shadowkat: (warrior emma)
[personal profile] shadowkat
1. In full sugar detox mode. I have come to the conclusion that I need to stay away from anything that contains sugar for a long time. This includes: baked goods, bananas, chocolate, any type of ice cream, alcohol, pistachios, tomatoes,...and possibly kombuchi (although it's been working as a probiotic).

Why?

Wired, slight headache, bitter taste on my tongue, sole of my foot hurts, flushed, hot flashes, stomach upset, edgy, and a bit manic. All results of sugar overload (mainly because I was perfectly fine before then). And they say sugar is not the root of all evil? My system is highly sensitive to sugar - I have a tendency to binge on it.

It's hard to stay away from sugar in this society, particularly if you have a sweet tooth. It's sort of thrown at you by everyone 24/7. All the food porn on Face Book. (Seriously, while it's nice that you bake cookies and cakes, do you have to post pictures of them?)

2. Rather impressed with Brian Mendes writing in the X-men arcs...just finished the First Five issues of the All New X-men. Where the original X-men are basically brought to the future to force Scott Summers, Cyclops to see the error of his ways.

Except, it's not that clear cut. There's a great deal of evidence that Summers wasn't in complete control and the power, like it has everyone else, corrupted him. Also the people who are the hardest on him, more or less have been responsible for doing the same things themselves. And, if you know the history, the leader, Professor Xavier, who Scott killed, did far worse as Onslaught -- which emerged from his choices and dark thoughts.

On the other hand - there is a rather wonderful exchange between Magneto and Summers (my two favorite characters) in the book -- it occurs right after Summers comes face to face with his younger self, and more importantly the younger version of Jean Grey, who died about five years ago.

Scott tells him - that it wasn't him. That the Phoenix Force possessed him and made him do those things. And Magneto replies, that he's been around a lot longer than Scott and is a lot older, and has done far worse things over a longer period of time and often out of madness. And as much as he'd like to blame someone or something else -- it was always him. It's always you. You wanted to kill your father figure for defying you. You wanted to change the world to your liking. You felt you were justified. If you want to make amends, you have to first admit to that. It's always you.

And that was my problem with Angel's arc at times, and why I liked Spike's monologue in Never Leave Me. In which Buffy says, was that you? Spike responds - no one else. He made the choice to let the First use him -- he's responsible for what happened next.

The message is clear, I think, if we let our demons take over - those niggling voices in our heads telling us we should have that second piece of cake, or that third drink, or shoplift, or take what isn't ours, or that our neighbor's life is better, etc, etc...then yes, that's on us. We always have a choice.

That was the theme in The Light Between the Oceans by ML Steadman - that I just completed. We always have a choice. All of us. We can choose how we react and what to do next. We can choose to be grateful, or choose to be dissatisfied.

It's a beautiful day today. Birds are tweeting outside my window. Flowers sit below a stained glass star. It's quiet, with just a fan buzzing and the typing of my fingers across the keys. I have purple nail polish on my toe nails. And the world is full of possibilities. I can take a walk. I can read.
I can watch tv. I can draw. I can write. And tomorrow, I get to go to work - and procure services to remove pollutants from the environment, rehabilitate train stations to provide access to the handicap, and ensure disadvantaged minority businesses get work.

The sum total of my life? Is good. Not perfect perhaps. There are things I wish were different or better or that I had. I wish I was less lonely, that I had more people in my life, and was more active, but these things can change. Nothing is stagnant. Life is a river, not a puddle, after all. And even puddles change.

Date: 2015-09-07 03:59 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] sueworld2003.livejournal.com
"And that was my problem with Angel's arc at times, and why I liked Spike's monologue in Never Leave Me. In which Buffy says, was that you? Spike responds - no one else. He made the choice to let the First use him -- he's responsible for what happened next. "

Uhmmm, If you read the transcript thats not exactly what Spikes saying imo. It's not about letting the First use him, but the fact it's referring to all the things he's done as a souless vampire. He's owning what he did back then, and it's not about the First and letting him use him as Spike had no idea what was going on until much later in the day let alone allow anything.

Date: 2015-09-07 08:40 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] shadowkat67.livejournal.com
Eh, I think we agree, generally speaking. I apparently just wasn't clear in my post above.
My general point was that Spike was taking responsibility for the acts he'd done. But Buffy was focusing on what he'd done under the trigger at the hands of the First. Yet from Spike's point of view, it didn't matter, it was the same thing.

As for transcripts? I have neither read nor watched the series since 2008. My memory is good, but it ain't that good. So I'm largely going by memory here -- it's more than possible that I misremembered a few details here and there. ;-)

And, seriously, why does the transcript matter? It's a filmed presentation. How the words are acted can affect the meaning of them.
Edited Date: 2015-09-07 08:46 pm (UTC)

Date: 2015-09-07 09:27 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] sueworld2003.livejournal.com
Maybe because it was what was actually spoken in the show? :)

The transcripts and actual scripts are all available to read online when in doubt (Buffyworld site).

But the only reason I'm citing this is because I thought you were you intoning that Spike let himself be taken over by the First, and I'm just trying to point out that wasn't the case.

Date: 2015-09-07 09:49 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] shadowkat67.livejournal.com
Okay, sorry for the confusion. It may have been Sleeper that I was thinking of. I remember the series more generally and less specifically.
Edited Date: 2015-09-07 09:51 pm (UTC)

Date: 2015-09-07 10:35 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] sueworld2003.livejournal.com
I see you've removed your original reply to me, so I'll just leave it. :)
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