Sensue's Stories

Quick fix if your title has broken your blogger template

noreply@blogger.com (Sensue) — Tue, 03 Jan 2017 23:00:00 +0000

I learned something new today that may save you a bit of time when setting up your blogspot / blogger templates.

Using quote symbols (") in your title is a big no-no. I had spent a few hours typing up my blog post and was ready to post it when the title would not appear. Not only would the title not appear, but the template was ruined and broken. (Screenshot above)

I spent a few minutes trying to figure out if I had messed up the HTML of the post - the answer was no, I didn't. Upon further trial and error, I discovered that putting in quotation marks in the title was the cause.

I removed the quotes and viola! all is well.

Quick Tip of the Day: Don't use quotation marks in your blogger title.

A Review of Sherlock Season 4 Episode 1 - The Six Thatchers

noreply@blogger.com (Sensue) — Mon, 02 Jan 2017 19:32:00 +0000

Also known as the "Episode that Ripped the Heart Out of My Chest"

After the holiday special, the Abominable Bride last year, Sherlock Holmes, John Watson, and his bride Mary Watson find themselves facing a threat beyond-the-grave of Sherlock's arch-nemesis James Moriarty. Mycroft Holmes and his government officials have effectively covered-up the murder of Magnuson in the third season. Mary has given birth to a baby girl, Rosemund Mary Watson and made Sherlock, Molly and Mrs. Hudson the baby's God-Parents. Sherlock seems still addicted to drugs - high as a kite at times; the scenes of the story take on a psychedelic spin as the drugs affect Sherlock's mind. This story is one about Mary - her history, her dark past as an assassin and her current attempts to protect her family.

Warning: Spoilers Ahead

As mentioned in the summary above, the episode begins with Sherlock Holmes being brought in from his four minute exile after murdering Charles Augustus Magunson by his brother and the government officials who covered up the crime in order to help defeat a non-disclosed scheme created from the grave of James Moriarty. The end-game is unknown - but my gut tells me that the events that happen in this episode may be tied to Moriarty's goal of "burning the heart" out of Sherlock Holmes.

Sherlock himself has decided to wait and see what happens next as he's on the "lookout" for clues from his arch-nemesis. He is on drugs again - it is apparent at the government meeting as well as all of the scenes that flicker rapidly from thought to thought without a reasonable clue of what ties them together. No one seems to notice the drugs - as Mary and John prepare for the arrival of their baby girl.

This bring me to my insight into John and Mary's relationship. If we look back to "the Abominable Bride", it is evident in Sherlock's mind castle that John is inattentive to his wife to the point where Mary has to inject herself into the investigation in order to spend time with her husband. John, a blogger and detective, was also unable to deduce that his wife was one of the "brides" who were fighting for equality. That episode was meant to be a historic view of the roles of women as caretakers / homebodies, but even in the current timeline - those primitive roles continue still.

The Season 4 group promotional photo does wonders to "spoil" the episode on its own. Those who read body language can immediately spot Mary's disconnect from her family. She is looking off to the outside world; not towards her family. Her hands are clasped tightly, her fingers interconnected as if she were trying to self comfort. Mary's expression is blank, her face is darkened by the shadows of the room. The dress she wears covers her completely - as if hiding.

The other characters expressions in the photo also hint at the events to occur. Molly and Mrs. Hudson are looking towards the baby in John's hands. None of them are smiling - there is a severity in their eyes. They like all of the characters excluding John Watson, are in the shadows.

Mycroft is entirely focused on his baby brother - as usual, always worrying about him. Greg Lestrade is in the scene, but his presence is barely detected. He is almost completely in the dark and is 'pushed out of the photo." This makes sense as the episode continues as he is only in the episode for a few key moments.

Sherlock is dressed in a form-fitting suit, the suit is completely black. The darkness is broken up by the beige robe that conflicts with the severity of the attire and the angry expression on his face. Like everything that occurs in the episode, Sherlock is physically there, but his mind is elsewhere - on the revenge that Moriarty has promised.

New baby Rosemund is the only person who lights up the photo - her purity reflected in the almost white gown she is snuggled in. Her father, John holds her with a small proud smile. John is also wearing black and surrounded in darkness.

All of these things point for a bleak season 4 of Sherlock.

From the moment Sherlock is released, he is focused on finding clues to Moriarty's revenge. He continues to take on clients, but their cases seem to be non-critical to the storyline. The most interesting case he takes on is tragic for the clients who have hired him; apparently the parents were feet away from preventing the death of their son and didn't even realize it.

John Watson is, as mentioned above, disconnected from his family. His wife is nearing the end of her pregnancy and he needed 56 missed phone calls to realize that she was in labor. This is unlike the character that I have grown to love in so many ways. It made me upset as I imagined the anger I would feel towards a husband who put his work above his unborn child. What kind of man isn't practically glued to his phone when his wife may go into labor at any moment?

Mary has taken on the comedic role during the birth of her child - acting in a way that only TV portrays by squishing Sherlock's face against the car window when she is in labor. We can only imagine that she gave birth in the car.

The timeline quickly shifts to baby Rosemund's christening - to which Sherlock doesn't seem to care that he has been made God-Father, texting during the special occasion. There was also a bit of foreshadow here, as a line made it clear that Molly, Mrs. Hudson and Sherlock were to take care of the new baby if anything would happen to her parents.

The next scenes focus on both the case spoken above as well as Mary's secret life prior to marrying John. Unfortunately, none of these things actually matter. Her secret had come back to kill her - as as a member of her team blamed her for his torture and plotted to assassinate her. Mary runs away from her family to protect them, but both men follow her, using a tracking device inserted into her secret flash drive files. John is upset by the fact that his wife left him...

Sherlock deduces that the man may have been psychologically manipulated into pursuing Mary and decides to make it worse by goading the man into shooting him instead of Mary.

Mary takes the bullet for Sherlock and dies in John's arms. The following scene makes the promo photo above perfectly clear. While the sound of agony John makes has lead to several jokes of defecation on the internet, the look on his face when his best friend offers comfort is pure and utter hate.

From that moment on, Sherlock and John are no more. Lestrade, Sherlock, and Mycroft share a look that is a cross of "Oh My God, did he really say that" and "Is he going to go crazy that his wife is dead"?

Flashbacks of John and Mary's life together are interwoven through the last half of the episode; John's character in the books has been known to be a womanizer and we question his fidelity to his marriage when he bumps into an attractive woman on the bus. The woman is there to flirt with John through texts in the middle of the night while his wife is woken by their "devil" or "anti-Christ" of a child. The non-sleeping baby trope is in full affect in this episode; making you question why the Watson's really wanted a child in the first place.

John's anger is completely directed towards his best friend - due to the fact that Sherlock had vowed to keep his family safe and did not keep his promise. This anger is confused: the fact that John could also not keep her alive mixed with the fact that he had been cheating on Mary has built up a volcano of rage that John is unable to contain.

Sherlock is saddened and heart-broken by the loss of his friends. He is willing to do anything to get them back - including visiting John's psychiatrist to get help for John. The man has completely shut him out of his life -- blocking all attempts at seeing him.

Molly has taken on the role of mother to little Rosemund, as she had been her God-Mother. This in-itself is unusual and continues to place women in the role of caretaker. While I don't doubt Molly's willingness to take care of the baby, I wonder about her future as Season 4 continues. Molly is a highly-educated doctor who works at a prestigious hospital, St. Bart's Hospital. Will her role now shift from the laboratory to a cradle?

The last scene assumes that Mary had known that she would die protecting her family - which included Sherlock. Mary had sent Sherlock a DVD through Mrs. Hudson's mail labeled "Miss Me?" knowing full-well it would capture his attention. In the message, she orders Sherlock on a mission to "Save John". Unfortunately, that message changed the tone of the episode and made her sacrifice feel like simply a plot device to get our favorite "not gay" couple back together.

Ultimately, the question remains, did I enjoy the episode? Would I recommend you to watch it?

The answer is yes. It's a must-see!

Unmarried Muslim Women Over 30 - The Horror!

noreply@blogger.com (Sensue) — Mon, 02 Jan 2017 05:40:00 +0000

Trust me when I say that there is a part of me that is nervous about writing my thoughts on this subject. A quick Google search of 'unmarried Muslim women over X age' will immediately bring you to over two million results of women, parents, so-called scholars, and news reports about how much of a stigma it is to be unmarried woman over the age of 30, so you'll understand why I hesitate to share my beliefs. I choose to share my story with you because there has to be at least one positive blog article posted on the Internet about this subject, and I would love to be the one to share it.

To share a bit of background, I was born in the United States to newly immigrated Palestinians in the 1980's. I have only been back to the Middle East once - prior to elementary school. My memories of that visit were filled with children playing out in the streets; no fear, no hatred - a visit filled with love from my relatives.

I was raised to be independent, highly educated, and kind by my loving parents. Much to their chagrin, I turned out to be a complete geek - a lover of computers, technology, books, movies, and television shows. Anything that was creative or fun, I was usually involved in. In the early 2000's, I hosted several fandom-related websites on sensue.net. (Some of you probably remember me; to others, I am happy to meet your acquaintance.)

Suffice to say, with my studies, websites, and work-ethic - I rarely had time for finding love. Never fear, my mother was there for me!

From the time I was a teenager to this very day, my family constantly asks "Why aren't you married yet?" Trust me, after a while, that question starts to drive you insane and makes you feel down about yourself. I started researching relationships, online dating, meeting blind dates in coffee shops - just like many of you are doing now.

The Muslim men that I met were hardly marriage material - some of them practically shook at the thought of the dreaded "M" word. It was tough-going, I kept thinking that I was the one who screwed up every date. "I talked too much. I shared too much. I am too geeky... etc." Not good - not good at all, but I didn't want to quit either. Love was out there and I only needed to find it.

The Disney princesses made it look so easy!

So, I went out and I met the following gentlemen:

The non-Muslim Muslim - This is a guy who says he's Muslim but drinks, swears, and acts like a child in the name of Allah. He's the most common among Muslim Americans.
The Muslim Baby-Daddy - He's almost exactly like the non-Muslim Muslim, but he has one or more child out of wed-lock. All of his exes are insane or so he says; none of it is his fault.
The Quick Divorcee - This one makes all of your red-flags wave! He's the guy who was married for only two weeks and desperately wants to marry you as soon as possible. But, like all of the others, it was her fault that she couldn't maintain the marriage.
The FOB (Fresh-Off-the-Boat) or the Green Card Marriages - These are the gentlemen that the family tries to set you up with. Some of them are nice, but the majority of them are too new to the United States to understand a modern independent woman born and raised here. There's also the fear that they are only marrying you for citizenship that you cannot ignore in the getting-to-know-you stage.
The Crazy Nut - The frightening guys that you have back-up plans to avoid at all costs. I must attract them - one of them I even had to call the police over after he threatened me. If these guys don't make you swear off men, I'd be scared for your sanity. After dating one of them, you pause looking for quite a while - shaking off the fear of meeting another like him.

This girl's got all of the luck - I am telling you! Where are all of the geeky Muslim guys when you're looking for them? You know, the kind of guy who'll worship you, love you, and most of all - be geeky with you instead of being a condescending controlling jerk?

So, what's a girl to do? I do what all geeks do - Google it! I found a few awesome blogs written by incredible single women who want to encourage each other... One of my favorites is Mandy Hale's "The Single Woman". She's a Christian writer but, she's very inspirational.

It was one of the reasons why I chose to write about my own stories on this blog. To tell you that I couldn't find a single positive blog post about being a Muslim single woman is horrible! I choose not to hide, not to be a stigma! My resolution is to live my life to the fullest and stop waiting to get married before planning for my future.

My life is awesome, Alhamdulillah. I have a roof over my head that I have provided myself. I have beautiful parents who are still together and married. And I love to write and bring a smile to your lips.

I would love if you shared your own stories... laugh about them. We don't have to quit on finding love - but we should always focus on loving ourselves and each other in the mean-time.

Image found on: https://pixabay.com/en/bride-and-groom-skeleton-gothic-1352440/
Photo of Amman Kite Festival by Fatima Chowdhury, (Student Correspondent) University of Michigan - CET Middle East Studies & Internship in Jordan, Summer 2015

Top 10 Anticipated Superhero Movies in 2017

noreply@blogger.com (Sensue) — Sun, 01 Jan 2017 05:08:00 +0000

As we all await the final hours until the year 2016 ends and 2017 arrives, I wanted to share a list of my most anticipated superhero movies coming in the New Year. These movies are going to be an incredible, my Magic8Ball told me so!

10. Transformers: The Last Knight

The Transformers franchise is a fun trip down memory lane. As a child, I grew up watching Transformers every day after school along with G.I. Joe and Voltron. The new movies are fast-paced, action-packed and explosive events that you can't help but enjoy. My wish is that we get some character development or even a conversation in the next movie directed by Michael Bay.

9. Power Rangers

There were no other 12-year-old-girls who were as obsessed with the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers than I was. I remember running around the house pretending to morph into a Power Ranger with my toy morpher. I was in LOVE with Jason Frank's character of Tommy Oliver. That crush hasn't seemed to disappear, even all of these years later. I jumped at the chance to meet him at the 2015 Wizard World Con in Richmond as if I was a teenybopper. This new reboot of the franchise is making me so happy and while I know that it won't be the same, I look forward to seeing how the new generation reacts to my favorite childhood television show.

One of my favorite YouTube videos was the Bootleg and Unauthorized version of the Power Rangers by Adi Shankar.

8. Kingsman: The Golden Circle

Kingsman was a pleasant surprise. I had no insight into the movie prior to seeing it. It looked like a fun movie - something to watch to kill some time. Much to my utter shock, it was a blast of a movie to watch. The comedy was over-the-top with cheesy one-liners, in-your-face product placement, and action so entertaining that it will make your head explode. We can only hope that part 2 will be filled with campy goodness.

7. Justice League

This movie, I am uncertain about. In my eyes, DC has a history of hit-or-miss movies. You either love them or you hate them, but either way, you'll go to see them. You've got a powerful team-up here - we'll pray DC gives each character enough screen time to make it character-centric and not just a non-stop action flick.

6. Star Wars Episode VIII

Star Wars Rogue One is now one of my favorite Star Wars movies, making the 8th episode of the iconic Star Wars a must-see! After the loss of Carrie Fisher last week, I am also looking forward to seeing Princess Leia, our heroine in her last role prior to her passing.

5. Spider-Man: Homecoming

What I am most excited about in Spider-Man: Homecoming is the fact that Iron Man is making several appearances in the movie. Robert Downey Jr. is by far the best actor of this generation and, as Stan Lee himself has spoken, was born to play Iron Man. His interaction with the child actor in Iron Man 3 was hysterical. My friends and I had been worried that it would turn into a Disney-fied junk, and were so happy to be proven wrong. Looking forward to the snarky version of Spider-Man as well.

4. Logan

This looks like to be the movie version of Old Man Logan - one of my favorite Wolverine comic books. I am sad because I don't think that Hawkeye's Jeremy Renner will appear, the addition of the X-23 character will definitely make up for it. I am also looking forward to seeing Sir Patrick Stewart's rendition of Professor Xavier for what I imagine will be the last time for the aging actor.

3. Wonder Woman

Wonder Woman is a feminist's dream movie. She is strong - one of the most powerful in the DC universe and she desperately deserves a movie to do her character justice. I'll be first in line to get tickets when this movie comes out. It also looks like a movie that will be incredible in 3D IMAX.

2. Guardians of the Galaxy 2

The internet is a buzz about the new Guardians of the Galaxy movie. The first movie was one of my all-time favorite Marvel movies and I can't help but feel from the two trailers that have been released, that part 2 will quickly become my newest favorite. Baby Groot has stolen my heart.

1. Thor: Ragnarok

Not to sound too much like a fan-girl, but truly I can't get enough of Loki, which is why I am making Thor Ragnarok my #1 most anticipated movie of 2017. The addition of Bruce Banner and Thor are just icing on the cake. I can't imagine Marvel going wrong as long as Tom Hiddleston gets enough screen time.