Star Trek Enterprise

So my husband and I have recently discovered a fun "new" show that we've been enjoying lately. It's Star Trek Enterprise. Taking place a hundred years before the original Star Trek with William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy, but having aired in 2001-2005, this show is a lovely combo of prequel story lines and new technology. The main story of the series is that Captain Jonathan Archer is the captain of the first Warp 5 starship and, with his crew, is on a mission to explore new worlds and meet new species. Of course, they have plenty of adventures along the way.

Each of the characters is unique and different. They interact with each other in humorous ways and provide a lively mix of alternating stories and focal points. The main characters are Captain Archer, Subcommander/Science Officer {and First Officer/Vulcan representative} T'Pol, alien Doctor Phlox, Communications Officer Hoshi, Tactical Officer Malcolm Reed, Helmsman Travis Mayweather, and Chief Engineer Charles "Trip" Tucker.



The best character, in my husband's and my opinion, is Commander Charles Tucker the 3rd, or Trip as he's better known as. He's very gifted with mechanics and can coax the engine into going pretty fast, considering their limited technology at this stage in the series. He makes mistakes as he goes along on his various adventures, but he learns from them and doesn't lose his personality as he grows. At first, he and Malcolm had tension and friction in their friendship, but that got ironed out when they were stranded together and learned they have more in common than previously thought. Trip also falls for T'Pol and balances her Vulcan characteristics pretty well with his down-to-earth personality. We get a wonderful glimpse into his character when his and T'Pol's DNA is stolen to produce a hybrid clone that later dies form complications.

T'Pol herself is an interesting character. She's a promising Vulcan with a position on the Science Directorate and she provides the necessary logic to balance certain situations. She was originally placed on Enterprise at the insistence of the High Command, much to Archer's annoyance; but she proved herself helpful and became loyal to the captain - eventually leaving the High Command and joining Star Fleet. She views life aboard the Enterprise through an outsider's eyes and being Vulcan has saved them on more than one occasion.

Captain Archer's father invented the warp engine that now powers his ship, giving Archer a personal reason for being captain and seeing the mission through to the end. At first, he begins by being something of a pacifist and only wants peaceful interactions. But his opinions and mindset change when they are repeatedly attacked by unfriendly species and the weapons on-board come more and more into play in their "peaceful" negotiations. He makes a good commander; kind and sympathetic to those under his authority, but strict and stern when he needs to be. One of the softer sides of his character is that he has his dog on the ship with him and cares a great deal about him - as is proved when the dog gets sick in one episode and needs medical attention.

Malcolm Reed is very British; he says little, keeps to himself and occasionally has a dry sense of humor. When his birthday rolls around, no one - not even his own sister - can name his favorite food, which is pineapple. His roll as the tactical officer comes more and more into play as he upgrades weapons and improves the response time of the crew when under attack. He becomes good friends with Trip and Travis, the helmsman. Travis is unique to the group because he was born in space on a freighter and knows a lot about the "local" area of space, though this knowledge comes less into play the further from Earth they go. He is still an excellent pilot. And Hoshi manages to interact with everyone on board in one way or another. She is a highly talented communications expert and was personally persuaded by Archer to join their crew. Her fears and anxieties almost cripple her several times, but she soon learns to control them and gets more confident and comfortable with her duties on board the starship.

And the last of the interesting main characters is Doctor Phlox. He is obviously an alien - the only one on board aside from T'Pol - and his sense of humor paired with his medical skills adds a lovely touch to the show. He is very curious and genuine; his interest in the humans as their doctor and an alien race to study is often amusing. He finds himself in a pickle occasionally but bounces back quickly from whatever obstacles are in his way. Hoshi is a particular friend of his and often stops by to help him feed his many pets.

With such a fun colorful cast of characters and some really good writing, this show is a fun form of entertainment and also gives a good glimpse into how the more familiar Star Trek universe came into being. The allies and enemies they make now comes into play in the future, and they even incorporate time travel into this series which is quite nice. So if you're looking for a good summer show to watch, try finding this one at your local library. Enjoy!

Autumn Quote

O wild West Wind, thou breath of Autumn’s being,
Thou, from whose unseen presence the leaves dead
Are driven, like ghosts from an enchanter fleeing,

~ Percy Bysshe Shelley

Writers Get Their Revenge in Print: Taylor Swift

Taylor Swift has accomplished much in her whirlwind career. She's a chart-topper and a talented young lady. She's also {to my knowledge} not tattooed, pierced, doesn't drink or do drugs, and isn't in the media for bad behavior. I like to think she's a Christian too, but that's trickier to tell nowadays. She keeps to herself and brings smiles to people's faces. There are heartwarming stories of her helping out children with cancer and doing good deeds. She has an interesting taste in clothing that is usually 90% modest in my opinion. There's always something about someone's wardrobe choices that I don't like. But I generally like Taylor's choices. Her music is uplifting, bright and I can relate to a lot of the songs - particularly Love Story. It's rather uncanny how close that song paralleled my own love story with my husband. Her previous album, Red, was a gradual step in a new direction and contained many wonderful songs that were a blast of fresh air to my musical library.

So why is everyone all up in arms over her new single Shake it Off? In my opinion, I believe it's partly due to the fact that nobody has any real dirt on her to throw around so they pick apart everything she does trying to find some. When you live your life in the media and the world's spotlight, everything you do gets judged, weighed, torn apart and excruciatingly examined. I imagine that this would be a very hard way to live and that many people would crack after awhile. I certainly would. I have days where I just plain hate people sometimes. But Taylor Swift has done a marvelous job of not cracking under the pressure and keeping a straight face in public. That being said, I think that her new video took people by surprise. With her good girl persona, nobody really expected her to do something that "wild." Bouncing around on stage with background dancers wearing short cut shorts, what appeared to be her underwear and this funny-looking gold thing, and dancing in a creative modern way, Taylor Swift openly explores a whole new territory for her. She is trying new things, exploring a whole new world and testing her limits. She's stepped out of her comfort zone and is growing. She has moved out of the country and into the realm of pop.

And this move wasn't an abrupt one either. If you really look closely at he songs in Red, you will see a definite difference between them and her older hits, such as Love Story, Fearless, and Sparks Fly. The happy innocence is gone, replaced with the knowledge of reality. She figured out that life really isn't a fairy tale and she dealt with that realization in musical style, to her fans' delight. One of the things I have always loved about her music is that she draws inspiration from her life experiences. You have to write what you know and Taylor does just that. Some people give her flack for writing about her breakups and heartaches, but I like it. Would you give a writer flack for taking their experiences and writing about them in their books? We writers use writing as a sort of self-therapy and we always get our revenge in print. We also explore new genres, with hit and miss success. That's what Taylor Swift is doing. She has country down and now wants to stretch and explore; if I were her, I would be pretty bored of the same old same old by now. So it's no surprise that she wants a change.

I don't like some of the outfits worn in the new music video and I don't know if I'll like some of the songs in her new upcoming album, 1989. But even if I like just one song, I'll be content because I know that she will have tried something new and enjoyed the experience as well as learned from it. Besides, I'm pretty certain that this new song, Shake it Off, was done on purpose for the shock effect. She did it on purpose! This is her way of going, "Oh, you don't like my music or life choices? Well, too bad." And she just shakes it off, like dust on her hands. This goes back to that self-therapy thing I was talking about. She's not rolling with the punches on this one; she's dancing with them.

I recommend looking up the lyrics here so you aren't distracted by the background dancers. *wink*

I thought this was an interesting article.

One Realm Beyond Book Review

Title: One Realm Beyond.

Author: Donita K. Paul.

Genre: Christian, Fantasy, Young Adult, Humor, Series.

Plot: Cantor D'Ahma is a young 20-something Realm Walker. He has the unique ability to see  portals and to even create them in a pinch. In previous times, there were a lot of Realm Walkers, but now they are considered a rarity and with the corruption in the Guild spreading, they are also considered distrustful and bad. But, raised by sweet old Ahma and grouchy Odem, Cantor is unaware of the intricacies in the realms surrounding him - an innocence that will be shattered when he takes on his first solo mission to find his dragon.

But in finding his dragon, he encounters bumbling Bridger with hidden talents {including a knack for getting into trouble}, a mysterious girl named Bixby and a healer named Dukmee. Together, they embark on a grand adventure that could have far reaching and devastating consequences.

Likes/Dislikes: I've had my eye on Donita Paul's books for years now and finally have a opportunity to sample her style. Unfortunately, I think I picked the wrong book. It's taken me a couple months to get through the first hundred or so pages and I really don't want to keep reading. It started out slowly but with promise: a naive {read: dumb} hero going off on an adventure and encountering all sorts of creatures. The idea of a dragon turning into a ball of yarn was what really drew me in, but even this failed to hold my interest after awhile because, while Bridger was probably the most interesting and down to earth of all the characters, he was a lame dragon. I've never liked the skinny Eastern dragons; I've much preferred the bigger English ones. Bixby was an intriguing character but with so many hints drawn on and on about her being special and weird, it got boring fast. And while the idea of the worlds being on discs sounds original, its been done more successfully before. And the author left out stuff like when Bixby and gang arrive to save Cantor; I want to read all that fun and adventure, not guess at it. I guess this just isn't the book for me. I really like the cover though.

Rating: PG-13 and up, mainly for reading level.

Date Report Written: August 5th, 2014.

I received a copy of this book free from the publishers in exchange for an honest review. The opinions expressed in the above review are my own. I wasn't required to write a positive review.

The Firstborn Advantage Book Review

Title: The Firstborn Advantage.

Author: Dr. Kevin Leman.

Genre: Christian, Nonfiction, Psychology, Birth Order, Daily Life.

Plot: In his famous Birth Order Book, Dr. Leman explores how people's birth order effects them and the way they do things. In this book, he focuses on the firstborn {one of the most crucial jobs in the world} and gives the reader tips on how to use their birth order and natural skills/abilities to their advantage, while also pointing out certain flaws to be on the look-out for. It also mentions how firstborns work with middle and lastborns, how friendships and the work place are affected by the presence of a firstborn, and how the close family unit is made or broken by a firstborn. The chapter on having a critical parent was particularly enlightening and the blurb about a firstborn raising a firstborn is very good to know.

Likes/Dislikes: I liked a couple of the chapters - particularly the two mentioned above. But this book wasn't really impressive to me. I've previously read and highly enjoyed Growing Up Firstborn by the same author and while it had lots of "Aha!" moments, this one was just kinda like, "Meh." I did learn that I have an awesome husband {he's a lastborn with some very unique firstborn and middleborn traits} and that he's the best therapy I could've ever wanted or needed after growing up the way I did. I just hope my firstborn daughter isn't like me in certain areas. *winks* All in all, a good book but not one of my favorites.

Rating: PG-15 and up, mainly for reading level and topic.

Date Report Written: August 5th, 2014.

She Comes First Book Review

Title: She Comes First.

Author: Ian Kerner.

Genre: Nonfiction, Marriage.

Review: So, I don't usually review sex books but this one was so bad, I have to say something. I got it for my husband for our anniversary partly so he could pick up a few tips and mainly out of payback for the "surprise" birthday present he'd gotten me last year. I read this book in two days and I wanted to like it, at first, but by the middle of the book I was regretting having spent money on it. The main idea that the book tries to focus on is a fairly okay one {the title says it all}, but the rest of the book just fell flat. The second half of the introduction, the first six chapters, the fourteenth chapter, several more middle ones that bleared together and the last six-ten chapters could all be skipped and/or totally taken out. The author continually repeats himself over and over and over again to the pint of boredom. There are lots of chapters that are two pages long where he just sits there and goes, "Okay, let's review and take a deep breath before we get into the actual stuff you want to read. Nah, just kidding; we're gonna be here awhile." The two chapters on the anatomy were good, but you had to keep referring to the pictures in the previous chapter to figure out what he was talking about. The author said in his introduction that he wasn't "anti intercourse" but from the way he went on and on about how bad looking for the G-Spot is and how "un-pleasurable" regular intercourse is, etc. you'd think it was the total opposite. And then, to cap it all off, he gets into porn and "soft bondage" like it's an every day occurrence. Also, the easiest solution to the whole four chapters he wasted on "safe sex" is to just have one partner for the rest of your life. Duh. This guy might've gone to college to get a degree in his chosen field, but he's an idiot. So you can most definitely skip this book - unless you want to buy it from me.

Rating: PG-20 and up, recommended for married couples only.