OK... now that I have this shiny Droid phone (which has a nice keyboard on it, both physically and on-screen, when needed), I no longer have an excuse for avoiding text-message-based things. Gods know I was sending enough texts using the old phone, though doing so grudgingly.

Now you can find me on that Twitter thing: http://twitter.com/kierduros

I've started to go through and add people, but feel free to beat me to the punch. :)Read more

Churches can look really creepy with the right lighting and background. :)
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On Thursday, I came home to an empty couch and a lot more floor space than I've had in a while. My buddy Josh, who's been staying with me for more than a year now, finally had enough going in his favor to continue his long-paused trip.

When he first rolled into town, the weather was awful and it took him a week or so to dry out. Such is the challenge of a cross-country motorcycle trip. Aiming to not leave under similar circumstances, his exit was postponed about a week from what he had planned. In that time, another mechanical issue or two came up with the bike and he found some good deals on a few other things he had been look for.

He left me with a new wireless router and a set of movies I'd been putting off buying for years.

Josh has done this stint of couch-surfing infinitely better than I did back in 2003.Read more

Liv Tyler attempts to escape from one of the interlopers in The Strangers.

It being the Halloween, I’ve been in the mood for horror films.

Over the last few years, there has been no shortage of supposedly scary movies. Problem is, most of the ones I’ve seen haven’t been all that scary.

Disgusting? Yes. Full of loud noises and quick movement? You bet. Violent? Uh-huh. But scary? Really scary? Nope. Not really.

“Really scary” takes some subtlety and time that’s lacking in most modern horror. Instead, writers and directors go for the quick “gotcha!” or the over-the-top blood & gore effects to try to scare the audience. When I first saw the ads for The Strangers, I was a little worried that it was just another torture porn film along the lines of Hostel.

Well, I finally got around to watching it and I’m happy to say that it’s a lot better than I was expecting. The buildup to the scares is a slow burn that gets every edgy nerve going one by one until the anticipation of the inevitable jump is barely alleviated when something actually happens. The characters–both protagonists and antagonists–are mostly a mystery to us, we’re left to fill in backstory all on our own. (Something else too many films don’t do any more–leave a little work for the minds of the audience to do when it comes to characters.)

Kristen (Liv Tyler) and James (Scott Speedman) arrive at a secluded home, James’ parent’s house, that they’ve requisitioned for what was supposed to be a romantic weekend. It’s clear right off the top that things didn’t quite go as planned earlier in the evening–both are upset and distant from one another. The mood is heavy and sad as they go about settling in as best they can, brushing away the spread rose petals and sullenly drinking the champagne straight from the bottle.

That’s when the first knock comes at the door. A young–perhaps teenage, perhaps 20something–girl asks for someone who is definitely neither of them. We never see her face, for some reason the lights on the front porch aren’t working, even though they clearly were before.

And from there, the sadness turns to tension which turns to fear which culminates in a scene of true horror.

And it does it all with a minimal effects budget, next to no gore, mostly implied violence, and a whole lot of atmosphere.

Writer/Director Bryan Bertino did a fantastic job. Granted, the story is about as simple as you can get, but it’s been done much worse before. The run time of the film is short, which is good–any longer and it would have been too much of a strain or filled with gimmicks and cheap thrills. Bertino keeps things tight and tense, something much more seasoned directors seem to have more trouble doing as time goes on.

If you’re prone to an overactive imagination, I recommend you don’t watch this one while home alone, you’ll be jumping at every little noise. And for those who are looking for some sort of gore-fest… well, you probably won’t like this movie at all. Same goes for those who like everything handed to them on a gilded platter. You’re going to have to work your brain just a little to put all the pieces together. But when you do, you’ll get a good solid shiver and a lasting sense of unease that usually only comes from more classic horror films.

After what somehow turned into a moderately stressful day at work, I trudged across town in the cold, misty, rain to pop in to the apartment warming party my co-worker was throwing.

Even leaving work later than I planned and getting stuck behind people who were walking way to slow for my tastes (especially for what the weather was doing), I ended up being the first person there. But only for a few minutes... others were close behind.

Before long, the modest (and well decorated--she is a graphic designer and stuff) apartment was full. Mostly of people I didn't know.Read more

For a moment, let's think about organizations.

We've all been part of one (or a few) over the years. I know my name has shown up on the roster of at least a dozen clubs and things going all the way back to when I wasn't quite in the double-digit ages.

Every one works a little differently, gets its "kick" and forward momentum in different ways. Some are driven firmly by membership, others by leadership and some by outside forces. Those different prime movers make for very different dynamics within the group.Read more

Things in the world outside of that box in front of my couch have kept me a bit behind on much of the new season and a wee bit too busy to get down most of my thoughts. So, here you go, in a short-ish format.

Heroes is wobbling along, sometimes more steady than others. There are some interesting new characters, but a strong, clear theme that helped make season one a popular and critical success–and was missing from the subsequent seasons–is still nowhere near strong enough to raise the show above the bad taste the last season left in many people’s mouths. I think the writers may be biting off more than they can chew by keeping the number of “main” characters as high as they have. Old habits, I guess. I do like the traveling carnival that’s been introduced, though… lots of potential there, especially after this week’s episode.

Castle is still a lot of fun. As a police procedural, it leaves a lot to be desired (man, the cop work is really not that good at all), but as a bunch of pulpy, camp-leaning characters, it is full of win. NathanFillion and Stana Katic are getting even better bouncing dialog off one another and the supporting cast is getting a little more time to shine. If you’re looking for a serious show, don’t bother. If you’re looking for something that’s got some cheese in it, then Castle is where to find it.

The Forgotten, I watched one episode of it and decided it was better left to live out its title. As much as I want to love Christian Slater in anything he does, this show just didn’t grab me at all. I would have been much happier if his vehicle from last season, My Own Worst Enemy, had survived.

Mercy was another show I only bothered to catch one or two episodes of. While it’s fun to see Michelle Trachtenberg (once again) play a sparkly, naive, newbie, it mostly felt just like every other modern hospital drama that I’ve seen ads for.

Modern Family has been a pleasant surprise from the first episode on. The show has heart and a kind of quirky sense of humor about half the stuff in it. The other half is standard sitcom fodder, but is usually carried out with just enough push from the cast that it works. Everything I’ve seen in it so far has either made me laugh or smile, and I’ve always felt better after watching an episode. That’s more than I can say for most shows I’ve ever watched.

Cougar Town had a first episode that just left me not wanting more at all. The way the main character was written in the first episode, co-star Krista Miller would have been a better fit for the lead than Courtney Cox. They seem to have fixed that problem now. The comedy now fits with Cox’s appearance better, making the whole character more sympathetic and, overall, much more funny. They still try a little too hard at times, though… and it looks like this week’s episode is going to be full of “trying too hard” moments.

Eastwick has been a very pleasant surprise. I had more then a bit of trepidation going in, seeing as how I absolutely love the film, but the cast and writers have done a good job of adding enough depth and breadth to the story to keep it interesting and on-message. The leads are doing fantastic jobs bringing three very different characters to life–different from one another and different from the 1987 film, which is good because they are different characters in a different time. Even Paul Gross is doing a good enough job to make me believe his Darryl Van Horne isn’t Nicholson’s in a good way.

Flashforward has a lot of potential. So far, we’ve seen a few different ways of dealing with characters who know a little bit of the future. They’re pacing the questions and answers (and red herrings that may not be so red or so herring) well early on, so they may actually have a plan for where this all is going. At the absolute least, we’re getting some good haunted looks from members of the core cast. If they ratchet up the strange factor just a little bit, they could be on par with early seasons of Lost for water cooler discussion factor. As it is, while I’m hooked, I question if they’ll be able to keep enough of the general population interested to keep themselves on the air.

Supernatural is in its best season yet… and it looks like its only going to get better as it goes on. Last week had a killer Abe Lincoln and Gandhi–with Paris Hilton as a guest star–and it worked fantastically! Sometime in the future, it looks like we’re up for a 70s sitcom inspired demonic infestation and numerous other things that I’m sure will leave me wanting more–but also hoping that the show goes out on top, before it all goes to hell.

Fringe is really ready to take the X-File mantel as “strange FBI show”… but it’s got more scifi in it than Mulder and Scully ever ran into. Kind of hard to avoid when your key plot involves interdimensional travel. The important part is, their characters have grown a lot since the first episode of the series and are now really coming into their own (both literally and figuratively). This is another I’m going to keep watching until they cancel it.

Smallville… I’ve only been able to make myself watch the series premier so far. And that… well… I’d have to go back and check but I think they have once againretconned their own continuity. I really hate that. The plots are also looking more and more ridiculous–some of them look to be right out of the Silver Age comics,wich were always downright silly. Again I say, this show should have ended a few seasons ago and we should be watching The Justice League instead.

Dollhouse has continued its upswing since episode six of season one. They’ve made some compelling changes to the show and have really piqued my curiosity on some other areas of how things work inside theDollhoue. The inevitable bleed-through of past imprints on some of the dolls has been distinctly creepy and sweet to see happen.

There’ll be more once I have the time to dig into the DVR and hit up Hulu.com for back episodes… and then there’s movies I want to talk about, too. Oh, but for more time in a day!

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Ever since work on Browncoats: Redemption wrapped, the cast, crew, and friends have tried to get together at least once a month to keep the fun going.

This time around, it was the MD Renaissance Faire.

For some, it was their first time being at faire. Others more or less grew up there. Everyone had a fantastic time.

How can you not? Elephant rides, bodices and corsets, pirates, armor, mead, beer, wine, food on a stick... what's not to like?Read more

Well, The Emmys are done with and that means every network (other than the CW, which doesn’t seem to care about the Emmys) launches their new seasons full-on in the next week or two.

Monday night finds about half of my stable of favorite shows coming back. Of course, they all overlap.

Two hour premieres of Heroes (NBC) and House (FOX) kick off at 8 p.m. New episodes of How I Met Your Mother (CBS) and Big Bang Theory (CBS) cap off the 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. slot (at 8 p.m. and 9:30 p.m., respectively). Things finally thin out at 10 p.m. when Castle (ABC) looks to be the only thing I’m interested in watching.

All five of those shows left us wanting more when they came to a close in the Spring. Granted, Heroes was struggling a bit to regain its narrative footing after some very poor story decisions and House is quickly running out of tricks to keep things interesting past this season.

How I Met Your Mother, though, continues to charm me with the quirky characters and hard-luck love stories of Ted and company. Sometimes I just relate a little too much to some of those characters. (Of course, that’s nowhere near as problematic as how well I related to the ensemble on Big Bang Theory… half of those outlandish conversations the geek-team has that keep everyone laughing? Yeah, I’ve been involved in those conversations in real life… it’s not too far off. This is why I keep loving this show.)

Castle was a pleasant surprise last season. There was little doubt Nathan Fillion would be fun (he always is), but after the first few episodes the chemistry with Stana Katic fell into place and it was good banter and character play from there on out. The color choices and cinematography for the show are pretty impressive, too. If you haven’t checked it out yet, you probably should.

Tuesday brings us a double-helping of NCIS on CBS, starting at 8 p.m. First we pick up where last season’s cliffhanger left us and then we dive right in to the West Coast deep cover work of NCIS: LA (which actually looks like it may actually be OK, based on the two hour pilot that masqueraded as two episodes of NCIS).

Since I have no desire to watch the second season of 90210 or the new iteration of Melrose Place (both of which kicked in a couple of weeks ago), the only thing the NCIS pair conflicts with is the tail end of SyFy’s new series Warehouse 13 (at 9 p.m.), which has been a lot more enjoyable than I had expected. Again, the points mostly come from good character interaction and some fun stories.

At 10 p.m. you have your choice of watching the stars of two of last seasons canned shows try again. Christian Slater (former of the kind of quirky My Own Worst Enemy, which I liked) comes back in a more standard crime drama called The Forgotten on NBC. It sounds like it’ll be some combination of CSI, Cold Case and Without a Trace. I’m not exactly excited about it.

Also at 10 p.m., over on CBS, is Julianna Margulies’ second try at a lawyer show in as many years. This time around she’s The Good Wife, apparently fighting the good fight from within the walls of an esteemed law firm, no matter what they try to get her to do instead. Sounds a little like Eli Stone without the fun, music or meaning. Best of luck former Nurse Hathaway, I think you may need it to make it past episode six.

Speaking of old NBC medical dramas, on Wednesday, they kick off a new one. Mercy focuses on nurses (not to be confused with the three or four other shows that are doing that this season–some of which started a few weeks ago). I don’t see much to bring me into this, but, as there’s really nothing on against it (though Gary Unmarried premieres its new season during the second half, and that was a kind of funny sitcom), I may check it out a few times.

ABC brings us two new “edgy” sitcom-type shows, Modern Family and Cougar Town, starting at 9 p.m. Both may have some humorous moments in them, but Cougar Town looks to have a little more potential as something almost worth watching. At least it’ll be OK to look at (cast includes: Courtney Cox-Arquette, Crista Miller, and Busy Phillipps, who have all been very entertaining in the past). Modern Family, though, may actually be the one to watch as it looks like it is fully capable of hitting big on satire and social commentary points.

At 10 p.m. on Wednesday, ABC introduces the one show that made just wonder “WTF?”. Seems that after 22 years, they’ve decided it’s time to put a show based on The Witches of Eastwick on TV. (They apparently tried back in 1992, but failed to sell it.) This time around, simply titled Eastwick, Rebecca Romijn, Lindsay Price and Jaime Ray Newman play our “witches”. Being a fan of the 1987 movie, these women have some pretty big shoes to fill in my book. (And we won’t even talk about how Paul Gross is going to take on a part that Nicholson made fantastic… or speculate on how the heck they’re going to stretch the plot out for a whole season, let alone multiple ones if they somehow manage to last that long.)

On Thursday, I finally have an excuse to not watch the CW’s whiny vampire Twilight-wannabe series The Vampire Diaries. The first two episodes have been nothing short of trite, predictable and flat, at best. Especially when followed up by what looks to be the greatest season of Supernatural yet.

At 8 p.m. ABC brings us the newest strange mystery show in their line up, this time from hit-or-miss creators Brannon Braga and David S. Goyer. The premise–everyone on the planet passes out for exactly the same two minutes and wakes up remembering various points in their own futures–sounds cool enough, so I’ll be tuning in to see if they manage to keep it interesting. It could be the next Lost-level hit for ABC. Or not.

The only real downside is that it’s on opposite Bones (FOX), which is one of those great shows that I never really watch.

Thursdays at 9 p.m. is shaping up to be the crazy spot on the schedule for me. Supernatural on the CW is the must see of the hour, with FOX’s Fringe running a close second (in last week’s season premiere, there were two distinct references to the X-Files–one in the series’ setting fiction and one in the series’ setting reality… curious to see where they’re going with that). This week we also have the return of Grey’s Anatomy, which I’m now officially two seasons behind on. Not sure how the show’s doing, but people still talk about it, so it’s probably got at least one more season in it. On NBC you have The Office and Community, the latter I haven’t caught yet, but everyone knows the former draws a crowd.

The week rounds out with the return of a couple of old favorites.

At 8 p.m. Smallville returns for what we can only hope will be its final season. I don’t even know if I’m going ot bother watching any of this seasons episodes in real time. Last season was abysmal as far as continuity and story were concerned–this show should have ended a couple of years ago or, at least, segued into a Justice League spinoff.

Thankfully, in the same time slot over on CBS, The Ghost Whisperer debuts for its new season on its new network. Now the lead in to Medium, you can get two hours of ghost-influenced chicks. Should be interesting, seeing as how things were left last season with Melinda and her growing family.

Oh, there’s also the ever-present Law and Order that can be seen on NBC.

The real show I’m looking forward to is Dollhouse. Joss Whedon was lucky I stuck with him through five iffy episodes last seasons. He hooked me with episode six, though, and had me holding on for a solid ride in the second half of the season. Now, with a well-established playing field and some interesting threads running, I’m curious to see what he’s going to do with the second season.

If nothing else, it’s going to be an interesting first few weeks of the new season. I’ll be placing bets on which ones will last more than three episodes before being bounced and, ultimately, canceled by their networks. So far, my money is on any new medical drama or lawyer show to get the boot before episode six. That market is still over-full with CSIs, Law & Orders and lingering misty eyes for ER. Of course, half the shows I like are also apt to get the boot.

With my current schedule getting in the way of all sorts of things, I have yet to write what I planned on for this space.

Luckily, friends in other places stumble across interesting things.

For example, here’s a little vintage educational film about dating…

By today’s standards, that’s some amazingly tame (and downright square) stuff. At least for most people I know. Even more so for those of us in our third decade.

But it did get me thinking about two things: First Dates and Best Dates.

And since I’m pressed for time, I turn the stage over to you, dear readers. Tell me stories of your First Date and/or of your Best Date.

P9120038

Originally uploaded by KierDuros

Friday night was the normal game night scheduled at Casa de Tall People.Read more

It wasn’t so much an accident as it was a gesture.

Not a Grand Romantic Gesture. More of a “it seemed like the right thing to do” gesture.

Whatever it was, it lead to me being on the dance floor with a beautiful woman in my arms, both of us laughing a bit and swaying to that song that everyone only knows from Fallout 3.

I’d noticed her a little earlier in the evening. It was crowded at the club that night, a lot of new faces, bunches of rarely seen ones, and a solid cadre of familiar and friendly. But her I noticed. Standing off to the side of the dance floor while I was twitching on it during some particularly fun songs. Once or twice, I may have spun at just the right time to see a slight smile on her lips.

At the time, I (of course) didn’t think much of it. After all, it couldn’t possibly be me she was looking at, the dance floor was crowded. And if it was me, well, then, she certainly wasn’t looking at me that way.

But as I picked my way through the crowd to snap some photos of friends, at their request, as they took to the floor to dance to a rare slow song, I paused for a moment as someone asked “What song is that?”

Being the music genius I am, I was able to quickly reply, “I don’t  know… but I’m pretty sure it’s from Fallout.”

To which a third person chimed in, “I heard it on Torchwood.”

“Or maybe there,” I agreed with a grin.

And that’s when Rose and I started chatting a bit.

By fate or by plan, she just happened to be right there when an opening for conversation appeared. It took me a moment, among the spinning lights and swaying people, to recognize her as the girl I had noticed earlier.

I snapped pictures of my friends and found out little tidbits about her. She was from my neck of the woods in Maryland, but originally from Baltimore. Had been to the club before but never “unencumbered”.

Her face was fantastically expressive and her energy high. She wore a shirt with long, flowing sleeves and another, shorter sleeved one on top of it. Around her neck was a sparkling, solid pendant of some sort–it shimmered a bit in the light, masking it’s actual shape.

The song ended and, just as the couples began to shuffle off the dance floor, the oh-so-familiar guitar picking came across the speakers. “I don’t want to set the world… on… fire,” crooned the Inkspots.

A dude with short cropped hair and a t-shirt came up alongside Rose, opposite me, and asked her to dance.

“I don’t know what to do,” she said. “Here I am torn between two men.”

It took me a good ten seconds to realize what those words and that big-eyed glance in my direction actually meant.

And so, I extended my hand and out onto the dance floor we went.

That shirt she wore was cashmere soft and the curves beneath it pleasant. She thanked me for helping her dodge the other guy and smiled. She smiled a lot and leaned in close. We sang along with the song, at times gazing into one another’s eyes, joy quite evident all around.

Now, those who know me, know that I have enough trouble dancing with myself. I’m still amazed I haven’t totally wiped out during nights out at the club. So, I had to apologize once or twice for not being all that great at dancing with someone else. But there were no toes stepped on and, when the song ended, there were still smiles.

And a hug.

And a peck on the cheek.

It was at that point that I’m pretty sure my brain just turned off and old habits took over.

There was some clumsy conversation that eked out a few more details. Then a friend of mine wandered over, I introduced him to Rose, found out that they had already met a little earlier in the evening. We all chatted for a bit, then he moved on and she and I stood there silent for a few beats.

I think she said something about needing to get some water (it was lost to me in the thrumm of the much heavier song that had come into rotation) and she bopped up to the bar.

I stood where I was. Kind of waiting. Kind of in a daze. Brain obviously still not quite comprehending what was going on.

When she didn’t come back after a few minutes, I took a look around and saw her chatting with a few other people. I wandered around, reconnecting with the numerous people I knew. After about ten minutes, my thinking systems had rebooted and it became kind of important for me to get some way of getting in touch with her in the future.

By then, of course, she had vanished into the crowd.

The last I saw of her that night was as she came out of the bathroom and slipped behind the back side of the bar toward the exit. I didn’t make it through the crowd quick enough to catch her and she never came back in.

Later that night, I was outright asked to dance by another, much more gothy, girl. I accepted. The experience was so completely different from my dance with Rose it made the former stand out all the more. Here there were awkward turns and stumbles, more failed concentration than conversation or laughter. I was the only one singing along to the song (what was the song? I can’t even remember now). That ended and there was no motivation to follow, to even find out her name.

Part of that was because I’d seen her ask another guy to dance before she turned to me. (Later I’d find out she’d been asking many people to dance.) Mostly, though, there was a total lack of spark… of connection.

Of fun.

And now, half a week has gone by and I wonder if Rose is going to be at the club on Saturday. I wonder if I’m going to recognize her if she’s done her hair differently or is wearing a different outfit. If she’ll recognize and remember me.

Mostly, though, I smile as the song rolls through my head.

(So, uh, if any of you reading this actually know Rose… get her in touch with me. Please?)

As someone who stands outside of all the mainstream religious institutions, there are some things that, once upon a time, were kind of tricky to do without bending or breaking either one’s beliefs or the law.

Back in the early days of the World Wide Web, a group came along that made doing at least one of those things infinitely easier.

The Universal Life Church hit the Web kind of big in the mid to late 1990s. I was in college and involved more than a bit with a group of self-identified pagans, witches and other assorted metaphysicists. Creative and caring people, all, we were thrilled to hear that we could now become ordained as ministers with just a few clicks of the mouse.

What did that mean? Mostly, at that time, for most of us, we could wave around a fancy title and wistfully drone on about how we were now “official” in one sense or another. On a deeper level, though, it meant that in the eyes of the law, we were now able to do things that only the hierarchy of the major religions or duly appointed civil officials could do. Things like officiate weddings and create congregations.

Many who become ordained by the ULC do nothing other than smile with the knowledge that they’ve “bucked the system” just a little bit. So there is little danger of things actually going bad.

Those who do use their new credentials, do so to perform weddings for their friends, help build community, and take on the task of becoming educators and spokes people for their particular brands of faith. They are empowered to become better, they seek out the knowledge and wisdom–or use their official ordination to legally put that knowledge and wisdom to good use.

The world has changed a lot since the ULC first hit the web. Minority religions have gained much more recognition–usually by tooth and nail legal battles against those who just don’t understand where they’re coming from. Wicca and a few other pagan religions are officially recognized now and there’s not quite as much need for the “anyone can get ordained” credo of the ULC.

More than a decade since I first clicked through the original ULC website, I’ve re-registered and become (again) an ordained minister. This time, I’ve dropped the few dollars to have all the paperwork printed up and sent to me.

This time, I’ve got a much more clear purpose. Years of actual work and contemlation, study and practice, have lead me to the knowledge and wisdom that I think any practicing minister (of any faith) should have. Now I can proudly and more legitimately lay claim to a title of authority–no matter the issuing body.

But more important than all that, I’ve been asked to officiate the wedding of a dear old friend’s sister-in-law.

And that–that bit of trust and respect, that call for responsibility–would make me jump through just about any hoop to make it happen.

Wednesdays seem to be popular nights for people with common interests to get together.

This time around it was DC Media Makers.

DCMM is a neat group that I was introduced to when the producers of Browncoats: Redemption made an appearance there a few months ago to talk about the film. I've been going back ever since.Read more

Whenever I go into a new place for the first time, be it a public space or a private one, I like to get there before the big crowd shows up.

If at all possible, being there alone is preferable.

In that time, before the rolling froth of individuals churns through the aether, I can get what I like to consider a baseline reading of the location.

It’s nothing too fancy or complex… just a feeling for the default state of things.

Why? Because then, when things get wild and crazy later on, I have an anchor point–somewhere to link my own personal balance to, somewhere to retreat to if I need to let a storm pass.

Sure, without that baseline reading, I can still go by my own tried and true baseline, my personal Universal anchor point. But that leaves me feeling very disconnected from the world around me and truly reduces my effectiveness in restoring balance to a situation (if such action is needed).

It’s been my experience that most people–especially those who are just starting to get the feel for the deeper energies of the world around and within them–just go bobbing along with the tide or spend all their energy fighting the direction of the current. Neither of these reactions is exceptionally conducive to creating change or encouraging personal growth.

By finding an anchor point in the regional baseline–in the raw egregore of the location–you share a connection with everyone else there. The difference is, you have a solid reference point from which to judge how things are going. You can differentiate between “This isn’t what I like” and “This is actually going in a bad direction.” More importantly, because of that connection to the location and the masses that inhabit it, you can serve as a pivot-point to help redirect negative energy and assist in avoiding unnecessary conflict.

How do I do it? Mostly just be quietly opening myself up to the energies of an area. Deep breathing, an open mind, and being aware of my own personal center all help. When the connection with the local baseline is made, I feel a distinct “thunk” of things falling into place. Like the dropping of a metaphysical anchor. From that point on, I can take better control of my own motions through the environment–either letting that anchor skitter along that baseline or dropping it full down to let me hold my position.

Of course, totally pulling up (or cutting loose) that anchor is also an option. If you’re going to do that, though, you better have a quick exit strategy planned or be ready to bob around a bit violently if you’re in stormy weather.

Between knowing your personal baseline and being familiar with where you are, you’re automatically in a better position to deal with whatever comes along–be it good or bad.

Last week I hit up my second DC Bloggers Meetup.

While it wasn't quite as crowded as last month's, it was just as enjoyable.

Writing can be a solitary thing. The Internet started to change that with the advent of BBSs. The Web kicked the public side of writing into overdrive.

No more was a writer limited by geography or access to a print shop (and time/money to distribute that printed material). Once the mid-90s hit, anyone could set up a website. I've been online since 1994.Read more

Her dress was a bright, primary blue, low cut and just barely made it midway down her thigh.

After my normal Saturday night out, I hopped on the Metro and sat down in a seat near the middle of the car. The girl in the blue dress was already there, one seat ahead and on the opposite side of the car. She was engaged in a conversation with two guys in button-down short sleeve shirts and khaki shorts. They were probably wearing sandals.

While the color of the dress caught my attention, what drew me in was the conversation. The cadence of her voice spoke of self-assurance (and a lack of heavy drinking that night). The words were laced with a vigor and wit that far surpassed the comprehension of the two guys.

It was only after that made me smile that I noticed the cut of the dress and the large and deep “U” shaped scar just below her right knee. It was what he was talking about.

I wonder if the story she told, of falling on a brick sidewalk after a night of heavy drinking was true or just an entertaining fiction to keep the still-inebriated boys at bay. With her confidence and athletic build, I’d be more inclined to believe it was a sports injury.

Alas, I will never know.

They boys, after one last, desperate failed attempt to get her number, got off one stop after I got on. As the doors closed, she smiled and shook her head in that all too familiar “What a couple of losers” way, laughing to herself, probably for the same reasons I was laughing to myself.

She didn’t look in my direction. If she had, she would have seen me smiling and I would have felt compelled to make a comment about the scar and the story she told.

At the next stop, she got off the train, leaving me along with my lingering crush and imagined stories I’d tell if I had a similar scar.

According to Movieweb.com, come November, Farscape will finally be available in one complete box set.

Some of us have been waiting a very long time for this.

Twice before the series started to get released, first in bulky, expensive, partial season boxes then in the more streamlined, slightly less expensive, and no less partial “Starburst” edition sets. I know I sank well over $200 into the most of season one that I have before I gave up (when the Starburst sets started to come out). I vowed to never buy another set of Farscape DVDs until I was sure they were going to be done right.

Well, a full series set for about $150 with what sounds like all the extras from the previous versions, plus some new stuff, is right enough for me.

If you’re a sci-fi fan and haven’t seen Farscape, you’re missing out. Created by Rockne S. O’Bannon (who did some fantastic work on The New Twilight Zone back in the late 80s), it tells the story of John Chrichton (Ben Browder), an American test pilot who finds himself thrown an unknown distance across the universe and surrounded by aliens (a number of which–including two main characters–who were provided by the Henson Creature Shop). The ever-growing ensemble cast brought together some of the most fun actors science fiction has to offer: Claudia Black, Anthony Simcoe, Gigi Edgley, Lani Tupu and Virginia Hey to start with more added as the story progressed.

A solid mix of drama, humor and homage to what’s come before it, Farscape was the best thing on the SciFi Channel (now SyFy) right up until they unceremoniously canceled it.

Come November, the whims of a network program director won’t matter any more. We’ll all be able to indulge in the adventures of the motley crue of escaped convicts trying to do the right thing (and stay alive).