This past weekend was the first monthly meeting of the Candlelight Writers Group, a name we picked pretty much on the spot, after some more colorful and politically scandalous suggestions didn’t gain the required traction. The group consists of David Liss, Rhodi Hawk, Joe McKinney, Hank Schwaeble and me. This is the first writers group I’ve been a member of in many years, and I look forward to our future meetings, since the first one was such a rousing success. Everyone had a markedly different style of criticism, so there wasn’t a whole lot of “yeah, what he said,” though agreement was reached on a number of issues. I received some insightful, encouraging and helpful feedback on the first chapter of my latest novel which I am still digesting in preparation for having another go at it. My Storytellers Unplugged essay this coming Friday is about my experience with critique groups.
The trip to San Antonio and back again (all in the same day) took a healthy bite out of my weekend, but it was worth the 450 miles. I also like taking my car out onto the freeway every now and then, since so much of the time it seldom gets to go above 45 mph. The freeway was clear, especially on the return trip. I set the cruise control for 69 mph and rarely had to turn it off. I went as many miles on half a tank of gas as I normally do on a full tank.
It looks like Don Draper is bouncing back on Mad Men. He started a journal, is drinking less, is exercising more (even if he lights up a smoke right after he’s done swimming) and, most importantly, he’s awoken from his daze. He sees the women he’s been dating, and understands them. And he sees the new woman in his life, and he’s paying attention to the things she says, even to the point of taking Dr. Faye Miller’s advice about attending his son’s birthday party to heart. He also accepted Ms Blankenship (aka Ray Charles) as his punishment (delivered via Joan) for his inappropriate behavior with past secretaries. We also learned that he never finished high school, as has some regrets about that.
Also showing her wisdom was Francine, who told Betty to chill out because she had everything and Don had nothing. It’s not exactly true (though a week ago it might have seemed that way), and her longing gaze across the room at the end tells us that she has her own regrets. It was interesting that her new husband took out his frustrations on Don’s stored belongings, and also that Don picked them up and immediately dumpstered them. No baggage from the past—he tends to travel light through life, and he’s enjoying sleeping alone for a change. But poor Joanie—she’s in crisis. Her matronly ways are not appreciated, and she is distraught about what’s going to happen once her husband leaves. She doesn’t have friends at work to talk with. But she got off the zinger of the night when she dressed down the immature clowns by telling them that she sees them in the swamps of Vietnam in a year. When that happens, she says, “you’re not dying for me because I never liked you.”
A couple of weeks ago we got to see the serious and important side of API’s work on Rubicon. This week we saw something that was almost the opposite—institute members spinning their wheels for no purpose or gain whatsoever. Plus they got to see how some of the intelligence they receive is extracted from unwilling sources. It was a hard lesson for them, and Tanya’s already self-medicating to handle the job. We also got a little more insight into what the big picture of the series seems to be about: a cabal of businessmen who are using their access to intelligence to make themselves rich by investing in the stabilty or instability of foreign interests.
Eureka almost tied itself in knots this week by sending a couple of characters back to the same timespan they were bounced to at the beginning of the season. They had to avoid themselves, preserve the timeline and get back to the present in time to save a life. It was very cleverly done, I thought. It explored the concept that there are certain fixed events that are immutable and others that are malleable. Doctor Who would approve. This week’s Haven was one of the better episodes, too. Creepy, with an Agatha Christie And Then There Were None feel and a real shock ending that relied on our tendency to suspect the character we’ve never seen before. Interesting aside: one of Audrey’s birthday gifts was a copy of Misery Unchained (signed by the author before that lady chopped off his foot), a reference to Paul Sheldon from Misery. And the tricycle made me think of The Shining. The quality of the acting still leaves much to be desired, but I thought this was a good episode.
Toronto got the chance to play itself on Covert Affairs this week, instead of doubling for other locations, including Switzerland. If you’ve been waiting to catch up with the show, tomorrow would be the day. There’s an all-day marathon that ends with the season finale. It’s worth the time—a neat little show.
