Saw Rogue One

So I, like many others, saw Star Wars: Rogue One this past week. I hope to not spoil it now as I talk about it, but something might slip.
Personally I liked it far better than The Force Awakens. That movie had a many serious problems with it, and while this one too has its issues, they are not nearly so bad. The primarily criticism I have is the pacing, both for reveals and for emotional connections. There were speeches and deaths that were focused on clearly for emotional emphasis, but they lacked the emotional foundation more time, or more effectively used time would provide. Another pacing issue for me was the rather quick reveal of the Death Star being constructed. I know the movie focuses around stealing the plans so it can be destroyed, so of course it is going to be there and be under construction, but then look at the movie poster for Jaws. It very clearly and prominently shows a massive shark, so everyone going in knows it is coming, but it still took time to be revealed. I wish the Death Star were treated more like Bruce, because even if we have known what the Death Star looks likes like and what it is capable of for decades does not mean it does not deserve a good reveal. Even the one it got in A New Hope was better.
On the positive side though, I really liked Darth Vader and Governor Tarkin. Those two characters were very well done and properly cold, calculating, menacing, dominating, lethal bad guys. I cannot say I wanted to see more of them in the movie though, because they could easily have been spoiled with more screen time.
To quickly sum it up, Rogue One has flaws but is a far better example of what I want to see in future Star Wars movies than The Force Awakens.

Busy Week

It is nice to have busy weeks, even if they cannot be easy, but it would be nice if they only lasted seven days. Ah well, that's how life is at times. Guess I should get back to it then. At least I had a good excuse to watch some classic television today, with the airing of two colorized episodes of The Dick Van Dyke Show. Wish they were not so edited though, but that was not enough to keep me from quoting half the script. There are reasons they are considered classics.

Thinking About Mixing It Up

I've been thinking about something recently, and while I have not given it too much thought yet, I might give it a try. The attempt can hardly hurt compared to the current situation. I am considering changing up my resume to instead of listing experiences, as I have been doing and have long been told to do, listing character strengths and then providing examples from my experiences. I wouldn't remove my experiences, but minimize their presence. Based on my experience applying for various jobs anyway, it hardly seems like companies are hiring (or interviewing) based on experiences anyway, so why not try character strengths instead? Might work and it is easy to switch back. (Thank you LaTeX.)

One Holiday Weekend Down

It has not been an exciting Thanksgiving for my family, but it went well. I hope it went well for everyone else.
I guess now the thing to do would be to list things I am thankful for. Well, I both have a lot and little to be thankful for, which I will not consider to be unique because one of the things I am thankful for is my attempts at being wise. I do not know if I succeed, but I do try and feel I at least get closer to that goal than I would without the effort. I am also thankful for my God-given skills and talents: writing; creativity; ingenuity; gaming; intelligence; capacity to self-learn/teach; and my compassion for others. I don't know if I can say of that last one my thanks come from any return, but it is something I want to identify myself with, and so I am thankful for it. (Now, the trick with having a list of things you are thankful for, is finding others who are also thankful for that list.)
Have a good week.

Some Words of Maybe-Wisdom

I think it is safe to say this past week has been a lot more interesting than a lot of people expected. I've learned already to set aside expectations for many things because, honestly, when reality and expectations differ is when things go wrong for you. You start wanting to not accept the reality, either fighting it or denying it, which is not healthy for you or those you involve.
Reality is like a river you want to cross, and your expectations are the path you want it to take. If its actual path differs from what you want, adapt and cross it. Don't try to redirect the river, because it is mightier than you and can drown you. Don't sit on the bank in objection, because then you cannot advance.