Stream of Conscience

Well, I conked out of NaBloPoMo again.  Boo, me.   But that’s not to say I haven’t been blogging.

A few days ago I figured out how to bide my time until the new season of Supernatural premieres on Sep 10.  At the time, there were 81 days left, and 82 episodes.  So I decided to watch one episode a day.  Yes, I did attempt to do the same thing last year and sort of fizzled out towards the end.  With that fizzle and the NaBloPoMo fizzle, what’s to keep me from not fizzling out this time?  Not a darn thing.  The whole thing’s going to be a crap shoot.

If yer a bettin’ person, you could start a pool to see how long I’ll last.

I’ve been doing my reviews over at LiveJournal, because this blog is supposed to be classier than me gushing about a tv show aimed at 20-somethings.  Should I just go ahead and post them here?  Or, should I post them at Sci Fi Chicks in an effort to get some action going over there?  Decisions, decisions.

Oh, that reminds me, I need to finish my review of last week’s True Blood before this week’s episode airs.  Honestly?  I’m just not that into the show.

One of the tidbits the blogging gurus give is to resurface old posts.  Well, I don’t have any old posts here, but I do them at the very first Stream of Conscience.  So I took a look at my first month’s posts (October 2006), and present (slightly editted) pieces from one of them.

One of the items I found at the grocery store was a “log” of mozzarella cheese (not the part-skim American stuff, the creamy mozzarella di bufala of Italy) wrapped in prosciutto. It didn’t have a price on it, but decided I’d take a chance and buy it anyway.  It was only $5.00, not a bad price for a little piece of heaven.

I thought back to my Navy tour of duty in Naples, Italy; and how a loaf of crusty bread, a “ball” of mozzarella di bufala, and a bottle of white wine made for an easy & tasty (if not well-balanced) evening meal. Good times.

Wow!  A Sea Story before I even had the category!  Here’s another one, also from Naples days:

One Christmas, four of us (two friends and a helicopter pilot from one of the ships in port) went searching for something to eat and a good time. The plan was to stop at a road-side rosticceria where-ever the afternoon took us. We even had the foresight to bring along a cork screw for the wine. Turns out we didn’t need it. All the wine bottles had screw tops.

Years later, I told this story to my friend Dave (not the same Dave from yesterday).  He owns part of a winery and has learned quite a bit about the business. (I also think he drinks most of the profits, but that’s another story. )   He told me the wine industry was finding that screw caps are just as effective as corks.  Indeed, tonight’s wine, 4 Emus shiraz, has a screw top. And it’s pretty darned good.

I just hope I can keep enough around for tomorrow when I get to play my Supernatural drinking game. (Gosh, I love that show!)

That last paragraph tickles me.  I still love Supernatural, but  I don’t think I’m as invested in it as I was back at the beginning of season 2.  Oh hell, who am I kidding?

With the unveiling of the Supernatural season 4 DVD cover, I suppose now would be as good a time as any to discuss my only #1 fictional hero, Dean Winchester.  Normally I’d say Dean’s brother Sam Winchester  is my favorite, but Sam allowed himself to be conned for two freakin’ years and the dope brought about the apocalypse.  What an idiot!

There’s much that has been written about Dean Winchester already.  I chalk that up to the character being played by Jensen Ackles.  The actor has many rabid enthusiastic fans, mainly because he’s ridiculously handsome.  Plus, it doesn’t hurt that Jensen is a terrific actor.  I won’t go so far as to say he never misses, but he is probably the most underrated actor in Hollywood right now.  (Personally, I think one day he will be as big as George Clooney.  Gosh, I hope I didn’t just jinx Jensen’s success.)

Dean Winchester is one of those guys you love to hate and hate to love.  He’s tough as nails, hard to get to know in any but the most superficial ways (which for women usually means taking off their clothes).  Yet he’s deeply passionate about his family, and saving people from things that go bump in the night.   But underneath his bravado and considerable swagger, the guy is massively damaged.   Even though he was the “good Marine” who (almost) always followed his dad’s orders, he never received his father’s gratitude, until the very end.  But even now, every once in awhile John Winchester reaches out from the grave to screw with his elder son’s head.  It adds wonderful complexity to the character.

Truthfully, in the beginning I think Dean Winchester was meant to be the hero’s “sidekick,” like Han Solo to Luke Skywalker.  (In fact, series creator Eric Kripke has used the Star Wars analogy to his show many times.)  But Jensen Ackles has brought so much depth and humor and passion to the role, Dean Winchester has become one of the most fascinating characters on television.

And if you’re not watching Supernatural, get off your ass and start!