Star Wars – Page 2 – Natalie J. Case

Posted on September 24, 2019September 24, 2019 by Natalie J Case — Leave a comment

finding space to be me

I’ve been thinking a lot about community and what that looks like for someone like me who seldom feels at home in groups of people. For a time in my life, I found community in various fandoms, but as time progressed, they became contentious and clicky and I backed away.

For a time, I found community in the Pagan community, which here in the SF Bay area is vibrant and diverse and can be amazing. However, here too there is division and in-fighting, and I’ve backed off in recent years.

My current attempt at giving to community is within the LGBTQA+ space, but I find myself limiting my interaction to what I do for the Pride organization, and I don’t go out seeking friends within the community, and I don’t really engage in any events or discussions. I guess, in a way, I give community, but don’t receive it in return.

Even among fellow authors and editors, I tend to feel unseen, unnoticed, and markedly of different opinions than many, so I feel as though here too is a community that I belong in, but do not belong to.

Mostly, I’m okay with that. I’m better on my own in most things. I have a number of very good friends that I can spend time with and not feel as though I’ve burned my candle down to nothing, not feel as though I give and give and get nothing in return.

Having just spent two weeks with one such friend, my socialization/support needs are well met and community feels more like work than it is worth. I have a cautious toe dipping back into fandom having found a Star Wars fandom group for geeky women and I see the enthusiasm and love others have, and I miss sharing that. I’ve kept my geeky joy for just my friends who share it for a long time.

Not sure yet how deep I’ll wade into it again, for now it’s mostly toe dipping, but my recent trip to Disney and Galaxy’s Edge has reignited my love of all things Star Wars, so we’ll see.

In the meantime, I have a day job to get busy on, and so much to do! I wish you good coffee and random acts of kindness today, Readers!

Posted on September 17, 2019September 17, 2019 by Natalie J Case — Leave a comment

a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away…

I was nine years old when Star Wars: A New Hope was released. I have very vivid memories of watching it in a movie theater in Brockport, NY. It was the beginning of a lifelong obsession, not just with Star Wars, but with the whole sci-fi genre.

In my teens, Star Wars dominated my decorating style. I collected the action figures, model ships, made my own wall art from coloring book pages that I traced and painted and framed. I saw The Empire Strikes Back about five times in the theater. I lost count of how many times I saw Return of the Jedi in the theater.

While the prequels are not my favorite, they fit in the SW universe and tell a part of the story, and they give us a look into how/why Luke was able to pull Anakin back to the light, among other things. I loved Rogue One, and Solo and the new trilogy has my fangirl heart. I can not wait for The Rise of Skywalker later this year.

All of that said, you can understand my excitement to get to Galaxy’s Edge at Disneyland for my birthday this year. We went last week (thus my absence around theses parts), and it was nothing short of amazing. I went in with enough money to not worry about money, and dove in headfirst.

Before we even got to Disney, we had reservations to build a droid, build a lightsaber and to have drinks at the cantina.

We started with the droid building. I built an R-series droid, and we had so much fun, we went back for my friend to build one too. Meet R2-N5 and R5-L8.

We then wandered Battu for a bit, checking into all of the stalls at the market, getting out to the Resistance camp looking for Chewie, then it was time to go build a saber.

This is an experience you don’t want to miss, if you’re a SW fan. It starts with checking in and choosing which of the four paths you want to follow, which gets you a pin so the gatherers can provide you the right parts. Then comes some waiting, while playing casual as First Order troops wander through. One of the gatherers comes out to tell you about the need for secrecy and discretion, not to mention hurrying inside before more troops show up.

Once inside, you’re directed to a spot on the tables, the gatherers tell you about their purpose and then comes your choosing of your kyber crystal (red, blue, green and purple), and then you are provided with a tray full of parts. They walk you through every step of the process.

I was surprised how emotional the whole thing was. By the time they had us insert our completed hilts into the activation tubes, I had free flowing tears on my face. I’m not even sure I could explain why. It was unbelievable though. And then the sabers all come to life, and the room is awash in the colors of the sabers. I cried more when I lifted my completed saber for the first time.

We had time after that to go fly the Millenium Falcon!

There were several large purchases (including my Halloween costume for this year), and then we were off to the cantina for drinks and nibbles. Again, reservations are required, and you still have to wait in line, but once inside, you are treated to a lively cantina scene while you sip on tasty adult beverages. Like everything else Disney, it’s a bit pricey, but completely worth the money.

Be prepared for the immersive experience, everyone plays their roles all the time, and they at least appear to be having fun. Even in that heat in those costumes! I felt bad for poor Chewbacca, but I still went in for my birthday hug.

It was fabulous two days spent in the southern California sun with good friends and an experience I won’t soon forget. It is a good time to be a Star Wars fan!

And now, Dear Readers, I need to get myself back to the day job!

Posted on August 21, 2019August 21, 2019 by Natalie J Case — Leave a comment

new job, week 2…can I go back to Austin now?

I came back from my amazing trip to Austin to start a new job, in a new industry that I know nothing about and may well be beyond my ability to grasp. But I’m trying. Week 2 and I’ve already had to take a sick day because I caught a cold, but hey, I’m pretty sure that wasn’t my fault.

So here I am, learning all about financial markets and derivatives trading and crypto currency. It’s little things that are keeping my sane right now, like these pics from Austin (it’s good to have a professional photographer follow you around, at least sometimes).

Also in the happy making column are my temperature sensitive, color changing nails, the tickets to Universal Studios that I just bought (Harry Potter, we’re coming for you!) and the trip to LA that goes with those tickets. Oh, and not to mention Disneyland, though I haven’t bought those tickets yet…soon…very soon.

I get to be in Star Wars land for my birthday! And have a tasty adult beverage at the Cantina to celebrate! I think that’s pretty awesome. Bonus if I can find me a Chewbacca and get a hug!

But yes, the work thing is stressful and weird and I feel a little bit like I’m back in school. I guess it’s never a bad thing to keep learning!

While I’m thinking about it, and alone in the office, I need to make a phone call about changing a plane reservation. And coffee. I need coffee.

Happy Wednesday, Readers!

Posted on April 13, 2019April 13, 2019 by Natalie J Case — Leave a comment

to boldly go…

Among my earliest memories, there is Star Trek, you know, the original series that started the phenomenon. I couldn’t tell you how old I was, but I can tell you about the ugly brown couch with the weird texture that we sat on to watch it, and that I watched it with my father.

I know it came before Star Wars, which came along when I was nine, and I know that it started my love of sci-fi, and more than that, my love of space.

The only thing that kept me from pursuing a life in the sciences was my extreme hatred of math, and the more advanced the math, the more I disliked it. So, I opted toward the science fiction side of space.

But, things like this…this image of a black hole a ridiculous distance from earth…a beautiful, amazing image that took a team of scientists working together for years…things like this make me dream of a different life a little bit.

And then there’s this picture of Katie Bouman, one of the scientists on the project as she sees all of that work coming to fruition. Look at the joy and wonder on her face. That is the face of someone who loves her work, who has passion for her work and is genuinely in awe of the universe at her fingertips.

Of course there are trolls out there set to destroy the legacy Katie’s accomplishments for little more than the fact that she is a woman, but forget them. They can’t take that joy, that sense of wonder from this picture. They can’t hold a candle to the work that she’s done in her young life. Forget them and let their legacy be one of the silence that comes when one is ignored.

Look instead to this beautiful image, and recognize the scientists, all of them including women and gay men and straight men, who made it possible. Imagine what else they can show us!

And, while I’m here, Readers, a quick reminder that Where Shadows Fall is available for your Kindle for free today and tomorrow, so get yours now!

Want more from me? Visit me!

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You can also find me on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram (be warned I post a lot pictures of my cats).

Posted on December 11, 2017December 11, 2017 by Natalie J Case — Leave a comment

a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away…

Do you remember where you were when those words first crawled across the screen? I was a very young child, but I remember it well. At six years old, Star Wars is probably the first movie I can remember.

I’ve written before about my love for Carrie Fisher and for Princess/Senator/General Leia Organa, which has only grown since her death. My love extends beyond her, of course. I grew up watching the original trilogy come to life on the screen. I’ve stood in those lines, though I never camped out for tickets.

I’ve gone to opening night shows, the ones that would start at 11:59pm…and called in sick the following day, or tried to crawl through the day on two hours of sleep.

I remember falling in love with Han Solo, while all my friends pined for Luke. There were long discussions about the physics of lightsabers and whether or not you could hear explosions in space.

Of course, everyone panned the prequels, though they followed the Star Wars formula with big space battles and large explosions, the comic relief was too comical and some of the casting choices were not great. I won’t go into the way they made Padme mere window dressing after giving us a glimpse of her badassery.

But, then along came The Force Awakens, where we came back to familiar faces and new ones that seemed well suited to the Star Wars universe. I can only imagine that there are millions of stories that could exist in that universe, so many characters we have yet to see.

In Rey we got to see those things we saw in Leia. We get a scared girl who won’t let fate drive her, and when the time comes, she grabs on and runs with it, even though it terrifies her. I know that there are a lot of theories and what not out there, about Rey and her parentage, her background. I’ve avoided them all, because I have my own ideas and I’m hesitantly trusting the powers that be that the reveal of those things won’t suck.

Then, we got Jyn Erso in Rogue One. We got SO MUCH amazing in Rogue One, but for me, Jyn was the character I wanted to write if I wrote in that world. She was smart and she was capable, she took care of herself and she didn’t want to join the rebellion, she just wanted to live her life. But when it came to it, she came through.

For millions of little girls, they suddenly had scifi heroines to look up to the way my generation had Leia, maybe even more so. I only hope they can continue to carry the story forward without marginalizing Rey the way they did Padme.

And yes, of course I already have my tickets for The Last Jedi. I’ll be at the first showing at my local theater, at 6pm on Thursday. I treated myself to their “fan experience” showing with it’s extras because I am a proper geek. I won’t be cosplaying, but I will likely be in one of my many, many Star Wars T-shirts.

And I’ll have a box of kleenex, because no matter how they handle Leia’s story line, I’m going to bawl.

Happy Monday, Readers. Happy Star wars week. I hope it treats you well.