the life of Kate

Items of importance, amusement, or general interest:

- in case I forgot to tell you, I'm not going to grad school this fall. I'm trying to figure out what I am doing, and still really don't know. I want to move back to LA.

- my brother, Nate, has been gone to China for *six months*. I think I'm finally starting to get used to basically being an only child.

- our dog, Molly, died a couple months ago, somewhat unexpectedly.

- I'm buying a new computer! I like mine, but it is at least four years old and somewhat lacking in reliability and speed.

- in January, I'll have another little cousin! Huzzah!

- my parents are in the process of buying a house. We'll probably be moving at the end of August or the beginning of September. I am totally *not* looking forward to moving. Meh.

- I repainted my dressers, and now they are spiffy and white and gold, and no longer have weird blue marks on them.

- I'm in the midst of making Maggie a new Renaissance bodice, which will have a detachable zipper (maybe I'll even be adventurous and put the zipper in myself) and grommets. That is going rather slowly, mostly because I keep getting distracted.

- I'm trying to find the home for the sweetest little grey cat, because he needs a home and we can't keep him. Two cats is plenty (or so my mom says; I would keep him if I could). Know anyone who wants a cat?

- I've seen more movies in the theater this year than usual. I didn't like Prince Caspian, and thought it about what I was expecting. I found The Happening disturbing, although a decent movie. The Dark Knight was better than I thought it would be, and I had high expectations from the first movie. Also, I really like Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog.

- as far as books go, I'm on a Charles Dickens kick. I finished Hard Times and am in the midst of Martin Chizzlewit. I still want to read Nicholas Nickleby and Oliver Twist.

- I'm taking a swing class! It's great fun, although I'm not very good . . .

and that's pretty much it over here. What have ya'll been up to lately?

Some thoughts of Superheros

I am endlessly fascinated by the relationship between heros and villains. It fascinates me because I can't think of a single superhero movie that involves a superhero but not a villain. There are surely things that the superhero could save the world from, such as a meteor hurtling towards earth, or an experiment accidentally gone wrong, or any of those catastrophic accidents that happen. But in the world of superheros, there's always a villain planning the meteor crash, or the hurricane, or the flood, or whatever it is.

This makes sense from the standpoint of secondary creation. Give your characters superpowers, let them fly, or change their shape, or manipulate the elements, and some of them will use it for good, and some for evil. It just wouldn't make sense that only the good guys can use whatever power this is. But I think that there is more to it than this. It isn't just that there are good people, and there are bad people, and some of them have different powers. It is not just that they are using the same power differently. Heros and villains propose different worldviews.

The worldview of the superhero must ultimately be centered around that of humanity. The hero saves people, from accidents or villains, and lets them go on living their life. His concern is for people; for the ordinary people who don't have any superpowers. He is generally concerned with keeping the social order, and only catches the villains or criminals who have placed themselves outside of the social order. The superhero is usually democratic.

Contrast this with the villain, who wants to uproot the social system. He is trying to work outside of the social system in order to create a tyranny. For whatever reason, the villain desires to upset the system, and usually does this in order to rule the world (although there are some instances where the intent of the villain is to create chaos, but this is another form of tyranny, even if it not really organized tyranny).

I think this is the reason that America really likes superheros; it is often a discussion of democracy versus tyranny. It is the fight for justice and the worth of every individual against the injustice of one individual who claims inherit superiority.

Now, ( regarding Dr. Horrible )