Thoughts of me? Hey, I get it. Sometimes I'm up all night, just thinkin' about myself.

The main reason why I have zero desire to read or watch Twilight:
(excerpt review on the main character, Bella Swan, from the Washington Post)
"Edward's habit of constantly pulling her onto his lap or having her ride on his back further emphasize her childlike qualities....the overall effect is a weird infantilization that has repellent overtones to an adult reader and hardly seems like an admirable model to foist upon our daughters (or sons)."

In general, I've never been a big fan of the whole Disney Princess prototype - super repressed damsels in distress pining and obsessing over their prince. I'm even less of a fan that the prince is inadvertently the ultimate symbol of freedom from an environment of pseudo-slavery (i.e. under the sea, life with an evil stepmother, etc.). There's this general pandering fantasy message for females that in order to find happiness, only a man will be the true key to it.

Granted, most Disney movies are based on stories written and taking place during times when women were thought to be the lesser sex, so the general subdued/placated nature of the female leads is technically an accurate representation of the social norms of the culture. Plus, it's not like they're completely lame personality wise - it's just that the romantic plot device is.

Which leads me back to the Twilight series. As a disclaimer, my protestations are extremely unjustified because I've never read the book. Instead, I've read the synopsis, the reviews, and the movie spoiler. That's it. So yes, there's the strong legitimate potential that if I were to actually read the book, I'll quickly become one of the squeeing fans (my older sister included) lined up for hours before the each premiere. Look at what breaking my "no more teen shows" clause did with Veronica Mars.

But I can't wrap my head around a modern heroine who's only goal in life seemingly is to just be with her man. Sure, there are the general subplots of vampire families and werewolves bugging her, but her drive for EVERYTHING is revolving around a man. My internal feminist screams in protest.

But since I didn't read it, that might not actually be the case. Maybe Bella does kick butt in Hermione-like fashion and helps solve problems as opposed to create them in her obsession with Edward. But then again, I come across plot points where Bella goes cliff-diving to hear Edward's voice, nearly drowns, then is rescued by another "beautiful" supernatural male...

I'm just more predisposed to story lines where a guy actually has to WORK for the female's affection and not the other way around. Or even better, when both of them have to overcome their own personality defects to be with each other. I like an even playing field - not one-sided smoopyness. Or even worse: continual maudlin declarations of love to each other as a means to overcome life's obstacles. I don't find that horribly romantic.

In summary: There's been a lot of evidence contrary to my personal taste as incentive to not read the book. If someone wants to present an argument as to why the book is so awesome aside from it's easy readbility and intense popularity, I'll be happy to take a look.

I'm currently in the process of testing a theory that bad days are contagious. Basically, starting from when I got back from work yesterday (after hearing about my co-worker's not-so-great day), things have been sucking - not at any emo-inducing levels, but still not super great. It's just been a bit of a domino effect where little things just don't go as planned, emotionally exacerbated by Thorne's devastatingly adorable flat-eared guilty look when I'm yelling at him for eating the pool table. But then, I also have the theory that a bad day is typically followed by an exceedingly great one because of lowered expectations and emotional countenance. So, there's the potential that I'm going to have an AWESOME weekend.

Happy thoughts (to counter any potential fatalistic ones)
1. I enjoy my smart friends who are secure enough to admit they love stupid things and don't even bother trying to act like they're above it.
2. I'm pleased that I have yet to set foot in the mall for any holiday shopping.
3. I don't have finals.