Why?

I've never liked blogs. I never saw the reason for them and I still have a hard time finding the reason why people keep blogs or jot down their memories and their thoughts. For me....as long as you thought it, it was real...as long as you can remember it....it's real. But then something happened.

A couple weeks ago I got paid from my job at Texas A&M University. Currently I'm working at the Public Policy Research Institute. It's not as glamorous as it may sound, but it's my hope (as Brian would say) that it will make my resume "sexy". Well because of a recent visit and because of low pay, my check was about $200.00 less then I thought it would be.

That meant:

no new comic books (used or new)

no video games (used or new)

and me running around trying to figure out how to live.

So to clear my mind, I went to the gym and went jogging that night. And found myself at one of my favorite local stores here in College Station, TX. The store (Half Price Books) is a perfect store for a frugal person like myself. Many used books, used video games, etc. for the person that does not have any money. Knowing that I could not buy a used trade, I found myself venturing into single comic books that are half the cover price. It was then that I found "them".

The "them" that I am referring to are a couple of X-Men comic books that were published in February-July 1994.

Time were different back then. I was only 14 years old, I was on the verge of entering high school, and comic books only costs $1.25. Thing is, back in 1994, $1.25 was hard to come by. I used to work on the weekend for my Aunt for $20.00 every other weekend as a means to buy comics. If not, I would walk into a Circle K and just steal them. Kind of shocking and I doubt that my ma knows...but I would steal any magazine, any comic book that I wanted. I would ride my bike at least to different Circle K stores miles away from my house. My Ma would often ask where I would get the new books from, but I would simply say that they were my friends.

If I did not find the comic book store, I would have to catch the number 7 bus (7th Street to Union Hills Bus) to All About Books and Comics on 7th Street and Camelback. Taking the bus from the southside was an experience. I would usually leave the house at 11:00 a.m. and because of the distance, it would take an hour to get to the comic book store. Time would be passed listening to a walkmen (yes..a walkmen) or sleeping. The ride back would be equally as long but this time, you would have brand new comic books to read. All in all, I would make it home usually around 2:00 p.m.

But I'm getting off subject. The subject is the 4 issues of X-Men that I found within the Half Price Book Store. I can put in words how excited I was to find the issues that I found. Immediately, I felt like a 14 year old all over again. In 1994 these 4 comic books would cost me $6.00 and be my sole reason for a 1 hour ride on the bus.

Now it's 2010. I am no longer 14 years old and I no longer live in Phoenix. I am a 30 year old man that lives in a small town called College Station as I pursue my masters degree. Still....as I walked home I could not wait to come home, lay down on the floor and read my comics. It felt as if I was buying a part of my childhood all over again. Except this time...there were no guilty feelings of either stealing these books or guilt over spending money that I should have been saving. This time the emotions that overwhelmed me were pure excitement with no emotional aftertaste. It's a feeling that I've waited so long to experience and one I hope to feel again.

All in all, I guess I should be thankful for a reduced check.