a constantly evolving familiar system, or escapism, as I love to pretend every new entry is building off the last, but, it’s my favorite.

I went to Europe because of this game, leading me to find my wife.
I’ve done the Penny Theory on this. Trust me.

Watching/Listening-to-people-talk-about Wrestling

WWE is not very good right now, at the time of writing.

AEW is very good right now.

While a lot of pro-wrestling can feel bad at times, when you find the truly GREAT stuff there is nothing else like it. Truly, nothing else. I’ll listen to about half a dozen podcasts a week talking about this business. (I wish my other hobbies had podcasts with such voracity and entertainment value.)

Playing With My Boys

Rolling around with my boys in their playpen is one of the best pastimes of this pandemic year. They’re getting bigger now, and they want to be let out of their pen all the time (which we’ve set up for at home, but traveling is a little different with twins), but it’s a true joy.

Drinking Coffee

Served black, with flavored creamed, latte with steamed almond milk, or a plain espresso and biscotti, caffeinated bean water brings me much, much joy. We have quite a big coffee station set-up and it’s still not complete in my mind.

Writing Nespresso

Working Out

I haven’t lifted weights in nearly two years and I’ve never felt worse. I mean, in a sense I’m constantly hefting ~30 lb. weights into high chairs and in/out of the bath tub, but it’s not quite the same, is it? Love working out and the zen sense it brings me. Currently working on organizing garage to get a home gym set up, but need to find reasonably priced weight sets. Nothing fancy, just needs to be heavy.

This blog was brought to you by carne asada burritos, two cups of coffee, some morning reading with the boys involving Brown Bears and Superman’s colorful life, and naps.

For the boys. Not for me.

I would like a nap, though.

Thanks for reading,

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Twitter: @robacosta

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Contact: robertmichaelacosta@gmail.com