It's been a while!

Time to get the blog going again!  And to start us off - I just wanted to share this with you:



Until now, I was really excited about the return of Castle, Bones, Glee (and maaaaybeee Murdoch - but I am still undecided on that one! But, if they give me a teaser that is even one third as hot as the Castle one above, I'll ship again!), but I did not want to wish for September, cos it's kind of like wishing your summer away right? And who wants that?! But, now that September is here and summer is on it's way out - I CAN'T WAIL TILL CASTLE STARTS AGAIN ;) (Oh, and Glee, but that is more like medication for my depression!)

D

Mayday, Mayday, Warning to all shippers!!

There is a horrible horrible new trend starting in the new series and it really needs to come with its own warning. In bright neon, flashing lights, because it literally tortures Shippers and possibly kills the will to ship. I kid you not!! It’s awful, (I’m convinced its a JW conspiracy, that man hated his shippers!)

The worst of it is that these shows are like a psychotic spider, drawing you in slowly.

They are pretty and hot and so very yummy that you fall almost instantly in shipper love with the main characters.
The writers (devious demonic beasts) pull you in closer with every episode, feeding you just a little more of the good stuff, the hot kisses, the long looks, the “denying their feelings” bit while at the same time making it obvious to everyone that those feelings are deep and lasting. Then the first kiss, the first break up, more denial, but suddenly the hot hot love scene that has you rewinding that damn scene over and over, which is of course followed by the near death scene and the revelation of afore mentioned denied feelings.

Then comes the best part of all and the most insidiously horrendous crime of all... the Euphoria, the happy time.

And suddenly just when you are relaxing and think this is the one! This is the ONE! THIS IS THE ONE! 
The demonic, Beast, writer/spider snaps its little trap closed, drags you down into oblivion, wraps you in gooy thread and sucks your insides out through the top of your head!

 

Point of example? You want a for-instance?

Take The Glades.

Amazing show, and seriously Matt Passmore? Not hard on the eyes at all... (I mean really what do they feed the men down under?)
But I digress, the ship takes off right from the first episode, and you are hooked by the second, and by the first kiss you are already hearing the wedding march in your head and imagining Matt in a Tux.......................... umm yeah.
 
Where was I? Oh yes.

The writers play it well, throw her husband being in prison, and her child into the works, plus Jim being a real player and you get lots of sexual tension, the obligatory man-grabby skank gets thrown into the mix and (if you are like me and have seen this coming from the moment the writer’s fingers touched the keyboard to write that cliche) you are kind of yawning your way through the next few scenes, until of course the happy couple find each other again and have great make-up, first time sex.
What you don’t expect is her husband to phone them during the morning after, and declaring he’s coming home.
And even worse you do not expect season 2 to be the biggest lame ass crap fest ever!! But there you have it.

Lost Girl is another... man look at these scenes. Do they not scream trap?
 

Yeah “Wolves mate for life” ?? Fuck off, that should read “Wolves mate until some witch bitch comes and takes your passion away!”
 

ARRRRGHHHHH I hereby give up my shipper powers!! No more, as far as I am concerned y’all can go get your insides sucked out through your head, I’m done.

The Mother's Prayer for its Daughter

So, since I seem to be struggling with my blog post on the Bones and Castle season finales (yeah, I just cannot seem to decide how I feel about it!), I wanted to give my sisters something to read, and I thought they would appreciate this:

The Mother's Prayer for its Daughter

Tina Fey

First, Lord: No tattoos. May neither Chinese symbol for truth nor Winnie-the-Pooh holding the FSU logo stain her tender haunches. 

May she be Beautiful but not Damaged, for it’s the Damage that draws the creepy soccer coach’s eye, not the the Beauty. 

When the Crystal Meth is offered, 

May she remember the parents who cut her grapes in half 

And stick with Beer. 

Guide her, protect her 

When crossing the street, stepping onto boats, swimming in the ocean, swimming in pools, walking near pools, standing on the nearby subway platform, crossing 86th Street, stepping off of boats, using mall restrooms, getting on and off escalators, driving on country roads while arguing, leaning on large windows, walking in parking lots, riding Ferris wheels, roller-coasters, log flumes, or anything called “Hell Drop,” “Tower of Torture,” or “The Death Spiral Rock N’ Zero G Roll featuring Aerosmith,” and standing on any kind of balcony ever, anywhere, at any age. 

Lead her away from Acting but not all the way to Finance. 

Something where she can make her own hours but still feel intellectually fulfilled and get outside sometimes

And not have to wear high heels. 

What would that be, Lord? Architecture? Midwifery? Golf course design? I’m asking You because if I knew, I’d be doing it, Youdammit. 

May she play the Drums to the fiery rhythm of her Own Heart with the sinewy strength of her Own Arms, so she need Not Lie With Drummers. 

Grant her a Rough Patch from twelve to seventeen. 

Let her draw horses and be interested in Barbies for much too long, 

For Childhood is short -- a Tiger Flower blooming 

Magenta for one day -- 

And Adulthood is long and Dry-Humping in Cars will wait. 

O Lord, break the Internet forever, 

That she may be spared the misspelled invective of her peers 

And the online marketing campaign for Rape Hostel V: Girls Just Wanna Get Stabbed. 

And when she one day turns on me and calls me a Bitch in front of Hollister, 

Give me the strength, Lord, to yank her directly into a cab in front of her friends, 

For I will not have that Shit. I will not have it. 

And should she choose to be a Mother one day, be my eyes, Lord, 

That I may see her, lying on a blanket on the floor at 4:50 a.m., all-at-once exhausted, bored, and in love with the little creature whose poop is leaking up its back. 

“My mother did this for me once,” she will realize as she cleans feces off her baby’s neck. 

“My mother did this for me.” And the delayed gratitude will wash over her as it does each generation and she will make a Mental note to call me. And she will forget. 

But I’ll know, because I peeped it with Your God eyes. 

Amen.

THE Plan

This morning started off as planned.  Well, maybe a bit earlier than planned..  like 6am early!    I totally blame it on the sun that shines through my bedroom window and lands directly on my face!  It’s a good thing I am a restless sleeper, or I would be walking around half tanned from the nose up (cos from the nose down I am ALWAYS covered in blankets – actually in winter, my nose is the only part of my body that sticks out from under the covers!  It’s quite a talent actually)

Anyway, the plan was to get myself up, get the kids up, get everyone dressed and fed, go fetch Miss Daisy (um.. I mean Pet), bring her back to my place, get the kids occupied in another room and watch Bones.  THE episode of Bones!  It was all going as planned until we got back to my place and my 4 year old decided to attach himself to my leg.  Yep, kid radar – seriously, any other day of the week they are quite happy to occupy themselves with blocks, puzzles or the Little Einsteins so that I can get some work done, before taking them out to various activities.  This morning, however, my son was not having any of it!  So, we had to find a plan B (something we had not prepared for!). When my hubby phoned and said he was finished work early (sweet as!), plan B was in motion!  Hubby would come home, take the kids out and we could watch Bones!  THE episode of Bones! 

Unfortunately, the kids were not having any of that either!  Now they decided that they wanted to relax a bit at home, in the lounge, with the TV (yeah, all that hanging on my leg must have tired them out), so we found ourselves in desperate need of a plan C!   So, after a bit of frantic brainstorming, we came up with a brilliant idea: phone Mom!  Long story, and long phone call, short – we left the kidlets with my hubby and ran over to Mom’s place armed with THE episode of Bones!

I really, really enjoyed this episode!  I absolutely love Arnold Vosloo (Howzit Boet!)  Loved the return of pre-Hannah Booth, loved the English Squintern, loved Angela – hell, I even liked Hodgins in this one!  In the scene where Boetie was selecting his next victim, and all the squints were shown as possible targets, Mom, Pet and I were selecting which ones we loved, and which ones we could probably do without!  Mom decided Cam could go, Pet was busy eating the niknaks (cos she knew, as did I, who was going to be taking a dirt nap pretty soon) and I was all “nooo, he/she can’t die, I love her/him!"  Eventually mom pointed out that I seem to love all of them – I think, in a way, she called me a Bones-whore!  If the k-swiss fits huh?

Anyway, I did expect a leeetle bit more from the bed scene – but I am not disappointed!  However, my Hodgins love only lasted until he interrupted Bones just as she was about to tell Angela what exactly happened after she “crawled into bed with Booth!”  Asshole!  But, I like that we don’t know!  I like that we are kept guessing and this leaves room for the writers to have us searching for moments in future episodes!  My Bones love is back baby!  

Pet firmly believes that they did the dirty, but I am still on the fence on this!   I kind of hope they didn’t, and that this was just the first step to getting closer, to ‘feeling’ their way and that, in the next season (or episode) we get some on-screen sex.  Yes, I am shameless!  Although, I did enjoy the X-Files guessing game.  Searching for all possible clues and moments after ‘All Things’, which is the episode that most X-Philes believe to be the ONE!  Looking forward to more Bones moments!

D

Abandon Ship

Yup they did it, they sank the Murdoch Mysteries ship, unfortunately instead of going down in a blaze of glory, it went down with a pitiful predictable whimper. Judging by the reaction of the fans world wide… I’m not holding out hope for a season 5, and even if there was one most of them won’t be watching.

Stupid move on TPB when you think about it, because the series may be done on Alibi, and all the European fans are up in arms and will probably have the next 9 or so months to calm down, but it has not even started airing in Canada, CityTV could not fit it in until around May 31’st .

I seriously doubt even the most die hard spoiler virgin has remained spoiler free, especially considering that the board on both Alibi’s webpage and MurdochMystery fan forums have exploded with bitter disappointment and defeat.

So to be honest if it were me I would not even bother watching it. I know I am not even slightly tempted to watch the last episode, which should tell you something. (being as I am the one that had to go through the whole Hannah crap on Bones – talk about pain and frustration--) and what is that going to do for the ratings? Bupkiss!

So this is me, standing to attention, hand firmly raised in salute, dress whites all clean and shiny. While the lone bugler plays The Last Post for the fallen shippers who are as we speak going down with that ship.  (yeah dude not me, I’m the guy in the life boat named Booth/Brennan’ Seawater does not go well with my outfit.)

As for the whole "people will loose interest in the show once they are married", yanking out that old battered and very smelly “Moonlighting Curse”. I have already given my opinion on that, however I might point out, I own all the DVD’s for Moonlighting, I watched the show at the time, I shipped the show and I have watched the re-runs, and the reason why the show died had absolutely nothing to do with the relationship and everything to do with the fact that Cybil Sheppard was pregnant with twins, Bruce Willis was hitting Hollywood movie stardom and the writers kept breaking them up or denying the relationship even existed.  The never did try and figure out how to make things work between them.

This would not have happened in MM, because there were so many avenues to explore, so many emotional moments to mine, marriage in the 1890’S was forever, there was no getting out of it, no getting a quick divorce and on to the next. 

The cultural and social differences between William and Julia would have been a huge problem for them to work through, She’d have to learn to cook (and I could just imagine the neat y incision on the Sunday roast!), he would have to learn to bend his ridged ways a lot to make her happy, and they both would have a lot of fun learning how to be a couple. What a lot of cowards the writers are that could not see the many many possibilities in that union.

So CC, you fucked up big time, see you failed to realize that the shippers are the ones that sell the show, yeah we are mostly women, but we are the ones in charge of the TV remote!! 

While our husbands/boyfriends/just friends would rather be watching how to build a supersonic toilet flusher/buttwiper or some sport channel, it’s the shippers that make them sit through another episode of Murdoch Mysteries every week.

And while you might think after 9 or 10 months to calm down we might be gung-ho for another round of torture-for-fun, I’m afraid most of us will have moved on and all that we will remember when/if the next season starts is that you let us down, worse than let us down, you kicked us in the head.

Yeah, not into masochism so not coming back for more of that.

Going to finish the fanfiction because I love my sister and do not want her to be sad. And then I’m going to look for another ship for us… The Glades might be the one!

Done

I'm done with Murdoch Mysteries!  I have no words!

Countdown

Ok – in a little over 2 hours will finally know if our Julia/Murdoch ship has come in, or if it sank! Getting very nervous! So is Pet (although, that could be because her iPad 2 is on the line! No ship, we sell the iPad and fly to wherever the hell the Murdoch creator guy lives, and apparently camp on his doorstep (a dastardly plan yes, but not mine. All Pet’s idea, I hate camping! I would be ok with simply pulling a ‘Misery’ on the guy). Mom is getting nervous too! Always suspected she was a shipper!


So, I am keeping myself busy by finally writing a bit of blog. 

I really enjoyed last week’s episode of Castle!  The one where they fly to L.A.  So sweet, and so shippy!  And, so hot!  I am sure there was drooling the world over during that scene with Beckett in her bathing suit right?!?   By the way, how the hell does she go for a swim, emerge Bond girl style from the pool, and still have perfect make-up!  Man, I need serious advice from her make-up artist person (or any make-up artist, or maybe cosmetic surgeon).  Especially last week when I was having a girl’s day!  It was a desperate attempt to get my feminine on after a particularly disturbing semi-erotic dream.  No, the erotic part was not disturbing, but rather the fact that, in my dream, I was the man!  It was a nightmare actually!  I did not know what to do with.... um.... stuff.  I was in serious emotional turmoil so I phoned Pet to talk to her about it, and she laughed at me!  Then she turned to her husband and started asking him questions regarding boxers vs. skivvies and “what side do you wear it”!  Yeah, she really did!  Apparently this was all in the name of research and totally for my benefit so I would be better prepared for my next man-mare!  Thanks Pet.

Last week’s Bones was also very good.  And very sad!  Jisslike I cried!  Tears!  I loved how supportive and understanding Booth was!   Brennan’s comment “I assure you, if I knew how to convey how I feel, I would.  It seems to make other people’s lives much easier”.  Seems to make her life harder right?  As long as you remain detached, you save yourself a lot of emotional pain.  I actually started liking Booth again in that episode.  However, the preview for this week’s episode got my heart racing!  The split-second scene of B and B falling into bed together worked like a time travel machine!  I was immediately taken back to pre-Hannah times and immediately, once again, became a full on B/B shipper!  Pet and I called a ‘misery’ meeting to discuss the 30 second preview, and concluded that it is past time we got our act together and started getting our “squee” back on!   Pet also decided that I was to remain spoiler free for that episode!  Um. Pet. Spoiler free.  What?

I don’t know if I can do it, but I will try!  Instead of waking up Friday morning and searching the net for the latest episode reviews, I will remain strong!  I will eat breakfast, pack up my kids and fetch Pet and Bones episode 22, so we can watch it together.  Hey A, think mom will babysit Bex for an hour so you can join us?  Squeeing is optional :D

Phenomenal Woman

For my sisters, my mom, my nieces - actually, for all the phenomenal women in my life.

Happy mothers day!

Phenomenal Woman

Pretty women wonder where my secret lies.
I'm not cute or built to suit a fashion model's size
But when I start to tell them,
They think I'm telling lies.
I say,
It's in the reach of my arms
The span of my hips,
The stride of my step,
The curl of my lips.
I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.

I walk into a room
Just as cool as you please,
And to a man,
The fellows stand or
Fall down on their knees.
Then they swarm around me,
A hive of honey bees.
I say,
It's the fire in my eyes,
And the flash of my teeth,
The swing in my waist,
And the joy in my feet.
I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.

Men themselves have wondered
What they see in me.
They try so much
But they can't touch
My inner mystery.
When I try to show them
They say they still can't see.
I say,
It's in the arch of my back,
The sun of my smile,
The ride of my breasts,
The grace of my style.
I'm a woman

Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.

Now you understand
Just why my head's not bowed.
I don't shout or jump about
Or have to talk real loud.
When you see me passing
It ought to make you proud.
I say,
It's in the click of my heels,
The bend of my hair,
the palm of my hand,
The need of my care,
'Cause I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.

Maya Angelou

Something to put us in a good mood!

I thought we could all do with a good laugh:

Battleships Ahoy!!

Murdoch Mysteries…. Wow.

OK, to start off let me say a big THANK YOU to CC. Seriously dude so far out of the shows we ship (and y’all do realized it’s more than the three we admit to) the last episode of MM knocked my socks right off and lived far beyond any expectations I might have had. 

However… much as I loved the fantasy scene at the end of the last episode, I am filled with overpowering fear that the PTB in charge of all things television are setting us up for a huge smack down. I’m sorry if I sound distrusting, but honestly I used to be a Buffy fan. JW cured me of ever trusting another Producer/Director/Person-who-controls-ships.

And so far I have not found one single PWCS with the balls to give it up. They are all like fanatical virgins, holding on to the mighty hymen of television hookups, cock teasing the hell out of us poor unsuspecting shippers, getting us all hard and hot and then refusing to drop their nickers. Shame on you!!

Which brings me back to William and Julia. I have this sneaky suspicion that our last episode of MM will end with Julia standing at the Alter with Darcy, and Murdoch either putting in a protest, (too little too late) or running to stop the whole thing (because he didn’t run after the train… fuckwit!) and possibly getting there late… something we won’t find out until season 5… if there even is a season 5. (It’s a Canadian show so all my usual sources for finding things like that out are null and void)

I think I might just sell my ipad 2, buy a plane ticket to wherever-the-hell-CC-lives and pitch my tent on his doorstep until he relieves my agony, gets Yannick Bisson and Helen Joy from wherever-the-hell-they-live and gives me my William and Julia SHIP!!!!!

So be warned PTB… this Ship is getting ready for Battle!

Good memories!

Lots of good memories associated with this song!  For myself and both my sisters!
I remember when we were first introduced to Bon Jovi!  My sister A bought the album "New Jersey", and in those days we listened to every song on every new album - repeatedly!  Heck, A and I even spent hours writing out the lyrics to some of them!  These days I simply download (from Amazon! mostly) the songs that I like and ignore the rest!  But, when I think of the hidden gems we found on the 'b' sides of some of the singles we sometimes bought, I suspect I might be missing out on a lot!  Sadly, I cannot remember the last time I actually bought a CD and listened to the entire thing!  MP3s are super cool and all, but lately my music selection has been limited!

Bon Jovi - I'll Be There For You von jpdc11

Ghost Whisperer

I love Ghost Whisperer!  I love it so much that I decided to dedicate tonight’s blog to it – you know, in the ‘spirit’ of sharing the love and all.  I did not necessarily ship it, but I did enjoy the chemistry between Jim and Melinda.  I was not even bothered about the ‘Jim-died-and-jumped-into-Sam’s-body-which-meant-that-Sam-died-and-Jim-became-Sam-but-we-still-saw-him-as-Jim-unless-he-was-looking-in-a-mirror-oh-and-lucky-he-knocked-Mel-up-before-biting-the-big-one” story arc (guess I’m just not that fussy).  The fact that I love it so much was a bit of a surprise to my hubby though, especially since I have a terrible fear of ghosts!  I have a terrible fear of rats too.  If I were ever to encounter the ghost of a rat, or rat ghost, or ghost in rat form (you know what I mean), all hell would break loose!  In my undies!!!

I’ve had my own personal experiences with ghosts, including creaky floorboards and heavy footsteps!  True story!  I was washing the dishes in an old Moth club, which was attached to the back of an old church (right!  Of course it was haunted!), when it happened!  I heard someone approaching me, and when I turned around there was no one there!  It creeped the hell out of me! My heartbeat was racing and everything was trembling, so much so that I had to force myself to calm down. When that did not work, I ran!  I never actually SAW anything and my hubby explained the entire experience away with things like “night air cooling things down... wind... house settling...” Seriously, it was a fucking old house, and it was after midnight! It should have been settled by then (yes, I know the whole ‘materials aging and temperatures causing expansion and contraction’ thing – it was a joke!)  I once threatened to come back and haunt Pet (cruel, but she deserved it!) and she laughed at me!  She said that once I figured out I was a ghost, I would scare the crap out of myself!  She’s probably right.  She still rips me off for asking my mom to accompany me to the toilet after we had watched “the Haunted Mansion”.  And, when that Des’ree song “Life” came out, I immediately noticed, and agreed with, the lyrics.  You know the “I don’t wanna see a ghost, it’s the sight I fear most.  I’d rather have a piece of toast,” part?  I heard that, although that song was quite popular, it was still derided and even won the BBC vote for the ‘worst pop lyric ever”!  Come on BBC, she does have a point right?  Of all the things I would rather be doing than chatting it up with ghosts, having a piece of toast is definitely on that list!  You’re ok by me Des!

Anyhoo, Ghost Whisperer was super cool!  Yes, Melinda did cry a lo-ot, but she was still cute (thank fuck for waterproof mascara huh?).  Jim was cute too!  I liked the way he just accepted Mel as she was! I also loved Andrea, and was really upset when she kicked it! 

So, not much of a post tonight, but I am putting it out there anyway.  The blog has been rather dead (lol!) lately, and since I am holding down the fort while Pet is busy with very important fanfic matters, my lame-o ghostly experiences will have to do!

D

Maybe I'm a dreamer...

Love this song!  Love the melody, the lyrics and the music video!
This is my song this week - the song that I HAVE to listen to at least 3 or 4 times a day!  Even my little Marley is singing along with me (and she is only 3)

A different/same opinion,

Regarding Pet’s last post: I understand what you are saying, however, I am afraid I am going to beg to differ, and agree… um… hang on… I beg to differently agree!  Make sense? 

I do not see any difference between the terms ‘author’ and ‘writer’.  I tried to understand what earns a person who partakes in the penning of a story (yeah, I know. Just go with it)  to label themselves as either of the abovementioned terms.  Eventually I turned to various dictionaries and my friend Oxford was helpful enough to clarify for me:

Author:  a writer of a book, article, or document
Writer: a person who has written something or who writes in a particular way.

So, I suppose the following could also be true:
An author is a writer, and a writer is an author!

Which means that, yes you are the writer of 6 books and the author of the occasional fanfiction.  (See my clever mixing of the words there).  And, regarding those individuals who feel the need to pass judgement on fanfiction authors…. Well, I did a bit of thinking on that too, then I did a bit of wikipedia and found that Fanfiction.net has over two million users!  Two million!  Any author is welcome to post their story on that forum, and even if only 5 per cent of the ff.net users read their story, they still have a readership of around 200 000!  Even if only 1 or 2 per cent of the over two million users read their story… fuck-it, do the rest of the maths yourselves.   So it is a bit of a broad generalisation of an opinion shared by a minority right?  I mean, you have over 2 million users on ff.net alone who not only read fanfiction, but also review it.  Could you then therefore say that fanfiction + constructive criticism = improved writing skills?   These young authors are learning, and are mostly (from the reviews that I have read) encouraged to keep writing! 

Additionally, fanfiction provides a very important service to those of us who are severely lacking in the writing skills department!  (as Dad would say, I got hit with the “not good with the words” stick *nudge-nudge-wink-wink* Aw come on, it was good!).   I want to hear more about my favourite TV series or even movie!  I want the story to continue, or see them in an alternate universe, or finally have them doing the horizontal tango – in detail, but I lack the ability to write this myself.  I am so grateful to all those brave souls who put their written work on a public forum, even though (according to certain individuals), it is not ‘real writing’’ (looks like written stuff to me though, with letters, punctuation  and everything!)

And, there are published authors out there who started out as fanfiction authors.  I recently read an interview with Muffy Morrigan (fanfiction writer and published author), and when asked why she wrote fanfiction, she replied that when she fell in love with a show, movie or book, she always wanted more!  So she wrote more.  In addition, she said that she sees fanfiction as a way of disciplining herself as a writer – or in her words: “You have to play by the rules of the verse that they have created and this can really hone the ability to create character and mood, and it really helps me define characters, it’s the ultimate exercise in writing for me!”

Did I mention she is a published author?

Finally, during the November 2010 National Novel Writing Month, Mercedes Lackey wrote a ‘pep talk’ to all writers where she also discussed fanfiction, and it’s advantages (link is below).  As she said “Sometimes it's because someone else's creation got us by the throat and our storytelling demon won't let us go until we get our version down on paper or in pixels.”

So, to all those fanfiction authors out there, including my sister who is creating a fantastic Murdoch Mysteries story, especially for me (brag), THANK-YOU!  And, please, keep writing!

The full Muffy Morrigan interview can be found here: http://mokisfanfictionblog.com/blog/2010/06/06/my-interview-with-fanfiction-writer-and-published-author-muffy-morrigan/
Full Mercedes Lackey Pep Talk can be found here:http://www.nanowrimo.org/node/3853430

Not a ship post

Bones has been analyzed, Murdoch is still up in the air and Castle is still in the baby stage, so while we wait for a break I might have a little rant about another bug that gets up my nose. Labels. 

We label everything around us. Working Mom’s, Home Makers, Writers, Doctors, Lawyers… you name it we have a label for it and a nice little pigeon hole to put them in, and most of the time they fit in there quite perfectly, but what about those that don’t? Why do we get to decide what the norm is or what is not? 

Take writing, I am a writer, I classify myself as a writer and have done since I finished my first novel, IMO since I did complete it (ie. sweated blood to get almost every word out!!) that makes me a writer. I am not an Author, I would only earn that title if I became published, but I can live with that. 

However I can not live with other people trying to shove me into a box I don’t fit into. In all truth I have lost friends over this and it still smarts to this day. I don’t write every day, I don’t hound the web looking for publishers or agents, I don’t sign up for every writing course I can find and… I occasionally write fanfiction. Now there are many writers out there that will slam me for that, I have been told it’s not real writing and I should concentrate on my novels (I have to-date completed six full length novels) instead of playing with someone else's toys. And I can not call myself a writer unless I write every day. 

As D would say “true story!” 

It’s rubbish of course, and while I am old enough to know its all some bitter twisted individuals who think that their way of looking at the world is of course the only right way and spend the majority of their lives policing those of us that dance to a different beat, it still gives me pause. I have lived a very unusual life, raise four children and am now a grandmother, so I really couldn't give a monkeys left nut what other people think I should be or do, but there are younger writers who would care, and who would be damaged by this kind of totalitarian attitude. 

And that does not just apply to writers, young mothers are particularly vulnerable. They have everything stacked against them already before the baby is even born, every book, magazine article, friendly neighbor or family member will have different idea’s and opinions what the mother-to-be should do and how she should do it, and a lot of them get very pushy about it. 

My daughter smoked during both her pregnancies, did I approve of it? Of course not. She’s read the books, heard it from her OBGYN. I’m not going to waste my breath barking up that tree. Do I give her advise, yeah, but I'm also very quick to tell her that if she feels I’m being pushy she should tell me to back off, and I meant it. 

Which brings me to my point, people are different, they walk different, talk different, look different and smell different.. Why the fuck should they all act the same? 

If it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck… it’s probably a Goose, leave it the fuck alone.

Jumping ship? Nah, not gonna happen! Even though...

Ok, regarding Pet’s last post, I have two things: 1. Yes and, 2. No.  All clear?  No?  Need more clarity?  

Ok, here goes:

Yes, I do believe that Booth is trying to change, or maybe even test Brennan – but not in the ‘aww.. sweet’ way he did in previous seasons.  In the latest episode, 'The Truth in the Myth', he came across as just plain mean.  There is a nasty feel to it, which just might be my personal interpretation of the entire ‘teach-a-squint’ thing.  I use the terms ‘mean’ and ‘nasty’ because it seems like he is playing with her beliefs, and using her feelings towards him as a kind of test as to how far he can push her.  When she is having a hard time accepting his claims to have seen the Yeti, he says to her “you are no different than the people who believed the sun revolved around the earth”.  You can see it affects her. His opinion is important and she therefore searches for a way to believe him, and stay true to her science and to herself.  Also, the jokes she made in the car and his refusing to laugh at them is totally opposite the Booth of seasons past. 

Lets take for example one of my favourite episodes of season 5, episode 6 (mainly my fave cos Gordon-Gordon was in it!!!). In the kitchen scene towards the end of the episode, Booth asks Brennan to do him a favour and she responds with “as long as I don’t have to shave my head”.  Lame joke, but he laughs!  He acknowledges that she is trying, and he makes an effort to laugh at her jokes.  See! Different Booth!

However, sticking with this scene, before Bones arrives Booth has a conversation with Gordon that includes the following lines:

GORDON: Temperance Brennan. You’re in love with her. You’re building a world around her, a family.

BOOTH: We’re not compatible. She sees the world one way, I see it the other way.

GORDON: No of course, it’s absolutely ludicrous the idea of you together, but the heart chooses what it chooses, doesn’t it? We don’t really have any say in the matter.

BOOTH: She doesn’t love me. I would know if she loved me.

GORDON: May I counsel patience on this front. Hope and patience.

Hope and patience!  Then, a few episodes later he goes all gambler on her ass.  I also re-watched that scene, as painful as it was. 

BRENNAN:  I am not a gambler; I'm a scientist. I can't change. I don't know how. I don't know how.

Kind of breaks your heart.  Well, my little shipper heart broke for Booth, and for Brennan.  It was painful to watch – the desperation in Booth and the sorrow in Bones. However, he knows her, he knows it was too much too soon.  His response should have been to go about proving to her that his love is secure, it is there to stay, and not set up house with the first blond he grabs under a tree!

In Season 6 ‘The Blackout in the Blizzard’ he admits that he is angry, but says he is not angry with her.   But, sometimes, it kind of seems like he is.

2. No, I don’t believe that Brennan is not willing to bend for him (no, Pet – not that kind of ‘bend’ – but feel free to fanfic that image you now have in your head).  I don’t think that she is being too rigid.  I’ll give you a couple of examples:

The paper burning scene:

Brennan tells him that she is improving.  She is strong.  She was an impervious substance when they met (a substance that is impervious to damage, does not need to be strong), now she is a strong substance.  And a time could come when she is strong enough to risk loosing the last of her imperviousness.  Sounds to me like she is working on allowing her heart to be as open as his is.

In the following episode, the foot-bone specialist is so affected by Brennan’s opinion of his occupation that his arm no longer works.  In another lovely scene-in-car Booth asks Bones to apologise to Dr. Foot.  She listens to his arguments that ‘sometimes being a grown man makes it hurt more, and what makes us human is that we can feel compassion and regret’.  She then asks him why it is so important to him, and he says that he knows her, he knows what kind of person she is and he wants other people to see it too.  He wants her to share some of that with the people around her.  And she does, but in her own way.  She does what Booth requests, but in a way that she can still feel she has remained true to herself.  She did not apologise, she was “remiss” or “contrite”.  I love this in Bones, she is willing to listen to him, she is willing to accept his ‘improvement suggestions’ and attempts to make her more ‘compassionate’ – but she is not willing to give up herself, or her science to do it.  She’ll do it for him, but she’ll do it in her own way!

I could add a few more.  The Angela and the pig issue in episode 6 of season 5.  Even though Sweets has already advised her to just help Ange save the pig, she only does so once Booth also tells her that it is better to just “let Angela have this one”.  Without hesitation she follows Booth’s advice.

However, all our character analysis aside, the only thing that will get these two together is if HH picks up a pen and MAKES IT HAPPEN!

D