oh, for the love of sam cooke.

I've been binging on Sam Cooke's music lately. I'm about to OD, honestly.

So I thought I'd spread the love. Or crippling obsession, however way you want to spin it.

attack of the screen grabs.

Baby Phat Barbie--err, Kimora Lee Simmons Gold Label Barbie Doll

(Via SeenON! Style)
Someone really needs to take away Kimora Lee's right to have ideas.

Okay, honestly? If I were a 7-year-old and was given this for my birthday, I would cry after finding out that Kimora Lee Barbie's coat was made out of my pet chinchilla's fur. Oh, Mattell, give me a break.

Inspiron Mini 9

I've been known to compulsively scream, "I want that!" at shiny electronic objects, and this little number made me shriek when I saw it.


(Via Dell)
Specs: 2.28 lbs, 8.9" glossy screen, 1024x600, BT, Wi-Fi, modest SSD, webcam, $350-450. It does simple, sleek, and small quite nicely. It gets the Net job done. Wham, bam, thank you ma'am. It comes in white or black - I'll take mine in white, please.

Chuck Taylor X-Hi Canvas


I got my first pair of Chucks for Christmas last year-- the classic black Chuck Taylor All Star. Everyone and their mom (except mine) has them. I've recently become enamored with boxing shoes (don't ask), and these are like the next best thing. This pattern doesn't exactly suit my fancy, but I can always design my own!

Honestly, I'd like to try boxing shoes out as a fashion statement but I'm afraid Bub wouldn't let me out of the house.

That, and I might get laughed at.

my friends make me laugh.

I've noticed that depending on what social network you belong to, you'll find completely different ways people express themselves. On Facebook, you'll find people are always in the middle of doing something. Watching the DNC. Playing with their dog. Driving to Houston (while they probably shouldn't be texting at the same time). On Twitter, most posts are fairly witty or sarcastic. A quote of the day, a short, one-line movie review, a passive-aggressive smart aleck remark towards their coworker.

But for once, the funny stuff was restricted to my incoming text messages. Here I'll share my two favorite LOL moments of the day. =)

Back story #1: A friend of mine and her husband are expecting a child early next year, and she's found a handful of boys' names that she likes, but is having some difficulty coming up with girls' names. So I thought I'd help her out.

Me: "I'm watching America's Top Model. What do you think of Marjorie for a girl['s name]? Does that make you want to yak?"
Friend #1: "Marjorie does not make us want to yak, but it does make us want to butter our toast. :)"

Back story #2: Friend #2 works for a small agency that produces promotional material for the Air Force Base here.

Friend #2: "Hey, do you know anyone that has [Photoshop] CS3 for PC and Premiere for Mac?"
Me: "Nope. And CS4 is coming out later on this month."
Friend #2: "OMG. I AM STILL TRYING TO LEARN ALL THE FEATURES IN CS3."

The second one may not seem quite as funny, but I couldn't help but visualize my friend's blank stare, and equally interesting loud yell as she would say it. That, and for some reason every time I read the letters "OMG" I can't help but say "Oh emm gee" aloud to myself.

I love text messages. =)

i'm still alive. promise.

It's pretty lame that there are a few of my posts that begin with: "So, I haven't posted in awhile..." or "Sorry it's taken so long" or "It's been a crazy 12 years, but..."

Aha, but I won't start this post off that way! =)

My mind's thoughts are quite sporadic this evening (it could be the meds), so hopefully numbering my thoughts will be helpful.

1) I had a dream about Catherine Hardwicke, who will be directing the novel-turned-movie Twilight, which debuts in late November. (I'm a fan of Stephenie Meyer's Twilight saga) In the dream, an old friend from college and I were in a giant mansion and I was grilling Hardwicke about why she chose to shoot the vampires "running" the way she did. I told her bluntly that I didn't agree with her technique. I then proceeded to tell her that I was a little wary that it would look hokey, but she continued to listen to me ramble on with pursed lips and inquisitive eyes. I felt embarrassed then, but she reassured me that she believes she did the film justice, and I gushed with excitement that it would be coming out in a few months.

I know exactly why I dreamed about Hardwicke. I was passing by Blockbuster yesterday afternoon and I considered stopping to rent Thirteen, a film that Hardwicke directed five years ago. I opted out since I had left my coupon at home, and apparently my mind wasn't going to let that one go easily.

2) I've been playing on the Wii Fit. I first played it a few months ago at a girlfriend's house, and then felt really silly that I hadn't pre-ordered it in the first place. I don't know, dropping $90 on something I wasn't sure if I'd like seemed pretty risky to me. But now that I've snagged one of my own, it's hard to tear it away from me. =)

3) I got a head cold last night and today was a lazy day of nothingness, sprinkled with a bit of sickly whining. My morning of laziness started out with rolling around in bed, being fed ice cream (it's a hard life, ain't it?), and then a sort-of marathon of Heroes season 2. I didn't watch any of last season, and now I'm playing catch up before the season 3 premiere. Then I played around with GarageBand in the office with my newly acquired (read: "stolen") M-Box and mic, watched way too many YouTube videos, cleaned the house a little bit, and watched Gossip Girl's season premiere with Bub. Oh, and before you pass any judgment, I have to say that GG is my guilty pleasure. Oh...so...guilty. =) I'm also looking forward to the series premiere of 90210, which would boost my CW-show-watching count up to a whopping "2".

4) Speaking of TV shows, there are a few shows that I'll be watching this fall, thanks to Hulu and "other avenues of entertainment acquiring." These include, but are not limited to:

Regulars
The Office
House, M.D.
The Big Bang Theory
Scrubs
Heroes
Grey's Anatomy
30 Rock
Chuck
Gossip Girl

Newbies I want to check out
Fringe
Kath and Kim
90210

I'm sure if I had children, I'd be declared an unfit mother.

5) My poor cell phone is on its way out the door, as well. After charging my phone at night, the phone turns itself off. My battery dips down to 2 bars (out of 4) after a 30 minute conversation. Ugh...If you know my taste in cell phones, I like to hold on to my phone until I absolutely MUST get a new one. It takes forever for me to come up with a decision on a make/model, and it was no different with my current LG CU500. I do know for sure that I want my next cell phone to be a smart phone. That could be a Blackberry, Palm, iPhone, or whatever Android-based phone, if any, AT&T decides to roll out. I'm keeping my eyes peeled and ears open and I'm praying my phone doesn't crap out completely in the meantime.

6) Someone close to us has started seeing someone. I won't go much into details, but it's very different, and very new. I was both excited and nervous to meet her this weekend, but now I know why he likes her as much as he does. =)

7) I'm getting more and more excited as Christmas draws near. I can't wait to see my family again.

8) Work has been a handful. We need to hire another editor, ASAP. I don't want to rip my hair out. End of story.

9) I need a new book to read, and I think that book is "Kitchen Confidential" by Anthony Bourdain. Since our slew of restaurant shoots, I'm considering this a must-read. I've also learned that professional chefs have quite the interesting personalities. One particular local chef that I have in mind flashed me a dazzling smile one moment, then fired off a bunch of expletives shortly thereafter in the same 30 seconds.

10) A few songs I'm crushing on: "Energy," (Keri Hilson), "Crush" (David Archuleta), a cover of "Umbrella" (YouTuber Brad Doggett), and a cover of "Let Go" (YouTuber Kina Grannis).

11) I also have a few upcoming posts that I've pre-selected topics for, that I promise to kick out sooner or later:

Why I'm Hoping Twilight Won't Completely Suck
Social Networking? Don't You Mean, "Me, Me, Me"?
Confessions of a Chronic Creative

12) Link spam: I've also been watching That Media Show, a video podcast headed up by John Flowers. I love what this show is about, and I've been surprised to find that I am interested in every story in every cut. A little bit of Hollywood fluff, a little bit of compositing news, a little bit of RED details, all in the same show? Score.

Okay, I'm off to the Land of the Unconscious. The rambling had to stop at some point, right?

little green guy.

Yesterday afternoon I ran out to return a few movies, and to my dismay it turned out I had forgotten to put one back in its case. After a lot of grumbling I headed back to the house and hopped up the stairs of my front porch only to by stopped in my tracks by this little guy:



Needless to say, I wasn't grumbling any more after that. =)

so you think you can dance finale.

(Spoilers below if you're a fan of SYTYCD)

Sigh. I just watched the season finale of So You Think You Can Dance. The finale aired 10 days ago, but I'm just now getting around to watching it. Yes, some events actually got between me and viewing the eye candy that is the fabulous talent and amazing choreography on that show.

So if you didn't know it, Joshua Allen won. I have to admit, if Katee or Josh didn't win, I'd be pretty disappointed. Throughout the entire season, they never hit the bottom three. Never had to dance for their lives. Never left me not squealing with sheer delight after watching any routine they were in.

This by far was probably my favorite season finale of all three seasons I've watched of SYTYCD. I'm probably the most emotionally attached to season 2, but there were so many fun elements in this show that this simply beats the rest of 'em. Nigel Lythgoe tap dancing with kids from the Debbie Allen Dance Academy, seeing some of my favorite dancers from past seasons dancing on stage, watching Mary in her fire engine red dress do the samba across the stage with Dmitri...droooool. Have I mentioned I like Latin dancing? ;)

The choreography from this season also outshines the other seasons, and I've definitely enjoyed how the show added new genres of dancing.

I really don't know what I'm going to do to fill my dancing-watching void. =)

Below are my top 5 favorite routines from this season. How long is it until next spring? Maaaaan.

#5



#4



#3



#2



#1

a good rma is so hard to come by...

At least, that's what I always thought. Until just about a week ago.

As the Orderer of Boring Office Supplies and Mildly-Fun Equipment of my company, I'm used to having to scour the internet for deals. It's my job to say "I'd never pay that much for an LCD monitor" or "You should use this website because at least their customer service speaks your native language." It's something I do on a fairly regular basis, and thus far I've had no qualms about it.

Scratch that. I normally don't have qualms about it -- until I screw up.

I had to order a few hundred blank, printable, CD-Rs for a client for a larger-than-usual dub job the other day, and accidentally ordered the wrong type. What I needed were inket printable CD-Rs, not thermal printable CD-Rs. It seemed to be both a simple and careless mistake, but regardless, it put me in a predicament because a) I had a deadline to meet, and 600 CDs to dub, and b) I knew it was going to be a chore trying to find that type of media in-town on a day-to-day basis.

I managed to snag a few hundred from a couple of different retailers, and then realized I still had problem C to deal with: How was I going to return all of those unused CDs? Could I?

The website that I ordered from was a trusted one, Newegg.com. If you haven't heard of Newegg and you're a tech geek, I would like to think you're simply a figment of someone's imagination. From their about us site, Newegg is "an online e-commerce company offering more than 25,000 computer hardware and software, consumer electronics and communications products in stock at competitive prices and ready to ship at lightning-speed."

I've ordered blank media from them before, but never this type, so I was a little wary. As a consumable item, I was 100% sure the 6th cakebox that I'd opened would be nonreturnable. I'd have to obtain an RMA for the 5 others, which can be a lengthy process (I'd done these before). The whole idea was slightly nauseating, since at the time I was dreading running around town, and trying to box up these items to ship them back. I also was aware that Newegg charged 15% for a restocking fee (quite common for online retailers and big box stores).

After reading further into Newegg's return policy, I found out that I could talk with someone online to obtain the RMA. I hesitantly fired up the chatbox, and in a few minutes I was chatting with someone by the handle of "Dicie." I wasn't sure if Dicie was male or female (or robot for that matter), but he/she/it seemed pleasant enough.

But after explaining my screw-up of ordering the wrong type of blank media, Dicie types: "Please kindly note that this item is non-refundable."

My heart dropped a little after that.

Then: "However as they are unopened, we will make an exception to issue the refund."

I bounced a little in my seat out of sheer joy.

Immediately after: "We will also honor the opened one as a one time exception."

After I fired off several exclamations and a flurry of questions, Dicie created an RMA number for me, and within minutes I had a new invoice in my inbox. There would be no restocking fee, Newegg would accept and honor the 6th cakebox with the two ruined CDs, and the only fee we would incur would be shipping.

I understand that everyone needs a break every once in awhile, but I by no means ever expect one. But a little blessing like that definitely went a long way for me. I wanted to review their customer service and give them 5 stars in any way I could. Dicie explained that there was a rating site that Newegg used, so I quickly logged in to the site and gave a concise re-telling of my Experience with the Seemingly Non-Returnable CD-Rs.

Today, I received another e-mail with a new invoice - my shipment had been received and Newegg was refunding our cost of the CD-Rs. And for reviewing their customer service on the ratings site, I also have a free T-shirt coming my way.

I love Newegg. =)

the thing about shooting in restaurants...

I can't pass up free food. I simply just can't. I'm sure it has something to do with the intricate, delicate way that I'm hardwired -- that immediately turns me into a heifer.

"What? You're telling me that this steak would go to waste? I can't let that happen!"

The past two weeks have brought a few evening shoots of local restaurants into my professional schedule. And while it's never expected, it always happens: a few beautiful platters are left uneaten and dangerously exposed to the ultimate predator of free food -- me.

But I think today was a little bit more than I had bargained for. Steak, calamari, dessert shots, grilled panini, seasoned fries, Chilean sea bass?

My kids are going to be so fat.

just a few weeks on the treadmill...

And they had to go and invent THIS stupid thing.

Baby steps...baby steps.

random mini-feed.

Practice makes...better?
For the past 4 1/2 weeks, I've stuck to a new, but pretty basic exercise regimen. That being said, I'm happy announce that it's getting easier to refrain from passing out after 10 minutes on the treadmill. This is pretty exciting.

Hi-ho, hi-ho
Work has been pretty decent, but I've been convinced that one of my clients is out to get me. This particular client (I'll call him/her "Bob") has the same faults that a lot of demanding, impatient people have: every time Bob needs something, it has to be right then. Right now. Five minutes ago! It's a little unnerving, to be honest. For a few months we won't hear from this client, not a peep, but it's like trying to brace yourself for WWIII whenever Bob enters the picture again and things are in full swing.

The heat...oh, this heat.
My poor air conditioner at home has been working overtime. It's a struggle just to walk out to my car during lunchtime, with this wretched, wretched heat. I miss being able to drive to work with my windows down when it's not 83 degrees at 7:45AM. I miss being able to wear sunglasses because I liked to, not because I had to. I miss....not sweating.

Reading machine
And ahhh, yes, finally, I've finished the last book of Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series, Breaking Dawn. Finishing up this last book left me with a big ol' smile on my face. But no spoilers here. I'll be posting more on that soon.

/mini-feed.

more font fanaticism.

I've never used the font Trajan in design, and always pondered what I'd use it for...but now I don't want to. Ever.

via goodiebag.tv. I've just discovered Kirby Ferguson. He's pretty funny.

i fell in love with the dj.

Okay, not really. But I've fallen ridiculously in love with this all-too-catchy, poppy, head-bopping song. Stupid So You Think You Can Dance and your hot and sexy samba dancing. This is all your fault.

everyone needs a vacation.

It doesn't matter how old or young you are. It doesn't matter if you sell vacation packages for a living. It doesn't matter how happy or miserable your job makes you, but it's always nice to go somewhere new and I firmly believe that everyone needs to go out and get some fresh air.

I had the chance to go with a couple of girlfriends to the partially-sunny city of Gulf Shores this weekend. It was a serene 8-hour drive through 3 states - wait, scratch that, did I say serene? I meant boring. I meant 8 hours of corn fields, soybean farms, plains, and a few small country towns. And then, finally, the beach.

Gulf Shores was a bit larger and more populated with vacationers than I expected. Up until I moved to Arkansas, I'd grown up surrounded by an ocean for 75% of my life. I didn't recognize this kind of beach. Gulf Shores' air didn't smell quite as salty as the Pacific Ocean, but it brought back fond memories of having the beach as my backyard in Hawaii as a teenager or floating on an inner tube as a young girl the Philippines.

We stayed in a rather humble hotel which only had 5 floors. We sat on the beach, I read, I stuck my toes in the sand and waded in the water, I ate shrimp (my favorite type of shellfish), splashed around in the hotel pool, shopped, and walked about. It was a good vacation.

I brought along a video camcorder to document the trip, and only ended up shooting less than 10 minutes. Pretty sad. I brought along a digital SLR and only shot 75 photos, even sadder. I had every intention of capturing as much as I could with hopes that I could make a great photo book, slide show, and video, but I came up pretty short to my high expectations.

But I'm okay with that. I was on vacation.

*Edit*
I actually recorded 30 minutes of video whilst on vacation. But only because I accidentally left the camera on for 20 of those minutes. I have some exclusive documentation of my elbow, a leg, and the side of my book.

t-minus 3 days.

I'm trying to come up with an adjective that I could use to describe this week's events. "Intense" seems too serious. "Fun" seems too lighthearted. "Challenging" seems imprecise. But, don't worry, I'd rather not pore over thesaurus.com all night. ;)

There are a lot of things I like to do for fun. These include, but are not limited to: eating Popsicles, playing on the Internet, and watching chick flicks. But as far as my day job goes, I'm a producer. This may mean very little to your average Joe, so as far as my career is concerned, I tend to keep details at a minimum. The lines blur in some areas, but are rigid in others. One day I could be invoicing, one day I could be writing, and another day I could be crawling around underneath a symphony stage trying to find a power outlet.

Right now I'm three days deep into a shoot that's proving to be a unique challenge. Mostly exterior shots. Children & animals as extras - this industry's most dreaded bane. It's a lovely high 90's. Nothing feels quite like "Insta-tan" than a shiny board reflecting an angry high-noon sun in your eyes and pushing a 20-degrees hotter wave of heat in your face.

We've been shooting in a town about half an hour away for a client (an agency) that is based in Hawaii. The creative work is awesome: the concept is simple, funny, and aloof. It has an air of "The Office" humor mixed with childlike curiosity. The concept: three different "Explorers" have just discovered this on-location city and find themselves popping up in interesting places and interacting with their environments in unusual ways. Sorry for the lack of detail - I'm bound to this description until the spots air in September.

We've had high points and low points. The low points were few: we had a screaming 5-year-old who was afraid of one of our actors' costumes, and in the middle of one take, we had a principal actor's suit tear a nice long 9-inch rip in the arm and back. The high points are great, and hopefully still ongoing. The diversity of our locations has been pretty fun. We shut down a busy intersection for a sweet dolly shot with tons of extras - that's a pretty cool feeling. We shot in a Hibachi joint, a creek, a bike trail, a performance hall, a lake...Another high point - Our client's client (the city, essentially) is one of the best group of people I've worked with in my short career. Cheery, smiley faces and accommodating attitudes are my favorite. =)

But the lowest point has to be the heat. It's bad enough that it's in the high 90's...What's even worse is that the nice brown tone of my skin loves to soak up the sun just that much more. Oh, and it never helps having black hair, either. I'll be lucky if I don't turn the same shade as my hair by the end of the week.

Speaking of which...

Ah, yes, the title of this post. T-minus 3 days and counting to my awesome, much-deserved vacation to Gulf Shores with some girlfriends. My body has been itchy to relax next to an ocean shore for the past month, and this Saturday afternoon will bring me sweet, sweet relief. Pictures will be taken, videos will be shot, and much fun will be had.

If only I can find time between now and then to get ready for it!

if fonts were people.

I've been busy as of late, and I have oodles to talk about, but for some reason, the only thing I want to post is a link to this video.

I am such a font nerd.

That, and I've always wondered how to properly use Comic Sans. Answer = personify it in a parody video!

top ten hottest geeks?

Okay, so I dugg the story anyway, because I thought that a few of the geeks on Shiny Shiny's list were cute, but come on.

The internet is far more vast than these guys, right???

youtube music & weekend shopping.

I've found someone else on YouTube whose music has started to grow on me. And, even though I'm always months (sometimes years) behind on music, I figured I'd go ahead and spread the love while I was at it.

Her YouTube name is KokoKaina. (I think of Brendan Frasier in Bedazzled when I read her YouTube name aloud). Her voice reminds me a little of Norah Jones, and her songwriting is sweet and sincere.

I was browsing for a specific search term when I happened upon her, actually. I'll definitely be subscribing soon.

Also, in response to my previous post about the Twilight feature in the latest EW magazine...I opted to read the online version instead of picking up a hard copy like some crazy obsessed 14-year-old. I prefer to play the role of the cool, semi-obsessed twenty-something that I am, thankyouverymuch.

The article was decent, and I learned a few things I didn't already know...
But I wasn't a fan of the photo shoot. It was ultra-glamorized, super shmoozy, Bram-stokery and I suppose I'm being so cynical because come on, these are high school kids. Then again I can err on the side EW as it's their job to Photoshop everything to a pulp nowadays. I can see the art director now -- "He's not pale enough! Make him paler! And his eyes, make them more brooding!"

This weekend has been another big purchase weekend. A new piece of art for my kitchen. Two new bar stools. A new mirror for the bathroom. New vases. The chances of me purchasing anything out of explicit entertainment purposes are growing slim.

Read: I may have to pass my on-line designing of those super-fancy Chucks I've been dreaming up in my head.

Then again, there's always next weekend.

oh, sigh.

For crying out loud. They're teasing me.

paint me in your sunshine.

I'm one of those types who, once they find a song they like, play it over, and over...

And over and over again. You would never want me to be your radio DJ. Ever.

I recently came across Marie' Digby on YouTube, and have taken kindly to her music. She's a bit of Vanessa Carlton, a little bit of Ingrid Michaelson. I'm a sucker for sweet and charming music.

Below are the lyrics to Paint Me In Your Sunshine. It's that song I'm playing over, and over, and over again.

Paint Me In Your Sunshine

Paint me in your sunshine
Wake my sleepy eyes
Round me in your comfort
Stay with me for all of time

Reach your hand,
I'll follow
Darken clouds for your rays of hope

So paint me in your sunshine
Walk with me, stay by my side
Fill my head with stories
For love and war and glory

Reach your hand,
I'll follow
Light the path that will lead me home

Oh, oh, Home

One day the world will grow colder
Everything we've come to cherish crumbles
And only then will we turn back and remember your glow

Paint me in your sunshine
Leave the part of you behind
Tell me where I'll find you
And send me off to another day
Till we meet tomorrow

Reach your hand,
I'll follow
Hold me close till the day that I grow old

twilight.

It's been an embarrassingly long time since I've posted, I know. I could go on all day about why: because of work, because of extracurriculars, because of projects at home, because of friends, but I won't. I'll just spare the details for now.

While this post will mostly be dedicated to its title, let me preface to say that this entry (not unlike most of them) will mostly be shaped by my own personal history and bias. Read: this is a personal post. You've been warned: it's going to be a doozy.

First, a little back story into my penchant for reading and writing.

I think it officially started when I was in the 4th grade. I'd enjoyed books up until then -- I was a part of the Book It! program, I volunteered in the library reading to first graders, so on and so forth. But it wasn't until I entered in the Young Author's Contest (I lived in Illinois back then) that I realized that I could actually enjoy writing. Young adult adventures were my favorite. There was excitement, newness, not a lot of internal dialogue, and it stirred my imagination. It reflected my personality at the time; I was easily curious about anything and everything I didn't know about. This included, but was not limited to, trying to find Big Foot tracks, analyzing baby birds, and breaking into vacant houses.

So there's the brief back story. I ended up getting an honorable mention that year for my short story, "The Bad Dream." And while I felt as though my brief, young writing spirit had been crushed, it didn't stop me from writing in the following year's contest. I won that year.

Fast forward several years, and you'd find yourself watching increasingly more and more frames of time spent writing -- my love for the adventure genre had evolved to now include romance, mystery, and sci-fi. I read a lot of the same stuff: X-Files, Dean Koontz, various trashy romance novels, Stephen King, Bruce Coville.

But during my sophomore year of high school, it all came to a halt. I simply wasn't interested any more, or my priorities had changed. I stopped reading, and the only writing I did consisted of poems or brief, inconsistent journaling.

Fast forward again to this week, where I picked up the book, Twilight, by Stephenie Meyer. My first recommendation was from my friend, Lauren, who divulges in reading as a hobby. I was curious as to why she brought up this book, I knew she read, but she hardly ever recommended anything to me, so I decided to look into it. I realized later that while the book was new to her, that it was in fact, pretty old -- 3 years old. I also learned that it was going to be displayed later on the silver screen at the end of the year.

Three days ago, I decided it was time to pick up the book. I opted to buy it, instead of checking it out from a local library. I started that night, around 11:30PM, intending on reading it for half an hour until I got sleepy. But I stayed up until 1:30AM.

Then finished it within 24 hours.

I know, it sounds dramatic. To think that a nearly 500-page teen romance fiction novel could hold my attention for that long. For starters, I'm not the target demo. I'm simply not a vampire junkie (although I did enjoy the Buffy film). And I hadn't read a fiction novel in years.

I'll start with the basics, I guess. (There won't be any spoilers) The story revolves around Isabella "Bella" Swan, a new permanent transplant to the town of Forks, Washington, where she spent various summers with her father. Her parents had been divorced for years, and she decided to permanently relocate when her mother remarried and wanted to travel with her new husband. The 17-year-old Bella struggles to fit in at Forks High School, where she happens upon the Cullens, the family that purposely outcasts themselves from the rest of the high school. They're all different, they're beautiful, and they're vampires. She takes specifically to Edward Cullen, and the rest of the story revolves around their affair -- the internal and external pressures of the dangers that surround their relationship.

There are several reasons why I was fascinated with this book. To say "I loved it" simply wouldn't be enough. There are many poignant scenes throughout this book that drew me back to them as soon as my eyes skimmed over the last few words of the epilogue.

I'm a helpless romantic at best. My personality wouldn't allude you to believe it, but the handsome hero in this book made me melt into a puddle of goo. There, I said it. But it wasn't as though Meyer described him as "hot," "rippled," "cut," or "amazing." She used other words..."Beautiful." "Dazzling." We see through the eyes of Bella that he's enchanting, that his scent is breathtaking. And of course, that half smile, the crooked smile. Seriously, who uses words like this? And how is it that they have such an effect that they make me want to absorb each and every description?

I listened to the first episode of Three Chicks and a Mic's podcast after finishing Twilight and they mentioned that one of the things they disliked about Bella's character is that she doesn't stick up for herself, and is pretty much a pushover. While I do agree with them, I felt that every time this weakness was displayed with Edward, it made him all the more attractive and alluring. Today's heroine is strong, smart, beautiful, and unique. Bella is not. She's awkard. She trips over herself and likes to hide behind her hair. She's terrible at sports and hates playing in snow. For me, it made their relationship and connection all the more meaningful -- this dark romance that seemed kindled for all the wrong reasons made perfect sense.

It's not a sappy love story by any means. The back of the book describes this element well, a story of "secret love and hushed affection." But this is not to say that the book did without suspense. It holds romance and suspense in a pretty even and healthy ratio, which also kept me flipping pages. This could be the naivete talking, but the fantasy element of the Cullens abilities as vampires was epic for me. Okay, epic might be too strong of a word, but it certainly helped. It was intriguing, the different powers each of the vampires have, and I'm curious to see how this plays out in the movie.

I haven't read a good share of teen romance novels, but I'd be surprised to find if Twilight handles stereotypes in a similar way to other teen fictions. At Forks High School, there aren't any cliques (save for vampires). There aren't jocks, snobs, or geeks. The others are just...there. The background characters supply subtle color to this book, but nothing bright and overpowering. A lot of the narrative consists of Bella's internal dialoging -- her fearless and inquisitive thoughts aren't annoying or meaningless, and compel the reader to learn about her as even she learns about herself.

I really could drone on for days, and days, but like I prefaced earlier, this is my personal take on Twilight. It's hard for me to articulate the fact that it's awakened me out of my imaginative coma. The book is an easy read -- no pretentious words, no confusing plot lines. And yes, there are predictable moments, not unlike most books in the same genre. Lastly, I'm not particularly excited about the movie, as books always seem to take us deeper into characters and stories than film ever will. I've grown to understand that they're two completely different mediums, oftentimes with differing agendas.

In closing...I do have expectations, mind you. I have high expectations in the physical and personal characters of Bella and Edward. Throughout the novel, Meyer describes Bella as unconsciously brave, unaware of her own frailty. This can be pulled off onscreen. Edward's eyes are smoldering -- I expect to see the glowing topaz and a lot of character expression; the book almost revolves around this entire physical feature. I think if they did away with the rest of his body in the film, fans would still be appeased as long as his eyes were in there somewhere.

Although that might be a little creepy.