TV Smorgasboard!

Not sure I spelled that right and yes, I'm too lazy at the moment to look it up. But can we get a celebratory, "Yea!" for the start of the fall television season?

True, this means that I'll spend more time in front of the so-called idiot box instead of behind the computer...but I can't help it. For a self-proclaimed sci-fi geek, this year has so many delights to offer. I don't know what to watch first.

Chuck, which I've seen, is silly and cute. Completely unbelievable and totally camp, but fun.

Of course, Heroes is returning and from the first episode it looks like the second season is going to be pretty good too.

Journeyman...eh. I'm withholding judgment.

But tomorrow is Reaper, which looks to hold great potential. And I can't wait to see the new Bionic Woman. Though, I've been hearing less than stellar reviews, but here's hoping they get it sorted out. I don't remember the original, except in a vague way. But it's a cool concept, if done well. And Katee Sackhoff (Starbuck from BSG) can kick ass like no other, though she happens to be the villain (villainess?) in this particular outing instead.

And woo and hoo, Stargate Atlantis returns this Friday. Don't know how I feel about Carter moving to this show. I feel like they've just gotten the chemistry sorted and while I like the character (and the actress), I don't want it to be off-balance again.

But we'll see. I'm just happy to have new shows to watch!

I'm back, baby!

My computer crashed last weekend. As in, it couldn't have hit bottom any harder than if I dropped it off a cliff. All new hard drive required. *sigh* It's taken me most of this week to get it fixed and get it back up and running again.

Fortunately, most of my stuff was backed up, but now I've got to figure out how to get some things back on here. Like, iTunes. *groan*

Okay, so other news...

--I'm working on Zara III, at least trying to get an idea of how and where things start and how they progress. I've never been much an outliner, but I did a rough one for EOB and found that it helped. So, I'm trying to do the same thing here. We'll see. I may end up taking the leap and writing that draft without any solid idea of how we're going to get to the end. I did that with EOB and ended up with something awful for a first draft. It was only after I worked through an outline of what needed to happen and when that I was able to get something workable.

--Look for my debut author ad in RT Bookreviews Magazine's December issue. I'll get it and scan it in here, if I can. : )

--On a purely personal level, I'm very proud to announce that I've lost fifteen pounds since May!

Okay, that's probably all for now. More to come and hopefully sooner rather than later if I can keep my computer all in one piece!

Eyewitness Testimony is unreliable...especially from yours truly.

I'm a terrible eye witness. You have to understand this realization wounds me more than it probably should. I always get angry at the television when people on various crime shows can't remember stuff about the crime or the criminal in question. "Duh," I cry at the screen, "his shirt was green! How did you miss that?" And then you've got the requisite cop or lawyer pointing out how unreliable eye witness testimony is.

And so I've discovered, damn, I'm worse than the stupid people on television (at least they're following a script) and I shudder at the idea of someone being convicted or set free based on what someone else "saw."

Here's the story:
I went to the grocery store the other day to pick up a few essentials, and when I came out with my cart, I heard some yelling on the other end of the parking lot. I looked over, sooo very nosy I am, and saw this guy yelling at a woman. He appeared to be waving his fist in the air and saying something threatening ("Do you want me to lay you down, bitch?" I believe is what I heard him saying) and the woman was backing off with her hands up in the air. I watched for another second, not quite believing what I was seeing, and then I saw her approach him again. And...I just wasn't sure what I was seeing. Were they joking around? I hesitated, and then decided maybe I should call it in. Problem? No cell phone. I left in the charger at home.

So, I left and went straight home (two minutes tops) and called the police. The very nice officer on the other end of the line explained that cars were already in route (which meant, yea, I'd done the right thing by calling, albeit belatedly). Then he asked me some very basic questions about what the man looked like and what he was wearing.

And...I was stuck. I remembered hair color and I thought I remembered shirt color but what I said was evidently different from what other callers had said. Oddly enough, I remembered more what the poor woman was wearing than the scary, threatening dude.

Ugh. I couldn't believe it! My chance to be an eyewitness (not that I wanted to be or that I wanted anything harmful to happen but more to prove that people are smarter than what they depict on crime shows), and I was completely pathetic at it! And you'd think I'd be better with details or more observant, except, hell, I think I make stuff up too often to be relied on for an accurate retelling of just about anything! : ) There are very good reasons why I never attempted journalism.