Inverted Crescent

One Woman's Journey Over the Moon and Beyond

Thursday, May 10, 2007

LOST

Ever been in a relationship where everything was just roses and daydreams in the beginning? Where you were in love and all was right in the world, even when you’re beloved “accidentally” left his socks lying around your bedroom? Remember that? Remember telling yourself that was cute? Then, remember after dating for about a year or so, you discover that his sweaty sweat socks don’t smell like roses after all, but are just----sweaty sweat socks, and the “cute”? Yea. Long gone.

Well, that’s where I’ve been with LOST, ABC’s show about Oceanic Flight 815’s dramatic crash and subsequent survivors’ hijincks on a remote island.
At first, it was the best thing going on t.v. It had it all.
Dramatic opening? Check.
Intriguing characters with convoluted backstories? Check.
Mystery? Inuendo? Gorgeous Scenery? Check. Check. Check.
I was in serious t.v. show crush.

I loved it. I looked forward to it. I couldn’t wait to find out how things were going to resolve themselves. I was deeply intrigued about the polar bears…and the scary black seemingly sentient fog. WOO!, So scary! So mysterious! I was in love----not for the first time ( Quantum Leap fills that place pretty solidly)…but in t.v. love, nevertheless.

After a bit, waiting for a semblance of plot advancement seemed fruitless.

LOST got lost in the department of backstory. Every week we got more and more backstory on various characters----and though that was interesting—it didn’t progress the story of our hapless strandees. Would they get off the island? Find out what the Dharma Initiative was? Find out what the hell was up with the scary, black sentient fog? Identify the source of the women’s unsuccessful pregnancies? So much left to answer. AND NOTHING FORTHCOMING.

So, I fell out of love with LOST. And, like many people evaluating where the relationship is going, . I stayed in it. Just not as enthusiastically as before. Maybe the relationship was worth saving? If only LOST would give me a sign that it really cared. As it was, eyeballing Jack and Sayid was nice, but it was far from enough to make me commit.

Truth be told, I stopped watching LOST for a while. Or I’d just watch it occasionally. I needed “space”, you know? I’d read, walk the dog, and watch a movie, anything. Eventually, my boyfriend talked me into watching the show again---, saying each time “This is the last time I’ll watch LOST”. (I even think he meant it. A little. Though he was as frustrated as I was, he just couldn’t stop watching. “Hopeful” is the word.)

FINALLY our patience paid off, and the last half of this season has been really interesting. Interesting and informative. Do we know who the Dharma Initiative was? Yep. Did someone finally get so tired of the anxiousness, that they just punched the hell outta an “other”? Yes. THANK YOU. Did Henry Gale/Ben/(---ah, hell, let’s call him BENRY)really kill all those people? Maybe. Do the women of the island really die when they get pregnant there? Yes. All good things to know.
But now there are lots of new questions…Will Locke die, or the island heal him? Is the Island a type of sentient Gaia, expressing itself through Benry? Are the island’s inhabitants really in the original garden of Eden? Is this all Benry’s imagination? Did everyone on Oceanic Flight 815 really die? What are the hostiles really up to? Now that the woman from the rescue mission is there, will crewmates from her ship come looking for her? So, good questions all, and all worth answering.

-(Nicely, the show’s script writers have promised us a resolution in three seasons, 16 episodes each, as well---so it promises to be more concise, and to have a defined ending. And forgive me, but I am just that easy. That comforts me. They also promise that the inhabitants are not in purgatory, FYI).

Another thing that has happened with continued watching of the show is that I have changed my expectations a bit. I’m a little happier just to get a good weekly story, instead of the much desired culmination of Hot. Plot. Action. ( Ahem. ) Do I want to live in the department of Backstory.? No. Still want the action? OF COURSE. But I’ll accept snugglebunnies for now.(i.e. I”ll tolerate the backstory of the hostiles, and of Jakob.)
My expectations are little less on the in love side, and a little more on the loving side. Sweaty Socks? Okay. Just put them in the laundry hamper. Let’s lay down a few ground rules, and all will be well.

With three episodes remaining in the season---I’m expecting love to come again.

Inspired by Julia

100 things about me

1. I’m a planner.
2. I’m obsessed with Sci-fi
3. Joseph Cornell is my personal hero.
4. I dumpster dive for home decor
5. I am a cat person.
6. Once upon a time, I was a ballroom dancer.
7. I love to paint houses.
8. Without fail, it will take me 30 minutes longer than the average person to get from point A to point B.
9. This has everything to do with a learning disorder in spatial relationships.
10. Even though it takes me 30 minutes longer to get places, I always take off 30 minutes early----so I’m “on time”.
11..I’ve done some pretty embarrassing things.
12 No, I won’t tell you about them.
13. I have had a successful professional career.
14..Yea, I can juggle: Luna Stix and Diabolo.
15. I make the best hot chocolate that I have ever had.
16. Look up Celtic Lunar Zodiac---Hazelnut. Yep. That’s me.
17. Every summer I go on a quest for a yellow-meat water melon..
18. I’m trying to eat locally.
19. Little girls ALWAYS play with my hair.
20. If I was allowed to have only one part of my body massaged for the reset of my life---I’d pick my feet.
21. Give Birth or Adopt? Adopt. No question.
22. Lately, I’ve really been digging Bluegrass
23. If I could, I would take three months off and just travel.
24. I grow my own herbs.
25. I have worms for pets (Vermicomposting)
26. I never liked Seinfeld.
27. I am Tan’s complete opposite: Fish-Belly White.
28. I can recite, by memory, the entire poem “The Owl and the Pussycat”
29. I look exactly like my grandmother.
30. I would rather be beaten with a stick than watch sports.
31. I have a great, if odd, little family.
32 Even though I am a good budgeter, I am always worried about money. ( I know this is stupid.)
33. I once won a rib-eating contest.
34. I love self-help books.
35. If I had a superpower, it would be to go into anyone’s pantry, take the ingredients, and make a fabulous meal without going to the supermarket.
36. I’m seriously thinking of giving up my car, and living a bicyclists’ life.
37. I am constantly surprised at how people profess to love the environment, and yet never go outside.
38. I’m allergic to avocados.
39. And Bee Stings.
40. I occasionally have the urge to shoot birds at people who simply annoy me.
41. Realizing that it isn’t “nice” to do this, I disappear into the nearest bathroom and shoot away to my heart’s venom filled content. (This always makes me feel better.)
42. i can usually predict the end of movie.
43. I’ve always wanted to have an outdoor wedding.
44. I am Red Cross certified in first aid and cpr.
45. I would like to work in a plant nursery someday.
46. I hate it when people try to control me.
47. Daniel Craig or Sean Connery? Daniel Craig.(HAWT!)
48. Somehow, I turned into my mother. Just more “outdoorsy” and less techno-phobic.
49. I want to be adored by my workplace.
50. Did someway say sushi? Yes, please!
51. I am a fan of the well-timed hug.
52. I sneeze. Fiercely.
53. I am master of “the Mommy Look”. I can stop a misbehaving child’s actions with one raised eyebrow.
54. I wish Oprah would go to all the places I’ve worked before, and magic them bunches of money, so they can continue their good work.
55. I’d like Clinton and Stacy to make my wardrobe fabulous, and the folks from Designing Cents to fix my study AND my bedroom.
56. Quantum Leap is my favorite show in the history of EVER.
57. I cried when Dr. Beckett “never came home”.
58. I’m the good child.
59. I can be such an ass.
60. I have an irrational fear of driving off a bridge, the locks freeze on me, and I drown in my car.
61. I really, really, love the Harry Potter –verse.
62. Trees are my friends.
63. My biological clock never was wound.
64. I wish that were true for most people. (Just the irresponsible ones.)
65. I am a peacemaker.
66. Humanity frustrates and inspires me.
67. I have, on several occasions, been mistaken for a vegetarian and a ballerina, (and yet I am such a klutzy carnivore.)
68. Volleyball? I’m your bump, set girl.
69. I’m not afraid of the good fight.
70. I’m pretty useful in a trivia game.
71. i am fascinated by sideshows.
72. I love my boyfriend like crazy.
73. i may not know how to fix my car, but I certainly know how to use power tools.
74. I want to be forgiven of perceived mistakes, as much as of actual ones.
75. I play several instruments----badly.
76. i love my brothers, but don’t understand them as much as I’d like.
77. Whining is a big pet peeve of mine.
78. I think too much about things I can’t change.
79. One day, I am convinced that I will say all the things I’ve held back.
80. I will try to do this when I am old, and then blame it on my senility---so I’ll totally get away with it.
81. I am the best thrift shopper I know.
82. Except for my mom.
83. I expect you to reach your potential.
84. I’ve tried to read Moby Dick on several occasions.
85. I’ve never been able to get through it, and do not feel guilty about it.
86. Baked Feta in olive oil is proof that God loves us, and wants us to be happy.
87. I recently discovered how much I love coffee.
88. I was obsessed with Phantom of the Opera in high school.
89. My best indulgence comes in the form of a hot bath.
90. I’ve had a vision of my death---and it comforted me.
91. I tell people I love them only if I do.
92. I don’t really want to own a home. Yet.
93. I’m a good friend.
94. Creationists drive me crazy C-R-A-Z-Y
95. I genuinely feel that this life is my happy life---a life to make up for several previous lifetimes of crap.
96. i appear more confident than I really am.
97. My favorite place in the whole world is La Madeleine.
98. I rock a sz 14.
99. Fangirl? Yes!
100. I’m all about Jesus. I may be flawed---but I know I’m loved, and I’ll tell you you are too, you big sissy. (:

Friday, May 04, 2007

tree

Recently, I watched Elizabethtown.
Not a bad movie. In fact, some of the scenes were quite charming.

In particular, I'm a fan of "the map", and one place the map takes our protagonist: The Survivor Tree in Oklahoma.

It's a weirdly cool little scene, that inspired a google search.

Take a peek at the survivor tree's relatives.

What a great idea.

http://www.aces.edu/dept/extcomm/newspaper/march7a02.html