U2, Me, and a Deadly Sin

This is a life update blog for the zero people who read this.

At this moment, as iTunes plays in the background (currently listening to 867-5309/ Jenny by Tommy Tutone), life has taken some interesting turns.  

M. is gearing up for a second interview with the District Manager of Gamestop to become a manager at our local store.  This would be an amazing opportunity for him, and some much needed employment in this unfortunate recession.

Tomorrow morning at 11am I have a pre-interview for a possible interview for the bakery section at the local Whole Foods.  Not the writing career move I hoped for, but any work is welcome if it's from God.

The gym in our building has brand new equipment, quite motivating for M. and I to get our asses back into shape-- man, it's going to take a while.  Perhaps the discount at Whole Foods can promote fresher meals as well.

The best news came yesterday, when my mother-in-law told my husband he and I were going to see U2's kick off tour concert in September with them-- and the already have tickets!  This will be my first rock concert at age... 24!  

At the moment, I'm a bit discouraged reflecting on my new "in-law" family.  My mother, sisters, father, and brothers-in-law are all GORGEOUS.  This is NOT an exaggeration. My 50 y.o mother-in-law is still hit on by twenty somethings, not to mention she has the personality to match.

I saw pictures on facebook of her much younger and then the sadness and jealousy hit me simultaneously.  This is definitely spiritual warfare, as lately I've been laying out my current and lifelong goals, following God much more, and learning to love myself.  Then I'm hit with the regret of spending my youth and early twenties fat, and being the heaviest I've EVER been after I'd lost so much weight brings tears to my eyes.

However, I'm wiping those tears away, saying FU to Satan, and looking toward God.  I am beautiful.  I am fun, nice, smart, artistic, and can sing!  I LOVE that I can sing and draw and write.  Plus, God has given me some amazing spiritual gifts, and has taught me to love and understand people, no matter what their transgressions.  And there are all the blessings in my life, past and present, that come together to form the individual life that only I lead, thanks to God.

So peace out, Satan, I'm going to hang with Jesus.

Twilight-- The Movie

Out of sheer curiosity and my husband's love of bad cinema, I went to see Twilight Thanksgiving weekend in 2008.  Now the DVD has reached store shelves, much to the anticipation of its adoring fans and the chagrin of the rest of us.  However, we bought the DVD.

My husband and I can't help ourselves when teenage romance, star-crossed lovers, and forbidden vampiric desires are all blended into one deliciously bad film... except... on the second viewing, the film isn't that bad.  As long as you aren't expecting an emotionally and intellectually moving cinematic about discrimination and romance, then you will enjoy yourself.

That's all I really have to say about the film, simply because that's all there is TO say-- also the soundtrack is better than both the book and film combined.

For the Twilight series fans who hated the film-- get over it.  Film and literature (if you can call Twilight that) are two separate art forms and should be viewed the same, especially in terms of adaptations.  The film will cut up the book and most likely add elements for suspense-- I am, of course, referring to the made up friend of Charlie's killed by James-- because these films are trying to bring in an audience larger than the poor saps (I include myself in this group) who bought and read the books.  Mass appeal is what film studios are all about and I wish people would accept that fact and move on, rather than waste breath complaining how the film was NOTHING like the book.

Twilight the film was SIMILAR to Twilight the book-- don't be so over dramatic.

As far as the casting goes, if it bothers you so much, move to Hollywood and become a casting agent.  So what if Robert Pattinson isn't who you pictured as Edward?  Chances are you're one of thousands who feel the same way and have their own individual idea of who should play the characters.  And even Anti-Twilight Movie club members must admit Pattinson looks like vampire... a lot.

If you can't tell, I'm still angry at this series... 

The Watchman Review

  Anyone who appreciates a sexy trailer with an excellent song has been intrigued by "The Watchmen."  After seeing it for the first time, I once again felt the need to investigate and read the original graphic novel, especially to observe the adaption (I refrain from using the word "compare" as film is its own medium and will tell a story differently than text).  

Graphic novels never had an appeal to me until recently, thanks to my husband's influence, and I am fortunate the interest has grown.  "The Watchmen" is much more than illustrations and a melodramatic superhero story, it questions the price our own civil "superheroes" make from sacrificing relationships and family, to the psychological and emotional effects the responsibility of protecting the public creates.  Furthermore, themes of love, betrayal, regret, and age all wind their way through the complex characters and plot lines.

This is definitely a graphic novel that requires rereading, for both the story and the reader.  The story is meant to be reviewed and dissected-- every drawing, every character, every word is relevant.  And readers must reread to comprehend every lesson, not to mention the ending... Even now my critique feels incapacitated as I've only read The Watchman once.  

This spring's film adaptation seems to have the imagery dead on, but I can't imagine how it will capture the depth and content of the graphic novel.  If nothing else-- read "The Watchmen."

The Twilight book series... and all its disappointments

Because of the overwhelming amount of publicity, popularity, and good things said about this series on facebook, the Twilight books lit up my curiosity.  First, my husband and I saw the movie, a regular vampire love story cheese fest equipped with a teenager-friendly soundtrack, attractive actors, and ridiculous dialogue.  I had to stop myself from laughing out loud during several key moments of the film, but I love to laugh so God bless bad films.

Now that I'd had a taste of the hype, I decided to begin the series, especially since all the Twilight fans I met seemed adamant about the book's superiority to the film.  Despite my reservations about vampire books (I've never been a fan), I bought the first two and added three and four to my Christmas list.  

It took me a while to get through Twilight simply because I'd just seen the movie thus all suspense was... suspended.  It was better, more detailed and offered insight into the characters, but the books had one irreversible effect:  I hate Bella Swan.  I don't much care for Edward and Jacob either, but I loathe Bella.  Never have I encountered such a stupidly selfish and dumbly love struck character of literature in all my life.  I am all for a well-rounded, three dimensional character full of flaws, but the amount of her selfishness makes her villainous.  

The series itself had such potential, but went absolutely nowhere, wrapped up in a pretty box with a pink bow at the conclusion.  Disgusting.  Happy endings are wonderful, but Meyer builds and builds a battle scene, encouraging excitement and anticipation in her readers, only to deliver a giant let down that ruins the entire series.  This is one story I hope gets completely rewritten for the screen and alter the terrible ending of Breaking Dawn. And now, Meyer is retelling the whole thing from Edward's perspective, as if it was so amazing the first time.

I could get into more detail and nit pick each book, but it all comes down to the same conclusion: a waste of time.  People have referred to Stephanie Meyer and her books as the next J.K. Rowling-- what an insult.  These books, the stories and characters are nowhere near the caliber of Harry Potter-- nowhere.  If you're looking for a series of young adult, fantasy fiction full of adventure, complicated characters, relationships, winding stories offering an escape into another world, The HP series still remains number one on my list.  Though not to completely discredit the series, there are definitely good moments and the supporting characters pique the reader's interest enough to keep you occupied.  My suggestion to the curious reader:  get a library card and check out the books for free... or call me and I'll give you mine.