Why I Will Never Be A Critic

Writer John Scalzi wrote an interesting post this week about the varying purposes of criticism (of film, television, games, books, etc.) and how to make sure your criticism is taken seriously (or when to know to ignore it if you are the one under review).

Go ahead, take a few minutes to read it, it's very well written and definitely worth a look. I'll wait.

The whole thing got me thinking once more on a topic that crosses my mind from time to time, and that is that I could probably never be a professional critic, or reviewer even. Why? Because it seems to me that anything I feel is worth writing about is something that I love. You tend to be more forgiving of flaws in that which you love, and willing to give the benefit of the doubt more often than not. Heck, I don't even tend to look at reviews of things that I know I don't actually like (or strongly suspect I won't).*

If I love a show, for example, I will not continue to read reviews by a writer who clearly cannot stand that show and is just enjoying tearing it apart. I can acknowledge, on an academic level, that something I love is stupid and terrible and not very well made. But I will still love it nonetheless. I have no need to experience another's hate for that thing. Now, a well thought out, critical assessment pointing out the flaws objectively, that I can deal with, because I understand that what I enjoy is not necessarily what anyone else enjoys. But plain old vitriol? No, thank you.

I tend to seek out those things that I think I will enjoy, and very rarely am I disappointed that way. (When I am disappointed, the blows always seem to hit pretty hard, however.) If a new show or a film or a book doesn't appeal to me, I usually just don't give it any thought, other than, perhaps, to be annoyed when I have to hear all about it on Facebook the next day. Occasionally I will step out of my comfort zone and give something a try even if I think it looks stupid or just doesn't appeal to me (usually because either someone I trust thinks that I will enjoy it or because there is an actor/writer involved that I generally enjoy). Often, when I do this, I am pleasantly surprised by what I find. I discovered two of my favorite television shows this way--Human Target and Leverage. I had no intention of watching either until I learned of particular bits of casting, and I gave them a try. From this, I know that there is probably a lot out there that I think is stupid but might actually enjoy if I gave it a try.**

But there is just so much out there to read, or to see, or to watch, or to play, or what have you. I can't partake of it all. So I stick with what I am pretty sure I know I will like, and I am content in this way. I trust the universe to play out in a manner such that if there is something I need to experience, I will, eventually. I have learned to walk away when something I love becomes unrecognizable and I no longer enjoy it. That doesn't mean that others who once loved it have stopped as well, though. I may not understand why they would choose continue loving that thing, but I don't need to. They simply do.

We are not all the same. These days, there is something out there for everyone. You might not like what I like, and vice versa. I try to remind myself of this, and not to judge those who like something I consider unworthy.*** To bring it back to Scalzi's post, the bit where he talks about the difference between "I don't like that/I don't understand why you like that" and "Only idiots like that/What's wrong with you, if you like that" really struck a nerve with me. Like I said, I try not to judge others who don't see these things in the same way that I do, but I am not sure I would be able to convey that correctly in writing a review or critique. Because I have found that when I do write about these shows or books or movies, all I want to do is sing their praises. I don't want to talk about the things I didn't like, because for me they are not worth mentioning, unless they ruined the whole thing, and then I just want to talk about that thing at all. There's not much point to that, in my mind. If you've been reading my Stargate rewatch posts, or any of the other reviews on this site (which I try to call "recommendations" rather than reviews, because really, that's what they are), then you've probably noticed they are all mostly lovefests. Sure, there might be things I gripe about here and there, but that is because I enjoy griping about it, and it comes from a place of love.

For me, being a critic would mean setting aside that part of my personality that likes to look at the bright side. I am not a blind fool. I know there is unpleasantness in life, and even in myself at times, but when it comes along I deal with it as best as I can, and try not to burden others with it if at all possible.

Then I find something happy to dwell on instead.

*The exception to this are Flick Filosopher's reviews. I can admit that I sometimes look forward to her reviews of things I suspect I will not like or are stupid, because generally she sees them the same way, and manages to convey as such in a witty and amusing manner.
**Except for reality shows. I maintain that they are inherently stupid and I cannot get behind them.
***This is really hard when it comes to reality shows. I cannot understand how anyone actually enjoys them and I am not sure I want to, because I fear it would make me weep for humanity. Or myself. It disturbs me that I am that much different from, apparently, the rest of the world.

Another Goodbye

[Note: I am pretty sure this posted last week, but I guess with Blogger's issues it got reverted back to a draft, so reposting now.]

Wow, this is not a good week for television I like, apparently.

News broke yesterday that Fox has not renewed Human Target for a third season. Well, what the reports are actually saying is that it has been canceled, but I beg to differ here. I think that's some sites just trying to stir people up. There is a difference between cancellation and not renewing, and while it may be negligible, it is still there, so let's call it what it is, okay?

Anyway.

I wish I could say I am surprised by this news, I really do. But I'm not. Who is? Even those of us who loved this show (me!me!me!) could see that Fox was struggling to find a place for it on the network. The ratings were not great, and the constantly changing time slots didn't really help either. But that's just the way Fox does things, and I do think they gave it a fair chance. Much like with Dollhouse, I was amazed and grateful it got a second season at all. So I can't complain too much that after that second season

That doesn't mean I am happy about the news by any stretch of the imagination. It was far and away my favorite show currently airing on television, and I will be very sad to see it go. It certainly won't leave the void that Stargate Universe has left. Still, there will be the sense that something is missing, and I wish we could have gotten a season three.

I know it is based on a series of comic books. I also know that the show heavily tuned down the actual supernatural/science fictional aspect of the comic books. I think they might be worth checking out though.

I will also eagerly look forward to whatever Mark Valley decides to do next. I have to admit, his presence in the starring role of the series was one of the reasons I was disinclined to give Human Target a chance when I first heard about it (and wow I am so very glad I changed my mind). Even his part in the early days of Fringe wasn't enough to erase from my memory his turn as a smug, self-satisfied, creep of a guy on Boston Legal.* But as Christopher Chance he completely managed to blow me away. Dude's got some range, ya'll. Acting!

Sigh. My poor DVD shelves are littered with one- and two-season television series that I so deeply loved but that just couldn't cut it in the network world. One day the system will be ready to nurture and sustain this kind of brilliance as a matter of course, as opposed to the few shows that miraculously slip through the cracks and make it. But that day is not today I fear.

Goodbye Human Target. Thanks for being so spectacularly awesome. I'll see you again when you make your way to my DVD collection, I am sure.

*Sidebar: I have absolutely no idea how I was able to stand watching Boston Legal at all, truth be told. There were no good people on that show, I swear. They were all horrible excuses for human beings. Yet somehow, I stumbled across it a few seasons from the end and could not look away. Go figure. But dude, Mark Valley's character was one of the worst, I swear.

Another Goodbye

Wow, this is not a good week for television I like, apparently.

News broke yesterday that Fox has not renewed Human Target for a third season. Well, what the reports are actually saying is that it has been canceled, but I beg to differ here. I think that's some sites just trying to stir people up. There is a difference between cancellation and not renewing, and while it may be negligible, it is still there, so let's call it what it is, okay?

Anyway.

I wish I could say I am surprised by this news, I really do. But I'm not. Who is? Even those of us who loved this show (me!me!me!) could see that Fox was struggling to find a place for it on the network. The ratings were not great, and the constantly changing time slots didn't really help either. But that's just the way Fox does things, and I do think they gave it a fair chance. Much like with Dollhouse, I was amazed and grateful it got a second season at all. So I can't complain too much that after that second season won't be getting any more.

That doesn't mean I am happy about the news by any stretch of the imagination. It was far and away my favorite show currently airing on television, and I will be very sad to see it go. It certainly won't leave the void that Stargate Universe has left. Still, there will be the sense that something is missing, and I wish we could have gotten a season three.

I know it is based on a series of comic books. I also know that the show heavily tuned down the actual supernatural/science fictional aspect of the comic books. I think they might be worth checking out though.

I will also eagerly look forward to whatever Mark Valley decides to do next. I have to admit, his presence in the starring role of the series was one of the reasons I was disinclined to give Human Target a chance when I first heard about it (and wow I am so very glad I changed my mind). Even his part in the early days of Fringe wasn't enough to erase from my memory his turn as a smug, self-satisfied, creep of a guy on Boston Legal.* But as Christopher Chance he completely managed to blow me away. Dude's got some range, ya'll. Acting!**

Sigh. My poor DVD shelves are littered with one- and two-season television series that I so deeply loved but that just couldn't cut it in the network world. One day the system will be ready to nurture and sustain this kind of brilliance as a matter of course, as opposed to the few shows that miraculously slip through the cracks and make it. But that day is not today I fear.

Goodbye Human Target. Thanks for being so spectacularly awesome. I'll see you again when you make your way to my DVD collection, I am sure.

*Sidebar: I have absolutely no idea how I was able to stand watching Boston Legal at all, truth be told. There were no good people on that show, I swear. They were all horrible excuses for human beings. Yet somehow, I stumbled across it a few seasons from the end and could not look away. Go figure. But dude, Mark Valley's character was one of the worst, I swear.

**Said in my best John Lovitz voice.

Confetti!

By which I mean several small bits and pieces...

Realized that yesterday's blog was my 100th entry on Searching For Me. That's pretty spiffy, I would say. So, maybe some literal confetti is in order as well as the figurative kind. I started this blog mostly as a writing exercise--mainly to make myself write at least five days a week so as to keep in practice and hone my craft. I would say I have mostly done pretty okay so far. To those of you who are reading, thanks.

In other quasi-writing news, I am through chapter twelve of the read through of my first draft of Living Legend and still really enjoying it. I have also found one glaring contradiction that definitely needs to be addressed (it came about due to my frenzied writing schedule, I think, just a throwaway line that makes something that happens later a little fishy if I leave it as is). I also found a few instances of characters acting very unlike who they are in my head, so I need to try to establish valid reasons for the behavior or do some rewrites there. Of course, there is also the fact that about two-thirds of the way through writing I decided that one of my mains shouldn't speak in contractions. I am finding lots of early (and not so early) places of her using contractions though so my Big Pink Pen of Doom (it was going to be red, but I couldn't find my red pen) has been going nuts circling. That is probably something I will be continuing to search for through my next two drafts, I am sure. But it is progressing well, I think.

In a recent blog entry, Stargate writer Joseph Mallozzi listed what would be his dream team composed of characters from all three shows of the franchise. It consisted of Ronald Greer, Vala Mal Doran, Rodney McKay, and Ronon Dex, with Richard Woolsey holding down the fort at the base of operations. I have to say, I loved this team! I do think a few more additions would be necessary though: Daniel Jackson (mostly to keep Vala in check, but also because his linguistic and anthropological skills are good for first contact), Major Lorne as the team leader (Greer is awesome but he's got a temper and needs to be taking orders from someone a with a cooler head), and T.J. as the medic (because with Rodney and Ronon and Greer, they will need a medic available). It was a fun little thing to picture in my head this group of adventurers, all very different, and try to conceive of how their team dynamic would develop. I started wondering how I would get them all together, what with Greer and T.J. being stuck on the other side of the universe and all. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that I really want to write a story with these characters. So, unless I succumb to the urge to write this before November, this is going to be my fan fiction NaNoWriMo novel this year.

Watched the season finale of Human Target last night and absolutely loved it. Though I have to say it raised a lot more questions than it provided answers for me. I have my fingers and toes crossed that this show gets picked up for a third season. I really do enjoy it so very much, and the cast is just clicking like it is nobody's business. I really hope to get to see them work together for a long time to come.

I am still working my way through getting caught up on Questionable Content. I am now past strip 1,000, so I would say that is progressing nicely. I did finally catch up to where I started reading it (I was surprised that I have been reading it for so long), and now I am enjoying getting to read those strips all over again and getting the inside jokes and references to previous story lines. My poor husband is getting drowned in emailed links to strips I think he'd find amusing. He also has to listen to me giggle maniacally while I read them, since we share an office. But the guy's a trooper, and I am reminded once more how lucky I am that he loves me!

I took the Jeopardy! Online Test last night. I think I got maybe a third to half of the questions right. That's not great, but it's better than last  year, which is at the very least encouragement to keep trying. There were a few questions that I clearly had no clue about, a few that I think I knew the answer to, and at least three that I did know the answer to but couldn't pull it out of my brain in time. Grr. Still, I am glad I did it. As unrealistic as it is to think that I'll end up going on Jeopardy! and winning big, it is a quite lovely little daydream nonetheless.

Now, if only we can get Wheel of Fortune to come back and hold their next round of auditions when I am actually in town...

I Don't Know What the Heck Is Going On...

...but I really, really don't like it.  Okay, this post is about television, which I watch way too much of.  I know this.  But it is what I do.  It is what it is.

I was just starting to figure out the new schedule for the shows I watch now that the holidays are over and shows seem to be starting up again with new episodes or settling into new timeslots and whatnot, and this week has thrown a big ol' wrench in the works.  Grumble grumble.

First, Tuesday night there was a new episode of No Ordinary Family that aired on ABC.  Now, this is far from my favorite show, but it is still fun, and until Glee comes back from hiatus, I can watch it live, which I have kind of been digging.  But.  For some reason, my local affiliate decided that instead of airing the new episode of No Ordinary Family on Tuesday, they were instead going to air "Good Morning Texas After Dark," an hour of the local morning show people talking about fashion during prime time.  What the heezy?  This wasn't even No Ordinary Family's first week back from break--who had this brilliant idea?  It is all the more annoying because the show did air everywhere else.  Yes, I know, I know, I can watch it online, but frankly, that's kind of a pain in the butt for me to do right now, because my time on the computer is limited to when the baby is asleep or watching Super Why, and I have other stuff to do besides try to watch television on it.  Besides, there is a reason we bought a humongous television--and it wasn't so I could watch television on my much smaller computer screen.  Sigh.  I emailed the affiliate and very politely asked if and when they are planning to air the episode (I worked at a cable company for over seven years, almost two of them spent in correspondence, you can bet your bottom I was polite, I know what kind of ire that kind of thing can invoke and how easily most people can go off the rails about it to people who had no control over the decision).  They responded quickly and just as politely to let me know it will run at 3 a.m. this Saturday morning.  Great, thank you.  My DVR is set.  I don't have to watch it on my computer, hurray!

Now, if this had been the only incident, I could chalk it up to a fluke.  But last night.  Last night.  Oh man.  First off, I was super jazzed because from seven to ten, miracle of miracles, I had three shows scheduled to come on, one after another, with no conflicting shows, and that was it.  Perfect.  Two of those were new episodes of Human Target, which, I have recently realized, truly is my absolute favorite television show that is still on the air (all time fave props still go to Stargate Atlantis), and then there was finally going to be a new episode of The Defenders, which I really enjoy despite myself and never get to watch live.

Dinner time ran a little past seven, but I wasn't worried because that is what DVRs are for.  So at 7:20 I sat down and fired up Human Target to find...an episode of Raising Hope.  What??  Pull up the guide and it says that Human Target is what is currently on Fox, from 7 to 9.  Um...okay.  Fast forwarded through everything recorded up to the live footage, just in case something ran over, but nope.  After Raising Hope came the coverage of the Arizona shootings memorial.  Oh.  Okay.  Well, I get it.  That is something that it makes sense to preempt a show for.  I'm disappointed, because I was honestly really psyched about Human Target, but maybe it is just going to start late.  I go to Fox's website to see if there is anything about the rescheduled time, but nope, it says that Human Target is a two hour special event from 7-9.  Hmmm.  I remember that when I turned the television on, an episode of Big Bang Theory was playing on CBS, so I flip back to that.  The guide says "Live to Dance" is currently airing on CBS.  Um...no it's not.  Then that other comedy that I don't watch comes on when BBT is over, but the guide still says dancing.  It also says that The Defenders is still set to come on at 9, but now I am skeptical, because the commercials I catch on CBS while I am flipping around say that the Dance show is up next, but nothing about The Defenders or the show that the guide says is supposed to be on at 8.  Seriously, what the heck is going on here?

Fox, I get, actually.  It was a last minute thing and they put some filler in around the special coverage.  Makes sense.  Their website now says that the Human Target episodes will be rescheduled soon.  I've got my DVR set to record every ep now, so in case I miss the announcement and they come on at 3 in the morning, it should still catch them.  It looks like they did tweet beforehand that the show would be preempted, but I of course did not get that.  Oh Twitter, how I loathe you.  The guide not catching the last-minute changes also makes sense, because, well, last-minute.  I mean, if even Fox's website didn't show the change until halfway through, then the guide is excused.  But I do not understand what was going on with CBS.  They didn't air any coverage of the memorial, so why was their schedule all farked?  It looks like the memorial went from 7:30 to a bit after 8, so CBS wasn't moving their show to a time where it wasn't against the special on the other network.  Around 10 I checked out what was recorded in my buffer and it looks like The Defenders did come on, but it started about 20 minutes late.  I hastily flipped over to CBS and hit record so I could catch the end of the episode.  Sigh.

It just seems to me that in this day and age it is hard enough for networks to get people to sit down in front of their televisions to watch a show live.  Screwing around with the time at the last minute, and not making sure that people are well aware of it (or keeping the guides updated so that the DVRs can catch the moved episode) seems like a monumentally stupid idea.  That's all I am saying.

I realize these are petty concerns.  I do.  But still.  I needed to vent a bit.  I am a creature of routine.  I get really really cranky when my routines are screwed with (just ask Hubby).  I am learning to be more flexible about changes to the routine--it is a necessity of parenthood--but a little notice would be nice.  It doesn't help when the change in the routine is also a disappointment in its own right.  Also, I am a little bit irked because I came very close to missing an ep of No Ordinary Family, and I probably did miss a bit of The Defenders, and neither of these are shows that I am going to get on DVD.  It is annoying.

But, on a happier note, the lack of anything new airing at a predictable time Tuesday night and last night meant that I burned through a lot more episodes of season two of Dollhouse, which I started watching this past weekend.  I am now officially past the halfway point of the season.  Four episodes to go.  I had forgotten how incredibly intense and amazing those last few episodes were.  Wow!  Such an amazing show.  Part of me wishes it could have gone on for a couple more seasons, because there were definitely some hints at stories I would have wanted to see developed down the road.  But honestly, I am okay with the short run of the series, because it was concluded in such an amazing fashion.  I won't call it satisfactory, because I think there was too much bad stuff that went down at the end to call it a happy ending.  But I don't feel in any way gypped.  A shorter story arc, when allowed to be given a start and a middle and an end, which this series had, comes away so much tighter and more intense.  The Brits figured this out a long time ago. I wish the networks here could grasp that concept.

But they apparently don't even know what they are airing any more, so...yeah.

What I'm Not Watching

So the second season of V starts airing tonight.  I have a suspicion that many of the viewers from season one will not be coming back for season two, and I have to say that I am going to be included in that number.

It's not that the show did anything wrong exactly (though I may be harboring some resentment that it got renewed while Flash Forward was axed), I just realized over the weekend that I really just did not care at all about the new season.  I vaguely remember what happened in the season finale, but I honestly have no urge to find out where things go from there.  So Sunday I pulled up my recorded series listing in the DVR and went ahead and just deleted it.  I won't lie, it felt kind of good.

I watch so frakking much television, it is ridiculous.  I can admit that, heck, I can even own that.  But I am getting to the point where I have realized that I am watching some of it, at least, for the wrong reasons.  I kept watching Smallville for at least two seasons after I got completely fed up with everything happening on that show, because I kept telling myself, "I've put in the time, I can't stop watching now.  I have to find out how it ends."  But before season eight started up, I was watching the season seven DVDs and got maybe a disc and a half into the season and then just stalled out.  I started finding excuses of anything to watch other than the next episode of Smallville.  When I realized what I was doing, I pulled the disc out of my DVD player, pulled all seven seasons of the series off my DVD shelf, sold them (for a really decent price too), and went on to never watch the show again.  I have not once felt the least bit cheated that I don't know what happened next, or that I won't get to finally see Clark don that iconic cape.  The show entertained me for a while and then it stopped being appealing to me.  Sometimes it takes something like that happening to remind me that it's just television.  I take it so seriously sometimes that I forget that simple fact.  It's nice to be able to prove to myself I can just walk away and not look back.  Every once in a while, at least.

I don't know if I can say I was watching V for the wrong reasons--I only gave it a try because there were so many actors in it that I have enjoyed in other series.  It was amusing enough, I remember actually liking it despite myself (I never watched, nor had/have any interest in watching, the original series of the same name).  But I didn't like it enough to get even remotely excited about its return, and as crowded as my DVR is these days, that's enough to get off the rotation I think.  Especially with so many shows coming back from hiatus and the new shows that I am getting excited about.

It was my wont, once upon a time, to watch every new genre show that I heard about or every new show that featured an actor I really enjoy watching.  I have found some true gems that way (Human Target, anyone?), but I have also, like with V, ended up watching a show I just wasn't that into for far longer than was necessary.  Maybe it is the fact that my daughter is getting more interactive with each passing day, or maybe it is that "new year, new possibilities" feeling I've got, but I just don't have the time or energy anymore for that kind of watching.  Flick Filosopher mentioned in a post yesterday that she is going to stop watching new series until they have at least one season under their belts and have been renewed for a second one as well.  I applaud her decision, though I don't think I'll be able to follow in her footsteps completely.  I am going to try to be a little bit more reserved, going forward, about which new shows I choose to watch though--as well as about which shows I continue to follow after the first season.  After all, there's so much good television out there that I really do get excited about watching, there's no point in me watching the stuff that bores me.

I have been waffling on whether or not to watch two new genre shows that are about to start, and I think I have finally decided not to bother with them.  The first is Syfy's adaptation of the British show Being Human.  Look, I'll level with you, I probably should be watching this show.  Not out of any obligation or sense of duty, but because everything about the premise just screams that it is something I would absolutely love.  But you know what, I already gave it a shot, back when BBC America started airing the original incarnation.  I watched a few episodes and then just gave up on it because I really didn't care.  It just didn't appeal to me.  I honestly don't know why, either, but there you go.  Nothing I have seen about the American version tells me I will enjoy it any more than the British version, either.  I know that it is (probably) its own show, but I am just not interested.  Despite my firm conviction that any actual scripted genre show that Syfy comes out with needs to have my eyeballs in front of it so that they keep actually making scripted genre shows...I just can't do it.  (I will, however, be watching Alphas when it debuts, because that sounds pretty much awesome-sauce.)  The other show I have been waffling over is The Cape.  I totally adore Summer Glau, and I really want to give this show a try, but I am likewise completely unengaged by anything about it except for the fact that Summer Glau is in it.  So maybe once the first season is on DVD I'll give it a go on Netflix.  But for now, I'll just look forward to the new shows I actually am excited about--Falling Skies (on TNT), Fairly Legal (on USA), and The Outcasts (on BBC America).  There are certainly plenty of them.

So instead of watching V tonight, I'll be over on Syfy watching as many of the final five episodes of Caprica as I can squeeze in before bedtime, basking in the brilliance and regretting that this is all I am going to get of such a wonderful series.

Now that the holiday doldrums are ending, what are you watching?

Austin Bound!

That's right, kids and kiddos, in just a few short hours my husband and I are heading down to Austin, TX for a long weekend, and I am super stoked.

This is my first time to be away from Baby Girl overnight, ever.  So, in addition to being stoked, I am a teensy bit nervous as well.  But mostly the first one.  My super wonderful and spectacular mother-in-law not only agreed to watch her namesake while we're out of town, but she's also staying at our house with Baby Girl so her world isn't completely turned upside down by Mommy and Daddy disappearing for a few days.  This has the added bonus of solving the "who will take care of the kitties while we're gone?" conundrum as well.  Double score.  Have I mentioned that I love my mother-in-law oodles and lots?

I may have mentioned before that in addition to his really cool day job, my husband is also a gigging musician by night.  This is actually the reason we're going to Austin.  Occasionally he sits in on bass for the band The Frontier Brothers.  They are, to say the least, an interesting group.  Let's just say that Austin is the perfect place for them.  No, seriously, they're really good, I'm just still scarred by the first time I saw them, when the drummer played in a flesh-tone one piece skin-tight body suit.  That kind of thing sticks with you.  They are really nice guys though, and they asked if my husband could come down and play with them on Thursday and Saturday.  So instead of driving down to Austin Thursday afternoon, driving back Friday, then driving down there again on Saturday, he decided he would just stay for the weekend.  And then we got the idea to make it a couple's getaway. 

Since he was already going to be down there, he also got asked to play with Calhoun tonight, another band that he sits in with occasionally, who is playing the same gig with The Frontier Brothers.  This is super awesome news for me, because while I get a kick out of The Frontier Brothers, I love Calhoun.  I haven't gotten to go to one of my husband's gigs in a while, and this weekend I get to seem him play two.  I am really looking forward to it, provided I can stay awake for the shows, that is. 

In a happy coincidence, this happened on the weekend that the new Harry Potter movie comes out, and he has Friday night off!  So, while we're down there, we're also going to go see that.  We've already got our tickets.  Y'all, I haven't been to a movie with my husband since before my daughter was born.  Of the four whole movies I've seen in the theater since she came along, two were by myself and two were with a friend of mine.  So this is a pretty big deal.

Also on the plate while we're down there, besides a lot of relaxing and enjoying each other's company, and possibly going shopping for clothes (because that is for some reason how we roll), I am also planning to do two things:

1. Get a buttload of writing done.
2. Read most, if not all, of Towers of Midnight.

I am going to miss my daughter like crazy, and I have no doubt that I will be fighting the urge to call and check in on her a whole freaking lot.  But this is going to be pretty awesome.

In writing news, I think I finally figured out the actual sequence of events leading to the end of this story, which is awesome, since I've broken 30,000 words and that means it's time to start moving them toward the finish.  I had a vague outline, but now I actually know specific details, and that's super nice.  You guys, I just might be able to do this.  I am already thinking about next year's NaNoWriMo project.  It's gonna involve space ships.  I am debating, once November is over and I get into the actual editing/revising process (probably after the start of the year, which is disturbingly close), on whether or not to share my story on this blog.  Like maybe once a week I'll post a chapter.  I dunno, I am still kicking it around, but that might be coming your way.

Hey, did anyone watch Human Target last night?  I am so glad that it is back!  That was my favorite new show of last season.  Funnily enough, it was another of those shows that I totally wasn't going to watch at all.  The preview promos showed a lot of Tricia Helfer in the first episode, which tempted me, I'll admit, but it wasn't until I found out that David Nykl (Zelenka!) would be guesting in the first season that I decided to give it a try.  And I am so glad that I did, because not only did it blow me away and suck me in right off the bat, but the slew of guest casting that this show had in its first season was absolutely phenomenal.  I mean, imagine my surprise one Wednesday night earlier this year, when the preview for the next week's Human Target showed up, and Kavan Smith was featured all front and center!  Sure, he turned out to be the bad guy, and then, well, dead.  But still.  You know how I feel about any show that involves Kavan Smith.  And that was only the tip of the awesome casting iceberg.

I am pretty sure I should never be allowed to go to Vancouver.  I don't think I would want to leave, which is a shame, since I would probably be forcibly evicted for stalking half of the actors working there. 

Last night's episode kicked off season two extremely well, I have to say.  Plus, the stunt casting is already underway with not one, but two awesome actors.  First, there was the addition of Indira Varma to the show as a new member of the team.  I first noticed her in the short-lived 3 Lbs. but after that she started popping up in pretty much every show I watch.  It's crazy.  But a good kind of crazy, since I totally adore her.  I knew that she had been added to the show, but I did not know that Tahmoh Penikett was also guesting in the first episode of the season!  I was so happy when he walked into the room!  Of course, (spoilers!  highlight the block text to read!) I knew right away that his character was either the bad guy or was going to get killed before the end of the episode.  He was a good guy, but also a little stupid, so that meant he got killed.  Sigh.  I was kind of thinking, well, at least he wasn't the bad guy, after all, but, maybe if he had been, he could have been set up as the season's big bad.  I would have been totally down with that.  Oh well. At any rate, the new season status quo has been established and I am super geared up for more!  Also, can I just say that I love Guerrero?  He is awesome.  Yay for the return of good television!

Word Count Update: 33,455 out of 50,000

Oh, and don't forget to check out the new episode of Riese out today!  Click here to watch.