Bushisms of the Day

"Anybody who is in a position to serve this country ought to understand the consequences of words." --George W. Bush, interview with Rush Limbaugh, Nov. 1, 2006

BOOK FUN

What author sent the Snarkout Boys to battle the Avocado of Death and the Baconburg Horror?

Yesterday's answer: Clive Barker

ROCK N ROLL HISTORY

Bryan Ferry is the front man for what group of music makers whose 1982 quintessential record Avalon contains the song "More Than This?"

Yesterday's answer: Sweet

WORD A DAY

REPUDIATE: 1: to refuse to have anything to do with: disown 2: to reject as untrue or unjust

In Latin, the noun repudium referred to the rejection of a spouse or prospective spouse, and the related verb repudiare meant "to divorce" or "to reject." In the 16th century, English writers used the derivative "repudiate" to mean "to divorce" when referring to a wife, "to disown" when in reference to a member of one's family, or just generally "to reject or cast off." By the 19th century, the word had acquired the separate sense "to reject as untrue," which was often used in reference to opinions, claims, and accusations. Nowadays, this second sense is the more common of the two.

Bushisms of the Day

"I fully understand those who say you can't win this thing militarily. That's exactly what the United States military says, that you can't win this military." --George W. Bush, on the need for political progress in Iraq, Washington, D.C., Oct. 17, 2007

BOOK FUN

What horror writer received instant acclaim in 1984 for his debut three-volume Books of Blood series?

Yesterday's answer: Jayne Ann Krentz

ROCK N ROLL HISTORY

Hitting the Top Ten in 1976, the song "Fox On the Run" was a sweet predecessor for the next single "Ballroom Blitz" from this band's Desolation Boulevard record.

Yesterday's answer: Come Away With Me

WORD A DAY

BACKSTAIRS: 1: secret, furtive 2: sordid, scandalous

When Roger Boyle, 1st Earl of Orrery, wrote in 1654 about leading someone "down a back-stairs," he wasn't referring to anything scandalous. He simply meant "down a secondary set of stairs at the back of a house." Just over a decade earlier, however, Boyle's contermporary Sir Edward Dering had used the phrase "going up the back-stairs" in a figurative way to suggest a means of approach that was not entirely honest and upfront. The figurative use likely arose from the simple notion that stairs at the rear of a building are less visible and thus allow for a certain degree of sneakiness. By 1663, "backstairs" was also being used adjectivally to describe something down furtively, often with an underhanded or sinister connotation.

Phenomenon

There's a new reality show on NBC called Phenomenon where the contestants are trying to prove to the judges that they have real psychic or magical powers. It's hosted by Uri Gellar and Chriss Angel. I don't really know much about Angel, if he truly believes that he has real powers or it's just an act for him. But Gellar is one of the biggest phonies in the world. I can't believe he's even around, he's been discredited so many times over the past years. I refuse to watch this show because I think it is so wrong and stupid and takes advantage of people in need. I saw an article about a confrontation between Angel and a supposedly psychic named Jim Callahan. Of course when called to use his "great" powers on the spur on the moment it doesn't work, only when it's a big event with a lot of build up. Such a waste.

Posting Every Day for A Month

I've signed up for NaBloPoMo challenge, which is to make at least one post everyday for a month. Now a few months past I wouldn't have thought twice about this, but lately I've been struggling with making a daily post, so I thought this might help get me back in the swing. So we'll see if I make it or not.

TopBlogMag: Check It Out

Lots of changes going on over at TopBlogMag. The former wonderful editor, Heather has stepped down and now the wonderful Megan is running the site. At the moment it's in the midst of a major workover so if you check it out don't be scared by what you see. I've written a piece over there about how I almost wrote the comic book The Maxx that was on MTV.

Super Chicken

Daylight Savings Time This Weekend

Did you try to change your time to reflect Daylight Savings Time last weekend? Until this year that was the weekend when time falls back an hour. But back in 2005 Congress passed a law changing the week when Daylight Savings Time goes into effect, but put it off until this year to give the computer experts time to work out any potential bugs in their systems. Which in one way makes more sense to me. I could never understand why we set our clocks back the weekend of Halloween, so it'd be darker out an hour earlier when all the little kids are out trick or treating. This time they had an extra hour of daylight to get all that candy.

Buffy Season Eight Collection

More Joss Whedon news. The first five issues of the new Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight comic book have been collected and are on sale even as we speak...or in this case type. These five issues were written by the series creator himself, Mr. Joss Whedon and read like a great episode of the series. The last story, a stand alone that doesn't connect with the first four issues and doesn't even have Buffy in the story, would have been one of those episodes like "The Body" or "Once More, With Feeling."

This was a nice beginning to the new Season, but I'm hoping for more. It showcased Buffy but she never really comes to the front of the series like she should. I feel like the first four issues are really setting the readers up for what's coming next. Still very much worth reading for fans of the show.

Writers Strike starts Monday

In other news the WGA have voted to strike on Monday. The Producers refuse to negotiate with the writers. The main stumbling block is the writers want a bigger share of dvd and other internet uses of their work. From one report I read right now they get about 2 cents of every dvd sold. The producers are making millions off their work, I think it's only fair they get a better deal. Their last contract was signed before a lot of newer ways to view entertainment were even created. For some of the best understanding of all this check out Mark Evanier's blog here.

Joss Whedon Returns to TV!!!!!!!!

According to E! Online Joss Whedon, the creator of my favorite TV series of all time Buffy the Vampire Slayer, is returning to TV with a new series. And it's starring Eliza Dusku, Faith from the aforementioned favorite tv series. The show is titled Dollhouse and is described thusly:

Echo (Eliza Dushku) [is] a young woman who is literally everybody's
fantasy. She is one of a group of men and women who can be imprinted with
personality packages, including memories, skills, language—even muscle
memory—for different assignments. The assignments can be romantic, adventurous, outlandish, uplifting, sexual and/or very illegal. When not imprinted with a
personality package, Echo and the others are basically mind-wiped, living like
children in a futuristic dorm/lab dubbed the Dollhouse, with no memory of their
assignments—or of much else. The show revolves around the childlike Echo's
burgeoning self-awareness, and her desire to know who she was before, a desire
that begins to seep into her various imprinted personalities and puts her in
danger both in the field and in the closely monitored confines of the Dollhouse.

The series has already been green lit for seven episodes. Tim Minear, writer and co-creator of Angel, Wonderfalls, Firefly and Drive, will join Joss in the writing of the series. The only downside is that all this will be delayed by the upcoming Writer's Strike. But at least it will give us something to look forward to when the strike is over.

Happy Halloween

New Fiction

One of the theme's for the new issue of TopBlogMag is regret this week. The following is my piece written on the subject.

Regret

Kids used to want to grow up to be firemen, astronauts, even cowboys. When I was young I just wanted to grow up to be famous. To save everyone the suspense now I didn’t grow up to anyone that you would recognize. I did have my fifteen minutes of fame in high school when I was known as the girl who put out. Which was untrue except for a brief seven minutes of fumbling and sudden burst of too much excitement on his part that ended things before they had begun.

Next came college and my ambition to be a writer. I knew I couldn’t act or sing so I figured how hard could it be to write? Actually I knew better than that. I just have a flippant side to my attitude that comes out at the most awkward times. The truth is that I loved the written word and had hopes to be the next Joyce Carol Oates.

Until I met Matt and as they’ve said before about the best laid plans of mice and men, not to mention young women who think they’re in love. He was a senior when I enrolled and it didn’t take long before I couldn’t live without him. When he graduated he was offered a great job, but it came with a catch. It was in another city and would mean no more waking up snuggled against him. He made a half hearted speech about staying while I graduated, but we both knew it wouldn’t last. So I did what any hearts in her eyes fawning girl would do. I quite school and followed him to his new city and his new job.

We weren’t married yet. He promised once he got settled in his new corner office that would come. Right now there wasn’t time, the job was better on paper and in the future, now it meant long hours and small paychecks. I got a job at a small diner to help pay for the standard of living he thought we should maintain for appearances.

Of course anyone that’s ever seen a Lifetime Movie of the Week will know what happens next. As he moved up he met someone else. But the time he was making enough money that I could quit my job I discovered I couldn’t because I needed it to pay the rent on my apartment. The one that I lived in without him now, as he moved into a new townhouse with a woman he decided he had time to marry now.

The next few years were not me at my best. I had trust issues and found the best way to overcome them was through a bottle. I was never a big drinker before, but I decided to make up for that now. There were more than a few mornings waking up in a strange bed with an even stranger man.

Eventually I realized that the path I was on was headed right off a cliff and with me without a parachute. Getting sober is not quite as easy as it’s portrayed in the movies, but it is attainable. It took me over a year and there were a few stumbles along the way, but before my thirtieth birthday I was able to declare myself sober. One day at a time.

I decided that if I couldn’t write the words the least I could do was sell them. I got a job at a bookstore and while it doesn’t pay much it manages to keep a roof over my head and food on my table.

Which all leads to my lying in this hospital bed and the trip down memory lane. I could view my life with a lot of regret if I wanted and I don’t think many people would begrudge me that. But when they put my newborn baby girl in my arms I realized that everything that had happened, the bad as well as the good, all that I could regret, had all lead me to this point, the birth of my daughter. I knew I had no regrets.

Out Today

The third and unfortunately final season of Veronica Mars came out today. This was the new Buffy for me. I thought it one of the best things on television and it's a shame that it ended. But with the advent of tv on dvd at least I'll have the three seasons to go back and watch whenever I want to. And Kristen Bell, Ms. Mars, just started her run on Heroes this last Monday.

Theresa Andersson with John Boutte