The End

Tonight Dad, Mom, Naomi, and I finished the special features on "The End of Time" - the final David Tennant Dr. Who special. Us girls found ourselves getting a bit emotional listening to the actors and watching the replay of the last scenes of the episode. It isn't the end of Dr. Who, because we know that Matt Smith has taken over and there have been two more years of Dr. Who since that ending.

But it was the end. It felt much more like a series finale than a season finale for me. I think some of that has to do with the nature of Dr. Who. Because of the regeneration, it's very much a new show with, in this case, a whole new cast and even a new producer.

(If you don't care about Dr. Who hang in here with me for a moment and I promise I'll tie it into a larger topic in a minute.)

Besides that, as brilliant as I'm sure Matt Smith is, I just think that David Tennant is absolutely brilliant and he was my first doctor. I've heard it said that you often feel a stronger connection to your first Doctor when you encounter Doctor Who.

Anyway. It's over and the specials have all been watched, but I find my thoughts lingering on the show and I find myself feeling almost depressed over the fact that this fictional character of the tenth doctor is never returning to my tv screen. Knowing I'll never see him make friends, make mistakes, continue to grow and change and LIVE makes me incredibly sad. But it was satisfying and beautiful at the same time. This got me to thinking - what makes a good ending? And then I started thinking about other endings that have affected me just as strongly and I started wondering why some are so memorable and others aren't.

I love a happy ending, but I also seem to like shows, and even books, that leave things a little bit open. I like room to imagine what's going to happen next. And honestly, I seem to like a little bit of bittersweet as well. Which is kind of a revelation for me, because I'm such a firm believer in the happy ending ending. I think it depends on how it's handled and the MOST important thing is that the ending is satisfying.

I could make a really long list, but here are a few endings I have loved:

The Hunger Games Trilogy and the Gregor the Overlander series by Suzanne Collins. I am such a Collins fangirl. I think she is absolutely brilliant. Both of these series end so bittersweetly and the thing that makes the difference is the hope. With all of the tragedy and death and horror there is hope that the characters can survive and can overcome the terrible things they've come in contact with. I get teared up just thinking about it. But the hope at the end would never have been so powerful if there hadn't been the terror right up until the last possible moment. The pain of the characters emphasizes the power of their ability to move on.

From Crazy Frankenstein

Friends. I discovered this show when I was an undergrad when a friend started lending me the seasons. I fell in love with the six characters and the ending was perfect. Each of them ready to move on with their lives, filled with possibilities, but that poignant moment when they all set down their keys and leave the apartment and the slow pan brings me to tears every time. It's an absolutely wonderful moment.

From Flash Screen

Lost. Yes, I was on the side of those that loved it. It threw me for a loop the first time I saw the finale, but after some time of processing and talking with other fans I realized that it was a beautiful and perfect ending. So there were unsolved mysteries. Wasn't that the whole point of the show? To keep people thinking and guessing and speculating? If everything was wrapped up nice and pretty it would have destroyed the power of the entire show. The characters were what really mattered. It was because of them that we cared so much about the mysteries. And each of them had some sort of conclusion to their story in a beautiful and meaningful way.

From Here

The Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket. I cannot express my delight in these books enough. They are some of my favorites of all time and I was honestly terrified in wondering how the series would end, but I should have had more faith in Mr. Snicket. Open ended, bittersweet, and hopeful with enough bizarre twists and strange happenings to make it a worthy finale to a wonderful series.

I definitely have a lot of food for thought as I work towards the ending of my novel. Because I want to make it an ending that people will love and remember.

So what makes a good ending for you? Do you like wrapped up and happy? Or loose ended and mysterious? Or a mixture?

Quintessentially Quirky

Have you ever been at a dinner or a party with a group of people you get along with and you all have a similar, twisted sense of humor. When it gets toward the end of the night you all start to hit that "punchy" feeling and everything becomes funny, even if it really isn't (note I hang around mainly with people who don't drink - we don't have to). Then someone starts a gag and everyone carries it on until it's gotten beyond ridiculous?

No? Just me?

Well, like 3 years ago I was at our church's annual Adult Fellowship White Elephant Christmas Party.

We had finished dinner and dessert and doing the hysterical gift exchange and were just hanging out talking.

One of the guys (total redneck :) starts talking about the squirrels in their backyard and how he's had to start shooting them because they're causing problems and how someone stole some of the dead ones he had left behind his barn.

Okay, so this was never a real squirrel - but look how cute he is :)

So we tried to come up with reasons why someone would steal a dead squirrel. Then the reasons got more and more ridiculous. And of course we thought they were more and more hilarious.

Yesterday I was trying to catch up on some of y'all's blog posts and I found my way over to Simon's blog where he is asking what he should give away for his 250 followers contest. One of his options is a squirrel. And I immediately thought about this list and decided I would post it for your reading amusement.

101 Uses for a Dead Squirrel

1. Back Scratcher
2. Ear Cleamer
3. Ceiling Fan Duster
4. Hairbrush
5. Shoe Buffer
6. Boomerang
7. After Dinner Discussion Topic
8. Remote Control Flying Squirrel
9. Venetian Blind Cleamer
10. Bottle Brush
11. Toothbrush
12. Chimney Sweeper
13. Paintbrush
14. Quill
15. Suspenders (2 required)
16. Frisbee (Furry Flier)
17. Practical Joke
18. Spelling Out HELP in Your Backyard
19. Snowbrush
20. Ice Scraper
21. Fasteners
22. Hat
23. Dog Toy
24. Conversation Piece
25. Christmas Tree (Using multiple squirrels)
26. Comb
27. Easy Care Pet
28. Dinner
29. Can Opener
30. Cup Holder
31. Cafeteria Food
32. Slippers
33. Toupee
34. Ear Muffs
35. Key Fob (hanging decoration on a keychain, because apparently not everyone has heard this term)
36. Nutcracker
37. Hair Extensions
38. Earrings
39. Scarf
40. Good Luck Charm
41. Sermon Illustration
42. Centerpiece
43. Hood Ornament
44. Doorstop
45. Boa
46. Bookends
47. Door Knocker
48. Gloves/Muff
49. Nunchucks
50. Hors d'ouvres with bagels (I don't remember why it was specifically with bagels...)
51. Rear View Mirror Decoration
52. Doormat
53. Christmas Ornament
54. Rug
55. Tablecloth Clamps
56. And now - Blog Post Topic

Oh goodness we were SO ridiculous. Of course we didn't hit 101, but we had way more than we should have :P Any thoughts? Any other uses?

As if I really need to carry this any further.

Ostentatiously Odd

I am running out of ideas.

Okay, not really, but I admit that some of these days are starting to grow difficult to come up with things - or difficult to find time to do something of substance. Thank you all for sticking with me through the, um, fluff that I sometimes spew. :)

Anyhoo.

Today, at work, I was talking about my "N" post with my boss (whom we affectionately call "El Jefe" and LemanieSunshine ( a new follower to my blog and a newbie to the blogger world because I talk about it ad nauseum.)

Anyways.

So I was saying that I didn't know what to do for "O". So they start throwing random things out. Eventually the conversation (after customer interruptions, I mean, needs and other business stuff (stupid work getting in the way of socialization!)) (I can't believe I just did a parentheses inside a parentheses.) so the conversation got on to other things. I mentioned the hilarious owl poems people have been leaving me including the one that incorporated David Bowie. Except my mouth wasn't working and I pronounced it like buoy instead of Bowie. Lemanie had to correct me since she is obsessed with him. I assured her I knew the right way to pronounce it.

Then I grinned and said, "David Buoy is the one that floats out in the ocean to warn ships."

And THAT started us off on a kick of these stupid jokes.

They were so randomly odd, I decided I would use my friends, once again, as a cop out for me actually writing something. :P

Here are our contributions:

What do you call a guy that lays on the porch?

Matt!

What do you call a guy that hangs on the wall?

Art!

What do you call a girl with one leg longer than the other?

Eileen!

What do you call a guy floating in a pool?

Bob!

What do you call a guy in a pile of leaves?

Russell!

What do you call a girl with one leg?

Peg!

Don't you wish you worked with people like that?

So, do you have any stupid "what do you call..." jokes? (Keep them clean :)

Nbacon

This is what happens when you have writer's block and throw the following question out to my friends on Facebook:

Lady Rebecca Thompson I need an "N" theme for today's blog post. Drawing a blank. Any suggestions?

'bout 11 turn o' yer hourglass ago · Weigh in · Do you like my Pirate settings? I LOVE it. It makes me happy every time I go on!
Here are the responses I received: (names have been removed to protect the innocent :P)

Nitwits? :-)

'bout 10 turn o' yer hourglass ago ·

Nbacon!

'bout 10 turn o' yer hourglass ago ·

Nose hair trimmers.

'bout 10 turn o' yer hourglass ago ·

Numbers. (like having to make certain numbers on certain products in order to be considered at par?) But I do like nbacon . . .

'bout 9 turn o' yer hourglass ago ·

Nbacon does sound good, I was going to say not enough time to read all the books you want to read, or you could just write about nothing.

'bout 7 turn o' yer hourglass ago ·

Noodles! or nuts :-D

What lovely things to come home to after a long day at work! hahahahaha! I mean, who thinks a post on "Nose Hair Trimmers" would be interesting?! Love ya Emdy :)

And post #2 is a friend of mine obsessed with (you guessed it) bacon.

When we were visiting some friends in VA, I used their microwave - the first thing that came up was this:

HAHA! What kind of microwave has a bacon option?

So let's see -

Nitwits: I think I have proven that my friends are Not Nitwits. (etymology fun fact - Nitwit comes from the German root nit which means not or nothing. So a Nitwit is someone without wit.) You guys definitely have wit.

Nbacon: Oh, AR, you most definitely made my day with that one. I think I've covered that quite well already.

Nose Hair Trimmers: Ummm... I don't use them. I don't really know anything about them. But I would LOVE to see you write a story about them Emdy :)

Numbers: I love that TV show! Whee! The Eps brothers = palatable ;P

Not quite what you meant? Oh well.

Not enough time to read: Oh, CC - you know me TOO well. Of course you're in the same boat, so we can drown in a happy mound of literary excess.

Nothing: Yup, pretty much got that covered.

Noodles!: mummy, I love your pasta and sauce. But I forget, noodles are not synonymous with pasta. Crummy Italian I turned out to be.

Nuts: Almonds. mmmmmmm..... Oooooh - especially with dark chocolate!

I think that about does it :)