So I finally gave in and read Twilight.

Thanks to a co-worker who wanted to read the series with someone who has not "set camp" yet, I felt like we had our own personal book club. I know, I fought reading Meyer tooth and nail, but being inundated with advertisements for the movie, I just had to give in.

The book was given to me a week before, and it had sat in my bag forever. Friday, I had an oil change, and instead of taking my less respectable tawdry books, I decided to take this along.

Boy, was I glad I did. The 30-minute oil change turned into a 3-hour ordeal. Apparently, I needed my emissions test done too, which expired in March (to which I asked why they didn't do it then when I had my last oil change, but I digress). So, in that span, I became friends with Bella and Edward, the town of Forks, and its inhabitants.

The book's charm wasn't lost on me on 2 accounts. The depiction of the characters were actually nicely written. Not coming out as a straight "vampire" book, and more appealing to an almost parallelism to racism, I thought it was an interesting take. The other is the fact that having lived in the Kitsap area, Sol Duc, Forks, Port Angeles, Hoquiam, and its other adjacent towns brought me back home. Oh how I miss the Pacific North West and its greenery!

I was hooked pretty much after the baseball game. Team Cullen, here I come. I had to get my hands on New Moon.

Surprisingly, my co-worker just so happened to finish her copy of the book that evening. I can tell you that I went through New Moon like I was going to die if I didn't read it. Sure enough, I was hooked. With Edward being gone, I felt my heart break for Bella. I was rather surprised that her friends at school seemed to be marginally written in despite the fact that Bella "forgot" about them when she was in her catatonic state. Some friends she had. But as much as I detested that part, I was willing to overlook it for the page time Jacob Black got. He sounds like someone you can actually relate to. He was young, cute, easy to get along with... Things I would've loved to have in a guy if I lived around Forks. Again, my heart broke when Jacob seemed to "leave" Bella behind. God, it killed me. But when Jacob came back, and stood up for Bella, I was swooning. I just can't believe how much I wanted to tell Bella to play things safe.

Then came Alice. I love her, but man! Telling Rosalie that Bella might be dead was such the wrong thing to do. Grrr...

Now, I am on an impasse. I read the 2 books in 3 days, and I am going through Twilight withdrawal. The library cannot guarantee me another copy in the next 2 weeks. So for now, I had to relive the Twilight experience by watching the movie.

I wouldn't say that the movie was a let down. However, I can admit that they could've done better.

I like Kristen Stewart as Bella. I think she was ideal. I think I was the only person that loved her in "In The Land of Women". She was awkward, cute in the girl-next-door kind of way. And she'd look kutzy.

As far as Robert Pattinson is concerned, however, I am on the fence. He does have the features of one that can classically fit a chieseled Adonis, but as far as acting? I felt like he was constipated the whole time.

I loved Michael Welch in Joan of Arcadia. I think, as Mike, he was okay. Same as the girl who played Jessica. I am not quite sure about Hardwicke's vision of whom she chose to play Lauren and Eric. I like the whole diversity thing, but it felt... forced.

Taylor Lautner as Jacob was perfect. He reminds me of a young Jared Paladecki. He can go places, this young man.

Since the movie was already doing a lot of the introspection thing from Bella's point of view, they should've used it to bridge certain things the book covered. It seemed like the awkwardness between Bella and Edward in the book, which felt like a million years, seemed to just be 2 days in the movie. The accident was poorly portrayed, I thought. I also felt like for the 2-hour length of the movie, it lingered over things that should've just been given cursory nods way longer than scenes that should've been filmed, and are more important. Plus, the "romance" part between Bella and Edward were really stiff, like they were made of plywood. That wasn't good. I loved the "Lamb-Lion" line in the book. When they said the words, all I wanted to do was laugh and throw something against the screen, it was so bad. GAH!

I enjoyed James, however. With the ponytail, he looked a lot like Brad Pitt in Legends of the Fall. Glad to see him only last for a few minutes. Laurent also seemed to be portrayed well. I am wondering how his fate would be ended in the sequel to this movie.

Although I am not going to own Twilight the movie (I give it a 6 out of 10), I am looking forward to New Moon. Chris Weitz is directing the movie, and I am stoked. He did wonders producing another YA book turned to movie called Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist, and loved it. He also produced In Good Company and directed About A Boy.

So with that being said, I will get out of Twilight mode again, and pretend to be a mommy. The monster should be up from his afternoon nap soon, and snacks should be made.

Finally, I got half an hour to write this. I should be in bed right now...

TV and movie to occupy your time this summer and fall...

 Here are my final thoughts about TV these past few days.

Just finished watching Castle.  I tell ya, I love Nathan Fillion.

Here's a quick synopsis. Rick Castle is a suspense writer. Last week, we got to meet him when a copycat killer posed his clients based on Castle's books. After helping Detective Kate Beckett break the case, Castle pulls strings so he can follow Beckett, the basis for his next novel.

Last night's episode, Nanny McDead, Castle and Beckett were at it again. Trying to figure out who decided to put the nanny in the dryer, the couple bickered and argued their way to solving the whodunit case.

The show's still sappy, and its characters are oozing with sexual tension. It's my new drug.

Another reason to watch the show? Castle's daughter, Alexis played by Molly C. McQuinn. She's stellar as the straight-shooter daughter that takes care of her twice-divorced dad and her flighty actress grandmother.

If you haven't seen it yet, watch it. You'll have a new guilty pleasure on Mondays.

I feel the need to share despite the fact that my mommy said, "Never Brag."

But  I am too giddy to keep it in right now.

I've started spring cleaning and have gotten rid of at least 30 pieces of clothing. Yay! My pack-rat ways are finally allowing me to let go.

To boot, I've tried on the outfits and realized that I can wear my old pre-pregnancy jeans again, something I haven't worn in 2 years!

So yes, I've not lost the weight, but I will take losing a jean size.

Here's to losing 6 more jean sizes and more motivation to do those lunges.

As I promised, my February book review (albeit almost half a month late). I just wanted to tie it with the movie since I was going to watch it.

Careful as you tread.

The Watchmen review.

I woke up with a sore back and a messy house. See, yesterday, I had to catch up with some needed rest and recreation (ie Sleep and The Watchmen-- something I will write about later).  So that meant that chores are to be left to be done today.

The kitchen is now back to some semblance of order. I am not afraid anymore that ants, or heaven forbid, cockroaches would all of a sudden appear on my window sill.  Of course, it's still cold outside so such pests are non-existent for now, but I always have this fear that I would wake up and my kitchen will be overran by pests. Now if I had the Ratatouille rat cooking us an exotic meal, I may have to curb some of my squeamishness for pests.

I find cleaning therapeutic. So therapeutic that I actually am reconsidering doing NaNo this year despite the fact that it had caused some turmoil in my household (post NaNo) after the fact.  Finding Eden may have reached the >50000 word count but it remains unfinished because of two things. One, its ending is too bittersweet to write, and two, Nilly and I had a long fight about my time spent on the computer just to get my word count. He thought that I was "neglecting" him in the process.  The fact that he came home to a clean house, with clothes to wear, and hot food apparently doesn't count as care.  He may consider it okay that he spends time in front of the computer, but me? It's too much.

But I digress. I think I'll be going down a different path this time and make this year's NaNo about me.  Maybe make something that may play out like a memoir, if not a series of anecdotes that reminds me of who I am and what I wanted to be.

I never wanted to be a lab rat, and now I am. I always loved writing, and that, I am not.

So here's to this year's project that would be born this November.  I am calling it "Short Term Memory".

I hope the idea keeps brewing and not lose steam before I can actually get it off the ground!