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There has of late been little awesome-ness in my world. So, in a fit of boredom this evening I went looking for some.

• I’m not sure a new X-Files movie ten years after the first one is a good idea…but who the fuck cares. I loved Scully and Mulder ten years ago, I’ll love them even more now.
• This article cracked me up. Something I sorely needed. I totally agree about the Holodeck thing by the way. It truly would be the last thing humanity ever invented.
• And finally The Lost Boys 2. Only because the “Two Coreys” could use the work, and I feel like reliving my youth. Yes, a youth wasted on vampire movies, Star Trek, and general geekiness, but youth none-the-less.

I know there’s a lot more awesome-ness out there in the world somewhere, but it’s late and my bed calls. If anyone out there would care to share some piece of awesome-ness they’ve come across please feel free. One can never have too much.

I realize that there are no readers on this blog (mostly because of my erratic posting) but I thought I’d touch base with any one who happens to be stumble on this page and wonder why there are such huge gaps between posts.

Simply put…life has been kicking my ass. Honestly, I’ve gone through more changes in the last six or seven months then I have in the last ten years of me life. I am now a full time working, single mother of three very active boys. I’m trying to write on the side, have some kind of life, and still remember which son needs to be where and at what time. And just to keep things interesting, I do this all while juggling knives; flaming knives.

Okay, not really. They aren’t flaming, just knives.

Seriously though, I would like to apologize to any one who has been checking back occasionally to see if we had any new posts up and swear I will do better in the future.

Some good things are coming up in the next few months that I know I will have to blog about. First off, and most importantly, is World Con. The world SF convention. If the stars align just right, and I manage to sacrifice the right small, furry animal to the travel gods, I might just get to go. I can’t begin to tell you how excited I am at that prospect. I’m on the verge of wetting myself just thinking about it.

For the most part though, this blog will probably becoming a dumping ground of sorts for the current novel I’m working on. A place to report progress, and possibley bitch and moan about progress. I know that sometimes reading about writing is just plain dull but I’m afraid it’s who I am and what I do. Welcome to the boredom baby.

I hope that at least someone will find it helpful. If only because they’re thinking “If this moron can write then so can I”. What ever works.

Oh, and on a side note; My partner and I are almost finished working up a new curriculum on creative writing for teens that can be found at Solid Rock Virtual School. It’s probably one of the best and most comprehensive pieces of curriculum we’ve ever put together. And SRVS is a wonderful online school with a wide range of studies. We are both very excited to be working with such a prestigious school.

That’s pretty much my list of excuses for the time being. Let’s see if I can actually pull through on my promises and keep posting. Wish me luck.

George Lucas has been diagnosed with an illness he has apparently battled for years; sequentialits.

This illness has devastating effects on on the victim to either think or create anything in logical sequential order. In extreme cases a sufferer of sequentialits may have trouble being understood by the general public as they flip word order in even the simplest of sentences (perhaps Yoda was a victim as well).

Lucas’ most recent symptoms of said disease is the release of Star Wars: Clone Wars which hits theaters August 15, 2008. If you would like to see a preview of his malady it can be found here.

There is a distinct chill in the air that can only mean one thing; summer is coming to an end. Along with no longer seeing people walk around in shorts wearing knee socks and sandals, comes the end of the block buster summer movies.

What can we say about this past movie going season? Hmmm…it sucked. Okay, maybe suck is a little strong, perhaps it would be better to say it was overly ambitious. It seemed every movie I saw, especially those in the sci-fi fantasy arena, didn’t know what they were and how to stick to that. Didn’t know what their main story points were, or there themes. In short, they suffered from forgetting some of the most important rules of story telling. Let’s just take one movie here as an example. Stardust.

Everyone knows I was looking forward to seeing this movie, everyone knows I love Neil Gaiman (whose book this movie was based on). While the movie did have enjoyable moments, as a whole it fell a little short. There were differences between the book and the movie, the most major one being the end. But more then just plot devices, the movie was trying too hard to be epic, to be…well bigger then what it really was.

At it’s core Stardust is a coming of age tale, a love story, a very simple and sweet fairy tale. It is (at least in tone) very much like The Princess Bride. Light hearted, fun, simple and sweet. It’s the kind of story someone might tell around a campfire, and the movie totally lost that appeal. There were moments of sweetness, moments of lightness, and moments when the movie almost hit the target, and then the producers, writers, and directors seemed to remember that any good fantasy needs sword play, lots of it, and an epic ending battle, and of course an ending where everything is just super duper okay. In the end of the movie, kings were made and immortality was found, not really at all like the book. So, in the end, it seems Hollywood is incapable of the light sweet fairy tale, of a simple but no less heartfelt, story.

Similar afflictions affected the rest of the summer movies. None of them really knew where they wanted to go or how to go there. Too many plot threads not fully developed, too many characters introduced and then ignored, too many endings that tried to tie themselves neatly into happy little bundles at the end. Oh well, I suppose there is always next summer. Or maybe I’ll just stick to the books from now on and ignore the movies. Yeah right, that’s never going to happen.

I just got a chance last week to watch Pan’s Labyrinth on DVD. for those of you who haven’t heard about it (where have you been) it’s a movie from the director Guillermo del Toro the guy who directed Blade II and Hellboy (don’t let those movies deter you, this one is good, not that that the other two aren’t they just aren’t on the same level).

To put it simply, this movie is excellent. It does all the things a good fantasy should do in my opinion. Makes you question reality. Is set against a backdrop that reinforces the fantasy aspects and makes reality just that much harsher, and is in some ways a metaphor for what is happening in that “reality”. The setting is Spain post WW II and is rife with the political tensions of the time. Fascists are taking hold in Spain, and though there are a few groups of rebels trying to fight, the fight seems hopeless. When the movie opens, the main character Ofelia and her mother Carmen are on their way to a remote and old mill that Ofelia’s new step father–Captain Vidal–has converted into a military outpost to scrub the back country of the last of the rebels. Carmen is very pregnant, and weak, and it is obvious that Captain Vidal wants little to do with Ofelia. In fact, his very demeanor is cold and calculating. They did a great job with character development with all the characters, but Vidal’s very presence is foreboding, and the details in his character make him more so.

Ofelia is a dreamy girl, who lives in her own fantasy world and carries with her books of fairy tales and magic. Despite her mother telling her it is time to give them up, she holds on to them as her lifeline. Once at the old mill, Ofelia finds the entrance to a labyrinth and is drawn to it. But one of the locals–a woman named Mercedes who is a serving woman for the Captain–warns Ofelia it is dangerous and befriends the young girl. From there the darkness of not only the labyrinth but the mill and the people in it begin to ooze out into the open.

Ofelia finds eventually in the center of the labyrinth a faun or pan. traditionally these are tricksters in myth, and don’t usually bring good things to those who see them. But Ofelia is entranced by the faun and the story he has to tell her, and agrees to take on three tasks to prove she is worthy.

Despite the fact that Ofelia is a young girl, this is not some touchy feely,fairy tale. There are moments of violence in this movie so quick and brutal they are lodged in my mind. And from that first act of violence, committed by the Captain against a local old man and his son, the shadows begin to lengthen in the movie. Ofelia falls deeper into the secrets of the labyrinth, Mercedes tries to keep her own secrets from the Captain, and Carmen becomes weaker and weaker as her time to give birth nears.

The tension between the story lines builds and eventually hits a head on collision. Ofelia’s fantasy world, and brutal “reality” intersect, and the results are not pretty.

Still it’s hard to say if the movie ends badly or not. I suppose it depends a lot on how you look at the world. At where you draw the lines between the real world and the world in your head. That is in essence the theme of this story. The derailing of reality, and the subtle hidden world that lies beneath. Not just the fauns and fairies that are hiding, but secrets, loss, fear, and oppression. The things we hide from ourselves and others. All of us carry our own myth, our own fantasy world in our heads, but it is a fantasy of who we are and why we do the things we do. A fantasy of what it is to be human, and what the difference is between good and evil.

I cannot recommend this movie highly enough. It’s one of the rare movies that you can watch time and again and take something from it every time.

Happy viewing.

Thanks to the guys at Brotherhood 2.0 I have been thinking just a little bit too much about my guilt free three (which has now expanded to my guilt free five). This is a list of celebrities you would sleep with guilt free. I’ve learned some interesting things about my friends and family, and myself for that matter asking them who their guilt free three would be.

In no particular order here’s my list:

1) Johnny Depp

2) Steve Martin

3) Conan O’Brien

4) Neil Gaiman

5) Angelina Jolie (shocked I know)

The biggest thing I’ve learned is that for guys the trashy factor is a turn on. Hence Britney Spears being in the top three of most of the men I know. And for me personally looks aren’t a big factor but a sense of humor is. And one other thing factors in there; the geek potential. I love a man with the potential to really get in touch with his geeky side. So, in homage to all the nerds out there, I give you…Nerdfighters.

PS If I were a computer nerd I could actually figure out how to embed a video, but that messes with my book nerd/sci-fi nerd thing I’m all ready juggling.

You know, I’ve been posting here for several months. More off then on of late. Originally this blog was supposed to be the result of several contributors and probably will turn out to be that eventually, but for now I’m the only blogger. Of course I normally like the idea of being a loner, but there is one problem. This is the first blog I’ve ever done. So that means I generally have no idea what I’m doing. Anyone who has stuck with me through my dry spells, and put up with my wordiness…well I appreciate that. Someone recently pointed out to me that the best blogs are the ones where you get emotional, allow your passions and loves and hates to come through. Well, I’m covering my hates pretty well, so I suppose I should get to what I love about this whole science fiction and fantasy thing.

In truth my loves are numerous, but I want to hit the big ones. First and foremost, I love how really good SF makes you stretch your own boundaries, question yourself and society, rethink things. Good SF pushes the boundaries of what’s “normal” and “acceptable” words I’ve always disliked anyway. Who wants to be normal? Not I that’s for darn sure. Secondly, I love a little escapism. Just forgetting about the laundry, dishes, balancing the checkbook, all that stuff that keeps a family running…and running, and running. Well, sometimes I need to get away from that, to chew on new ideas, to stop moving through life on auto pilot. I need to work out my brain, and get a good story in the deal.

There is also the small part of me that loves one liners, kick ass action scenes, and things exploding. I won’t deny it. A well choreographed fight scene, or a big ball of flames, well it just does something visceral to me. What can I say. I get a kick out of that stuff. And when you can add some awesome characters to that formula of action, well it gets even better. I suppose you can sum it up simply. I am a geek, a dork, and a nerd. And I do love my dorks, nerds and geeks. They’re my favorite people in the whole world. I count myself lucky to be among them.

I just got back from teaching a creative writing workshop this weekend. I lectured a group of kids between the ages of ten and nineteen I believe. God I loved it. The whole experience finally solidified in my mind what I really want to do with my life. I am a writer first and foremost, but as most of you know writing doesn’t always pay the bills. For the last few years I’ve batted around the idea of what I could do to not only make money but something I found inspiring, and enriching. Well, teaching is it. Specifically teaching creative writing, but teaching in general. sitting there on the floor with a group of really, really smart kids not only listening but adding to the lectures was gratifying, and inspiring as well. Talking about the very thing I love discussing to the point that I could probably talk about it all day (and pretty much did over this last weekend) well it got my creative juices flowing that’s for sure. I’ve restarted the novel I’ve been a little blocked on of late. And (as you can tell) been moved to work on the blog a bit more.

I’m incredibly grateful that I was given the opportunity to teach these lectures, and to meet those kids. Each and everyone of them was so special and unique I truly feel blessed just having met them. And if this is something I am able to continue I will always remember these first kids who were in a lot of ways my guinea pigs. Poor kids.

After a season of suspense dragged out to the point of sheer frustration the season one storyline of Heroes finally comes to an end. I wish I could say it was worth it.

Okay, it didn’t suck, I’ll give you that. It had some truly awesome moments. Jessica finding some balance between herself and Nikki, and kicking that annoying shape shifters butt. And Sylar getting the old sword in the gut thing. Oh, and I loved it when Claire just jumped out of her father’s office window. And Ando calling Hiro a bad ass, that was just cute.

Okay, all that’s well and good. But the final episode comes down to one question…Why in the holy hell couldn’t someone just shoot Peter? He was going to regenerate later, so why did his brother have to go all Superman flying the nuclear bombs into space on the situation. Come on. Give me a fracking break. I cold have written that little “twist” after a session of partying with Lindsay Lohan and not sleeping for three weeks, all tweaked out on meth. And I still would have had Clarie shoot Peter, and then have it not work for some reason (cause to be honest the stupid bullet would more then likely have melted or exploded before it even hit Peter with the full impact) AND THEN have Nathan step in and do his Superman act, only I would have cut the cheesy dialogue. Man I should be in Hollywood churning out bad TV scripts and using my ill gotten power to have certain people “taken care of”. Oh yeah, you’re so going down Celine Dion.

Sorry, hit my own fantasy world there for a sec. Better now.

So, am I alone in this? Just being too picky? Possibly. It has been known to happen, just read this blog for proof. But am I asking to much that a show not be so predictable that you can guess the outcome six episodes into the season? No, I’m not.

There are numerous reasons why Spider Man III sucked.  Too many bad guys, poorly thought out script, just too much crap going on at once.  Well, I’ll tell you what bothered me the most.  Tobey Maguire channeling his inner John Travolta circa Saturday Night Fever.  Surely I wasn’t the only one having flashbacks to the opening scenes of Saturday Night Fever during Parker’s “dark” moments in the film.  And can I just point out how dorky that was.  How utterly pointless.  I was hoping for some real angst, some real darkness from Maguire, instead I got a collection of scenes that make me giggle just to think about them.  And the part with him dancing in the jazz club?  WTF was that?  When did Spider Man become a bad musical?  I know that this was supposed to be a little tongue in cheek, but it ruined the good moments that were few and far between in this script.  The moments of Parker truly struggling with his dark side.  Instead we get fluff.  And bad fluff at that. 

The whole movie had moments that made me think Sam Raimi has some serous ADHD issues.  And some things were just completely ignored.  The whole moment when Harry forced Mary Jane to dump Parker (besides smacking of a 90210 episode) was never delt with.  And at the end everything was tied into a nice little package of forgiveness, with a bow of melodrama.

In short not the best film of the trilogy, and while I’d hate for them to continue this downward sprial with another movie, I also hope they don’t leave it on such a sour note.