Ethan Stranger...Masters Blogging

All right people, let’s do this one last time...again, My Name is Ethan Stranger, and for the last 8 (or 8 ½ ) years, I’ve been traveling the world…” like crazy”, if you haven’t been catching up on my blogs, allow me to refresh your memory, while also making a long story short. Back in the summer of 2015, I joined up with my parents in Kathmandu, Nepal (Read more about that within my “Navigating Nepal” Post), had my few ups and downs during my time over there, stayed in TX, where I struggled for 2 years with Community College (Read more about that in my “Growing Pains: College Edition” post), then eventually I found myself back into the world do world-travel, where this time, I was in Peru and stranded there during the COVID pandemic before finally making it back to the states, skipping a head here and there, I was stuck at my Aunts House for 8 months before finally making it to Hyderabad (Read more about that experience in my “Hooray for Hyderabad” post), where again, I feel like I’m reliving the time I had in Katmandu, Nepal, where’s its a lot of ups and downs.

Despite all of this, I’ve managed to write my 100th Blog post at last, never thought I make it this far in the world of blogging, to be honest, I was close to giving up and just quitting being a blogger (especially after letting my Peruvian therapist go, for he was one (alongside my mom) who gave me the push to finally open a blog for myself and he would help edit my work, but eventually we clashed over on what the topics should be, for originally I started my blogs off with simple topics about me and my struggles with being on the spectrum before having watched various videos discussing about certain comic book runs, characters, movie/TV Series reviews and more, I thought to myself “I could do something like that…in blog form” and so that’s what I’ve been doing, managing to find various characters, TV series, Movies and find a way to make world-wide readers find my style of writing and my many topics both relatable and enjoyable.   

Throughout my many journeys around the world, I continue to ask myself a lot of questions, “Ethan…you were Born in Juneau, but raised in TX, a former trumpet player who’s on the spectrum (as a person on the spectrum, I don’t like loud noises, yet, I was able to pull through, read more about my time in HS Band within my

Band-related blog posts), so how you are a world traveler who managed to be an extra in 2016s Dr. Strange, and yet…

you’re still traveling the world and wondering if you are ready “to retire” from that life and finally begin building a life for yourself where

I’m happy, well…where ever I go in the world, people tell me the same thing…

(Yeah…I was quoting from Ant-Man And The Wasp: Quantumania Trailer)  

But really, I do wonder when I’ll really settle and build a life for myself, even if my skills in being independent were a bit rusty and I will require help whenever I’m doing something,

which isn’t bad, but then again, I look at several of my friends on how they managed to succeed in life with little help from their parents and now are married and living

“happily ever after”, while I Ethan Stranger) have kinda ripped a page from BoJack Horseman’s book, particularly in that 1 scene where he’s driving and lets go of the steering wheel

(as a sign that “he’s going commit suicide), but then stops as he watches other horses running in the distance as they sang that’s playing goes “We always have a story”,

meaning why end your life, when you can try again until it’s right… 

(Click to watch the BoJack Clip)

Lately, I’ve been tackling stress and (maybe) depression, as I fear how my future will be, and being forced to multi-task is taking a toll on me, for I used to be a fun guy, and nowadays, I feel overwhelmed and fearing that I’ll suffer mental illness and go down a dark path (it comes having been away from the states and been traveling around the world as made feel like “a man out of time”, now I know how Captain America feels), thus in times like this, I feel like “Raindrops keep falling on my head (for eternity)”.  

(Cue Music)

During my many travels around the world, I do manage to pay visits to my hometown of Juneau (Read more about that within my “Juneau-Related Blog posts”), where whenever I’m there, I don’t feel like “a man out of time”, because in Juneau, things go a bit slow, sure there are some changes, but not as big fast-moving ones like in TX, plus having gotten better educational help from the UAS (University of Alaska Southeast), I regret having not thought of starting from there from the beginning, but instead, I found myself struggling over at the community college in TX (read more about that experience within my “Growing Pains: College Edition post”). Besides, several o my friends have already left TX, returning to their true hometowns or searching for their own happiness (either within TX or outside of TX), and maybe I should do the same, after all, aren’t we looking for happiness, besides if there’s 1 thing the Simpsons Movie taught us about Alaska is that it’s a “fresh start” (for some, but not all, perhaps those who are worthy and just not used to living in loud places), like my grandparents (read about them in my “Worlds Greatest Grandpa Post”)     

Besides, As Elton John would sing, “When are you gonna come down, When Are You going to Land, I should’ve stayed on the farmer, I should’ve listened to my Grandma”, reminds me of how things would’ve been different had I applied for the UAS in person and lived with my grandparents in Juneau

(Once again…Cue Music)

As for my time as Blogger, I don’t consider this to be The End (not yet, anyway), for there’s so much more to tell from my perspective (either it’s from my travels or there for what goes on in social media world), as I said before, I was skeptical about starting a blog (after the big flop of me trying to be a Youtuber during my Time in Nepal, wasn’t taught well), plus I nervous about what I wanted to write about (as I slowly wanted to talk about other stuff besides Neurodivergent or myself-related), thus I took a gamble on various topics that I wanted to write about and (in my own right), found my own audience and reception as a blogger. Even after cutting ties with the Peruvian therapist, I was inspired by the words of the Late Comic Writer (Mark Gruenwald) and why he chose to stay writing Captain America for 10 years (read more about him in my many posts like “Captain America: By Mark Gruenwald, The Mighty Thor: By Mark Gruenwald, and Diamondback in the Rough: The Rachel Leighton Story”).        

So if Mark Gruenwald can write Captain America for 10 years, I can do Blogging for 10 years,

Plus He even has his own special comics challenge named after him…

(and then after Blogging/Traveling, maybe I’ll finally try some of that Life That My HS English Teacher, Ms. LeRoy (Read about her in my “The Legacy of Desi LeRoy Post”) and my Friend, Mike Noir, were telling me to get, Cue the Old Man Steve Rogers Theme) 

“The beautiful thing about life is - our plan for what we want and where we see ourselves is constantly changing. What's most important is to be open-minded, flexible, and most of all RESILIENT! Go after what makes your heart sing! Keep up the exploration of life and try to stay in the present; we all want to know our purpose and where we will end up and what we will do with our lives, but what is the point of it all if we can't enjoy the wild ride that is right here and now? Make each day beautiful, knowing your purpose is to love and care for others (because you are so great at that), and the rest will fall into place, as it always does!” 

-Desi LeRoy 😊        

“Don’t overthink life, It has just started, and it will surprise you. Do what you love, tons of people are struggling, but we’re the kind of people to stay Happy” - Michael N. 😊

(While also ripping a page from Faye Valentine)  

“Something about remembering where you truly belong”...

And Can’t forget about my friend, Big Bill: “Don’t get yourself down though, society has this thing about pressure on us to be somewhere in life at a certain time frame when the reality is there is only a time frame you set good things to take time and patience and most importantly, failing is 100% ok and 100% a part of the process of growth…without failure, we don’t learn vital lessons” (sounds similar to what Master Yoda told Luke Skywalker in Star Wars: The Last Jedi). 

So Thank you all for your inspiring words of Encouragement to me (Ethan Stranger) and to Chewie, for something I wonder the same question Dr. Strange wonders (ARE YOU HAPPY?), but having to listen to many quotes of wisdom and watching the last episode of “All Hail King Julien”, I (Ethan Stranger) now learn that “Something Big, and I’m talking huge, could be just right around the corner”:

So now it’s time for Ethan Stranger to sign off and a Happy 100th Blog Post Celebration

(Take it away, ELO), kinda matches my current situation throughout life so far… 

(And can’t forget about Detective Pikachu)

Plus, what are the odds of my HS school (Read about that story in my “High School Crushes: Preparing for Love”) ever gonna return and say sorry, similar to Black Cat saying sorry to Spider-Man (Read more on Black Cat in my “Just a Stray Black: The Felicia Hardy Story”), but as I mentioned in my “High School Crushes: Preparing for Love”, “I just wish we had more time, so you could get know the “Real Me” - as a real friend. Wherever you are, I hope you're happy with the life you’ve built for yourself & the path you’ve chosen.” (for the path I’m on in Life is completely different)...  

Now I know how “Eddie Valiant” feels, whenever he’s flipping through the memories…

But my many travels around the world, I’ve learned that sometimes memories can weigh you down, that’s been 1 of my many struggles over the years, sometimes I learn that “being alone actually doesn’t mean unhappiness, alone doing, in fact, bring happiness”, the only problem is how to find happiness while being alone without  being lonely”, and therefore I ask Dr. S! (if she ever reads this), “is it possible for those (on the spectrum or not) to find happiness while being alone before finally finding their own version of a happily ever after”, without the need to try and catch like everybody else in life (like trying to better than them by having more money or getting married right away), because that can sometimes lead to stress, anxiety, depression, and PSTD, as I mentioned, I thought about just ending my life before eventually, I realized We always have a story, meaning why to end your life, when you can try again until it’s right…” (why must I feel like my life is a deadline)?  

(Ok, Take it Away, Barry Manilow before I go overboard with my 100th Blog Post)