Image: INF

I casually read the first Twilight book and thought it was pretty good, but was not obsessed.  Then last week I read the second book in the series, New Moon, and couldn’t put it down!  I ran to the book store as soon as I turned the last page and was so saddened to find that Eclipse hadn’t been released in paperback yet.  Could I force myself to wait a few weeks to find out what happens between Bella, Edward, and Jacob?  I decided that instead of spending too much money on the book that I would read once, I would spend some time thinking about the cultural obsession with the Twilight series and why it is that adults find themselves hooked on these teenage novels.

I realize that I wasn’t too interested in the Harry Potter series because I didn’t find anything relatable in it.  I wasn’t interested in keeping track of all of the new words that the author created for the fantasy world that the characters lived in.  Where Harry Potter was about fun words and complicated magic, Twilight is about a love story.  The fantasy element is important, but I think that readers keep turning pages because of the love that Bella and Edward feel for each other.  Even though the main characters are teenagers, the love that they express seems deep and permanent.

Twilight was about Bella and Edward falling in love, but New Moon was about the heart-wrenching and confusing experience of being dumped.  I think every woman who has fallen deeply in love can relate to the pain and suffering that Bella experiences as she tries to move on with her life without Edward.  The way she describes her loss and the actions that she takes to fill the hole in her life seem exaggerated, but they are actually extremely relatable.  The confusion that is caused by her relationship with her best friend Jacob is also extremely realistic.  How many times have women been confused about a guy friend…do I love him as a friend or a boyfriend?  Am I really ready to move on?

The Twilight series was written for teenagers, but the feelings that the characters experience are definitely for adults.  You don’t have to think Robert Pattison is a hottie or have an interest in Science Fiction to fall in love with the Twilight series.  You just have to know what it feels like to love and lose and you will feel that part of you is written into each novel.

Post from: Blisstree

Bella and Edward: Relating To Twilight Love

Image Credit: Newscom

First, if you’ve seen any of the Harry Potter movies, you had to notice how perfectly mumsy Mrs. Weasley is. She’s no pushover, but everyone, from son Ron to orphan Harry, feels safe and loved when they’re with her.

Next, we have Mrs. Bomowski from Stop or My Mom Will Shoot. She’s interfering. She thinks her big, tough detective son is about three years old. And I love her!

Then, there’s Mrs. Hanson from I Remember Mama. She’s the kind of mother that people thought of when they created Mother’s Day.

Oh, and who can forget the wonderful Mrs. March from Little Women? This woman raised feisty, independent girls.

And for you modern classics lovers, what about Mary from E.T.? A mom who will take in an alien? Now, that’s a woman with strong motherly instincts!

Do you have a favorite movie mom you think should be in the top five instead?

Post from: Blisstree

Best Mother’s Day Movies

I’ve been a fan of Britney Spears ever since she danced down that school hallway in “Hit Me Baby, One More Time.” These day, when I go running, she’s singing about a “Womanizer” in my ears, helping me to run just a bit faster, feuled with righteous indignation on behalf of the womanized.

When she’s faltered, I’ve worried, because …. well, I’m a Mom and I tend to worry. It’s part of my job description.  (Perusing dailt to-do list ….worried about the troubled, the lost, the struggling …..check.)

Britney recently did an interview with Rolling Stone where she is described as “…shyer, more guarded, remote — like the old Britney but with the volume turned way down.”  I guess that’s what happens when a young star has such a public melt down – she learns to hold her cards closer to her chest.

In an excerpt from the magazine that I read here, Britney talks about her new lifestyle of hard-working days and turning-in-early nights.

And when she does find time to go on a date, Spears says the experience makes her wish she had just stayed home.

Oh, Britney, I so get this one. Have you ever had one of those dates where you just wished you were at home on the couch?  You finish the date and think, “Okay, I’m good, I did my duty. That’s the last one of those I have to do for the next six months.”

“Right when we got there, we just knew it was just bad,” Spears tells Rolling Stone of one recent bad date. “He looked like an older version of Harry Potter, but skinnier. … So I had to get dessert first.”

Harry Potter? Does she mean the actual wizard? Or the actor Daniel Radcliffe?  That kid is adorable.  I’ll go out with the older Harry Potter. What’s his number? She needed desert because he was skinny?  Oh, well, I look for any excuse to go for the desert, as well.

“And the other date I had, the guy was really, really tall and a lot older. … We’re trying to ask him questions, like, ‘OK, you’re into martial arts, so what kind of martial arts are you into?’ And he was like, ‘Oh, all kinds.’”

Who is this “we”? Who is going on these dates with her?  And why are they quizzing these men? I imagine it would be stressful enough to go on a date with an international superstar (who underwent a very public breakdown), but to then have to answer to her “panel” of……experts? very large bodyguards? giggling girlfriends? managerial team? dad? well, that would suck. (And probably put me off dating international superstars for awhile).

Why not wait until she is well enough to go out on her own?  And who is picking these men?  She obviously does not know them, is surprised by their Harry Potter-ness and lack of knowledge in the specific forms of the martial arts.  Maybe now is not the right time to date? How many different areas does she need to come-back in, at the same time? 

Dating requires a certain amount of time and attention to get it right. Otherwise you are just going through the motions. You are just eating another piece of cheesecake with yet another Harry Potter look-alike. Does a busy lady like Britney Spears have time to go through the motions? 

I say, take your time, Britney. The dating world isn’t going anywhere. Britney Spears will always be able to find a date if she seeks one. Pushing things will only skew your point of view and wouldn’t you rather your next boyfriend be a little more JT and a lot less KFed?  

Take a look at this and then tell me what you think – should Britney wait until she has the time and opportunity to date without the “we”?  Guys, would you date Britney Spears? 

 Britney image credit – Sephora.com

Post from: Blisstree

Celebrity Dating – Britney Spears and the “We” Step Out