Something about the first panel of the MyNintendo 2022 Desk Calendar upsets me. Mario beams with unbridled delight as he forever averts his gaze from meeting me. Surrounding him is a calendar, the painful reminder of my time in this life continually slipping away. While I come closer to death in every moment, Mario will outlive me. He fears not death and has no notion of life. Nintendo and Mario will live on for as long as humanity does, while I will have only seen a tiny fraction of human history.
Mario is no doubt taunting me in this image, and yet he seems slightly uncomfortable as well. He is unrepentant, but he does not have the gall to look me in the eye. It's as though he knows my fate and pities me. Perhaps he envies me somewhat, too. He is silent, betraying his mirth. He is trapped forever at the top of a jump, and while that may be a moment of jubilation, perhaps it is hollow. Again, I can never truly know.
Maybe I'll switch to the opposite side of the card.