What Was I Thinking?

I probably shouldn't have dragged my husband to any movie just two hours after he finished a 70+ hour work week. I especially shouldn't have brought a man who is a devout Tolkien fan (Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, etc). The Tolkien movies were so superbly done and the books are in an entirely different category than "Twilight", therefore, not much can touch them. What was I thinking?

Twilight, the movie, was not very good (In my opinion). We've all seen it before. The book is good, the movie doesn't do it justice. I was disappointed for a few reasons:

• The book series has a huge teenage and adult following. The directors appear to not have taken the adult followers into too much consideration.
• The make-up used to make them look like vampires was done badly. Some vampire actors looked so painted up, I thought I was sitting in the first row of a Broadway show.
• The actors clearly had more potential and the director didn't take the time to reign in that potential in order to make some scenes as good as they could have been.

It's difficult to turn a book into a movie. We've all seen movies that have failed, miserably, to do a book any justice. I think it's especially important to be careful when a book has large teenage and adult followings. The director has to find a good balance in order to hold both audiences. Some scenes were over the top and made me really uncomfortable. When Bella walked into biology class and the fan caught her hair and sent her scent Edward's way, a mild look of astonishment and a turn of the head would have been better than his hand flying up to his face and look of disgust. Scenes like that make even teenagers say, "that was cheesy."

Matt thought the movie was so ridiculous, he accused me of wasting two weeks of my life reading trashy children's novels. Books he will never allow our girls to read because, in his opinion, they will deplete brain cells, not add any. He was especially upset that said books were responsible for the laundry getting behind.

I'm not going to spend time arguing with him about it. They are really good books, written for teenagers, and despite some immature spots and "cheese," written well enough for an adult following. If he read a few chapters, I think he'd see what I mean.

The movie sequel will have a new director. I hope he will be able to reign back in any adult followers who decided the first film was too much of a teeny-bopper film and decided not to continue following the film series. I, myself, will be a bit wary of the next film and probably decide to wait until I can rent it before I go see it in a theater.

Now I Can Have My Life Back

It's over. Finally. Bittersweet. I have not enjoyed a series of books since I was a very young teenager and became caught up in the "Anne of Green Gables" series.

This series became an obsession. I'm a little embarrassed to admit it. But, there it is. Out there for you all to know. I could not get my face out of the books. I didn't even like the last one very much. I felt that the author was in a different mood/mindset when she wrote the final book. It became too sci-fi/fantasy for me. Yet, I read it with an obsessive fury anyway. Drawn in entirely. The rest of my life went by in a blur. I hung out in the "real world" just long enough to change a diaper, make a thoughtless meal, shower, run a quick errand; my mind always on whichever book I was on. Can we say FREAK?

Yes, we can. I am a freak! I had a million and one things to do today and what did I do? I read the 264-page partial draft of "Midnight Sun," posted on the author's website. "Midnight Sun" is the companion novel to "Twilight" and the partial draft is so good. It is Edward's perspective of "Twilight" and I want more! He is a fascinating character. When his "skin" tingles, so does mine.

I could wring the neck of the heartless, evil person who illegally published it online so that the author abandoned the rest of the book and published what she had online. Evil person! Did you even think that you would ruin it for all of us, including yourself!

Stephanie Meyer, please, take a pause, get over your anger and finish what you started! We need more Edward! Your suspense will torture your loyal fans! It will take me days to get him out of my head. "Midnight Sun" could be better than "Twilight." Don't you know this?

The final chapter of my "Twilight" series obsession: Going to see the movie. Some like it. Some hated it. I have to see it. Tonight. I will go alone if I can't get a sitter. Matt won't be enthusiastic about seeing it anyway. He's worked about 80-hours this week. If he does go, he'll get a much deserved nap out of it while I feed my obsession one last time!

Sucked in. Will Not Be Out Until It's Over.

Here's the thing. I do not like sci-fi or fantasy. Never have. Even what little I read of "Harry Potter" gave me nightmares. I know. Stupid. It's not just the nightmare thing. I have never liked sci-fi, fantasy and, I must add, really trashy romance novels. I'll read just about everything else. I especially enjoy historical fiction/non-fiction.

So, how did I get sucked into the "Twilight" series (see Amazon sidebar for links)?

It started when several people my age (the series is targeted to teenage girls), on Facebook and Goodreads, raved about the series. Then, the movie came out in the States and there was more buzz. So, when Amazon.com suggested I buy the book, and I was buying books anyway, I ordered "Twilight," just for kicks, thinking I wouldn't even make it through a chapter...

I read the first book in just about a day, ordered the rest of the series when I discovered it was sold out in English here and in Gibraltar. I then checked the mail every single day after the status changed to shipped, practically pleading with the postal guy to make my order magically appear.

Friday, the rest of the series came in.

I've been reading ever since. Laundry is behind, dinners have been lacking creativity (think, pasta and jarred sauce). It's taken all I can muster to get the dishes cleaned and the girls dressed into matching clothes. Lila's potty training has been pushed to the side and my whole family is feeling somewhat ignored. Pictures have not been taken, blog has not been updated. Calls have not been returned. I even found myself toweling off after a shower and reading as water dripped off my hair and onto the book (I know! Gasp!).

I can't even say what I like about the book. It's well written and, while some parts are immature, and I want more of Bella and Edward and less of Jacob, I cannot put it down! When I'm not reading, I feel like I missing part of movie. I now have 1.5 books to read and will be done by Thursday or Friday, at this rate. However, I know I should slow down, savor it, and drag it out a little longer. I heard the movie is pretty bad - but, will probably rush to go see it when it starts playing here anyway.

So, if you're wondering where I am, I'm probably curled up on the couch, with a hot cup of tea, and book in my face. I probably have no idea what the kids are doing and will probably kick myself later when I find clothes out of drawers, rooms destroyed and rolls of toilet paper unraveled in each and every toilet.