Of Twilight and Tweens

About a month ago I stumbled into my hair salon. I was weak and vulnerable all due to some excessive root visibility and I was in desperate need of a coloring. I wasn't strong enough to know what was happening or to even stop it. She may have even anticipated and planned for my arrival. It was a simple day that morphed into the beginning of a very intoxicating relationship. It was the catalyst of long nights, early mornings and an overstock of recorded television shows just beckoning for my attention. I didn't see it coming and I was so paralyzed by bad hair that I was unable to resist it. It - was a book. I thick, black, 500 page, stylist recommended book.

You see, I went in for color and came out with much more. While my color was setting, I pulled an academic book from my handbag and began to read. My stylist had this book that she couldn't put down and she asked if it would be okay if she were rude and read while waiting. I told her it was perfectly fine. No sense in straining ourselves in small talk when we were both deeply rooted in our texts. As we reconvened for the styling, she began to tell me about her book. She asked if I had ever heard of the Twilight series and I told her no. I now know how odd that must have seemed because apparently I was the only person on planet earth (vast exaggeration) who hadn't. More over, I was probably one of very few people who hadn't read all four books that make up the series by Stephenie Meyer (Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse and Breaking Dawn).

She said it was a book about vampires and teen romance. STOP! Stop right there...I don't do vampires. It's not my thing. I prefer to be able to sleep at night and I have learned that you don't feed the beast that is my over active imagination unless you are prepared to suffer the consequences and when it comes to things to horrify me in the night...I was not prepared. She kept talking and I had kinda tuned her out after the "v" word. I mean really, me, a Jane Austin type of reader, waste my precious personal time which I rarely get any of anyway on a book on teenagers and vampires. NOT!

Then something happened, she started raving even more. And this woman is well, not someone I would pick out as a vampire fan. I mean she's a mom of two little ones, owner of her own hair salon and always has her head in more mainstream romancie type of books. She tells me not to shoot it down. "Give it a try," she says. "Trust me," she continues, "you're going to love this." I'm horrified a bit as this woman has been doing my hair for over three years and she thinks I, of all people, will enjoy, not to mention, read, this book. Well, just to be polite, I ask her what the name of the book is and who the author is before I leave. I sweetly smile and wish her the best and I'm outta there.

The next thing I know I'm buying Twilight, the first book of the four. I make a covenant with myself that if things gets hairy and heads start spinning I'm putting it down and selling it on Ebay. Nice idea, but I couldn't put the stupid thing down. It possessed me. Let me just tell you...ADDICTED. I can't tell you exactly what drew me in the most: the great writing, the modern day Romeo and Julietish storyline, the image I had of vampires being totally wiped away or the suspense. It didn't matter, I'm hooked.

Then, oh dear Lord then...there is the movie. My sister-in-law is a huge fan of the darker side of books. I love murder mystery and suspense (my inner CSI and Law and Order girl must be entertained), but she takes it to another level and loves the spooky stuff too. So, I knew she was going to love these books. That and she's probably the only other person I know my age that reads as much as I do. Let me just tell you how much I cherish the fact that she reads.

Anyway, our husbands took us out on a date night last night. We had amazing German food and then went to the movies to see this book of ours come to life. I must tell you how many laughs we got at ourselves as I think we were the oldest people there by FAR. Teenagers and tweenagers were peppered everywhere and with that the loud, obnoxious screaming for this hunky vampire was inescapable. We felt like teenagers again. Here we were like giant dorks watching a teenager movie on a Friday night. SWEET! We are so cool.

Who cares!?!?!?! The movie was great. I mean, it wasn't the book, but it was great. It wasn't horror, gore, head spinning stuff which was fabulous for me because I just can't stomach it. But, it was a darker love story. It's a love story. Period. One forbidden love. Two star crossed lovers...who by the way, DON'T have sex. Yeah...a book about teen love that doesn't promote sex. Now, I'm only 60 pages into the 700 page book two, but so far...just the good old fashion kissing.

So, as this story of a brooding teenage vampire addictively draws me in, I will keep you updated. But I will tell you, this is good and I can see why it's not just a hit amongst the teen crowd. A lot of adults are reading these...apparently they just aren't brave enough to take on the movie scene. Here's a suggestion if you want to see the movie...um...rent it, or wait awhile. Late Friday night movies come with lots of screaming teenage girls Leonardo DiCaprio and Titanic style. Seriously...it should come with a tranquilizer.