Reading, 'riting and Randomness

Ow!

khek — Wed, 01 Jul 2015 03:44:59 GMT

I think I just broke my toe, tripping over a shoe.

: /

Stupid.

Maybe it's time to stop randomly kicking them off as soon as I get through the door?

Hello, Cruel World!

khek — Sun, 02 Oct 2011 15:47:42 GMT

Wow. That was quite a trip! I wish they could have showed 7.01 and 7.02 together, because all the niggling doubts I had in episode one (like Sam vanishing and Dean not seeming to worry) were all explained in the second half. I loved the moments between Sam and Dean! Sam managing to trust Dean through the hallucinations, and Dean getting through to his brother because he loves him and knows exactly what he's going through. These are the brothers we saw in season one, with six years of further experience.

Bobby's house! All those books! The well-stocked supernatural pantry! The memories. I think Bobby has escaped...or he's down in the panic room, waiting for rescue. (hey, it's entrance is in Bobby's basement, but we know that it vents outside. It's metal, so nothing should burn. It's got a vent in the ceiling. It's the perfect place to wait out a fire...right?)

As for the Leviathans...creepy! The real faces (or tentacles or whatever) coming through are...yuck! They seem to be a little like shapeshifters in that they can access the host's memories. We know that Castiel/Jimmy couldn't contain all of them...but what about one? I have a feeling that the Big Boss Leviathan is still in Jimmy, recovering and manipulating his troops. I don't know if Castiel is still in there too, but I bet we see Misha Collins later in the season as the creepy Leviathan boss. And maybe the boys can still rescue Castiel, if that's the case.

Next week looks pretty amazing as well. The boys are headed into the lair of the monsters, one immobile, one unconscious, without any backup. Yikes!

Boston Supernatural Creation Con

khek — Thu, 04 Aug 2011 02:28:44 GMT

Anyone know anyone who's going?

My sister K2 and I are going to be there Sunday, so I thought I'd just ask. I haven't been to an actor con for about ten years, so I have no idea really what to expect.

K2 bought tickets for a photo op; the photos are at 11:30, but the schedule says that the room will be open to start the line up at 9:00. Do we really need to be there that early to line up? Is there any benefit to being first/middle/last in line? This is her first con, so I really want it to work for her!

A random Supernatural Thought

khek — Mon, 23 May 2011 13:50:40 GMT

Let me start this by saying I grew up Catholic, but I was in a singing group that did a lot of ecumenical services in churches of other faiths. So I saw the differences and sameness of many "different" religions. I also read a lot; as a kid I took the Aslan/Tash thing in the end of The Chronicles of Narnia probably totally the opposite of what C.S. Lewis intended. All my sci-fi fantasy reading has made me believe in everything, and nothing. So my views religion and God and gods are not the norm.

Okay, I know that Castiel opened Purgatory and absorbed all the souls inside. (Although I wonder...did he absorb ALL the souls, or just the human souls? And if he didn't take the monster souls, are they now free to roam the Earth again? But that's not my question...)

I've seen a bunch of posts where people are annoyed or enraged or even laughing hysterically because they think that Castiel thinks he's God. But...this is Supernatural, right? We've already seen that there are a ton of gods running around. Hindu gods, Viking gods, Greek gods...they're out there. Apparently their power waxes and wanes because of belief. That's why they older gods have lost power, and the Christian god has taken on more and more. (although I would think that would make the gods of India and China the most powerful, but I realize this is being filmed by people with a Judeo-Christian background, so that will probably never be acknowledged.)

While it's true that absorbing Purgatory's souls may have given Castiel god-like powers, doesn't he have to have worshippers to make it official? Or has the Christian god left the post so open that anybody can just step into it? If that's true, why didn't Uriel (or Zachariah) simply absorb extra souls or a bunch of other angels, or an arch-angel or two and take over Heaven millenium ago? If the show is saying that power is the only thing that makes God, wouldn't you think that one of the other, greedier pagan gods would have taken over long ago?

Anyway, it doesn't seem possible that we can expect Castiel to just step right into God's shoes and take over heaven absolutely. I think he has just as many problems as he did before, and this time, he has no one on his side. We haven't seen if the angels will accept him, it looks like Crowley is opposed to him (although that could be wrong) and he no longer has the Winchesters. It leaves a bunch of options open.

I don't know that there's any answer to this until season seven starts, but I just don't think "god-like powers" equals The God. It will be interesting to see where they go with this. I guess it just doesn't seem as cut and dried as it seems to look.

Ansower if you like, but I'm trying to stay spoiler-free as much as possible. Anything published in TV guide is fair game, but leaks from the set are not. Thanks!

Diana Wynne Jones

khek — Sat, 26 Mar 2011 12:46:50 GMT

...has been my favorite author since I picked up Witch's Business at the local library when I was in junior high. I quickly found several other books (not at the library, since they had a very small budget, but at bookstores all over New England...I even bought the hardcovers, which my mother thought was a shocking waste of my hard-earned babysitting money.) It was after I read Charmed Life that I put her up on my "favorite author ever" list, and she's been there ever since. I have bought each of her books as soon as it came out since then, even ordering them from England before Amazon.com existed. I've always looked forward to a new book every year or so. Her books were so amazing, full of humor, adventure and great characters. I have always given them to my favorite readers, and enjoyed seeing their reactions.

Diana Wynne Jones passed away early this morning; she'd been fighting cancer for over a year. I know I only knew her through her books, but it feels like I've lost an amazing friend. My thoughts go out to her family and friends, and her fans all over the world.

Diana, you will be missed.

Hah!

khek — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 02:13:33 GMT

Has anyone seen the new Travelers Insurance commercial? The one with the little plastic toy people, where the little girl shakes their house?

I saw it the other day, and the music sounded SO familiar...I was humming along with it. But even though I knew how it was going to go, I had no idea how I knew. All I could think was that it was something I remembered from when I was really little.

I played a hunch, and looked up on You Tube...Captain Kangaroo. It's The Captain Kangaroo theme song! Heh.

can't believe I remembered that.

Ergh!

khek — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 01:59:31 GMT

What is the deal with this stupid "plug-in container.exe" that Firefox has added? It's completely SUCKING UP ALL MY MEMORY! My computer is so slow, and I can't even type stuff because the buffer is so far behind.

Does anyone know if a way to fix it is in the works? Because I may have to look into another product if this is going to be such a problem. Ugh.

edited to add:
I found a way to turn it off. Thank goodness! I hope they fix it in the next version.

Supernatural

khek — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 02:19:57 GMT

Okay, first the last thing. Did that come totally out of left field or what? I guess we're supposed to believe that along with thinking John--his hero until this season--was a deadbeat dad all along, we're supposed to believe that Dean's been pining for Lisa since 2001?

Huh.

The episode itself was interesting. I didn't think that little miss perfect was a prophet, but I thought she was another of the demon's kids. That she was a major demon was something that kind of crept up on us, and I thought they did it well.

Dean killing her...I would have guessed that anyone that was Michael's condom was technically "an agent of heaven", no matter what his beliefs, so that didn't surprise me. Sam's reaction, however, made me guess that we're supposed to read more of an intent behind that. He was also a little less than supportive with the "I'm pretty sure you're headed the other direction", to the kid's mother. Although she did choose to kill the bartender, she was totally manipulated into that position and choice. You'd think he'd have a little sympathy.

Castiel was amusing, mostly because of his deadpan delivery of lines like "Sam, of course, is an abomination." Um, couldn't he have done some kind of angel mojo and beamed himself into the backseat of the Impala to talk to Dean in that last scene?

Sam was great...he's obviously fighting hard to keep hope alive, and bring both Dean and Castiel along for the ride. And yet, he still has a bit of a rebel streak. His expression when Dean took off! Poor Sam.

The ending bugged me though. To me, it didn't make Dean feel romantic or doomed, it made him seem...weak. And Lisa? I kept expecting her to turn into either a demon or an angel and take him out. Or have her new husband walk out from the kitchen. Who spends ten years pining after a one-night stand? Even if he was amazing. Hollywood sure has some strange ideas about romance.

I may change my mind upon re-watching. You never know. I do have the headache from hell, after a day full of annoying, screaming children and rude adults, so...

Hm.

khek — Sun, 28 Mar 2010 14:08:21 GMT

Has LJ lost Journal styles, or is it just mine?

I miss my Tikis!

Yikes!

khek — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 03:41:25 GMT

I was vacuuming. The vacuum cleaner hit the stand the CPU is on, which has metal legs. There were sparks. I didn't think anything but "hey, those were blue sparks!" I kept vacuuming. When I came back to go on the computer, it was clicking, and the screen was frozen. I turned it off, waited, and turned it on. Absolutely nothing. Black screen. I tried it again. Nothing but black.

I screamed.

I turned off all the electricity to the computer and computer-related electronics by turning off the surge suppressors. Turned them on, turned the computer on, crossed my fingers and held my breath.

It came on normally. **whew** (There was a weird message I didn't catch because it went by very quickly, but it didn't seem to stop anything from going on normally.)

That was SCARY!

Huh. LJ is having icon troubles again, isn't it? the first icon I chose was supposed to be Dean, but it was Spam Carter. That was even scarier than a potentially dead computer.

Ew.

khek — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 23:48:43 GMT

Apparently, there is plenty of food for foxes around here, so the one (ones?) around my yard are caching their extra meat.

Maggie discovered this. What worries me is where she found it. Right outside my front door (and the museum's back door) there's a boxed herb garden. The boxes are simple--there are 16 of them, with four six-inch tall sides, about two and a half feet square, with dirt inside and colonial-era herbs planted in them. There's also a round planter, about two feet tall, and three feet across, full of some green plant. (I'm not a gardener, can you tell?)

Maggie got very interested in the planter first, sniffing inside it frantically this morning. I thought there was probably a chipmunk hideout inside, so I wasn't paying too much attention. Until she started dragging out...a piece of meat. Ew. It was roughly fist-sized, but I have no idea what it was. Maggie then started going crazy in the herb garden, and found a couple more stashed pieces.

I could stand in my doorway and touch the closest cache with my foot. I like wildlife, but that's just a little too close. I hope that I don't open the door someday and find the fox waiting to come in! The other thing is that there have been quite a few rabid fox attacks in surrounding communities, and I know my parents had one up in Vermont that Fish & Wildlife were trying to trap because it had mange and they were afraid of it spreading.

Yikes.

Wild weather!

khek — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 01:07:08 GMT

It's been snowing on and off all day...wet, thick, heavy snow. About an hour before I left for work, it stopped, and the temperatures started to drop. It went from 35ish to about 17 in two hours.

When I left work, I was almost home when a snow squall started. With only a mile to go, the snow was so thick that I couldn't see a car just two car lengths in front of me. The streetlights weren't visible until you were almost right under them. It was a straight shot home though, so I kept going.

I almost missed my driveway! It's a good thing that the museum has a lighted signpost, or I would have. It didn't help that everything that was wet froze quickly, so that there was a micro-thin layer of ice on everything. I almost took out the signpost when I turned in as I slid sideways!

Now the sky is clear, there's a couple inches of snow, and the full moon is lighting up everything. It's beautiful. About -7 with the windchill factor by midnight, but beautiful!

Toe Pick!

khek — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 03:36:27 GMT

So I'm watching the Olympic exhibition skating exhibition. And I just saw a commercial.

The Cutting Edge: Fire and Ice?!?

Now, I loved the original Cutting Edge so much...it was a great little movie. I still watch it periodically, and it's one of those movies that if I'm spinning around the dials, looking for something to watch and see it, I'm compelled to stop and watch. However, let's stop beating a dead horse. The second and third versions were terrible, and this one is just stretching. Now, I do like the actor (Michael, from Roswell) but surely he's a little long in the tooth to be an olympic pairs skater?

Why couldn't they just call it Fire and Ice, and have it stand on its own? I'd respect it more, that way. I think it's a direct-to-Family Channel movie, but I'm not sure. That might explain a lot, actually.

Gerbils--HELP!

khek — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 00:45:34 GMT

Now, between the library, being a kid, and the current crop of overflow babies from two years ago that I have at home, I've had something like 62 gerbils pass through my hands. However, I always like to have more information if anyone else has experience.

My nice, secure, happy group of four male gerbils has suddenly gone beserk. I got home from a weekend away, and found Jingle bleeding from multiple wounds around his tail and eyes. Jacob is obviously the aggressor, as he was prowling the cage, starting fights with everyone. John has some wounds around his eyes and nose, which usually means he's been aggressive (Jacob does too) and Schmidt is completely clear from any issues--he's the big coward of the group though, and submissive to everyone.

I've separated Jingle and Schmidt from Jacob and John, but I only have one cage, so I'd eventually like them all back together. The cage is two levels, so I just shut the ramp of the top, wire cage that sits on top of the glass aquarium.

So...any suggestions? Experiences? Helpful hints?

Thanks!

New Year Randomness

khek — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 19:43:58 GMT

I died my hair today with a new color--dark natural blonde instead of light golden brown. Can anyone explain to me why my hair is darker now?

My eyes itch. I think it's the newly-dyed bangs hanging in front of them. It's ouchy! I had to pull the stupid bangs back with one of those spiky headbands. It's a good thing I don't have to go out, because my forehead is scary.

There was a great horned owl in the walnut tree last night. I heard it hooting; I was intrigued. Maggie was spooked and barked, the owl flew away. I want it to come back and live in the yard!

It's snowing. Again. Which means more shoveling.

NCIS is having a marathon on USA today. Much better than yesterday's tv offerings!

It's 2010!

khek — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 23:55:12 GMT

Happy New Year!

Now I just have to figure out whether that's twenty-ten, two thousand ten, two thousand and ten, or oh ten. (I've heard it!)

Things I've learned in 2010 (however you might say it) so far:

1. Sesame ginger stir fry sauce is not the same as sesame ginger marinade for crock pot dishes.

2. Apple cider can explode in the refrigerator, even if the expiration date has yet to be reached.

3. Even librarians forget to remove the dvd from the dvd player when they return the case.

4. New Year's Day has lousy TV selection.

Not bad, for less than a day of a new decade!

I hope everyone's year has started off well, and hope that it only gets better from here on out!

Hmm.

khek — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 03:04:34 GMT

I'm watching something on NBC, which could be the Kennedy Center Honors, the Tony awards, or some roasting of Mel Brooks, but why is there a giant Stargate on the stage?

edited to add: It's the Kennedy Center Honors. (I thought so, because I went to one once, and the theatre is rather distinctive.) I still don't understand the Stargate though!

To all my friends...

khek — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 03:16:41 GMT

Between visiting sisters, no heat, and extreme disorganization this year, I didn't manage to get out my Christmas cards. That's the bad news. The good news is that I'm going to send out Happy New Year Cards instead. As soon as I figure out how to pose Maggie...

In the meantime, here is what was supposed to be my Christmas Card:

I hope you all have a wonderful Holiday Season, whatever you may celebrate!
Best wishes for happiness and health in 2010.
Thank you for being a friend. :)

Yikes!

khek — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 00:15:08 GMT

I woke up this morning to three inches of snow; by the time I left for work 90 minutes later, we'd aquired a couple more inches. I shoveled twice before I finally slid my way to work. One of the reference librarians was in a three-car accident (well, one truck and two cars) and totaled her car--that's how bad the roads where. (she's all right--the police drove her to work.)

By noon, we had driving rain, and wind. Several large limbs broke off the pine trees around the yard, one right in front of me and Maggie.

After work, when I got home to shovel the front walk, the fog was so thick I could barely see the church across the road. The snow was also so heavy that I could just about lift a shovelful. No precipitation though!

An hour later, it was pouring rain again, with thunder and lightning.

Now, thirty minutes later, it's really cold, and I think that what I'm seeing is...sleet? Hm.

Mark Twain was right! New England. If you don't like the weather, blink, and it will change!

Friday the 13th -- Oh, the horror!

khek — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 20:08:23 GMT

They started 24/7 Christmas music today on at least two Boston radio stations. I think that definitely qualifies as horror, don't you?

I'm splitting my shift today--9 to 1, then 5 to 9. We have a Tween Movie Night, sponsored by the Friends. Just what I wanted for tonight--to be trapped in a room with 35 ten to twelve year olds, watching Transformers 2. More horror!

I have a mysterious itch on my chest, and when I looked, I have two raised welts in a sort of swirl. I have no idea where they came from. Weird, but I hope not horror.

The museum has no heat. I had to call the plumbers again. That has to be some kind of record, right? Two separate furnace motors, one blocked toilet and no heat? In four weeks? THey're supposed to come tomorrow morning. Saturday waiting for plumbers. I think that's horror too!

Random observations on tonight's Supernatural

khek — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 02:58:37 GMT

I'm confused. Do the writers at Supernatural really think that there are that many men at a Supernatural con? Actually, I would guess there probably ARE that many men at a Supernatural con...there are just another 300 - 400 FEMALE attendees as well.

I'm not sure if they're trying to make a statement, or if they're in denial.

Given that they have their fake con attendees 90% male, did they really think that they'd all come in costume? Especially if they're guys? Who rarely dress up in anything if they can get away with tshirts and jeans? (And I worked in a comic book store for five years. I know what comic geeks look like. And yeah, the guys with lines were pretty accurate, but not the background guys, or the ones dressed up in suits. They were a little too much like actors, and not like real people to be true. (and switching from the layered plaid to suits for the one scene in the LARP? Isn't that a little too much, even for the deepest LARPers?))

I liked the fake deep voices of the imitation Sam and Dean. Their expressions too. Of course, I'm not sure where they'd get the right voices and inflections and mannerisms from seeing the it written down on paper, but...

Becky is seriously disturbed. Licking her hand and blowing a kiss. I know a kid who got kicked off the bus for a week for doing that! (Of course, he then stuck the licked hand on someone's face, but it's kind of the same thing, right?)

I loved Dean pulling his gun on the imitation Sam and Dean. It was the perfect touch of exasperation and not overplayed.

Poor Dean, going off on the fake Dean and Sam. I'm sure it isn't as much fun to live as it is to read. If it were real. Which it isn't. Now I'm getting confused in my reality vs. TV vs. imitation reality TV.

Nice creepy cemetary! We haven't seen enough of those lately.

"Real enough for you?" Uh...I think Dean's getting his message across.

Somehow, I don't think it's over yet...

Was I right or was I right?

Hookman's accent is a little uneven.

Oops. Now THOSE little creeps are what you call bullies.

Poor Hookman.

"How do you feel about angels? They aren't nearly as lame as they seem." I'll reserve judgement on that one.

Hey, Dean has his gun! We saw it. Continuity error!

Hooter fake ghost girl needs a bit more authority in her voice to make those little bully ghosts listen. I could do a MUCH better job. I deal with kids that look that disturbing every day. Multiplied by ten.

Don't you hate it when your cell phone rings at exactly the wrong time?

Dig, fake boys, dig!

Wow. Sam's poker swing was reminicent of the episode with Sarah. So was the ghost toss. (I miss season one. Do you think they'll ever bring Sarah back? I'd like to see her.)

And...Chuck saves the day. (For the audience, anyway) And Becky gets just a little bit scarier...

Scalped boys would SO not be a good look. Yay for whiny imitation Sam and Dean! But doesn't that leave one blond little bully hanging around..? Or did I miss something?

Nope, still ten minutes left. Hmmm..

I guess I did miss something. Did CHuck kill the third ghost? Or did they forget him? I could have sworn I didn't look away from the screen.

Ah, and Dean gets a dose of truth from the imitation Dean.

Awww.Imitation Sam and Dean are partners! And although I think they played it just a little too cutesy, it wasn't as bad as I feared the writers would do.

Scary Becky is now terrifying Sam. And she's into Chuck. (Now I didn't see THAT coming from a mile away.) I think Chuck had better run.

No more books. Smart Chuck. And Scary Becky saves the day with a key bit of info from the books. How convenient.

I LOVED Dean's smirk at the end. He got it! It's about being brothers. Now, can we go kick some demon butt and get on with the Apocalypse?

And off they go!

I was apprehensive about this one, but I did enjoy it. I do think it's time to get back to the Apocalypse now. They're ready, and so are we.

NCIS

khek — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 02:20:40 GMT

I don't like Director Vance, and I don't care about his past. I also don't care about...whatever last week's episode was about. It was so boring, I can't even remember it, except that at one point I thought "they're doing this because they think the fans want to know this, but it's stupid and predictable and too much like bad fanfic."

Why is it when shows get popular, they get stupid? Is it really that difficult to go on being creative in the face of higher numbers? It's very sad that quantity (of numbers) seems to mean quality suffers.

I want to look forward to NCIS. Next week better be good, because three strikes? May mean that I don't go through the effort of downloading anymore...

account renewal

khek — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 03:12:36 GMT

Huh. I thought 99 userpics were part of a paid account, but apparently only 30 are? Plus, I got some extras (12) for what I though was as long as I had a paid account, but those apparently are also not part of the renewal process?

I don't really care...I can get along with fewer userpics, and I'm not paying more for something I won't use that much...but that seems off to me. Has anyone else encountered this?

I just pared down the stuff I don't use that much, and I'm down to 60. If I leave them on my account, do they randomly delete them? Has anyone renewed their account lately? Mine expires in about two weeks.

NCIS:LA

khek — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 01:34:05 GMT

I wish they'd stop playing up the Incredibles connection with their crazy boss/wardrobe mistress. I get it. She was animated in a cartoon. Can we go back to the naval crime story, please?

I need an eye-rolling icon.

Supernatural 5.01 -- spoilers!

khek — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 14:23:43 GMT

This is going to be pretty quick, I think. Just the highlights, and probably not in order!

I enjoyed the recap, although I was a little surprised that it was all angels and demons, and not much about the Winchesters and their history. I guess that's what we're facing now though, and the "saving people, hunting things" doesn't figure much into the Apocolypse.

I think Kripke wrote himself into a corner by having the boys in the room with Lucifer's light coming up from hell. There was really no way they could escape on their own. I did like the trapped feeling though, and the quick change to the plane, and later, the implication from Castiel that something bigger than both him and Lucifer saved them. God's returning to the building, eh? Still, I bet it takes all season for him to show up, if at all.

The storyline with Lucifer pussyfooting it around his vessel? Kind of lame. I do like that he had to have permission, but it could have been faster and more direct. I'd rather have seen more of the boys than crying babies, dripping blood and long-winded demonic explanations for something that seemed pretty obvious. To me, anyway.

Bobby. Ah, Bobby. I bet we never learn how he got possessed, because I don't think it's possible. Bobby, who has anti-possession charms laying around his house? Who knows more about the subject that anyone? I bet he has charms and tattoos all over his body to prevent such a thing. Still, it was a shock. As soon as he started dissing Sam, I knew it wasn't Bobby, but the sudden onset of black eyes made me jump.

It made me sad when Dean just stood there when demon!Bobby told Sam off. I expected him to jump in and tell Bobby to lay off Sam, but he didn't. At the end of the episode, it became obvious why. Now, about that... I understand where Dean is coming from. I don't think it has anything to do with Sam breaking the last seal (after all, Dean of all people knows that he broke the first; they're equally responsible for the situation) and everything to do with Sam not taking his opinion into account. All last season, Dean was asking Sam not to use his powers, and all last season, Sam kept promising he wasn't, then doing it anyway.

I think Dean and Sam still have a lot of unresolved childhood issues lurking in their psyches...Dean still holds a parental view of Sam, and Sam still thinks of Dean that way. They've grown up trusting no one but family, and while Dean still holds that position, Sam has moved on to trusting friends, girlfriends, and demons over his family. There are all kinds of trusts that have been betrayed on both sides, but I think at the root, Dean has grown up unquestioningly putting Sam first, while Sam has also grown up unquestioningly putting Sam first--and both knew that was the way the world worked. They both need to figure out their roles as adults, which is to work together, trust each other, and talk things out instead of being either selfless or selfish. I think they'll get there in the end, but I don't think it will be pretty.

Wow. This is getting long.

Meg 2.0 (or would that be Meg 3.0, considering that Jared played her in one episode?) THe actress did a great job, sounding and acting like the first Meg. There was a weird little texas-drawl in some of her lines, but for the most part, she did well. Now, I thought that Meg was going to be around a bit longer, but it sure looked like she left that body. Still, the boys left pretty quickly with Bobby, so maybe the demon smoke was hanging around, waiting to return. I'd like to see more Meg--the demon with a personal grudge. I know some people were bothered by the kiss she gave Dean, but it didn't bother me. I didn't see that as a making out kind of thing at all...more like a power play. The Kate the vampire did the same thing...it's because she can, not because she has any feeling for him. Like rape isn't about sex, it's about power and control and degradation.

What else, what else...?

Castiel! I was happy to see him show up with an attitude. And alive. I guess he worked it out with the archangel sent to defend Chuck. I hope that the show doesn't rely on him too much to keep jumping in and saving the day; that could get old. I'm guessing he'll be on the outs with the angels, now that he seems to be in touch with the higher powers. I loved the way he ordered Zachariah to "fix these boys". Go team Winchester!

The fanfic writer. I thought that was funny. It wasn't too over the top, and the woman was normal looking, not totally geeky, or ugly, or over the top nuts. I thought it was odd that her computer was in her bedroom, which looked pretty austere, but it was a quick shot, and probably it's just me, expecting that bedrooms be full of books and wall art. :)

Dean as the 'sword of Michael'. Hmm. I'm not sure what to think of that. I did wonder if Dean can somehow amp up people's humanity or somehow reinforce their belief in themselves. Remember earlier in the episode, when Bobby was possessed--Dean pleaded with him to stop, and somehow Bobby found the strength to do that. That's the second time that's happened, the first time being when John was able to recover himself for a moment when Azazeal was killing Dean back in season one. I do wonder if that was coincidence, or if it was something Dean did. Hmm.

Sam. Oh, Sam. I think Sam needs to stop asking people to forgive him, and start working on what he can do to make this right. He needs to take back control of his life. He needs to talk to someone--I hope that maybe Castiel might sit down and listen to Sam talk about why he did what he did. I don't think Dean is ready to listen yet, and Bobby can't do it after the demon used him to say such horrible things. Castiel might, and I would think it would be within his parameters of service. I hope that Sam gets a chance to work some of this out, before he has a run in with Lucifer. WHich could be very dangerous for him, I fear.

So much to mull over!

I guess that's it for now. I'm sure there's more, but it will have to wait until I have more time.