I snagged this from ladylupinmalfoy's journal, a meme about TV shows:

1. Bold the shows you watch/used to watch.
2. Italicize the shows you've seen at least one episode of.
3. Post your answers.

( The list is here... )

I've been reading fanfiction and looking at pretty pictures of the BBC series, Merlin. I know that NBC acquired the rights to show it but I can't find out when it'll actually be shown here. Does anybody know?

Unfortunately, he'll mostly be remember for the war in Iraq which will always overshadow anything good he tried to accomplish. He's blamed for a lot of things.

Today seemed to go on forever but then ended with few accomplishments. I had to attend a basketball game in an old gym with narrow wooden bleachers. My behind hurts. My husband declined to attend and made himself scarce elsewhere. Can you hear what I'm thinking about him? I hope not. If I could afford it, I'd trade him in on a newer model.

I did make it home in time to watch The Clone Wars which went a long way in perking up my mood. Anakin was suitably pitiful after his injuries. And...exactly what were his injuries suppose to be? Did he hit his head? Have internal injuries? Broken bones? Nothing seems to fit. Aayla of the waist-that-is-so-very-out-of-proportion-to-her-boobs-and-hips was okay but I didn't feel like I learned much new about her like I did Unduli and Plo Koon when they were featured. I'm a little tred of Ahsoka, it's not that I don't like her, it's that I'd rather see some of the other characters more. She gets way more airtime than Obi-Wan or Padme or the other Jedi. Don't you love the clones though! Rex and Bly were great.

I dosed through Battlestar Galactica and couldn't tell you the first thing about what happened except that Adama didn't look so good and I think he made a big speech.

Tonight's Supernatural was kind of toned down. The first half hour I must acknowledge that I almost nodded off, something that has NEVER happened during a new episode. Somebody borrowed the plotline from about a dozen movies I can think of including doing away with the family pet, and made very little attempt to convert it to Supernatural-greatness.

*SPOILERS for CSI* Whoever the kind person is who decided to reunite Grissom and Sara at the end of tonight's show...I love you with all of my fangirly heart.

Hogwarts, of course! Why would you go anywhere else.:)

It would have to be savory, I've never really been big on sweets in the morning. An occasional cinnamon roll makes me sleepy all morning.:)

I didn't realize the release date for the new Fate of the Jedi nine-book series was so near, on March 24, 2009. The first book's called Outcast and is written by Aaron Allston. It's set two years after the horrible conclusion to the Legacy of the Force series. Troy Denning and Christie Golden (don't know her) write some of the books in the new series too.

The jacket text can be found at StarWars.com.

Here's the front and back cover of Fate of the Jedi: Outcast:

I found this survey/meme in eleventh_guard's journal:

Bold = I've done it
Italic = I've sort of done it

( Click here for the survey/meme... )

Well...you can certainly tell that I've never traveled much. Some of the things I don't care one way or another about but I do wish I'd seen more of the world than I have.

Grilled salmon, highly seasoned.
A stuffed potato with everything.
Broccoli with cheese sauce.
A big glass of Dr. Pepper that's cold without ice.

It's probably a billion calories but the world always looks like a better place afterwards.:)

Can I give you this spare billion I have just lying around?

It depends on what type of bird and if it's been bred in captivity to start with. I don't see anything wrong with someone having a pet bird as long as they're responsible for it and make sure it has what it needs just as they would any other pet.

I've been up since about 6:00, enjoying the quiet. I didn't rest well during the first part of the night, had to get up about 1 AM to close the front gate since someone in a VERY noisy old truck kept using our driveway as a turnaround point. That truck plus two other had been up and down the road for two hours before that, pausing to talk right in front of our place. Just teens running around I'm sure, but still very aggravating and usually it wouldn't bug me too bad except for the extreme loudness of the one truck. But then I was upset when they started backing up into our driveway, revving up, and then pulling back out and roaring down the road. I couldn't see the license plates or I would have called it in and started to anyway but my confidence in our sheriff is kind of at a low right now. So I shut the gate and turned on all the outside front lights to give the idiots a hint that "Wow, people live here and maybe it's not OK for us to use their driveway!" and they stopped coming by.

Now I'm sitting here looking at the disaster that is the computer room as we call it now. Originally it was a dining room that was little used, then the desktop computer got put in here and then one of the pianos and it's turned into a catchall room and looks horrible. And, of course, every time someone comes by they seem to be automatically drawn to poke their heads in and look around. I'm considering actually cleaning it up after we get back from services this morning if I can figure out where to put all those items that can't be thrown away.

I'm still reading on Luke Skywalker and the Shadows of Mindor which I found when I bought groceries Friday. It started out wonderfully but then bogged down with too many details towards the middle when I just wanted to read about Luke. Lord Shadowspawn is really not how I thought he'd be but then he did kind of look ridiculous on the back cover.

I didn't really make much of a list this year. Mainly I've just decided I'm going to be happy no matter what craziness surrounds me. Too often I've let others dictate whether I was happy or not and I've finally had enough of that.

I'm reading Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Wild Space. I probably could have finished it early this morning when it's usually quiet but husband picked today to be under my feet and took forever to leave for work. Then I had errands to run and children to drop off and then pick up and then lunch to fix, blah, blah, blah. I highly recommend it to any fan interested in the new series. BUT...I also recommend it to any fans of Anakin Skywalker, Padme Amidala, and Obi-Wan Kenobi because the first three chapters are about what happened immediately after Attack of the Clones. There's a lot revealed about Obi-Wan's and Padme's actions and emotions concerning Anakin at that time, giving us a better understanding of the characters. The author, Karen Miller, does an excellent job in writing about it. Then starting with Chapter 4, it's about Anakin, Padme, Obi-Wan, and Ahsoka, with some Palpatine and Yoda thrown in, during the period of time that is part of The Clone Wars series. The book is a trade paperback and I had a hard time finding it at the big bookstore, I had to ask for it and they pulled it out from somewhere, I think I payed $12 for it.

I found this movie meme in one of luthienberen's posts:

THE RULES:

Bold movies you have watched and liked.
Turn red movies you have watched and loved.
Italicize movies you saw and didn’t like.
Leave as is movies you haven’t seen.

( Movie List... )

I was surprised that there were so many that I haven't even seen.

Who picks these questions?

No, I would not sell one of my organs for cash. There's not much you can do without, a kidney maybe, while still living healthy anyway. Besides, what if a family member needed it one day? Oops, sorry, I sold that piece years ago cause I spent all my money on Christmas.

Well, I was up fairly early this morning having not slept very well. I developed a mild earache about halfway through the night and discovered I was out of ibuprofen and had to take excedrin which usually has the side effect of making my ears ring worse than they normally do. The earache's subsided now but I'm left with a fuzzy headed feeling.

I've been alternating between doing the laundry and watching reruns of Burn Notice. They're playing on USA until 4 PM. I love this show, the characters all have a certain amount of weirdness. The first time I saw Jeffrey Donovan I thought he was ugly, I didn't like his mouth and teeth, but he won me over quickly. Gabrielle Anwar alternates from being very beautiful to looking like she's on the verge of starvation, I get distracted counting the bones visible in the top of her chest. I just saw her on a TV movie, last week I think. I can't think of the name of it but she finds out her son is alive after believing he and his father had died when the boy was young. The father had actually faked their deaths and hidden from her so she wouldn't get custody when they divorced. It wasn't bad until the end when all of a sudden Mom and Dad were okay with each other. If someone had stolen my child and made me think he was dead, I wouldn't be getting over that quite as easy as she did, very unrealistic.

Then in passing on his way to work my husband said something about earthquakes in Yellowstone and the world coming to an end (he's like that, he's a very gloomy person who's always blaming somebody else, usually the government, for everything and saying "they" will get payed back by some natural disaster, ignoring the fact that it will greatly impact his own life if the worst ever does happen) so I had to come and look that up. I saw something not too long ago about Yellowstone, one of those "what if" things about the horrors that would happen should it ever erupt again. Plus, I recently read C.J. Box's recent Joe Pickett story and it was set at Yellowstone and a lot of background info about it was given. It's a little scary if you think about it too hard. Anyway, there's been over 250 small quakes there the past few days, more than the usual amount. Even the scientists are saying that though small quakes aren't unusual, this many in something like a three day period are. If you're interested or just want to worry yourself, you can read about it here:

Scientists Eye Swarm of Yellowstone Quakes

Mostly just the deja vu thing. There have been several times when I know I'm doing/saying something I've already done/said. I'm not talking about the usual everyday things. And there are a couple of places that I was around a lot when I was growing up that I know I was being watched when I went there, even though there's nobody around.

But no visible ghosts or boogeymen or furniture moving.:)

*Very, very mild SPOILERS*

We've just finished watching The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor. Or I should clarify that to say that I just finished it, everyone else fell asleep about halfway through. I'd heard a lot of bad reviews about the movie but still found it to be entertaining, perhaps not as special as the original but then not many sequels are. My biggest problem was the recast of Evie. Rachel Weisz will always be Evie to me but for some reason she couldn't be in this one and she was replaced by Maria Bello who was Johnny Depp's wife in Secret Window. It was like watching a totally different character. Luke Ford was okay as the grown-up son Alex even though Brendan Fraser doesn't look old enough to be his dad, he's 40 but doesn't look it. The biggest treat though was watching Jet Li as the Emperor. He looked good in his Emperor clothes.

Where has the morning gone? Usually I'm halfway through my day be now but every time I get still I nod off. I suppose the busy Christmas week has finally caught up with me. We skipped services and I feel mildly guilty. I'm sure a lot of people will be absent what with traveling or having company. We were actually suppose to have the later but plans were canceled at the last moment and I'm disappointed that I won't see them but relieved that I won't have to do all the things I usually do when visitors are here. My husband left for work out of town for 4 or 5 days, I've already caught myself talking to him a couple of times, forgetting he's not here.

I've been trying to read Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe since it's one of those "important" books on my list of important books I've never read, plus I want to see if there is any similarity (besides man plus Friday plus island) to the current Crusoe television series that I like though I highly doubt it is besides maybe the bare bones of it. I'm forcing myself to read slowly so as not to miss anything and I'm finding it difficult to concentrate on it. Do you know it was first written in 1719? That's mind-bloggling. The book I'm reading was published in 1946 and so far I can't find out if it is exactly the same as the original. The story is written as if it were a true story but was actually based on other incidences that had happened that the author knew about as well as possibly another book published earlier. It was a sensation at the time but then there was a limited amount of reading material at hand then. It must have been like the first taste of chocolate to readers.

My internet connection is agonizingly slow today, something I thought I would not have to suffer through with wireless but apparently nothing's perfect, especially living out in nowhere land as we do. Actually I shouldn't call it that, nowhere land makes it sound desolate but it's not, I use the words to describe us being kind of off the beaten path and not close to a large city. But good connections to anything are sometimes iffy here.

Title: Sands of Destiny, Chapter 6
Fandom: Star Wars AU
Author: vaders_ghost
Characters: Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader, Luke Skywalker, Owen Lars, Beru Lars
Time Frame: A few years after Revenge of the Sith.
Ratings: Rated G
Warnings: None
Word Count: about 2070
Summary: An alternate universe story in which Anakin/Vader knows Luke is alive and living with Owen and Beru Lars.

( Sands of Destiny, Chapter 6 )

Sands of Destiny, Chapter 1

Sands of Destiny, Chapter 2

Sands of Destiny, Chapter 3

Sands of Destiny, Chapter 4

Sands of Destiny, Chapter 5

It's been a busy morning but I wanted to take a break and wish everyone on my friends list a Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays or however you celebrate it! I hope your day is peaceful and kind and you got something you wished for.:)

We already did part of our celebrating yesterday with part of the family and will do more this afternoon. I have one group coming Sunday and another Tuesday or Wednesday. I sent of a few Christmas cards yesterday, I didn't go all out on them this year, just couldn't afford to. Usually I have family photos made into cards and particular sayings on them but I just couldn't do it this year. Partly I was just lacking any time, we've been so busy at work and then always somewhere to be for the children in the evenings. Then, of course, over the weekend I came down with the obligatory cold/virus that responded to nothing contained in my medicine cabinet.

I haven't even thought about what I want to happen in 2009. I'll just keep on doing what needs to be done. We do know that my husband is likely facing surgery, probably in mid March. I'd like to write a lot more but know there still won't be much time. I'll just make it up as I go along.

Have a wonderful day!

I just read at buzzwire's journal that Moonlight is going to be rerunning soon on the Sci-Fi Channel, good news for us fans. And it'll be out on DVD soon too. I also see where she posted about TV Guide talking about the popularity of the Twilight movie and the True Blood series and saying "Is CBS kicki​ng itsel​f for putti​ng a prema​ture stake in MOONL​IGHT?​" I would say YES! Canceling the show was crazy to start with, it had a good fan base and did as well as anything could in the time slot they had it in. It was just one more excellent show thrown away. What gets me is there's no real resolution to the story of Mick and Beth and Josef. You can read all the fanfic you want but it still boils down to not ever knowing how the series was meant to progress and end.

Oh my...



So, uhhhh, when does Robin Hood come back on?

SPOILERS for Clone Wars!

I have really gotten attached to the new Clone Wars series much more than I thought I would. Some of the characters' looks (namely Anakin, he's the worst) initially put me off but it's all the other characters that are drawing me to the show. The biggest pluses of the show are the individualities of the clone troopers and the more detailed views of other Jedi Knights besides the great Skywalker-Kenobi duo.

In the last episode, "Cloak of Darkness," we get Asaaj Ventress (who wins my vote for best Star Wars villainess, but then there's a lack of competition for that slot unless you're DEEPLY into everything EU), Ahsoka Tano, and Jedi Master Luminara Unduli. The temporary team of Ahsoka and Luminara went anything but smooth. Luminara, while not necessarily overly strict, had a firm hand that little padawan Ahsoka was not familiar with. Anakin may frown occasionally (well...actually he's frowning most of the time, isn't he) and speak bland words of caution and wisdom that I think he's only remembering from Obi-Wan's attempts to rein him in, but then he goes and does what he wants and his emotions are all over the place and that's what she's mostly exposed to.

I knew a little about Luminara Unduli but thought my knowledge was a little vague so I looked her up at Wikipedia. She's a Mirialan and the marks on her bottom lip, chin, and hands are signs of her physical discipline. Also, the hood on the head (which makes her look just like Sally Field in that ancient Flying Nun comedy series) is "to protect sensitive organs on their heads" which has me imagining all sorts of things now, like a third eye or blobby slimy somethings. I think she'd look cooler wearing a different style of clothing. Luminara has superhuman flexibility from years of training. We saw her survive at Geonosis in Attack of the Clones but then saw her shot down by Commander Faie's troopers on Kashyyyk during Revenge of the Sith. One of her padawans was Barriss Offee who was also a Mirialan, only Mirialan Jedi could train Mirialan children.

So on this latest Clone Wars episode, Luminara, Ahsoka, and Captain Argyus end up together while escorting Separatist leader Nute Gunray (another bland cardboard character who has suddenly sprouted a real personality during this series!) somewhere to eventually stand trial. I hope their court processes aren't as long as ours. Anyway, Ventress and a bunch of droids are sent to rescue him. Ventress kept herself busy by methodically killing off as many clones as possible while slipping through the ship. Luminara went to fight her, trying to keep Ahsoka out of it. But Anakin Ahsoka thought she knew best and that Luminara would need her help since she'd had some encounters with Ventress before. And she did save Luminara and then vice-versa. Or maybe it was the other way around first, my memories are foggy on the exact order of some things. But Luminara was getting tossed around pretty good by Ventress, even getting a brief eye injury.

Captain Argyus, from the Senate Guard and answering to Palpatine I assume, got on my nerves the first time he opened his mouth. Not because of his portrayer, the wonderful James Marsters (Spike!), but because of his nasty superior attitude. Argyus was a traiter anyway, secretly working for Count Dooku. Anyway, he was the one whispering evilness who advised Ahsoka to "follow her heart" and go after Luminara even though the Jedi Master had ordered her to stay guarding Gunray. After she'd gone on her rescue mission, Argyus killed the other commandos and grabbed Gunray. He and Gree had a short tussel with Gree winning until Gunray bops him on the head. The funny thing was the speech Argyus gives about why he changed sides, about not wanting to be in a lifetime of service to the Republic, it was just ironic since he was talking to a clone trooper. But as Argyus and Gunray and Ventress are escaping, he has to gloat that he rescued Gunray so she stabs him through the back with her lightsaber. Good riddance I say to a badly written character. Besides, I hated his hair.

So this episode, besides being highly entertaining, gave us a more detailed look at Ventress, Luminara, Gunray, and the now deceased Argyus. Not bad at all. Anakin was just a blip on the radar in this one as were the other Jedi. Well, there was a bland appearance at the end that had me thinking "pod-person!" cause it's creepy when Anakin's nicey-nice. Ahsoka...I didn't like her as much in this episode. I had been won over by her enthusiasm in earlier episodes and liked seeing her bring out some of Anakin's good traits, but in this one she was just too loud and know-it-all, more so than usual. She was throwing slick one-liners out left and right, I don't know why but I felt vaguely disapproving when she said something about Ventress' baldness. And there's still that hovering question of the year...WHAT HAPPENS TO AHSOKA SINCE SHE'S NOT IN REVENGE OF THE SITH?

ANOTHER good show down the drain, I'm hearing that it's official that Pushing Daisies is canceled. The show makes me happy. *sniff*

It was NOT the best of days. No big disasters but one of those days where dozens of small irritations and setbacks added up throughout the day to cause a major drop in attitude by the evening time.

So I medicated myself with Burn Notice. If you have not been watching this show then you are missing a treat. The lead character Michael was a drunk security guard in this episode and it was hilarious. He actually reminded me of people I know though they're not near as funny as he is. I don't care much for the Carla character though. I hope she doesn't pop up too often.

Title: Sands of Destiny, Chapter 5
Fandom: Star Wars AU
Author: vaders_ghost
Characters: Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader, Luke Skywalker, Owen Lars, Beru Lars
Time Frame: A few years after Revenge of the Sith.
Ratings: Rated G
Warnings: None
Word Count: 1715
Summary: An alternate universe story in which Anakin knows Luke is alive and living with Owen and Beru Lars.

( Sands of Destiny, Chapter 5 )

Title: Longing, Part 1/2
Author: vaders_ghost
Fandom: Moonlight
Characters: Mick St. John, OFC
Rating: Rated PG-13
Warnings: None
Word Count: 795
Disclaimers: I don’t own or profit from Moonlight or its characters; this is a work of fanfiction and is intended to be read as such.

( Longing, Part 1 )

Title: Sands of Destiny, Chapter 4
Fandom: Star Wars AU
Author: vaders_ghost
Characters: Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader, Luke Skywalker, Owen Lars, Beru Lars
Time Frame: A few years after Revenge of the Sith.
Ratings: Rated G
Warnings: None
Word Count: 1300
Summary: An alternate universe story in which Anakin knows Luke is alive and living with Owen and Beru Lars.

( Sands of Destiny, Chapter 4 )


Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Title: Wishful Thinking
Author vaders_ghost
Fandom: Star Wars EU
Characters: Jaina, Jacen, and Anakin Solo, Luke Skywalker
Rating: Rated G
Warnings: None
Word Count: 334
Disclaimers: Don’t own these characters, just like to write fictional stories about them.
Summary: Luke Skywalker talks to his niece and nephews about their grandfather.

( Wishful Thinking )



This was written for The Fatherhood Drabble Challenge at jedi_brothers.

Title: Sands of Destiny, Chapter 3
Fandom: Star Wars AU
Author: vaders_ghost
Characters: Anakin and Luke Skywalker, Owen and Beru Lars
Time Frame: A few years after Revenge of the Sith.
Rating: Rated G
Warnings: None
Word Count: about 1960
Summary: An alternate universe story in which Anakin knows Luke is alive and living with Owen and Beru Lars.

( Click here to read the story... )

Title: Sands of Destiny, Chapter 2
Fandom: Star Wars AU
Author: vaders_ghost
Characters: Anakin Skywalker, Luke Skywalker, Owen Lars, Beru Lars
Time Frame: A few years after Revenge of the Sith.
Rating: Rated G
Warnings: None
Word Count: around 2390
Summary: An alternate universe story in which Anakin knows Luke is alive and living with Owen and Beru Lars.

( Click here to read the story... )

Sands of Destiny, Chapter 1

I missed it the first time around, which was Monday night, I think. Last night they replayed The Black Donnellys premiere. It was good, confusing but interesting. It was hard to keep everyone straight and who was having who beat up and killed. I don't think any names stuck in my head except for Jimmy's. I didn't recognise any of the actors, I'll have to look them up and see what else they've played on.

Title: Sands of Destiny, Chapter 1
Fandom: Star Wars AU
Author: vaders_ghost
Characters: Anakin Skywalker, Owen Lars, Beru Lars, Luke Skywalker
Time Frame: Begins a few years after the events of Revenge of the Sith.
Rating: Rated G
Word Count: 1700
Warnings: None
Summary: An alternate universe story in which Anakin knows Luke is alive and living with Owen and Beru Lars.


( Click here to read the story... )


Sands of Destiny, Chapter 2