| Jilly: |
Well, here I am having coffee with a walking encyclopedia.
I have to say, I’m in awe of the detailed work you’ve
done. How did the idea of the Crossing Jordan Encyclopedia come
to you? |
| Jennifer: |
Some time during Season 4, when I officially became obsessed
with Crossing Jordan, I got frustrated with not having
a good CJ site that had everything on it. |
| Jilly: |
So you had this brilliant idea to create your own. |
| Jennifer: |
Mind you, I didn’t know the first thing about webpage
making, much less what HTML was. Learning Photoshop at school
helped. I picked up enough to create a site during that season
and had it up and running by August. I’m still updating
the site. |
| Jilly: |
You’re adding play by plays for every episode. |
| Jennifer: |
Then there are the character updates and relationship updates.
I’m aiming to make it truly complete. |
| Jilly: |
What’s your ultimate hope for the site? |
| Jennifer: |
My architect-side shows here! A friend is helping me build
a 3-D model of the morgue. Hopefully that will come to you sometime
in the near future. We’re trying to finish the model so
that we can do a video walk-through. I thought it would be kind
of cool to have a real model. |
| Jilly: |
So, you’re an architect … but that’s not
all, is it? |
| Jennifer: |
Oh, I teach in the evening, , I love to figure skate, swim
and row … |
| Jilly: |
And you also write. |
| Jennifer: |
Whenever I can find a spare minute. Every now and then I get
an idea that hits me in the face and I can’t let go of
it. It stays in my mind and the ideas and possibilities just
bloom. Recently, for example, I read one of the Dear America
books about a young Polish girl who came to America to an arranged
marriage in the coal mining era in PA. My family is part Polish,
and I was talking to my mom about my ancestors. And the
talk sparked an idea. A true historical story...based
some part on my ancestors, the rest on my imagination.
It's stuck in my head - I need to pick my grandfather's brain
on this one... |
| Jilly: |
And then there’s The Keeper of the Raven? |
| Jennifer: |
That’s still at the “Brain Dump” stage:
Drama/Science Fiction/Fantasy/Native American History. I’ve
stored it in my “Junk Drawer” – along with
“Carrots Don’t Hide Well in Milk” and “My
Rules for Eating Skittles”. |
| Jilly: |
And what about Sidewalks: A Journey through Life - A Novel
by JMH? |
| Jennifer: |
That’s a work in progress – the life of an Army
brat – which is what I was. I guess I make sense of life
through stories – it’s a way of trying on the world. |
| Jilly: |
And that brings me to another set of stories – Crossing
Jordan. “Perfect Storm” is your favorite episode.
Why so?]= |
| Jennifer: |
It was the first one I saw. I love that scene where Jordan
is walking down the hall, looking in each room as she passes,
watching Lily, Nigel, Bug and Garret. Seeing Jordan alone in
the conference room, head in hands, feeling hopeless, is a powerful
moment. |
| Jilly: |
Any disappointments? |
| Jennifer: |
There are so many ‘moments’ throughout Season
5 that I don’t like. I think it could have been handled
better. That said, there are parts of Season 5 I really liked
too. |
| Jilly: |
Now, Jennifer … dare I ask … where’s the
CJE review for “Crash”? |
| Jennifer: |
Ouch! I thought you might ask that! I just haven’t been
able to rewatch “Crash” yet, so I can’t write
my review. I suspect part of me wants to put it off because
I know it’s the last review I’ll write and I don’t
want it to be over. But I will get it out … I will get
it out. |
| Jilly: |
Hopefully, some VS7 reviews could help here – the story
doesn’t end on the mountain – and I see you’ve
got a spot in your Episode section for VS7 … |
| Jennifer: |
Indeed I have. It’s brought together the CJ strands
in my life: watching CJ, setting up the CJE and talking on Coffeerooms
about CJ. That’s where I’m “Kaeleighs_ Justice”,
by the way. |
| Jilly: |
And I’m sure everyone from Coffeerooms is putting up
their hands to say a big thank you for hosting VS7. And - um
- about that walk through the morgue… you couldn’t
arrange it so that I could just happen to bump into Woody as
I walked out of the elevator, could you? |
| Jennifer: |
Aaah – Jilly – it’s virtual … |
| Jilly: |
Oh, well, I just wondered. It was worth a try. |
| |
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