Week nine of my Inner Jedi Notebook journey. This week is about new experiences.
The prompt:
I like firsts. Good or bad, they’re always memorable.
Ahsoka Tano
What are some new things that you would like to experience? These can be starting a new job or learning a new hobby.
My answer:
“Hmm, new things. Well, I’d like to get back into the fan fiction I had started a few months ago (and naturally set aside). Fan fiction is something new to me, and something I’d never considered before. But as a writer and a Star Wars fan, it makes sense.
Art is another area I’d like to explore. I used to love drawing, and I’d love to get back into it. Art in any form, really. I’m homeschooling my daughter (which is also new) and there’s an art component. I’m going to do all the art projects with her, just for fun. We did some watercolor the other day, and next we’re going to do a mixed media project, which should be fun. Art for art’s sake, and just to have fun and spend time with my daughter.
I’d like to do different things with the blog, but I’m not sure what yet. It’s always evolving and changing. I like to try different things, come up with new and different ways of celebrating Star Wars. It keeps things from getting dull and rote, and sometimes I discover new things, about Star Wars and about myself. And always, the focus is to have fun.
So all three things I’ve noted here–fan fiction, art and blogging–all focus on just enjoying myself. This is relatively new to me, when I think about it. Always before, if I ever wrote or did anything creative, the end game was always to hopefully get published, make money, be “successful.” Those things never really happened, so I just threw up my hands and thought–to hell with it. I’ll do these things because I love them, and that is enough.”
I’ve taken to listening to meditation music while I’m meditating. I have a favorite one that is very soothing and calming. It’s one of those “432 Hz” music pieces that are supposed to be good for your soul or something, lol. My husband has been watching some Youtube videos about Tesla and his discoveries, and one of them was about the 432 Hz frequency. All I know is that I love the music and it helps me focus during meditation.
So I finally finished Heir to the Empire and began the next in the series, Dark Force Rising. I just started it, so I don’t have too much to say about it yet. But I’m enjoying the series so far.
I’m continuing my Rebels rewatch, and am in the third season. Governor Pryce is introduced, as well as the Bendu. I think I read somewhere that the Bendu was a concept that George Lucas came up with early on, but never used in the films. Not necessarily as the creature we see in Rebels, but an idea of something in between the Light and the Dark side of the Force. If anyone knows more about it, please share!
In some Star Wars news, we’ve learned that the Obi-Wan series has been moved moved up to Friday May 27th, instead of Wednesday May 25th, and that the first two episodes are dropping at once. So even though we have to wait two more days for the show, we get two episodes instead of one for our patience. I’ll take it!
In other Obi-Wan news, Starwars.com has released an excerpt of the Obi-Wan/Anakin novel Brotherhood by Mike Chen that comes out May 10th. In the excerpt, Obi-Wan is on Cato Neimoidia for an investigation of some kind of accident, and meets Asajj Ventress for the first time. I thought it was a little dull, to be honest, lol, but I am looking forward to reading the book.
In other book news, Queen’s Hope is finally coming out next week! It was originally supposed to come out last November, but was pushed up to April 5th of this year. I’ve been looking forward to this book for a long time, and can’t wait to start reading it! If you don’t know, Queen’s Hope is the third in a trilogy about Padme Amidala. I love that Padme has her own book trilogy, since she kind of got short shrift in the movies, in my opinion.
In Marvel, Moon Knight premiered this past Wednesday, and if you care to read my thoughts on it, take a look here. It was as weird and entertaining as I thought it would be!
That’s it this week. What’s been entertaining you? Let me know in the comments and we’ll talk about it!
Marvel’s Moon Knight, starring Oscar Isaac and Ethan Hawke, premiered this past Wednesday, and I was very much entertained.
Isaac’s Steven Grant is a “gift shoppist” in a London Museum, and is, quite frankly, wishy-washy. But the reason for this is that his life is, well, kind of falling apart. It soon becomes apparent why he goes to bed with leg restraints, has a circle of sand around his bed, and tapes up his door. He has very real “nightmares” in which he finds himself in strange places and has no idea what’s going on.
In this first episode, he finds himself in what looks like Switzerland, being chased by two men with guns. He runs into a town where a bizarre cult-like meeting is going on. Hawke’s character, Arthur Harrow (who puts crushed glass in his shoes in the opening scene…uh, okay) uses some ancient-looking cane to judge people’s souls, the results of which show on the shape-shifting tattoo of scales on his arm. He seems to be the vessel for an ancient Egyptian goddess (whose name escapes me right now).
Arthur asks politely for the scarab.
Anyway, the two guys with guns work for him, and Steven comes to his attention. He apparently has some scarab jewel that Harrow wants, and Steven very much wants to give it to him so they’ll leave him alone. But he can’t–at this point, he figures out that he’s sometimes under the control of someone else, and can hear a voice in his head (who calls him “the idiot”). This person makes it impossible for Steven to give Harrow the scarab.
A chase ensues. He’s cornered, and something happens–he blacks out, and when he comes to, Harrow’s pursuers are dead around him. He steals a cupcake truck and flees, and more henchmen pursue him down the long, windy roads of Switzerland. Steven, of course, is completely out of his element–but when things seem to get really bad, he blacks out, and someone ends up dead. And the voice continues to insult him in his ear. The most he can do is smash cupcakes into some guy’s face, which was hilarious to me.
Anyway, he finally wakes up in his own bed and laughs because of course it was a dream. Right? But things get worse from there. There’s something different about his goldfish–it’s got two fins instead of his usual one. He’s lost two days, because somehow he’d made a date with a hot chic (this is a guy who has no friends and talks to a statue) for Friday night, but it’s now Sunday. He finds a burner phone and calls someone named “Layla” who calls him Mark, and who is confused by his British accent. There’s also a key to…something. Then something weird starts to happen in his apartment; it begins to shake like there’s an earthquake. He runs into the hallway and into the elevator, and some strange being in white robes and a beak mask nearly attacks him. But it’s only an old lady, who thinks he’s a little bit cuckoo.
Steven was a little late for his date.
The next day he goes to work at the museum, but he see Arthur Harrow on the bus. He runs into the museum, and Arthur corners him there. He uses the weird cane to judge him, and the scale tattoo shifts. He tells Steven, “Your soul is chaos.” No kidding. They’re interrupted by museum goers, and Harrow lets him go.
Steven goes to work pricing souvenirs like nothing’s happened (I think I’d go straight to the nearest mental hospital and check in). Naturally, he’s one of the last people there, and as the lights start to go out, he hears something. Like a fool, he goes to investigate, and ends up getting chased by some kind of Anubis-looking creature, clearly at the behest of Harrow. He runs like hell and ends up in a bathroom with lots of mirrors. That’s when he hears a voice–not the insulting voice of before, but his own voice, in an American accent. Steven finally looks over to the mirror, and sees himself there, but it’s not him, either. The other Steven (or Mark, I’m guessing) pleads with him to let him help. As the creature claws through the door and leaps, Steven passes out and Moon Knight, in white robes and mask with glowing eyes, appears and slaughters the thing. And that’s the end of Episode 1.
“Let me help us, Steven.”
So yeah, it was just about as crazy as I figured it would be. I’m liking it, though. I need to keep watching so I can figure out WTF is going on, lol. It’s all tied up in ancient Egyptian lore and gods, and I’m wondering how Mark is inhabiting Steven (multiple personalities?) but who is the other, insulting voice, voiced by F. Murray Abraham and identified in the credits as Khonshu? So many questions…
I’m pretty intrigued and am looking forward to the rest of the show.
Did you watch Moon Knight? What did you think? Let me know in the comments and we’ll talk about it!
With Moon Knight premiering on Disney Plus today, I thought I’d showcase Oscar Isaac as Poe Dameron in some fan art. I found some really cool pieces, so enjoy!
Jake Bartok is always a favorite with me, and here he has Poe as part of his Medieval series. I love how he made BB-8 an orange and white cat!
Jake Bartok on Twitter
The Ace pilot. Yeah, he’s a handsome devil, lol.
Charlie Griak
Noooooo!
First Order Poe by Brilcrist on DevientArt.com
This is more like it. Poe with his buddy BB-8.
rubbish78.tumblr.com
Classic Poe with his X-Wing. I love the style here.
WisenailArt on DevientArt.com
These are the ones that stood out to me. What do you think of these images? Are you looking forward to Moon Knight? Let me know in the comments and we’ll talk about it!
Week eight of myInner Jedi Notebook journey. This week continues the exploration of meditation.
The question:
Having practiced meditating for a few minutes every day this past week, reflect on your experience of it. What are some challenges you faced? Have you experienced any positive outcomes?
My answer:
“After initially struggling with it, I find I look forward to my few minutes of quiet stillness every day. It’s downtime, yes, but also a time when I don’t have to do or be anything–just be. To just be conscious in the world, and of the world. To examine your own mind. Although sometimes I worry I’m just daydreaming, lol. But I do consciously try to let thoughts go and refocus on the present moment. It’s amazing how we’ve trained ourselves to be everywhere except the present moment, and it’s a struggle to unlearn that (“You must unlearn what you have learned,” as Yoda said to Luke). It comes naturally to babies and animals, and it’s fascinating to watch them. They are effortlessly in the now, and are unaware of anything else. It’s delightful.
One thing that surprised me about meditation is that you’re having a relationship with your mind–it’s not a boring, static thing–it’s dynamic. You get to see how your mind works, what it focuses on, how one thing leads to the next–it’s fascinating, in a way. You have to get to know it, in order to calm it.
As far as positives–I’ve always been a calm, collected sort of person, and not necessarily reactive (although sometimes I am). But it’s helpful to fall back onto the memory of quiet time, to be able to retrieve that sense of calm during stressful situations. If it’s busy at work and I’m feeling stressed, with a thousand things going on, I can find my center and power on. I’ll think, these moments will pass, and later it will be just me and the candle and the (meditation) music and the thoughts, and the letting go. There will be peace.
Meditating is the act of practicing peace. So during stressful times, you can automatically reach for that peace.”
I’ve been rewatching Star Wars Rebels, and although this is my third rewatch, I’ve never looked into the various symbols I’ve noticed in the show until now. So here’s a few of them and their possible meanings:
Starbird or phoenix on Ezra’s jacket: Ezra has a very obvious symbol on the back of his orange and yellow jacket. With a little snooping around on Google, I found that it’s been compared to the Skywalker Sound symbol, below. Kind of like a little easter egg to those in the know.
Ezrra’s jacket symbol.
Skywalker Sound logo.
By the way, the Skywalker Sound symbol can be found in Attack of the Clones, on Coruscant during the speeder chase.
Attack of the Clones
Ezra’s jacket symbol could also be a precursor to Sabine’s phoenix symbol, below.
Sabine’s phoenix symbol: Perhaps Sabine was inspired by Ezra’s jacket, or she came up with this herself, but it’s the symbol that came to represent the Ghost crew Rebels, as well as Phoenix Squadron later.
Sabine’s Pheonix
The Rebel Alliance later adapted the phoenix symbol into their own, below:
Kanan’s armor: It’s been suggested that the symbol on Kanan’s shoulder armor is reminiscent of the symbol for the Jedi Order, below. It makes sense that Kanan would want to honor his former Order, without calling attention to himself as a Jedi.
Secret allusion?
Jedi Order
Kanan’s symbol is also found on the forehead of the lothwolf, which I never noticed before I looked it up. Kanan has a deep Force-level connection to this animal, who calls himself Dume (which is Kanan’s real name: Caleb Dume). The name Dume, while spelled differently, is an obvious foreshadowing of Kanan’s fate, although I don’t care for the connotation. Kanan selflessly sacrificed himself for those he loved; that’s far from being doomed, in my opinion.
Dume
Kanan’s mask: I often wondered about the symbols on Kanan’s mask after he was blinded. Clearly they look like some sort of eyes, and I thought maybe they were meant to represent wolf eyes, since he’s connected to the lothwolf.
Jaig Eyes
After some Google research, I was surprised to learn that some clones, including Rex, were bestowed with the symbols on their helmets after distinguishing themselves on the battlefield. They’re called “Jaig Eyes,” which I never knew. I love it when I learn something new about Star Wars!
Those are the most obvious symbols that I’d wondered about. I already knew Fulcrum’s symbol, the Empire symbol, etc. I thought it was pretty cool to learn about these (finally!)
Did you know what these symbols meant, or is it new to you? Any I missed? Let me know in the comments and we’ll talk about it!
So I’m almost done with Heir to the Empire. I’m so close, lol, but not quite done at the time of this writing. I’ve made it to the big battle of the Sluis Van Shipyards, and am in the middle of that fight right now, which is right at the end. I’ve been reading this book in fits and starts, so it’s taking me a little bit of time to get through it. But it’s been entertaining and fun; and I love how canon has been borrowing stuff from Legends. For example, in this book Thrawn has some aliens called the Noghri working for him to find Leia, and one in particular, Ruk, serves him; in Rebels, Thrawn has a single Noghri working for him–also Ruk–to find the Ghost crew. Neat.
These two.
I’ve been continuing my rewatch of Rebels and am almost done with Season Two. On my first viewing Ezra kind of annoyed me, but now I just love that kid, lol. I love them all, but Kanan remains my favorite (big surprise). It’s wonderful to see his arc of reluctant teacher who doesn’t want to get involved to devoted Master and selfless Rebel. My rewatch has been why I haven’t done as much reading lately. 🙂 I’m working on a post about the symbols in Rebels that I hope to publish on Sunday, so stay tuned.
I was excited to see an excerpt and cover reveal of the upcoming canon novel Shadow of the Sith from Starwars.com. If you haven’t read the excerpt, do yourself a favor and go here to read it. There’s a surprise in there that will blow your mind! The book releases June 28th of this year.
Here’s the cover:
Luke Skywalker, Lando Calrissian, and Ochi of Bestoon. Great cover.
That’s it this week. What’s been entertaining you? Let me know in the comments and we’ll talk about it!
It’s no secret that I LOVE the High Republic era of Star Wars. My favorite aspect of Star Wars has always been the Jedi, and the High Republic focuses on the Jedi of this time period–who they are and what makes them tick. It’s awesome.
Having said that, I do have favorites out of all the adult and young adult novels of Phase One that have come out this past year, and in this post I’m going to rank them and give my reasons for their position on the list.
I thought it would be fun to show the alternate covers of each book (if there are any), instead of the usual, often dorky, covers of Jedi holding lightsabers. Let’s get started!
The Fallen Star, by Claudia Gray (Third adult novel)
The Fallen Star alternate cover. This is such a powerful image.
The Fallen Star is the third and final adult novel of Phase One, and it’s my favorite because 1. Claudia Gray is a fantastic storyteller, and 2. it’s a nail-biting, heartbreaking finale where the Jedi obviously lose in a big way, leaving you wondering where they’ll go from here. There are some painful deaths, a terrifying threat (to the Jedi themselves), some very sticky situations to get out of, and some really wonderful relationships that are explored. It’s truly a satisfying culmination to Phase One, while still leaving you breathless for more.
2. Into the Dark, by Claudia Gray (First YA novel)
I haven’t seen any alternate covers for Into the Dark.
Again, Claudia Gray is at the top of my list, because she just handles the characters and the story so well. It’s hard to impress me with a YA book, but she does so here. Maybe it’s because Reath Silas is my favorite Padawan, and he is heavily involved in the storyline in this book. It’s also the only book that deals directly with the Drengir (a threat that is mostly dealt with in the comics). The Drengir are carnivorous, evil tree-beings, and have the potential to be very silly (and hence work best in the comics), but she handles them well here, at least as well as they can be handled. She also introduces the Vessel crew in this book, and Leox and Geode are some of my favorite minor characters in the whole era.
3. Light of the Jedi, by Charles Soule (First adult novel)
Light of the Jedi alternate cover. I love how Ember is front and center.
The very first adult novel, and first High Republic book to come out, is a great read and does a fantastic job at introducing this new era and its Jedi. It’s clear we’re in a very different time period here, and have Jedi who are very different from the prequel Jedi; Soule does a wonderful job bringing them to life in this story. The book begins with the Great Disaster and the fallout from that event, as well as introduces the new villains, the Nihil.
4. The Rising Storm, by Cavan Scott (Second adult novel)
The Rising Storm alternate cover. Striking, but busy.
For some reason, it was hard for me to get into this book on my first read; but on my second read, I loved it. This book deals with the Nihil attack on the Republic Fair on the planet Valo. It’s executed quite well, and I love Elzar Mann’s story arc. There’s a lot going on here, with multiple points of view, but it all comes together wonderfully.
5. Midnight Horizon, by Daniel Jose Older (Third YA novel)
Midnight Horizon alternate cover. Not bad, but I think the original is way cooler.
I was excited for this book, as it starred Reath Silas again (among others), but I found it to be a slow start. It was well into the third act before it suddenly got very, very good. I suppose you could call it a slow burn leading up to the explosion, lol. It concerns Reath and his master, Cohmac Vitus, along with Jedi Master Kantam Sy and Padawan Ram Jomoram going to Corellia to investigate a possible Nihil threat there. One thing Older did very well is characterization, and the relationships between the characters. As throughout all of the High Republic stories, this one’s central theme is how the Jedi should deal with attachment and love, and their struggle with their emotions. Oh yeah, and the Nihil threat, lol. (Check out my review of the book here).
6. Out of the Shadows, by Justina Ireland (Second YA novel)
Out of the Shadows alternate cover, which shows some Nihil, in particular Lourna Dee, instead of the usual Jedi.
I had a hard time with this one. I’m guessing it’s because it didn’t mainly concern the Jedi; rather, it was about a young woman named Sylvestri Yarrow, a cargo pilot who lost her ship to the Nihil and who goes to Coruscant, first to tell the Republic about the Nihil activity, and second, to try to get her ship back. She gets pulled into a scheme involving a wealthy young man from the Graf family, a Nihil plot to create some kind of gravity weapon, and how her missing and presumed dead mother is involved in it all. The only interesting part was when she and Vernestra Rwoh run into Mari San Tekka, and the old woman gives Vernestra some coordinates that are still a mystery.
I’ve read the middle-grade books of Phase One–A Test of Courage, Race to Crashpoint Tower, and Mission to Disaster. They’re all quite good, but I don’t really have a favorite out of them. I’d rank them equally.
By the way, here’s a few more alternate covers I found:
The Rising Storm additional alternate cover. Again, I love Ember up on the rock! (But it’s still kind of dorky, lol).
Out of the Shadows additional alternate cover. More Nihil.
I can’t wait for Phase Two, which reportedly takes place 150 years before the events of this phase. It kind of threw me at first, but I’m confident the creators know what they’re doing and there’s a very good reason for this. I believe Phase Two starts in October of this year.
Week seven of my Inner Jedi Notebookjourney. This week introduces meditation, but I started doing it when I first began the notebook, so I already have a bit of experience with it. There’s always more to learn and experience, though.
Meditation
Meditation is a core aspect of any Jedi’s training. If you don’t already meditate regularly, try doing so now.
Find a comfortable place to sit, and simply breathe in and out for one minute, before closing your eyes.
Then, for three to five minutes, visualize a warm beam of light slowly filling you up, from your toes to the top of your head. It’s perfectly fine if your mind wanders during this time, but gently refocus yourself on the warm beam of light.
Open your eyes and reflect on how you feel afterward. There’s no perfect way to meditate, so be kind to yourself, and try this exercise for the rest of the week. Use this space to journal about your efforts.
Next week, you will journal about your experience with meditation in a more detailed manner.
My response:
“I’ve been meditating almost every day since starting this journal. I began with five minutes everyday for the first week. Then ten minutes every day for two weeks. I’ve been doing fifteen minutes every day for the past three and a half weeks. Fifteen seems like a good amount of time right now, and will stay there until I feel ready for twenty minutes. I’d like to make it up to thirty minutes someday if I can.
The first couple of weeks, it was really difficult. It was hard to sit still, and impossible to calm my mind. I wrestled with my thoughts as if they were physical things, trying to tame them into submission. But I kept at it, no matter what. After a while, it was a bit easier–still a little twitchy and itchy now and then–but I didn’t feel like I was fighting my thoughts anymore. I simply began to accept them, note them, and let them go. A new thought always comes up, but I let that go, too, and on and on. They simply float by like clouds. I can’t imagine there will be a time when I have no thoughts. But they’re lighter, of no consequence. I’ve found a kind of distance. I note the thoughts, and think, “Hmm, interesting.” Then I let it go, and so on. I keep refocusing on the flame, or a part of the candle. I call it progress.”
Rey meditating, from The Art of Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017).
I’ve tried the beam of light thing, and it will work for a while, but I found the candle a better focusing tool. I like how they’re both incarnations of light, as in, the Light side of the Force. You’re literally focusing on the Light and letting it fill you.
So I’m still reading Heir to the Empire, by Timothy Zahn. I’m enjoying it, but I haven’t been getting enough reading time this week, so I’m still only a bit past the halfway mark. But I’m plugging along, and eager to find out what happens.
I also haven’t been reading the rest of the High Republic comics I’d started. I made it through Volume One of both the Marvel series and the High Republic Adventures, but I’m not making headway through Volumes 2. I’ll get there, though.
One of the reasons I’m not reading as much is because I decided to do a Rebels rewatch. All the excitement about the Obi-Wan series and the attention on the Inquisitors made me think of this awesome series, and I wanted to revisit it (for the third time, I think, lol). I just love it so much. I’m probably halfway through Season One, and it just gets better from there.
Bring it on, Empire.
I’m sure no one noticed, but I didn’t do a High Republic Wednesday post this past week. We decided to homeschool my daughter, and I was busy getting information on all that and working on setting it up. Middle school is always tough, but the whole Covid thing just made it worse, and the students are, let’s just say, “unruly.” She doesn’t feel safe in her own school, which is sad. And unacceptable. Anyway, I’m hoping to get back to it next week with a post about my ranking of the High Republic books of Phase One.
With all the Kenobi show excitement, I almost forgot that Moon Knight will be premiering very soon, at the end of this month. The latest short clip only proves to me that this show is going to be nucking futs, and I can’t wait!
That’s it this week. What’s been entertaining you? Let me know in the comments and we’ll talk about it!
Your source for everything Obi-Wan Kenobi. This is the companion blog to the @AllThingsKenobi Twitter. Because our love doesn't always fit into 280 characters.
Star Wars and Other Obsessions 