At one time, my lifelong goal was to write screenplays for Hollywood. Maybe that was just an excuse to watch so many movies and television shows, but I applied myself with the diligence and fervor of the newly-converted. I tracked down Campbell's "Faces of the Hero", a writer's guide to archetypes in storytelling. I read a library full of fiction, and some non-fiction. I've watched many hours of television, both live and on DVD. I've revisited classics like "Kung Fu" and struggled with the over-acting in "Renegade".

As I was watching "Threshold" the other night, I noticed they were introducing a minor mystery about one of the secondary characters... not a big mystery, but enough for me to take note of it. It got me thinking about "Lost" and how the main attraction of that show was the mysteries... what their character's backgrounds were, what the deal was on the island, was it natural or supernatural? And I realized how difficult it is to walk that fine line...

Tell the audience too little about a character, to try and foster a great deal of mystery, and they become uninteresting and unsympathetic. The marine on "Threshold" missed running to someone's deathbed because he was on a mission. I realized I didn't really care, because I didn't know who it was, couldn't sympathize with him, because the only thing I knew about him was his ability to bark orders and shoot a gun.

But the sword has a second edge... tell the audience too much about a character, and the questions are gone. They have no reason to tune in/read further because their questions have been answered. How interesting will "Reunion" be once we know who of the six friends was murdered? How easy will it be to deduce who killed them with the limited number of motives available to incite their death?

It's a fine line, and the good writers must walk it like a tightrope balanced between a swamp full of crocodiles and a pool of sharks. It makes me question my own equilibrium as a writer, because I've seen and felt audience reaction when it's all gone wrong. I may not ever write a blockbuster movie, or the great American novel, but I'm still fascinated by their intricacies.

To that end, I'd like to ask you all... What mysteries intrigued you about a show? What answered questions made you stop watching?

We're still hanging out here, waiting. Hubby may have also picked up an actual JOB instead of going with the self-employed thing. His former business partner was taken in by their former employer's Houston office, and hubby may be going along with that plan. Really, if I could name names without invading anyone's privacy, that last sentence would make sense.

Anyway, our only worry is daughter's schooling. I've been holding out for so long, which is odd because I *hated* her former school's mismanagement of funding, but this school would ABSOLUTELY require putting her on a bus, which she's never done, and I'm not confident she can handle. She's a very tiny thing, and that's not just mom-fear talking. The kids in her class last year used to try and carry her around like a doll. Sigh.

Anyway, I wanted to give out a semi-public THANK YOU to my friends here who sent me goodies to help me get through this stressful post-Katrina time. You know who ya are.

The day has arrived. Joss Whedon's film that thousands of us rabid "Firefly" fans have been dying to see opened today. Due to some budgetary constraints, I will not get to see every single showing of it today, but I AM going to a 7:30 showing. Hopefully. A part of me is wishing I show up and the show is sold out IF my printer had made it in our transition after the hurricane, I would have bought the tickets yesterday on FANDANGO and been done with it. Ah well.

Anyhoo, I implore anyone with enough cash to scrape together to run down and buy a ticket now. You don't even have to watch it if you don't want to (BUT WHY would you NOT???)

And may the reavers never visit you while you're sleeping

Okay, this is getting ridiculous. Am I going to end up a refugee from my refuge?

We're loading up on water and canned food to ride out Rita, but we're watching the map and thinking it might be a good time to fly up to MN for the weekend.

Or maybe it'll still hook north and blow over our god-awful carport

Let me add a little preface here about this blog; while this is not about "Lost" the show, there will probably be several references to it which may confuse anyone who has not watched the show and/or posted to the message board about it here.

A lot has happened over the last few weeks that has brought the division between faith and science into sharp focus for me. I don't have any faith anymore, and probably haven't for a very long time. I'd say when I managed a home-electronics store in Chicago in the early '90s is probably when it happened. I had so many people ripping me off, it wasn't even funny.

My lack of faith... in people, gods, the great force of the universe, what have you... is probably why I identify with the character of Jack much more readily than Locke (both from LOST for the uninitiated). While both men seem a bit imbalanced in their approaches, I can usually see where Jack is coming from, while Locke remains a mystery, or worse, appears to have gone looney-tunes.

Even now, post-Katrina, where most everyone has been very kind and helpful, it has not restored my faith. I see huge fundraisers and telethons going on, supposedly for my benefit. I smirk and wonder how much of it would actually make its way to me if we were actually seeking help (hubby is stubbornly proud) and how much of that money is actually going to benefit opportunistic businesses and the managers of these events. One Wal-Mart employee told me that they're not offering discounts at their store (this was one with a grocery in it that's very close to our new apartment) because the Corporate office has already donated a million dollars. Okay, I can accept that... I guess. Donated to whom? For what purpose? I can tell you, I need groceries *today*. I'm not going to need money to rebuild until tomorrow, if then. That's the "science" part of my nature... the pragmatist.

It's great that people are giving, and giving generously... but when will we get what they gave? Six months from now when the bureaucracy has finally finished with it? I probably won't need it then. Give us tax breaks, price breaks, whatever, but not promises. Because if the Red Cross is anything like the Army, they're spending most of that money on moving people around, and wasting half of it on food people don't eat. I'd like to see the garbage the shelters are producing, just to see how much waste is taking place. And if donations are going to help "rebuild" New Orleans, good luck... because I swear if I see one single repair to a government building before housing is rebuilt, I will go ballistic.