Pet Peeve 0, Me 1/2

I used to have a big pet peeve when it came to the Internet: Spelling and Grammar. I'd be zooming along and boom something would be misspelled (usually the biggest culprit) or the grammar would be atrocious. It would make me believe less in the piece I was reading because if the writer didn't care enough to do spelling and grammar check, then why should I care about what they were saying?


I complained about this at the dinner table one night and my teenage daughter said, "Maawwm, did you understand it, did you get what they were saying?"

I said, "Well, yeah, after tripping over the spelling and grammar mistakes, I did."

She said, "Then they did their job - they got the message across. Stop being so nitpicky. Some of these writers on the Internet are ESL."

It dawned on me that she is right. Millions of the writers do not even speak English, much less write it. So, while I still have a pet peeve with print material (which is why I gave myself 1/2) because they have the bastion of the publishing process behind them and should be capable of clean copy, I no longer grit my teeth when I see the mistakes on the Internet.

The way I cie it is this: if u kan git my messeg than i did my jawb.

Stargate Universe? No Universe I want to live in...

I am a die-hard Stargate fan; I own all the DVDs of SG-1 and SGA and the original movie. I wasn't sure what to expect when I watched SGU last night but oh my, was I in for a shock.

The show is not "dark & edgy;" it's chaotic and humorless. The unrelieved drama left me feeling wrung out and depressed.

The appalling sex scene was the first shock and opened the floodgates for the rest. This show is nothing like SG-1 or SGA. Sure, the stargate is there and the original cast from SG-1 is there in brief cameos but after that all familiarity departs the "universe."

I kept trying to wrap my head around the enormity of being several billion light years from Earth and what that would be like for me. Although I cannot say I how I would react for sure, I seriously doubt I would act like the spoiled brats that these characters do. The creators touted the show as "that sort of fear and terror of a tragedy combined with the sense that there is hope for us in the basic ways in which human beings survive." I saw zero hope and lots of panic driven scenes in which the characters are screaming at each other or sniping at each other. The show is also touted as character driven; these characters are driven all right, driven to make us veterans of Stargate drive away in droves. I couldn’t identify with or feel any type of empathy for any of these characters. I lost my dad at a young age and felt zero empathy for the young woman, Chloe, who loses her father; especially after her childish outburst at Dr. Rush afterwards.

Also, there is a rather large continuity plot hole here. Were all these people inoculated with ATA gene therapy? In the Stargate mythology; one has to either have the ATA gene or have had the therapy in order to work Ancient technology. Granted some of it can be "initialized" by someone with the ATA gene and then it works for anyone, but they clearly state that this ship was unmanned. That's a rather large mistake for the creators to make and that’s just the glaring one that kept bothering me as I watched. The Ancient communication devices were deemed hazardous in both SG-1 and SGA; yet Dr. Rush blithely uses it to communicate with Stargate Command and then tells the others that General Jack O’Neill has put him in charge, though we don’t see Jack actually do that, which leads me to believe that is an upcoming plot development. If this ship is as old as it is stated to be, the little flying video cameras Eli finds should have been in Atlantis, which clearly they were not. This is a problem inherent in any type of franchise trying to do prequels of any kind; case in point – R2D2’s thrusters and ability to fly in the Star Wars prequels.

The way I Cie it is this: The show had the feel of reality TV and I absolutely despise reality TV. TV and movies are an escape from everyday reality; the last thing I want to do is watch something that reminds me of that. I will try a few more episodes; I have a DVR that can take care of it for me since I despise commercials too, but if the show doesn’t find any redeeming qualities fast, I won’t waste good space on my DVR hard drive for such drivel.

The RE of Mercury Retrograde

Mercury is about to go retrograde again in a few weeks. Most any astrology website will tell you all the standard do's and don'ts during Mercury retrograde do backup your computer, don't sign contracts, and all the rest. Astrologyzone is good for that.  

While I do backup my computer and don't sign contracts during Mercury retrograde, I've also found other do's and don'ts. Mercury retrograde is about "re." Redoing, rethinking, remembering, regrouping, releasing, reacting, removing, remaining, reorganizing, rebooting.


I discovered rereading during Mercury retrograde. For a long time I never reread my books; I’d read them and set them on the shelf. During a particularly nasty Mercury retrograde, I couldn’t find anything to read. I’d pick up a book and set it down 5 minutes later dissatisfied. Finally, I turned to my groaning shelves and picked a book I’d read before that I really loved and rereading beloved stories was born.


I used to be super anxious about Mercury retrograde; freaking out about computers crashing and not wanting to sign my life away. These days I look forward to Mercury retrograde. I reorganize my thoughts, remember things forgotten and reboot my hard drive by rereading a favorite book.


So the way I Cie it, during September 6th through September 29th I’ll be rereading and rebooting!

The Way I Cie It

Realizing I have strong feelings about life, liberty and the pursuit of whatever was easy.  Deciding to post those strong feelings on a blog for all and sundry to Cie was another matter. 

Having decided to plunge right in, this is The Way I Cie It...