The Down Side to Fanhood

If you have been reading my blog for a while now, you may have noticed that I've posted a few things about Twilight.  Maybe just a thought or two about the movies, the books, the actors...  I've kind of set myself up for the problem we are now facing in naming our next child.  We are expecting boy #3.  Yes, hooray and all that stuff.  To be honest, I'm relieved it's another boy.  It's what I know.  And, being a completely emotional and ever hormonal girl, adding another girl to the family could be...explosive.  But I digress.  The naming problem.  You may know that our oldest son's name is Jacob.  He was named Jacob before I read Twilight (which I read in 2007, if you must know, and Jacob was born in 2005).

When we found out we were expecting boy #2, we pulled out our family history chart to get some name ideas, and grabbed a few names we liked.  One name that was prevalent in the family tree was the name Edward.  It was a name we both agreed would fit well in our family, and it works with our last name.  But you see where I'm going with this.  Despite the fact that I named our oldest son Jacob before the Twilight craze, in order to avoid constant teasing, I will never get to use the name Edward for one of our sons.  Or Bella for a girl, should that situation present itself (not that Bella has ever made the list for either Tim or me.  It hasn't and won't.  It's a fine name, but it's even more Twilighty than Edward).  This is the downside to being an outspoken fan (or critic, for that matter) of something that's such a huge part of pop culture.  So we didn't name #2 Edward, we opted for Tyler.  Now comes #3, and we are still a little stuck on the name Edward.  And we still face the same problems with the name that we did with boy #2.  This is what I get for posting so many times about all things Twilight.  A perfectly good name, down the drain.

BUT, should we name baby #3 Edward...

...here are some ideas for dressing little Edward and Jacob (although poor Tyler would feel left out):

--T-shirts that say "We are team Jacob and Edward" with their pictures on the backs (Tyler would have to pick sides, of course).

--For little Edward, a gray v-neck t-shirt, sports jacket, and skinny jeans, and for Jacob, a pair of cut-off shorts and nothing else.

--Bright red lipstick for baby Edward to match what is bound to be extra pale skin (have you seen my other children?).

--Spray tan for Jacob.

Some other ideas to keep with the Twilight theme in our family:

--A super fancy Volvo for Edward when he turns 16.  Jacob can go on foot (bare foot).  Or we can find an old Rabbit for him to fix up.

--Theme beds:  a coffin for Edward and a cave for Jacob.  Tyler can get the bunk bed all to himself.  

If we go with Edward as the baby's name, why not go super fan?

Howling at the New Moon

You may be wondering what I thought of "New Moon." Here's my summary:

and

Am I clear? 

Now for my real review.   

I am going to start with a list of Things I liked and/or things that have improved since Twilight:

1.  Jacob Black.  I was with the people that were crying "Recast!" after the first movie.  I just didn't see how cute little Taylor Lautner, who looked like a 12-year-old girl in Twilight, could pull off the towering, muscle-bound werewolf in New Moon.  But I think he managed to pull it off.  Don't you?  (See above picture.)  It's amazing what people will go through for job security.  I never had any problem with his acting in Twilight, and I was still quite happy with it in New Moon.  He had the right amount of intensity during his angry moments, and his big, flashy white smile during the friendly moments was well-timed and as warm as I had expected from Jacob.  There was an audible gasp from everyone in the theater when he pulled off his T-shirt to wipe the blood off Bella's forehead.  And then a lot of tittering from the older women because they (we) felt a little ashamed at gasping at his beautifully sculpted chest.  I think I've made my point.

2. Bella's devastation.  I have been an overemotional teen dumpee, and I think the way they conveyed Bella's isolation after Edward leaves is spot on.  Showing Stephenie Meyer's 250 pages of depression (ragged hole in the chest, zombie behavior, missing Edward desperately) couldn't have been all that easy.  Sitting at the vampires' lunch table alone, sitting in her room, watching the world go by outside her window, and ignoring her friends all seemed pretty accurate to the book and to real life teen angst over the loss of a boyfriend.  I had some issues, of course, with certain aspects of the angst, both in the book and the movie, which I will discuss in my list of Things I Didn't Like.

3. The Volturi.  There are definitely casting issues with this series, but the casting they did for the Italians was great.  I'm glad they cast a British guy as Aro.  There are plenty of fancy-looking American actors that would have looked the part (most of the cast of any CW show, for example), but he needed to sound like he'd been around for a long time.  The solution:  a British accent.  I loved that they really went to Italy to film the outside parts (thanks to a nice fat budget).  I loved that they could afford to cast Dakota Fanning and then give her a total of about 5 words in the whole movie.  And I liked that they added a little fighting with the Volturi at the end to create a climax that didn't exist in the book.  On the big screen, all the talking the vampires do would have been a snoozefest.  The decision they made to add the fighting was fun and exciting.  Overall, the whole Italy scene was one of my favorite parts (I say overall, because again, I have some issues to discuss).

4.  Make-up/costuming/hair.  The first movie had a low budget, and I think they hired their 8-year-old daughters to do the makeup for the vampires.  Remember the first time you see Dr. Cullen?  Yikes.  I don't know if it's that they could afford someone better, or better products, but I appreciated the toned down makeup in New Moon.  They were still pale, but not cakey.  When Edward showed Bella his sparkly skin in Twilight,  it looked more like he was really sweaty.  He looked much more diamond-like and sparkly in New Moon.  The vampires were supposed to be wearing pricey designer clothes in the first movie, and Edward seemed to be wearing Walmart T-shirts a lot.  I loved the clothes he wore in New Moon.  My favorite outfit of his is what he's wearing when he dumps Bella.  It was the closest he came, for me, to being untouchable and intimidating.  I mentioned hair in the title of this section because of one vampire, and that is Rosalie.  I thought they did a horrible job casting Nikki Reid as Rosalie after seeing the first movie.  Then I saw a picture of her with brown hair, and she's gorgeous!  When they went to dye her hair blonde, it went badly, and fried her hair to death.  And they found out that blonde hair doesn't really suit her.  So I was pleasantly surprised by how much better her hair looked in New Moon.  I'm guessing she was wearing a wig, because after the awful experience she had with the first movie, I doubt they risked frying her hair.  Whatever they did, she looked much prettier this time.  (Maybe I'm just used to her now...) 

5. The special effects.  What a vast improvement.  They figured out that you can show speed without showing Edward's legs flailing about under his body.  Just a nice whoosh past the camera is all you need to get the feeling of speed.  It was such a relief.  When the Quiliute boys morphed into wolves, it was seamless.  (I will leave my rest of the comments about the wolves for the next section...)  The fight sequence in Italy was nicely done.  Oh, and I loved the part when the wolves were chasing Victoria and they showed everything else slow down instead of trying to speed up the chase.  I can't say everything was perfect, but it really is amazing to see what a big budget can do for a movie.

Now for my list of Things I Didn't Like:

1. The wolves.  Since we just talked about how much special effects improved, let's discuss what didn't work.  I know it must be extremely difficult to do CG animals.  Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban proved that no matter how much money you have, creating a werewolf can go terribly wrong.  And it was necessary to use CG for this film, because of the impossible dimensions Stephenie Meyer gave them, not to mention the restrictions placed on animal use in movies.  There was a lot of wolf fighting, and I doubt PETA would have appreciated real wolves fighting.  But it just wasn't convincing enough.  Thinking back, I think it was the snarling snouts that looked weird to me.  It made parts that should have been dramatic and exciting a little laughable.  Maybe they'll make even more money on this one and have a chance to rework the wolves into more realistic beasts. 

2. Bella's bedtime screaming.  I know she was sad, and really really missed Edward.  I hated it in the book, and seeing it on the screen made me hate it even more.  Ugh.  It made me squirm in my seat.  Again, I have been a teenage dumpee, and I took it extremely hard.  But I just don't think, no matter how sad a girl is, she'll be screaming in her sleep every night.  I could understand it if she was having nightmares about Jasper eating her alive.  That would make me scream.  But the ragged hole in the chest is more of a dull ache, not a sharp pain.  Lame lame lame.

3. Edward.  Yes, 5 gazillion girls around the world just gasped in horror.  But I gasped in horror when I saw this:

I'm sorry, but when you've just seen Jacob with his shirt off, this is really gross.  Where do I even start.  Isn't Edward supposed to have a sculpted, smooth, marble chest?  I'm sorry, but how does emaciated and hairy fit that description?  If Taylor Lautner, who had the body of a 12-year-old, can gain 20 lbs of muscle between movies, why can't Rob Pattinson?  And while he's at it, pop on over to the salon and get a wax job.  Please.  Please please please.  The whole time his shirt was off, I was thinking "Please put that nice shirt back on.  Please."  I have no problem with chest hair as a rule, but in this case, it is NOT right.  How about, instead of scrawny, weird-looking Rob Pattinson, we sub in him: 

Not too shabby, right?  He is also a vampire, on the CW show "The Vampire Diaries," which is also about a vegetarian vampire that falls in love with a mortal girl.  But he looks more the part, he acts more the part, and he is much much better looking.  I don't mind if they switch up the actors.  Hint hint, Summit Entertainment.

My overall conclusion is that I need to go see it again.  When I saw Twilight the first time, I was so focused on the problems (make-up, Rob Pattinson, bad special effects) that I missed some of the good.  This time I think I was focused on the wolves and Rob Pattinson's scrawny chest, and I missed out on some of the enjoyment I may have next time.  So before I can give it a thumbs up or down, I will be seeing it a second time.  Call me if you want to come along!

A smattering of thoughts

I spend all day with a 3-year-old and a baby, and lately my social life has been nearly non-existent, so I have had very little practice with the social skills, plus my brain power is nearly kaput because of an overdose of the Disney channel. This is entirely my fault. Well, mostly. I couldn't help that both my kids got sick, and as soon as it was looking like we were back in business, I got sick. That was a bit out of my control. On top of that, every time I start a book that requires even the smallest amount of focus, I get bored with it and have an overwhelming desire to read the Georgia Nicholson books (they're fab, British, and very silly, but not very thought-provoking). As a result, I have found myself walking away from every conversation I've had with an adult feeling like a complete idiot. I think in the course of three weeks I have probably offended and alienated every friend or chance of a friend I may have had. Nice work, Rach. So, if you are one of those people, I'm sorry. My brain is mush and I'm on very little sleep. I didn't have the best social skills to start with, but in this condition they are disastrously lacking. Okay. Now that I have apologized, I have a request. Please tell me, how do you stay sane when you're stuck with sick little kids and you can't get out much? I love going out and having fun, but it doesn't really seem in the cards right now. What are some other options?

On another subject, I have been meaning to address the issue of Twilight for quite some time. I did a review of it a while back (Rachel K, thanks for the tutorial on doing those fancy links to other posts). I believe my review was favorable-ish. I commented on how annoyingly bad the effects were, and how caky Dr. Cullen's make-up was, and how overly red Edward's lips were, right? I also mentioned that Rob Pattinson was absolutely not the right man for Edward's role. After multiple viewings, I'd like to amend my review (Karina, you were right). Yes, all those things were wrong with the movie, but on the small screen they were barely noticeable. I watched it with my husband, and was on the edge of my seat, just waiting to point out Dr. Cullen's bad make-up, but when it got to that scene, it just didn't seem that bad anymore. Same with Edward's lips. The effects were still bad, and Tim did laugh with me at the tree-climbing scene, but I got over it quickly because I was enjoying the movie so much. After 3 viewings, Pattinson seemed more and more right for the role. I think it was kind of like when Smallville came out, and, as hot as Tom Welling was as Clark Kent, he wasn't Dean Cain (I loved Lois and Clark). After a few episodes, I got over it, and now Tom Welling is just fine as Superman. Of course, no one can replace Christopher Reeve. But I digress. I had a completely different mental picture of Edward from reading the books. It was cemented into my brain, and I was stubbornly sticking to that image. But you can't deny the appeal in the brooding, serious version Pattinson portrays. My mom compared him with James Dean, and I think that's when I was won over. I am convinced that a low budget movie like this is meant for the small screen. So, if you haven't seen it yet (Rachel K), rent it, watch it 4 times, and then form an opinion. Then tell me what you think! If you have seen it, didn't like it the first time, and haven't watched it again, rent it, watch it 4 times, and tell me what you think. And buy the soundtrack and listen to it with the volume way up. It's awesome.

Twilight: the Movie

Let me begin by saying that when I went to see the movie I was on very little sleep so I was feeling a bit loopy, and I had a stomach full of Mexican food, so I was very content. I was also among friends, which put me in a great mood, so I was more agreeable about things than if I'd gone with a stomach full of, say, badly made tuna casserole and was sitting by myself next to a really annoying person eating popcorn with her mouth wide open and opening really noisy candy during the movie.

I went to the movie with very low expectations. I figured it would be really sappy, really poorly made, and the acting would stink all around. I still wanted to see it, of course, and I was quite pleasantly surprised. If you have read the book, you know that the book is a romance novel full of teen angst and melodrama. You also know that it is aimed at girls around age 16. It follows that a movie based on the book, if it is going to be faithful to that book, will also be full of teen angst and melodrama, and be reminiscent of TV shows aimed at 16-year-old girls. And that's exactly what it was. My point is that the movie captured the mood of the book perfectly. I'm going to break down aspects of the movie to organize my opinion and how they compared to the book:

THE CAST:
I thought Kristen Stewart was perfect as Bella: twitchy, uncomfortable, pale, awkward around everyone. I admit after an hour of her twitching and fluttering eyelids I got a little annoyed, but then I remembered that it was how Bella was described, and I got over it. I thought she was excellent at expressing her disdain for the stupidity of the goofy teenagers that surrounded her, using just her facial expressions and body language.

Robert Pattinson was always a bit of a strange choice to me. I still think of him as Cedric Diggory (which was a perfect role for him, really), and I struggled to enjoy him as Edward throughout the movie. I thought his acting was fine, although I thought his voice was totally wrong. In the books, Edward's voice is described as velvety and hypnotic, and I thought Pattinson's was a little girly. He didn't seem as suave as I had imagined him, either. There were moments, however, that he managed to look dangerous and intense, and almost hot. For example, the scene in Port Angeles where he swoops in and rescues Bella from the creepy guys. He could pull it off in short spurts, but not through the whole movie.

I loved the kid who played Jacob (I can't remember his name now, but he was Sharkboy in the movie Sharkboy and Lavagirl). He is cute and has a brilliantly white smile. My concern is that he is kind of short and petite, and somehow they will have to make him super tall and brawny for the next movie. Hmmm...

I thought Charlie was perfect. Rough around the edges, abrupt with conversation, and a little bit country.

The kids at school were great. The girl who played Jessica was perfect, and all the other kids reminded me of kids I went to high school with. Mike was pretty over the top, but overall, I was pleased. It's like Harry Potter--their acting will improve with each movie. Remember Ron in the second Harry Potter movie? Yikes.

I thought the casting for Alice, Jasper, Dr. Cullen and Esme was perfect. Jasper looked a little too intense all the time, though. His eyes were constantly bugging out like someone was poking him in the bottom with a stick. But once he gets some lines, maybe he'll cool it a little and show a bigger range of facial expressions. I thought the girl that was cast as Rosalie was pretty, but not tragically beautiful. She wasn't anything like how I imagined her physically, but I thought her acting was good. Her evil glares at Bella were perfect. Emmett was also not at all how I imagined him. Too puny. I imagined someone much more beefy and intimidating. He didn't act intimidating at all. They both seemed like strange choices, but I'm guessing budgeting had a little to do with their choices in actors.

SPECIAL EFFECTS/COSTUMES/MAKEUP:
Okay, this is where it fell a bit short. It's not fair to a low budget movie to show an awesome preview for a high budget movie like Harry Potter right before it starts. I'm sure they did the best they could with the resources they had, but the shots of Edward jumping around in the trees were a bit laughable. Anything computer generated was jumpy and clearly not part of reality. Maybe all the money they made from Twilight will help out the special effects for New Moon. Let's hope so. The fight scenes and the vampires' superpowers should be spectacular, not laughable.

I thought the costumes were great. The high school kids didn't look overly trendy, just normal. I thought the vampires would look a little more superior than the kids than they did. I thought they fit in a little too much, but I don't really know that much about fashion, so that's all I really noticed.

The vampire makeup. Oh dear. Dr. Cullen looked like a mime with too much makeup caked on. Edward looked like he had gotten into his mom's lipstick. Sometimes the vampires' skin looked normal, and sometimes it looked like caked on makeup. There's got to be a better way to make them look pale. Edward's appearance in the sun was disappointing as well. It looked more like he was just kind of wet. So I'm hoping they'll get that worked out before New Moon wraps.

THE WRAP-UP
So it was a lot like an episode of 90210, with the longing glances and the melodrama ("Say it." "You're a vampire." Intense stare and deep breathing.), but I found it very enjoyable. I think they captured the main essence of the book, and, since I enjoyed the book, I enjoyed the movie. I think one of the things that I enjoyed was watching parts of the book and thinking, "That's just how I imagined it!" Of course, certain parts were changed or left out, and that's just how it goes when switching from one medium to another. Not everything in a book works well on the screen. I try not to analyze what is missing, just how well it flows and whether or not the story is the same. And it was. It was no Oscar winner, but it was a perfect girls' night out movie. It was clearly done on a smaller budget, and, with all the hype it's getting, I'm guessing that they will make enough to use more quality materials for the next movie. The only part of the movie that I really wish were different is the casting for Edward, and now that he's been in the first movie, that won't change for the next three. So, if you haven't been to see it, if you have read the book, you should give it a try. Just don't go expecting perfection. Go expecting a low-budget TV-episode-like drama that is fun and silly.

Superstrength and Sweeping Romance

I was planning on waiting to write a review for "Breaking Dawn" until next week, but my mind is like a sieve right now, I'm afraid I won't remember anything about the book by the end of this week. So, if you haven't read the book yet and are still planning on reading it, STOP READING NOW, until you've finished. I don't want to give anything away to those who have yet to read it, but I need to in order to properly express my feelings.

It finally occurred to me on about page 150 that I have been categorizing these books completely wrong. For some strange reason, I had them grouped in with Fantasy and Action. Yes, there is an element of fantasy (vampires and werewolves and mind-reading), and yes, there is action. But these books are romance novels, pure and simple. Once I realized that, I actually felt a little less critical about the content. A little. You notice I said that this occurred to me after 150 pages. Those first 150 pages could have been summed up into about 5. Bella and Edward had a beautiful wedding, which every girl fantasizes about. Beautiful flowers, beautiful bride, weeping mother, dashing groom, the works. And then they go on their honeymoon. Ah, the perfect honeymoon fantasy. A remote isle, beautiful surroundings, kayaking, palm trees, a really pretty big bed--all things that you'd expect from a honeymoon. But was it really necessary to have that honeymoon last 75 pages? And this is where my realization kicked in. These 150 pages were what Meyer's 4 books were all about. The fantasy romance. Once I understood which genre I was reading, I was a little more forgiving about the amount of time that was spent gushing over how perfect Edward was, and how much Bella adored him, blah blah blah. I still feel that Stephenie Meyer should find a better editor, however, because regardless of how romantic something is, it only needs to be said once. (I got that they figured out the whole physical intimacy thing very quickly and didn't need three separate illustrations.) I was also dismayed yet again at how much sensual content there was, considering the intended audience is teenage girls. Yikes. I find it interesting that she goes into more detail in the teenage romance books than her other book, "The Host," whose primary audience is adults. I don't know that I would recommend these to a 14-year-old girl.

I find that I am a bit scattered, so I'm going to list the things I liked to make it a little easier:

1. Bella's vampire baby was completely unexpected to me. One reason I was pulling for Jacob was because if Bella ended up with Edward, she'd never experience the joy of pregnancy (if she, in fact, did enjoy being beaten up repeatedly from the inside) or motherhood. And Meyer managed to work in yet another vampire myth to solve that problem. I was glad that she found a way for Bella to experience motherhood, and even more glad that it was a surprise. I like to be surprised, and I didn't think I would be.

2. Jacob's point of view was kind of fun. Just like everything else in her books, I felt it could have been a little less wordy and drawn out, but I enjoyed having a moment in my favorite character's head. Since my vote has been for Jacob all along, I was grateful that Jacob got a little more time and attention in this book. He seems to be the most fleshed-out character in the series. I find it interesting that although Bella is the heroine, and Edward is her true love forever, Jacob is the only one that is shown in great detail, flaws and all. I wondered if Meyer would use the imprinting instinct as a tool to get Jacob out of the love triangle, and was glad that, since she chose to use it, it was told from his point of view. I was a little less disappointed. It did bother me, though, that her writing got a LOT sloppier and grammatically incorrect while she was writing from his point of view. She changed voices by changing writing styles, and I have no problem with that. What bothered me was that when Bella was the narrator, things were so eloquently described, and Bella was not an eloquent person in her thoughts or speech. Then when Jacob was the narrator everything was in the style of his speech. Suddenly the descriptions of the surroundings were as though Jacob were speaking them aloud, in a very conversational, casual way, full of slang and grammatical errors. I'm sure this was intentional, but I found it irritatingly inconsistent. If she had written Bella's point of view in words that Bella would have spoken aloud, I would have felt it was appropriate for Jacob's point of view to be the way it was. Okay, so I went on a little bit of a rant there. Sorry, this is the section about what I liked. I enjoyed that for a little while, we got to see things from a werewolf's point of view.

3. I was glad there was a happy ending. Since this is a romance series, and completely unrealistic, it might as well have worked out very neatly so that Jacob gets his girl, Edward and Bella live happily ever after as beautiful vampires, and none of their family dies. Oh, and Charlie gets to see his beloved daughter and granddaughter without being eaten. It all seemed a little too tidy for me, but, like my sister told me earlier, there are plenty of depressing books out there to chew on and brood over, and these books are not for deep thinking. They are a vampire fairy tale. So why not make it as happy as possible, right?

4. All in all, despite my complaints about Stephenie Meyer's writing skills (like I'm one to talk anyway), she is extremely creative and has created an exciting world that she has obviously thought through very thoroughly. The vampires' and werewolves' histories and mythologies are very detailed and it's clear she has a talent for creativity. ("The Host" is another book that she wrote that I found original and interesting, and clearly well thought out.)

Now for my complaints:

1. As mentioned before, let's cut out 300 pages. I'm sure there are some who relished every word on every one of the 754 pages in this book, but I like to relish something once and not reread the same drivel for hundreds of pages. I got that Bella was a great vampire, and she was meant to be a vampire, and so on. I just wanted to get to the action once she was changed, and it felt like it took FOREVER!

2. For a book aimed at teenagers, could we keep it a little more G? I know it's possible. I've read lots of books by Mary Stewart, and she's a master at hinting without telling.

3. The big showdown that was hinted at FOREVER once Bella met the Volturi was kind of a letdown. I am glad none of the Cullens got ripped to shreds. That's great. But it seems like after all that build-up, there could have been a little more action or something. I think that entire confrontation took 10 or 15 pages (I've loaned out my copy now, so I can't flip to the end to see), and if you're going to make a book that long and wordy, at least make what should be the most exciting part of the series a little more exciting! Hooray for Bella figuring out her superpower. Hooray for her keeping everyone safe. But really? That's all we get? I guess when I reached that part, my mentality had flipped back into Action mode and not Romance. It just seems like if you're going to have an entire chapter about Bella going on her first hunt as a vampire, you can take a little time to let Emmett rip Jane and Alec apart. Or have Alice sneak up behind the Volturi and take out Caiaus. Or have a physical showdown between the Romanians and the Volturi. Maybe all the football I watch has made me a little violent, and I expect crunching of bones and enemies to be taken down. I just felt like the ends of the other 3 books were much more exciting.

4. See #2 in my "like" category. I went off for a few minutes about Jacob's narrative.

What did you think of the book? I know Jenny will have something to say. I can't wait to find out. I tried to write my review before talking too much with anyone else about it. I tend to get persuaded easily by others. But now I'd like to know. Did you like it?

Overall, I think I'm leaning toward Like over Dislike. I may read it again in a few weeks. I read it as fast as I could so no one could have a chance to give away the ending. And I was on little sleep, since I bought it at a release party. My opinion could be completely different next time. It's been known to happen.

Late Nights and T-shirts

Okay, I'm not going to give away anything about Breaking Dawn yet. I will do a nice long rant about it next week when people have had a chance to read it. Then I will tell you in detail what I thought about it. If you've already read the book, no fair voting on the poll. If you have just been waiting for your friend to finish her copy so you can borrow it, and haven't voted yet, and care to, please do.

I did something on Friday night that I've never done before. I went to a book release party. I was invited by some good friends, and it sounded like fun. We each made T-shirts expressing our love for either Jacob or Edward. That was a lot of fun, and gave us housewives an opportunity to delve into our creative sides a little bit without involving crayons and paste. Plus, it provided us with an outward expression of our inward desires for the outcome of the book that we could display at the bookstore! Here are pictures of the front and back of my T-shirt. It's fairly obvious which way I vote.

After discussing and reviewing the first three books in detail, and speculating about the final book, we headed to Hastings to buy our copies. When we arrived and found we had to park very far away at the Walmart parking lot, I knew we were in for a treat. Hastings was packed from the front to the back of the store, full of people wearing prom dresses (I don't know why, but the store was having an ugly prom dress contest along with the book release), wolf ears and tails, vampire teeth, and, like us, T-shirts. Apparently, if you wanted to assure your possession of the book that night, you could pay some money down on the book ahead of time and reserve a copy. I did not do this. I figured if they ran out I'd pop into Costco the next day and grab one of their gazillion copies. But really, would a store risk running out like that when they have the potential to have record sales for the year? Of course not. So, they had the lines divided up according to last name alphabetically. We were almost the last ones in the H-N line (I think 3 other people were behind us), and it gave us a lovely opportunity to look at all the merchandise that was hanging on the back wall of the store. I almost bought a T-shirt that had a picture of Chris Farley that said, "Living in a van down by the RIVER!!!" Maybe next time. After being smashed against the back wall of the store for about half an hour, the line began to move, and TA DA! At about 1:00am I had my copy in my hot little hands. The rest of my group had a slumber party and read all night. I went home and got in bed. All that excitement was much too exhausting for a tired old lady like myself.

Would I do it again? Maybe. For me, the point wasn't getting the book the second it was available (I could have walked over to Walmart and gotten it at 12:01 without waiting in line and gotten home by 12:30). The point was being with friends and having a girls' night and being silly, which are all very fun things. For a few hours, I pretended I was 18 again and (aside from the inevitable topic of our kids that always pops up no matter how hard you try to avoid it) talked about frivolous vampire romance and how nice it would be to get a pedicure and which one of us made the funniest T-shirt (that was never decided, because we were all far too polite to assert that ours was the best).

I have finished the book, and will let you all finish it as well, and give myself time to stew over it before I tell you what I thought. Whatever my opinion of it was, it sure was fun to buy it this time!

The Question on Every Housewife's Lips

As you may have noticed, I've added a teeny tiny little poll to my blog. This is because there is a lot of buzz this week about the release of the final (let's hope) installment of the Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer. In preparation for this big release, I have reread the first two books and am currently working my way through "Eclipse." I feel that, while these things are fresh in my mind, it is time to discuss them. CAUTION: SPOILER ALERT!!! If you haven't read the books and plan to, I'd sit the rest of this one out.

I read "Twilight" last year at the recommendation of a few friends who had teenage daughters. They told me it was a fun summer read and never warned me that it was also a series that was unfinished. ARGH!!!! So I read it, enjoyed it, and realized as I reached the last pages and saw the first chapter of the NEXT book that I had been snared into yet another series. Since I enjoyed the first book, I was less annoyed by the fact that the second book was still in hardback and the third was about to be released than had I hated the book. Once I start a series, it's hard to stop. You know how it is. So I was dismayed by the fact that the second book, "New Moon" was far less appealing and spent hundreds of unneeded pages covering a teenager mooning about and whining about the hole in her chest. I still somewhat enjoyed the parts with Jacob in them (who couldn't? he's great!), and made it to the long-anticipated face-off in Italy. The third book, "Eclipse" took much less time getting to the action, but a lot more time focusing on Bella and Edward's constant kissing. Gross. But, on a first read, it didn't seem so bad, and I made it to the end, expecting a resolution of all the issues that had arisen in the three books. But alas, I was mistaken. Hooray that I can confidently say that this Saturday, I can finally put these books to rest.

You superfans may wonder, why would you want to put these wonderful books to rest? Okay, superfans, please forgive me, but there are a few things I've discovered in the last few reads that have tainted my opinion. We drove to Kansas last Christmas, and, since it's a very long drive with nothing to look at, and since I don't get sick in the car when I read, I thought I'd read them aloud to my husband. Believe me, it is so much worse out loud. As I mentioned in the above paragraph, "New Moon" spent a lot of time talking about Bella's heartbreak. As a woman who has been dumped before, I respect that it is a horrible and unpleasant experience, that it can sometimes take a long time to get over, and that as a teenager things seem infinitely worse. But for crying in the mud! This is a book!!!! You can say in one sentence, "Bella's heartache was so great that her chest felt empty, so much so that a hole seemed to exist." And to let you know it took a while, "8 months went by with no reprieve from her pain. She was devastated." You get what I'm saying. I did appreciate that there were 3 or 4 chapters that just mentioned the month. But I felt like the book could have been about 100 pages shorter. And when you're reading it out loud to a man, it feels a bit melodramatic. I'm just saying. As for Eclipse, I was grateful that the hole in the chest was gone, but it was replaced by a lot of Bella and Edward making out. Which also feels a little strange to read aloud, even to your spouse. I actually skipped over a few pages because I couldn't make myself read it. I know that compared to most adult lit, this is mild, but I was disappointed at how much making out is involved in the book, and how sensual it is. Meyer is setting an example for a bunch of teenage girls, and I was dismayed at how far she let it go and how detailed her descriptions were. Really, like hormonal teenagers need more motivation. So, maybe she could say, "Bella enjoyed kissing Edward. It was the first time she'd felt this way about anyone, and it excited her." But enough tracing chins with noses and lips and heavy cold breathing (weird). So those are my complaints. At least the basic ones.

Now back to my poll. I am extremely curious about the end of the last book. I've noticed that Meyer doesn't really explain the process Bella goes through falling in love with Edward, except that he's the most breathtaking man she's ever seen. Then she very carefully describes the friendship Bella develops with Jacob, which, to me seems a lot more like falling in love. They become friends, they're honest from the outset, they have a few arguments, they spend lots of time doing normal things together, they hold hands, they get to know each other through conversation, and Bella describes him as a sun that brings brightness to her life. Hmmmm....You can probably guess who my vote is for. Plus, I'd rather kiss someone that is warm than someone who feels like marble. So, please, vote away. We'll be finding out Saturday how it all comes out in the end. Good luck to Stephenie Meyer.