UPDATE: The winner is…Jean White!
*~*~*

I’m late posting today because I’m not managing my time well.

I’ve been…distracted. After finishing up work on What Happens in Bozeman, my brain decided it wanted a rest from creating. I’m fighting it. I’ve already started the next story, and I will keep to schedule, but I’ve been dragging my feet.

What I really, really, really want to do is spend a week bingeing some fun Sci-Fi. I’m a Star Trek girl. However, while I’m waiting for new episodes of Discovery, Lower Decks, and Strange New Worlds to drop, I’ve been searching for another fix. I began Seaquest—which, by the way, is dreadful—and only have two episodes left to suffer through. Why did I continue watching when it’s so bad? Because I started it, and I hate not finishing what I start, whether it makes sense or not. A personality flaw, I know.

Last night, I googled “shows to watch if you love Star Trek, and Andromeda popped up in the list of many, many shows I’ve already streamed. Yes, Kevin Sorbo is the main character, but I will overlook that annoyance because it’s a Gene Roddenberry (Star Trek‘s creator!) project—and there are five seasons to gorge on! I was in bed when I reviewed the list. Then I googled “how to stream” and discovered it was FREE on Amazon Prime, so I clicked the link and watched on my phone (which I NEVER do). I didn’t go to sleep until I’d watched the first three episodes, which kept me up into the wee hours of the morning. It’s decent. It certainly caught my attention, and it’s different enough from Star Trek, and yet alike, that I’m definitely not bored.

But it does mean I’m dragging ass today when I have a mile-long list of things to accomplish today. So, onto my first priority—this blog. 🙂

For a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card, tell me whether you’ve watched Andromeda. Or tell me another Sci-Fi show (not Star Trek, not Farscape, not Firefly/Serenity, not Seaquest, not Star Wars) that I ought to check out after I binge my through Andromeda. Have a great Saturday and enjoy the puzzle!

UPDATE: The winner is…Debra Guyette!
*~*~*

My thirst for hunky heroes goes waaaayyyy back. I am of a certain (*cough*) age, so my tastes were formed by what I watched mostly on TV or saw in magazines when I was still a kid. I didn’t understand my fascination, but that didn’t stop my fantasy life being filled with hot starship captains and spies who rode to the rescue to aid me (never save me, because even then I liked fighting, too!).

The hero who first filled my fantasies was Russian secret agent Illya Kuryakin from The Man From U.N.C.L.E. (1964 to 1968), played by David McCallum. You might know him as “Ducky” in NCIS these days. He was my one and only blond heartthrob.

Then a sci-fi show caught my attention—Lost in Space (1965 to 1968). But it wasn’t the young, single Don West who caught my eye, it was the sexy dad, John Robinson, played by Guy Williams, that I imagined was the single one and an in need of a little alien companionship. I imagined myself as the green alien woman who pursued Dr. Smith, only I captured John Robinson.

 

Both of those heroes paled in comparison to my next obsession—James T. Kirk from the original Star Trek (1966 to 1969). He was…everything. Handsome, in charge, witty, funny—and that smirk! And again, they’re in space—the final frontier! To this day, I love the character, and yes, Chris Pine inhabits it very, very well.

I had brief crushes on some other hotties from the time.

Have you ever seen the old WWII flick, The Great Escape (1963)?

Yes, Steve McQueen was hot. Motorcycles are hotter. Blah-blah. But it wasn’t McQueen’s “Cooler King” that caught my eye. It was Charles Bronson’s “Tunnel King” I was riveted to. Am I right?

This guy, even though back then I wasn’t allowed to watch his movies for some reason, was all over the magazines. I thought he was pretty damn hot, too.

I guess I’ve always like smolder. 🙂

These days, I’m enamored with another starship captain—Captain Pike, as played by Anson Mount in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. He’s funny, sexy, a great cook, empathetic, and brave. If you haven’t watched the series, or haven’t loved Star Trek before, he might change your mind.

So, my question to you is who were your earliest heartthrobs? Answer for a chance to win an Amazon gift card!

UPDATE: The winner is…Cindy Bartolotta!
*~*~*

Well, I’m up at O-dark-thirty again. Dratted insomnia. I don’t ever fight it. So, this morning I went ahead and made a cup of coffee and headed in the dark to my computer. The house is quiet; I can Google without feeling guilty. LOL. So, yeah, I’m how old? Self-employed? And I still feel guilty not “working” when I power up.

I went to bed a little early for me last night feeling a little angry. Why? The ending of Star Trek: Enterprise! I’ve been binge-watching the older series for a while now. Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager. All were unique but the same. Know what I mean? I was comfortable with the progression. Enterprise was uncomfortable from the beginning. I liked the idea of it happening before Kirk and was intrigued with the idea of watching “the first” Enterprise begin the star-trekking adventures.

**WARNING SPOILERS**

Problems? I didn’t like the captain. Over the seasons, Captain Archer seemed…a bit irritated and sometimes too aggressive. While I’d found Janeway annoying the first season of Voyager, I came to admire her (after the “Rambo” episode, I loved her). Archer never had that moment where I came to accept his personality. I struggled through the first season, but the show caught me in the second. I loved the evolution of the conflict with the Xindi, and it was odd, but my favorite castmate wasn’t a “regular”. He was a frequent guest—an Andorian commander in the Imperial Guard named Shran. Over the 4 seasons, I actually found him and his mobile antennae to be quite sexy. 🙂

He had a fiery temper, was stubborn, but at heart he was an honorable alien male who loved deeply.

And what did they do to his character in the finale? They made him a criminal! I wanted to see him as an ambassador, having moved up the chain of command through his heroism and good deeds. Nope.

And what else did they do in that finale? They killed my favorite regular cast member, Trip. He never got his HEA with T’Pol—even after they lost their child and all the years they yearned for each other. In fact, the finale fast forwarded years and said they’d broken up six years prior. WTF?

Yeah. I’m not happy. And now, I have to start into the newer Trek series and hope the Powers that Be redeemed themselves. Okay, deep breath. That’s the end of my rant.

Tell me, have you ever been fighting mad over the ending of a series? Tell me about it for a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card! 

Saturday Puzzle

Following my Star Trek rant, here’s a picture of what my imagined first encounter would look like. Enjoy the puzzle!

I’ve said it before, but I pull a tarot card on Sundays as a part of my planning for the week. Just one card to interpret.

For Christmas, my lovely son-in-law had a very special gift he’d been eager to give me. In the weeks leading up to Christmas, he’d say, “I saw it, and I just knew it was perfect for you!” When we opened our Christmas presents, he watched to see me unwrap it. As soon as I did, I wore the biggest smile because he’d totally nailed it. He’d found this box of Next Generation tarot cards, which combine my love of woo-woo with my nerdy love for Star Trek.

So, I’m not sure how useful they’ll be in the future (I think they’ll likely sit in my curio cabinet with me Star Wars figures), but I shuffled them this morning and pulled just one card, and…

I couldn’t believe it! Out of 78 cards—Worf! Swear-to-God, hand-on-my-heart, WORF! I could’ve pulled the three bars of latinum (Star Trek currency), and it’s just a picture of three gold bars, and I don’t know what I would’ve “read” from looking at the card—but I got Worf!

So, as always, I concentrate on the card itself—what the picture tells me. Worf is naturally the card of Strength. Worf is a warrior, through and through, with a strict code of honor that he adheres to. When he loves, whether friend, family, or lover, he goes all in and he’ll always have your back. When he engages in a conflict, he’s not going in with diplomacy in mind, he’s going to kick ass. So, for me, this week, I’m going in to kick ass!

I checked the accompanying book to see what it had to say, and basically, I will overcome all kinds of obstacles with my indomitable will. Check

Which is exactly what I hope for. I began last week roaring in on my New Year’s ambitions. However, by Wednesday, I was sick with a virus—hacking cough, headaches, runny nose. Not COVID! I did a home test, and then the doctor did one on Friday. Now, I’ve got a mountain of pills to take to kick the infection. I’m hoping today is the last day I’m dragging ass, and that I’m going to “Worf it” this week!

Do you love it when something cool like that happens? Some lucky draw of the card or something just falls into place like it’s supposed to?

Open Contests

1. Happy National Science Fiction Day! (Contest) — This one ends soon! Win a $5 Amazon gift card!
2. Breaking Bad Habits (Contest) — Win a hand-painted postcard!
3. 2022 Review: Just reminding you… (Contest) — Win an Amazon gift card!
4. Saturday Puzzle-Contest: What are we celebrating next? — Win an Amazon gift card!