Shadow Puppet Storyteller

My claims

I claim in the original description for this blog that the REAL ME resides here. It has been nearly six months since I put words to this blog, and the interesting thing is, in avoiding it, I kept out all the negativity that flooded through my daily existence in that time period. That's not to say I didn't vent. I simply created a different forum for that -- which at the time, I thought, might bring me a bit of fame.

Clearly, despite what the outer reality does to me, or even has in store for me, I am still ME, unchanged. That unshakable sameness that is not a negative, for I AM and meant to be I AM.

I had a scary moment of recognition last night while re-watching the J.J. Abrahms Star Trek movie. I caught myself shooting a remark over to my ever-so geekier Trek fan spouse that revealed I had reserved ranch-sized real estate in my head for this pop-culture monster and all its generations before it. I did not finish what I started to blurt; it was an instantaneous, "Oh no...really?" realization. Funny thing, I'm sure if I had stated my question the way it formed in my head, I would have received the same chirpy, matter-of-fact answer from my husband anyway. I just didn't realize I was this far gone. If there really was Big Brother to worry about, recording all utterances, the State would be seizing me from my living room sofa and retiring me to some place bouncy, and free from harm.

What did I stop myself from saying, you ask? Simple. The story has already pulled-off two affecting vignettes explaining the early time line of young, James T. Kirk, and life as we are to understand it in his fabricated, future century. As an audience member, I am being introduced to characters that I know, having watched the original television show (and everthing else). Then a new scene opens up with young cadet Uhura ordering at the bar. She mentions a Cardasian Sunrise cocktail; my fan brain recognizes this Star Trek Universe location as something never mentioned, in my experience, until the Star Trek series of the 1990s. So, my question was logically skewering this, but it was phrased as if this scripted fantasy I was observing was a reality in which I lived myself.

"Do we have knowledge of Cardasia at this point?" (Whoa, I said, we?!)

No big deal? Maybe.

Television and films have always been a big part of my life. Some series really capture me -- usually the Science Fiction, Fantasy or ones with Romantic, quirky drama. So, is this an escape from day-to-day, or do I really model my expectations on scripted drama? For that matter, let's think about the certainty that I am not the only one.

Could be scary, could be deep. I hope the reserved rubber room is a group one with a TV.