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 |  A place for me to write about life and the happenings in my little corner of the world. |
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Blogs for week 85 of
1. Share some of your views on religion and spirituality. I don't believe in God. There I said it. The god with the big G, not a fan. Instead I believe in more of a god-force that resides in all of us. I believe in a collective spirit that connects us to each other. It is from that collective soul that we come and it is to that collective soul that we return in a never-ending cycle. We are born from the collective. We grow and live our best possible life doing the least harm, or at least that's what we should be striving toward. And then we return to the collective to await rebirth. I believe that life is both accidental and fated. There are certain people that we are meant to encounter, certain instances we are meant to deal with, and certain hardships we must go through. But it is our choices through these times that shape us into the people we are and place us on our path. Every decision is like a crossroads that we have come to and we much choose which one to follow. In this way we are in charge of our destinies. Yet, there are also some things that are pre-destined. And I believe in soul mates. I think sometimes you meet people and your soul knows them intimately. These people become your best friends, your adopted family, or your spouse. I think we seek out those that our souls connect to in this way because this is the phenomenon that we call friendship. 2. How bad does a book have to be for you to stop reading, or do you always plow through no matter what? Tell us about the last book you had trouble finishing. On a lighter note. I'm pretty forgiving with books. I will usually finish a book to the end. There have been a couple instances, though, where I just could not get into the story and I had to walk away. The first Fifty Shades book was one where I couldn't get past chapter 3. There was just too much heavy breathing and panting before they even got into bed for me to consider finishing it. I can see why Anastasia went for the kinky rich guy, though. She was wound so tight during those first few chapters that I would imagine she needed all the help she could get to relax and let go. And the latest one that I read that I didn't want to finish, but I forced myself was Orphan Train. I'm a little mad that this book didn't deliver because I very much wanted it to. The story about Vivian on the train in the 1930s was absolutely fascinating. There were some parts that were predictable and the characterization wasn't fully fleshed out. But there was enough of a story there to carry the tale. The other part of the book that was set in modern day was the read disappointment. Here the lack of character development glared against a story that was really tough to believe. It seemed that the author had a set path on which her story must go and it went there regardless of how believable it was for the people to act in such a way. I made myself finish, but I really did not enjoy the book at all. 4. Describe yourself as a writer. Give us the brief - what do you write, what's your writing style, any items published, writing goals, etc. I guess the last prompt is a good segue into this prompt; me as a writer. And now that I've decided to take on this task, I'm not sure. (Almost) Every morning I wake up at 5 and trudge down to my computer. After putting on a pot of coffee, I sit down to my laptop and surf the internet. About 30 minutes after all of this, I start writing. Most of the time I'm rambling, but sometimes magic happens and a story appears. I think about writing all the time. I try to do it later in the afternoons, but this time before anyone else in my house is awake is my magic hour. It's when I'm best. It's when I can write. Mostly I write realistic fiction. I have a lot of lgbt characters wandering around my head and I've enjoyed writing their stories. I like adding a little romance to the story, but I don't like writing romances. I want the story to feel organic, like you could step into the pages with the characters and have it feel completely like real life. I want to create characters that you could be friends or enemies with. I love the characters that stay with me long after I've finished a book and those are the ones I strive to create. I guess I am published. I have a couple of poems that appeared in one of those anthology books. I entered them in a contest when I was in high school and I bought the book they were printed in. It's nice, but I want more. I want to make a living doing this. And while I know that there's only one JK Rowling, Stephen King, Anne Rice, and Dean Koontz, I still strive to have the career success that they've experienced. I want to make it in this industry. I want it more than I've wanted anything else. Now the trick is to finding a way to make that happen. |
Week 84 Entries for
7. Write about one of your many "Firsts". Your first love, date, car, time in a library ... the choice is yours! Today I'm going to start my blog with something about one of my firsts. My first kiss happened when I was 16 and it was with a guy I didn't much care for. So yeah, not too exciting. A much better first kiss was the first time I kissed Paul. That memory still gives me goose pimples. It's hard to believe that I found someone who could do that to me even after 14 (15?) years together! Hmmm, what other firsts have I experienced? I don't quite remember my first time in a library. But I do remember my first year living in the dorms at college. It was my first experience away from everyone and everything I knew. I lived in a quad with 3 other girls, sorority girls. I was clearly not a sorority girl. I would come back after a weekend at home to find a trash bag sitting in front of my closet filled with their weekend trash. Needless to say I didn't stay for very long. At the first room change, I moved to a new dorm where I had the perfect roommate. Unfortunately, she left about a week after to move in with one of her friends and I got placed with a girl who partied more than she ever thought about studying. She didn't make it back the next quarter. After her, I don't really remember any other roommates. That year was probably one of the most interesting and most difficult of my life. It all seems like a blur now, but it was the year my mom had cancer and the year I learned that I could stand on my own two feet. It was the year I began to truly break away from my childhood. 3. What made you laugh this week? My children love to talk. And sometimes, I'm ashamed to admit, I will tune them out. A parent can really only listen to so many words a day before the insanity really starts to creep into the brain. So, in order to preserve what little I have left, I will zone out when they talk. But sometimes, I listen and I catch little gems that just crack me up. My youngest can be quite puny actually. While driving to South Bend last week, she was saying lots of different things that I can't quite remember. But I do remember laughing so hard at what she was saying. She was being absolutely clever. And then she got quiet and said, "You know, being funny is like my personality but sometimes I bes funny on accident!" I think I about lost it on that. I had to agree with her. I mean, she is a pretty funny kid and her main goal is to make the people around her laugh. She will act as wild and crazy as it takes to put a smile on someone's face. And sometimes when what she's doing is annoying me, she will put her arms around me and say, "But mommy, I only wanted to make you laugh." Seriously, it's enough to melt even the hardest of hearts. I love that kid and her awesome personality. She is smart, witty, and funny and has an amazing outlook on life. She definitely makes me laugh with her observations and her jokes. 2. Tell us your favorite family memory. My favorite family memory is probably a bit inappropriate. But it illustrates how much our kids do listen to our words. One day, shortly after we moved into our new house, I had had a particularly rough day. B was three and K was just a baby. I remember having such a hard time getting her to go to sleep. She was either sick or teething, but whichever it was, there was lots of crying involved. When I finally got her to sleep, the UPS man rang my doorbell which caused the dog to bark and woke K. And then we were back to our day of crying, both of us. So, later that evening I recalled the story to my husband. We were standing around our kitchen island and I wasn't paying much attention to who was around. Well, apparently B was standing there too. I told him, "I had just gotten her to sleep and then the UPS rang the doorbell and that f-ing dog!" Except I used the full out F bomb right there. Flat on the floor, F-bomb drop. And, my beautiful, precious three-year-old said "Yeah, that f-ing dog!" I didn't know what to do. I didn't know what to say. How could I yell at a kid for a word that I just used myself. So, I looked at my husband, shrugged, and said, "Well, at least she used it properly." And then we both had a good laugh. Oh yes, parenting for the win! |
| 1. Different people have different ideas of what is beautiful when it comes to the human body. How do you perceive physical beauty? Beauty is certainly one of those things that is subjective. Sure, we have standards of beauty, but some prefer blondes while others go for red heads. Some like curves and others prefer muscles. For me, I find personality beautiful. I fell in love with my husband's wit and his brain before I fell in love with his looks. Sure, I was attracted to him physically. I'm not going to diminish that because it is important. That and he was tall with dark hair and blue eyes. I was smitten on first sight. But then again, there are attributes of men that I don't like, but I can still find the man incredibly attractive. David Tennant for example is one of my biggest celebrity crushes. However, he is super skinny and I personally don't like that. But, he's witty and intelligent and has such an adorable face that I overlook the skinny. For women, again, I don't like super skinny. It's not my preference. I love the fuller faces and the angles of chiseled cheeks. Sometimes, though, I think that beauty can be intimidating. For example, there are people that I think are incredibly adorable that I absolutely cannot talk to let alone be around them. I'm self conscious and intimidated around them. It's strange. I've put them up on this unattainable pedastal and so I can't reach them. But then there is the beauty that I always want to be around. My children, for example. I have two amazingly gorgeous girls. And at times, they absolutely take my breath to look at them. I can't believe that two people as loving and gorgeous as they are could be mine. But I'm so grateful they are. 6. If you were given a magic wand and told you could change any three things that you wanted. What would you change and why? If I had a magic wand and could change any three things, what would I change? I'm not sure. Sometimes it's dangerous to think about changing things because we don't know what the consequences of those changes would be. But, for fun, let's give this a go. First thing I would change is my house. I would move our house to a place that had more land, no nearby neighbors, and a more rustic feel to it. Right now we are stuck in a subdivision with a HOA and neighbors who like to think we live in a much wealthier neighborhood than we actually do. There are rules and regulations and people who have nothing better to do than to make sure your grass is the absolute right height. So yeah, we are totally not those people and we don't fit in with them. Change two...I would make us take vacations. Many of our vacations seem to revolve around wherever the kid's activity is or which family is having a get together or a reunion. If I could, I would make it to where we would go someplace where we don't know anyone at least once every year. And change three, I would of course add more money to our family budget. Money doesn't buy happiness, but it certainly does help to make life much easier. So, my third decree with the magic wand is to give us more money to play with, most likely to pay for these vacations that I want us to take. 7. What is the most difficult life choice you have made that you are most proud of? Life is full of choices. And I would have to say that deciding to stay home with my kids was the toughest decision that I have had to make. There were some years that were tougher than others and there were years that I wondered if I had made the right choice. But if I was given the choice to do it all over again, I'm pretty sure I would have made the same decision. I have talked to so many people who tell me how much they regret that they haven't been able to spend more time with their kids. For me, this time is fleeting. I'll never have these moments with them again. And so it's natural that I want to be here. I would say the other big decision that I made that I think was the absolute best decision of my life was choosing to move 2 hour away from my family with my husband. When we graduated college, Paul had a job in Columbus. My family lives in Cincinnati and his in Portsmouth. I had to pack up everything I owned, again, and move hours away from everything I knew, again. But this choice led me to the life I now live with the man I love most in this world. And had I not been on this path, I'm not sure I would have rediscovered my writing passion and found WDC. So how could I possibly lament any choice that I have made to this point? |
Week 83 prompts from
3. Have you ever cried at a movie you were seeing in the theater? If so, do you remember what movie you were watching? Why did it make you cry? Yes, I've cried at lots of movies. I'm a crier, that's how I process emotion. It's frustrating because even when I'm super angry, I cry. And then I feel like I'm showing weakness. But I'm not weak. I'm just processing the emotion and that's how it comes out. I can't help it and I can't stop it. I just cry. That's me. I'm a crier. But that's another post. For this one, yes I have cried at the movie theater. The last one I saw that I cried at was Inside Out. I swear, when the little girl left home, I lost it. There's always a balance when you're crying in the movie theater because it's dark and you feel like you can cry freely. But then again, you don't want to let everyone know that you're crying, so you try to stay as quiet as possible. Which of course leads to the sniffles and the runny nose, so everyone knows you're crying. I love it when a movie can make me cry. It's only the good ones that can. I have to be so emotionally invested in the characters that I feel as if I'm going through what they're going through in order for it to happen. And, yes, I will even cry at cartoon character when I feel close to them. I like that I can suspend reality and become absorbed in a movie. Sometimes it's a really nice break from the mundane of real life. 5. What do you think is meant by the phrase "Live Like You Are Dying". For those who are not aware there is a great song by that title by Tim McGraw that you may enjoy. What does it mean to live like you were dying? I think it means to seize every opportunity that comes your way. I think it means to not put off the things that you want to do, or have always wanted to do. I think it means saying yes and being present in your life. I think it means spending time with the people who truly matter to you. I guess because I'm here at AYOP (America's Youth on Parade) Nationals, this last one really hits home. My oldest is part of a team, though they don't always act like it. And it's been rapidly declining. She's been with this group since she was 3 (she's 11 now) and I've watched it go downhill and I've complained about it all. But I never did anything. This year, I have realized what it means to spend your time and energy on people you care about only. We are leaving the team because of the dynamic. We are choosing to spend our time and energy in places that lift us up, not ones that tear us down. Another thing with this phrase is that too often we become caught up in the material things of life. We want the nice house and we want the nice car and we want the latest tech gadgets. But we run this risk of these things coming at the expense of time with our kids or attention on our families. One of my favorite sayings is "the greatest things in life aren't things." It's a wonderful reminder to look at what truly matters. The people who are there for you at the end of the day are what matter. Many people will interpret the song and the phrase much different than I did. However, I would argue that it is impractical to live your life that way. You can't just blow off work whenever you feel like it, but you can work harder to spend more time with the people you love. You can choose to spend your time off doing something with someone you haven't seen in a long time instead of spending it watching television on the couch. This is what it means to live like you're dying. |
| 5. Do you generally consider yourself to be an optimist or a pessimist? Have you always been the same one, or has your viewpoint switched back and forth as time goes by? Sometimes I think this is hard to tell because I can be a complainer. However, the one thing that decided this for me fully was a camping trip that I recently took with my older daughter's girl scout troop. Normally, we camp in cabins, with mattresses or cots. We have electricity, running water, and a working oven. We're glampers. I can admit it. I don't like primitive camping at all. I don't like bugs and tents and spiders. So during our last camping trip, we planned to head to an unfamiliar campground where we were renting 6 cabins and a kitchen. Now, in my head, I'm picturing the cabins we're used to with bunk beds and electric and operational windows. This isn't the case here. Our 'kitchen' was a screened porch with a wood burning stove for us to cook on. The cabins were sheds with 3 bunk beds in each. And spiders. Lots and lots of spiders. It was a muggy night and was tough to sleep. Brooklynne and I spent the night in my van. Fortunately all of the seats fold down and we were able to make pallets. Oh, and I should mention our 'running water' was a pan with a hose faucet above it. If we wanted hot water, we'd have to heat it up on the stove. Our 'bathroom' was a hole in the ground, literally. And, of course, Aunt flo had picked that day to make her visit. Plus, I had failed to bring any of my usual camping 'gear' because we never needed it. And I had forgotten my coffee pot which meant absolutely NO coffee in the morning. Are we getting the picture? Yes, it was bad. So...fast forward to 5 am on Saturday morning. I'd probably gotten a total of 3 hours of sleep over the entire night. I sat up in my van and looked around at the quiet morning. It was gorgeous! And I thought to myself, perhaps this isn't so bad after all. To answer the question, yes, I am an optimist. I've always been an optimist. I will always be an optimist. One of my favorite sayings is that "things will turn out all right in the end. If they're not all right, it's not the end." Just call me Pollyanna, folks. 6. What specific aspect of your writing do you need/want to improve on? What are you doing to improve it? There are several aspects of my writing that I feel I need to improve on. My first problem, though, is that my stories tend to contain too much unnecessary information. They're very novice in this aspect. I have a hard time balancing what needs to be in there versus what I put in there. I need to learn to trim them better and have them sound more polished. I'm working on this through writing more, basically. And reading other short stories. If I am going to write good stories, then I need to read so that I learn what good stories are. I'm also trying to review more stories, because, again, if I'm pointing out what's good and what is not as good in a story, then it helps me to do the same with my own. Next I need to work on my characters. Sometimes I have a hard time getting into my character's head. And when this happens, I have a tough time telling his or her story. I feel like the best stories happen when the character is alive for the author; when he or she is able to step inside that character's mind and wander for a bit. The more an author knows about a character, the better they are able to write them. Even if you don't share that information in the story, just knowing it helps you to write a more realistic character. Sometimes, when I'm working on a short story, I short change my characters. I place them in situations and use generic people. These people come alive for me through the story that I'm telling. My current story, I didn't realize that my main character had a twin sister until about a third of the way into the story. And then it just seemed the most natural thing in the world. Well, of course she has a twin. Now I need to figure out what the rest of her tale is so that I know how she will react throughout the story. It can be tough to invest so much into a character that you'll only spend about 10 pages with, but honestly, I think the results are worth it. And I think the more a writer knows about the people in the story, the more the readers will love the story. I'm working to make my characters more realistic people. I am working to make them flawed but lovable. Stubborn but a bit yielding. And intriguing. Always intriguing. If I can do that, then I can definitely write worthwhile stories. |
| 7. When was the last time you saw an ocean? Which one was it and why were you there? If you've never been to the ocean, is it on your list of things to see? I'm going to assume that the Puget Sound doesn't really count as an ocean, though we did see that one last year. It was pretty amazing. Before that, the last time I saw the ocean was probably when I went to Florida when I was sixteen. Heh, that would be twenty years ago. That's crazy to me! We went to both sides of the state and I was able to see Daytona beach and the Atlantic ocean and Clearwater beach on the Gulf of Mexico. Both were absolutely gorgeous and amazing. This year, we're taking the girls in October to the Outer Banks and they will get to see the ocean for the first time in their lives. It will be exciting and amazing to experience this with them. Plus, I've never been to the Outer Banks myself, so I really want to go. We don't get to travel as much as I would like and it really makes me sad. Most of our vacations are spent on baton twirling trips or visits to see our extended families. And to be honest, a part of me looks forward to when those obligations are done. It's horrible to say and I've probably just outed myself as the world's worst person. I love my family, but the awkwardness of where will we stay (there are no good hotels around that area), who will take care of our animals, and what will we do while we're there is always nerve wracking. I'd prefer to go to the ocean every year. Just pick a spot along the coast. Or even to head up to one of the great lakes. Lake Eerie is right there. I think we'd all have lots more fun doing that than the get togethers that we do now. 4. What's the tallest building you've ever been to the top of? Did you ride the elevator or take the stairs the whole way? Was there anything interesting at the top (dining room, etc)? I guess since I started this blog with a post about travelling, I will continue the trend. When I was in school, my French class took a trip to downtown Cincinnati. It's a gorgeous city, one of the most beautiful in the world, I'd bet. We ate French food at the Maisonette for lunch and then walked around town. And we went to the top of the Carew tower. The building is 49 stories tall and was built in the late 1920s. It's the tallest building that tourists are able to go to the top of in the city, though it is the second tallest in the city. We all piled onto the elevator and rode our way to the observation deck. The view of the city was amazing. Although, I will admit that I hung out very close to the exterior wall. I have an intense fear of heights, so being that high up was a bit nauseating. Other than that, I really tend to avoid high places. Although, there was a restaurant that we went to when we were in Seattle that was a few stories up and we could see the city all lit up. It was absolutely gorgeous. I definitely fell in love with that city while we were there and would go back in a heartbeat. I really think that in my heart of hearts, I am a traveler. It's been hidden because we moved around so much while I was growing up. But now that I'm an adult and have stability in my life, I find myself longing for mobility. Odd the way the human mind works, isn't it? 3. Do you tend to swear a lot? If so, what curse word(s) do you use the most? If you're not someone that swears a lot, do you substitute words like "shoot" or "fudge" instead? 'm not afraid to drop an f-bomb when the occasion calls for it, but I do try to pay attention to the company I'm in. There are certain times and certain places where swearing (sometimes lots of swearing) is called for and necessary. However, there are also lots of times where it's absolutely inappropriate to use that sort of language. For example, during my girl scout meetings, I will use alternatives, although not the typical 'fudge' or 'nuts'. I like to be more creative than that. During the times when I cannot swear, I choose instead phrases like "son of a biscuit eater" or "poop"! There's something about saying "poop". Or "poo" if I want to be even more polite. I know, it's silly and I get that. Using any alternative to curse words is a bit silly. But, I think that's the intention. Sometimes when you're really mad, you just have to let out a good f word or five. But other times, like when you're in the company of small (or sometimes not so small) children, you really have to watch what you say and saying the silliest not curse word you can think of can really help to break up the tension. I find that if I can get the kids laughing, then it makes me start laughing, and whatever made me want to curse in the first place really isn't so bad after all. This is what makes 'poop' such a great not curse word. It's guaranteed to make them all laugh, and in return, tensions break and there's fun to be had again. |
| 5. What literary character are you most like and why? What is it that you relate to most about that character. It's been a while since I've read any real literature. Most of the books I've read have been contemporary and genre fiction. And, while I enjoy the protagonists, I find it difficult to see myself in them. Thinking back, I think I would have to say that the character that I most liken myself to would be Jo March from Little Women. I relate to her awkwardness, and of course her love for writing. Jo was also the smart one in her family. Meg was practical, Beth was kind, and Amy was pretty, but Jo was smart. I was the smart one in my family too. Jo was a watcher, she preferred to stand back and observe. I tend to do that a lot as well, finding myself along the perimeter of parties and social gatherings, taking in the information but not really participating in the festivities. The other literary character that I most related to, and for very similar reason, was Jane Eyre. I loved that book and I loved her character. Jane was plain to look at, but also an intelligent woman. I admired her strength and kindness. She remains one of my favorites to this day. Overall, though, I prefer the characters that are not like me. I value intelligence in them because there's nothing worse than a weak and stupid woman. I think we've seen an overabundance of that and it's past time for the strong female to emerge. So, I read books like the Night Huntress Series where Cat is a mouthy and fierce vampire hunter. Or The Hunger Games where Katniss is strong and protective of those she loves. I guess I can see bits of me in these characters. I would do anything to protect my family, and I can be pretty naive as well. So, though I don't fully identify with them, I suppose there are parts to each character that I read that I connect with. A piece of myself that I see in each of them. I'm sure this is intentional on the author's part because how else would you get people to fall in love with your stories? |
| 2. What piece of advice do you wish you had been given as a child or young adult and why? This is a bit tricky because it's never quite clear which road leads a person to the place they are. The one regret that I can't seem to get over and the one piece of advice that I wish I had received during my tenure in college would be to not give up on writing. I wish my adviser would have encouraged me to stay in the college of journalism and keep writing. I wish they would have said that teaching was not for me, that I wouldn't love it the way that I love to write. I wish that I never would have put my writing on the back burner. I know you can't go back and re-do life and it's silly to live with regret, but sometimes I imagine how much further I could be in my career had I not taken the fifteen year pause. Sure I wrote things. Yes the dream and the need were all still there, but it was never anything like this. I would crank out a poem every six months or so. I still bought writing books. I still dreamed of being published, but I never DID anything about those dreams. I always thought they would have to wait until my kids were older. The other piece of advice I wish I had been given is to write whenever the baby was sleeping. Again, how much further could I be if I hadn't hit pause on my life? When I think too much about it, it quite literally makes me feel ill. But, I suppose the optimistic spin on all of this is that we're destined to take certain roads. My roads were a roundabout, it seems, but they still brought me back here to this place where I can write and create and live my dreams. And who knows, perhaps if I had been writing this whole time, if I had been focusing on ways to make money with my writing (because let's be honest, my 20s were spent figuring out how to make money), then maybe I wouldn't have the passion and love that I feel for it today. It wouldn't be the dream that I simply had to open my eyes to see. And my children also wouldn't have the mother they have. Plus, who is to say I would have even listened to the advice. Who's to say I wouldn't have brushed it off and did what I wanted anyway? I am a little headstrong about things like that. No, I think the way it worked out is the way it was always meant to work out. Besides, now I get to be a writer in my 30s when I know what it means to really and truly live my dreams. 4. You have just won $5 Million in this weekends lottery. How would you spend it? If I had just won 5 million dollars, what would I do? First thing would be college. I would set up a college or life fund for each of my girls. They wouldn't have to worry about paying for school and starting their lives. It would be taken care of for them. If they decided they wanted to travel the world, the money would be there. Next, I would fully fund a retirement account for Paul and I. Find a good stock broker and invest the money so that we could have money to live off of for the rest of our lives. And, of course, I would gift money to my family; mom, sister, brother, grandparents, and all the in-laws too. I'd probably split a million between all of them so that they can pursue their dreams as well. Of course, my in-laws would probably get more because of all the help they gave us during our first years out of college as we learned how to be adults. And then, the fun stuff. I'd buy us a new house in Seattle. I'd probably buy a cottage or something here in Ohio so that we had a place to come back to when we wanted to visit, maybe I'd have something built on Paul's parents' land. Just a place that's ours and we can stay. But the house in Seattle would be a must. I'm still so sad that Paul's job fell through at the last minute. I know that we both really wanted to go. And if we won that much money, we could go. And Paul could start his own business like he's always dreamed of, while I could have my own room to write in. A Florida room with lots of windows and bookshelves, looking out into the mountains. We'd have a swimming pool for the girls and lots of land for us to roam on. And we would have a guest house that our families could stay in whenever they came to visit us. Because, of course, with our private jet, we could fly them out whenever. Just as long as it's not too often... |
| 3. What television series from your childhood would you love to bring back? One of the most interesting things that happens when you're a parent is getting to share the things you loved as a kid with your own children. I used to love a lot of television shows and I've tried to watch them with my girls, some work and some don't. There are a few that I would love to try. I used to love Rainbow Brite. I'd watch her show every Saturday morning. I think my girls would love this show as well and it would be a fun one that we could watch together. I'm sure they have episodes on Netflix or playing on cable some place, we just need to seek them out. The next show that I would love to see brought back is Firefly. I didn't watch this show until after it was cancelled and then some friends turned me onto it. I fell in love. The concept, the writing, and the characters were all brilliant and intriguing. I still can't believe that a show like this only lasted for one year when things like the Bachelor have been on for 19 seasons! It makes me a little sad for the state of our humanity when intelligent shows are pushed aside in favor of trash television. And please don't misunderstand, I appreciate a little trash at times too. We all need the mind numbing. But I would argue that we also need the thought and the challenge for our brains. We need to have fantastic dialog and compelling characters. After all, isn't that what we strive for in our own writing? Wouldn't it then make sense to nurture that in others? I get chills when I see or hear or read amazing words, and Joss Whedon has a way with them. He is a talented man and his work shines. So yes, I would love to see Firefly brought back and written by him again. I want to see the magic and fear and the potential of what mankind can become if we're not careful. |
Going to get back into this blogging thing.  1. When I look around and compare the world today with the one I grew up in I can't help at marvel at all of the changes. What do you think are the biggest changes that have occurred so far in your lifetime and how do you feel about them. I think technology has been the biggest change I've seen in my lifetime. Just to think about the things that I experienced that my kids will never know; VHS and cassette tapes for example. We recently bought an x-box with the kinect and the thing will detect where you are in a room. I can change the television with just my voice, no more hunting for the remote! It's insane. And, maybe a tiny bit freaky when I walk into a room and the television broadcasts "hi Brandy" across the screen. Makes me want to get a tinfoil hat for just a moment or two. And then there are the computers. I didn't have my first computer until college. And then it was already a dinosaur that ran Windows 3.1. I could barely complete my homework on the thing, preferring instead to head to the computer lab for their much faster processors. And my computer in the lab couldn't do half of what my computer today does. The idea of watching a television show ON the computer was ludicrous. But here we have YouTube and Vimeo and other video sites. This past Christmas, we bought my daughters each their own laptop. I mean, the sheer fact that we could afford to do that because the prices had dropped so low still astounds me. Then there are the cell phones. I think I still have my first cell phone. Paul and I got them together our Senior year of college (around 2001). Mine was a lime green Nokia. It made calls. I could text on it, but I hated searching for the number/letters. It took forever to write a text, so I just called people. Today, I can search the internet, check my bank account, combat zombies with my plants, and text a huge group of people all from my little hand held computer. It really is amazing to think how far we have come with technology even in the last 30 years. To see where we were in the 80s and 90s and then compare it to today is mind blowing. Sometimes I wonder where we will go with this technology. How much more will we create? It's thrilling and scary at the same time. |
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