New Year's Day

[fajrdrako]

Happy New Year to all of you.

It was a good day, a satisfying day, a tiring day. They say that the first of January is an omen to how the rest of the year will go, and though I don't believe that, it still feels true. Did I do everything I entended to? Not quite. But I did some things I didn't intend to, and the day has left me with a feeling of satisfaction.

Today I...

• Made omelettes for brunch. maaboroshi brought coffee and bread, maaseru provided the venue and the mugs. We watched the first two episodes of Battlestar Galactica, the ones that haven't aired in Canada yet. (We saw the pilot movie yesterday.) I enjoyed it a great deal. My friends who were fans of the original TV show were less impressed with it, especially with Starbuck. I never saw the original show, and thought this Starbuck was terrific. I especially liked her name - Kara Thrace. "Kara" is my longtime favourite female hero in comics - Supergirl - and with all my Hellenistic reading lately, "Thrace" has been on my mind. Anyway, maaboroshi, maaseru and I enjoyed ourselves thoroughly. I like a lot of the characters, particularly Gaius Baltar and Apollo.


• Since I was feeling guilty about sitting and watching TV, I started doing aerobics through the second episode of BSG. That was great - I felt good from the exercise, good from enjoying the show and not feeling sluggish, and managed a full hour of movement! Okay, it wasn't very vigorous aerobics, but it was something.


• Scrubbed the refrigerator. Gave myself an imaginary medal and a gold star.


• Scrubbed Kaylee and Pryde's cage completely. Will do Wisdom and Domino's tomorrow. While I was moving around the cages, I scrubbed the shelves they were on, vacuumed the area, and sorted books so my precious Catwoman comics won't be damaged any further by bird splashes or sticky feathers. Then I forgot to feed Wisdom and Domino for two hours. Eek! But they forgave me. I had, after all, given them millet beforehand. Anything can be forgiven with a little millet.


• Took down the Christmas tree and threw out a lot of old ornaments. Talked to walkingowl on the phone while doing so.


• Redercorated the bathroom - book down the current set of pictures of Clark and Lex and put up another set of pictures.


• Put up my wonderful new calendars. From Beulah: the Lord of the Rings movie calendar for 2005. From rosiespark a beautiful Malta calendar. Every time I look at it I'm eager to be there! From acampbell, the gorgeous 2005 Smallville calendar. And from walkingowl a small Return of the King daily desk calendar, stylish and beautiful.


• Went to Tasia's for dinner - a lovely dinner of roast lamb and garlic roast potatoes. I brought Sarah's cabbage dish (as delicious with green cabbage as with purple) and Sheila brought a delicious orange cake from M&M. Much eating and laughter. A good time was had by all.

New Year's Resolutions: I always have great fun composing these. I don't see it as an exercise in futility (as some seem to) but as a second chance to make my life more what I want it to be. I have been playing with ideas of how to express for a couple of weeks. I took several approaches, some of them delightfully Byzantine and arcane.


First, I chose keywords to keep in mind. I may add or subtract as necessary. The words:

adventure, beauty, courage, focus, hope

Then I made a list of things to avoid:

coffee, sugar, cheese, milk, overtiredness, procrastination, whining

Then this part was a more conventional sort of resolution, or at least guidelines to live by, from the Yoga Sutras:

Yamas:
Saucha - purity
Santosha - contentment
Tapas - austerity
Swadhyaya - study
Ishvar Pranidhana - surrender

Niaymas:
Ahimsa - non-violence
Satya - truth
Asteya - not stealing
Brahmacharya - moderation
Aparagraha - non-possessiveness

Now, I've read the Yamas and Niyamas many times and have always tried to follow them as a code, but reminding myself of them, and thinking about what they mean to me, is always a good thing.

Then I made a list of things to do daily:

Daily tasks:
study Ancient Greek
make the bed
dance
wash dishes
exercise 1 1/2 hours
floss teeth
discard something
take vitamins
write
practise yoga

Weekly Tasks:
clean apartment
launder bed sheets (
go over finances (Sunday)
listen to opera - a new one each week (This means, I get a CD from the library each week, and listen to it over the week, and read about the story and the composer so I know who wrote it and what's going on in it)
file papers (something I always procrastinate on)

I might add that I have already, as of the first day, failed to do all of the above, but that's okay. This isn't a set of rules, it's a set of reminders and intentions. Not something to be forced on me, but something to work towards.


I made a set of goals, including "learn Greek", "go to Malta", and "lose weight". Think I can make it? We'll find out next year, at the same time! There are a few more serious and ambitious goals, too. we shall see.

Then I did some divination. First, the runes. I pulled

"fehu" which means, according to the site at Runes, Alphabet of Mystery: "(F: Domestic cattle, wealth.) Possessions won or earned, earned income, luck. Abundance, financial strength in the present or near future. Sign of hope and plenty, success and happiness. Social success. Energy, foresight, fertility, creation/destruction (becoming)." I have books which give me more detailed ruminations, but that description will do - and it's most encouraging. Most of my life, when I do a Rune reading like this, I get "raido" which means a journey - I always think of it as a spiritual journey. This one sounds like real accomplishment. I like the notion of "financial strength" though I'm not sure I'd know it if it bit me on the ankle.

Then the I Ching. I used three pennies. I got #34, Chen over Chi'eng: "Great Power". The R.L. Wing book says, "There is an advantage in correct persistence. There is influential activity (thunder) in the light of day (heaven) forming the condition for Great Power... Great Power, when it befalls a person, is a true test of his character."

Then the Tarot: I shuffled, cut three times, and got XIV: Temperance. Make of that what you will.

Comments

[rosiespark.livejournal.com]

Yay for BSG! Glad you're enjoying it. And darling Jamie as Apollo! :) Or "Captain Apollo", as the President insists on calling him... I'm very fond of Starbuck too - never saw the original series, so had no preconceptions about the character. And Gaius Baltar is strangely fascinating - weak, oh so weak, but somehow I can't hate him, and I'm not sure why.

Now I need to rewatch the first two episodes to make sure I avoid spoilers - I'm up to episode nine on the downloads. And I take it you still want me to send you the dvds/cds..?

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Or "Captain Apollo", as the President insists on calling him...

Which is so cute. I loved when she said "C.A.G." and he said, "CAG," and she said, "See why I need you?" I think the relationship between Apollo and the President is terrific and I love it when he'd caught in the middle between her and her father.

I'm very fond of Starbuck too - never saw the original series, so had no preconceptions about the character.

Yes, exactly. And she's fun. My only quibble - if it is a quibble - is that I'd like more focus on Apollo and Starbuck (not as a couple but as a team) and less on the many other characters. I like a tight point of view.

Gaius Baltar is strangely fascinating - weak, oh so weak, but somehow I can't hate him, and I'm not sure why.

His egotism is so total and so innocent I find myself liking him. He's in a hell he created himself. How can I not feel sorry for him? Besides, he's cute. Physically, he's my "type". I also like his relationship with the sexy-religious Cylon, which gets funnier and twistier and scarier every episode.

As for sending me the CDs/DVDs - maybe we should wait. See, I'm watching them but don't own them and dont' have access to stuff to copy them, but it looks as if the show will be aired on the Canadian channel SPACE in the middle of January, in which case I can tape it myself. I hope! Stand by! I'll keep you informed.

P.S. Jaime just looks better all the time.

[blackbyrde.livejournal.com]

We've downloaded the first 7 episodes of BSG and have burned them to DVD. I can do so for you if you would like, then [Bad username or unknown identity: rosiespark"] can save the cost of postage to you. :)

[blackbyrde.livejournal.com]

Ooops, that was supposed to say "rosiespark" in the LJ tag.

[rosiespark.livejournal.com]

I'd like more focus on Apollo and Starbuck...as a team

Hmm. Me too. There are some great snippets coming up, but not nearly enough. Maybe we should write to the writers...

I loved the bit, frex, in 33 where she tells him how he should be treating her when she won't take her pills - basically telling him how to do his job, because she is probably more qualified than he is to be CAG, at least on that particular Battlestar. The tension between them, then the laughter, and Kara clowning as she obediently takes her pills. ::wibbles::

She's certainly tougher than he is in an in-your-face sort of way. But he's tougher at a deeper level - he takes the responsibility for following orders to fire on the Olympic Carrier, while she argues up to the point where he fires, and only then follows suit. Tough decision for Lee - which he makes, and suffers for. At least he's got the President as a leadership-training mentor as well as the Commander...

Jaime just looks better all the time.

He does, doesn't he? *g* He's grown up, I think. ::licks lips shamelessly::

Why do I feel I shouldn't like Gaius? Maybe because he's responsible for letting the Cylons destroy the Colonies. All those deaths. He's despicable, really - but then p'raps his accent and his general snarkiness are sufficient redeeming features for me... LOL. And I do enjoy his erm, ... difficulties with Number Six. Keep watching. *g*

I'll send you the episodes anyway - it's easy enough to put them on cd. The pilot would be on dvd, so unless you've got it from someone else, I'll send that too. And TEP. Just have to ask Fabrizio to copy them for me...

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

The tension between them, then the laughter, and Kara clowning as she obediently takes her pills.

That's one of my favourite scenes.

while she argues up to the point where he fires, and only then follows suit

Seems to me the whole bunch of them are lax at following orders - as if orders were negotiable. I can understand of course - wouldn't want a hero to whom mass murder came easily - but all the same, the decision was Adama's and it wasn't for them to question.

He's grown up

And very nicely, too.

Why do I feel I shouldn't like Gaius? Maybe because he's responsible for letting the Cylons destroy the Colonies.

He's scum, but he's attractive scum. And to be fair, lis "letting hte Cylons destroy the Colonies" was not something delibrate - he didn't know he was a Cylon pawn till it was too late to do anything about it. He was criminally stupid, but not malicious.

I do enjoy his erm, ... difficulties with Number Six. Keep watching. *g*

You bet I will. Good stuff to come?

[rosiespark.livejournal.com]

That's one of my favourite scenes.

You wouldn't like to mention some of the others..? *g*

Seems to me the whole bunch of them are lax at following orders

Are they? Or is it just Starbuck's idiosyncratic approach to authority? I can't think of anyone else who questions orders. Before carrying them out, I mean - Lee's heart-searching after the event doesn't translate to laxity at following orders.

Mm, attractive scum is about right for Gaius. Charming too. LOL. Agree that he was an unwitting tool. But criminally stupid. Especially since he's supposed to be a genius - his...erm, ego must have got in the way...

And then there's the irony of poor Helo stranding himself on Caprica so that the great Dr Baltar can be saved for the good of humanity. Huh!

Re. Number Six, episode seven is called Six Degrees of Separation. ::waggles eyebrows::

[rosiespark.livejournal.com]

That's very sweet of you to offer to save me the postage! Have you watched them yet? I'm dying to discuss them - hopefully bsg2003chatter will get more traffic once the series airs in Canada and the US.

Found a short fic I liked here (http://www.yuletidetreasure.org/archive/6/comingin.html). Miniseries only, no spoilers for later events.

Okay, Operation BSG Fajrdrako. *g* Are your downloaded episodes in dvd format, i.e. playable on a tv as well as on a pc? If so, then they're a better option than mine, which are only .avi files, though they play very nicely on my Media Player.

And I have the UK released dvd of the pilot, which has only one extra feature - no commentary and no deleted scenes. ::grinds teeth:: The price to be paid for an earlier release date, I suppose. Still, if you don't have it and are not planning on buying it, I can easily copy it for you as well as for fajrdrako.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Are you enjoying the show, too?

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I knew that!

Apollo and other beauties

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Okay, favourite BSG scenes so far:

- my favourite scene ever - and I'll only get the dialogue approximately here - is between Apollo and Adama when Starbuck is stranded on the moon. Adama says he kept on looking for her because she was family and Apollo asks, "If it were me down there, would you have kept searching so long?" Adama says, "Do you even have to ask?" "Yes." "If it had been you, we'd never stop." That devastated me.

- the fake Number Six trying to seduce Adama, and the cynical look on his face

- Gaius searching for Number Six in his room, and repenting to God, so she turns up

- Starbuck learning to fly the Cylon vessel

- the scene between Adama and the President when Apollo has fought with them over the elections. President: "He's your son." Adama: "He's your advisor."

- Adama kissing Starbuck on the forehead and she starts to cry but recovers before he can see. And Starbuck asking for the cigar.

- the scene where the lieutenant (?) bites the convict's ear in "Bastille Day"

- the scene where Boomer is trying to find the water and can't "see" the scanner find it - until she does

- Boomer coming to Gaius to ask if she's a Cylon

(Doesn't anyone else ever look at that computer? I think Gaius needs a keeper! Or an overseer. Or something. Of course he has one - Number Six. Heh.)

I like it that Strarbuck argues with orders. She's great. But no, I was quibbling about the others doing it - even Apollo hesitates when he's ordered to shoot the vessel. It seems to me there are a lot of cases where people hesitate when given orders, or where they have to be given orders twice. I approve of course - but then I'm personally non-military (even anti-military). In the context of the show, if I were an officer there I'd expect and demand instant obedience. Not that anyone has a lot of options!

I don't think Gaius acts or sounds the least bit like a genius at any point. He's a goof. All we ever really see him do is arithmetic and computer work. I think he's been lucky - and managed to fool everyone. Just as we see him doing on the show.

I like the Helo subplot. At first I found him boring. Now I'm really enjoying it.

Number Six is such fun. She's so bad.

Do you think the Cylon god could be a human programmer?