Jun 07, 2010 13:44
Man, yesterday got away from me. I spent the whole day at a bead weaving class -- learning right angle stitch. I have to say, I am really sucky at the whole jewelry making thing. Especially for things that involve spatial relationships. A bunch of people have complimented me on a necklace I made a few days ago, but I think that's probably going to be the one successful thing I do. I should stick to banging on metal and using cord and making the simple (and I suppose simplistic) designs like that. The weaving is hard, yo. I keep getting turned around in the wrong direction, or looping thread back onto itself, and having to pull it apart, which means the (not cheap) Swarovski crystals go flying everywhere. I brought home the two projects I started and tried to work on them a bit last night but I quickly learned one thing: no bead weaving when cats are inside. I think I will try to finish these two bracelets and call it a draw. I love the bling, but... I'm not skilled enough to keep doing it.
Anyway!
Day 07 - Least favorite episode of your favorite TV show
Ah, so much to choose from with Buffy. Pretty much all I have to do is rewatch season 6 or 7 and I'm sure I could find quite the handful. I've seen others pick As You Were, Doublemeat Palace, and so on, and those are all good choices. So since the other ones I hate have been mentioned, I'm going with... Dead Things. Or... Empty Places, an episode I hated so much I forgot the name of it. Um... Dead Things. Because it featured the slimy Warren, a character I loathed from the very first moment we saw him, and rape as a plot device where two other guys basically go along with their rapist buddy and don't take action and yet somehow we're supposed to believe they are characters we should like, and Buffy beating on Spike so gratuitously I can't believe the show didn't come with some kind of extra violence warning, and the whole time distortion thing, a device I would normally love because I love fucked-up timeline things except they did it so badly, and I could go on and on. OMG I hate that episode so much. But apparently I hate it as much as Empty Places because I block out their episode titles.
Day 08 - A show everyone should watch
Wow, isn't that tough? Because of course you want to pimp a fannish show that you think everyone should love. But I'm going to go with something a little unusual here. I think everyone should watch The Dog Whisperer on National Geographic Channel. Even if you're a die-hard cat fan (or bird fan, or ferret fan, or whichever animal captured your heart the most) or you don't even think you're a pet person, this show has a lot to offer about what it means to be a leader. Now, I know that sounds crazy, but let me explain -- Cesar Millan is obviously very gifted at working with dogs and getting to the root of their psychological problems that manifest as behavior issues. But what he says at the start of the show, "I rehabilitate dogs, and I train people," is the point of what he really does. Because pretty much 99.9% of the time, what causes dogs to behave badly is their people.
And here he gets into a bunch of things you wouldn't see in many other pet shows. He looks at what's happening inside the person in control of the animal, he hears what they have to say, and he teaches them skills that also make a difference in the rest of their lives. He's had people on the show who were just so dumb that you want to knock their skulls in, but through patience (and sometimes impatience; in an early episode, he totally lost his temper with this idiotic woman who was choosing her dog over her son) and repetition, he helps people see where they're going wrong, and gives them the skills to overcome that.
For some people, that's meant a huge difference in the quality of their lives -- disabled people, people with severe emotional trauma, you name it, he's helped them by helping their dogs, and it's just wonderful to see. Not every dog is 100% perfect, but he follows up with people, and he gives them the tools to tackle things on their own. Some people's lives have changed so drastically they're almost different people when they check in with them later.
The thing I love the most is when kids get involved, and you can see them become confident and proud by being the "pack leader," the concept Cesar espouses. Yes, I know he's self promotional, and there are a lot of naysayers to his methods and beliefs, but I for one, as someone who was raised around dozens of animals and has always had animals in my life, completely understand and believe in everything he does. Yes, he's turned himself into an industry, but if the worst thing you can say is that the guy has helped thousands of people and animals become healthy and happier and gotten famous for doing it? Well, that seems like a pretty good deal to me.
I can't wait till I get a dog of my own at some point, and practice being "good pack leader" as he always says. If the whole world was made up of good pack leaders, even if they didn't have dogs, it would be a better place.
buffyverses,
dog whispering,
teevee