Thursday, September 6, 2007

Well, that didn't go as planned.

Got nothing done this past week or so. Last Friday got a call from mom: basement flooded. Had to drive there and help move stuff to garage, throw stuff out. This went on through Saturday, Sunday, and Monday. Spent Tuesday recuperating and drove back around noon on Wednesday. This seems to have become the standard process of my weekend visits.

In between boxes I managed to read some of my A Familiar Dragon omnibus, and watch the first season of Heroes with mom, which was very good. For a show with that title, there is a surprising amount of moral ambiguity on display. Most of the characters are neither wholly good or wholly bad, except for maybe Peter and Hiro, who both still have their flaws (Peter's unconditional caring for his family often leads him to trust the wrong people, and Hiro's idealistic notions of heroism are vaguely self-centered). The characters are often depicted as people stuck in situations with no easy solutions, and having to struggle through, or making wrong but basically understandable decisions that there is no way to get out of within the system. Even the villainous mastermind, Linderman, a vaguely justifiable reasons for his actions, if you're a far out Utilitarian, and serial killer Sylar is given nuance and sympathy (a choice which actually makes him even scarier).

I had some minor squabbles: the evil masterplan is stolen wholecloth from Watchmen, and I think some of the character development is a little quick for a five week period, especially that involving the Nikki/Jessica plotline, but other than that, the show is pretty awesome. There are people with super powers in it, after all. Can't wait for the next season to start.

Unfortunately, this means I now have to get a dvd player and tv, so I can watch all the commentaries and special features. Hurm.

Hopefully, I will get back to writing my story tonight. I hope to finish it by the the end of the week. Which is what I planned last week, but, hey, flooded basement, right.