Big Pile of Memories

I was looking for a necklace in my box of jewelry that I don't wear much and looking at the pile on the bed I thought two things. The first and fairly obvious thing was that the stack of pins, necklaces, and earrings was visually interesting enough to run into the living room and grab the camera. Second was how each and everything in the box has a specific memory and story to go with it. Just the section in this picture includes several gifts and items that I made. I enjoy a good trip down memory lane.

The Hand Of Thrawn

Continuing in my little venture into the Star Wars expanded universe, I recently reread the Hand of Thrawn duology by Timothy Zahn. I was in college when Specter of the Past and Vision of the Future were published and I remember how eagerly they were anticipated at the time, at least among those of us who frequented the Simon and Schuster Star Wars message board. Zahn’s Thrawn trilogy reenergized the expanded universe and a large number of books had been published since then, with the very mixed results that should be expected. While I’m sure that Zahn’s main motivation was that he had a story to tell, I’m also sure that he wanted to take back the story and give it a new direction.

The Hand of Thrawn takes place ten years after the events of The Last Command. With Leia on a leave of absence from her duties as Chief of State she and Han attempt to help to keep the New Republic from falling into Civil War in the aftermath of the revelation that some of the Bothans helped the Emperor to destroy the world of a beloved race. Luke begins to question his use of the Force and attempts to use it more responsibly while going to the aid of Mara, who has been stranded on a previously unknown world. Admiral Pellaen, Thrawn’s former protégé, attempts to make contact with General Bel Iblis to negotiate a peace treaty. Grand Moff Disra uses a con man named Flim and one of the Emperor’s former guards Major Tierce to fake the return of Grand Admiral Thrawn and take advantage of the problems within the New Republic.

The two books involve a large number of story lines that Zahn manages to intertwine and bring together for the conclusion. While there is an interesting and action packed through line, the best part about the books is the fascinating character study of Luke. So many of the other books in the expanded universe have Luke using his powers in ways that range from questionable to ludicrous (see The Courtship of Princess Leia) and it obviously bothers Zahn as much as it does me. In Vision of the Future Mara confronts Luke about his actions, suggesting that he has been skating perilously close to the Dark Side and endangering himself and his students at the Jedi Academy. Previously in the story Luke spent some time thinking about Obi wan and Yoda’s examples and the power each of them had access to and did not use. He and Mara discuss the possibility that his questionable use of the Force has interfered with his ability to listen to what it tells him.

After Luke’s reckless use of the Force, the most annoying thing about many of the expanded universe books is the author’s inability to convincingly write about Mara. Back when I first read The Last Command I was certain that the logical next step would be for Luke and Mara to fall in love, but many authors obviously did not agree with me. It was a relief to have Zahn return and put their relationship back on the right track. The only thing better than Mara pointing out that Luke has been dabbling in the dark side is Luke’s proposal. Zahn shows an impressive amount of restraint in allowing them to have their moment without having it become overly romanticized. It is pitch perfect and reminiscent of Han and Leia’s “I know” moment in The Empire Strikes Back.

While I have a very sentimental love of the Thrawn trilogy for making me aware of the expanded universe, I prefer the Hand of Thrawn duology. I love a good character study and the Luke and Mara story combined with finally having the Empire admit defeat make me very happy.

Broken Promises

I keep saying that I'm not going to post anymore cat pictures for a while, but then I wind up with one like this that I just have to post.

More Kitties!

I know I'm all over kitty pictures lately, but they're just so cute!

Extreme closeup George!

At what, you might ask, is Desie staring so intently?

I was watching The Empire Strikes Back. She's completely enthralled by Yoda!

The Thrawn Trilogy

Recently I’ve been revisiting a portion of the Star Wars “expanded universe.” The first of the Star Wars novels that I was aware of was the Thrawn trilogy by Timothy Zahn and his books continue to be my favorites. It’s been a few years since I last read any of them so it was fun to go back and spend a little time with the characters.

The Thrawn trilogy, which consists of Heir to the Empire, Dark Force Rising, and The Last Command, takes place four years after Return of the Jedi. Everyone’s favorite Rebels are working hard at setting up the New Republic while the Empire is rallying under a new leader to make a renewed push against them. Han and Leia are married and expecting twins. Luke is trying to figure out how to be a Jedi Master and teach his sister and her children to use the Force.

The overarching story of the trilogy is of the resurgence of the Empire under the leadership of Grand Admiral Thrawn. Thrawn is a humanoid alien who was secretly promoted to the position of Grand Admiral by Emperor Palpatine. He is a tactical genius with a gift for predicting his opponent’s actions. He enlists the help of Joruus C'baoth, an insane clone of a Jedi Master in his war, promising to deliver Luke and Leia to be C’baoth’s apprentices.

Leia, Luke, and Han are working hard to build a new government with the rest of the former leaders of the Rebel Alliance. Over the course of the books they find new allies in General Bel Iblis, a former member of the Rebel Alliance who split off to fight his own war; Talon Karrde, a smuggler chief, who is reluctant to commit to one side or another; and the Noghri, a race of warriors, who have been tricked into aiding the Imperial cause.

I’ve always been impressed with Zahn’s ability to keep the characters real. So many of the other writers in the expanded universe tend to reduce them all to caricatures, but in Zahn’s hands they feel more like real people. He’s also created some of my favorite characters, Grand Admiral Thrawn, Talon Karrde, and, of course, Mara Jade.

Mara is a former Imperial agent, who was known as the Emperor’s Hand. Because she was Force sensitive she was able to learn rudimentary Jedi skill that allowed her to act as the Emperor’s personal secret agent. After Palpatine’s death she lost everything that she had ever known and places the blame on Luke’s shoulder’s, swearing to kill him. Her relationship with Luke is nuanced and very well written. Zahn manages to create a perfect foil for Luke in Mara and I’ll have much more to say about their relationship when I write about the Hand of Thawn.

I first read Heir to the Empire when I was 12 and I’m glad to say that I still enjoy it and the other installments in the trilogy as much as I did back then. That probably says more about me than it does about the books, but I’d like to think that it is a strong argument for the quality of Zahn’s work.

Everything Looks Cooler In Black And White

When I get bored I often start taking pictures of whatever random things are in front of me. That's how I wound up with a series of shots of my hand.

Game It Up!

Clay playing Xbox football with Stephen

Keeping Watch

Desie keeps an eye on things from inside her basket.

Just A Few Out Of Thousands

Now that I don't have to pay for film or developing I spend large amounts of time trying to coerce the cats into posing for me.

George is so over the whole modeling thing.

It Smells Really Good Too

Because I Won't Need Them For The Next Few Days

In honor of the unseasonably warm weather that we're currently experiencing in New York, a celebration of my favorite winter accessories.

The embroidery on my favorite scarf

Me in my supercute hat

"Hundreds to the shelf..."

I figured out how to take Black and White pictures and started playing with my knick knacks.

The kitties decided that they are more interesting than inanimate objects.

I agreed and went back to focusing on them.

Ah Narcissism!

What does a narcissistic sort such as myself do with a new digital camera? I took many closeup pictures of myself of course!

Swedish Angel Chimes

Mom's Angel Chimes

The Top Angel

Spinning Angels

Candles

Fun Tilted Angels

O Christmas Tree!

Thanks to my wonderful family I received a new digital camera for Christmas. This should lead to more frequent picture taking and blogging. Thank you Clay, Mom, Daddy, Amy, Jeff, Jenny, and Dave.

One of the first things I did with my new camera is take many pictures of the ornaments on Mom's tree.

This is one of my favorite ornaments ever.

One of a series of hand painted ornaments that Mom made as presents

Just a pretty, sparkley snowflake