P!nk Starbuck

And a bit of Star Wars geekery.

First, the BSG geek moment. Recently, I saw part of one of those Behind the Music shows, about P!nk. And I thought “whoa, she’s got such a Starbuck vibe.” Because this is the kind of thought I like to think when I’m stressed out. And when I’m not stressed out, for that matter, but it’s the kind of thought that especially helps me get through a difficult day.

So I darted online and found this fun thing:

And for you Star Wars freaks, well, if you’re a freak, you’ve already seen this, but if not, look! From Geek Dad: a list 50 great Star Wars band names. I think my faves are Dead Kenobis and Cheap Jedi Mind Trick.

Various thoughts about The End

Of stories, that is!

This post is brought to you by me mulling the finale of BSG, and the differing reactions to that finale. But it broadened to thoughts about the conclusions of all stories.

musesfool pointed out to me that lots of fans are upset by the ending because they were invested in the story in a particular way, and desired specific things, and are therefore disappointed when their expectations aren’t met. It made me think of how a lot of fans, whether of stories on TV or in books, etc. care about the characters in a very particular way. They desire things for those characters.

And I realized that I’m not like that. I want the things that happen to the characters to be satisfying, to feel “right”, whether those things are good or unhappy. I want to feel like the story works, is artistically satisfying. But I don’t have personal expectations for the characters, or even the plot. I suppose this is why I’ve never wanted to write fanfiction.

When JK Rowling killed a certain character, it worked for me, it fit the story, deepened it, etc. When she killed another one, it felt cheap, like she was using his death to make a point about war. I didn’t particularly care whether either character lived or died in a way, all I care about is whether the story satisfies, works, is true to itself, doesn’t feel artificial.

Do you get so invested in characters or the way you want the story to unfold that it affects your response? Or are you willing to let the writer go wherever he or she wants to, as long as it satisfies you on some level?

BSG finale–first thoughts

The ending of any work of fiction is crucial–it makes or breaks all of the preceding work, and I have to say the writers of Battlestar Galactica, esp. Ron Moore, NAILED IT. How satisfying! So, so good. Surprising and good and enthralling. I think this conclusion to the series raises the whole thing up.

And to those of you who haven’t watched any of it yet, YOU MUST GIVE IT A GO. At least watch the miniseries. Like any TV show it has episodes that are off, that kind of suck even, but as musesfool says, when it is on, it is ON.

And they were firing all on cylinders tonight.

Oh, so NOW I’m a dork

My almost-fifteen year old, Nathaniel, never raised an eyebrow or called me any kind of name due to the Buffy, LotR, Star Wars, and Gumby toys adorning my desk.

And he wasn’t fazed when I made this my keychain:

And he thought the hats shaped like giant beer mugs for St. Paddy’s Day were great.

But as soon as he saw me wearing my new t-shirt

He said, “Dork.”

Hmpf! I say. Also, HARRUMPH. And maybe “No Runescape for you today! Plus, since when does someone who plays RUNESCAPE get to call his mother a dork?!”

Disturbed by Moms

No, no, not disturbed by MOM, although I’m sure those posts will come again.

My middle child wants to take some kind of martial arts class. (And to those of you who know, or know of, my middle child, and think us signing him up for martial arts will one day lead to DOOM, I say, yes. I know. But as the mother of our future Evil Overlord I have to be supportive. Plus maybe he’ll give me my own lair!)

So I was checking out some local message boards that discuss things like the best gymnastics, ballet, martial arts classes for children. Boards chiefly posted to by Moms.

And a thread popped up wherein a mother was complaining about her children being bullied by neighborhood children. They had pushed her kids and called them names. And the advice she got . . . was surprising. Everyone, EVERY. ONE. Of the other mothers suggested teaching her kids to hit back. Or kick back. Or pull hair. My favorite was the mother who has taught all her children to “hit them in the throat.” No one asked if she’d talked to the parents of the bullies. And she never said she had. She’d apparently dealt with the bullying by calling her kids inside.

And I guess after that thread, she taught them to kick bullies in the groin and hit them in the throat.

And THEN! On my same search, a thread popped up titled “Do you let your kids watch Spongebob?” And almost every reply was along the lines of “ABSOLUTELY NOT!” They hate that show. It teaches kids bad things. Is a bad influence. One mother justified letting her kids watch because “Sponge Bob works really hard. He’s often Employee of the Month.”

I am deeply disturbed. I wonder if any of these mothers reside in my area.

And in completely different land, let us all hope-hope-hope that tonight’s Battlestar Galactica will rock and not be a pale pathetic thing, like it was last week. My own hopes are up, since it looks like it will be Starbuck-centric. I have no hopes for Dollhouse, although I’ll give it another go. Why am I giving it another go? Hmm. Not sure. I think I’m in disbelief that it’s as bad as it is.