As Promised...

...lots of things going on in my brain today, but I wanted to write about the aforementioned weddings and vampire books I mentioned in a previous post.

So I had the opportunity to attend a friend's wedding a week ago. It was being held in a back yard, and I had imagined a really big house, nice yard, etc...simply because that's the typical setting I've seen for outdoor weddings. This wedding was nothing of the sort. Not that the place was a dump...it was a nice, modest-sized house in a quiet neighborhood. Nothing wrong with that, it just wasn't what I was expecting. The yard was decorated with a few tables with homemade centerpieces, and there was a simple archway with some flowers at the far end of the yard, with a simple piece of fabric laid out on the grass, making up the "aisle." The ceremony started off as any other...groomsmen walked bridesmaids down the aisle and to their designated spots, the parents followed...and then my friend, in her beautiful dress. She was absolutely gorgeous. The ceremony lasted no longer than 5 minutes...the bishop gave a few words of advice, the couple said their "I do's" and that was it. Afterwards, we ate food, listened to music and chatted. The thing that really touched me, though, was my inability to stop looking at my friend and her new husband. I wish I could describe the incredible joy and perfectly pure love the two of them radiated as they enjoyed their reception...I was so drawn to that. I have never seen anything like it except at perhaps my own wedding, and I spent the rest of the night kicking myself for failing to bring my camera so that I might have captured it. And I know this is extremely cliche, but it was a wonderful reminder to me that you don't need a big house, nice yard, fancy decorations and catered food to have a magical wedding. I don't think there was anything that could have been done to make their wedding more beautiful, I really don't.

Moving right along...sticking to my theme of sappy sentiment, I'm sure many of you have seen this picture and thought, "Nooooooo, not those stupid vampire books!" I used to be one of you...but now...hahaha ok, that's just cheesy, even for me...


...seriously though, I resisted and resisted reading these books, until one day I was eating lunch with some girlfriends when one of them said to another regarding some guy who'd come up in the conversation, "Oh, that sounds like Edward." I made the mistake of asking, "Who's Edward?" They all looked at me like I was insane. My friend ran from the room and came back with 3 very thick books, insisting I read them. I protested repeatedly until my friends finally broke me down, me threatening them with the wrath of Jacob if I got hooked and suddenly became a negligent wife (yes, it's happened before with books I've enjoyed, I'll sit and read for hours and totally ignore him). They all laughed at me and told me I'd love the books. I left quite skeptical.


I began reading Twilight that night at work...finding nothing particularly special about it, but appreciating the fact that it was an easy read. The next day I picked it up again at home, and the next thing I knew, 3 hours had passed and it was time for me to go to work. By the end of my shift that night, I'd finished that one and had started on New Moon, which I finished the following day...and so it continued with Eclipse. Fortunately for me, I finished that one two days after Breaking Dawn had been released, so off to Barnes & Noble I went, and read that one in yes, a single day. Poor Jacob had to spend the weekend playing games on the computer.


I'm still kind of humiliated that I got THAT hooked on them. I mean, I finished the whole series in 5 days. Good grief. But that got me thinking...what in the WORLD is it about these books that makes them so addictive to girls (I don't think most guys really care that much)?? I have decided that Stephanie Meyer is a genius. Not because she's an amazing writer...because in all reality I don't think she's nearly as talented as people give her credit for (and what is her strange obsession with the word "chagrin?" She uses it more than anyone I've seen). However, she has successfully tapped into the hopeless romantic portion of the female brain. She made Edward the perfect man, and on top of being perfect made him dark, mysterious and basically unavailable. And we all know that every girl wants what she can't have. Then we have her protagonist, Bella...who is the literary embodiment of almost every insecurity we females have. She's not the prettiest girl in school, she's socially awkward, she doesn't say the right things, she's a total klutz, and depending on who you ask, she's incredibly stupid (sorry ladies, after reading books 2 & 3 that was my assessment...she only somewhat redeemed herself in book 4)...need I say more? It's the whole Jane Eyre complex--the mediocre, average girl (some may even say ugly, although I don't think that description quite fits Bella) gets the hot guy. And for successfully pulling that off, I applaud Stephanie Meyer. Seriously. Wish I could tap into that and make hundreds of thousands as well.

And then we have the movie coming out in December. A lot of people have complained about the actor playing Edward not being hot enough...my compalint lies with Bella. No offense to Kristen Stewart, she just wouldn't have been my choice. No matter though, I'm sure the hopeless romantic in me will be secretly excited (and I say secretly, because I'm still halfway in the closet about how much I liked the books...) to see the story I enjoyed so much translated into film, despite my disapproval of the casting director's choices. Having said that, I do think it's a good thing that the director is a woman...not that a man couldn't do a nice job with it...I just don't know if a guy could do it the same justice that (hopefully) a woman will. It will be interesting to see if the reception of the movie is as good as it's been with the books.

One thing I will say though, is that my dislike for extremely large crowds of hormonal adolescent girls does outweigh my desire to see the movie...hopeless romantic be damned, I will

wait a good few weeks after it opens to see it.

Ugh, ok...enough of that. Next time I'll talk about something less cheesy...