At one time, my lifelong goal was to write screenplays for Hollywood. Maybe that was just an excuse to watch so many movies and television shows, but I applied myself with the diligence and fervor of the newly-converted. I tracked down Campbell's "Faces of the Hero", a writer's guide to archetypes in storytelling. I read a library full of fiction, and some non-fiction. I've watched many hours of television, both live and on DVD. I've revisited classics like "Kung Fu" and struggled with the over-acting in "Renegade".

As I was watching "Threshold" the other night, I noticed they were introducing a minor mystery about one of the secondary characters... not a big mystery, but enough for me to take note of it. It got me thinking about "Lost" and how the main attraction of that show was the mysteries... what their character's backgrounds were, what the deal was on the island, was it natural or supernatural? And I realized how difficult it is to walk that fine line...

Tell the audience too little about a character, to try and foster a great deal of mystery, and they become uninteresting and unsympathetic. The marine on "Threshold" missed running to someone's deathbed because he was on a mission. I realized I didn't really care, because I didn't know who it was, couldn't sympathize with him, because the only thing I knew about him was his ability to bark orders and shoot a gun.

But the sword has a second edge... tell the audience too much about a character, and the questions are gone. They have no reason to tune in/read further because their questions have been answered. How interesting will "Reunion" be once we know who of the six friends was murdered? How easy will it be to deduce who killed them with the limited number of motives available to incite their death?

It's a fine line, and the good writers must walk it like a tightrope balanced between a swamp full of crocodiles and a pool of sharks. It makes me question my own equilibrium as a writer, because I've seen and felt audience reaction when it's all gone wrong. I may not ever write a blockbuster movie, or the great American novel, but I'm still fascinated by their intricacies.

To that end, I'd like to ask you all... What mysteries intrigued you about a show? What answered questions made you stop watching?

We're still hanging out here, waiting. Hubby may have also picked up an actual JOB instead of going with the self-employed thing. His former business partner was taken in by their former employer's Houston office, and hubby may be going along with that plan. Really, if I could name names without invading anyone's privacy, that last sentence would make sense.

Anyway, our only worry is daughter's schooling. I've been holding out for so long, which is odd because I *hated* her former school's mismanagement of funding, but this school would ABSOLUTELY require putting her on a bus, which she's never done, and I'm not confident she can handle. She's a very tiny thing, and that's not just mom-fear talking. The kids in her class last year used to try and carry her around like a doll. Sigh.

Anyway, I wanted to give out a semi-public THANK YOU to my friends here who sent me goodies to help me get through this stressful post-Katrina time. You know who ya are.

The day has arrived. Joss Whedon's film that thousands of us rabid "Firefly" fans have been dying to see opened today. Due to some budgetary constraints, I will not get to see every single showing of it today, but I AM going to a 7:30 showing. Hopefully. A part of me is wishing I show up and the show is sold out IF my printer had made it in our transition after the hurricane, I would have bought the tickets yesterday on FANDANGO and been done with it. Ah well.

Anyhoo, I implore anyone with enough cash to scrape together to run down and buy a ticket now. You don't even have to watch it if you don't want to (BUT WHY would you NOT???)

And may the reavers never visit you while you're sleeping

Okay, this is getting ridiculous. Am I going to end up a refugee from my refuge?

We're loading up on water and canned food to ride out Rita, but we're watching the map and thinking it might be a good time to fly up to MN for the weekend.

Or maybe it'll still hook north and blow over our god-awful carport

Let me add a little preface here about this blog; while this is not about "Lost" the show, there will probably be several references to it which may confuse anyone who has not watched the show and/or posted to the message board about it here.

A lot has happened over the last few weeks that has brought the division between faith and science into sharp focus for me. I don't have any faith anymore, and probably haven't for a very long time. I'd say when I managed a home-electronics store in Chicago in the early '90s is probably when it happened. I had so many people ripping me off, it wasn't even funny.

My lack of faith... in people, gods, the great force of the universe, what have you... is probably why I identify with the character of Jack much more readily than Locke (both from LOST for the uninitiated). While both men seem a bit imbalanced in their approaches, I can usually see where Jack is coming from, while Locke remains a mystery, or worse, appears to have gone looney-tunes.

Even now, post-Katrina, where most everyone has been very kind and helpful, it has not restored my faith. I see huge fundraisers and telethons going on, supposedly for my benefit. I smirk and wonder how much of it would actually make its way to me if we were actually seeking help (hubby is stubbornly proud) and how much of that money is actually going to benefit opportunistic businesses and the managers of these events. One Wal-Mart employee told me that they're not offering discounts at their store (this was one with a grocery in it that's very close to our new apartment) because the Corporate office has already donated a million dollars. Okay, I can accept that... I guess. Donated to whom? For what purpose? I can tell you, I need groceries *today*. I'm not going to need money to rebuild until tomorrow, if then. That's the "science" part of my nature... the pragmatist.

It's great that people are giving, and giving generously... but when will we get what they gave? Six months from now when the bureaucracy has finally finished with it? I probably won't need it then. Give us tax breaks, price breaks, whatever, but not promises. Because if the Red Cross is anything like the Army, they're spending most of that money on moving people around, and wasting half of it on food people don't eat. I'd like to see the garbage the shelters are producing, just to see how much waste is taking place. And if donations are going to help "rebuild" New Orleans, good luck... because I swear if I see one single repair to a government building before housing is rebuilt, I will go ballistic.

We're settled, and today we have internet... woo hoo! I'm starting to feel a bit like I'm borg... I just didn't feel right while I was disconnected from my "collective".

Hubby made the trip back to the house okay, and it even appears as though we didn't have any flooding. However, since our roof needed repair even before the hurricane, we don't know what condition the roof is in. I certainly didn't encourage him to climb onto the roof, and he didn't have that as a priority on the list. We rescued our computers, one Xbox, and clothes and important paperwork. Also, my CAMERA DRIVER DISC which caused me such a snit last week, lol.

The insurance guy contacted us yesterday, wanting to line up a time where they could meet us at the house to assess our damage. We only got cable TV today, so we're behind on the news and I have no idea if we will be allowed to go in.

The insurance company is giving us TLE money, as per our contract, so we're doing okay. We rented some furniture for the new place, and bought a few things to get us by. The sofa is a sleeper, and Little Bit thinks a sleeping bag is a great adventure, though we're thinking of getting her a futon day-bed.

Other than that, we're hanging in there. I missed the premieres of "Bones" and "Supernatural" but now I can reconnect my ReplayTV and have a friend send them.

... spoiled, spend-happy, whatever. While we were in BestBuy getting hubby a pre-paid cell phone to take on his trip back into New Orleans (my insistance... I keep picturing him trapped under rubble with no one within earshot) I noticed that not only did they have the LOST season 1 dvds, but that they had an extra special bonus disc just for buying it at BB. So I bought them (and I got 5$ off for using my BB Rewards card).

Okay, I may have other needs right now but I simply can't watch the news for one more minute. Plus, my Brother in Law doesn't "get" the show. He will learn to love it, by golly! He got me to sit through the three-hour long "Dogville" with Nicole Kidman, so this is payback.

And that's all I have for now. I'll keep you updated as to hubby's state.

You know, I'm watching the news last week and seeing the reports of fires breaking out, and how they have no water pressure to put them out and I'm thinking "Why don't they find one of those forest fire-fighting planes that scoop up water from lakes and dump the flood waters on the fire?" I see now they're doing that, with some helicopter and a "bucket" on a string.

I think they need me in Washington.

Meanwhile, I'm still wondering why they didn't mobilize a CASH unit from 4th ID (a CASH is a Combat Army Surgical Hospital, a more up-to-date MASH unit) to take care of the sick and wounded. You want to bet there will be one in there to take care of the troops though?

Hubby is planning a trip tonight at midnight to get some of our stuff. I'm thinking the clothes are history, but some of the electronics and my software might still be okay. It's a four hour drive on a clear road, so we're thinking anywhere from six hours up to thirteen like it took us to get here. I'm going to load him up with water, food, and get one of those pre-paid cell phones. Thank goodness for his retirement check and temporary living expenses from the home insurance company.

I don't want him to go alone. He has some kind of eye infection going on, and I'm worried he'll get into the house and the carport will finally give in and collapse, or there's damage on the back side of the house that our friend who drove past wasn't able to see from the street. Our rear neighbor does have a humongous tree.

And while it pains me to be petty at a time like this, the rich neighbor on our right, whose trees were doing significant damage to our house and our shed, who then tried to tattle on us to the city to force us to get the damage fixed before we could sue him to pay for the repairs, has now had one of his trees fall on his house. Since I think he's a lawyer, I may be excused for one small bit of petty behavior. Possibly. Meanwhile I say "Ha! It's justice!" That's karma for you... right back around in your face. Even if said neighbor didn't get to save his stately beige sedan, at least he saved his bright yellow pe... um, Corvette.

Anyway, we've found a good deal on an apartment around the corner from my BIL's. This may mean I will be without internet service when we move in, we'll have to see. I'm pretty sure I'm going to be here for at least a week more. Then either moving time, or we're taking a week to go up to my grandmother's in Minnesota, or both. It's not like we have a lot of stuff to move, lol.

I want to preface this blog by saying that I'm not trying to garner sympathy by blogging about the effect Katrina has had on our lives. Honestly, with our living-from-a-suitcase existance right now, it's the most "secure" place to gather my thoughts and keep a record of this time. As I've found recently, paper is very fragile. Also, I consolidated all my blogs so that I'm only doing this one here, and I do have family that read this upon occasion. Back to our regularly scheduled blog...

We are very thankful. I'm thankful we listened to my grandmother, and my scared daughter, and left New Orleans. I'm thankful that even though our house is most likely a total loss, I managed to save my marriage certificate and daughter's school Santa pictures from last year. I'm thankful the house insurance is paid from the house equity at the beginning of the year, and we are fully covered. I'm thankful that I know where all my loved ones are right now. I'm thankful we have relatives who can house and feed us. I'm very thankful that the people of Houston have opened their homes and businesses to us and made us feel very welcome.

We are much better off than many, many people, some of whom still have not heard from loved ones or even found clean water to drink. Thousands of my neighbors are sleeping on cots right now, with absolutely no privacy and no emotional support. Mothers whose babies were in hospitals before Katrina were told to leave them behind, that they would be cared for in their absence by hospital staff are now frantic with worry, wondering where their child was evacuated to, IF their child was evacuated.

I hug my "baby" several times a day now and hope that somewhere another mom will know that comfort very soon.

... is paved with famous names. Or familiar ones. Evangeline. Toomey. Cobb. It's amazing what amuses one when you're crawling along the interstate at 20mph.

We've arrived in Texas safe and sound. I still need to put some thoughts together, because right now the experience is a bit overwhelming.

Every single convenience stop, gas station, or scenic outlook along the way looked like a tailgate party gone insane. Every mile or two, you'd see a string of four or more cars pulled over to the side with their hazard lights on, swapping bags from the trunks, moving people from one vehicle to another.

I'm afraid of what I'll find when I go home. I'm worried we'll lose all of our groceries for the third time in as many months. I'm worried the roof will be gone. I'm worried that because the house payment is a bit behind we're going to not be covered by insurance.

At least my daughter managed to save all of her plushies in the suitcase before we left, because I'm worried how she'll react if we come home to devastation. At least she'll have some familiar things to play with.

We've decided to hit the road because of Hurricane Katrina. I may not be around for a few days, or I may be on the LOST board incessantly, since I'm taking my laptop along. We're heading for Texas, so I'll talk to you later.

My daughter started school again today, and it kind of took us by surprise. I'm betting when my daughter's children go to school, they will have done away with summer vacation altogether... or moved it to the holiday season.

Anyway, I'm so angry... again... at the list of supplies our *public* school has asked us to provide. I don't mind pencils, binders, glue or crayons, but paper towels? Kleenex? Baby wipes? Do I not pay taxes every year for their purchase of cleaning supplies? Especially when you consider that my daughter has to wear a *sweatshirt* in class because they run the AIR CONDITIONING at such temperatures as to turn her hands to ice. Hmmm... let me think whether we could cut THAT budgetary corner?

The meals provided are also extremely insufficient... poor nutritionally, poorly planned. Bearclaws for breakfast? Half a slice of bread with a tablespoon of government surplus cheese melted on it? Who the hell is running the budget?

American culture is being influenced by the most unstable element in our country... teenage male hormones. A pair of testicles is driving our cultural development, and no one seems to be outraged by it except me. Don't believe me? Ask a Network executive what demographic they're trying to score high in the Neilsen ratings and they'll tell you it's the male 21-49 demographic. Why? Because they're spending a lot more "discretionary" income. Well excuse me, but since when should our cultural growth be influenced by people with crappy spending habits?

One could argue that television isn't our only source of culture in the US, but sadly other venues aren't quite as popular these days. Except the video game market, and guess whose opinion matters over there? You guessed it... same demographic. Hence every other video game features women (preferrably lesbian) with huge mammaries covered in latex dental floss.

Think about it... when was the last time you heard someone quote a book or broadway play in relevant context in a conversation? Now when was the last time you heard someone say "Doh!" or "Whassup?" or "All your base are belong to us!"?

And as a result of 30 some odd years pandering to poor spenders, credit card debt has become an escalating problem in the US. Why else would there be ads for companies that will help you resolve your debt without bankruptcy every fifteen minutes... on the DISNEY channel.

Advertisers push us to spend, and spend, and spend, then advertise to help us get out of the hole they put us in. We're forced to watch crap like "The Simple Life" and "Fear Factor" when quality television is discarded like garbage.

The only solutions I see are total government subsidy of television, aided by public donation (which will never happen) or we somehow teach our children that there is more to entertainment than big boobs, eating disgusting animal parts, and fart jokes.

Oddly enough, my blog has been quiet for a few days. Either I've been playing too much Xbox lately to have something to say, or I'm running out of ideas this late in summer-rerun season.

There are, however, many shows that are NOT in reruns right now... Battlestar Galactica, Stargate Atlantis, Monk... all shows worthy of a look during the summer dry season.

I am working up something involving cars, music, and... ahem... love though, so I'll have it up when my thoughts have congealed.

My husband and I have our little annoyances we love to pull on each other. My husband gleefully chats with his tarts on internet chat rooms. Since this is how he met me, I remind him that chatting on the internet is comparable to him trolling the single's bars. He reminds me that the odds of him finding a woman foolish enough to meet him in person a second time (and getting away with it with me around) are slim to none. I have to agree, as if there's one thing my husband is NOT, it's being a good fibber.

The annoyance I like to pull on him is the "place that face" game. He knows when it's coming, too. We'll be watching a TV show, and I'll say "Hey that's..." and pause while I point at the screen as I try to come up with an actor's name or previous character. Oh boy, does he hate that. We recently had the pleasure of watching old resurrected "Good vs. Evil" episodes, and I was set for weeks! Not only was Richard Brooks (Law and Order's "Robinette" or Firefly's "Jubal Early") the main character's *partner*, but the pilot had Lt. Reed from Enterprise as a Russian immigrant. Priceless!

Try it on your partner the next time you watch TV. If they have as much fun as you do, then it leads to all sorts of fun memories. If it annoys them, it may be fun anyway.

I am a skeptic. Even things I believe in, I'm still asking questions about. I'm also a bit of a smartass. So it should come as no surprise that I love Penn and Teller's show for cable, titled Bulls***! (and how ironic is it that I can do a search for Bulls*** on this site, and find the title spelled out for the world to see, but it gets censored out of a blog entry? P&T'd razz the hell out of them for that.)

Their latest season, which just ended, seemed particularily relevant to me... hair care product episode not withstanding. Religious icons in grilled cheese. Conspiracy theorists and 9/11. The mishandling of the endangered species act. Family values.

I have to give the former magicians credit, they're funny, and surprisingly their ideology is similar to mine, despite their crude delivery. Watch the show about Colleges and political correctness and see if it doesn't make you hopping mad. Or about recycling, where the only item that's cost-effective to really recycle is aluminum cans. Or the endangered species episode, where an animal that is actually common in other parts of the US is keeping a disabled person from building a suitable home on her own land.

I love my country, and I fought for it and its freedoms, but sometimes I wonder if it hasn't grown so large that politicians only see the "big picture" and are ignoring individual's needs. We need people like P&T who, while extreme, speak out about things and get you at least thinking for yourself, if not agreeing with them.

...our location/city has been taken out of the personal profile box to the right? -------->

Not that I mind, I didn't feel like advertising it anyway, just noticed and thought it was odd.

I've been getting frustrated lately with my Xbox... I keep coming up with disc read errors, even though they have a pristine finish, and no smudgy fingerprints. Since it's nearly two years old and the DVD drives in the early models were crap, I decided to take advantage of the extended warranty I purchased and trade that puppy in.

What a difference.

My NCAA Football 2005 disc, which was the worst of the lot, played without a hitch... for several games. Previously I could barely get through a quarter without the screen turning black with the BSOD. I even whupped hubby's tail on a game, 30-something to 17. Could be because he was playing Navy and I had the Golden Gophers. Can't be me because I can't think fast enough to pass to the right guys.

While I normally don't recommend extended warranties, and I bought this with my young daughter doing damage in mind rather than mechanical defects, this was definitely a score! (and with only two months left on the warranty clock)

OUR FAMILY 7, MICROSOFT 0

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So my family and I are watching the "Buffy" episode "Once More with Feeling" for the millionth time. My husband is laughing at my 7 year old daughter, who is walking around repeating Xander's line "Respect the cruller... and TAME the doughnut!" over and over, and I'm laughing at *him* even while thinking how grossly innappropriate it is and it hits me. Family togetherness has finally been repaired.

I almost feel sad that we'll never see another episode like it. LOST would never be able to pull it off, though it would be fun to see if Sawyer could sing. Likewise with the "4400" or "The Dead Zone". And gods forbid Captain Adama of the new "Battlestar Galactica" bursts into song, with all due respect to Edward James Olmos.

A thoroughly original episode, never to be repeated. The goosebumps when the firetrucks pass during "Walk through the fire" or Spike's naked hunger for Buffy during "Rest in Peace" or the truly brilliant counterpoint in the reprise of "Under Your Spell/Standing"... And they're not all professional musicians. What was its magic?

Anya was right; I think it was the bunnies...

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