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Comments through August 8, 2003
(A few spoiler hints)
Happily, I
was able to apply my favorite word to this week. An inconspicuous
four-letter word, I aspire to reach its pinnacle sometimes successfully,
sometimes not. The word is CALM. For me, calm usually means I
successfully completed whatever tasks were necessary for that day, on time
and with a smile. CALM means I can go to bed pleasantly tired and
pleased with my accomplishments. It means I was able to watch GH with my
full attention at some point during the day or evening and appreciate what
I saw. Usually, it means my sense of humor reigns and petty annoyances
tend to fade into background music. Aah. Calm.
This week two
of my favorite scenes, surprisingly, were between Liz and Courtney. Liz
visited Sonny’s penthouse, which I thought was very brave since she hasn’t
been welcomed there in the recent past, first to find out about Ric and
then to explain to Sonny why Ric shouldn’t travel with him to South
America. In Sonny’s absence, Liz had conversations with Courtney during
which she made no excuses for Ric’s behavior and didn’t try to justify his
actions. She clearly explained that she knew a side of Ric he didn’t show
to others that could love and which grieved for the baby they lost, just
as Jason shows Courtney his tender thoughtful side.
I love a coherent conversation.
Ric,
meanwhile, has owned up to his actions and realized the depths to which he
sank by kidnapping Carly and chaining her to a wall in order to steal her
baby. Like a person responsible for a fatal accident, he’s trying to make
amends. But where does a person put those unrelenting feelings of guilt
if there is no forgiveness? Especially, when those around him keep
calling him names like monster, freak, and animal, which grinds the guilt
deeper. I don’t know. Where do you put yourself, how do you escape
yourself, when you can’t live with yourself? I can see why death would
become a viable option. If you’re Ric, you seek to end it all by stepping
into a spray of bullets. So I bet you’re wondering if I think Ric is
redeemable. Everyone is redeemable. Do I think Carly, Sonny, Jason and
Courtney should forget his actions and invite him into their little
circle? No way in this lifetime! Carly’s fearful look and question,
“What’s he doing here?” when Sonny, Jason and Ric found her at the clinic
spoke volumes. However, there is room on the canvas for Ric’s mind swirls
as he tries to overcome the evil he perpetrated and for him to work
through his personal demons over many months, with gradual revelations of
his background and Liz’s eventual support. Hey, they’re my rose colored
glasses and I can see and hope for whatever I want. Do you think if I
sent a pair to Mr. Guza, he’d look through them and write the stories my
way?
Villain who found a conscience tries to die
doing a good deed.
Scotty
supplied Faith with a briefcase of cash courtesy of the PCPD evidence room
so she could purchase Alcazar’s drugs. The streets of Port Charles are
safe from drugs, but I think the sting is on the police department as they
shell out cash for drugs. It’s not like Alcazar will be apprehended and
prosecuted and by the way here are the two briefcases of cash Scotty
secretly pilfered from the PCPD.
Can you feel
that limb shaking in the breeze Faith? Attempting to seduce a teenager
took you a step farther out on that branch for characters with a short
life span. I loved Faith’s eye roll and line, “I hate kids.” Not to
worry Dillon, Courtney, Sonny’s new impromptu business maven will save the
day with the briefcase full of cash that she decided to handle on her
own. So much for babysitting Michael and staying out of The Bidness.
With one hand behind her back – oh wait, that would be one hand rubbing
her stomach – Courtney laid out Faith’s guard, resolved the missing
briefcase problem, and saved Dillon and Georgie, before hopping on the
plane to South America to pass along the information of Carly’s
whereabouts in person instead of by telephone.
Super C fells the bad guys and
rushes in to save innocent teenagers.
Courtney,
Courtney, Courtney. Where did we go wrong? Sure I laughed at your weenie
girl claim to toughness last year, but I didn’t mean for you to throw
yourself so far in the opposite direction that a warning label for
violence should scroll across my screen whenever you have a scene with
people other than Jason, Sonny or Carly. Time to get a grip on those
fists and feet, chick. And to help you find the right track (somewhere
between stalker victim and enforcer) no more Alias (you’re taking that
Sydney girl way too serious), no G.I. Jane, and definitely no Charlie’s
Angels or Tomb Raider movies for you.
OK, I’m done
poking fun now and I have to say that Kung Fu Courtney antics aside, I was
happy that Sonny and Carly finally connected and I like the set up for the
upcoming Jason/Courtney tribulations. I see anger, guilt, and many
meaningful scene tags in their near future as Courtney deals with the
guilt of miscarrying and not telling Jason while Jason in true manly
fashion hasn’t a clue what’s causing Courtney’s unhappiness. Hopefully,
Sonny and Carly will spend many happy hours reconnecting off screen. I
like them but I would appreciate a break from their constant presence.
Plus, I am truly tired of watching pasty-faced women rub their bellies.
She’s making me feel sick watching
her be sick. Enough!
Bomb! Run!
But did Sonny and Jason attempt to leave the vicinity? No, Sonny took a
deep breath and squeezed his eyes shut for a moment while Jason steadily
looked at Sonny and prepared to die. Then, when Alcazar’s fake yacht bomb
didn’t explode do they leave? No! They discuss whether the detonator’s
faulty and where could Carly be now. Duh, guys! You don’t know for sure
it’s a fake bomb and it could still explode. Get off the boat!
Let us gaze into each other’s eyes
as the seconds tick by.
A love like ours happens once in a
lifetime.
I am glad
that Lorenzo showed his human side to Carly and I’m happy that he’s
developed a crush on Ms. Corinthos. Sonny could use a swift kick in the
ego when it comes to his woman. Let the games begin, as a smitten Mr.
Alcazar doesn’t actually give up the idea of having Ms. Carly for himself.
I enjoyed the scenes of Carly
shaving Alcazar
and Lorenzo changing clothes.
Black was the theme clothing color
for Thursday and Friday.
How many
times has Dr. Cam dumped Alexis? Too many to count but it didn’t stop him
from interceding on Alexis’ behalf to Ned at the Breast Cancer Walk or
keep him from encouraging Alexis’ to give up her plan to ruin Ned. Stefan
replied to Alexis when she quietly suggested that Ned might be backing
down regarding her place in Kristina’s life, “It’s too late now.” Why?
It was just a slap and an accusation. As easily as he paid her to play
Eddy Maine rape victim, he could pay her to go away. That was my reaction
until I heard Skye cooing to Kristina, “Can you say mama? Mama? Mama?”
in earshot of Alexis. Then I thought, “Get her, Alexis!”
Can we say Skye’s cruelty may come
back and bite her on the butt?
Can we say Ned’s oblivious
insensitivity to Skye’s baby stealing vindictiveness
Makes him the resident Moron
Quartermaine?
Skye and
Stefan could make a great couple. Skye possesses many similar qualities
to Catherine Bell and I think she’d be a fair match for Stefan’s plotting
as long as she avoids the parapets at Wyndemere. Nicholas could alternate
between fighting and scheming while Lydia and Skye could throw clever
barbs.
It’s a week
old but I still find it funny whenever I think about Lydia running happily
back and forth from the desk to the drink bar when she faked her suicide
attempt. If she’d known what an abysmal wedding night she was going to
experience, she might have sucked down a few more pills.
I know it’s a week old, but it’s
still funny.
Oh, happy, happy, joy, joy – I’m
faking suicide.
In what world
does Lucky live where it’s acceptable behavior to walk into his brother’s
bride’s room and begin kissing her on her wedding night? Remember
Nicholas, Lucky? The brother you supposedly love and want to save from a
loveless marriage? That was bad enough but Stefan also feels free to walk
into other people’s bedrooms. Lydia, for all her bad press, was the only
sane character in that bunch of sour grapes running around on Spoon
Island. Her bribery attempt to Emily made me laugh. Admirable? No.
Ridiculous? Yes. Honest? Yes. I don’t think she’s being unreasonable
to not want to wait five years to produce an heir. Why would she want to
wait around for Nicholas to deign to submit to his husbandly duties? Pfft!
to him. She’s been upfront all along. Money’s her motive and she’ll do
what’s necessary to have what she wants including marrying and bedding
Nicholas and putting up with Stefan. I have nothing against the actress,
she plays perky well, but calculating doesn’t come across my screen.
Hopefully, she’ll work on that. The character certainly has caught my
attention as a stumbling block to various couples. Except Lucky who needs
to go to cop school, go find Luke, go on vacation, go somewhere, and not
return until he has a reason for showing up on my screen. Panting after
Lydia, his brother’s wife, isn’t a storyline I’ll watch.
So let me guess. It wouldn’t matter
if Lydia and Nicholas
WERE going hot and heavy
consummating their marriage,
Lucky and Stefan feel free to walk
into the bedroom to check out the action.
Should I or
should I not address Maxie’s stupidity? Yep, it’s beyond stupid of Maxie
and Kyle to sit in a public park taking drugs and drinking. Every person
who drinks or takes drugs experiences a first decision making time when
they decide for whatever reason to just say yes instead of no. To this
day, I’d pay serious money to learn who first offered my oldest son a
drink or drugs. We struggled through several terrible teenage years with
him. And then I’d probably get in big trouble while I figured out how to
teach that person an unpleasant lesson he wouldn’t forget. Not that it
would be the right thing to do or that it would help in any way, but my
point is that there’s always a first time and a person who is willing to
take another over the edge into a world of drinking, drugs, and parties is
lower than sewer sludge. In my book, while Maxie’s pretty darn stupid,
Kyle should be hung up by his toes and his fingernails pulled out for
encouraging inexperienced Maxie into that world. Ultimately, in a real
world, Maxie would be forced to take responsibility for her actions
whether it’s harm to her body, painful life changing experiences or even
death. As you can probably tell, I don't deal with this subject
gracefully or with humor so I’m leaving it alone now.
Dumb and Dumber
Let me point
out the obvious. Nurses who leave controlled substances unattended on a
cart in a hospital hallway, won’t be nurses for very long. I’ve never met
a nurse willing to throw away years of training for a beep on a pager,
much less leave a cart of drugs unattended for hours because it was still
sitting there when Dillon tried to return the bottle of Hydrocodone.
Who’s supposed to be controlling
these substances anyway?
I find it
funny that Dillon through years of watching old movies but no actual
practice, learned pick pocketing skills, which implies coordination, but
he’s unable to navigate Georgie’s windowsill.
Way to go,
Mac! Good for you for bringing up Robin, her choices, and the
consequences of unprotected sex. Good conversation between Mac and
Georgie.
At least Mac’s visible as a parent
and trying to be responsible.
Emily needs
to stick with tragic tearful lovelorn girl and leave outraged alone. When
Lydia approached her at the park regarding a larger donation in exchange
for Emily’s support for Lydia, Nicholas and sex, Lydia was ridiculous but
honest. While Emily tried for outraged but only managed a few head nods
and an arm cross. Stick with the tears and the “I’m so sorries” Em, or go
ask Carly for lessons in how to be angry and on the offensive.
Emily’s multi-purpose expression.
Emily expresses outrage.
Emily shows concern.
Emily worries.
Emily prepares to cry.
How nice that
A.J. and his chin of many colors made a brief appearance at the Breast
Cancer Walk.
Weird beard
That’s Stefan
for ya. First, he plots to kill Em, and then he shows up ostensibly to
support the breast cancer cause and Emily indirectly.
Jax can stay
on vacation indefinitely. I’m not missing him. Luke needs to hurry back,
hopefully refreshed with a bit of a sense of humor peeking out.
School begins
next week so I have to find my watch again. Watches and cell phones
represent love/hate issues in my daily existence. When my daughter was
born and I became a stay at home mom I vowed to avoid nylons and watches
because they represented my major resentments in the working world –
dressing to please others and deadlines. Happily walking to my own beat,
I lived life for quite a while unaware that my casual attitude towards
time was driving my husband crazy. He lives in a self-imposed ON TIME
existence and thinks it’s imperative to arrive 10 to 15 minutes early
wherever we are going. 10 to 15 minutes early horrifies me unless I have
a book to read or a project to work on. Who wants to sit around looking
at office walls or reading old magazines when there are so many other
interesting things I could be doing? To help me with my little problem,
he bought me a beautiful watch for Christmas several years ago. Of
course, I had to wear it. And gradually, gradually, I found myself
becoming more time responsible. OK, battle won with occasional defiant
skirmishes on weekends, and I still do not feel it necessary to leave a
half an hour early to reach a place 10 minutes away.
This is so not me anymore.
Next came the
cell phone. He thought I should have one, I thought not. No one, except
maybe the President, needs to be accessible 24/7. Arguing that since he’s
out of town during the week, he needed a way to reach me when I wasn’t
home, which tends to be a lot despite my ongoing, uphill battle to spend
more time in my house. Reluctantly, I agreed and gradually, gradually, I
learned to responsibly charge the battery and carry the darn thing. So
now, to my disgust I walk around with a watch and a cell phone completely
hooked on both. Mainly the cell phone because it offers the wonder of
free long distance which I use with gusto!
“Hello? Carolyn? Did you see…”
 This
summer has been a miracle of time for me as I’ve been able to stay at home
quite a bit. I took off my watch for weeks at a time and didn’t miss it.
And don’t ask me how but I always seem to be aware when 2 p.m. is rolling
around and it’s GH time. I can’t tell you how much fun I’ve had calling
Carolyn (long distance on my cell phone) while watching to discuss
trivial, insignificant details and plot twists of the day’s episode. I am
truly going to miss watching GH in real time when real life rolls over me
next week as school begins. Bus drivers are not allowed to be casual
about time so I have learned to stress minutes. Kindergarteners and first
graders falling asleep and/or crying after long first days of school;
stressed parents not ready for the new schedule running out to hand their
children lunch money or breakfast in a napkin; panic stricken children
forgetting books; unsure 6th graders adjusting to the freedoms
and responsibilities of junior high; high spirited 8th graders
ruling over the younger kids – and the bus keeps on rolling, hopefully on
time. Now where’d I put that watch again?….
Wanna know
what I love? I love when it’s been so hot that the sidewalk and street
reach out and grab me the moment I step outdoors like they are a living
part of the sun and the hot air I suck into my lungs raises my temperature
from the inside out. Then, sometime around 7 p.m., the sun gradually
sinks and a little breeze comes out of nowhere and swirls around bare skin
and hints at cooler temps. It doesn’t really cool me off, but I stand
there, still, waiting, hoping to feel the hint of coolness again. And
pretty soon, as though the air is a drug, I’m mellow and looking around
thinking how much I appreciate the last days of summer when kids are
running and yelling in the street, when hide and seek involves all ages
from toddler to adult and several yards, and the scent of BBQ floats on
the air. I hope you enjoy the last precious days of summer. Have a great
week everyone. Thanks for stopping by.
http://www.internetbumperstickers.com
As always, my thanks to Terry who works
so hard on her screen caps site.
http://groups.msn.com/GHWorld3/shoebox.msnw
For those of
you who kindly offered congratulations and/or asked about my anniversary
celebration I leave you with the following words to a song sung by Randy
Travis several years ago. We included this song with several others that
held significance for us on a CD, which played throughout the afternoon.
Tears were shed, smiles exchanged and our vows went something like this
only with prayer and traditional words of commitment included:
FOREVER AND EVER, AMEN
You may think that I’m talking
foolish
You’ve heard that I’m wild and I’m
free
You may wonder how
I can promise you now
This love that I feel for you
Always will be
You’re not just time that I’m
killing
I’m no longer one of those guys
As sure as I live
This love that I give
Is gonna be yours until the day that
I die
(Oh, baby)
(Chorus)
I’m gonna love you forever
Forever and ever, Amen
As long as old men sit and talk
about the weather
As long as old women sit and talk
about old men
If you wonder how long I’ll be
faithful
I’ll be happy to tell you again
I’m gonna love you forever and ever
Forever and ever, Amen
They say time takes its toll on a
body
Makes a young girl’s brown hair turn
gray
Well honey I don’t care
I ain’t in love with your hair
And if it all fell out
I’d love you anyway
Well they say time can play tricks
on a memory
Make people forget things they knew
Well it’s easy to see
It’s happening to me
I’ve already forgotten every woman
but you
(Oh, darlin’)
(Chorus)
I’m gonna love you forever
Forever and ever, Amen
As long as old men sit and talk
about the weather
As long as old women sit and talk
about old men
If you wonder how long I’ll be
faithful
Just listen to how this song ends
I’m gonna love you forever and ever
Forever and ever, Amen
Yes, I’m gonna love you
Forever and ever
Ever and ever
Forever and ever
Forever and ever, Amen
Forever and ever, with a cherry on
top!
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