An Rud A Lionas An Tsuil Lionann Se An Croi

The first season of Loki is done, but the good news is that a second season is coming...at some point! It's been a heck of a year for MCU fans, with all the new shows and movies that have already come out and are still on the docket.  So, here are my thoughts on the latest Disney+ addition to the Marvel Universe: Things I Liked Sylvie  - she was the absolute stand-out of the whole show. I had never heard of Sophia Di Martino before, but she absolutely killed it. I love that about the MCU - taking virtual unknowns (like Tom Hiddleston pre- Thor ) and casting them in big roles. The chemistry between Sylvie and Loki was palpable, and I'm not ashamed to say that I totally ship them. I'm eager to see what Sylvie does next, and eager to see Di Martino in more projects!  Mobius - when I first heard about Owen Wilson being cast in a role in the MCU, I was like, Just kidding. But I was curious to see how the actor, a character in and of himself, would work out. He was such a br...

102.5 pounds. That's how much I weighed when I was a senior in high school. I remember that number because I was proud of it, and because I never hit it again after I went off to college. At that time I was playing field hockey, eating a bowl of ice cream almost every night, and in a terrible, toxic relationship. Looking back at pictures of me from that time period, I looked slender and toned, by skin tan from practices and games spent outside. My teeth were straight and picture-perfect thanks to braces. My hair had a cute, natural flounce to it that I've mysteriously never been able to replicate.  But, boy, was I miserable in that body.  Fake it 'til you make it, baby. This time of year, when beaches and social media feeds are filled with images of half-naked bodies, it's hard to not feel less-than. Even knowing that people edit their pictures with filters and Photoshop, that they contort their bodies and hold their breath long enough to snap that perfect shot, it can ...

My husband's grandmother recently died. He had the honor of eulogizing her at the funeral Mass, a task he did not take lightly. In the days leading up to the funeral, he agonized over what to say; how does one begin to encapsulate the remarkable life of a woman who lived nearly 98 years? Ultimately he gave a brief summary of her life, the highs and lows, and ended with one of the stories she frequently told that he had transcribed before she started losing some of her memory. I'm glad to say that he made it through without crying - much to his own relief! Since her passing I have thought a lot about what I would like to say about her. I only had the pleasure and privilege of knowing her for 11 or so years; a small fraction of her life, but a good chunk of mine. There is so much that I could say about her, and so much that could be said by others, but I'd like to focus on the two traits I found most admirable about her - her tenderness and her generous spirit - which so ofte...

Yes, Cap, yes I did. And I have some thoughts. My initial reaction while watching the finale was, "Hey, this is pretty awesome." The fight between Agatha and Wanda was awesome and it was cool to see that Disney+ spared no expense in bringing fans a great climax action scene, the kind we've come to expect from the MCU. That being said, I wish it had been longer! Agatha is, for my money, one of the best villains that has been introduced so far & because of the build-up between her and Wanda (which also could have been fleshed out more, IMO, though still had more depth than other hero-villain relationships) that battle held more heft than even some that have appeared in the movies.  The other battle - between Westview Vision and White Vision - was also great in that it wasn't a know-down-drag-out fight. OF COURSE it would come down to wits & not fisticuffs. I'm glad the writers made that decision, & hats off to the folks behind most of Vision's dialog...

Not since Lost  have I been so excited about unpacking a show. Sure, I had some theories about Game of Thrones and got caught up in the mysteries of The Man in the High Castle, but WandaVision  is making me as giddy as a kid on Christmas day. So, allow me to nerd out, theorize, and ask some questions about this humdinger of a show. (Spoiler alerts, obviously) Questions What is Westview? Is it a figment of someone's imagination? Is it vision made in a Holodeck-type place? Is it a Truman Show -style place created for a specific purpose?  When does this take place? After the events of Endgame when Thanos has been defeated? In between Infinity War and Endgame , after Vision is killed & Wanda is blipped/dusted? Is this where Wanda went when she blipped?  Who is Geraldine? An agent? A fellow superhuman? Is she "in" on whatever is going on? Remember, she doesn't know why she's there. That's what she tells Wanda when they first meet. Then, of course, there's...

I had been thinking of rainbows a lot. It was June and companies and merchandisers were taking full advantage of Pride Month by slapping rainbows on everything. On candy, on t-shirts, on make-up, on mail trucks. These Roy G. Biv images were fresh in mind as I took a shower. I thought of the rainbows that frequently appear in our backyard after storms, of the term rainbow baby , of Noah's Ark, of the movie Thumbelina .  " After the rain goes /  There are rainbows /  I'll find my rainbow soon" Was it true that there were always rainbows after horrible storms? The realist-side of me balked at this idea. As I toweled my swollen belly off I mused that while there is always hope, there's not always a happy ending in the Hollywood-sense. Ladybugs and cardinals and orbs of light aren't going to suddenly start appearing everywhere to soothe your broken heart. Tragedies befall people all the time. It's sad, it sucks, but that's the fallen world we live in. Givin...

  Statue by Bruce Wolfe I was at the doctor's the other day with my daughter for her check-up. The scene that seemed so bizarre a few months ago is familiar now - the spaced chairs, the social distancing markers on the floor, the usual pile of old magazines gone. My baby smiles at the masked faces that talk to her, their eyes shining with delight even if we can't see their mouths. This is normal for her, sadly. It's all she's ever known. It's busy at the office so we end up waiting a little longer than usual. There's a large circular window that overlooks the street below, so I bring her to it and sway back and forth as we look at the passing cars and trucks and the enormous windmills of the college campus across the road.  An old woman, small and thin but not frail, dressed nicely in white pants and a shirt with purple flowers and purple sneakers to match, sits nearby. Another woman, taller and more filled out, maybe in her late 50s or early 60s, sits with her ...