Professor Xavier Unleashed

Hi, my name is Charles Francis Xavier and I run an exclusive school for very gifted students in Westchest- - what's that sound?! What's happening here? The fourth wall, it's - it's crumbling before my eyes! No!! The wall it's . . it's . . gone.

Okay, here goes. My name is James. Apparently there are a few other bloggers named James. Coincidence? Apparently it's the most common name on the planet or something like that. I do live in New York but a couple of counties over from Westchester. I'm on the East End of Long Island. If anybody's ever going to be in the neighborhood, please let me know and I'll be happy to try and get together.

Why did I start a blog like this, you ask?

My wife bugs me regularly to do something creative. You see, I'm a computer game junky. I don't have a gaming system because I'm usually watching TV while I play on the computer. At the moment I'm rotating between Sims 2, Tradewinds 2 and Stronghold. I'm about to get Age of Empires 3 and plan to be severely addicted for quite awhile. But, none the less, to keep peace in the house, I do try make myself do other things from time to time. The misses isn't much of a genre fan, but she says she's glad I'm doing something creative. I guess she hasn't read my blog. I do enjoy it though.


Why did I chose Professor Xavier, you ask?

The first blog I started reading was Master Yoda's. The second was Captain Picard's. When I finally decided to do my own a few months ago, I figured ideas and story lines would come more easily if I had a large cast to play with. I've been a super-hero fan, particular Marvel, since I was a little kid. I'm 37 now and still love them. I figured what with the movies and games and toys, the X-Men would give me a lot of fodder. Why Xavier instead of another character? I didn't really think about it. Just seemed the natural choice somehow. I suppose because I was inspired by Yoda and Picard who were taking on the long-suffering babysitter role.


If you post often, where do you get your ideas, you ask?

I find the whole process is pretty organic. Throughout my day when I have some spare time I'll just let my mind wander about where to go next. If I'm doing a multi-part story line, the plot usually flows. I've also enjoyed picking up threads others have started, such as the current dimensional hopping thing or the recent Enterprise Christmas party. I had been planning to have Xavier just go back to the mansion with a hangover after Picard's party, but then I thought maybe he should have some ordeal getting home. Why make it easy for him? Then I wondered what problem I could introduce that was Star Trek related. I love Trek, by the way. Then I thought about a transporter accident. A fairly common Trek plot device. Then I thought about some of my favorite Trek episodes, Mirror Mirror and the last episodes of Enterprise. After leaving the Mirror Universe, I was going to have Xavier come home but then on Phoenix's blog, she jumped in to rescue my character. I hadn't planned that but I went with it. The improv aspect is fun.


Where do I find pictures to post, you ask?

Usually on the Yahoo or Google database. There are also a lot of Marvel comics fan pages with some great art. I have alot of bookmarks. Photoshop is a great tool for manipulating images. Master Yoda has actually sent me two pictures which I have used. If anybody sends me a picture, I will incorporate it.


I just want to say that I'm really enjoying this whole blogging thing and I enjoy reading everybody elses stuff too. This is a pretty cool community and I'm glad to be a part of it.