I love Future Islands. They are a synthy band out of Baltimore,
Maryland that reminds me of early David Bowie and even The
Smiths/Morrisey, though they are definitely unique in their own right.
Gerrit Welmers singing voice has a way of tearing me apart and I find
myself thanking him for the utter unhinging.
So today I feel like almost dead flowers. I tend to be taken by
melancholy when I am at the bridge of a big event, like my sister's
wedding. I wonder what I will do when I have more time for silence. I fear idleness above all else.
Today I made a playlist for my mood. It brings
me joy in the way only only those who have been kissed by sadness can
understand. It is so lovely.
Future Islands Mix 1. Sun in the Morning 2. Like the Moon 3. A Dream of You and Me 4. Back in the Tall Grass 5. The Fountain 6. Seasons (Waiting on You) 7. Song for Our Grandfathers 8. Vireo's Eye 9. Tin Man 10. Inch of Dust 11. The Happiness of Being Twice 12. Give Us the Wind 13. Light House 14. In the Fall
For the past year being there for my sister Anna while she planned her wedding has been an experience I will always cherish. I'm so incredibly excited that in 5 sleeps I will be waking up with the excited buzz of wedding bliss. R.J. is already like a brother to my husband and me and I look forward to every moment of their upcoming nuptials. Now I just have to write a killer Matron-of-Honor speech...I'm definitely up for the task.
The couple I love to love
Incredible weather forecast. Literally my favorite kind of day.
1. We are the proud parents of an only child who is seriously the best.
2. This is not an us against them post.
3. I have plenty of friends who have anywhere from 2 to 6 children and each family has its unique challenges and routines that make them forces to be reckoned with.
4. I'm one of 5 kids myself and my mother is Superwoman.
5. This is an open clarification to the common
misconceptions and interrogations my husband and I face as the parents
of an only child.
Even though I have found the most gracious ways I say, "None of your
damn business" I still find that people have no filters or boundaries
when it comes to their assumptions regarding other peoples lives. I'm going to address 3 REAL questions and comments that I have received over the past year alone and respond to them individually and from a personal place.
1. When are you going to give that darling little boy of yours a sibling...you don't want them to have too much of an age gap.
This is the most common question/comment and perhaps the most painful of all for me personally. Did it ever occur to anyone that perhaps it isn't for lack of WANTING another child? My husband and I both thought we'd have two or more children. When well-meaning people ask and probe me about my family plans what they are unintentionally doing is reminding me of the fact that for a couple of years, my husband and I were human guinea pigs trying to figure out what was keeping us from expanding our family. They are reminding me of the miscarriages, negative pregnancy tests, and the painful diagnosis of secondary infertility. Even if it had been our choice to have one child, I certainly shouldn't be expected to explain my position on the matter to anyone with the balls to pry into my personal life. By the way, this is also applicable when asking a married couple without kids what their family plans are...just don't. You never know if you are inadvertently a pillar of salt walking towards a raw wound.
2. I'm so stressed out! You wouldn't understand because you only have one child so things are easier for you.
This comment is the one that makes me the angriest since it usually comes from my peers. The particular source of this comment is from a stay-at-home mom, an incredibly stressful, underpaid, and sometimes under appreciated job in itself. I don't minimize their plights and sure as hell don't appreciate being passive aggressively undermined as a parent because my responsibilities differ from hers. I do all the things stay-at-home mom's do too with the added guilt of working a full time job and a part time job. Not to mention, I'm a full throttle volunteer for all of my son's extra activities and at our church. Just because I don't have 2 or 3 extra kids thrown in to the mix hardly means my days are easy, less hectic, or without their share of stress and challenges. I have a friend who is a single mother with 5 kids, a full time job, and is supermom to boot and she NEVER minimizes the lives of her friends regardless of how many children they have. I urge anyone who makes assumptions about other parents to be more like my friend. Try being supportive instead of making them feel that they haven't parented enough to understand your busy family lives.
3. What a cute birthday party your son had! It's nice you can do all that for him, I have 3 kids so I don't have time for that.
Okay, this one really gets to me because I know plenty of folks with gardens of kids that have birthday parties that look like they stepped out of the pages of Martha Stewart Living. I ENJOY doing crafty DIY things. When this past year my son asked for a Knights of the Realm birthday theme, I printed, laminated, cut, glued, and Amazoned my way to a great party. It was fun and a lot less expensive than a party at BounceU. Don't minimize my efforts by making assumptions about all the free time I must have...doing crafty things is something I enjoy and it centers me so I make time for it because its important to me.
I will allow that middle-class parents of only children have some advantages...college isn't as daunting of a prospect, we can afford to do more than if we had more kids, and Jonas gets our undivided attention because he is our only child. On the flip side, for us personally, we wanted more kids and couldn't have them so it hurt when Jonas used to ask why he doesn't have a brother or sister like his friends. We miss out on watching Jonas grow up with a sibling and enjoying the prospect that they will grow up to be great friends who hopefully support each other after Jer and I are gone.
The bottom line is, as parents wouldn't it be lovely if our first response was to be
supportive and not comparative? Wouldn't it be nice if people would stop to consider the weight of their words and understand that there are two sides to every coin?
My sister Anna is getting married on September 4 to her college sweetheart, R.J.. I couldn't be more excited for them both. I was given the distinct privilege of being her Matron-of-Honor and I take my role very seriously and loved the planning process involved with being an important part of their special day.
This past weekend, after much planning, it was finally time for our bachelorette weekend in the Finger Lakes. We stayed on Seneca Lake at the White Springs Manor in Geneva, NY. It was antique, quiet, and the girls seemed to enjoy thinking it was haunted. Other than Lexi taking a glass marker and writing REDRUM on the window to scare Katie, we didn't encounter any spirits or strange occurrences. Overall, it was great place to stay for a special occasion since it is a bit expensive.
White Springs Manor
I must admit, I was a bit nervous about planning the bachelorette getaway since I'm 38 years old and was planning a weekend for my two sisters, both in their 20's and my brother's girlfriend, also in her 20's. I didn't want to be so low key that it was boring for the girls but I also know Anna is not a fast paced party girl so I wanted the weekend to be somewhere in between. I think on that front it was a success with the beauty of the region, the local bars, and the blowup penis Katie brought which we named Pete. There are plenty of pics of Pete but those will just have to be left to the imagination. :)
Anna, Me, Lexi, Katie at the Pier House Restaurant
We did have a hiccup with my youngest sister getting us kicked out of a local bar for being scrappy. It made for a great story and our guys, in Las Vegas for the bachelor party, couldn't boast a more eventful evening than we had. Unfortunately, the evening events left Lexi not feeling too well and prevented her from participating in the wine tour planned the following day. Katie volunteered to stay behind to look after her so it would just be Anna and me. The trolley was quaint, the day was beautiful, the vineyards were luscious, and the wineries were amazing. We felt guilty that everyone couldn't participate but we made the most of it and I really enjoyed having the one on one time with my sister before she gets married.
My beautiful sister Anna & Me
One of the lovely vineyards with the added beauty of Anna
All the vineyards/wineries we toured had sweeping views of the enchanted landscapes of the Finger Lakes
Other Highlights:
Lunch cruise on Seneca Lake on a beautiful day with the Girls
Sitting on Adirondack chairs with Katie at the Manor enjoying wine and our backyard view
Enjoying this view with Lexi while sipping an apple martini
Relaxing massages followed by a delicious dinner at the Belhurst Castle
In summary, we ate a lot of great food, drank a lot of great wine, enjoyed the local bar scene (and fun cab rides), and took in the beauty of the Finger Lakes. Anna had a great time which made all the planning worth it.
As for me, I'm already planning an anniversary weekend up there with Jeremiah in November and have no doubt that he will be as smitten with the romance of Seneca Lake just as much as I was.
Collectors Any issue of Sandman which stars The
Corinthian is sure to disturb. Collectors delivers on this front as we
attend the 1st Annual Serial Killer Convention (disguisedas a
Cereal Convention as not to bring unwanted attention). Though this issue
isn't quite as disturbing as 24 Hours from Preludes and Nocturnes, it
still leaves that grimy feeling on your skin. In summary, the
convention is organized by Mr. Nimrod, a self-righteous killer who
collects the torsos of his victims. The guest of honor, The Family Man
(also appears in Constantine series), is supposed to give a speech and
doesn't show up. The Corinthian who is in attendance (and also happens
to have Rose Walker's brother Jed in his trunk), does the honor of
giving the speech instead. In the midst of the convention an undercover
journalist posing as the Bogey Man is exposed by The Corinthian. As a
result he, Mr. Nimrod, and someone known as The Doctor confront him,
bring him to the woods and take turns torturing the man until he dies.
Meanwhile Rose Walker and Gilbert (that we know is the rouge Fiddler's
Green from the Dreaming) happen to be staying at the same hotel that
the serial killers are having their convention. She is told to stay in
her room but gets restless and goes wandering. This causes her to get
stalked by a pedophile serial killer known as Fun Land. When she goes to
find Gilbert she finds a paper with the name Morpheus on it. When she
returns to her room Fun Land tries to attack her but she calls Morpheus
and he comes and saves her. Dream un-creates The Corinthian and Rose is
reunited with Jed. Gilbert knows Rose calling Dream will have
consequences but in the meantime, Dream leaves the serial killers with
the final dream of seeing themselves for the monsters they really are.
Into the Night This
is one of those very surreal issues that I always love best in The
Sandman series. It takes you through the lives of all of the strange
tenants who live in the same building as Rose. Each subconscious desire
is exposed through the secret life of dreams and sometimes it is just so
sad. Rose is the dream vortex and she is a part of all of their dreams.
She is essentially drawing everyone to her. All the tenants
share common traits evident through their dreams. They are discontented and they all wish to be (what they
perceive) better and more fulfilled versions of themselves. Hal, the
owner of the house, wants love, affection, and a strong identity.
Couples lay side by side, and the differences between them is revealed
in the surreal truth of their dreams. Ken might want power and wealth
but Barbie wants a full and meaningful life. Chantel is self-obsessed
and dreams of forgetting. She falls in love with a sentence while her girlfriend,
Zelda, is insecure and dreams of her own fear of her mother's
disapproval of her relationship. As the vortex, Rose, is potentially destroying the waking lives of her neighbors by revealing the superficial connections between them and the discontent within them. She stands over the welded dreams, lucid and aware. Dream sends Matthew Cable the Raven (a Dream resurrection from old issues of The Swamp Thing) to go to Gilbert at the hospital (he is with Rose's brother Jed) and explain to him that Rose is a Vortex and Dream must destroy her. Meanwhile, Unity Kincaid is dying (she was meant to be the Dream Vortex when she was raped in her comatose state by Desire during Dream's imprisonment so it passed down to her granddaughter Rose instead), as Rose's mother grieves and offers Rose Unity's doll house. Dream finds Rose with dreams swirling all around her and stops her telling her they have to talk.
Lost Hearts
Dream takes Rose to a barren part of the Dreaming so the nature of her vortex can't overpower the environment. He explains to her what she is and that she must be destroyed to prevent madness and chaos from tearing the Dreaming apart and with it the minds and the waking lives of the people whose dreams have been siphoned together by the hungry vortex. Gilbert and Matthew return to the Dreaming and find Dream. Rose learns Gilbert was part of a dream known as Fiddler's Green until he went rogue during Dream's imprisonment and joined the mortal world. Though he understands how Morpheus must deal with a Dream Vortex, he pleads with
Dream not to kill Rose and offers his life for hers since he will have to accept punishment for going rogue. Dream says it is necessary to kill Rose and opts not to punish Gilbert. Dream explains further that the Dreaming was once destroyed when he didn't kill the previous vortex and the results were catastrophic. He couldn't let that happen again (Sandman Overture tells this tale). Dream offers Rose a place in the Dreaming after he kills her but she understandably does not want to die. Elsewhere, Unity Kincaid passes away with her daughter Miranda at her side. Unity comes to the Dreaming to take Rose's place. She tells Rose she must reach inside herself to give up the part of herself that is the vortex. Rose pulls a red glass heart from her chest and gives it to Unity who declares she is now the Dream Vortex and it will die along with her. Dream confirms the dream vortex is gone and tells Rose he will help her brother Jed recover from his dream trauma. Rose says goodbye to Fiddler's Green and goes back to the real world. Rose lives a reclusive life when she returns but keeps in touch with Hal and he updates her on the other tenant's from the house they once shared. Eventually Rose changes her look and returns to her family. Meanwhile, Dream is furious with Desire and despite being forbidden to spill family blood (a guaranteed way to evoke the Furies) he confronts his sister/brother and warns that if he meddles in Morpheus' business again, Dream will take his chances and take his revenge. Desire, ever fickle, lets Dream's warning go in one ear and out the other.
The Doll's House, begins with sacrifice (Nada) and ends in sacrifice (Unity Kincaid). Life is as precious as it is disposable. Our anthropomorphic, anti-hero, Dream/Morpheus, exposes us as servants and masters of our astral landscapes. Our latent hopes & desires have the power to drive and/or destroy us. A balance is necessary so that we, like Neil Gaiman's rich and wonderful characters, can't be consumed by the vortex of wanting or taking too much. We are reminded that dreams without the grounding effects of reality can be the death of our potential. As always, Neil Gaiman digs into our shadows and shows us the hard, untouchable truth of dreams and nightmares...even the waking ones. The Dreaming is very real.
As for me, I'm eternally thankful to Neil for constantly disturbing me and enlightening me.
'The Doll’s House (Volume 2)' was so rewarding when I went back for seconds! We see so many characters from ‘Preludes and Nocturnes’ that are more developed in The Doll's House. We get a sense of
closure for Unity Kincaid. We learn more about Lyta Hall and the fate of her son. We understand
why Nada was condemned to Hell (remember Dream’s conversation with her
in ‘A Hope in Hell’?). We also see more of Morpheus’ rogue creations, Corinthian, Brute & Glob, and Fiddler’s Green. We are formally
introduced to more of The Endless, Desire and his/her twin sister, Despair.
In the layers of this surreal reality and dream vortexes things are
ancient, things are modern, things are mystical, and things are
mythological. Most of the time, all at once.
Clive Barker wrote an incredible intro to ‘The Doll’s House’ that sums up my feelings after reading it far better than I ever could. He writes: “Mr. Gaiman is one of those adventurous creators who sees no reason why his tales shouldn’t embrace slapstick comedy, mystical musings, and the grimmest collection of serial killers on this side of Death Row. He makes this combination work because he has a comprehensive knowledge of the medium and knows where its strengths lie. He also—and this is infinitely more important than being a Comic Brat—a point of view about the world which he uses the anarchic possibilities of the medium to express. After all, where can the glorious, the goofy, and the godlike stand shoulder to shoulder? If the sheer profusion of these inventions and the apt absurdity of the juxtapositions puts you in the minds of your more heated dreams, then surely that’s what Mr. Gaiman intends. Forget what’s written on the title page. Hero and author are here synonomys. For the time you spend in these pages, Mr. Gaiman is the Sandman. And look, he just brought you a Dream.”
Tales in the Sand A boy goes into the desert with an elder for a rite of passage ritual. The boy finds a piece of glass that was once a part of an ancient empire. The elder tells the story of Queen Nada and her doomed relationship with Kai’ckul, an African manifestation of Morpheus. She seeks him out through a Weaverbird who brings her a berry from a Sun-tree which is rumored to bring one to the side of their true love if ingested. This brings her to the Dreamworld. She confessed her love and learns he loves her too but also understands to be with him is the destruction of her kingdom, its people. She tries to stop him from wanting her by destroying her maidenhead with a rock. He is not deterred by this saying he isn’t a mortal and her virtue means nothing. He heals her and they give in to each other in a lovely, yet melancholy way, Gaiman writes: ‘Then he took her hand and drew her into the darkness of his robe, and there, in the flames and the darkness, they made Love. All that night they stayed together, and every living thing that dreamed, dreamed that night of her face, and of her body, and of the warm, salt taste of her sweat and her skin...and every living thing that could dream dreamed of Love.’ Nada knows that this union was not meant to be so when the Sun sent a flare that destroyed her glass city, she takes this as punishment for their union and rejects the Dream-Lord’s offer of love and marriage by throwing herself off a cliff. Morpheus condemns her to Hell for this rebuke and this sheds light on their history when he sees her again in ‘A Hope in Hell’ and tells her he still loves her but does not forgive her.
The Doll's House We open with the introduction to Dream's younger brother/sister Desire and his twin sister Despair. We learn that Desire tried to bring Morpheus down using Nada which backfired. Now Desire learns that a dream vortex has been discovered and that it is a woman. A dream vortex is when a mortal has the ability to bring dreams together which breaks down minds of dreamers and threatens the entire Dreaming and the universe. Killing a vortex is a necessary evil and it is the only time Morpheus is permitted to spill human blood. Remember Unity Kincaid? She was supposed to be the next dream vortex but never got the chance because she was effected by the 'Sleepy Sickness' that swept the world during Dream's imprisonment. She essentially slept her life away and while she was sleeping Desire raped her and impregnated her. Since she didn't become the vortex the gene was passed to her lost daughter Miranda. Miranda's daughter and Unity's granddaughter, Rose Walker, became the dream vortex. This was an attempt by Desire to provoke Morpheus into spilling family blood which would cause the Furies to kill him. It is unclear why Desire has such a vendetta against Dream but it could be related to the fickle foundation of desire itself.
Moving In
Miranda stays with her mother Unity while Rose goes home to find her brother Jed who she has not seen since he was five years old. When their parent's split up their father took Jed and they became estranged. When their father died Jed was sent to live with his grandfather and when he died, he was sent to live with his abusive and cruel aunt and uncle, where he is locked in a basement like an animal. Rose Walker moves into an apartment complex and lives with a variety of colorful tenants that include a 'too normal' couple called who seem strange to her at first. This is where she meets Gilbert, a kindly overweight man who takes a liking to Rose and becomes protective over her. We later learn this is Fiddlers Green, one of the 4 rogue creations that left the Dreaming during Dream's imprisonment. Meanwhile, we learn Jed loses his mind in the horror of his situation and his mind is
vulnerable and becomes occupied by two other of Dream's rogue creations, Brute
and Glob.
Playing House
Jed's mind is occupied by two of Dream's rogue creations, Brute
and Glob. Jed prefers this fantasy dream world since he can fly and is part of a better family with Hector and Lyta Hall. Brute and Glob are the "assistants" to Hector Hall who they have created into their version of the 'Sandman'. Lyta Hall who is pregnant, is not exactly aware that she is trapped in a dream walled inside Jed's mind. She is the wife of the 'Sandman' and while he is out fighting nightmares, she lives her life unable to explain how strange her current situation is or why she hasn't had her baby yet. She feels as though she has been 6 months pregnant for so long. Dream arrives to confront Hector and Brute and Glob. He admires B&G's efforts to cut Jed from the dream world in an effort to create a powerful dream capable of destroying the Dreaming. B&G are condemned to an unlimited sentence that promises to punish them for centuries. While Dream finds the other 'Sandman' amusing he destroys him. This battle with Hector causes the death of Jed's cruel Aunt and Uncle, frees Jed from the occupants of his mind, and frees Lyta Hall who is then able to have her baby. Dream announces that the child is of the Dreaming and someday he will be back to claim it. This naturally infuriates Lyta, who vows it will never happen.
Men of Good Fortune I imagine that when this came out as a single issue, readers may have been like WTF!?!?, especially after the strong finish and potential continuum of Playing House. Reading it as part of a volume though was fantastic and quite possibly, one of my favorite issues overall. Hob Galding, is at a tavern called Inn at the White Horse. It is the late 14th century England; Hob has recently fought in the 100 Years War and has seen many of his people die of the Plague yet he doesn't believe in death. He says it is a habit that people do because they have always done it. Death herself is amused by this and brings Dream to hear Hob talk about it his views about death. They agree to give Hob eternal life with the condition they meet at that tavern every 100 years to check in. Over the centuries, Hob has suffered horrible losses and has made choices that were morally questionable but every time Dream asks him if he wants to die, Hob exclaims jovially, "No, there is too much to live for!"
HBO's Game of Thrones has surpassed the published material of George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series. Will the plot liberties showrunners have taken spoil the upcoming books?
Articles have been written about this. Friends have asked me about it. My response: I'm not worried at all. Here's why.
It takes Roy Dotrice about 208 hours to read the first 5 Song of Ice and Fire audio books. I will assume approximately 80 hours for the final two books. HBO's adaptation of Game of Thrones averages about 55 minutes per episode but let's assume an hour for each over 6 seasons and estimate the series so far at 60 hours of content. It has been confirmed that the HBO series will complete the series in 2 additional seasons with a shorter episode count. At this point, 13 episodes all together until the series finale.
After all is said and done:
Show only watchers: 73 hours of story.
Book readers: 288 hours of story including the last 2 books. (This doesn't even include the World of Ice and Fire, Knights of the Realm, and countless hours one can spend theory-crafting characters and plot lines)
My non-spoiler examples of why the show couldn't possibly ruin the book for me:
At least 5 main characters with complex story lines in the books, don't even EXIST on the show.
At least 5 characters that are dead on the show are still alive in the books.
At least 5 story lines on the show are not even close to their book arcs (Sansa, Dorne, The North Remembers, to name a few)
At least 5 character journeys in the books have not happened in the show.
Last but not least, George R.R. Martin hasn't decided on the ending of the series but says it will have a bittersweet ending (in the vein of Tolkien's Lord of the Rings Trilogy). Even HBO showrunners agree that the show won't spoil the books.
My approach to the HBO show and the ASOIAF books is to treat them as
two totally different obsessions. Both are amazing and both approach
the story in different ways but book readers are without a doubt treated to so much more.
I'm quite behind on my reviews, characters and theory analysis of A Song of Ice and Fire (and my reviews for Neil Gaiman's Sandman for that matter) but as my blog is young and I'm also a busy parent, wife, and multi-tasker extraordinaire, I will forgive myself and hope any random readers do too (Wink).
For all the groaners who complain about how long it takes Mr. Martin to write a book let me break down a couple of published statistics and considerations.
According to Amazon's Text Stats, an average novel is approximately 64,000 words long
George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire is (without Winds of Winter is approximately 1,770,000 words long.
Game of Thrones, the first book of the epic series, was published in 1996.
According to the average length of a novel, A Song of Ice and Fire (so far) is the equivalent to approximately 28 books.
I think the equivalent of 28 books in 20 years is pretty acceptable. It is the kind of series that takes time. It's many characters and plots are intricately positioned and even seemingly unimportant dialogue is sometimes a part of a wheel within a wheel.
That isn't to say I don't share the anticipation of Winds of Winter with fellow fans of the series. The fifth book, A Dance with Dragons, was released in 2011 and I'm just as eager for the next installment as anyone. In an effort to ease the pain of the wait, I thought I
would include a consolation from an amazing discovery I found on AngryGOTFan.com. With gratitude to the time it took to gather this together, I'm pleased to share almost 200 pages of The Winds of Winter compiled into one PDF. At approximately 45,000 words and 11 chapters, it is already a short novel worth of story. The rest of the book will come out when it comes out.
In the words of Neil Gaiman, "George R.R. Martin is not your bitch." Enjoy and happy waiting!
After a season of Game of Thrones ends, I get into a funk. Having to wait a year for it to return is my First World definition of torture. Sure, I find solace in the fact that George R.R. Martin HAS to be close to finishing Winds of Winter and that there are still plenty of Thrones related theories to lose myself in (after all, you are nothing in GOT unless you might be a secret Targaryen) but the truth is I am just as eager for new content as the next obsessive ASOIAF SuperFan!
So in easing the pain that the end of Season 6 Game of Thrones left behind, I decided to catch up with some other shows I love, Penny Dreadful, Shameless, & Outlander...Then one night, Jeremiah put on Stranger Things, and it blew my mind in the best way. It is a Netflix original series so if ever there was a reason to take
advantage of a free trial, this show is that reason. Seriously, sign up now!
Stranger Things is nearly perfect. I give it a 10/10 (to measure the
rarity of this high praise one should know I gave Game of Thrones S6 an
8/10)
The show is an 8 chapter miniseries created by the Duffer Brothers. It
takes place in 1983 in a small, quiet town in Indiana which is turned
upside down by the disappearance of a young boy, Will Byers. The story
follows Will's family, his closest friends, a telekinetic girl, and a
police chief, who despite contrary evidence, refuse to give up their
search to find Will alive. The story unfolds in an addictive way giving a
lot of information in small doses and providing half answers to a much
bigger plot. The conclusion of the series provides resolve without
solving every mystery. As a result, it is perfectly poised for a second
season (confirmed).
In the typical vein of addiction, my husband and I binged watched all 8 Chapters. I had
no self control and nor did I try. 3 days it took us to complete the series and it would've taken less than that if other obligations didn't get in the way
(you know, like parenting). We even managed to watch an episode during
our camping trip at High Point State Park (thank goodness for good
cellular service). Jer and I crept into our tent huddled close under
the tiny screen and split a the ear buds between us (which freed our
other ear up to contemplate worse case scenarios for every noise in the woods that night).
A mildly spoilery list of what I love about this show (not comprehensive):
1. The incredible casting of Winona Ryder as Will Byers mother, Joyce...I have been waiting for her comeback for a LONG time and as I anticipated, she didn't disappoint.
2. The childhood nostalgia! It took place in 1983. Granted I was only 4 years old in 1983 but this was MY generation! Stranger Things was overflowing with Easter eggs...HeMan, The Clash, movie posters for The Thing and Evil Dead (oh, the memories of my cousin's Fangoria magazines), the synthesized organ music that set the tone for so many great horror movies of the 80s (I still shudder when I hear the Halloween score), Dungeons and Dragons (reminded me of the Boys I liked best growing up), and so much more.
3. The Underneath-who doesn't like the terrifying possibility of another dimension? Will seems so close yet so far as his mother communicates with him through the electricity in her house in a vibe similar to Poltergeist and one of my favorite Twilight Zone episodes, Little Girl Lost.
4. The child actors are second to none. Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown), Mike (Finn Wolfhard), Lucas (Calab McLaughlin), and (my favorite) Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo), are brilliant in their roles. I don't subscribe to awards per se, but these actors should all be nominated for Emmy's.
5. Mr. Clarke (Randall P. Havens), the science teacher of Mike, Will, Lucas, and Dustin. His role is small but dynamic and I love how the kids call him on a Saturday night to ask him questions about things like sensory deprivation and other dimensions. I love how Mr. Clarke gently reproaches the Boys while giving them the answers they are looking for.
6. Police Chief Jim Hopper (David Harbour) is a pill popping police chief with a history. This is normally a cliche but in Stranger Things, it's a perfectly executed art form.
7. The story arcs built around the different approaches to finding Will. These include the efforts of: 1.Will's best friends (with the help of the telekinetic Eleven and a Dungeons and Dragons play guide) 2. Chief Hopper and Joyce Byers, and 3.Will's brother, Jonathan Byers and Mike's sister, Nancy Wheeler (her friend disappeared as well).
8. The show provides satisfaction without leaving you completely satiated and resolve that doesn't give you exactly what you want or expect.
Brilliant writing, amazing acting, and phenomenal direction are the beating heart of Stranger Things. If you like a supernatural mystery with a conspiracy twist, this is it. Do yourself a favor, believe the hype this time.
