Mom

I sampled a bunch of them, but the only one I’m reading regularly now is Derelict. Hits the sweet spot of being unique, but not too inexplicable, with plenty of mysteries left to explore.

I absolutly love the last picture of the heart!! How majestic that nature can make such beautiful creations!!

If possible, would I be able to get a digital copy of that photo so I may print and place on my desk as a reminder that all things are beautiful!!

Mahalo,

Christine

I actually disagree that Leonard feels inferior to Sheldon with respect to physics. He gets frustrated with Sheldon’s attitude towards experimental physics, but in general my perception is that he feels comfortable with and confident about his work.

I don’t mind Howard’s mother; I find gags involving her to usually be pretty funny, although Howard got married just in time before the initial batch of jokes got too stale.

Penny is a problematic character. Around season 2, she almost disappears from the show, making more cameo style appearances than someone in the opening credits. Then she and Leonard got together, giving her more reason to be around. To their credit, they didn’t turn her into the then common cliche of Magical Pixie Dream Girl. On the other hand, they’ve firmly established her as below average academically, and realistically I just can’t see her hanging out almost exclusively with folk who are at least in the top .1% of such; much of their conversations would go right over her head and/or be too quick for her to follow.

I suspect Howard and Raj’s worst aspects are relics of the genesis of the show, when I do believe the intent was to laugh at, not with, the characters. Personally, I’d love to see Howard’s mother written out (which won’t happen because word is the producers love the character/actress) (and how did he manage 4 years away at MIT? Or did they only move to Pasadena after he graduated) and Raj getting a cure for the long since not funny inability to talk to women. The one time in recent years that worked was the scene after he and Penny slept in the same bed and she said “Still can’t talk to me huh?”.

Sheldon is, usually, the comic driver of the show. And I think one of the hardest to write. Given he’s all of a world-class genius, Asperger’s case, OCD, and probably a small side of ADHD, it’s hard to really understand how the character would necessarily act, and as all too often shown, not write him as just an egotistical jerk. He works when the writer understands and figures out that all of his actions make perfect sense to his way of thinking as the best thing to do…and you have to be able to see why that’s so. What I think may have been the best Sheldon scene, even over the one where he receives Penny’s first Xmas gift to him, was when the group was trying to figure out how to go to the movies given constraints of what was showing where and when, what refreshments were at each theater, etc. Eventually, they figure out that the optimal solution is not to take Sheldon, and they leave him in the apartment. And he remarks that it was the optimal solution, so he’s OK with it. While obviously not the best for him personally, he was not a jerk sufficient to realize that the real problem wasn’t how to satisfy him, but the whole group’s requirements, and he valued the optimal solution to the problem over his self-interest.

I’m gonna go hug my kitties now (whether they want it or not).

A friend of ours had a set of three elderly dogs, two Wire Fox Terriers and an Airedale, and was highly aware of their relative keel-over situation; she decided to get a new Wire Fox Terrier (my favorite breed) boy pup about the time that the two other WFT’s were going into serious decline. The problem was that the remaining dog, while affable, was not a romping partner for the younger dog, and they planned ahead and got an Irish Terrier bitch as a long-term playmate for him. Now, one of my joys on the Internet is checking out that lady’s website for pictures of the two roaring around and enjoying themselves!