It’s been a while since I’ve sat down for any serious navel-gazing here on my blog. In fact, this poor little exercise in creativity has definitely taken a back seat to my YouTube endeavors, and sometimes I regret that … and other times I feel like the Peanuts panel that tops this post … “I don’t care, I don’t care, I don’t care.” Well, at least that’s what I’d like to think, but as usual, I care too much.
2026 has been a big year for me so far. I made the momentous decision to move at the beginning of this year. Yes, after almost a decade on my super-villain island lair, I moved back to the mainland. Coronado, which I loved (and still do, I suppose), had become far too expensive for me to continue living there. When I moved there in 2017, along with a subsequent move down the hall to a larger apartment a year and a half later, I had set myself a line in the sand when it came to rent. Well, that line disappeared in 2025 when my rent exceeded it by about $37 a month. And while I told my friends—and my financial adviser or at the very least, the stranger that I talk to once a year from the company in which I have my retirement savings, since I’m not well enough off to warrant a dedicated person—that the most important thing for me was to continue living there, I realized that not only financially, but also logistically, it made sense that I found a new place when my current lease was up. Ironically, after numerous leases at my complex, they only raised my rent $25/month (as opposed to the previous lease when it had gone up $207/month), but it still was unsustainable for me. Obviously, I should have moved in 2025.
I was tempted to stay, but then I found a large studio (which is really a one-bedroom … it just doesn’t have a door between the kitchen and the bedroom, thus making it ideal for midnight snacks) in a neighborhood I was familiar with. I’m a block away from San Diego’s biggest park, and while I still pine for my daily walks along the waterfront in Coronado, I am grateful to be paying a significant amount less for rent in a nicer, newer, building, that has easy access—if some walking—to some of the things I love. Oh, and I don’t miss the lead-footed upstairs neighbor who moved in about two weeks before I moved out. Suffice it to say I would have free room and board in the local prison by now if I had stayed.
My other big event of the past year has been the success of my YouTube Channel, @TalesFromMySpinnerRack. I hit 5,000 subscribers about a month ago (at 5,300 as I write this)—last year around my birthday I was just shy of 2,000, so that’s a big jump for a little side-gig/hobby I never thought would go anywhere. I’m also at the point where I’m getting a little “mad money” from this endeavor every month (July will probably mark my fourth month straight), so that’s nice too. But YouTube is a double-edged sword. I do fairly complicated videos, with lots of research, writing, and graphics, so I can only do about one a month (32 episodes so far since September 2023), and just when I think I’ve cracked the algorithm, I turn out to be wrong. I thought I had a winner with June’s video (episode 32), but it’s definitely lagging compared to others. And this, unfortunately, bugs the hell out of me. There’s that caring thing I mentioned in the first paragraph.
What I really need to do is figure out what exactly YouTube is for me. Is it a money-making side hustle? A creative outlet? A chance to tell stories that I want to tell about something I love (comic books)? Do I have to compete with myself each time I post a new video or can I just sit back and admire my work and if someone else does also, that’s just great? I don’t know the answers to these questions just yet, but I’m working on it.
And that’s where I am at 71, a number I find totally unrealistic and bewildering. How? When? WHY? I will admit to feeling that age on most days; aches and pains, walking a bit slower, feeling like a nap after lunch each day. I still try to walk twice each day, but the days of 8-10 miles are done, unless I’m away somewhere like London or New York. I have one major trip planned later this year, but the wanderlust bug has pretty much left me. The places I like to go most—those two aforementioned cities—are also among the priciest in the world, and retirement doesn’t give me a lot of disposable income. I said last year was my last trip to London … this year may very well be my last one to the Big Apple. Flying is a pain in the butt anymore which compounds travel to anywhere.
I’m happy to still be here, plugging along, and I have a busy month or two coming up, with my annual Tales From My Spinner Rack LIVE panel at San Diego Comic-Con at the end of July. I am also going to be doing another comics-related presentation the week of the big show, but elsewhere. More on both of these events as they’re officially revealed. Join me on Instagram @gg92118 or @talesfrommyspinnerrack and please subscribe—even if you have absolutely no desire to watch a 30- to 40-minute video about old comic books—on YouTube @talesfrommyspinnerrack. Oh, and say hi, too. it would be nice to hear from you.
Speaking of YouTube, I will leave you with a video of Jerry Seinfeld talking about turning 70. It’s still appropriate, even at my advanced age of 71. My name is Gary Sassaman and I endorse this video.
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