   Current Post On Trae’s Blog:
So I'm just going to come out and say it: My favorite episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation is "Conundrum." It's episode fourteen of season five, and I just deeply love it.
I don't know if it's because I literally just assumed Erich Anderson's Commander McDuff was a random Enterprise officer of the week (which we saw quite often during the show) when I watched it as a kid during the original run, so the twist actually worked on eleven year old me. I don't know if it's because I just like a good "everyone has amnesia" story. I don't even know if it's just because it's a good Ro Laren episode. I don't know if it's just because we learn that Starfleet doesn't give a crap about lasers.
I just like it. It's neat.
And I rewatched it last night, and feel that it holds up -- which is why I found it deeply weird that the folks who wrote the episode actually think it's not that good. My favorite episode of the entire seven season run of the show was a failure according to the folks who wrote it.
And maybe, as a writer and creator, I should remember that.
Like the hardest part of releasing creative works to the public is that often, after a while, I'll start to judge those things far more harshly than when I first made them. Or I'll compare it to the potential I thought an idea had in my head. And if I don't reach that potential, I'll think of it as "bad" -- when it might just be slightly different than that idea. I have one hundred percent published stories that I thought were just sort of okay and later had someone tell me how much it meant to them to read it.
*cough*I Hate November*cough*
So I should make sure I remember Conundrum. That one of my favorite things to rewatch is considered one of those failures by its creators. That the things I make might have value, just not in the way I originally thought they should.
It's just sort of how things work out.
Remember that on April 5th at 11AM Eastern/10AM Central you can join me for the Critical Thinking Witches' Collective's April Brew virtual event! Attendance is free, and you can register here!
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But if we insist on knowing where they come from, then Trae would have to draw purses. Or something.
The fact that no one (except Lynn) ever seems to carry a bag or purse is the most telling indicator that this comic is drawn by someone who has lived their whole life wearing dude pants. 😛
I always just assumed concealed staple holsters hidden in the small of the back. In a cool climate, your sweater or vest covers it, but still permits a fairly quick draw, and the holster permits the attachment of reloader clips.
Or, they could be buying matched pairs of dueling staplers, carried into the meeting by their seconds, but that would be crazy.
I figured it was just the holdout staplers concealed with tape under the edge of the table, but maybe that’s just me.
I figured Sarah kept them in the ears of her hat.
That’s not strictly true–I never gave it a thought until this strip brought it up, then I figured she kept them in the ears of her hat.
I always assumed almost everyone had backpacks that were just offscreen. It IS largely at a college.