Twilight... Buying Into The Madness

Finally at the dollar theater, I saw the movie "Twilight" based on the famous book by Stephanie Meyer. I had incredibly low expectations and found myself pleasantly surprised. I'm one of those people who tease and make fun of giddy girls swooning over a fictitious perfect man/vampire and I would like to be able to back up my rather harsh claims with evidence. This lead me to purchasing the book and re-reading it.

I started with a thoroughly objective perspective. I wanted to critique and analyze, dissect and criticize the author's writing style and figure out exactly why this book has become so huge. While I maintained this perspective, I placed a corner piece in the puzzle of why this borders on a point of obsession for many, specifically girls. This is my theory: Bella exhibits every teenage awkwardness, self-consciousness, and flaw. She embodies mediocrity, and readers, although often annoyed, nevertheless sympathize with her because they too see imperfections in themselves. Edward on the other hand, is portrayed as the perfect man: smart, charming, thoughtful, romantic, athletic, incredibly attractive. It is this idea that enchants readers: that someone so bloody perfect could see past mediocrity into 'true character' and desire them. Admit it, there was at least one time in your life where you were OBSESSED with someone. Now wouldn't it have been amazing if that person were just as madly in love with you as you were with them? I have several other theories, but this encompasses my main argument pertaining to the allurement of "Twilight."

It's pathetic... yet I must include myself in this crowd of blinded and delighted readers. I want to say that I'm more mature than those ridiculous giggling Twilight-obsessed teenage girls, but I can't. I recognize the lie, but still I buy into it. It gives me hope that there is someone out there who will see my problems and still adore me. Perhaps I should take it for what it's worth to me and leave it at that.

My dreams tell me I'm secretly insane... or not so secretly :)

I hardly ever remember my dreams, so when I do it's noteworthy.

I found myself at Lagoon (a local amusement park) with a steak knife I had just retrieved from a secret hiding place. I remembered that I brought the steak knife there earlier because I was meeting friends and making fajitas and consequently needed a steak knife to cut the meat. I remembered though that in the insane world we live in (or my reflection of it in the dream), a steak knife could be used as a weapon rather than for the innocent use of cutting, hmm, STEAK to make delicious fajitas. So I was trying to hide it and sneak it out without getting caught. I finally gave up and waved to a police officer that happened to be leaning against a fence nearby, waving and pointing to the knife in my hand. He pointed a gun at me but somehow I convinced him that I wasn't a threat, so he came over to me. He took the steak knife and gave me a butter knife in return. I was upset because that was my dad's favorite steak knife and obviously a butter knife wouldn't do the job. Seeing my innocence, he gave the steak knife back to me and escorted me to the nearest ride. I got in and went on the ride, then tried to leave. I sat at what I thought was the edge, then the ride started going and I realized I was still on it. We went and I got safely back. Again I tried to get off, but ended up in another compartment and was stuck on the ride one last time. I realized that I still had my steak knife on me, so I threw it to the side, thinking that I did not want to accidentally injure someone while riding. After my third round, I left and retrieved the steak knife. I met up with my friends Heather and Laura and we proceeded to cross a swampish area to a haunted house walkthrough. I went in, and it was fun but this haunted house had a new twist: we were to search for clues that would lead us to an object we were supposed to find. The haunted house was really crowded and there were a bunch of witches guiding us through, but finally I escaped into an empty room full of books. The clues lead me to believe that I was searching for a book, so I started looking on the shelves when something caught my eye. It was a little statue of two cherubs, and it hit me that it fit all the clues and this must be what everyone was searching for. I quickly lumped it in my robes (because somewhere down the line I had acquired robes) and raced back to the entrance. A witch discovered my concealed treasure and beckoned me to hurry to the finish line. I got to the finish line with a friend and they gave us gorgeous blue dresses with purple-ish metallic-y beads in our sizes. We got dressed in them, and I woke up.

Interesting Article on the Importance of Darkness

Here's an article (one of many) on the importance of darkness. http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,608417,00.html

In a 'bright lights, big city' world, it can be very difficult to find absolute darkness. Have you ever been in a place that dark, where you look up at the night sky and can literally see thousands of stars? Where the only light comes from the moon, and the comfort of darkness engulfs you. It is a rare and beautiful experience. It is crucial in our sleep cycle as well as our overall well-being as humans, but it also has an effect on the environment and natural life.

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I just finished writing a paper about sex and violence in Romeo and Juliet! It was intriguing... and now it's done! Yay :) I hope my professor likes it... So here are some random thoughts...

1. The game "Bunko" (bunco? not sure how to spell it) is AMAZING! It takes no skill, goes fast, and is fun! I like it.
2. Yay for themed parties! I want to host a twenties party, a card-making party, a candy-making party, a murder mystery party, a sappy chick flick party, and a casino night... ALL TOGETHER! Well no not really together... but that would be pretty intense.
3. I like to plan things like road trips. There are three that I'll be going on with friends in the next five months and I'm already starting to plan the one I'm in charge of. Is that strange?
4. Global warming really sucks. I bite my thumb at it sir, and say "a pox on ye!"
5. I find myself hilarious late at night.
6. Rolos? Excellent name for an exquisite candy- delectable drops of caramel ROLLED in a chocolatey blanket of goodness then adorned with shiny gold foil? First you get to unwrap this delicious present, then you savour its chewy caramely gooey chocolatey yumfulness, and satisfied, you realize that you have consumed an ounce of pure happiness. It makes you bubbly inside, and inspires you to be a better person.

Whilst perusing the internet...

I found this incredibly awesome website. It's so simple in its awesomeness, yet unique and hilarious. Well, at least I found it humorous. Perhaps this speaks to my nerd-hood. It's called "Infrared Zoo" and it has pictures of a bunch of different animals shown in infrared. I don't own or have anything to do with it- I just thought it was cool. http://coolcosmos.ipac.caltech.edu/image_galleries/ir_zoo/zoo.html

"Sicko"

Tonight I was at my grandpa's house and he was watching Michael Moore's movie "Sicko" about the healthcare system in the U.S. versus other first-world countries. Now granted, I have to take Moore's work with a grain of salt, but what I saw absolutely disgusted and infuriated me. I love America and the freedoms that we have here, but in some ways it has and continues to disappoint me. It is said that you can measure a nation by the way it treats its worst-off citizens. We are the most affluent country in the world (I think), and yet we can't afford to provide basic healthcare for everyone? We can't afford to give every young adult the opportunity at a college education? We can't afford to establish better public schools? We can't afford to raise the minimum wage to an amount that someone can actually live on? It's a difficult reality to recognize, but perhaps by taking off our rose-colored glasses we can make a change. Or is it too late? Is America so controlled by big businesses and people with power and money that we forget about compassion and loyalty towards the citizens upon whose backs it has been raised? Murderers and rapists get full medical care and an ample supply of food in jail, yet we can't extend that 'luxury' to the homeless who never commited a crime? Our veterans suffering from PTSD and other such war-caused afflictions often lose their jobs due to illness and live on the streets as beggars, and we turn a blind eye. People who are dying are thrown out of hospitals because they cannot provide proof of insurance. What has happened to us? More importantly, how do we change it?

That Horrible Day That Comes Once a Year

Everyone has a least favorite day of the year. It may be the anniversary of a loved one's death or maybe the day taxes are due. Perhaps someone abhors St. Patrick's Day because they forgot to wear green and are therefore ruthlessly pinched. Whatever it may be, I wholeheartedly respect this tradition of loathing a specific day once a year. Mine is Valentines' Day.

Back in the years of elementary school, I looked forward to Valentines' Day every year. It was an opportunity to show off our creativity in shoebox-decorating, as well as consume copious amounts of candy (second only to Halloween). I dressed for the occasion in pinks, purples, frills, and hearts galore.

So why has this changed? One word. It starts with 's' and ends with 'ingle'.

-I frequent the grocery store, and this time rather than being pleasantly greeted by bright boxes of Fruit Loops and cans of hearty vegetable soup, I am blinded by gigantic red heart-shaped balloons with the words "I Love You" screaming at me in a loopy font of sickness.
-I sit in class and spot an advertisement for engagement rings. IN CLASS.
-I go to Barnes & Noble to look for a cookbook and right there in the front of the store I see a whole table of books on romance (actually, sex), looking in pink and red like Cupid vomited all over them.
-I run crying down the street to escape the madness and there are couples everywhere, holding hands, playing footsies, making out, all staring at me and my blatant singleness!

Okay well... that last one was a bit of a stretch, but SERIOUSLY! I feel so singled out (ha... ha... ha...) I want to run up and down neighborhood streets on a rabid goat, throwing green party confetti into everyone's hair while proudly proclaiming that nothing is wrong with me because I don't have a significant other.