Top 12 episodes of Firefly-Not quite qualified, but I'm writing about it anyway

Serenity-The Movie

I was a little torn about what to do with Serenity. After all, it isn't an episode. It's really a desperate attempt to bring some closure to a show that was cancelled way too soon. Firefly was only just starting to figure itself out and there were so many great things already started. Joss Whedon was lucky enough to get a chance to bring a little closure to his show thanks to this theatrical release.

I was unfortunate to see the movie before the show. You don't lose anything by not seeing the show, but it does make it hard to see the show after you've seen the movie. The movie jumps far enough ahead that you miss out on the key elements that make the movie so much fun.

When I went to watch the show, I kept looking for Mr. Universe and the Reavers. I never found the first and only glimpses of the second. It doesn't detract from the show and certainly adds to the movie.

This movie is definitely worth watching even though it really creates at least as many questions as it answers. Sadly, there isn't much more to explore at the moment. Maybe Firefly will come back some day and we can see what happens to the crew.

Top Twelve X-men- Number 4

Storm

Ororo Monroe has had an interesting existence as a character. Just like any other character, she has grown and changed over the years, but some of the key elements have been there from the beginning. Storm has lived many lives (most of them happened early on so it isn't just because she's been around for over 30 years.)

Storm the orphan thief

There's something about the early days of the X-men and the leaders of the team. Both Cycolps and Storm lost their parents and spent a good portion of their lives as orphans. Storm lost her parents during the Suez Crisis in Egypt and became claustrophobic after being trapped in a pile of rubble after that attack. After this, a six-year-old Ororo was trained as a master thief before she wandered off into the Serengeti.

Storm the goddess

When Storm's powers manifested, she was revered as a goddess by the tribal people. She provided them with the rain they needed as well as the sun to help their crops grow. She didn't really let that life go to her head too much, but she certainly enjoyed the title. This is where Professor X found her for the second time because she picked his pocket once when she was a small child.
Storm the X-man

The new team of X-men was a larger group and a stronger group in many ways. Storm was especially important. Her power to control weather was probably the biggest asset of the new team. Because of her time as a goddess, Storm had confidence and extreme control of her powers. There were few occasions where she lost that control, but they were generally when she was trapped in a small space. My favorite instance is when the team faces Doctor Doom and he turns Storm into a statue and her unconscious mind creates a storm that threatens to destroy Latveria.
Storm the powerless punk-rock leader

I don't know who it was, but somebody came up with the brilliant idea of taking away Storm's powers. In the storyline, Forge accidentally shoots her with a gun he's been working on that will take away mutant powers. Storm has already been struggling with her rebellious nature. Prior to losing her powers while in Japan, a ninja reminds her of the girl that she used to be. Storm ends up getting a Mohawk and sporting lots of leather which causes a rift between her and Kitty.

There comes a point where Professor X is in space with Lilandra and Scott should probably stop being the leader of the X-men and go take care of his wife and child. Storm challenges him to one-on-one combat in the Danger Room for leadership of the team. Even though she is powerless, she manages to win that fight. Storm proved her leadership skills frequently as she faced many challenges.

She killed the team (well made it look like she killed them) in order to find a bit of safety and to let the X-men be a little more active rather than reactive. This didn't turn out very well, but the X-men came back with Storm leading one of the two main teams.

More recently, Storm married the Black Panther in an overblown event that included the Watcher talking about their future child. They have since broken up. Storm sided with Cyclops during Schism and is now part of his proactive team. We'll see how that goes. I think she would have been better off going her own way, but that's just me.

Top 6 Thanksgiving Foods (The Top 4)

Number 4-Pie!
It doesn't matter which flavor you choose, pie is one of the greatest things ever created. (I don't care what Jim Gaffigan has to say on the matter.) You may be stuffed as far as you think your stomach can manage, but as soon as you hear the word 'pie' you're ready for a little more. It's Thanksgiving, so feel free to indulge a little bit.

Number 3-The Bird! (however you like it.)
It may be a turkey or a goose, or even a tofurky, but whatever it is, that bird is going to be the centerpiece of your Thanksgiving meal. A Thanksgiving turkey is great because it last forever. Leftovers galore, and then some. It can last so long that you think you're never going to eat turkey again, but it's still on your mind the following November.

Number 2-Potatoes!
Potatoes are an amazing food. You can fry them or boil them. Mashed potatoes are pretty great too. The great thing about mashed potatoes is that you can eat them any and all of the time. Think about it. You probably had some form of potato recently, and you'll probably have potatoes right after your Thanksgiving dinner. How can you go wrong with a food like that?

Number 1-Stuffing!
I don't know about you, but this is what I really look forward to when it comes to Thanksgiving. Stuffing is one of my favorite foods ever. There's something about the taste and texture combination that I really enjoy. I'm not particular about the source either. It can come from the bird or from a can. It doesn't really matter that much to me as long as there is stuffing when I sit down for Thanksgiving.

Top 6 Thanksgiving Foods

Thanksgiving has a pretty long history. Go back to the Pilgrims and then to Honest Abe and all the way up to today, but what is the deal with Thanksgiving. So Abraham Lincoln made it an official holiday on the last Thursday of November, but it has become less about being thankful and more about being stuffed like the turkey you are about to carve in a couple of days.

So if Thanksgiving is going to be all about the food anyway, why not talk about the food for a bit? There are plenty of foods to talk about, but I'm going to limit this list to 6 rather than 12 because I'm almost out of time, and I don't see much point about writing how awesome cranberry sauce happens to be. (I'm not actually a fan of cranberry sauce, so that's even more pointless.)

I'm going to give a couple of honorable mentions and then move on to numbers 6 and 5. Tomorrow, I'll finish up the list with the top 4 Thanksgiving foods. So here are the honorable mentions!

Assorted varieties of bread!

Bread is awesome whatever form it may take. It really is one of the greatest things ever invented. If there aren't rolls or some kind of bread at your Thanksgiving it probably means you have a gluten allergy. (I'm so sorry for you if this is the case.)

Corn!
Corn is an integral part of Thanksgiving. It was one of the foods that was brought by the natives and it's a major part of pretty much everything you eat these days. I'm a big fan of corn and I love it during my Thanksgiving dinner.

Number 6-Gravy
I was at a Thanksgiving dinner for the AmeriCorps members in the Denver area recently and it was an awesome meal, except for one thing-no one made gravy. There were plenty of great foods to enjoy, and I'm not a huge fan of gravy anyway, but it definitely reduced the enjoyment of the meal for the people around me. This more than justifies gravy getting a place on this list.

Number 5-Green Bean Casserole
First a quick confession that I've never had green bean casserole for Thanksgiving, but I always see that commercial where everyone brings it to dinner. That is just about enough to make me put it on the list. Green bean casserole is a great dish and something I would appreciate on my Thanksgiving table.

There are four more dishes to go, and I'll get to them tomorrow.

Remember the day!

It's not that I have a problem with our Veterans, but November 11th used to be more than a day to remember the Americans that have served our country. Back in 1918 on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, the first World War came to an end. Sure the "War to end all Wars" didn't quite accomplish its goal, but it was still a very important event in the world.

America isn't the only country to change the name, and we aren't the only country to celebrate Veteran's day, but I'm still disappointed that we don't think about that historic event when the world came together to try and create peace.

Today, I recommend that you take some time to think about the reason this day was made a holiday in the first place. In seven years, it will be the 100th anniversary of the end of WWI. Maybe we should do something about that.

Thanksgiving themed-top 6 list (coming soon)

Hey everyone, I've been busy working on National Novel Writing month so I haven't had much time for posting so far in November, but I am planning to do a list of the Top 6 Foods for Thanksgiving. I was going to do a longer list, but I decided that having an entire post on pickles would be a little silly. (I may do that post on its own at some point but not as a part of the list.)

I'm tempted to do a carnivore and herbivore listing, but we'll see how it goes. For now, send me some comments on what you think is the top food for Thanksgiving dinner and I'll consider your opinions, but of course, I'll keep my own advice.

This is a little something I wrote up for a blog I working on with a friend to encourage fellow NaNoWriMo people. You can check out the whole blog here: nanowrimos.tumblr.com

Plotting the plot

Plot is both the most complicated and least complicated aspect of a story. Take any story and try to tell me what the plot is for that story. Now you have to stop and think about that don’t you? Why? Because the plot of a story runs on multiple levels.
Back in school, you were probably taught that the plot is what happens in the story. That is very true, but at the same time, it doesn’t say nearly enough, does it?
On the most basic level, the plot might break down to boy meets girl, boy and girl like each other, boy and girl get into a fight, boy and girl go different ways. Does that really tell you what happened in the story? Actually, it probably tells you what happened in hundreds of stories.
On the other level, the plot is all about those intricate details. How did the boy and girl meet? Who are their friends? What did they eat for dinner? But how do we make this deeper level work for us?
I don’t know how you work with your plot, but for me, I like to focus on something other than plotting. I like to focus on my characters. How well do you really know them? If you’re doing your job, they should be like close friends, maybe even more than that. Remember, as the writer, you can look inside their heads and snoop around. They are your characters, so you should have a pretty good idea of what makes them tick.
Now that’s you’ve become better acquainted with your characters, think about the places where they are going to take a stand. In the novel I’m working on, the male character made a decision to never work at a job where he couldn’t just walk away from it when he wanted. I think that calls for a situation where he really has to think about that decision. Can I work my plot so that has to happen?
Your plot should continually challenge your characters beliefs and opinions. Sure there will be down times in the story, but always use the time to explore who your character are.