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How important it is for us to recognize and celebrate our heroes and she-roes! ~Maya Angelou

Formerly known as Decoration Day, Memorial Day is a United States federal holiday celebrated on the last Monday in May. Memorial Day commemorates U.S. soldiers who died while in military service. It was first implemented to honor soldiers who died in the American Civil War, but was expanded after World War I to include American soldiers who lost their lives in any war. It is a day to honor heroic Americans of past generations.

Remember those heroes who died for the freedoms we enjoy today.

More like the cave of HELL!!!

Not to get manic or anything but OMG, the Cave of Ordeals in Twilight Princess is not easy. For those of you who don’t know what the Cave of Ordeals is – it is a series of underground rooms (50 of them) where you fight every single monster you’ve encountered through Zelda’s Twilight Princess. The entrance to the Cave of Ordeals is located in the southeast of the Gerudo Desert.

Basically, you have to beat your opponents to advance to the next room. After every 10 rooms, you meet a great fairy who offers you the option to leave the Cave of Ordeals but you lose all progress, and will need to start over from room 1 if you choose to do it again. And you don’t get much help while you’re in there – probably over the 50 rooms, a total of maybe 8 lousy hearts. It sounds like a lot, but trust me, it’s peanuts. You’ll need certain equipment to get through certain rooms like the Spinner, Ball and Chain, Dominion Rod, and Double Clawshot.

I was pumped and loaded up on rupees (to use the Magic Armor), had all four bottles filled with all manner of rejuvenating  potions – blue potion, great fairy’s tears, red potion, a plethora of arrows and bombs, and I still got done for. Guess where? The last freaking cave!!!

Oh I hate the Darknuts. Evil, armored nasties. One of them is hard enough, but seriously three??? I managed to get all their armor off but couldn’t get them before the got me. Anyway I was so mad. Still waiting to calm down to do it again. Plus, I just found out that any subsequent time you try the Cave of Ordeals after the first, you have to fight FOUR darknuts. So not right. I need some serious strategy.

Damn you Cave of Ordeals!!! *shakes fists to sky*

Talk about classic Fringe ending! Freaking awesome! Even though I haven’t been blogging about Fringe over the season, I had to do a post on the very cool season finale, which aired in two parts.

So basically if you’ve been following Fringe, you’d know that Walter brought his son Peter from an alternate dimension to save him from a terminal disease when his own Peter in his own dimension died. His grieving wife was so happy to have her boy back that Walter didn’t return Peter to his own dimension. He stole him. Outside of the typical Fringe events, eventually Peter finds out, and furious with Walter, he returns to his dimension with his real father, who we later learn has sinister plans for him. Peter is the biological trigger to a weapon that “Walternate” (as nicknamed by Walter) will use destroy the other universe.

Walter, Olivia, and three other grown-up “soldier children” go to the alternate universe to find Peter. In the end, it is Olivia who gets Peter to return with her even though it’s not his own reality – she tells him that she needs him with her…because she loves him. About time, I say!

However, in a shocking twist, Olivia’s alternate self switches places with the real Olivia just as she, Peter, and Walter go back to their own dimension (with William Bell’s help). The episode ends with her going to the typewriter that connects the universes, and she writes, “Infiltration complete.” Alas, Peter still won’t get the love of his life.

The Fringe season finale had some pretty cool moments especially when Olivia comes face-to-face with herself, and even kicks the crap out of her alter-ego. It was cool to see the other versions of the characters that we are used to from the one dimension. Even Walternate is cool – he is the Secretary of Defense in the alternate universe. It was neat to see him so much more put together than the brilliant but feather-headed Walter that we’ve come to know and love. “The only thing better than a cow is a human! Unless you need milk. Then you really need a cow.” Classic.

Great season finale! Looking forward to next season – with the Olivia-spy in place, the real Olivia in captivity in the alternate universe, Peter in love with Olivia (and fake-Olivia’s response), Walternate still planning the end of the Walter’s dimension, and anything new that Walter comes up with!!! Cannot wait!

Fringe airs on Fox, and will return Fall 2010.

What-the-Dickens was a tougher read than normal for me. I found myself engaged by some pages, yet not by others, and this meant slow going overall. When I was interested, I read. When I wasn’t, my page-turning ability crept at a snail’s pace.

In Gregory Maguire fashion, this novel is a fairy tale about the origin of tooth fairies or as he calls them, skibbereen, and the tale of one skibberee in particular called What-the-Dickens. The story is narrated by a young man who is caught in the middle of a storm while looking after his young cousins. Sans parents, the peculiar fairy-tale is what helps them survive the storm with no food, electricity, or contact with anyone. What-the-Dickens is a story within a story.

It begins when What-the-Dickens (the skibberee) is born alone in a discarded empty tuna-fish can, and has to fend for himself to discover what he is, how to use his filmy webbed-wings, and come to terms with his natural affinity for teeth of all shapes and sizes. Eventually in his random travels (which includes falling in love with a cat called McCavity, being adopted by a bird, and relieving a tiger of a sore tooth), What-the-Dickens finds a colony of skibbereen, and discovers that he is a tooth fairy or as they call it, an “agent of change.” Despite being told what his place in the skibbereen world is and his inability to change his fate (or that of others), What-the-Dickens breaks all the rules and charts his own course.

That said, What-the-Dickens is a likable enough character, if a little clueless, and at times quite blah. There’s little to no character development outside of him so it feels a little one-dimensional. Further, the language does get a bit annoying at times, and the story seems to have more pace in certain areas while it becomes a lot more tedious in others. It felt very contrived and forced. On top of that, the tooth fairy seemed more real than the world of the actual children caught in the storm. Maybe it would have been better as a story on its own without the children? I just didn’t like the original setting of the story – with the uber-religious, home-schooled, social pariah children. It’s just bizarre. I mean, what was the point of their separation to the world, or even their dynamics with each other in relation to What-the-Dickens’ story? I didn’t get it.

This book didn’t read like Wicked, which seemed to be geared to an older audience and was far more gripping and entertaining. What-the-Dickens fell far short, if only because I expected a lot more given Maguire’s other books. Overall, I was definitely disappointed. I cannot believe that this was a NY Times bestseller.

Great premise, very poor execution. I would rate What-the-Dickens 1 and a half stars, just for concept.

All in all, definitely not a bad season finale for ABC’s V. They could have definitely offered up more visually for the half-human/half-lizard baby other than the tiny glance of a green snaky tail wrapping around Ryan’s finger. After my last post of the 1980′s plasticine version, I wanted to see more! Lots more. However, that said, I do have to say though that given the whole theme of human empathy throughout the final episode that it was a nice touch that the baby recognized and loved its father. That was sweet (and cute). Awww. Speaking of Ryan, I think he may turn back to Anna’s bliss unless the baby’s connection allows him to resist her. That would be neat.

Got another glimpse of the alien teeth when the soldier was feeding and even though it was cool to see that again, I felt like it was used material. I wanted to see something new other than angler-type teeth and weird slitted eyes for the Vs. In some way, it also lessened that look for Anna as the queen, if that makes sense. It would have been way cooler if the soldier’s teeth had been slightly different. But I guess they are her spawn.

Still can’t stand Kyle Hobbs or Chad Decker, and was glad to see that Chad got set straight after Joshua told him to go check out the human experiments. Too bad that they had to reuse the other initially cool scene of the torture needle table. Wish that they had showed some other funky human experimentation device. Chad was totally Anna’s little dog as they called him, and so self-righteous that I wanted to punch him in the face, especially when he betrayed the gang. It was so awesome when Joshua told him that Anna put an aneurysm in his head, she didn’t take one out. Classic Anna.

I completely LOVED Lisa’s role in this episode and how she just brings it. Love how Joshua called her “my queen” after she told him that he was very brave. That was another awesome moment. Speaking of Joshua, bummed that his old version died, but am interested to see what they’ve reincarnated/healed and whether he will remember anything of his past empathy and Fifth Column ties. Erica was super strong in this episode too! It was great to see her stand up (although most of it was tongue in cheek) to Anna. And when she walked into the egg room (barf!) and dropped the blue energy grenade (hey, that was new!), that was incredible!

Anna’s all too human response at the end was awesome when she finds the destroyed eggs. Loved the little smile on Lisa’s face as she watched her mother get wracked by human loss. Sign of things to come, people, things to come.

And I guess the red sky at the end means that Anna has declared war officially – maybe it’s the sign for the Vs to move in. Either way, it was definitely a cool and ominous way to end the episode.

Can’t wait to see if they renew V for a second season. Sci-fi has always found it tough to remain on network television so we will see if V returns in the Fall, even at the very least a mini-series like the original. Need the closure!!

Iron Man 2 is a worthy sequel to Iron Man with tons of action, gadgetry, cool special effects, and classic Tony Stark one-liners. Sitting at 75% on the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer, Iron Man 2 was worth the wait (and hype). As Tony Stark/Iron Man, Robert Downey Jr. is charismatic, witty, and charming. You can’t help but like him, as he continues on in the same vein of Iron Man one with flippant brilliant billionaire arrogance – “I have successfully privatized world peace!”

Add in a couple cool new characters – Mickey Rourke (Sin City and The Wrestler) as Ivan Vanko, the villain, Scarlett Johansson (He’s Just Not That Into You and The Nanny Diaries) as his sexy assistant slash kick-ass agent, Natalie Rushman, Sam Rockwell (Confessions of a Dangerous Mind) as the competitive but flaky weapons distributor, Justin Hammer – and the momentum just takes off. Iron Man 2 is well-acted, action-filled, unpretentious, and pure feel-good comic-book fun that doesn’t take itself (or previous performance) too seriously.

Brief synopsis. Tony Stark is Iron Man. At a senate hearing where the US government is trying to get its hands on the Iron Man suit as a weapon, in classic fashion, Tony responds, “To turn over the Iron Man suit would be to turn over myself, which is tantamount to indentured servitude. Or prostitution, depending on what state you’re in.” Classic! He then shows videos of different countries, including Justin Hammer, trying to imitate the Iron Man suit to dismal failure, claiming that the technology for anyone else to mimic Iron Man is years away. The villain in this installment is Ivan Vanko or Whiplash, a physicist whose father was a co-designer of the arc reactor. He wants to destroy Tony Stark for destroying his family and builds an energy suit to show that the invincible Iron Man can be hurt and that the technology isn’t years away. “If you can make God bleed, then people will cease to believe in him … All I have to do is sit here and watch, as the world will consume you.” Sure enough, smelling blood in the water, the smarmy Justin Hammer coerces Ivan Vanko to help him build and automate the next generation of advanced tech robotic soldiers.

In the middle of all of this, Tony learns that the technology keeping him alive is slowly poisoning him. Despite his affirmation to Nick Fury of being an independent gunslinger, “I already told you I don’t want to join your super secret boy band,” they help him to briefly counteract the effects of the toxin so that he can build a new less corrosive source of energy for his heart.

Meanwhile, unfortunately (and predictably), Ivan Vanko has his own end game, and remotely controls all of the droids as well as a second Iron Man suit operated by Rhodie (played in this sequel by Don Cheadle, from Traitor), to kill Iron Man. In a very cool end scene with lots of sick flying maneuvers and pyrotechnics, Iron Man and Rhodie (who regains manual control of his suit with Natalie’s help) fight off all the droids and defeat Whiplash.

End scene = Tony Stark kisses Pepper Potts after he saves her from the final explosion. No fun and games with the baddass, latex-clad ScarJo (yep, see insert, she’s smoking hot), instead he gives his heart openly to Pepper. Awww.

Overall, Iron Man 2 was great start to finish, and full of humorous banter, great action sequences, and solid acting with great cast chemistry. All of the pieces and characters came together well, with of course a future set up for other installments in the Iron Man franchise. There’s nothing new here – hero is idolized, villain plots to kill hero, best friend betrays hero by aligning with his enemies, hero overcomes self-pity and rises to defeat villain, hero makes up with best friend, hero gets girl.  The technology and robotics are similar to the original Iron Man, the characters more or less have the same light-hearted, witty relationships (even Vanko who wants his “burd” is hilarious), but the banter and overall humor together with the adrenaline-filled fight/actions scenes fuel this sequel. I don’t think it was a filler for a planned upcoming Avengers movie, in fact, I think Iron Man 2 stands alone quite well. I enjoyed it thoroughly.

I would rate Iron Man 2 four out of five stars for good entertainment value and great humor. Fans of Iron Man (the movie) will enjoy it. Fans of the comic book series may be looking for something a bit more fleshed-out.

Either way, I’ll leave you with another Tony Stark classic. “If it’s one thing I’ve proven, it’s that you can count on me to pleasure myself.”

Holy BOMBSHELL!!

The Vampire Diaries season finale was awesome! Love, love, love the ending with the twist! Guess who’s back!? I’ll give you a hint – it’s not Slim Shady.

I thought it was totally weird that Elena would kiss Damon especially after she was so sincere with Stefan, but I sort of expected it given the little covert eye looks and flirtation going on between them the last few episodes. Damon is hard to resist. Even earlier on this episode, she asks him to stop his flirty little comments and “that eye thing” that he does. Damon says “what eye thing” and then does it! Naughty, naughty. I am definitely feeling the chemistry between them, and not sure that I like it so much because it’s just wrong (she’s with his brother) or because Damon is so sexy. My guess it’s the latter.

But I digress. Back to Elena/Katherine. I totally started feeling something wasn’t right with “Elena” when she was standing behind the fridge so quietly with some definite vampire-style stealth. But I actually didn’t guess it until she eyed John’s ring. And then of course I almost jumped out of my skin as that knife came down slicing off his fingers and offending ring. Wow. She is vamp fierce. Love the “hello John, goodbye John.” Way to bring Katherine back when all season I’ve been wondering when we’d see her although I still want to know what her end-game is now that she’s killed John Gilbert (or maybe he isn’t dead after all…).

I watched the last five minutes a second time after I knew for sure it was Katherine, and the nuances were subtle. She was Elena, but not quite Elena. She looked different, colder and older. Even in her conversation with Damon, she was strangely curious, especially after he kissed her on the cheek or when he was explaining why he was trying to do the right thing. Because she wasn’t Elena. LOVE how Damon touched his lips after Katherine went inside (invited in no less by Jenna! – “it’s late, you should probably come inside“). He frowns almost like if it was too familiar. Very cool. I really hope he puts two and two together a bit – I’d expect that from Damon, he’s no sucker (um, you know what I mean).

Jeremy was good in this episode but of course what happens with him almost gets eclipsed by all of the action with Katherine and Tyler. I cannot believe that he has taken Anna’s blood and a bunch of pills. On the one hand, it’s such a cop-out, especially after Damon’s heartfelt conversation with him about life not being that easy even as a vampire. But on the other, I can understand why he would want to do it so that he wouldn’t have to feel anything. Part of me wants him to turn, and the other doesn’t. I think it would be way cooler if he became something else, like some kind of half-vampire, half-human.

Bummed that they killed off Anna – she was a very dynamic and interesting character I thought. But I can understand why – her whole reason for living was her mother, so when Pearl got killed, it makes sense that she had to die. Now that I’m writing this, I think that Katherine came back to punish John for what he did to Pearl and Anna – after all, they were originals, part of the 1864 Katherine crew. There’s definitely something going on that we don’t know yet, especially with respect to what is driving Katherine – there are just too many interpretations from everyone else. I want to know what she wants.

Also loved Bonnie in this episode and how totally badass she is – “you saw what I was able to do today…I know who I am now” and the way she tells Stefan that Damon has to shape up or she’ll take them both out. “I’ll take him down even if I have to take you with him.” Definitely cool!

Great season finale! I was a bit sad that we didn’t see more of Tyler or his dad as werewolves except for the very cool but short snippet of his wolf-eye, but I guess they are saving him for next season. It was a little funny that the device also worked on them in addition to the vamps – the mayor definitely was not expecting that! Sad that he’s out of the picture because I liked the rough dynamic between him and Tyler, but I guess Tyler will now need to work it all out on his own.

And now for a very long hiatus until fall…  True Blood will have to keep me company until then! I just have to survive a vampire-free month until June 13, 2010! Ack!

Hmmm…maybe they meant Friction instead of Fruition on ABC’s V because I wanted to throw my television against a wall. Boy, is Anna the master manipulator or what? From working Chad Decker to a T and getting him to push support for the Vs to stay, to physically abusing her own daughter for sympathy and gaining resources to unearth the Fifth Column. She is definitely a piece of work. I do have to say that it was awesome to see the little smile on Joshua’s face after he sees that Lisa can resist Anna’s bliss. That was cool. Lisa has definitely grown on me – hoping that she will become Fifth Column. Love the twist with the algae that could be deadly to the Vs.

On the flip side, Chad Decker still annoyed the pants off me – he’s so needy, it made me feel like barfing. I am hoping that he can make some sort of turnaround in the finale and prove to have a little backbone. He’s like a little terrier lapping at Anna’s heels. Come on already!

I also cannot stand Kyle Hobbs. Seriously, negotiating with Marcus from the Vs? That’s just stupid. After the other three put so much on the line for him and he’s going out on his own. What struck me the most about him in this episode was his conversation with Ryan about having no feeling. It’s a neat reversal because some of the Vs are becoming more human-like because of their connection to human emotion, while Kyle has trained himself to be so emotionless that he is more V-like. He has no empathy. Very interesting take. I loved that despite what Kyle told Marcus, he still refused Anna’s bliss.

Season Finale airs next week on Tuesday 18, 2010 at 10pm EST on ABC. Apart from Hobbs’ dirty dealings with the Vs and Lisa’s growing empathy, looks like a little lizard baby is on the horizon! Don’t forget this cute little guy from the original V series!

OMG. Two words – clawshot hell. This level was all about using the single and then the double clawshot to get around the various floating rooms in the sky.

First word of advice, equip the iron boots whenever you feel the wind start to pick up walking between rooms or you’ll get blown right off the walkways, which means instant death.

Second word of advice, when clawshooting between the peahats, use Z-target to lock on, then press B to jump between them which will be very useful when you have to use spiderman-like instincts to get past the boss’s fire-breath. Try not to press A instead of B otherwise you’ll let go and fall into space or enemies – had to learn that lesson the hard way a bunch of times even with the boss. Z-target doesn’t work with the vines.

Final piece of advice, you don’t have to beat the two Aerolfos – the guys with the clawshot shields that you have to draw down to you before they knock you off your feet (which I thought were way worse than the bosses for some reason) just before the big boss. Just clawshot your way up out of their reach, about the second or third fan, and get to the boss.

Argorok wasn’t too bad. Once you Z-target his tail a couple times, he drops his armor, then the peahats come into play, and it’s clawshot monkey-swing time. Although like I said, I did press A stupidly at the wrong moment and busted out my hearts falling to the ground. Once Argorok stops blowing fire, target him manually (the blue gem on his back) and clawshot to him, whacking him silly. Couple times of this and you’ll be done. Careful though, the last time, he reverses direction on the fire-breath, so you’ll need to rotate and Z-target back along the peahats as quickly as possible until he stops.

Damon is on fire! I love when he took charge vampire-style administering a beat-down on Isobel when she tried to get too fresh. Way to show her who was boss, although it didn’t seem to do much to deter her. Isobel is definitely irritating, even with showing her sensitive side to Alaric in the end. Plus I can’t stop thinking about Mia Kirshner in Not Another Teen Movie where she was adamantly wishing that someone would take a dump on her chest. Not a great image for a bad-ass vampire.

Glad to see that Damon still has his famous one-liners.

Damon: I like being a living dead person!

Cool twist that the invention is part of a weapon to kill vampires, and that Katherine wants it. Although I am not quite sure that I get that. Why would Katherine want to kill the tomb vampires? And also, wouldn’t she be pissed off that Isobel added Stefan and Damon to the kill list? I mean, she did love them both supposedly.

I liked that Bonnie made up with Elena (albeit briefly), and that she was back in the mix to help save Jeremy. She has obviously been working on her skills since her grams died, but I knew the way she looked at Damon after she did the spell on the weapon that she was lying. After all, she did tell him not to trust her and she hates both Stefan and Damon.

Anyway, interesting bit at the end where we find out that John is really Elena’s father. I do want to know why Isobel made the choice to become a vampire in the first place, especially since she confessed to Alaric that it was her biggest regret. Something to do with Elena? And how did she become entangled with Katherine? What’s going to happen with this weapon? Will a float explode???

Season Finale next week! Founder’s Day airs on Thursday on the CW at 8pm.

Checked out the latest V episode on ABC.com tonight. Not bad at all. It’s definitely gaining some momentum, and had a bunch of knee-jerk moments. Like the human experimentation with the “needle” table-cage. That was some serious coolness, well not for the human victim of course. That torture table was sick.

Before writing anymore, I have to say that I absolutely cannot stand Chad Decker. All I want to do is punch him in his smug little dimple over and over and over again. Seriously, for Fifth Column, when Father Jack told them that Chad was the one who told Anna about the attack on the shuttle, they should still have been suspicious. But they just believed Father Jack when he said he’s an ally. I’m not sure. I still think he’s Anna’s little cabana boy.

Loved that Lisa cares enough for Tyler that she broke up with him so he wouldn’t do the live-aboard program. Hated that her mother punched her in the face and told her to say she got attacked by Fifth Column just to try to get Tyler back. And then she tells a sentry to break her legs. That was just cold. Way cold.

Great episode! Now that there’s an FBI-driven task force to hunt down the Fifth Column that Erica is heading up, things can only get more exciting. They need to add more cool people to their little Fifth Column group.

V airs on ABC on Tuesdays at 10pm EST.

Sam Worthington is unstoppable. The Australian actor is seriously a real-life Toruk Makto triumphantly riding the great beast that is Hollywood. Amidst rumors of him being the next pick for James Bond, it’s been confirmed that he will return for a Clash of the Titans sequel and as everyone knows, he’s committed to doing the blue trilogy with James Cameron.

Between Clash of the Titans last week and Terminator Salvation on FIOS, I watched Avatar the other night for the fifth time. Oh yea, I totally went out and bought the no bells-and-whistles DVD for $15.99. I had to have it. Could I have waited for the Director’s Cut supposedly to be released in November? Probably. Did I want to? Hell no. Watching the bell-whistle-less Avatar on a 65-inch HD screen completely filling my peripheral vision in a comfy, dark room was just as good as seeing it in the theater! Add in a glass of wine, and it was a shade better than 3D.

Sam Worthington is not the world’s best actor nor is he the best looking guy in Hollywood, but there’s something about him that is so compelling. Maybe it’s his voice or that turn of the head that he does with his quirky corner of the mouth smile or that rebellious look he gets in his eyes. Whatever it is, I am a huge fan.

I’ve seen a ton of articles about whether Sam Worthington is a good actor or not, and whether he will go the route of Russell Crowe or Gerard Butler, or become a Hollywood action staple and household name. Despite his comments that he prefers guns and swords to kissing (dammit), I do think that he’s a better than average actor so I’m predicting the latter. When I saw Terminator Salvation for the second time, I watched him very closely. He got all of the nuances of his role perfectly. Human who doesn’t know he’s a terminator, incorporating classic tics like the slow but meticulous head survey? Fantastic. I thought he out-shadowed Christian Bale the first time around and this time was even better. Check out my review of that here.

What I love about Sam Worthington is that he seems to jump heart and soul into his roles. He was believable as Jake Sully/Avatar just as he was as Marcus Wright or Perseus. That said, those were action films so I guess we’ll see more of his um, kissing vs. sword abilities, in his upcoming film, Last Night, a romantic drama with Keira Knightly and Eva Mendes.

Sam Worthington is definitely worthy of someone to be watched.

I missed the airing of Blood Brothers on TV last Thursday so I watched it on the CW online, and it was pretty good, especially in full-screen mode. Check it out here.

Things are definitely headed in the right direction! I really liked the flashback scenes, especially the ones in the beginning which tied in Katherine being locked up with Elena locking Stefan up. That scene of both of them through the bars was neat. I like how they brought the images together to connect the past and the present. Getting more of Stefan and Damon’s back-story is also making the plot deeper and more complex with all the different participants.

I love that Jeremy and Anna are back together. Brings back memories before Elena and Stefan became an old married couple. Kidding! It’s cool that she trusts Jeremy enough to give him the scoop of everything going on between Pearl, Damon, and her uncle John. It was a sweet moment when she tells him that he is her weakness. I want to see Jeremy take a more active role, maybe with putting a beat-down on uncle John.

LOVED Elena’s backbone in this episode. I wrote about her being a bit wishy-washy in past episodes. But holy crow! Even I was scared when Stefan got all up in her face, and she just stood her ground even though he went all fangy and veiny in the eyes. Good for her! It’s not just physical gumption, she’s a stronger character too.

Elena: Our actions are what set things in motion. But we have to live with that. [...] You can keep fighting, it’s your choice.

I really like that she’s become Stefan’s rock, believing in him when he doesn’t even believe in himself, especially after learning what Damon has told her. And I totally take back what I said about them being an old married couple. That kiss at the lake was a nice very real moment.

Super interesting twist that Stefan was the one to force Damon to turn when all he wanted to do was die. Stefan’s a little creepy when he’s full out human-blood-loving vampire even in the flashbacks. Anyway, no wonder the guilt is killing him now. So Damon’s got two reasons on why he hates Stefan – because he forced him to turn and because Katherine chose him too.

Damon: You got what you wanted, you and me for all eternity. But hear this brother, I will make it an eternity of misery for you.

Despite all that, Elena is right. Damon does care about his brother. Otherwise why would he care whether Stefan consumes human blood or not, despite his offhand comment about cleaning up after him.

I really don’t like John Gilbert’s character, and can’t believe that he killed Pearl and Harper. I am already hoping that he dies an excruciating death. But death-wishes aside, what is his end-game? And who is Forbes, the guy he called on the phone after he killed Pearl? It’s all getting twisty now especially that Isobel has finally shown up considering John knew her as well. What’s going to happen next? Exciting times!

I can’t wait for next week’s episode! The Vampire Diaries airs on the CW on Thursdays at 8pm EST.

I am guilty of not writing. I blog, I read, I’m even reading the Book Review in the New York Times. But I so have not been writing, and I really need to get back in the saddle. I think it’s because the new novel I am writing is more in the literary vein than it is fantasy so 1) it’s harder, 2) it’s not as exciting as urban fantasy is, and 3) I’m probably just lazy. I do know that I need to push through it because it’s an interesting story (or will be). I’m about 13,000 words in so it’s something and it’s really starting to take shape. I do need to get my arms around what I want to accomplish with it in terms of overall theme/message, and for the first time, I think I am going to need an outline. Stay tuned, I’ll keep you posted on progress.

On my two completed novels, we are still out to submission with Bloodspell, and I’ve sent a 3 page synopsis of the latest novel (a new series!) to my agent, Marly Rusoff. I am hanging in there! But writing is the best cure for waiting, so giddy-up!