Oh, The Craziness of My Life.

You recall how I said back in June that I wasn't going to Master's school?

Well, it's still pretty tentative but I'm signed up for online classes at the moment.

Ha!

And I'll probably be heading down to NCCU in January.

Yeah. So that's happening.


Meanwhile, Merlin stuff abounds again. The new trailer has been snuck out of Comic-Con to us poor souls who are stuck at home. The blooper reel has been snagged. And oh, my, how both of them have been analyzed.









SPOILER LINE!





Having gotten the first glimpse at the trailer, here's some notes, If you're down this far, I really should NOT have to tell you spoilers are abundant here...there is some speculation here BUT this is the first time we've had a glimpse at any footage from the new series, so forgive me for going a little bit crazy, all right?

Uther's gone practically psycho looking for Morgana and apparently a lot of knights have died; Gaius calls him on it and Uther basically says he's going to stop when Morgana is found. Near the end of the trailer, we see Morgana "rescued" by Arthur and Merlin. She goes back to Camelot, looking all repentant, hugging Uther, and saying she's sorry to Merlin for all she's done and whatever. But the look on her face walking away from Uther...nuh uh. Don't believe her. She's gone to the Dark Side, the bad guys, Morgause's camp.

Morgana has also clearly gotten some useful powers in the last year because she's handling something that looks sort of like a wand or a staff (I vote for staff.) She MAY be the one who slams the staff on the floor and makes Merlin all wobbly.

Dead person attacks Gwen (or Gwen gets frightened by dead person). Lots of cobwebs. What the hell is Gwen doing in a cobwebby dark sort of place by herself? Is this because she hasn't got Morgana to take care of anymore or is she investigating her family roots?

Someone goes off a wall (Gawain?) and Merlin is with them

Morgause uses a spell. Again.

Sidhe staff returns (yay, Merlin!) I thought he still had it under his bed since series 1, episode 11. Now he's gonna use it again. Nice continuity from the writers.

Some blonde chick eats a bug

Pixie. Appears to be a pixie. It has ears and it's small and it looks like trouble.

Uther bald?

Uther/Arthur hug

Lots of slapping

There's a formal feast with a blonde and another king because Arthur was wearing a new silver crown very similar to the gold one he wore back in series 1. Arthur and Uther are not sitting together-Arthur is sitting next to the blonde, down at the end of the high table. I don't think this is the same blonde who eats the bug although I could be wrong. Uther was planted next to another king (don't know if that was the same guy Arthur faces later.)

NOTE: The blonde was NOT Vivian or Morgause. This is another, completely different blonde.

Someone (Gaius?) spits drink in Leon's face (now THAT'S not nice)

Gawain. Oh yeah. Ga! Wain! He is VERY gorgeous. I have a crush already. Here's the picture of the actor so you all can have a look!




Someone with funny bumps on their face

Dragon swoops through a bit and says a battle for Camelot is nigh or something.

Miriam Margolyes' character is magical and blows off what appears to be a prison door. I would hope she's not a villain. Wouldn't it be nice if there were magical people on Merlin's side besides, like, Gaius?

Arthur turned into a donkey (heehawing and EVERYTHING!) and Gwen is kneeling in front of him and has the oddest look on her face (somewhere between doped to the ears and affectionate) while she's looking at him. There are Midsummer Night's Dream jokes flying already, and that pixie thing might be involved as a Puck-like instigator.

(I assume Uther bald, everyone slapping, the drink being spit in Leon's face, and Arthur's donkey ears/Gwen's completely weird facial expression are all in the same episode/two parter. And I would assume the pixie-like creature is to blame for most if not all of this chaos.)

Lots of battle, horses, guys yelling, and Camelot on fire. Also Arthur screams for everyone to retreat at one point and some people think he was dragging Uther with him. It looks like Uther but the clip was just a little fuzzy and moving fast.

CORRECTION: That is Uther. My mistake. Here's a photo:



Merlin winds up tied up in the forest and is shouting for the dragon in Dragonlord speak. Can't Merlin just magic OFF the ropes or did someone bind him all nice and tight with magic so he can't?

Arthur kneels before someone besides Daddy (older man. Apparently a king-he has a crown. He's in the throne room and Arthur is in white, kneeling down on the floor and looking a little bit afraid.)

Question: Could the man that Arthur is kneeling in front of be his maternal grandfather? Arthur's never met that side of the family-I would assume that Arthur, as the crown prince of Camelot and second-highest in power and status in said kingdom, would have no need to kneel in front of ANYONE but someone who was his family. I guess it could be his uncle or something, but grandfather seems much more plausible.

Of course, I'm only thinking out loud here and I'm probably dead wrong on most of it, but what's life without a little speculation? When we're a week from the first episode's premiere, I'll give my predictions on what each character will be seeing/facing/doing this series and we'll see at the end of the series how blasted wrong I was. Last year I think I had two things right all series-I'm hoping my family tree gets some proof behind it this year.

Ta,
Bec

Ideas Fly Like Mosquitoes on Crack

Lots of good stuff going around in my head. And I'm a lunatic (like I didn't know this already.) People get this glazed look in their eyes when I discuss characters like they're my next-of-kin (hell, I know them BETTER than some of my next of kin for how often I hang out with the people in my own head compared to the fam.) I consider this an interesting issue: I know Ixora Medan Xavier the 10th so well I can explain his motives and reasoning for why he hates his brother and where EXACTLY that hatred begins in his life.

But the story isn't long enough and so other stories need to be built in around it to make this long enough for publishing. Hence the good stuff flying around.

You wouldn't know it, but fake-world mythology building is hard work. I am desperately trying to avoid anyone else's mythology that's already established, lest I step on anyone's religion or allegorize the whole mess (definitely want to avoid a Narnia here.) Add to that that it has to make sense and have some morals and "don't do this-em's" and a couple of "do that-em's".

Yeah. That's like, the easiest thing in the world. NOT.

So I have a bit of work to do. Gotta go!

Ta,
Bec

Five Reasons Why My Fingers Have Been Quiet

So the reason I haven't been talking lately is because I'm

A) Not sleeping well and it's making me testy

B) Up in arms and socks about my near-future and don't know which direction I'm headed in

C) Can't talk full sentences because of the tired thing (it's similar to the problem someone who's had a stroke has: the word is there, the idea is there, but I just CAN NOT get it out of my brain and down to my tongue. Or I say something but it's backwards. Or I say the wrong word in place of what I really want to say.) One time I was trying to say "cabinet" to a friend of mine, and was pointing at the object in question but unable to come up with the word that fit it. She got it for me.

This is terribly, awfully embarrassing, I sound like a total idiot, and I do it more when I'm nervous, tired, anxious, stressed, or sometimes when I'm just nothing at all. So I've been avoiding regular people because of it. I humiliate myself often enough so I don't think I need to have more of it.

AND, LASTLY BUT NOT LEASTLY!

D) The cookbook is actually waiting on one little detail I didn't consider-that there are actual cookbooks out THERE with the information I WANT, but where I don't have to DO IT MYSELF. So I'm waiting on my Betty Crocker 1950 facsimile edition to get here and then, joy of joys, I can delete all the recipes I no longer have a need for because I'll have a BOOK with them IN IT.

E) I had to hang out with my relatives for 6 HOURS this week. Enough. Said. Hell for me is hanging out with my family and doing math problems.

Ta,
Bec

Baking Forth

I have probably gone mad.

Like I wasn't already.

I am piling up recipes like a robin grabbing sticks (we currently have a resident robin down near the basement door who bitches at me every time I go anywhere near the area. And I wind up apologizing to the thing because I keep disturbing it...)

ANYWAY, I am piling up recipes because I want to make me a cookbook. Not someone else's cookbook where I won't use half the stuff, but sort of a me cookbook.

That means no barbecue!

It's getting a wee bit crazy. Since I have no urge to type IN all of this stuff, I'm going online to find every one of them. And it is taking forever to find them, too. Some of them I'll probably have to give in and just type the stupid thing but hey, this is my little cookbook and I decided to do it so boo-hoo if it takes forever and ever...

I'd say two weeks and this damn thing is going to be looking mighty fine.

That is, if I don't lose steam halfway through and wind up chucking the whole thing into oblivion.

Let's hope I have enough hot water under the hood, eh?

Ta,
Bec

Basking in the Sun

Sorry I haven't written. This week has been mad. I've been working the Fest going-out gate since Monday of this week and it's been a 7 or 8 hour stint in the sunshine, every single day since. Tomorrow is my last day. I have sunburned my face, the top of my head, my arms (left one once, right one twice), the backs of my hands, and the middle of my collarbone...most of those despite liberal and heavy use of sunblock.

I am very tired and snappy, and the dog is demanding food right NOW, so I have to get moving on to that. I have to be in bed in half an hour.

Ta,
Bec