Twilight- Living Up to the Hype

NO SPOILERS HERE!

So, does Twilight live up to the hype? For me, yep. I was quite satisfied. Everything that was important was done right. There were even some things that I liked better than the book. I thought Charlie (the dad) was more interesting in the movie, and they gave Jacob a few more scenes than he had in the book. Since I've been team Jacob all along, I was glad about that. (On a side note, if the make New Moon, I won't have any trouble watching a whole movie starring this Jacob.) Bella was great too- better than Edward I thought, but Edward was still good. He smolders.

I laughed a lot, which was a pleasant surprise. There were lots of lines and expressions on Edward's face that were especially funny if you already knew the story.

There's only one steamy scene, and Stephanie wasn't off the mark when she said to bring a paper bag. Wow. I think the whole theater was trying to decide whether to breathe at all.

I guess the best way to describe it over all is that it's a bit uneven. Some of the scenes were perfect, luckily those were the ones that mattered the most. Some scenes, though, revealed the inexperience of the cast and the low production budget. I'm not positive that you'll enjoy it if you didn't read the books. This movie was definitely made for the book fans, and as much as movie makers have ripped us off over the years, I'd say we deserve it.

It doesn't push Pride and Prejudice off the top of my list, but I absolutely will be seeing it again. It may not be the same quality crack as the books, but crack is crack people. (Or coffee, if you're worrying about me Charlotte!)

Advent Conspiracy

I know it's not even Thanksgiving yet, but no matter how much you don't want Christmas to start until December, something always draws you in. So...... something to think about while you're gearing up. If this is already your philosophy, made you're with me in wondering what the next right step is. Maybe we could wonder and step together. What do you think?

In Honor of Thanksgiving

In Rachel's Sunday School class they learned that God blesses you so that you can bless others. To make the idea more real for the kids they listed their blessings. The idea was that God has given you a blessing bank and then your job is to deplete that blessing bank by blessing others. Rachel's list of blessings might be hard to pass on, but the depth of feeling behind her choices ought to be a blessing to someone, in some way, anyhow.

Rachel's blessings are her blankie, her bear-bear and her bike. I guess that means somehow we need to help her bless other people with security, unconditional love, and freedom. Whenever I get lulled into a false sense of my own goodness, a kid comes along and challenges me to go deeper. And who says that God doesn't have a sense of humor?

Waiting...

In case you thought that I'd gone all serious and let my childish obsessions go . . . no. I can't believe that I have to wait until July to see the new movie! Only my other obsession, Twilight, is distracting me from the pain at the moment. Of course, I might not be quite as impatient as Rachel, who has to wait until March to read Chamber of Secrets, and then until July to read Prisoner of Azkaban. In the meantime, we troll the internet looking for other forlorn fans.

Put This In Your Pipe

I learned something the other morning that is to important to keep to myself. I was listening to NPR's morning edition on Tuesday, if you're interested in looking it up for yourself
here.


Apparently some years ago the government started giving illegal, or undocumented, immigrants a tax ID number so that they could pay taxes even thought they are not even supposed to be here, let alone working. That in and of itself should be eye opening for some people. Apparently there are illegal immigrants who are contributing to the welfare and safety of my life. The whole idea that they are a drain on the system might need some reconsideration.

It gets better. That tax ID is called an I-10, and based on that number some banks started making home loans. You already know that there was a recent housing boom and so of course I-10 loans boomed right along with it. In California there are whole real estate firms based on this market.

Here's what you might not have guessed; the average default rate on those I-10 loans is .5%. That's right now, in the current housing implosion. The current national average for housing loan defaults is 6%. Yeah. Bring that to the Thanksgiving table this year.

The Wine Bottle Project

I've been working on this project for almost a year and it's nearly finished. I have about a foot or so to go, but I left that out of the pictures. I've collected the wine bottles from my friends and neighbors and of course made my own contribution! I've put it up on the blog mainly for all those contributors who don't get to see it live in person. Credit for the original idea goes to my brother Josh, who will probably look at it and tell me that I didn't get them in far enough, but Josh, on the inside they ARE in deeper, so there. Enjoy the pictures!

I've been thinking about Obama all morning. I keep alternating between grinning and being teared up. I've tried so hard for the last 11 months not to get too worked up about this election and so I didn't realize how much I cared. It really means a lot to me that Barack Obama is going to be our next president. I am not anti-McCain, it's just that the Republicans should have had him as their candidate eight years ago. It's a different country today because they didn't. I'm going to reign in my tongue from saying anything more on that matter.

It's not Obama's policies and positions that have me so excited this morning. It's the possibility of leaving cynicism behind and moving forward, of trying new ways of working as a country, new ways of being a world citizen. I'm not so excited about what a new government can do for our country, but what a new leader can inspire people to do in their own communities.

In my community there is a strongly held belief that we should "never tire of doing good". Barack Obama inspires me to live more fully the faith that I claim to have. Whatever his personal spiritual state is, there is still truth and goodness in what he has to say and in the way he conducts himself. All that is true and good is of God. I don't know that Obama and I are the same kind of Christian, but I don't think it matters much because he's not calling me to follow him as a saviour.

Obama didn't run to save us, he ran to lead and inspire us to become the country we've been claiming to be for 200 years. That's going to take each of us asking God, "What's the next right thing? Where would you have me go? How would you have me serve?" Of course Jesus has been telling us that for 2000 years, but sometimes I get discouraged and worn down. I don't believe for a second that I'm the only one who gets discouraged. Barack Obama encourages me to "seek justice, love mercy and to walk humbly with my God." No, I've never heard him use those words, but he asks all of us to live our best lives, and that is my best life.

I know that there are many people who are not excited this morning; they're nervous, unsure, maybe even depressed. I'm sorry that you're feeling that way. I hope that you become encouraged over time and find a hopeful way forward. If you believe that God is in control (and I'm willing to bet that you do) then all is still well in your world and you have nothing to fear.

Let's find our way together.

Wow.

Maybe it's because it's three in the morning, but as I'm reading that Barack Obama has been elected president, I can't stop the tears. I can't believe that when I go to wake up JD in the morning I will actually be able to tell him that America is place where we can elect anyone to be president, no matter what color he is. Maybe I really will see the day when I can tell my daughters that a woman can be president and it won't just be hopeful talk.

I've waited my whole life for us to really be the country that I learned about in elementary school, the one where all people are created equal.

This Stuff is Like Crack, People!

I purchased a copy of Twilight after I had already read it. When I read it I had it on loan from Ginger. I bought it mainly because it's dumb to own books two through four of a series and not book one. We came to own book four because there was NO WAY I was waiting for Ginger to finish it when it came out this summer. We came to own books two through three because Russ wasn't waiting around to find copies when he read the books this fall. I may have mentioned on this blog before that I'm kind of a backwards person and here is further evidence. Apparently I married a backwards person as well, although he may be somewhat less backwards.

The second reason that I bought the book was because I have former students to whom I need to loan the book because one library copy isn't going to cut it. Pat has a book to loan out, but that still wasn't enough, so I got one too. It still hasn't made it to the kid I originally was going to loan it to though because on the way it got loaned to a mom at a birthday party I went to.

When the book came back to my house this past Thursday I decided to reread the beginning. Sometimes I like to do that because certain things are funnier when you know what's coming later. For example, as Bella is psyching herself up to get out of her truck on her first day of school she says, "I can do this, I lied to myself feebly. No one was going to bite me." Ha! Too true. Somewhere around page 23, " He was leaning away from me, sitting on the extreme edge of his chair and averting his face like he smelled something bad. I sniffed my hair. It smelled like strawberries, t he scent of my favorite shampoo. It seemed and innocent enough oder," I decided I was rereading the whole thing. I wanted to get to, "'It would be more...prudent for you not to be my friend,' he explained. 'But I'm tired of trying to stay away from you, Bella.'" And then there's the dinner conversation in Port Angeles, and of course my favorite, the meadow scene.

In other words, I was completely and helplessly sucked back in again. I lost two days to the world of Bella and Edward, and I sure as heck don't miss them. I'm cutting myself off though; I am not rereading New Moon again, for the moment. I am, however, dying to see the movie now.