Dead Speak

Today I am fired up and talking about last night's as well as last week's return of my beloved Walking Dead. All I can say is Oh. My. God. And issue a HUGE...

SPOILER ALERT!! If you are not caught up on The Walking Dead, scroll down until you see Spoiler Over.

Okay, where to begin? The premiere last week absolutely rocked. I loved Michonne's weird trip down memory lane and how she reverted to her old self by getting new pets. I also really dug how she found the will to go on and follow those tracks to Rick and Carl. What an impressive walker slaughter there in the woods. Especially when she killed her walker alter ego. And when she broke down in the diner, then gathered herself to move forward, that made me tear up a bit. Not too much, I'm badass. LOL

Carl...Can we say man and boy trapped together? It was amazing to see Chandler Riggs carry a heavy performance like that. Carl has really grown, yet there is still that boy, hot-headed, rebellious and making mistakes that nearly cost him. I wanted to slap him when he kept antagonizing and disrespecting poor, beat-to-hell Rick. However, my heart was in my throat when he thought his father had turned and he cried, realizing that he could not kill the last member of his family, that he could not truly go on without his dad.

And the ending was pure perfection. Michonne knocking and Rick telling Carl, "It's for you." High fives to the writers on that one.

Last night was beyond jaw dropping as we get to see what happened to the rest of our beloved Team Prison. Daryl and Beth were running through a mini horde of walkers. Those woods are a death trap, I'm telling you. It was kind of strange at first, to hear Beth's voice talk about finding the prison to her diary, but it was a good way for her to shed the last of the naive child. She was still hopeful, almost psychotically so as she fought walkers with Daryl, then forced him to track what she hoped was members of their group.  Then the railroad track walkers just broke her and the last vestiges of teen girl were smashed. She and Daryl moved off down the tracks and hopefully they were going in the same direction as our other group.

Then we moved to Lizzie, Mika and Tyreese, making their way through the woods and, AND Baby Judith is alive and well!! I gave a little fist pump in spite of knowing what a liability a baby is because now I know Rick and Carl have some joy coming. I was really sad for them as they saw that bloody baby carrier. Some truly heart pounding moments with this group. I thought sure they were one dirty diaper away from being walker snack cakes.

We also discover that Lizzie has become a little scary psycho. Those poor bunnies! She had me holding my breath when the walkers were bearing down on her and the girls. I thought she just might smother Judith. Yikes! There is some scary shit brewing there.

Enter my favorite moment of the night. CAROL IS BACK!! How fitting that she winds up with Tyreese's party. Talk about that awkward moment. And now they are following the tracks to Terminus to see what possible problems await them there.

The scene changes to Maggie, Sasha and Bob. Sasha just wants to find shelter and live, Bob is happy he's with two women and Maggie only wants to find Glenn. They find the prison bus, only to discover it's filled with walkers. Oh no...BUT Glenn is not among them. Maggie has a breakdown as she knows he's out there, but where the hell he could be just got scarier.

Poor Glenn had the worst wake up ever. He comes to, calling for his lady love, only to discover walkers everywhere and he's all alone. IN THE FREAKIN' PRISON!!! Props to him for shaking off the terrors, gathering supplies and heading out in full riot gear. Talk about total badass. That was some wicked camera work as we got a Glenn's eye view of a horde of walkers. Too cool. He's just about free when he spies Tara and goes back to get her, even though she was with the Gov.  I'm glad she's alive. Poor kid was snowed by a psycho, lost her girlfriend, sister and niece, all in one fell swoop.

Most poignant moment of the night... poor Glenn finding out Hershel is dead and realizing he is probably all that Maggie has left. Steven Yuen got the perfect look in his eyes for that whole scene. The ep comes to an end with Tara confronting Sgt. Abraham Ford and crew. Holy shit, the criss crossing of their paths, the near misses had me in fits. I cannot wait to see what happens next.

What did you all think?

SPOILER OVER

Thank you all so much for visiting me. I'm sorry my comments and visits have been sporadic and in some cases non-existent. I'm still working through, but I'm getting better. I'll be around more, I swear. I did more writing this weekend than before and I'm feeling better. I love you all, my friends, my Imaginarians.

Screw Valentine's Day

Yep, you read that right. I hate Valentine's Day and all it stands for and I am here to provide the ranty antidote to all the saccharine sweetness today. I am proudly cantankerous and cynical when it comes to Valentine's Day. It's a Hallmark holiday created to sell crap. The constant commercials and signs urging purchases of jewelry, lingerie, cards, weekends away, dinners in restaurants (better make that reservation asap, gentlemen) and other material nonsense. Along with flora that will soon be dead and mountains of candy.

Dating services get into the insanity, along with bars and hotels with their V Day parties, all trying to pair you off with that special someone because God forbid, you don't have a date. Talk about pressure and mass hypnosis.

Hollywood adds to the craziness with their endless cycle of romcoms and romance movies they truck out this time of year. I'm not a big fan of any of them. The Adorable Schlub meets Hot Girl and tries valiantly to win her. Spunky Cute Girl determined to date Oblivious Boy Next Door she's always loved, but could never date and so consoled herself with Also Rans. Or Rich Naive Girl falls desperately for Bad Boy who changes his ways just for her. Blech! Puts me in diabetic coma.

Then we have the "wink, wink" spontaneous proposals on the local news shows and the daytime talk shows focus on wedding planning. Honestly, it is all a racket. Convincing us we have this One Day to show our love and God help us if the presents aren't good enough, the lingerie not sexy enough, the diamonds not big enough. Jewelers even recommend that you spend three months salary on the engagement ring. Come again. If me or my guy are spending three months salary on anything, we better be able to drive it, live in it or take a jet to it.

So no, I am not celebrating Valentine's Day and this year I am putting out a hit on Cupid. Any sightings of that diapered little bastard will be met with force. Instead, I'm getting drunk with my single friends.and watching some serious horror. Nothing like a bloody mess to celebrate the blackest day on the calendar.

Do any of you celebrate? Or are you a Valentine Hater like me? Talk to me, I promise I won't bite in my responses. ;)

IWSG: The February Files

It is the first Wednesday and time for the Insecure Writers Support Group, one of my favorite groups ever and boy do I need my writers around me right now. I've hardly written a word. But instead of whining, I'm going to go through some of my favorite quotes hoping to inspire not only my fellow writers out there, but also myself. I have got to change my way of thinking and break out of this shadow I've sunk into.

"Don't judge each day by the harvest you reap, but by the seeds that you sow." Robert Louis Stevenson

"It is never too late to be what you might have been." George Eliot

"There are two way to spread light: to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it." Edith Wharton

"Get it down. Take chances. It may be bad, but it's the only way you'll do anything really good." William Faulkner

"Exercise the writing muscle every day, even if it is only a letter, notes, a title list, a character sketch, a journal entry. Writers are like dancers, like athletes. Without that exercise, the muscles seize up." Jane Yolen

"I've learned from experience that the greater part of our happiness or misery depends on our dispositions and not our circumstances." Martha Washington

"To be beautiful means to be yourself. You don't need to be accepted by others. You only need to accept yourself." Thich Nhat Hahn

"Action is the antidote to despair." Joan Baez

"The greatest glory in living lies not in never failing, but in rising every time we fail." Nelson Mandela

I hope these quotes inspired you today. I felt better as I put this post together. And I will leave you with a little Girl Power.

Another Bout Of Depression And A Teenage Date

Hi again, Imaginarians. I'm so sorry I went away again for the last couple of weeks. I had another bout of depression and it hit me pretty hard. I'm taking meds but sometimes I get overwhelmed. I hope you will forgive the silence. I've been on Facebook, but even that has been sporadic.

Anyway, did you all enjoy the weekend? I went with my nephew on his date. He's only 14 and needed a ride to the theater. He and his young lady went in to see Ride Along and I went into Frozen. They enjoyed the film immensely and well, I liked Frozen, but didn't love it. The singing got to be too much. I did enjoy the fact that it was about sisters who save each other and did not rely on the trope of the kiss from Prince Charming. Afterwards, we met up with the girlfriend's mother and younger sister for dinner at The Dixie Kitchen, a wonderful restaurant specializing in Louisiana style food. Pulled pork and mashed sweet potatoes with fried green tomatoes. Yum!

As thanks for taking him, my nephew helped me shovel last night because, yes we got more snow. Again. Another 6 inches and yes, I'm still sore. We live on a corner lot so there is a lot to shovel. I'm really grateful for my nephew as his date pulled me out enough to be social and I've gotten a bit of spark again.

I also watched the debacle of the Super Bowl. I was so not into it this year and even the commercials annoyed me. Too contrived for direct emotional responses rather than about the products. I know beer can be a patriotic drink for some, but come on. And I will not even get into the sexism of some these ads. I've got plenty to say in a later post about the sexism that is certainly running rampant through this country, particularly in politics.

I have not written, but I did manage a few sentences yesterday and made some changes to another ms. I know, shoot me now. I can't wait for IWSG on Wednesday. HELP!!

So what is the good news around here. I've been so out of touch.