The Essential MCF: 2K7-2K8

Cloakfest 2K8 continues! Last year I chose highlights from my third season, and now, hard to believe, the Nexus has existed for FOUR years! I've gone through a year's worth of posts, summing up and linking to the most important ones. If you're just joining me, or missed a few episodes, now's a good time to get caught up:


OCTOBER, 2007

MCF is Bleeding
At my new job, I participate in a blood drive, and come home with a souvenir.

Last One Out
When everyone else is gone, I'll still be here to make sure I don't miss anything, no matter where “here” may be.

They Pull Me Back In
I don't want to add new shows to my viewing roster, but some television seasons yield new offerings too good to pass up.

Blogroll Hero Logos 3
More fun typography exercises as I turn more of my favorite blogs into comic book style headers. The complete collection can be found under the Blogroll Hero Logos tag.

Culture Crash
What happens when an Italian band is hired to play for an Indian procession?

99 Choices
I review a new favorite deli with a remarkable assortment of wraps and sandwiches.

Tame Game
Our attempts to bring in the stray cat “Sonny”(A.K.A. “Beast”) begin. Little did any of us know the fate his choice to remain an outdoor cat would bring in the next year...

Semi Serious
My eating habits are no different than the majority of overweight Americans, and I test my limits at an awesome burger joint.

The Work of Others
An old man and his son clean up someone else's mess, because someone has to.


NOVEMBER, 2007

Lost Spirit
My new job is great and I don't look back if can help it, but one holiday proves to be just not the same.

Origins and Shelves
A writer's strike claims its first casualty before it even begins.

Scattered
When you no longer see the same people every day, getting a good group together for a happy hour can be a challenge.

Always Sunny in the Nexus
I finally take a friend's advice and get caught up on It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. HILARIOUS.

PBW: Who I Was
For all of ten minutes, I wear a Halloween costume. Hopefully 2008 will be different...

Out of the Darkness
Shorter days and longer nights are depressing. Hulu is not.

Mourning Weakness
I just can not get out of bed and move fast in the morning, which makes getting to work on time a real problem.

Detachment
As a commercial artist, I've learned not to take comments and criticisms personally.

The Office Cold Opens
I share some of my favorite episode openings from The Office.

30 Rocks
Why is 30 Rock so good?

Under Different Direction
With a different director, some of our favorite movies would have changed drastically.

Weren't You Canceled?
Amid fears of how the WGA Strike will affect my favorite shows, I'm reminded that on rare occasions, shows are resurrected.

Separation of Work and Life
When an old battle between opposing forces reignites in my brain due to some busy times, I take a step back to separate those forces.

Monday Fog
Mondays are always hard after any weekend, and sometimes after a long weekend they're harder.

Coming to Realize
Nearly a decade late, I finally see Coming to America.


DECEMBER, 2007

The Weekend is a Gift
Bloggers adorn the packaging for wacky new products.

MCF RPG I
I attempt to lure others into an old favorite pastime, interactive creative writing.

Living Large
When bad eating habits and lack of a gym get me up to 196 pounds, I realize it's time to make some changes.(As I write this I'm down to 180, so it's good to know there's been some improvement since I wrote that).

Loser Music
Listening to a good cover band at a happy hour, I ponder my geek tendencies and how sometimes I identify with lyrics that shape a poor self image.

Pets
A warm cat sleeping on my chest on a cold morning reminds me just how important pets are in our lives.

MCF RPG I Coda
An exercise in mutual creative writing closes its first chapter.

Feral
Beast swats the hand that feeds him, much to my mother's dismay.

2 Knights. 7 Rings. 1 Guest.
A classic television series is remade, interesting plans arise for a classic superhero, and a wild animal spends a night in our basement, much to all of our surprise.

Last Minutes
Someday I won't procrastinate when it comes to buying gifts. This was not that day.

Slacker Reward
The only reward for picking up the slack when others fall behind schedule is more work, but I'm just not wired to let deadlines be missed.

Sit Still: The Mike Whorenelli Story
That Dewey Cox movie was damn funny.

Tidings of Great Joy
I'm reminded of the immortal animated holiday special.

Dreams Within Dreams
B13 has a heart attack in my office, then I wake up and Curt speaks riddles about finding water in the desert, and then I wake up for real...I think..

What Vacation?
Six days away from work vanish from memory the moment I'm back at work putting out fires, including one “helpful” technician who closes one of my files without saving a half hour's worth of progress.

2008 Geek Cinema
Before 2007 ends, I look ahead to the movies in the coming year aimed at my demographic. I still haven't seen all of them, and some are still on the horizon, but many lived up to or exceeded my predictions and expectations.


JANUARY, 2008

Looking Back Oh Seven
I take the first and last sentence from each month of 2007, which paints an interesting summary of the year.

PBW: And Party Every Day
Some people spend the holiday with family, while others spend it with friends. I split four days among all of the above and got to relax when I finally returned to work.

So Far, So Good
I resolve to think positive in 2008, and remove the word “never” from my vocabulary.

Devilish Annulment
Joe Quesada sets Spider-Man back a few years in the name of progress, and though I haven't been a regular reader of comics in years, you can bet I react to the news.

PEACE be With YOU
A good priest and some old family photos bring me peace.

As Mondays Go
The first day of my first full work week after the holidays tests my positive thinking resolution, and I nearly fail when a doorknob falls off and traps me in the bathroom.

Fit Warming
A geeky political discussion segues into my first outdoor lunch of the year, on an unseasonably warm day.

Faking the Band
I create some interesting CD covers for nonexistent groups.

Religious Nuts
Tom Cruise thinks he's the only one who can save you if your car breaks down, and that's one of the more sane things he rambles about.

Monster Takes Manhattan
I finally learn the long-awaited secret of Cloverfield.

Keyword Roulette I
My first attempt at a new game for the new year proves less than successful.

Technical Life
I ponder how technology has improved and complicated my life, and wonder how people with families manage their schedules.

Anethememtic
50 things I just don't like.

The Cat on the Ice
A cat at work crosses our frozen pond. A cat at home continues to show up on our doorstep for food while hissing at us. My heart melts for any living thing in need.

Interruptions and Distractions
Easily distracted, I'm sometimes overwhelmed by a large worklo--hey, comics!


FEBRUARY, 2008

Lost Without
February begins with a frantic race to the vet as our beloved cat Chirp struggles with a respiratory infection.

Earn This
As Chirp's cold symptoms slowly subside, he still refuses to eat, spending most of his time lying inert. It's a hard time for all of us.

Short of Miraculous
A beloved friend uses up at least one of his nine lives, but to our joy and relief not all of them.

High Maintenance
Some people are really specific when ordering lunch...

PBW: Black & White
I try some photographs in grayscale to celebrate the recovery of my little black & white pal, and my gray and white friend makes an appearance as well.

Kids Are Not All Right
High school children, apparently allowed to leave school grounds and roam free in the middle of the day, remind me on my lunch break of a time in my life I won't miss.

Dental Cram
I always take extra good care of my teeth before a visit to the dentist, the type of care I should maintain all year round.

Language Barriers
Ordering food from some of my favorite lunch stops can be challenging when they only know a few words of my language and I don't know any of their words. It's a sensitive issue, and patient though I am I still wonder why I always have to ask that my sandwich be toasted when I'm ordering from the “Toasted” menu and my choice has the word “Melt” in its name.

PBW: Ah Ain't Yeller
Stuck in traffic at night during a snowstorm, a forgotten anxiety problem resurfaces. A month that started with my cat almost dying definitely wasn't done throwing me curveballs.

What Should I Sing?
A scene in a depressing yet outstanding film gets me thinking about what songs to sing at an upcoming karaoke birthday party.

Old Glory
Whatever happened to real patriotism, to the good old days of mom, dad, and apple pie?

That Karaoke Wishlist
I compile a list of songs I'd want to sing, that I now in hindsight realize I probably should have printed.

Change for the Worse
The mystery of why I'm feeling so “blah” and anxiety attacks are resurfacing becomes less mysterious when I break down all the negative changes in my life since losing my previous job, including a decrease in exercise and increase in fast food and caffeine intake.

Meow at the Moon
MCF and his camera vs. an eclipse, sans tripod. Guess who wins?

Out of My Mind
Among my worst fears, coming home to an empty house because one of my parents had to take the other to the hospital ranks high. When I come home and learn my mom is in the emergency room due to heart palpitations, I learn February isn't done with me or my family by a longshot.

Pimp Slap Averted
Enough snow melts so that I don't have to make my 77-year-old father walk to the hospital to visit my mother and we can drive.

Life is Short
After a day in a regular room, the return of irregular vitals sends my mom back to the ICU, where she's as frustrated as we're concerned.

Myclofig Mea Culpa
I guess in light of everything that was going on my life at the time, I can understand how I forgot to host my own version of the Oscars.

Best Medicine
Finally back in a regular hospital room, with doctors gauging the best dose of Coumadin for her, my mom gets closer to coming home. Her roommate has some very interesting information about a doctor I didn't have the best experience with.


MARCH, 2008

Absentminded Mail
When my credit card bill is more than twice what it normally is and includes a late fee, I realize with horror that a previous bill remains unopened in a month-old stack of junk mail.

Change for the Better
I begin an action plan, albeit in baby steps, to reverse a lot of the negative practices I recognized in my life the month prior.

A Better MCF
Ideally, learning from past experience constantly makes us better. Even if we could change things in our past, I'm not sure we should.

Through the ‘gate
I finally dedicate some time to catching up on the 10 seasons of Stargate SG1 that I'd missed, a task that would take several awesome months to complete.

Lightning Strikes Again
New job. Old car. Why shouldn't I get rearended while waiting at a traffic light when I'm almost at work? Again.

New Spider, New Amsterdam
The Spectacular Spider-Man proves to be an awesome new cartoon, as New Amsterdam proves to be a promising new drama. Though only one of those shows survived to at least a second season, I liked what I saw.

Fate vs. Faith
My fatalistic pessimism often wrestles with my faith in God, and on a day when the owner of the vehicle which struck me finally returns my calls, I'm reminded of how often problems are lifted in less time than it takes to worry about them.

Mental Health Day
I take a long overdue vacation day to recover from my problems. It starts too early with a phone call from the guy who owned the car that was being driven by his foreign au pair at the time she struck me. He'd rather give me money than pay a body shop to fix my car; I just want(and need) my car on the road again. I “unwind” from that conversation by helping my dad install a new light fixture in the kitchen. Somehow, I suspect the “health” portion of the post title to be a misnomer...

More Weird Than Ten
It's easy to list ten weird things about myself. Normal, now that would be a challenge...

i like delirious
I don't know that stream-of-consciousness ramblings from a deliriously ill blogger are essential, but they are interesting...

Celebrate the Joy
Pushing through a lingering illness to attend an Easter vigil proves to be the inspiration I need as our Pastor speaks of those who tear us down, who wallow, who get “stuck on Friday” and never make it to Sunday to celebrate the joy.

Car Quest
Believe it or not, I actually start shopping for a new car, and suddenly 2008 seems like one of those years in which something significant will happen.

Won't Back Down
A massive panic attack strikes while I'm driving down an expressway at 60 MPH, but a day of paintball is just what I need to get outside my brain, at least once I get a working gun...


APRIL, 2008

PBW: Pond of Solace Part 2
I start April off with a very unique redesign.

Bracket Blogs
Pitting a lot of my favorites against one another in bracket form proves to be one of the year's most successful ideas.

Disremembered
Obviously, there are things in my past that I can't forget, and I'm a strong believe that we shouldn't forget our past, especially the worst experiences that we learn from. But if we could “disremember”, I explore which things I would discard.

Never Say Goodbye
Cleaning out my old car as I prepare to trade it in for a new one brings up old memories.

King of Egypt
I buy a car from the king of Egypt...sort of.

Wound Tight
When the old anxiety just won't go away, I finally decide to set my mind at ease and get a long overdue checkup from a real doctor.

Unquote
In going through some of my favorite quotes, I may have set a record for the most consecutive links in one post...

Stargate Guests
A little more than halfway through the seasons of one science fiction franchise, I pause to note the guest stars more well known from other franchises.

Checking Up
I take a day off to see a doctor, and poke a hole in my hand while checking the tires on my new car.

PBW: Blue and Black
Out with the old car; in with the new(ish) car.

Overwriting Bad Code
If I can't delete the thought processes that lead to stress and anxiety, perhaps I can overwrite them with new thoughts.

Surviving Comicon
I survive a long but awesome day at a convention, and though it left me exhausted and questioning whether or not I was getting too old to go to these things, I wouldn't be surprised if I went back again next year. Once a fanboy; always a fanboy.

PBW: NYComiCon ‘08
Photos tell the tale of the convention better than my words ever could. Yeah, I'll be back...

The FEVER
SPRING, Fever, that is!


MAY, 2008

Creepy Crawly
I overreact when I find a spider on my dish...

I Saw Iron Man
It's my essential review of the best comic book movie of (early) 2008.

Cars and Irony
When Rey comes to town, it's a great opportunity to relive some old stories with old friends.

Shields
When obstacles arise, it's nice to know we can shield ourselves....

The Ultimate Assemblage
It's still a few years away, but I'm very excited that several solo superhero movies will culminate in a film about one of my favorite teams.

Going Home Again
I learn the hard way why it isn't smart to have a lot to drink on the way to a happy hour...

Scrubbing Up
Scrubs isn't quite done yet, despite rumors of its demise and an ambiguous “final” episode aired out of order.

Can Anyone Do Anything?
I thought so when I was younger, and maybe I need to believe it again...

MCF's Fall Couch Time
What will I be watching in the Fall? I take an early look.

Across the Music Verse
Across the Universe inspires me to ponder some potential discography-inspired films.

Life Takes Away
Life is uphill, until things stop working one by one. What we do in spite of physical failings defines the quality of life in our later years.

PBW: Memorial
We remember those who have fallen in battle, and I remember a little friend of a friend.

Gardening Tips
What is wrong with kids today? Old men mix metaphors and sort it all out.

Eye Drive
When his cataracts get worse, my dad has to schedule surgery. When my mom starts driving into inanimate objects, I start to worry about both of them driving anywhere...


JUNE, 2008

Living Legends
When the world loses Harvey Korman, I take a look at some of my favorite senior citizens who are still with us. With the exception of Estelle Getty, who we would lose later in the year, and Paul Newman, whom I forgot to include in a major oversight, everyone I listed is still here at the time of this writing, knock wood.

T.I.L.T. Things I've Learned Thursday
It's the dazzling debut of a new weekly feature!

The Floppy Iris
Unforseen complications strike during my dad's first cataract surgery. The whole story makes me appreciate dentists.

Dad's New Look
My father gets some sweet sci fi shades out of his eye surgery.

Attitudes
Some people are nicer than others, and some people take the generosity of others for granted.

Hot. Enough.
I can't stand the heat. I still don't own an air conditioner.

PBW: Zoo Zoom
Bringing my camera with me on a zoo gig introduces me to a species I'd never heard of, along with other interesting creatures.

Schieve
Some things gross me out to the point that my mom needs an old made-up word to describe my response.

Nothing Happening
I review the worst movie of 2008, which I can still say with confidence though the year isn't over yet. In the end, people will try to explain what went wrong with the film, but those explanations will all still be theories.

Rage
Road rage can be scary, especially on a dark back road in the middle of the night where one driver gets out of his car to confront another....

Inconspicuous
I learn that I'm not as invisible as I'd like to think, and when people start addressing me with “sir” I start to realize I'm not as young as I'd like to think, either.

It All Works Out
Guess who finally joins a new gym after 10 months of growing fat and depressed? I take another important step toward improving my life in 2008.

The Craziest Dreams
My brain is seriously screwed-up sometimes, but at least it entertains me. Who knows where my dreams will take me next?


JULY, 2008

Reflexes and Wit
Music comes naturally to me and requires little thought or effort. Conversation is a different story...

Excuses, Excuses
I share something I once wrote in order to fight a speeding ticket.

Tech Slave
Sometimes I think my entire life is dictated by the computers I chain myself to at work and at home.

PBW: Lots of Bombs in the Air
Thanks to a tripod I borrow from B13, I take my first halfway decent fireworks photos ever. I really should get my own one of these days...

Sleep Debt
I don't get enough sleep, and over time I wonder if that's partially to blame for some lightheaded moments on the road and throughout the day.

Chopsticks
I go to lunch with my new coworkers to bid farewell to a departing one, and learn how to use chopsticks...sort of.

The House that Kane Built
Prior to seeing the greatest comic book movie of 2008, I enjoy a DVD documentary on the creator of that legacy.

Smirker
Once the smirking stops, I can't stop it, and I never could, even before I knew what it was.

Just the Chauffeur
Playing with various bands often requires a lot of driving, and often includes a lot of passengers.


AUGUST, 2008

2nd Oldest Profession
As often is the case in delis at lunch, I learn just how young children start being disrespectful.

31 Happy Things
I take up a challenge to list one thing that makes me happy each day in August, but I do it all in one day.

Weird Thoughts
* W * E * I * R * D *

Money Must Be Nice
Playing for a backyard barbecue in a wealthy neighborhood gives me a glimpse of the good life.

All Hail Breaks Loose
Our office is pelted by a quick storm, and the damage is inversely proportional to the time it lasted.

The Piece
We peer in on a couple on the verge of moving up in their lives, and this vignette is oddly familiar...

Got to Maintain
When the choice is maintain or decline, there's no choice at all.

Cold Mornings and Warm Shows
Cold mornings make me realize that new episodes of my favorite shows, as well as a few potential new favorites, are right around the corner.

Little Scares
Life is full of little surprises, sometimes all on the same day.

Deli Dilemma
Spotting a strip of dead flies diverts me from one of my favorite delis for a few months.

Cheese Grater Story
I learn the hard way that a cheese grater my company is selling is sharp. Bloody sharp...


SEPTEMBER, 2008

My Father's Son
Is it possible to roll over the same screw a second time after removing it from my tire once? Am I my father's son?

Time in the World
College friends enjoy a bittersweet reunion when one of my buddies loses his dad to cancer.

Divide and Multiply
We live in a country that allows us to state our differences openly, and as is the nature of humanity we're never going to agree on everything.

Blood of the Beast
When Beast, the stray cat that my mom's been feeding for over a year, starts leaving puddles of blood around the yard, we fear for the fate of an animal who won't let us close enough to pet him let alone help him.

Playing Themselves
Some actors make a living just being themselves, and that's not necessarily a bad thing.

It Pours
Illness strikes in the midst of my busiest season at work, and amid the final gigs of the band season.


OCTOBER, 2008

PBW: Mantis & More
A praying mantis on my taillight may well be the best photo I take all year.

Knightmare
I guess you can't turbo boost home again, no matter how much you want to.

Dizzy Day
Things I don't want to hear from my dad first thing in the morning include news of dead relatives and announcements that he's having dizzy spells again.

Surprises and Endings
After dealing with a few surprises on the road, I learn that my music season isn't quite done yet, and that our band's drummer just became a father to the opposite of what he was expecting.

* * *

And that's what I wrote about in my fourth year of doing this.

Cloakfest 2K8 concludes tomorrow with another “revealing” Photo Blog Wednesday....