It's something elsewhere... elusive

I think if my work had bootheels right now, they would be three-inch thick hardened leather, shod with rough, rusty steel, and sporting a few errant nails at odd and uncomfortable angles.

I worked a 13-hour day today and felt myself sort of start to wobble a bit as I stood in front of the sink, hands encased in sexy blue rubber, scrubbing the tomato sauce from yesterday's dinner pan.  Two by two, hands of blue; two by two, hands of blue.

Between getting up at 5.30 in the morning and not really sitting down to rest until after 10 PM for the past while, I don't have much in me.

I'm going to a stag party this weekend though, and those are always fun.  Aside from that time at my own when I dislocated my kneecap.  A fact I always feel pressed to mention when the word 'stag' enters into conversation.

So, here's to June and the official arrival of summer, and a week of vacation very nearly within my grasp...

Comments

[Mark]

Is it wrong that I got more excited by the Firefly reference than by any of the Star Wars post titles you've used? Whether it's wrong or not, I loved it.

Two by two, hands of blue, indeed.

I hope work lets up a bit. Sounds rough.

[Moksha Gren]

I was all excited to see what you would pull out for this...the last day of yoru Star Wars title marathon. I rightly assumed that you would force yourself one last themed post...but didn't factor in your work's audacity at timing your workload so poorly. I'm impressed you found the energy to post at all.

I sincerely hope today is better for you. Just keep your eyes on the stag party prize, brother.

Mark - How can you get more excited about a stale copy of Star Wars than by the original masterpiece itself? [stands back...hoping for sparks]

[Émilie B]

I thought to type "what's a stag party?", then I thought "surely Wikipedia could tell, I shouldn't bother others with the question", then I thought "that's not very conversational", then I thought "well maybe it's something really obvious or dull - or even ribald? - and I'll look silly for asking", then I thought "well I can always blame it on language issue" and by then I'd already hit the arrow button on Wiki. The information age, what can I say... it's saving geeks from looking like geeks everywhere.

Mark, if sparks do ensue, I'll step on your side of the argument. I, too, enjoyed best the Firefly reference.

Simon, sorry to hear you're trudging on these days, but I'm glad to hear the darkness of this work overload will soon be eclipsed by the shining light of vacation time.

[Tal]

One more working day Simon, and then it's time for that reward Can I suggest that you take a nap beforehand though? Hope you enjoy yourself!!

[Simon]

Émy, that saving geeks from looking like geeks comment is more profound than I initially thought. You are so on the money with that.

Mark, I'll forgive you for your misplaced sense of the order of things.

Moksha, is your incessant baiting a sad cry for attention? C'mere... I'll give you a big ol' hug.

Tal, that nap is just about the wonderfullest idea. Unlikely, but wonderful.

[Mark]

I haven't been following up on these comments very well.

Okay, fellas, I gotta say this.

Star Wars arguably started the modern sci-fi craze, what with its focus on the human story and all. Space opera, I believe, is what experts call it. But, let's not forget that the vaunted epic owes its origin to various works that came before it. Mythologies, books, Japanese movies. SW was a masterful blend of existing ideas, some quite old.

The writing in the SW films has become so bad and the acting so stiff (how can you make Natalie Portman a bad actress?) that it's hard not to let a fresh morsel like "Firefly" and its movie Serenity overshadow them. ("Fresh" is relative here, considering that the TV show ran in 2002 and the movie came out in fall 2005.)

I know Lucas is laughing all the way to the bank, but can we please back off the merchandising for Star Wars? It gets annoying sometimes. I'm almost ashamed to admit I like the idea of the fleet of R2-D2 mailboxes now being deployed by the US Post Office.

I'll stop now, because your new post already is up and I'm probably talking to myself.

[Moksha Gren]

Si - Not so much a cry for attention as much as an attempt to start a conversation to my liking. Typed comments are a strange medium sometimes. As I was writing my comment, I was thinking, "This is exactly how I would say thsi if I were sitting on the couch with friends." I'd lob and friendly bait out there and then we'd all pick arbitrary sides in our dork-scussion and hash it out. On the Internet the same comment can come across like trolling. But...I figured...hey, these guys knwo me...and this is kinda like Si's couch. So I lobbed it. Sadly...no one came to Captian Mal's defense until well after my bedtime.

But thanks for the hug none-the-less.

Mark - Never fear...I'm here to read your rant. And since this probably isn't going to turn into a big back and forth debate...I suppose I'll just go ahead and tell the boring ol' truth.

Firefly/Serenity was a blatent Star Wars rip...Joss even discusses it. But, it captured more of the essence of what I loved about the original Star Wars trilogy than any of the new Star Wars films. More Star Wars than Star Wars, I say.

And I thnk it's ok to like the USPS R2-D2 because it's genuinely clever. If all SW merchandise was so clever...I don't think I'd be so sick of it. But sadly, SW has become a hollow shell with a thick crust of merchandise glued to the outside. Which is not to say that I won't be there when the Clone Wars show up on my TV (I'm a junkie...I admit it)...but I will say I'm less excited than I should be given how much all this meant to me growing up.

[Mark]

Oh, of course it's a Star Wars rip. I must have just forgot to mention that. I recall more than once Whedon saying Mal was inspired by Han Solo. Ragtag smuggler on a ship that has problems but still performs with some TLC, and all the while evading an evil empire that purports to just keep the peace and keep everybody content, and finds he has a heart inside after all.

Solo was never a soldier, as far as I know, and I think that adds a great bit of depth to Mal's character, especially when they run up against the Alliance (for those who don't know, "Alliance" means "bad guys" in Firefly, unlike in the SW universe).

Anyways, I see what you mean about Firefly being more Star Wars than Star Wars (in its recent form, anyway). I love them both, but the SW stuff has gone downhill (although I admit I loved ROTS).

[Émilie B]

Googled the mailboxes successfully, but both Google and Wiki are failing me in regards to "TLC" in that context. I am a geek - but will happily blame this one on the language or culture difference - please explain.

And oh yes, in order to improve my request: :)

[Simon]

Émilie, Mark just meant that Han Solo used a lot of Tender Loving Care in the operation of the Millennium Falcon.

[Émilie B]

Thanks. :)