Amongst my fandoms are such diverse elements as....

 Stories I'm thinking about lately:

#1. No fanfic to any specific source material, but...the story of a vampire, of the semi-classic "being undead means you really truly can't have a conscience anymore" sort, trying to be moral for the sake of newfound love, and it crashing and burning. The sort of thing that'd make a good opera libretto.

#2. An extended dance remix of the concept in the old X-Men/Spider-Man story where Kulan Gath transforms New York City into its Hyborian equivalent for a while. In the remix, the transformation is global and goes on longer. I'm envisioning Hyborian sorcerers struggling with modern villains for control of the reality-shaping gimmick, because I can really imagine Dick Cheney fancying a throne of skulls and a host of slaves.

#3. Legion by Gaslight. In the general ambience of Batman By Gaslight, a steampunk rendering of the Legion of Super-Heroes that would aim not to gloss over the realities around neat gizmos and costumes.

#4. Marvel Engendered. Serious self-indulgence here: genuine super-powers, the innate mutant kind, are restricted to women; supers are part of Gaia's defensive counter to the Celestials and the union of sky gods. 

#5. Celestials vs. the New Pulp. Jack Kirby's Celestials, or something rather like them, versus latter-day pulp heroes like the Hong Kong Cavaliers and MacGuyver.

#6. Master of Kung Fu: The Next Generation. More or less normal folks doing good in the midst of high weirdness. Leverage with more kung fu.

Now to set some priorities.

Literal steps of progress

New pedometer! Omron HJ-112, for those who care. :) Felt good in my hand as I set it up and now it's resting comfortably in my pocket.

My stride length has shortened substantially in the last five years. I was vaguely aware of this, but not at all clear until this afternoon how much: I've gone from 30-32 inches down to about 24. Loss of strength and mobility plus gain of weight, I figure. I'll want to re-measure that every so often (maybe every couple of weeks) to see how well resuming regular exercise opens it up again.

Now I can keep track of what my walking does and doesn't add up to. I'm sure, from past experience, that in my non-quantitative way, I'm over-estimating the value of some of what I do and underestimating some of the rest. Good data are very reassuring to me at times like this.

I realize that in external terms this isn't a big deal. People get gadgets for exercise all the time. But in terms of my interior life, it's a very big deal indeed: it's a victory over years of depression and self-loathing lack of interest in my well-being. Onward and upward!