Breaking Dawn 2 Midnight Release

As I write this, it's been about a week that Breaking Dawn pt. 2 has been on DVD.  I went to the midnight release party at Walmart.  It was nice.  They gave us cake, and the freebie was a set of mini posters from the previous films. Very nice... One of the nicest promo gifts.  In fact, I tweeted it, mentioning Walmart, and someone replied back.  I had my Breaking Dawn shirt and accessories. Yes, I fan-girl hard.

(Hey, I like blue.  What can I say?)

They also showed behind-the-scenes segments from the DVD. 

Mom was with me, and she snagged another set of posters for me. (she bought an extra DVD!)  She thought I could use them in my scrapbook, but I think I'll frame them in a collage frame.  In fact, I have a bunch of posters that need frames badly.  Sigh.  

I watched the DVD the next evening, and of course, it was good. I also preordered the Target DVD (it came with a fabric poster, and bonus features), and it arrived a few days later. 

So.... will this be my last "Twilight" post?  Maybe not.  But let me close it out with this: 

Thanks to the actors, filmmakers, and especially Stephenie, for giving us the chance to dream about forever.

Look What I Found

I was at Target the other day, and look what I found...

They come in packages of two, and the other notebook has the mockingjay logo on it.

I was also surprised to find these... and they were only 99 cents. :)

They only had them for New Moon and Eclipse (also found a couple packs from Hunger Games.)

And.... I got a nice deal on this from ebay...

3 Days to Go!

We've got three days to go!  Tomorrow night is the premiere.  Everybody keeps touting the surprise ending- even Taylor Lautner is.  As much as I would love to go the evening of the 15th, I shall have to go the next day.  Got my t-shirt ordered. :)

It's been fun living vicariously through all the FB and Twitter posts from the people at Fan Camp.

Books on the Horizon

Ha Ha. Horizon.  Breaking Dawn. Get it?

OK, moving on...

I was searching around on Amazon, and I typed in "Breaking Dawn."  I didn't get anything too spectacular.

Until I selected "Sort by Publication Date."

Now here's when things got interesting.

Amazon- Breaking Dawn

My guess is that it might be reissues of Breaking Dawn with a "Part 2" cover.  There's nothing yet on whether or not there will be a illustrated movie companion.  I hope there will be.  I'm sure there will.  After all, if there's a part one book, then there has to be a part two... .

PS: Let's just say I'm feeling a little better about getting "Mama Bear" Vampire Bella.  That's all.

Divergent, Fanfiction, and a Trailer

The other day I forgot my book at home when I was going to work with some time to kill.

[CHORUS: How could you forget your book??]

I know, I know.

So I was looking in the book section of said job, and this book caught my eye: "Divergent," by Veronica Roth.  I flipped through it a little, and it looked interesting.  I bought it.

My goodness, it is really good.  At first glance, it may seem like a Hunger Games rip-off, but I assure you, it's not.  It's like HG with a edge.  A very psychological edge.  And darker.  It is dystopian, so the two have that in common.  Very futuristic with a moral caste system.

It would make a really good movie.  I'm only half-way through it.

I'm not that much into fanfiction.  I've looked on some sites for Twilight fanfiction, and I did find one story in particular that I liked, but now I can't find it.  I guess I'll keep looking.  There was this book that someone, named Jean Rush, wrote called "First Light," about Renesmee, Bella and Edward's daughter.  I thought it was okay.  I didn't really like it when Nessie went with the Volturi, and I know a bunch of people didn't like the ending.  But, really, if you think about the Twilight series as a whole, it kind of makes sense.

Rush wrote a sequel to "First Light," called "First Light: Rising Sun."  It's told from Leah's perspective.  Leah isn't one of my favorite characters, but I thought I'd give it a try.  I actually liked it a lot more than I thought I would.  About halfway through it switches to Nessie's perspective.  And more of the central characters get to be involved in this one.  There was this one major plot twist that I left me wondering, "How on earth is this going to get worked out?"  But it does.

Speaking of Twilight, we got the first teaser last month for Breaking Dawn 2!! Yay!  It was really good, and it left me wanting more.

Oreos Rethought / Things that Irk Me about Twilight

Yes, I know I'm late. My apologies. I've been busy. Anyway... Happy new year.

This past week, Mom found a recipe for Oreo cookie balls. Basically, they're like cake pops, just with oreos. Instead of frosting, you use cream cheese. When they're mushed together, roll them in balls and dip them in white chocolate bark. They're good- pretty rich.

So, the other day I thought about what irks me about Twilight.

1) Bella doesn't appreciate good furniture. In the novel "Eclipse," Bella is over at the Cullen's house with Alice for a sleepover. (a pretense) Edward gets her this nice four-poster bed to sleep in; it's set up in his room, all nice and stuff. Instead she sleeps on his sofa. I was like, Bella, that's a nice bed!

2) Edward needs to chill (some more). If you haven't noticed in the books and/or movies, he's a little uptight. And I totally get his point. Vampires are after his girlfriend, he's been alive for over one hundred years, he has a case of TMI (too much information) from being a mind reader. And he's overprotective of her. But he loves her.

3) Victoria. I was a little disappointed that Stephenie had to kill off Victoria in Eclipse. I thought Bryce Dallas Howard was really good as Victoria in the film. It's a good thing Bryce got a second chance to take the role.

4) Ok, this doesn't irk me, it's just a suggestion. Stephenie Meyer needs to write just one more book about Twilight, at least from the perspective of Jacob and Renesmee. Maybe half from them, half from Bella and Edward.

Odds and Ends

Okay, I know I haven't written anything for a couple of weeks.  I haven't made anything new.  This will be a mash-up of different topics.

I appreciate the rain we've been getting.  Keep it coming!

I roasted brussels sprouts for the first time last week.  They turned out good- fresh ones cut in half, tossed in a little bit of oil, salt and pepper, and roasted in the oven until done.  They get a little soft on the inside, crispy on the outside.  Yum.  You may not like brussels sprouts, but I do. :)

There's a really cute bagel place near me, called The Bagel Cafe, in Houston.  Really good.  Mom liked the bagel chips; their sandwiches are tasty.

Have you seen the new brown sugar/cinnamon Ritz crackers?  I picked up a box.  They aren't that sweet.  Maybe a little on the bland side.  They probably would be good for some no-bake pie crust.

San Diego has Comic Con right now (convention for comic books, action movies, fantasy movies, you get the idea).  Yesterday was basically, albeit unofficially, Breaking Dawn day.  The director and actors had a Q & A time, and showed two clips from the upcoming movie.  One clip was of Jacob (Taylor Lautner) talking to two of the vampires, and then the pack of wolves.  I'm not going to rehash the details; it's on YouTube and probably every other news and fan site.  (I should mention that both clips were filmed "unofficially," and put on YouTube.)

Then we get to the other clip-- of Bella and Edward arriving at Isle Esme, where the honeymoon takes place.  That's where we have the problem.  Mom deduced that the "cameraman" (woman?) got cold feet at the last minute, and that was why we ONLY GOT AUDIO.

Really? Seriously?  There's a million other frustrated fans asking the same question.  I guess we have to wait for Summit to officially release it. 

You have to turn up your speakers, but it's there.  I have to say, I liked the music at the beginning.

Waiting for 2 Minutes

If you are a Twilight fan, you knew that last night was the premiere of the two-minute teaser trailer for "Breaking Dawn", part 1, on MTV.  The fans' collective response seemed to be "Eeeeeek," or "Aaaaahh!!"  Mine was more along the lines of, "Ooooh."  I thought it was pretty good.  For this first look, you got a little bit of everything, even Renesmee (Bella and Edward's' daughter) makes an appearance, albeit in utero.

And, everyone wanted more.  This is just the teaser trailer.  My guess is that the full theatrical trailer will be out sometime in August.

If you would like to see it, it's right here on... well, it's right here. :)

http://www.imdb.com/features/movies/breakingdawn/

"Um... Vampires? Ehhh..."

If you'd have asked me a few years ago whether or not I'd have read the Twilight series, I'd have said no.

But there is, in this story, an unlikely suspect:

Mom. 

To be fair, it's probably not all her fault.  You see, in late spring of 2009, she was at a friend's house, and their girls were watching...  Twilight.  Mom started watching it, and she thought, "Erika might like this."  Later that summer, she had been bugging me to pick up the DVD.  But I held off, thinking, "Uh, vampires?  Ehhh."

Needless to say, I finally picked it up.  Hmmm... this is different.  This is pretty good.

And, I was reasonably hooked.  The film was, I found out, a love story.  The unlikely heroine, Bella, meets up with this old-fashioned, teenage guy, Edward.  Who I guess, really is... old-fashioned-- a little over one-hundred years-old vampire.  To top it all off, his selective diet doesn't consist of humans.  He and his family hunt animals-- they call themselves "vegetarians."  (Speaking of his family, his "sister", Alice, is absolutely one of my favorite characters.)  That was one of the things that I liked about the story

It's a good love story.  Like I said, Edward is an old-fashioned, morals-romantic-courting type of guy.  I won't bore you with the details, but I've read the other books, seen the films, and I'm really looking forward to the last two films, where Bella and Edward marry and have a baby. 

And, this, coming from a "vegetarian" Twilight fan.