The Conductor writes some poetry

Jolan'tru, and welcome aboard the Bitter Trolley. Since I’ve collected your tickets and everyone is comfy, let’s get the Bitter Trolley underway.

I apologize as the Trolley has not been running for some time, and I cannot give a specific reason other than I would start typing, and then just crumple up the paper, as it were, thinking, no one cares what I have to say. But I have decided I will start posting again because if nothing else, it helps to just put some thoughts out there. A lot has happened since the last trip and maybe I’ll recap it, but not this trip. 

I figured I would get back in the swing of things by posting a poem I wrote. Yeah, the Conductor writes poetry. Now, I am not saying it's any good...and it is taken me a bit of pushing myself to post it because, you know, fear of intense mocking. But fuck it, why not? So here is the first post as the Trolley gets back on the tracks and starts running again.

Coldness

Acting a part in a minimal play

Your character with no life

It’s always the same

You feel with all senses

You cry with false tears

Exposing to the open world

All those so-called fears

For the dreams became too real

Sweat poured from my face

The touch of your hand I still feel

With coldness inside

I break from the past

A love now carries on

Love that could not last

The night air forces howls

Cold air slaps my face

All senses are soon numb

From my inner coldness

Well, we are approaching the station, as always, thanks for reading. And as always, thanks for riding the Bitter Trolley, and please, remember us for your future travels. Jolan'tru.

Kelly Meding's Trance mesmerizes

Trance by Kelly Meding


Jolan Tru, and welcome aboard the Bitter Trolley. Since I’ve collected your tickets and everyone is comfy, let’s get the Bitter Trolley underway.

Yes it’s true the Trolley has not been running for some time, and for that I apologize. A lot has happened and maybe I’ll recap it, but not this trip. As faithful BT riders know I read a lot of Star Trek novels, not only because of my love of the series, but to support the authors I have come to know and call friends and discuss them on The G and T Show (which you can download at www.gandtshow.com or listen to live 9 a.m. East Coast time, Sunday mornings at www.livestream.com/cerberusfilms).

I recently stepped into a new world and read Trance by Kelly Meding, and I couldn’t be any happier that I did. 


Trance is set in a Los Angeles devastated by the Meta War 15 years earlier. “What’s the Meta War?”you ask. It was the war fought between the Ranger Corps and the Banes, superheroes and supervillians. Trance begins during the War’s final hours as 10-year-old Teresa “Trance” West and a group of preteens flee through the battlefield that is New York City, when the Metas suddenly lose their powers. Moving forward 15 years Teresa is stuck moving from one dead-end job to another when her powers reappear as mysteriously as they vanished. But there’s a catch, her abilities are completely transformed and more powerful than ever.

Trance journeys to Los Angeles hoping to track down any surviving Rangers, discover why her powers were restored and who is trying to kill the surviving Rangers.

Meding’s urban fantasy/superhero world is a gritty, desolate and passionate place filled with action, suspense and characters that spring to life off the page. She writes in the first person, taking us into Trance’s head, heart and pain. The deeper into the book I got the more I fell in love with Trance. She is reeling from years of anger, depression and abandonment which give her a snarky attitude and mouth to match. I loved it.

One of the enjoyable aspects of Meding’s writing is her characters are not two-dimensional cutouts, but come across as real people. Real people with powers that fans of X-Men or Alphas will enjoy, and some of the best code-names I can remember. I was picturing different actors as the characters as I read Trance, and that, for me, is a huge positive. Meding’s dialogue is smart, and there were several occasions I found myself laughing out loud at the banter in the book. 

Writing exciting and realistic action scenes is something Meding has a definite talent for, and on more than one occasion I had to slow myself down as I was caught up in the action. Meding also has a talent for writing sexy scenes, scenes that fit organically in the plot and don’t ever feel forced.

Another huge plus in Trance is that no one is safe; Meding has no problem creating situations where I put the book (or Kindle, I was reading in both formats) down, looking at the ceiling trying to absorb what just happened. This is a testament to the world she created and how much I cared about what was happening.

So if you are looking for a book with a different take on the superhero genre, I highly recommend Trance. 

As always, thanks for riding the Bitter Trolley, and please, remember us for your future travels.

Geek and geek! What is geek?

Jolan Tru, and welcome aboard the Bitter Trolley. Since I’ve collected your tickets and everyone is comfy, let’s get the Bitter Trolley underway.

It’s been almost two months exactly since the Bitter Trolley took its last run, and in that time there’s been a lot I have wanted to comment on, but just have not had the spark, the gusto, if you will, to actually put pen to paper (AHHHAHAHAHAHA I’m so old!) and share my nonsense with the world. Today I read a wonderful post from my Twitter and STLV friend @ernie_five, Geek Closet: From Squalor to Spaceship: Wherein I question my status as a geek http://geek-closet.blogspot.com/2011/11/wherein-i-question-my-status-as-geek.html, and he’s inspired me to share something I have been thinking about.

I have proclaimed my geekdom to the world, and am proud of it. I said it before and will say it again: I like who I am, I am so happy with the people I associate with in my geek life, and, while my coming out of the geek closet cost me in some major ways, I know “It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to, than I have ever known.”

But I have been doing some geek self-appraisal lately and asking myself just what kind of geek I am, and how deep does it run for me? Maybe some of you riding the Bitter Trolley are rolling your eyes or shaking your head, but hey, these are the thoughts I have.  So how do they relate to Ernie’s blog and the spark he gave me?

Well, Ernie says, “Inside the subway train, and in borderline crisis mode, I seriously doubted my geek credentials: I don't go out to see all of the latest comic book movies, I'm not familiar with names of the recent major scribes and artists, don't recognize anime characters, and, if I were pressed, I couldn't spout out credible Treknobabble if universes were in jeopardy.”

(SQUIRREL! I love the word “Treknobabble” he uses there, and indeed, I am replacing “technobabble” with it from now one. Thanks Ernie!)

There is so much there I recognized right away. While I have seen the Iron Man films, Thor and Captain America, and am waiting for The Avengers, I see few comic book films.  When I look at sites like Tor.com or IO9.com, I rarely recognize names of sci-fi or horror authors, and to be honest, my geek reading is mainly in the Trek lit universe. I couldn’t tell you the names of any anime characters – except the crew from Star Blazers – and honestly, have only played one MMO or MMORPG, Star Trek Online. Even that is being tested because of all the changes and destruction of the Star Trek universe going on, but that is a whole other rant.  (For an excellent read on what is going on with STO, read These Bootz Were Made for Bloggin' by TerilynnS http://blackbootedblogger.blogspot.com/2011_11_01_archive.html)

But here is what I am a geek about:

• Star Trek (TV, film and lit)
• Battlestar Galactica
• Firefly
• The Walking Dead
• The Big Bang Theory
• Being Human
• The G and T Show (every Sunday morning, 9 a.m. EST http://www.livestream.com/cerberusfilms) [@SundayGandT, Sunday G and T on Facebook, #SundayGandT]
• Impressions of Sound (9 p.m. EST every Wed. http://www.livestream.com/cerberusfilms) [#ImpressionsofSound]

(Ok, I am co-host and host of the last two, but damn it I am working in a cheap plug where I can!)

That’s just a few things. So does the fact that I am only geeked about a small amount of Geekdom lesson my geek cred? Maybe. It always strikes me as funny when fellow geeks are stunned I have not watched and love (insert show here), but they have never seen something I love and go on about.

But here is where the family bond is strong: we tell the other what it is we love and maybe even get the other interested in watching or reading it, and then compare thoughts. Rarely is it lacking civility and humor, and even if we don’t agree we can still find things we can nitpick together.

So while I share Ernie’s angst about my geek credentials, I realize that it’s ok to not have to love everything geek. We all have our niche and what makes the community special is, THAT’S OK.

So Ernie, and any other geeks who have been navel gazing recently, I guess what this is all about is just one geek saying to another, it’s ok. Love what you love and love it with passion. I know the Bitter Trolley will always be glad you are riding with us, and it is that diversity and universe spanning difference among us that makes us all the better.

I hope this hastily written and totally stream of consciousness rambling made any sense to you.

Well, we are approaching the station, as always, thanks for reading. And as always, thanks for riding the Bitter Trolley, and please, remember us for your future travels. Jolan Tru.