Inner Jedi Notebook: Week 11

Week 11 on My Inner Jedi notebook journey.

Many Jedi have an affinity for animal companions. Bell Zettifar is rarely far from a charhound named Ember, and Ezra Bridger often feels connected to animals such as loth-wolves and the purrgil.

Do you have any animals in your life? If you could bond with any animal in Star Wars, what species would it be?

My answer was:

“I have a thing for cats. I’ve always had cats in my life, since I was a child and my older brother brought home strays. Sleek, beautiful animals, strange and quirky, a little bit mysterious. I love all animals, but cats are my companions of choice. I love their fierce independence, and their seemingly haughty behavior, as if they are gods on earth. They’re beautiful and they know it, lol.

We had Gib, our orange tabby, for 20 years. Most people didn’t like her, because she didn’t like them–she was wary of strangers, but she loved her people, especially my husband. Some people don’t like cats because they don’t accept them for what they are. They expect them to act like dogs and love you instantly and slobberingly. But that’s not how cats work. I love all cats, even the grumpy ones, because I accept them and respect them for what they are.

Anyway, after Gib passed we got a kitten three months later, a black kitty we named Cosmo. He’s a little over a year old and we love him so much. He’s very different from Gib, more friendly to strangers and just a general sweetheart. I can’t imagine my life without cats. I’ll definitely be the crazy cat lady!

In Star Wars, I naturally love the lothcats. Having said that, though, I’d want to bond with the lothwolves. Wolves are my favorite wild animals besides the big cats. I like dogs, but I think their wild cousins, the wolves, are beautiful, magical creatures. And lothwolves in Star Wars are gorgeous, mysterious animals that are connected to the Force. I love all animals, but cats and wolves speak to me.”

Lothal has my favorite Star Wars animals.

Do you have animal companions? What are your favorite Star Wars animals? Let me know in the comments and we’ll talk about it!

Inner Jedi Notebook: Week Ten

I haven’t posted any of my Inner Jedi Notebook entries for awhile, but I’ve still been writing them. I’m often scaling down the blogging to once a week for awhile, and then I suddenly decide to go back to several times a week. It all depends on what’s preoccupying me, lol.

Anyway, my last entry was Week 9, so I’ll continue with Week 10:

Week Ten

Coloring Meditations

Before a youngling can become a Padawan learner, they must first go to the planet Ilum, find a kyber crystal, and build their own lightsaber.

If you could design your own lightsaber, what would it look like? What color blade would it project? Sketch and color it in the space provided.

My answer was:

“I’m not even going to try to draw a lightsaber, lol. I will talk about the ones that I love, my favorites. Those two are Leia’s lightsaber, and Rey’s. I find it interesting that I like the two that were designed by women. Leia’s is certainly a bit more feminine–the coppery pink color and the graceful lines. Rey’s isn’t necessarily more feminine–it seems a bit more primal than any other I’ve seen. But I like how she’s incorporated a part of who she is into it–it resembles her trusty staff that was her weapon of choice before she became a Jedi. And I love the yellow color. It’s weird, because yellow is not my favorite color, but I love it in lightsabers. Probably because you don’t see it too often. Also, it’s the color of the Temple Guard blades, who intrigue me. I just think they’re cool-looking, with their eerie masks. So I’d definitely want mine to be yellow/gold.”

I did tape photos of Leia’s and Rey’s lightsabers into the journal.

I haven’t done any meditating for quite a while. I just wanted to do other things during my precious free time, lol, like drawing or journalling. And that’s okay. I still listen to the soothing meditation music, though. Does that count? And it’s something I can always get back into if I feel the need.

What would your lightsaber look like? Let me know in the comments and we’ll talk about it!

Inner Jedi Notebook Week 5

Week five of the Inner Jedi Notebook. This week instead of a question (or in addition to one) there was an activity. At first I thought I’d skip the coloring activity, thinking it silly or unnecessary, but then I thought, if you’re going to do this, do everything. Don’t skip. So, below witness my Luke and Yoda masterpiece, lol.

Coloring Meditations:

“Luminous beings are we.”
Yoda

What are some of the qualities that make you a luminous being?

Color in the scene on the opposite page, and then decorate the following spread with illustrations, taped or glued-in ephemera, and other embellishments that symbolize your best traits.

I forgot how much I loved coloring when I was a kid.

This is just a bunch of stuff I found on hand when I was working on it this week. I focused on my family and my love of nature, mostly. How do these things make me a luminous being? They’re things that make my soul happy.

I’m still meditating fifteen minutes every day. I think as a beginner, you never really know if you’re doing it right, lol, or how you’re supposed to feel afterwards. I find that I do look forward to that little bit of quiet time everyday. No computer, phone, TV, book, work, errands, chores, people needing me, etc. It’s me-time, when I can just be quiet with myself. And that alone is worth it.

What makes you a luminous being? If you’d like, we can talk about it in the comments below!

Inner Jedi Notebook Week 4

This was a fun entry, and echoes a post I did about my five favorite Jedi. The journal only gave five lines for each of the Jedi, so I had to be especially succinct. If you’re interested in my more exhaustive blog post, you can check it out here.

For over a thousand generations, the Jedi Knights were the guardians of peace and justice in the Old Republic.
Obi-Wan Kenobi

Who are your favorite Jedi Knights? What are the qualities that you admire most about them, and how do they embody the spirit of a Jedi?

These were my choices:

Obi-Wan Kenobi. Obi-Wan is the ideal Jedi–he’s kind, empathetic, dedicated, and loyal. He’s calm in a crisis, and is a superb warrior. He loves deeply (Anakin and Satine, for example), but not possessively. His commitment to protecting Luke borders on martyrdom. He is selfless–yet not perfect. His loyalty to a flawed Jedi Order cost him Anakin. He always trusts in the Force.
Qui Gon Jin. Qui Gon is an authentic Jedi in the truest sense of the word–he is true to the Force (mostly the Living Force) and himself. He is a wise, patient master to Obi-Wan. And he questions and defies the Jedi Council numerous times. He questions authority when warranted. He’s a bit of a mystic, with an interest in the Prophecies.
Ahsoka Tano. Ahsoka is a Jedi with the biggest heart. Her first instinct is to help people, always. But she’s also got some sass, and some cool moves. She’s brave for leaving the Order and striking out on her own when she felt they’d betrayed her. And I love her double lightsabers!
Luke Skywalker. Luke personifies compassion. He loves his friends, but it was his unconditional love for his father that saved Anakin from Darth Vader and the Emperor. He’s been tempted by the Dark several times, coming to the brink, but never lets it consume him.
Kanan Jarrus. Through Ezra, Kanan relearns to be a Jedi, and what it means to be one. He learns to care again after the devastation of Order 66. He made the ultimate sacrifice for those he loved most, and for a cause he cared about.

I’m proud to say I’ve made it up to fifteen minutes of meditation everyday. Still fighting the thoughts, earworms, and images that come into my mind, as well as the itchy face, aching back (even though I’m sitting in a chair, lol), and occasional cat disturbances. Maybe someday I can be as serene as Kanan here (I’m not holding my breath about lifting the rocks):

Who are your favorite Jedi and why? Let me know in the comments and we’ll talk about it!

Finding My Inner Jedi

While scrolling through a Star Wars fan group on Facebook one day, I saw some one had posted an ad for this super awesome Star Wars journal called Inner Jedi, and I knew I had to have it! I received it the other day, and it’s beautiful, geeky, surprisingly thoughtful, and I love it.

It has my favorite Star Wars symbol on it.

The journal is meant to be your guide throughout 52 weeks of reflection, meditation, and “daily acts of peace and selflessness” to help you find your inner Jedi. There are pages for every week in a year (no specific dates; just start whenever you want to), words of wisdom, quotes, and even coloring pages to help you along your journey.

A weekly page for keeping track of your selfless acts.

Some added pages for more in-depth soul-searching.

Coloring! Crafts! Yoda! What’s not to love?

As a list lover, this kind of page hits the spot with me.

I haven’t started writing in it yet (not sure when I will, maybe at the beginning of next month), but I’m looking forward to filling this gorgeous notebook with my inner Jedi self. It’s the kind of thing I need right now, to calm and center myself in this crazy world and these crazy times. Just breathe, focus, and find the good. The fact that it’s Star Wars is the cherry on top. I might even share some posts inspired by the writing I do in here for something different once in a while.

This notebook cost about $20 and is available on Amazon or Insight Editions.

Do you have any cool Star Wars-related notebooks or journals? Let me know in the comments and we’ll talk about it!

My Star Wars Weekend Update

Happy weekend my Star Wars friends!

I don’t have much to report on the Star Wars front at the moment. I’m still slogging through The Rising Storm. I’ve gotten to the more exciting part, but for some reason I’m just not feeling it. Maybe it’s me; I’ve been distracted by other things. I still love these characters, especially Elzar Mann and Stellan Gios. Just because I don’t speed through a book doesn’t mean I don’t like it. I’m hoping to get through it by next week, in time for the next YA novel, Out of the Shadows. And I still plan on doing review posts for the books I read.

On Kindle, I’ve been reading Freefall, a YA novel by Alex Segura, about 16-year-old Poe Dameron. It mostly tells the tale of how he spent time with the Spice Runners of Kajimi, and met Zorri Bliss, events alluded to in The Rise of Skywalker. I’m enjoying it so far.

The Bad Batch continues to be fine, but I feel like it’s getting a bit soggy in the middle. It started off so strong, but lately it’s just been ho-hum. The latest episode, Infested, was fine. Cid is starting to grow on me, and she’s certainly not the worst of the dredge out there. And she’s got a soft spot for Omega. For all of them, really. I like her nicknames for them. I just wish, I don’t know, that the writers could tighten it up a little bit. I’d rather have 8 extraordinary episodes than 16 that are just so-so. Maybe we’re just spoiled, lol.

As you may know, it’s the Marvel universe that’s been distracting me from Star Wars lately. I’ve been doing a Marvel movie marathon for the past couple of weeks, and I’m up to Avengers: Age of Ultron. Some of these movies are great, some are just so-so, but I’m enjoying getting to know this universe and its characters. I’ve got a post I’m working on as I go along, jotting down my thoughts on each movie, and I’ll post that when I’m done (probably several weeks from now, lol.)

And by the way, on Disney+ there is a “Making Of Loki” special that just dropped, and it’s great, so if you liked the show, check it out. There’s also a making of Wandavision and The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, which I’ll watch once I’ve seen these shows. They’re under the title “Assembled.

So that’s been my week in entertainment. My family and I have been wanting to enjoy the summer, but it’s been raining so much here in New England that we haven’t even gotten to our favorite lake yet. 😦 I wish we could send some of this water out west to put out those terrible fires. Even here, across the country, our sky was hazy from the smoke blowing our way.

On a more fun note, and just because he’s cute, here’s a pic of our kitten Cosmo:

May be an image of cat, laptop and indoor — Couldn’t drink my coffee for a while, lol. That’s my favorite Barnes and Noble mug, btw; it’s got famous classic authors on it.

What have you been up to? Let me know in the comments, and we’ll talk about it!

My Star Wars Weekend Update

Happy weekend my Star Wars friends!

So this week I’ve done my usual attempt to keep up at my reading, and not quite getting where I’d like to be, lol. I did finish the middle-grade book “A Test of Courage,” by Justina Ireland, and it was quite good and kept my interest despite being for kids. I just can’t seem to make any headway with The Rising Storm, for some reason. Well, I am about halfway done with it, but it feels like I haven’t gotten to the good parts yet. At this rate I don’t think I’ll be finished with it by the time the next High Republic YA novel comes out later this month (Out of the Shadows, by Justina Ireland).

But that’s okay. I’ve decided that for the rest of the summer, I’m going to dial it back on the blogging, and just read, watch Marvel movies, and spend time with my family. Soon enough, my daughter will be back in school, and we have a list of things we’d like to do this summer before that happens. Which includes going to the lake and sitting on the beach reading books!

And now that Loki is done (my brief thoughts on that below), I’ve decided I need to catch up on the rest of the Marvel movies if I’m going to watch going forward. Because it seems like what happened in this series will tie into the movies in the future, including Ant Man and Dr. Strange, and I haven’t watched those yet, just the ones with Loki in them. So last night I began with the first Iron Man movie, and will continue with ALL the Marvel movies (and Wandavision and the Falcon and the Winter Soldier) until I catch up. That’s a lot of hours, lol. And it seems like summer is a great time to do it, since there’s not a lot of Star Wars going on except the Bad Batch, and whatever books I’m reading.

So not too many posts from me for the next month or two, but I will probably do a weekend update sort of thing, just riffing on what I’ve been reading and watching. I haven’t been doing much with the podcast recently, either. I just feel uninspired there, and it bores even me, lol. I’m hoping by fall I’ll have a new plan, new ideas, new inspiration for the blogs. Once my daughter goes back to school, I’ll have more time.

So–Loki! OMFG, what an amazing series. Loki is, by far, the most interesting Marvel character to me, and I just love where he’s gone in this show. And that finale–so not what I expected, but I really had no idea what to expect anyway. It had way more talking and less action than I thought there would be, but it didn’t matter–I was glued to the screen. And my heart is utterly broken for Loki, who now finally understands what it means to be betrayed (tricked? I’m not sure which word to use here), how much it hurts. It’s a lesson he inevitably needed to learn, but my heart aches for him, anyway. And what a hot mess the universe is now (thanks a lot, Sylvie!). And now Mobius doesn’t even know him. He is, as always at the end, alone. But I think he’s ready to do what what’s right, what needs to be done to make it right. I think so, anyway, lol. Can’t wait for season two. What did you think of the series?

Loki' Season 1 Ending Explained - What Happened in 'Loki' Finale? — Loki’s always been a little broken, but not like this. Feels!

What have you been up to lately? Let me know in the comments and we’ll talk about it!

My Star Wars Weekend Update

Happy weekend my Star Wars friends!

This past week I’ve been mostly trying to keep up with my reading. I was so excited to get The Rising Storm by Cavan Scott but it’s been slow going, mostly because I’m (of course) reading other things at the same time. It’s also off to a slow start, though still quite good, and from what I understand it’s the second half of the book that really packs a punch. And I’ve finally gotten to a Loden Greatstorm chapter, so very happy about that, although things are looking quite grim for him just now 😦

On my Kindle I’ve been reading A Test of Courage, by Justina Ireland, the middle grade book that came out in the first wave of the High Republic books. I wasn’t planning on reading it, but I mentioned last week that I accidentally bought it on my Kindle, so figured I might as well read it. And it’s quite good, considering it’s for the 8-12 year old market. A fairly simple story of a group of kids, some Jedi, some not, stranded on a challenging planet with some Nihil. I’m glad to get to know Jedi whiz kid Vernestra Rwoh, the youngest person ever to make Jedi Knight at 15. She hasn’t been in the adult or young adult novels yet, although I think she’ll be in the next YA novel Out of the Shadows, again by Justina Ireland, coming out later this month (which I’ve pre-ordered, of course).

The third book I’ve been paging through is Norse Mythology, by Neil Gaiman, which I also mentioned last week. I’m about halfway done with it, and it’s quite entertaining to me considering my newfound obsession with the subject, which stems from my love of the new Disney+ series Loki. I have a bit of Swedish blood in me, so I feel that my interest in all things Norse is quite natural and right, lol. I had this crazy thought the other day that maybe I’ll study some kind of northern European language like Swedish, Danish or Finnish, but really my inspiration came from this scene in Loki (which is actually Norwegian):

Loki’s not drunk, he’s “full.” Very full.

Translated to English, the lyrics are:

In storm-blackened mountains I wander alone

Across glaciers I travel forth

In the apple orchard the fair maiden stands

And sings “When will you come home?”

It’s very haunting and beautiful, and I can’t stop thinking about it, lol. And I’ve wanted to do something different, something that’s fun and interesting and that will challenge my mind a little bit. Or a lot, lol. We’ll see.

Anyway, loving Loki and kind of sad that the last episode is coming up, but I’m dying to see what happens. I have this feeling that events will somehow segue into future films, but all I really want is for Loki and Sylvie to live happily ever after, and for Mobius to finally get his jet ski. Is that too much to ask? (Probably).

Hope you guys have a great weekend, and let me know in the comments what you’ve been up to!

My Star Wars Weekend Update

Happy weekend fellow Star Wars fans!

So, I must apologize for not having a Bad Batch review for the last two episodes, “Reunion” and “The Lost Bounty.” Still watching, still loving it, but never got around to the reviews. I’ve been been posting less here (but posting on my other blog, The Star Wars Reader, which has been much neglected lately), mostly because I’m doing more reading right now. Not that there are riots in the streets or anything, but I’ll get back to reviews on Monday.

So what am I reading? Well, as you may know, I’m a huge fan of the High Republic, and the second adult novel, The Rising Storm by Cavan Scott, was just released, so I’ve gotten right into that. I’ve got that in hardcover, but I always have a book on my Kindle that I read at work on my breaks, and the one I just finished is called Loki: Where Mischief Lies, by Mackenzi Lee. You might also know that I’ve been in a Loki obsession lately, courtesy of the new Disney+ series, and just happened to come across this book on Kindle. I picked it up and just couldn’t put it down.

It’s a story that takes place before the events of the Marvel movies, and Loki and Thor are a bit younger (by, oh, I don’t know, a hundred years or so) and centers around Loki and a character named Amora. She’s the apprentice of a sorceress of Odin, and by a series of unfortunate events she gets banished to Midgard, or Earth. Loki finds himself there years later, on a mission from Odin and encounters her there. It’s the late 19th, early 20th century, and she poses as a spiritualist. She calls herself the Enchantress, and later, uses the pseudonym of Sylvie (hmmm….). He also meets a group of people who call themselves the SHARP Society, who know about Asgard and work for Odin to help with otherworldly visitors to Earth. Loki suggests they change their name to SHIELD (hmmm…..). Anyway, it’s a very entertaining book, and I loved it.

Also, because of said obsession, I bought the book Norse Mythology, by Neil Gaiman. Besides Loki’s charming personality, I think I’m interested in the character because he comes from actual mythology. Loosely based, of course, but I find it interesting that the writers of the movies and shows throw in little tidbits that come from the myths. For instance, one story from the book is about Loki cutting off Sif’s hair (in the myth, she is golden-haired, and the wife of Thor); in the latest episode of Loki, Mobius puts him in a sort of punishment time-loop, and Sif (from the Thor movies) comes to him furious for cutting off some of her hair, slapping him and kicking him in the groin. Over and over and over, lol. It’s fun to pick out little things like that.

My blogging friend, Julie G, and I may take turns doing some mini-reviews of the chapters in this book, so stay tuned for that if you’re interested.

Anyway, that’s what I’ve been doing this past week. What have you been up to lately? Let me know in the comments, and we’ll talk about it!

My Star Wars Weekend Update

So I’ve been mostly absent this past week, just reading and commenting on other people’s blogs. I’ve been cheating with another franchise, as I’ve wanted to catch up with some MCU movies as I watch the Disney+ show Loki. Certainly not all of them, but just the ones with Loki in them (which is 6 two and a half hour movies, at least, lol).

And they’re super fun, and seriously, if you haven’t checked out Loki, do so now, because it’s a real treat. It’s actually been good for me to take a break on the Star Wars and get into something new. I’ve been going full steam on the blogs for about a year now, and it felt good to have a little vacation.

But now it’s time to get back to work, lol. And I haven’t been completely ignoring Star Wars, either. I finished re-reading Claudia Gray’s High Republic book Into the Dark, and have started reading E.K. Johnston’s Queen’s Peril, about Padme Amidala. I was trying to wait until the paperback came out just before the third book in the series, Queen’s Hope, comes out in November, but I noticed Amazon offered it on Kindle for just $4.99. So I’m reading it on my Kindle, but will probably buy the paperback when it comes out to put on my shelf next to the paperback of Queen’s Shadow, the first in the series. Cuz I’m like that, lol.

Binding: Hardcover (288 pages) Publisher: Disney Lucasfilm Press (June 2, 2020) Author: E. K. Johnston ISBN-10: 1368057144 ISBN-13: 9781368057141

Of course I’ve been keeping up with The Bad Batch; I didn’t do a review of last week’s episode, Reunion, but will probably do a brief review of it in this week’s episode review.

I actually had an afternoon to myself this Friday, and decided to go to this great used bookstore a couple towns over called the Montague Bookmill. I’ve always liked browsing books there, but they don’t often have many Star Wars books in their Fantasy/Science Fiction section (although I see plenty of Star Trek books). I managed to scour around and found a couple of middle grade books, which I don’t usually read, but hey, they’re Star Wars and I figured I’d just add them to my collection: Jedi Apprentice #15–The Death of Hope (a series with Qui Gon and Padawan Obi-Wan Kenobi) by Jude Watson (a series I’d actually like to read), and the young reader’s version of The Phantom Menace (with pictures from the film in the middle!) by Patricia C. Wrede.

I also found The Making of The Phantom Menace by Laurent Bouzereau and Jody Duncan, which is pretty cool. I don’t have many reference books in my collection–in fact, I don’t have any, lol, and this is a great first. I got them all for twenty bucks.

So that’s about it. Looking forward to getting back to Star Wars (but can’t wait until next Wednesday to see how Loki and Sylvie get off that doomed planet, lol).

Happy weekend, and let me know what you’ve been up to lately in the comments!