Okay, so I liked Twilight.  Really, I did.  The book, of course, was better, but not by much.  I read all 4 books (don't recommend the last one) in 3 days, but that is pretty common with me.  I didn't go all gaga crazy over it, though (of course, I'm past the "prime" audience for that romantic teenage crap).

But here's my problem.  There is a very LONG, very STORIED, very SACRED history of vampire lore.  And Stephenie Meyer comes in, with her 25 (?)-year old self, and her writing-to-the-music-of-the-young'uns mentality, and thinks she can just crap all over things.

One thing I really appreciated about Joss Whedon (who wrote the "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and "Angel" TV shows) was that he took that long, storied, sacred history, changed up a couple of things, but retained the essence of what makes a vampire a vampire--and in the process, created one of the most beloved fantasy worlds ever written.  If you have never watched BtVS, call me tomorrow and I will let you borrow it, because it is the most compelling, FUNNY, thought-provoking and entertaining bits of television in a long time.  Plus, it does vampire-boy-loves-human-girl bit WAAAAAAY better than Twilight.

One of my favorite "Pieces of Flair" on Facebook is one that says, "And then Buffy stabbed Edward. The End."  I've wondered many times what the matchup between Buffy and Edward Cullen would look like.  Now I wonder no more.  Let me just say, WOW.  There are some seriously creative people out there.

So on my last day of substitute teaching for the year, the class had a writing assignment to create a To Do list for the summer.  So, while they were writing theirs, I wrote mine.

1. Go snorkeling in the Bahamas.  (this is a big one, because I don't like having my face in the water)  Hopeful completion date: July 11, 2009.
2. Sing at a Reds game and at a Dragons game.  (Dragons game scheduled for August 12th)
3. Get a bathing suit that looks good.
4. Try 1 new food every week.  (first week I made homemade pizza rolls.  They were good!  I'll experiment with other fillings next time)
5. Read at least 20 200+ page books (including all Jane Austen books)
6. Take the dogs to Splash Moraine.  Hopeful completion date: September 8th
7. Go to the Underground Railroad Museum in Cincinnati.
8. Get a pedicure.
9. Run in 2 races.
10. Make 2 articles of clothing for myself.
11. Ride Diamondback at Kings Island in the first seat.  (Dad just gave me a free ticket)
12. Go see Transformers 2.
13. Take the dogs to one new local park every week.

I've been reserving my books at the library--many of which I hope to take on my cruise this summer:
Photography for Dummies (to refresh my skill)
The Time Traveler's Wife
The Pretend Wife
My Sister's Keeper
The Goose Girl
Enna Burning
River Secrets
A Dog's Life: The Autobiography of a Stray Dog
Emma
Sense and Sensibility
Pride and Prejudice
Mansfield Park
Northanger Abbey
Persuasion
The Jane Austen Book Club