NaNoWriMo 2010: Day 30

Well, it's finally here. Day 30. The end is here.

Wasn't sure I'd make it. I just barely got to being on pace the day before Black Friday, when I worked at 4:30 in the morning with the crazy people. (Yay, retail).

Surprisingly, Black Friday didn't break me. I dragged what remained of my carcass after the shoppers were done with it down to my local Starbucks and cranked out 1700+ words before the urge to collapse beat me into submission.

Black Saturday, however, killed me dead. Or perhaps the urge to push so hard on Black Friday did it and Saturday just nailed the coffin closed. Either way, Saturday was a zero sum day.

Drew it down to the wire, but powered through almost 5K on the 29th day. Was looking good to finish, with only 508 words to go...

Of course, then I had to go back to the retail hell, and I sat at a measly 508 words for almost 24 hours! Talk about feeling ridiculous!

What?

Oh, I've already given away what happened on day 30? My images?

Oh. Cutting to the chase then.

I WON!!!!

Seriously, though, it's been a great month. (Also, those 4K on the first abandoned NaNo project? Didn't count them. Felt like cheating.)

Now I just have to finish. Provide some answers. Resolve the story. ...get to the climax? Right, so... still have a ways to go.

But as of 4:30ish PST, I cleared 50K words (112 pages in all) and won NaNoWriMo. I think I'll take the rest of the day off (Except I'm stuck at Starbucks in WeHo for several more hours, so I won't. Bah.) I'll probably flit around Twitter for a bit and cheerlead for those still making the push. Because good encouragement can be all it takes to gets you through that last push!

NaNoWriMo 2010: Day 22

I spent days 18 and 19 over the moon, excited because I'd caught up to the "recommended" word count, felt like I was back on pace, and two of my characters had sort of opened up and decided on this amazing subplot that altered the ending and made everything lead toward a much more amazing conclusion than previously planned.

So naturally, days 20 and 21 played host to a migraine and it was all I could do to get through working my "real" job. Looking at a computer screen just wasn't on tap.

So now it's back to playing catch up. I think I prefer it, though, because it eliminates any sense of complacency or saying, "Well, I got out 1000 words today, I can hit more tomorrow."

No day but today.

And once more into the breach, dear friends. I have a web lies to untangle and a wedding to break up. And that's just the tip of the ice burg!

NaNoWriMo 2010: Day 16

Okay, so it's technically Day 17 now that we've gotten past midnight, but I don't have anything much to talk about since we're only an hour into the day.

Day 16 was a big work day, push hard to make significant progress in closing the gap between where I should be and where I am. Finished 5040 words today, bumping the total over 25K. Feels pretty good, and most importantly, I find myself arguing things out with characters and occasionally wondering who's in charge, me or them, which in my experience is a good thing. They get to that point and you're going to stick with them for a while, enjoy the ride, cuss the fights but later love them for tearing into you, and hopefully, come up with something on the page that isn't utter rubbish.

Of course, I was making the big push to break 25K total and 5K for the day which had me hyped and had me on a nice roll, good momentum, and after I cleared both those goals, I wanted to keep going. Got myself to mid-sentence and promptly stopped at point, so hopefully I can spin that into some great momentum for tomorrow. The downside is now that I got there and have stopped for till morning, I'm drained! Energy just died once I stopped.

Which I suppose makes it bedtime. Good night, all!

NaNoWriMo 2010: Day 09

An early post today, courtesy of the cracked out work schedule which has me going in at 5 (when everyone else gets off) and closing tonight. Still had to ride in to WeHo with my sister for her regular(ish) work day, so I've had quite a bit of time to work today (which is wicked sweet!)

Got over 3K words written, breaking the 10K barrier about midway through those 3K words. Have tomorrow and Thursday off, so equally hopeful that I can hit this thing hard during my time off, maybe clear 3K on each of those days (I'll settle for making goal of 2K though, speaking practically!!)

Really glad I made the decision to switch stories. As usual, enjoying my villains the most- my out and out villainess who plays so many games she ought to be named Hasboro, started the first of her ploys today, which was a blast to write. I also got to write about Daniel, who is much more coherent while drunk and has the misfortune of currently having been forced into sobriety. I let him go on a little tangent today which actually ended up creating a great comic beat that resolved on a very serious and somewhat sad beat for him. Not bad for a 'eh, how bad can it be if I let the sober drunkard babble a bit' moment. Daniel's a bully and has the loyalty of the lowest snakes, but there's something tragic and likable about him, not to mention the fact that his rambling often proves amusing, so he's another enjoyable character. My main character (antihero) Hunter is interesting, but being an anti-hero, he doesn't get to have quite as much fun. But he is proving delicious to torture, and I have plenty more of that planned!

Next on my to-do list though, is looking into finding a public library or different coffee shop to work in near my workplace. Today at Starbucks has proven to be TEH DRAMA all day long! Not to mention dodgy internet connection! Suggestions welcome!

NaNoWriMo 2010: Day 4

You may notice if you look back at the day 1 post with the counter widget that today my word count hasn't gone up much. That's not really accurate. The counter only reflects what I wrote TODAY.

Early in the October planning process, I was caught between two plots. Definitely something to be grateful for now, because I was struggling ridiculously with the one I chose, and sometimes fighting myself to get to work on it. Worse? It felt boring to me. I picked something outside my usual style, genre, and medium to be a challenge, but maybe going toward all three was a little much. Plus idea #2 has been nibbling away at me for DAYS. Unlike the first NaNo idea, it hasn't petered out this week. Fortunately it was still early, and after reading what I'd written so far, I decided to try switching ideas today.

What a difference that made! I wrote over 4K words today. I wrote more today than I've managed to squeeze out in the previous three days.

I'm going to have to push hard to make up the gap in words that restarting 4 days in has made, but it's definitely worth it. Sometimes taking a step back and looking at the options in front of you is a good idea. And in this case, it definitely is.

I feel rather flaky with this year's NaNo project, which is almost funny, because usually I'm the opposite. I get too attached to an idea or character, and it takes me longer to see it needs to be cut or changed. Hopefully coming from the opposite side in this project will help me find some good balance in future writing projects.

Tonight, NaNoWriMo.org featured the pep talk from Mercedes Lackey which is an amazing read and unlike many published authors, not disparaging of authors who aren't working on original projects. I have to agree with her, because I also feel fanfic makes excellent practice work. And my chosen field leaves very little room to talk, to be frank. TV writing has us break in by writing spec scripts, which when you boil it down, aren't all that much more than fanfic. Okay, granted, it's not the kind of fanfic featuring gratuitous sex and such, but it is formatted, gen, fic in a way.

I also decided to work today at Starbucks, because minimizing distractions is good. There was no, "I could just go clean this" or "Hmm, you know I haven't seen last week's Merlin" (I still haven't by the way, no spoilers!) just a nice green tea, my headphones, and air conditioning. Not usually essential, but it was over 90 degrees in LA today. Frak you, global warming.

Day four... let's just say it kicked my ass hard, so I started kicking ass back. Here's hoping the momentum remains through day five!

NaNoWriMo 2010: Day 3

Not much to report today, except for the reminder that when you schedule every moment of your waking day, your word count suffers. As mine did today...

Thank goodness I've got a day off tomorrow and I can double down to get back on track.

A secret from Ms. Meredith Lindsey, aka Merlin to her friends and fans, to tide you over:

NaNoWriMo 2010: Day 2

First, the quick and dirty: Still ahead of goal, though as you'll notice from the counter (see previous post) not by nearly the margin I held yesterday.

I really loved Lindsey Grant's day 1 pep talk as I read it this morning, especially this line:

"As we write our novels this month, join me in taking complete omnipotent ownership of our novel-worlds, where we, the writers, reign supreme and unopposed."

Yes indeed, I am supreme Goddess, all shall love me and despair!

Except today of course, when I resumed writing and my main character David had himself a little fit and sat int he corner and refused to speak to me till I saw things his way. And sure, maybe his way was right, and I was fighting him and should have known better but still... my universe!

I bet Yahweh never had this sort of problem. Noah wasn't like, "God, I know this is your Bible and all, but two of EVERYTHING?"

Just for that, I'm going to reveal one of the post secrets I created for David:

NaNoWriMo 2010: Day 1

And so it begins...

Got off work and spent my time in a Starbucks, typing away. This will become my natural state of existence for the next 30 days.

Felt like I was behind, because so many did a midnight kickoff, morning sprints, etc. I had to work, so I was asleep well before midnight, at work all day, and didn't start till 5pm today.

But at the end of the day, I still surpassed my goal for today, I'm on track, and I got an early kick in the butt reminder that I'm on my timetable, my goals, and to stop worrying about being behind or not keeping up. I'm here to write... and to do some quality cheerleading for my cohorts, most of whom, it turned out, were feeling just behind and in need of that reminder themselves.

Time to kick butt!

NaNoWriMo 2010: T-Minus 9 Days

As expected, it was an eleventh hour decision on which project I'd move forward with, and I mean that in a very literal sense. At 11pm on Wednesday (which I affectionately referred to as 'that day by which I'll make up my frakkin mind or else the hat comes out') I reversed my decision of six hours earlier... and not by drawing it out of a hat, either. Actually made a decision and have started kicking the whole show into gear.

I've been getting the music stuff in order. If you don't remember from last year, I do two lists- one all instrumental or languages I don't sing in and the other directed at the theme, lyrically and tonally. The instrumental is for writing, the other is for kicking my butt into gear in the in-between times, like driving in the car. Last year's favorite music for writing came from "Friday Night Lights" and the band "Apocolyptica", both of which will still provide a ton of music, but this year's awesome music is the "Inception" soundtrack. Have you listened to it? It's amazing stuff, plus totally hits the right zone in my brain to keep me moving but not hearing the music. Tempo and tone over content is how my sister describes my music when I write, but this is pretty amazing on all counts. On the lyrical playlist side, it's a heavy "What If" mix, lots of songs asking what if, because the project is all about "what if".

The plots are coming together nicely- yeah, plots. It's the story of the types of relationships fracturing out from four alternate choices made by the main characters, but in all four lines, they're connected by a death. Yes, I enjoy making things stupidly complicated. One of my main characters would call it "unnecessarily playing cat's cradle with string theory just to study characters and relationships", but she's got a vicious streak and likes talking back already, so I totally ignore her at times like that. She's going to be more trouble than my other main character, David, who seems pretty content and along for the ride.

Four story lines, so life gets interesting-- four post secrets for each of two characters, for example. Four parts to my music list, which is about to get divided into four lists. And even though it's the same two people, because I'm all about giving them a lot of life's left turns, I'm exploring a lot of range on who they are and what can change them, which means deeper character breakdowns, sometimes labeled with multiple answers by plot line.

Part of me is still wondering if I should have picked the nicer "retelling of Wuthering Heights" idea, but for the most part, decision made. And stuck to. Maybe.

... no idea where I'll be at in nine days. Starting one or the other. And as long as I don't psych myself out, starting a NaNo version of underwater basket weaving. And possibly tempting my sanity. Yay NaNo!

NaNoWriMo 2010: T-Minus 17 Days

I think my "Dear Plot" letter summed it up best earlier today:

Dear Plot #1 and Plot #2,

One knock down drag out fight. Only one may emerge from the octagon. Seriously. One of you needs to kill the other. That way I can focus on just one of you and make it work.

Don't make Mommy choose. Sort this amongst yourselves. And maybe next year, the loser can come play.

Thanks,
Your author

I see myself drawing one of the two titles out of a hat in the near future! And sadly, there is no hope of merging these two bastards into one idea, and neither is falling into the tangle of plot holes or irreconcilable logic failure.

I know, whine more. Because it's actually an awesome problem to have. Suspect I may lean more toward the modern relationship/character study fiction piece, because it is a little more removed from my comfort zone. The fantasy "apocalypse meets Wuthering Heights"? Yeah, that's right up my alley. Both original and novel format, so no rebel writer status for me this year. I'm doing it straight old school! ;)

For now though, I'm continuing with both outlines, both sets of character developments, and plodding through set up work on both pieces. I've given myself till the 20th to make a decision on which project to go through with, so about then, I'll start some of the more fun projects, like covers, post secrets, and sketches. After a name comes out of a hat.

Just because I didn't kill myself doesn't mean I didn't feel like I was dying

In the wake of Tyler Clementi's Suicide, I wanted to share a great article, then take a moment on my soapbox, before giving you a link with a petition- you can, and should, do something.

Just because I didn't kill myself, doesn't mean I didn't feel like I was dying

Something's got to change. I'm no longer even sure of what it is, whose attitude or what laws have to shift, because there's so much hurt and injustice coming from all sides. I've heard a lot of people talking about how these bullies will only be charged with violating privacy and not involuntary manslaughter, and it surprises me to realize that hearing that makes me angry. Bullying someone into taking their life should have consequences.

But a few minutes later, I turn around and see that not only is it apparently an acceptable practice in the state of Michigan, a man with the district attorney's office can cyber bully a college student, calling it free speech. And he's not even going to be fired.

I've known students who didn't kill themselves, but they were dying, bit by bit with every slur, sometimes to the point of cutting and para-suicide actions. It's not uncommon; it's so common it hurts. I've been the teacher who was reprimanded for daring to punish those who used the slurs, for calling it hate speech. The protectors can't protect, the students suffer, and we're all waiting on the world to change.

Something has to change. I believe in free speech, but isn't this level of bullying and harassment akin to yelling fire in a crowded theatre? If you're ready to call this enough, just to start to get to the point that we can say it's too much to be borne, then consider signing the Human Rights Campaign petition to the Secretary of Education, to toughen anti-bullying programs.

Happy Celebrate Bisexuality Day!!

Today I'm taking the opportunity today to share some great articles about bisexuality. Because even in the gay and lesbian community sometimes we're on the outside. And yes, I've had the argument with lesbian women before about bisexuality not existing- hello, here I am!! *waves* Nice to meet you. I exist. I'm not gay, I'm not straight, I'm bisexual.

First up, an article I really enjoyed not just for content, but because it was written by a former student of mine.

Bisexuality: The Punching-Bag Orientation

"Many people, straight or gay, understand gender preference with a Kinsey Scale mentality: a straight man likes women, a gay man likes men, and a bisexual man likes both. But bisexuality isn’t a gender preference for both genders; it’s a lack of gender preference for either. For most bisexuals, the gender of the person they find attractive is substantially less important than who that person is. We’re not in the middle of the Kinsey scale; we’re off the chart altogether."

And another great article I found thanks to GLADD and today's celebration:

Reflections on Bi Visibility and Coming Out

"As we heard from bisexual health expert Amy Andre, bisexual people have higher rates of suicidal ideation than gay or straight people. I have to think that the near constant onslaught of widely affirmed propaganda that we do not exist is a strong contributor to this."

Happy Celebrate Bisexuality Day! I hope it's an amazing day for you all!

With That, I'm Going To Get A Cupcake.

I have a pet peeve. Being sexy, using sex appeal, lipstick, stiletto heels, and slinky dress or whatever you feel sexy in? Not anti-feminist. Hell, I think it's downright feminist to embrace sex appeal. And here's why I'm dragging out my soapbox about it today:

A tweet today from Eureka show runner Amy Berg caught my attention today. She asserted: Looking forward to not watching Nikita. Not interested in entertainment that objectifies women under the guise of empowering them.

Without having seen the new version of Nikita, I was a little surprised. Sure, Nikita is being billed as sexy- no big surprise there, that's who she was in the original movie and the first TV show. But she's also smart, athletic, moral, and got herself out of an organization that controlled her and forced her into something she didn't support. Beyond the observation that she's a sexy woman, I'm not sure what Ms. Berg and a handful of other Syfy writers who have echoed the sentiment objections are. I may be wrong and Nikita will prove to be exploitative and objectionable, but I haven't heard an argument for why it is yet beyond Nikita having sex appeal.

"Eureka"'s brand of feminism suits me fine, but at the same time, I could fuss because it's a show that has never had a woman who wears over a size 6 onscreen. No room to talk about sex appeal with a gun-- season 1, Jo Lupo's garter gun was nothing but sheer sex appeal in the same vein as most spy shows like Nikita. And the Syfy network featured promos for "Caprica" with a nude 16 year old female character. Glass houses, stones, yada.

We're not talking about non-consensual, virtual rape as we saw with "Dollhouse" or even the original "Nikita"'s woman under the thumb of the company. I'll worry about smart capable women who also happen to be sexy and use their sex appeal like a weapon when A.) there aren't bigger battles to fight and B.) I object to it. I just don't. The playing field isn't level so why not use lipstick power, and sometimes, it's a hell of a lot of fun to be sexy. I play well as one of the guys (Hell, half the time, I'm one of the only woman on a crew!), and no, I don't mind if the teasing goes sexual around me. It's part and parcel of who I am.

I've never heard it better than when "The West Wing's" Ainsley Hayes took a swing at it during season 3. You can jump ahead to 3:17 to see just the scene I'm referring to, or watch the whole video to see all the relevant scenes from the episode:



And as the woman said, with that, I'm going to get a cupcake. I'll probably have another while I tune in to watch Nikita tomorrow night and judge the show's feminism or lack thereof for myself.

Prop 8 Overturned!!

From the official legal document on the overturning of Prop 8:

"Proposition 8 fails to advance any rational basis in singling out gay men and lesbians for denial of a marriage license. Indeed, the evidence shows Proposition 8 does nothing more than enshrine in the California Constitution the notion that opposite-sex couples are superior to same-sex couples. Because California has no interest in discriminating against gay men and lesbians, and because Proposition 8 prevents California from fulfilling its constitutional obligation to provide marriages on an equal basis, the court concludes that Proposition 8 is unconstitutional."

Good day for LGBT rights! If you have the opportunity, you should read the full (138) page document from the decision, because Judge Walker prepared an amazing dissection of the facts and lack of merit in arguments against same sex marriage. The pdf can be found here.

Eureka 404 "The Story of O2": Review

The great thing about being behind because you're "cable-free" is that before publishing a review, you get blasted in advance with the critiques from people wanting your opinion (who also often end up emailing or tweeting spoilers at me, so knock it off, jerkfaces!) about what they found awful! This week on tap was the "Allison is so out of character you'll hate it!" complaint.

To which I just have to say, Allison stole GD tech, had Stark rewire it, risked the town, lied to Carter, and did it all for her son. (Noche de Suenos). The ethical lines for Allison have always been fuzzy when it comes to her son, and just a couple of weeks ago she admitted that given access to the equipment, she'd have blown the time portal device sky high. Rigging a rocket to win, which she had no idea would cause the secondary problems it did? Low stuff on the totem pole for Dr. Blake! So I actually enjoyed the Allison plot line!

"Huh, I seem to be conflagrating, weird..." Kavan Smith as the new Deputy Andy was an amusing switchup. I'm a big fan of Smith from both 4400 and Stargate Atlantis, so it was nice to see his take on the role, which actually felt almost a little more mechanical and less "creepy android" and more "lovable Data" model for me. I hope it won't be a regular occurrence that we see a new Andy, but it is a great solution to the loss of actor Ty Olssen. If theories of a romance between the mechanical deputy and the talking house hold out, I foresee an episode involving me, crying from laughter.

The guest star of the week once again proved to be the weakest link, but who didn't see that coming? Even in the quirkiest comedic moments of Eureka, the offbeat and rude comedy of Jamie Kennedy was a bad matchup. His off color comments to a general were downright cringeworthy, making me sigh and hope that the writers or network will raise the bar on its caliber of guest stars or simply abandon the glamor appeal of "ooh, shiny guest star of the week" because it isn't working for Eureka so far!

An excellent directing job as usual from series star Colin Ferguson, who had a great minor plot line with his daughter Zoe, played by actress Jordan Hinson. Was great to see that Zoe hadn't changed much from the time line, but rather as a first semester college student was flexing into the role of an adult for the first time and the tension it generated with her dad, who was looking to see if she was still the same little girl for all the wrong reasons.

Out of the park home run from Erica Cerra and Niall Matter on the slowly evolving Jo and Zane arc, which I'm loving! Would still like to see Jo step up a little more and do a little pursuing, maybe get to be the one to ask him out this go around, and work to rebuild that relationship. Liked her decision to have faith in Zane, and that she was rewarded with the knowledge that it's the circumstance that has changed, not the character.

And finally, James Callis still rocking out the character of Dr. Grant. I liked the touch of him going to Allison first when he became certain that Kevin had cheated, and his admonishment of her when he found out what she had done. There's a dynamic I really appreciated, because sometimes Allison's character does need someone to pull her back a bit. Carter does it when he can, but they just end up angry with each other in past situations. Grant did it with a finesse that had her apologizing and solving the problem without a temper flare, which I thought was a great dynamic to explore.

Overall, another great episode from the Eureka team! Would have been a perfect 5 stars from me, but for the brash and out of place comedy of Jamie Kennedy, knocking it down to a 4 stars-- I'd rewatch, but my finger may slip and fast forward through a few scenes!

The Envelope Please...

I've decided to pull an old project out of the storage file, where it's been dwelling for a little over a year now. I started toying with an idea in a similar vein to it, and that turned into a fusion of picking up the characters and some smidgen of world rules from the first project and fusing them to the second world concept I've been spinning a little. Interestingly, I've decided to pick up those characters in their arc where I saw them ending up at the Season2 or Season 3 mark and beginning from that place.

So to start with, I didn't open the old script drafts. I pulled out the old envelope. When I finish with the "big board" (you may have seen an old incarnation of the big board on this blog, which is really brown package shipping paper and painters' tape that my landlord doesn't object to having adhered to his walls! Cheap, easy way of making a visual space for blocking out an outline, for those who need one!) and all the scenes and beats and character addendums and such, I tuck them all into an envelope, seal it, date it, and tuck it away. I come back to projects often enough that having the old notes doesn't hurt! Sorting through the "Thursday's Child" envelope, I doubt I'll use many of these notes, but it's a good refresher and is helping me make notes of some ideas I want to lose and some I want to keep.

And yes, the original title (currently in the "keep" pile) comes from the Mother Goose:

Monday's child is fair of face,
Tuesday's child is full of grace,
Wednesday's child is full of woe,
Thursday's child has far to go.
Friday's child is loving and giving,
Saturday's child works hard for a living,
But the child born on the Sabbath Day,
Is fair and wise and good and gay.

Today's writing tip is a reiteration of something I pulled from playwright Leslie Sloan Orr. Hang onto the old stuff, even the tiny notes! It may come in handy again! Also? Deconstruction and tearing apart the old stuff is FUN! Pulling it all apart and slicing out slivers of the best of the old world and bringing them to a new world is FUN!

I keep promising to go back to The Devil's Wife and work on a full length screenplay from the short, but I'm still not at that point where I can sit and just watch it without the urge to tear it apart in a non-constructive way. Maybe for my NaNo project this year... =) Meanwhile, I'm re-building character profiles and a new sci-fi genre world for a pilot alongside continued edits for my "Castle" spec and edits on my most recent pilot, "Divine Judgment". In between, I hunt for a real job. Glamorous life of an aspiring TV writer, huh?!

Comic-Con Report: Sunday, July 25

Sunday started early for us. We were in line at 3:30. And still I was probably a dozen or so people back in the line headed into the "Castle" panel first thing Sunday morning, and the rest of the Geek Girl group was further back in their quest for "Smallville" and "Supernatural" panel seats. But it was weirdly fun, being tired, camped out well before dawn, and hitting that magical "close enough to 6am" and making a Starbucks run that woke everyone up! Starbucks was angling for "geeks in good moods" by playing music like the "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" theme and "Pinky and the Brain".

If you don't normally follow this blog, you may not know that I've been working on a "Castle" spec script, so I was uber excited about the "Castle" panel. I actually had a moment when show creator Andrew Marlowe mentioned wanting to do a show that was similar to the spec, and had to check with friends sitting nearby to be sure I heard him correctly! Took a lot of pictures and video, so I'll probably cram them in here like a mad woman! The panel kicked off with a video sparking the Twitter mystery, a game leading into Season 3, which can be found by following WriteRCastle on twitter for clues. Funny video, with a little meta humor with Nathan Fillion as Castle tweeting a pic of the dead body.

The panel was amazingly funny. The moderator gave Nathan Fillion (Castle) and Stana Katic (Det. Beckett) a copy of "Heat Wave" to read from, and antics from consulting cast mates Seamus Dever (Ryan) and Jon Huertas (Esposito) on how to pronounce words to a rogue ice cube getting into the guys' pants while Katic was reading kept the audience in stitches more than the dramatic reading of the infamously steamy page 108 scene in "Heat Wave".

Also on tap was the moderator asking Dever and Huertas about the depth of the relationship between Ryan and Esposito. The moderator even mentioned that there is a growing and popular segment of the fan base who ships the slash pairing, which lead to Huertas trying to answer about the relationship, but Dever just continuing to dig a deeper hole by saying that partners were sometimes as close to a marriage as some cops get. Huertas finally managed to get around to talking about how they were brothers, and Marlowe mentioned that Dever and Huertas have the same banter and chemistry off screen as on, which translates well for the show.

The panel screened a scene from the upcoming Season 3 premiere and it looks like a great kick off for an awesome season! Other big season reveals include Castle's daughter Alexis (played by the adorable Molly Quinn who came to the panel in Trek uniform, making her the coolest one up there in my books!) having a boyfriend and continuing to push the boundaries the way her dad says he wants her to, but giving him a heart attack when she does! They also mentioned a multi-episode arc featuring a serial killer smart enough to be a worthy nemesis for Castle and Beckett. A challenge to Fillion's "Dr. Horrible" castmate Neil Patrick Harris to come on the show was issued, with Fillion asking the fans to tweet the challenge at Harris.

The cast shared some great stories of pranks played on set, including the prank Stana Katic played on Seamus Dever, managing to get the entire cast and crew in on convincing him that the upcoming episode would feature him and a strip tease. This resulted in Andrew Marlowe dodging Dever because he didn't think his acting skills were up to the prank, and Dever being more convinced it was true. Restrictive diets and body makeup were all in the mix before Katic and the cast and crew presented him with a g-string that read "Kiss me, I'm Irish."

Fillion of course tapped into his ability to say "Double Rainbow" and have his twitter fans yell back "Double Rainbow All the Way!" though the level of the response from the audience seemed to surprise the panel. When the lights came up for the Q&A, the audience learned why- the cast and crew thought the room was less than half the size it was, and they didn't know that quite a few people were actually turned away and didn't get in. A pleasant surprise for them!

Following the "Castle" panel, Anthony Head (Uther) and Colin Morgan (Merlin) of the BBC's "Merlin" took the stage to promote the upcoming Season 3, which is currently being filmed. The panel started with a video from series star Bradley James (Arthur) who couldn't make it to the panel. The next video in the set was a blooper reel, which revealed that Head is incapable of keeping a straight face for long, in contrast to the intimidating and fierce character he portrays in the show. The third video was the Season 3 trailer-- looks like Uther will expend every resource possible to bring his ward, Morgana, home again. And when she comes home, she'll be apologetic, but all in a ploy to work her way deep into the court for a mischievous end. The panel implied that there's a good chance Morgana will learn about Merlin's magic this season, and leaned toward ruling out the use of the part of Arthurian legend where Morgana seduces Merlin.

In wrapping up, I do have to say Comic-Con was an amazing and almost unreal ride of simply awesome panels and screenings, with a lot of fun making new friends and bonding with old ones. I'm really hoping to return to Comic-Con next year, with the Geek Girl group, for more fun and crazy antics!

Comic-Con Report: Saturday, July 24

Saturday for the Geek Girl group was "take it easy" day. The only day we weren't in line before 5AM and slept in. First stop of the day for me was the Expo floor, to do some strolling, shopping, costume spotting, and general playing around. Was also trying to hunt down a few people I knew would be there, but with no luck. (Estimates of 100K people attending and I don't bump into the 2 I'm looking for? What are the odds?) But I did get to pick up some comics and such, and made a girl envious of the Global Dynamics Eureka shirt I was wearing. Good way to spend the morning!

Part of the reason Saturday was my kick back day was that there were two panels I was hyped about, and all my focus was on them. The first was a genre TV writing panel, composed of writers I admire (and many I follow on twitter!) including Javier Grillo-Marxuach (Lost, The Middleman), Jesse Alexander (Heroes, Lost, Alias), Jose Molina (Castle, Firefly), Robert Hewitt Wolfe (The Gates, DS9, Dresden Files), Charles Murray (V, Criminal Minds), Sarah Watson (Middleman, Parenthood), Ashley Edward Miller (Fringe, Terminator SCC), Steve Melching (Clone Wars), Steve Kriozere (NCIS, VIP), and Mark Altman (Castle, Elvis VanHelsing). Great group, and as Sarah Watson observed, rather representative of the gender split in most writers' rooms right now. (Which is another reason to adore Eureka even more! Girl power!)

The panel kick started with ideas that never go to air, and a hysterical pitch from Jose Molina about an episode of Firefly that went something like this. Crew takes a job, goes to make the deal, bad guy turns out to be a 9 months pregnant evil lady. They have to shoot her to get away, but Simon being his awesome self saves the baby. Cue a "Three Men and a Baby" Firefly style. They of course get the baby a new home, but turn a profit doing so, also in true Firefly style. (Seriously, Firefly was canceled long before its time!!)

Next they talked the craziest network notes, and I had to write a bunch down, because they were too funny to believe. For example, on an episode featuring an evil twin, a note was sent back reading, "This is great! Who are you thinking is going to play the evil twin?" In another, following the description of a murder where the victim was stabbed with a stiletto, the note read, "Does he have to be killed with a shoe?" When the question turned to the serious end of dealing with the network notes, the panel noted that if there's a note that something isn't working, then it isn't working! Fix it in your own way though, don't treat the suggestion from an exec as the "how to" on editing. They also noted that notes that read "Explain this" or "Clarify" were the polite way of saying "Please dumb this down!"

On the subject of break-in advice for young writers, my favorite by far was this:

Sarah Watson: Be a girl!

Other valuable advice included writing and reading to excess (check), always be working on projects, be it spec, pilot, novel, or essays, be professional, be polite, but be tenacious and confident. Consider getting a Canon 5-d or 7-d and shoot your own project and bring it to the web. If it worked for the House season finale, the little Canon cameras that can are definitely good enough for beginning pilots and webisodes! Crank out material, always focusing on character first before building the world rules, then go back and make sure you color in the lines with those rules without sacrificing the great character stories. Because the best FX are two people having a tense conversation in genre TV. Also, this may stop your budget people from shooting you. Do your homework and know what's out there- vampires are flooding the market, so shy away from the fangs and glitter, girls!

It was a great panel, with some absolutely hysterical advice, and if you're interested in the twitter-sphere, here's the handles for the writers listed above. Javier Grillo-Marxuach (OKBJGM), Jesse Alexander (globalcouch), Jose Molina (JoseMolinaTV), Robert Hewitt Wolfe (writergeekrhw), and Ashley Edward Miller (ashman01).

After the Genre TV panel, I slipped over to the panel before "Eureka" and "Warehouse 13", which was a Cartoon Voices panel. If you have an open slot in your Comic-Con schedule, and this is at that time, run, don't walk to it! A group of some of the best voice actors in cartoons doing a somewhat dirty and hilarious version of Cinderella as a cold reading? Hilarious!

Next came the Warehouse 13 panel, moderated by Eureka's Neil Grayston. Good fun, with Eddie McClintock making his entrance by doing a lap of a section of the audience and high-fiving fans. The panel reassured fans that CCH Pounder is not a scary woman and that she's actually hysterical to work with on set. We'll learn more about her character, Ms. Fredricks, int he upcoming season according to the panel, and there's a little one sided romance in the works for poor Artie. They also talked a little about the artifacts being "science not yet understood" and not supernatural, which is how they see it co-existing in a universe with Eureka, which is a pure science show.

Eureka's panel followed the "Warehouse 13" panel, moderated by the lovely Allison Scagliotti. The panel kicked off with the extended trailer for the new season of "Eureka", and an interesting little new clip that caused the audience to completely freak out. Mid-trailer, a very distinct and familiar voice says, "Hey, Carter. Miss me?" In his usual tailored suit and cocky smirk, was Nathan Stark (played by Ed Quinn), definitely appearing this season in some incarnation or another! The fans were so excited the entire next clip with Neil Grayston and Allison Scagliotti was lost under the cheering, and Jamie Paglia had to repeat it, because it turned out to be a Comic-Con shout out that got lost in the excitement over the return of Nathan Stark.

The panel confirmed that the new rebooted Eureka is here to stay. As Jamie Paglia put it, "The network asked, 'so when is it going back to normal?' An we said, 'Uh, it's not?'" This was met by a lot of enthusiasm as well, which bodes well for the show, given that the idea of rebooting pretty much everything was a pretty big gamble! Paglia also confirmed that both Colin Ferguson, Joe Morton, and Salli Whitfield-Richardson will be directing episodes this season, with Colin Ferguson's episode involving a Eureka rocket trip to the moon! Fargo, we now know, is in charge of GD, and as Grayston laughing observed, has access to every single button now!

James Callis talked a little about joining the cast of "Eureka" and said that he hadn't been looking to stay in sci-fi genre TV, but the opportunity -- time traveler, fish out of water, and the show itself-- were just too amazing to pass up. The major casting announcement for Eureka was that Felicia Day (Dollhouse, The Guild) will be joining the cast for Season 4.5, along with some further episodes for Wil Wheaton.

I chatted with "Eureka" writers Eric Wallace and Ed Fowler after the panel, largely because I wanted to stop and say thanks, because they were both writers who spent time talking to me when I was an intern and hit the strike lines with them back in 2007 and were very encouraging of my efforts. Surprisingly, Eric recognized my name from the blog and even gave me a suggestion of a radical out of the box idea for how to get hired into a room that I plan to try. I mentioned how much I loved the episodes and the reboot, and was told to hang on, because there's even more amazing stuff on the way.

After the panel, we had dinner with friends at the Hilton, and had one last little crazy surprise or two during our time at the Hilton. We saw Chevy Chase, Simon Helberg, several members of the cast of "Community" and "Supernatural"'s Misha Collins while we were there! I was thrilled we saw Collins because I'd committed to the hard choice of "Castle" over "Supernatural". Okay, I kid, it wasn't really a choice for me, but the rest of the geek girls agonized over it and ended up choosing "Supernatural".

Eureka 403: "All the Rage" Review

I had the joy of watching this at Comic-Con with 100's, if not 1000's of other Eureka geeks, which was a truly kick-ass experience. A whole lots of laughing, cheering, and in some of the poignant moments, silence.

The episode style and horror movie homages made me incredibly happy, because they were incredibly well done, and as usual, I take my hat off to the amazing Rick Maguire. I like that Eureka isn't really going to go to the far absurd place of having actual zombies, dead rising, etc., but still could do an amazing tribute to the genre. I was holding out a little hope for a HOTD2 reference, but I think that one is just me!

I love that the writers used the episode to really let Jack and Tess fall apart, and to let Tess really get the realization first, and as she observed, he was too late in preventing her from watching it all unravel, because it very much did unravel for them. It felt very appropriate, especially since it seems from what she said, in this time line, they had been together for a year. Not sure how long it was supposed to be in the other time line, especially since there was a real lack of a sense of time continuity in season 3.5. I was never a fan of the Tess arc, but have to say, the last scene between Tess and Jack was played incredibly well by Jamie Rae Newman and Colin Ferguson. Beautiful scene!

On the flip side, the character of Grace Munroe is amazing! Love that she's playing pranks, love that she wanted to replace Henry's tools so she literally made them fall apart! She's great! And in the conclusion, Grant observing that Henry has a crush on his wife was awesome! I love that while others are deconstructing, you have Henry's plot line as a foil for them, something slowly starting to build in a very positive and fun way!

I hope I'm slowly not in the minority here, but Dr Grant just keeps winning me over more and more! He had some great moments in this episode, with the advice to Jack that got echoed at the end of the episode, which was played beautifully, and his observation that Henry had a crush on his wife was exactly the type of dry wit and humor I love. On the other extreme, the moment with Henry where he lets Henry see a little corner of his loneliness and hating being there was beautifully played. I know Callis is only supposed to be here for the 4.0 half of the season, but I wish they'd change their minds on that! Like Thorne, that's not enough time!!

I probably won't be too popular for saying this, but I'm not sure I get the hype over Wil Wheaton. I get that he's a big geek "in" thing, but I didn't feel he really added much to the episode. He didn't have the same engaged, dynamic, chemistry that I really love the other actors on the show for bringing to their work. He also didn't have a lot to work with, and had it been any other actor, I think Dr. Parrish as a character would have been utterly forgettable and unlikely to be brought back. Then again, from the very subdued reaction at the SDCC panel to announcing that he'd be back for more eps in the back 10, maybe I'm not the only one.

Jo and Zane's arc...wow. Still rooting for it hard, but really want to thwack someone upside the head (mostly Jo) and get her to stop ignoring him, and start trying to change things. Take him up on a bit of the innuendo, surprise him! And then I stop and realize that I used to be holding out hope for Fargo or Taggart to have a chance and am now actively rooting for Zane, so clearly, another aspect of the reboot that's working very well for the show!

Another good episode, though more of a routine episode and a bit overshadowed by the amazing work done of the first two episodes of the season. At SDCC, the writers confirmed that they're not sending us back out to the Eureka we used to know, that the new time line is here to stay, so that makes me incredibly happy. The reboot has really knocked Eureka back into my top show category, and I'm glad to have it back there!

Comic-Con Report: Friday, July 23

Friday began again at the crack of dawn, waiting in a line, but fortunately, the wait to get in to Ballroom 20 wasn't nearly so long, the day kicking off with Syfy's "Stargate: Universe" panel. I've kept up with the series sporadically, as it can vary from amazing, brilliant, and inspiring arcs like Ming-Na's character, Camille Rae, choosing to spend a month in the body of a quadriplegic in order to be with her lover to the absolute moments of not only failing to pay off an episode, but destroying everything it could have been by simply blowing it in the last 5 minutes (Yes, I'm still bitter about "Faith".) So I wanted to hear that we're going to get stronger character arcs, more tension between Earth and Destiny relationships, and stronger relationships on Destiny. Fortunately, that's exactly where the panel went, so I've signed on to give the show a few more episodes. SG-1 it ain't, but then, neither was SGA.

SGU was followed by Caprica. Listening to the two panels so close together has inspired me to look at doing a blog on some of my issues with Caprica and the BSG universe, so you can look forward to that. Ron Moore and David Eick broke out the tequila early in the panel! Also on the panel, and most exciting to the geek girls in our group who don't follow Caprica was James Marsters, of "Buffy" and "Torchwood" fame. Handsome and dashing as always, he talked about basing his character, a religious fanatic and subsequently a terrorist, partially on the Muslim extremists and partially on his father, a Methodist minister. The character had to be coming from a place that, at least in his own mind, was a place of love and religious devotion, Marsters explained.

Next was the Big Bang Theory panel, moderated by Wil Wheaton. My turn to sit back and relax, because I don't follow the show. I did, however, get a huge kick out of the Bare Naked Ladies performing, because I've loved them since I was in high school, and out of Simon Helberg, who I knew as Moist from "Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog."

Following Big Bang Theory, Hart Hanson and David Boreanaz took the stage for the "Bones" panel. They were the only ones scheduled to join the panel, but fresh in from the Maluku Islands (okay, her Bones shoot which had wrapped at 4 that morning) was Bones herself, the lovely Emily Deschanel. Deschanel and Boreanaz bickered quite a lot and teased each other in a very brother/sister sort of way, which was a lot of fun to watch, given their incredible on screen chemistry as romantic interests. Rumors of Booth (Boreanaz) bringing back a potential love interest from Afghanistan were neither confirmed nor denied in a manner that definitely leaned toward a confirmation, while show creator Hanson said that the show would not feature another breakup between characters Angela and Hodgins-- the pair is in it for the long haul now! The panel was joined by novelist Kathy Reichs near the end, who announced release dates on her new novels.

Following "Angel"... I mean, Boreanaz and the "Bones" panel... was master storyteller and man with a pen of gold, Joss Whedon! I'm a huge fan of pretty much everything Joss has done, particularly Firefly and Buffy, and I love his style of storytelling, so I was thrilled to get a chance to hear him talk about writing and directing. I took video of him talking about his writing process, which involves a lot of avoiding of the writing by frequently discovering he's hungry. He took audience questions early, confirming during the questioning that the Firefly comics will soon be telling the complete backstory on the mystery that remains-- Shepard Book. At the end of the panel, he was asked by a rather strange looking gentleman who his favorite actor to work with was. Joss first deadpanned, "It's Nathan Fillion" then added, "No, seriously, it's Nathan Fillion!" pointing at the man, who removed a hat, a pair of sunglasses and a fake mustache disguise.

After the panel with Joss, I wandered a bit before I made my way to the room where Eureka was going to screen that night (I was determined to have good seats!) and also wanted to catch the BBC's "Being Human" panel in the same room. I found the Jim Henson "Fraggle Rock" display while picking up swag from Thursday's panels, and had to get a picture snapped with it. Once an intern at JHC... well, hopefully not always an intern, but I do still geek out like mad over the Jim Henson properties. I was still early, and caught the panel on TNT's "Falling Skies". Underwhelmed, probably going to give the pilot a miss. "Jericho" meets "Independence Day" and my money is falling hard on aliens as the hot new in crowd to replace the (hopefully) waning popularity of the vamps.

Ironically, as I take a shot at the vamps, I now get to talk about a vamp I really like, as the BBC "Being Human" panel followed. I love the BBC show more than any other vampire show out there because it's not a vampire show. It's a character show about three supernaturals trying to be human. That said, I'm not thrilled by the idea of Syfy's American remake of the show. The Brit charm is a big part of what works with the show for me. The cast and crew for BBC's version were quick to tell the audience that no matter what happens with Syfy's version, they won't be affected. The American version's numbers or success or failure won't impact what BBC does with the show, nor will it potentially cause the show to be canceled if the Syfy version fails badly. The only harm would be if next year's panels were at the same time, one actor joked, and that no one showed up to the BBC panel. This was met with quite a bit of booing from the audience, who then cheered when he asked, surprised, "You'd all still show up here?"

Fellow geek-girl Sarah joined me for the "Being Human" panel, and we grabbed some great seats afterward for the "Eureka" screening. Problem being, there was a LARP in the hall first, so we got hit on by Harry Mudd and watched Klingons fight it out first in a very bizarre spoof of Clue.

The Eureka screening was introduced by Jamie Paglia and Bruce Miller, who were joined by Salli Whitfield-Richarson and James Callis. I've been loving the reboot, and episode 403 was no exception. I loved the homage in both style and occasional lines to multiple classic zombie flicks, but still am wanting to kick Jo's butt, tell her to go fight to win Zane back! I wasn't overly impressed by the long anticipated guest appearance of Wil Wheaton, perhaps because there wasn't much of it beyond being the scientist who caused this week's adventure into madness at GD. I did really enjoy Callis (Charles Grant) and Morton (Henry Deacon) and their arc of the episode, especially with the reveal that Henry's new wife has quite the sense of humor. I'll do a more through review on Eureka after I rewatch the episode this week. The plan after the Eureka half of the screening was to quietly slip out after and not stay for "Haven" and neither Sarah or I enjoyed the show. Unfortunately, it seems every other Eureka geek had the same idea, as the room went from packed with people standing in the back to mostly empty seats. I imagine that doesn't bode well for the new show.

Overall, Friday was exhausting, amazing, and overwhelmingly awesome!

Comic-Con Report: Thursday, July 22nd

This was the day that USA Network had made! I was totally psyched (pun intended) for the USA Network lineup of panels. I know some people complained that they aren't strictly "geek" shows, but the fusion comedy-drama shows really do take their fan base from those geeks. A lot of the Eureka fans I know love Psych, White Collar, and Burn Notice too!

The morning began with the "crack of dawn" waiting in line, followed by the wait in the freezing cold air conditioning of the line to Ballroom 20. Totally worth it, as our seats were 2nd row center left, which in layman terms, translates as "abso-frakkin-loutely perfect!!"

The first panel of the day was "Burn Notice." I'm not a fan of the show, though I'd watched some of he episodes, but the panel was absolutely hysterical. Bruce Campbell was hilarious (and handing out money to a woman in the audience who yelled out that she thought he was sexy) and Tim Matheson was intriguing- they talked about what he was like to work with as a director, and once I got past the urge to think of him as "Mr. Vice-President", I was laughing at the idea of him asking, "Can we put a crane on top of a crane for this shot?" Can't decide if he'd be crazy to work for or I'd love every minute of it. Probably the latter.

Next up was "White Collar". True confession time? I have such a fancrush on Marsha Thomason. Strong lesbian woman character who kicks ass and takes names on a show? Hell yes I'm all over that! She told the story behind her tattoo, which turned out was nothing profound, but just a doodle she did that she fell in love with enough to tattoo on her arm. She and Tiffani Thiessen were beautiful and Matt Bomer and Tim DeKay were funny. From the sounds of the panel, the cast has a great time filming. Some time was spent trying to talk DeKay into doing a drag episode (he was convinced no one wanted to see that, but from the cheering, I think he may have been off on that guess...) Show Creator Jeff Eastin talked about the very functional marriage between the characters of Peter and Elizabeth Burke, citing the decision to make it so good as being a break with the tradition of the bad law enforcement relationships currently on televisions. I have to agree with his assessment that it makes the show amazingly appealing as a result; I love Peter and El's relationship. Tim DeKay, who plays the role of Peter, went on to talk about his favorite moments being the ones that simply involve Neal (Bomer), El (Thiessen) and Peter were simply sitting around the dining room table. They also mentioned that Season 1's Satchmo has been replaced by a new, better behaved Satchmo this season, so if you're really that observant, take a look! The attraction to the character of Neal was described by Bomer as being because of the messy side to Neal- the sloppy romantic in him that made the cool con slip up, which was something he found very appealing. The question of Kate truly being dead was asked and a cagey maybe was the best that could be deciphered from Eastin's dodging the answer by having the audience vote on whether or not she should be. Nicely played, Eastin!

White Collar was followed by the hilarious panel from "Psych". Show creator Steve Franks started off by citing the reason the show works so well is because it's one big wish fullfillment venture. Wanna do an episode based on Karate Kid? Bam! Aired last week. No idea too stupid or small or out there for this writers room, he says. They treat each episode as though it should be it's own big summer event. And the guest stars lined up for the weeks to come back that up-- Freddie Prinze Jr., Adam Rodriguez (CSI Miami), and Chi McBride (Pushing Daisies) to name a few. Franks himself took on directing 5 episodes this season, which allowed him to tighten up the episodes and strengthen them, he says, because he understood better how things worked on set and how to manage the exchange between the writers room and the set better, and that sometimes what works on the page really ISN'T going to fly on set! When asked about noticing a new look to the episodes in season 5, a camera change, going from F23 to a Red was talked about, and a similar shift from video to HD occurred between seasons 3 and 4. On the lighter side, Dule Hill (Gus) repeated his tap number from the episode the night before and both he and James Roday open the show by singing with Tears for Fears' Curt Smith.

I stuck around for the start of the Showtime "Anti-Heroes" panel, mostly to see Michael C. Hall and David Duchovny talk about "Dexter" and "Californication". Most of the questions to Hall seemed to focus on how he felt about his character's motives and what he thought about Dexter, which he handled well, without telling people that he thinks vigilantism is cool (cuz it's not...) I also learned for future reference that the acoustics in this Ballroom 20 are pretty good because when a photographer stood up right in front of me and ruined my shot of Hall, I said in what I felt was a soft but biting tone, "Really?" and Michael C. Hall started laughing at it. Oops.

I ducked out early to hit the "Science of Sci-Fi" panel with Eureka creator Jamie Paglia and Eureka science advisor Kevin Grazer. I loved the observation that story telling isn't in any way restricted by being given tighter boundaries and more notes on what real science knows, but can grow and develop much stronger ideas from those restrictions. Leaving the room after the panel ended up with me running into Paglia, so I took the chance to introduce myself and tell him how much I was loving the reboot of the show. He was incredibly nice, asked about what I was enjoying, if I'd been a fan of 3.5 and I had to admit I hadn't enjoyed season 3.5 much. He was actually glad to hear that, because he enjoyed knowing they were winning people over again, and promised even better things to come!

On our way to dinner reservations after the first day, I did manage to snag this image, though I avoided all contact with any of the Westboro nutjobs while at Comic-Con! You can read all about it though, on Comics Alliance. What do we want? GAY SEX! When do we want it? NOW!

Friday, Saturday and Sunday reports still to come!

Comic-Con Report: Wednesday, July 21

Didn't expect a huge amount to report, as the group I lovingly refer to as "The Geek Girls" aka Sarah, Kerry, Tiki and I, were just doing badge pickup and getting the lay of the land, but we had a great night on Wednesday. Being ahead of the crowds, we decided to grab dinner at the converted Hard Rock Cafe, now the infinitely more thrilling "Cafe Diem" from one of my favorite TV shows, Eureka!

Dinner was a great idea, giving the four of us, who only sort of knew each other, a chance to bond, geek out, and generally have a good time. Sarah, being an equally big fan of Eureka, suggested we take our pictures with the posters of Sheriff Jack Carter and Allison Blake, so of course, I was game!

Wandered over to the Hard Rock gift shop afterwards and picked up a new Eureka T (which you'll spot in Friday's post when it goes live!) and then headed back out into the lobby, where we ran into David Hasselhoff! Amusing, amazing, and a great first celeb spotting, which we enjoyed thoroughly!

We were sad when we got back to the hotel to note that we'd missed some of the Eureka writers at Cafe Diem by less than an hour, and that they'd sent a tweet my way saying they were there after we were already long gone. =( But there was much more Eureka fun in store for Comic-Con, so the disappointment didn't last long!

More to come as I catch up over the next few days and finish sorting all the photos and videos I took! I promise, a blog report for all the days, coming soon!

Mary & Martha & Comic-Con

This past weekend's sermon on Mary and Martha has stuck with me in some really neat ways. If you're interested in the sermon, my church, MCCLA, does live streaming, so the whole thing can be viewed here. The basics of the story are pretty simple- when Jesus comes to visit the sisters Mary and Martha, Martha is busy with the preparations for Jesus's visit, and stays busy even after he arrives. Mary, however, sits at Jesus's feet to listen. When Martha asks Jesus to make Mary help, he chides her saying that Mary has made a wise choice.

The sermon was on knowing when to reign in our Mary moments and our Martha moments. We all have those Martha type A, organizing, planning, fixing etc., moments, and we have those relaxing, reflecting, and spiritual Mary moments. They key isn't in saying one is better than the other or choosing one way to live- it's finding balance. Good stuff, because I've been thinking about it non-stop!

So I found myself today saying, "Okay, today you can be all Martha, get everything packed, organized, scratch off your to do lists, and play with all the bits and pieces. Tomorrow you can be a little Martha, just a little. But come Thursday, once you're at Comic-Con, it's time to take a break, girl! Enjoy yourself! Have some Mary moments, take the time for the silly and the geeky, and have a blast!"

Of course, afterwards, Martha will be kicking back in, and you can watch this space for Comic-Con blogs, reports on panels from Eureka to Castle to Psych to White Collar. And pictures! And generally girl geek squeeing, naturally! Martha's also going to kick my butt into keeping a more regular blog, while hopefully Mary will direct me to plenty to talk about!

Eureka 402 "A New World" Review

In what show creator Jamie Paglia and show runner Amy Berg are calling the second half of the season opener, the amazing reboot of the Eureka universe continues, this side dealing with the cold reality of how things are. Henry finds himself married to a woman who's name he couldn't remember just hours before. Tess is back in Jack's life. Allison's son Kevin is no longer autistic. And Fargo's in charge. Yeah, I'm stuck on that last one too!

There were some excellent comedic moments in this episode, from Grant somewhat creepily hitting on the robot Deputy Andy (played by Ty Olssen) to Fargo making Larry (Chris Jacot) stand on one leg, that brought back a lot of the fun humor that I loved from earlier seasons, mixed with the very real drama of Allison telling Carter that had she been able to, she would have destroyed the device that changed the time line and could convert it back, for the sake of her son. That fusion is one of the things I love most about Eureka, and I really loved seeing this episode hit it just right!

Jo Lupo (played by Erica Cerra) was an absolute home run performance for me. Her moment with Carter talking about her regret for freezing when Zane asked her to marry him, that somewhere out there in the universe is the fact that she never said yes, was absolutely brilliantly done. It made my heart break for her, then made my resolve for her to get her act together and win this Zane over even stronger.

Niggling the back of my mind and bothering me still is that no one has asked about Stark- is he still dead? When? Where? etc? I would think it would be a natural question that Allison would have dealt with pretty quickly. Which brings me to the next point, they need information! Time for the six to hit the books, do some research, figure out the holes in world history as well as personal history that need to be dealt with. Just a quick scene, Jack doing research on SARAH and baffling her would be enough, but it still needs to happen!

I really love the reboot, love that in spite of the idea of a reboot, we're back to the original feel and tone of the show--the chemistry and dynamics of the characters feel 100x more solid then where they were during season 3.5, and I'm laughing out loud at more than just Fargo again! I think last week's episode was the stronger of the two "beginning" season 4.0 parts, but that doesn't surprise me. Deconstructing and tearing apart the status quo is always more fun that the reality of having to deal with all the hurt feelings that chaos caused! But stronger than any season 3.5 episode, and stronger than the back half of season 3.0, which puts me firmly in the camp of "OMG, can't wait for next week!" which I will be enjoying from Comic-Con, so probably no review next week, or will do one with a rewatch early in the week (Mon or Tues) and a late review mid-week.