Review of Twilight
Thursday, August 21st, 2008
With the release date of the Twilight movie in just a few more months, I figure I might as well give my opinion on the book. I say book, rather than books because the first one was so ridiculous that I couldn't bear picking up another.
Warning, there may be spoilers!
I will admit, the story was pretty good and I could NOT put the book down until I finished it. The beginning was slow as hell and I thought I was going to hate it, but after the first couple of chapters I got into it. However, I couldn't get over these things:
- Why in the hell is Bella so stupid and clumsy and ridiculous? I guess I'm just not fond of helpless female characters in general--the whole damsel in distress thing makes me want to puke (can you tell I've since read Catcher in the Rye?), but Jesus...she really overdoes it. Every time she turns around she is getting into some crazy situation.
- Who really would be totally fine with someone you barely know sneaking into your house in the middle of the night to watch you sleep? Honestly, I think I would find it creepy if Brett sat up and watched me sleep all night, and we have been together for two years.
- I've read vampire novels before--among other things, I read nearly all of Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles before I lost interest--and I have never seen any of them make vampire-human relationships seem so creepy. I really can't explain how it is done here, but am I the only one who thinks that a 100-something year-old man and a 17 year-old girl falling in love is a little gross? Which brings me to my next point:
- Who the hell is Edward anyway? There is no indication of what makes Edward so awesome and worthy of Bella's love EXCEPT for the fact that he is a glamorous vampire, always saving her from certain death -- half of which was due to his involvement in her life to begin with. Think of it this way: if he weren't a vampire, and were instead a hobbling, wrinkled old man, would Bella really be in love with him? OR even this: even if he WAS 18 (or whatever age he pretends to be), but wasn't a vampire, would she be in love with him then?
- Why is it okay for Bella to constantly treat her parents like shit? I know I have lied to my parents, but I would never lie to them about something as serious as my being near death. Fell down some stairs--are you kidding me? Although maybe I am thinking from the wrong point of view. Instead of feeling sorry for her parents (especially her dad), maybe I should be siding with Bella. I guess if my parents were that naive and idiotic I would take advantage of them too.
So..although I will likely not be reading any more of the series, I will probably go see the movie. Like I said, it wasn't the story I have a problem with, it's the characters, and hopefully the actors can make the characters into real people.
California Vacation
Saturday, August 9th, 2008
Today is Brett's and my second to last day in California. It has been pretty awesome, though I am sort of ready to just sit back and stop doing stuff already! Every day has been pretty action-packed. I think my favorite part (aside from meeting Mr. Sebelia?) was staying in Huntington Beach on Tuesday. We spent the day attempting to bodyboard, photographing and filming surfers, eating at Ruby's, and walking around a little festival they had. Then before we went to bed we went down to the beach and looked out at the ocean and the stars (which were surprisingly visible considering all of the nearby cities). We stayed in the Huntington Surf Inn, in the best room overlooking the beach. It was really really nice (not the hotel. haha. That wasn't the nicest hotel ever, but our room was nice). Really, the entire vacation has been really amazing, but Huntington Beach is always my favorite. The atmosphere in HB is just awesome.
Pictures to come, and maybe videos too. I have them uploaded to my Myspace account, but maybe I will transfer them over to Youtube.
Meeting Jeffrey Sebelia
Friday, August 8th, 2008
So..it should first be known that Brett and I have been fans of Project Runway ever since season 3. From the very beginning, we were fans of Jeffrey Sebelia, and we were glued to the TV every week in hopes that he would make it to the top. Brett liked him because of his "I'm the best" attitude, which everyone always says...but with Jeffrey he really meant it (same thing with Christian, another favorite of ours, but that's another matter, another season). We never watched it on the night it came on (I was always at work), but we would watch it in the afternoon the next day or whatever.
Then last summer we went to L.A., and while we were there we went to a place where Cosa Nostra was sold, joking that Jeffrey might for some reason be there. Of course, he wasn't, and we didn't really expect him to be...4 million people live in L.A. so the chance that we would see him is...1 in 4 million, really. But it became a running joke. Every time we mentioned moving to Southern California, Brett would joke that I should try and get a job with Jeffrey. When I had to do a career interview for some class, he joked that I should interview Jeffrey. It just became this thing. Really, it was because being a fan of PR is the closest to being a fashion guy Brett gets, so anytime fashion is mentioned he relates it to that show. Fast forward to this summer and imagine our surprise when we run into him in Little Tokyo! A 1 in 4 million chance, people!
We went in to L.A. on Wednesday with Brett's mom, his aunt, and his uncle, to look for some toys wholesale. Ever since the success of Mechacon (I didn't mention that, did I? We were dealers for Mechacon and it was a success. Enough said), we decided that we were going to try and get more into the licensed products. So his aunt and uncle, who used to shop regularly in the wholesale district, decided to take us out there and show us the ropes, so to speak. Well, after a few hours of Brett and I being overwhelmed and indecisive (and the heat in those shops!), we decided to get some food. We ate at this awesome place in Little Tokyo (the name of which I can't remember now--I wish I could, they had amazing beef curry), and then we looked around for a bit. Myself, Brett's mom, and his aunt went to find a restroom, and the men stayed outside doing whatever while they waited.
When we came out, I saw Brett talking to two random people. He says, "Look who I found!" and I'm thinking..."who in the hell do we know that would be all the way out here?" And I stared blankly before I realized that I was looking at Jeffrey Sebilia and his new wife, Cassandra Church. WTF? I let out an embarrassing, "hey!" as if we were long lost friends or something. And then we scrambled to find a camera and get this picture:
(He has a crazy cool moustache now, which is why I didn't immediately recognize him. That's me trying to play it cool, when really I am completely thrown off by the whole thing.)
Apparently, Brett saw him and asked him if he could wait just a second and he would get me, and Jeffrey said not to worry about it, that they could stop and smoke a cigarette anyway. How ridiculously awesome!
We didn't hang around long after that or anything...Brett's family was all "who is that?" and it was kind of weird talking about him when they were like 2 feet away. Everyone was getting a little irritable and ready to get out of L.A. anyway, so we headed out.
Best 100 Novels
Monday, July 28th, 2008
I stumbled across this list of the Best 100 Novels a few days ago, and as I was reading it I realized that there were so many books on there that I've always wanted to read but always forget about when I go to the bookstore. So, i've decided to make it my new goal to read all 100 of them before I die..and hopefully well before that--as in, in the next year or two I'm sure there are a few that will bore me entirely too much to complete, but I will worry about that when it gets down to the last handful (I won't be reading them in order of rank--I will probably end up reading them from least misery-inducing to most. I just don't know if I can suffer through The Lord of The Rings trilogy directly after Catcher in the Rye, not to mention before having read The Hobbit, which is 24 novels later)
Obviously they will change from time to time, but I think most of them will remain there for a while and give me a chance to read them. I've already read 15 of them so I already have a little headstart. (I know 15% isn't that great, but eh. That's why I'm doing this thing.) On the plane rides to and from California in the near future I intend to read at least #3. It, along with Slaughterhouse-Five (#30) are two of the ones I've been meaning to read for a while now.
I have a few other upcoming goals planned for the California vacation, but I will mention those later.
As a side note...I just realized that my site has an RSS feed. Badass...I can't believe I didn't notice it before now. Thanks to Brett.
Just a Thought...
Thursday, July 3rd, 2008
The night air in this city always smells like trash and cat food.