It's coming...

And to think they discovered water on the moon right at the same time....

Twilight Night

So, I went with Aubrey, Karla and Aubrey's friend, Natalie to see Twilight. The rule is you have to read the book first so we didn't invite Jenn & Nat to come. Aubrey was getting really worried that I was never going to get there. This was her third time already. Except for the teeny-bopper swooner/hecklers in the theater we really enjoyed it. For condensing a book into a feature-length film, they did a pretty good job. I especially liked the casting.

After we hurried home to check on Asher who had earlier been hit in the mouth by a swing, we realized we missed the Kodak moment, so no photoshoots here today.

But, for those who worried that I was delaying this latest crazy obsession, rest assured I will sleep better tonight!

Twilighters

Aubrey (2nd from left) with Twilighter friends Andrea, Natalie and Jen at the midnight pre-screening of Twilight. They were NOT disappointed! Jen's baby girl, Savannah, due in a few days, may be the youngest Twilighter (at the early showing at least).
Andrea works at the theater and the special screening was for employees and friends. Aubrey said there were only four other attendees and they were not fans. It was down right annoying. Natalie works at another theater and plans to attend their midnight premier tonight. She gave me tickets to use later (thanks Natalie!) so I'll definitely be there soon. Aubrey would like to join her again tonight but she's thinking it might not be so good for her to be sleep-deprived for two days in a row at work, though the temptation may prove to be too much.

I heard on the radio there will be a Twilight Prom in Ogden tonight. I guess that's pre-show entertainment. Anyway, people are having a ball with this. Another lady was ticked because Harry Potter's release got delayed because of fear it would be trumped by Twilight at the box office. What a ruckus! Stephenie is crying all the way to the bank I'm sure. If you want a recession-proof career, use your imagination and writing talent like she does.... word spreads like wildfire and, like Monopoly in the depression, people are looking for diversion - escape from their financial woes.

It crosses the generations....

I don't know when a book had this kind of appeal to several generations all at once. My granddaughter read Twilight, my daughter is smitten, my daughter-in-law inhaled and I totally enjoyed the escape of the Twilight books. This is the first movie I have ever even considered attending a midnight showing of (but I won't because I need to get up for work and I'm not totally nuts).

There are a few hard-core rebels who refuse to read it but that's their loss. Stephenie Meyer is a talented writer who can draw the reader into her believable, bizarre fantasy world. I don't spend money on first-run movies (hardly ever!) but I won't wait for this one to show up in the dollar theaters. And no doubt I will have to buy the DVD!
The suspense is over - it officially opens on Friday but there's a midnight show tonight - or is that actually tomorrow? .... (Aubrey will be there and she's young enough to still get up for work the next day - I hope)

Couldn't resist this one!

Only a true Twilighter will really understand this one!
To take the quiz, click on the post title.

Today's the Day

Update (Saturday) - My son-in-law, Fred, surprised me and bought me a copy! I know what I will be doing tonight.

Stephenie Meyer is a very talented writer with quite an imagination. http://www.stepheniemeyer.com/bio.html If you want to read about her writing, click on the post title. I found this paragraph especially interesting,

"Journalists have relished making an issue of Meyer's Mormonism, which is a bit puzzling to her. Stephenie told interviewers: "It seems funny that it's still a story," Meyer says, "because you didn't hear people saying, 'Jon Stewart, Jewish writer,' when his book came out. I guess being a Mormon is just odd enough that people think it's still a real story. Obviously, to me, it seems super normal. It's just my religion."

This is something that has always puzzled me. If a criminal is LDS (Mormon) the media loves to report that. How often in any other part of life do we see people labeled this way? If every author, actor, politician, criminal, etc. that is reported on is identified by their religious affiliation, wouldn't we start to wonder what was up? Yet, like in many other things, people feel that Mormons and Mormonism is free game for any type of bias, stereotype or prejudice. It's a pretty sad state of affairs and even more upsetting when other so-called Christians participate in the rhetoric. If they were truly Christian, as they profess (in fact they believe they DEFINE what Christian is - the actual believer couldn't possibly know what it means individually through their own study of scripture) would they be taunting others for their beliefs? If they truly loved their fellow man, wouldn't they be loving towards Mormons - not hateful (reminiscent of the 1800s east and midwest where persecution of Mormons was legal and encouraged). I also wonder about any religion that would spend time trying to tear down another religion, even from their pulpits. You will not see that happening from LDS leaders who show respect and tell what they believe; not encourage their congregation to boycott a particular group or politician for their religious affiliation. Of course there are bad Mormons, just as there are bad evangelical Christians, Jews, Muslims, Baptists, Presbyterians, Episcopalians, Seventh-day Adventists, Agnostics, etc. But those are the people, not basic beliefs and we don't need to tell them they're up in the night. They believe what they believe. If we want to teach them another idea or tenet, fine, but we don't need to run them down for who they are. Then they can pray about it and come to their own knowledge of truth. There's no room in the Judeo-Christian world for telling someone else what they believe and labeling them as bad/wrong/"non-Christian". It's kind of like in politics. I say, tell me what is right about you; not what's wrong about your opponent. If you want to convince me your religion is true, tell me what you believe and show me how you live Christ's teachings. Don't tell me I should stay away from the ____ (fill in the blank) religion.

Elder M. Russell Ballard of the LDS Quorum of the Twelve about online etiquette:

"There is no need to argue or contend with others about our beliefs. . . . We simply need to have a conversation with others as friends in the same room would have, always guided by the promptings of the Spirit and constantly remembering the Atonement of Jesus Christ which reminds us how precious are the children of our Father in Heaven."

We know what we believe and we can simply state it without needing to argue and if others feel the need to put us down, hopefully, as with other situations, they will appear the fool in doing so.

Twilighters!! I've been bitten....

I'm anxiously awaiting Stephenie Meyer's next book, Breaking Dawn (due out Aug. 2). I so enjoyed the trilogy of Twilight, New Moon, and Eclipse. I almost hated finishing it because I knew there wasn't another one waiting. They were fun books to read.

The movie is currently in filming and comes out Dec. 12 - surely someone will take me for my birthday - it's what I have to do. So far I like what I'm seeing with the casting, though I would have combed Edward's hair! Perfection would not be the windblown teen look. Costumes might be a bit over the top too in places since Bella prefers a very natural, unfussed look and she is totally un-fashion-conscious. Hollywood won't be able to do that. http://www.mtv.com/overdrive/?id=1585900&vid=226476

Author with "Bella" and "Edward" (Movie). Stephenie is my daughter Jennifer's age and a BYU graduate! Bestseller bookwriter and now movies - I think they'll rival Harry Potter in popularity. Already assumed the number one spot on the NY Times bestseller list for young readers.
The Cullen Family in Film (Emmet, Rosalie, Esme, Edward, Carlisle, Alice and Jasper)

Coming soon...

Fantasy

For anyone who knows me it is no surprise that I don't get into fantasy. I haven't even read Harry Potter but I just finished New Moon (second in series by Stephenie Meyer) and I'm starting on Eclipse tonight. I'm hooked!

Late note: The Eclipse I picked up from the library turned out to be Spanish!!! I guess the word is the same as in English so the title looked right and of course the author's name was in English - the small print below her name was in Spanish but I was so excited to be able to get the book quickly I didn't look closely. So, I've requested a copy. Hopefully it will be in soon; my Spanish wont' cut it. In fact most of the Spanish I know I learned from the kids in Head Start when I worked there and at least 45% of the kids were Spanish speaking. I learned all the names of the figures on the eye chart anyway.