New Picture of Rob as Edward

I wanted to share this picture of Robert Pattinson as Edward Cullen. It's the first image of him really looking like the undead (beautiful as he may be). I love the purple lips and chalk white skin. AWESOME!!

Why I LOVE (not just like) Robert Pattinson as Edward

I watched Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. I saw Rob Pattinson (RPattz to his fans) as Cedric Diggory. In passing I thought 'Nice looking guy...' and that's about it. Didn't give him too much more thought than that.

That was then, as they say. Now Rob has slipped nicely into the role of the object of my infatuation. Not his fault really, I just love me some Edward. That's not to say that just anyone could fill Edwards shoes. Quite the opposite in fact. I think Rob is the perfect choice. Which is startling when I think about it. Out of all the Twilight reader's imaginations, which undoubtedly run rampant with a million different versions of what Edward looks like, the casting director picked a guy who could've been plucked right out of my fevered mind.

For me, Rob totally embodies what I imagined of Edward. He's got that moody, obstinate thing going on. He looks brooding, and he has a very cute crooked smile. I can easily imagine Rob's Edward dazzling Kristen Stewart's Bella. Frequently.

He also is either a private person or he just hasn't been well known enough (before Twilight) to have his personal life splattered all over the tabloids. Either way, this adds an air of mystery about him. He's a clean slate. I don't have any preconceived notions of what he's like. That makes it a lot easier to attach Edwards attributes to him.

And you can dissect why Rob is a excellent choice for Edward logically by referring to Stephenie Meyer's own physical description of him in Eclipse. There is a passage that describes Edward as having a long straight nose, full lips and a very square jaw line. When I read Eclipse the second time, that description really struck me. It was like she was looking at Rob when she wrote it. I read that Stephenie herself said that Rob was the perfect choice.

Some fans baulked at the fact that Robert doesn't have a six pack or any other rippling muscles. Shame on you guys, I say. Yes, I know the books mention his yummy form and I'm all for continuity, but come on! I don't think it matters one fig about the six pack. For one reason, Edward's shirt is going to be on (unfortunately) for most of the flick. Secondly, RPattz is just plain sexy. I truly believe when you are looking at his face, you aren't going to be thinking about his lack of bulging biceps. Thirdly, his body fits the idea of a runner's body which is how I sort of picture Edward, since he's the fastest Cullen. His long, lean frame to me has an understated raw appeal that I just wouldn't feel if he was some fine tuned beefcake. Lastly, Edward as a vampire would look pretty much (physically) like he did when he was human. And his last human days were spent dying from a somewhat prolonged illness that may have made him emaciated.

Raw Materials: Shaping Robert Into an Agreeable Edward
Robert Pattinson may not have come into the Twilight gig looking the part of Edward:

But in preparation for his role as Edward, he was groomed to become the vampire that every girl wants to cuddle. How do they take a normal handsome guy and make him into Edward Cullen? Well, I have my theory. First of all, Robert is a very hairy little monkey. If you view a close up of this picture (please click and view the original size to truly appreciate it):

you will see he's working a pretty serious unibrow. But (and Rob, if you're reading this, please note the following) it's not anything to feel bad about. Because along with that thin line of forehead hair he also has some impossibly long eyelashes (sigh), totally manly sideburns (sigh, sigh) and a thick crop of gorgeous hair that any girl would adore running her hands through. Point is, he looks awesome. All that extra hair makes for a perfect canvas to work with. Wax and pluck to reveal the Edward within! I don't mind hair like that on a man, I mean, after all, we are mammals. We have hair! Get used to it everyone! What I'm saying here is that with all that extra hair growing around/out of everything, the Twilight people have a lot to work with in Rob. They can sculpt and shape that boy into just about anything, including a very believable Edward Cullen. ~Sigh~.

Robert as Edward:

I'm rambling

When I left work last Friday, it was raining outside and very dismal looking in general. For some reason I thought of Alice Cullen and how cool it'd be to have her as a friend. It seemed Friday would've been a perfect rainy evening to head off to the city with Alice to go shopping. And I'm not that big a fan of shopping for shopping's sake either. I just thought it would be nice.

More than that, I felt reminiscent of my high school days. I missed being 17. But then I snapped back into reality and I remembered that my high school days in no way compared to Bella's. Mine was a regular old high school experience. Very boring. Normal, boring classmates (no fancy vampires there!), tedious classes and teachers, mundane after school activities and predictable Friday evening hangouts.

I had a couple close friends but somehow those relationships weren't solid or lasting things. I hear that happens frequently with high school friends. I guess you outgrow them when you actually get a little age on you and realize that they weren't that great anyhow. Probably were friends because of being thrown together so often in school. At least that's how it was for me.

I don't mean to be a bitch. As a matter of fact, my 2 closest friends phased me out of their lives. I didn't fit into the typical mold like I was supposed to. You know: graduate, get married, have some kids and all that. I veered way of the path myself. Opting instead to work for a few years (interspersed with partying), get a little education (not much to speak of) and then buy a house on my own. I started off dangerously close to following on the same path as my high school chums. I got married at 19 (gasp!) Readers, DO NOT EVER DO THAT. I mean, seriously, married at 19 is not the way to go.
Remember: This ain't Forks and he ain't Edward!

Luckily I came to my senses and realized that I shouldn't have settled and that even being alone, as long as I am true to myself, is WAY better than being in a crappy, unexciting marriage with a man who is not even close to being my soul mate.

That's not to say that if you find your soul mate at age 19, that you shouldn't grab him and run for the chapel. I would totally do it! Even though, I hope for everyone reading that that doesn't happen either. I hope you find your soul mate, just not at 19. Believe me, you will be such a different person 10 or 15 years down the road. Needs change, feelings change. PEOPLE change; especially between the ages of 19 and 29. Seriously, hold your horses and wait a while. Because while your high school sweetheart is the best catch in town now, some day you'll realize that there's some exceptionally hot and interesting fish outside the boarders of your little burg.

I'm rambling and this doesn't have too much to do with being friends with Alice Cullen. Other than maybe she'd give you some similar pointers.

Twilight Trailer Playing in Theaters

I just got an email from Summit Entertainment:



"Hey Twilight Fans -
See the "Twilight" Trailer in theaters this weekend in front of Summit Entertainment’s "Sex Drive," so grab your friends and check it out! The big screen makes everything more exciting! "

I Cullenized my co-worker!

I got a fairly nice-looking co-worker. That's besides the point. What you should really know is that he's a great guy who is funny, nice, kind and decent.
That being said, I thought you might like to look at him before and after I Cullenized him. You might as well enjoy looking at him because you can't really appreciate how funny, nice, kind and decent his is over the Internet, now can you?

Scott before Cullenization:




Scott after Cullenization:

Have a nice weekend everyone!

Me and Twilight, a love story

I was a late comer to the Twilight saga. I hadn't heard of these wonderful books until this past summer. I was searching for new books by another vampire novelist, Charlaine Harris. She wrote the great Southern Vampire Series novels starring Sookie Stackhouse. Anyhow, I was online looking up vampire novels and Twilight popped up. I saw an image of Robert Pattinson (RPattz) and Kristen Stewart together for a magazine shoot. I read a small blurb regarding the movie adaptation of Twilight and how insanely popular the saga is. I thought to myself 'What?! A vampire series that I'm not in on?' And then I promptly put it in the back of my mind. But I did note that it was RPattz, the boy from Harry Potter. I thought wow, he's quite striking!

A couple days go by and I'm in the check out line at Wal-Mart and I see the very same image of RPattz and Kristen on the cover of US magazine. I thought it weird that I'd see a reminder of the Twilight series again. I was at the library the next day and I decided to see if I could find at least the 1st book in the saga to read. I went to a kiosk to search for the author or the book title. But don't you know I'd forgotten both the author's name and the name of the book? I was thinking 'Whisper' for some reason. Add to this the fact that the Cambridge Crossroads library's electronic book search is so extremely slow that it's infuriating! After failed search attempts that took me (no kidding) about an hour, I wondered if they had the US magazine so I could check the exact spelling of her name. I was on the hunt. I found that issue of US and emblazoned her name in my memory: Stephenie Meyer. One more quick (ha ha) search of the library and still I found nothing. So I said screw this place and went home and bought Twilight and New Moon online, sight unseen. ...And I never looked back. I tore through both books and like a heroin junkie, I had to have another fix. And fast. I went to Wal-Mart right before I finished New Moon and bought Eclipse and Breaking Dawn.

I was blissfully happy, but (like Forks, WA) there was a rain cloud on the horizon of my happiness. I knew from googling Stephenie Meyer that book 4 was to be the last in the Twilight saga. I didn't think I could make it without more! I was hoping she'd be more like Charlaine Harris who has cranked out 8 Sookie Stackhouse books (and still counting). I guess Charlaine spoiled me. Stephenie is being stingy with her word count. I knew that when I finished Breaking Dawn I was going to be depressed. I could feel it coming. That's how enraptured I am with the world of the Cullens and Forks and clumsy old Bella. I love them all. I love Edward, Bella, Sheriff Swan, Billy Black, Jacob Black (who doesn't? Dreamy wolf-boy!). Heck, I love the freaking table that the Cullen's pretend to eat lunch at every day in the cafeteria of the high school. I love Edward and Bella's biology table. I love the rocking chair in Bella's bedroom... Yeah, I'm a junkie alright. And I was gonna hurt when the saga ended. I had to form a plan, and quick. I was tearing though those pages.

Right around that time, I'd started keeping daily tabs on http://www.stepheniemeyer.com/ and I read that somehow a rough draft of Midnight Sun was leaked onto the Internet. Midnight Sun?! What is this? As if you don't know. It's the Twilight story as told by Edward. Now we're talking! I could never get enough of Edward. And to hear the story from his point of view; heaven! I always wondered what was going on in his mind behind all those tortured and moody looks. Wondered what parts of the truth he was filtering out for Bella's benefit. I wanted to read this bad.

So, my plan was this:
1. I would immediately start re-reading the Twilight saga as soon as I finished Breaking Dawn and
2. I'd not allow myself to blaze through Midnight Sun like a mad women. I'd savor it. I'd dole out little doses of Edward's story a couple pages at a time.

So far it's worked. I still haven't finished Midnight Sun and I'm reading the Twilight saga for the 3rd time now. I know, I'm a freak. But hey, I'll handle my obsession how I see fit! Besides, you know that if you are setting here reading a blog about Twilight by some crazed lover of the saga, then you yourself have issues every bit as convoluted as mine, and they need addressing! But you'll never see me passing judgement, friend. I feel your pain.

I've managed to stave off the heart ache of being done with Twilight for good. Besides, I still have the movie to look forward to. I think I am going to have to play the interventionist to my Twilight saga junkie. I will allow myself to keep on rereading Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse, Breaking Dawn and Midnight Sun until the movie opens. And then in true glutton form, I'll go watch the Twilight movie 5 or 6 (thousand) times, talk obsessively about it to friends, neighbors and family until they want me dead, and then let it go. Go cold turkey. Yeah, we'll see how that plays out - I'll let you know.

Now we know we can't live with out Twilight, but why? I try to put my finger on just what is so darned intoxicating about this story. People all over the world are stuck in Forks, WA, literarily speaking. Yeah, I've got some thoughts. Sometimes writers write things called back stories before they even begin to write the actual story. The back story is basically a history of a character. By writing out every detail about a character, you make them more 3 dimensional, more fleshed out. It helps when you are writing the story because the character seems so real that you can get inside their head and see how they'd react to any given situation. I don't know if Stephenie did this, but it sure feels like it. It would help in explaining why (at least for me) I sometimes forget that Edward (or Bella or Jacob) aren't really existing somewhere on this earth.

Another theory of mine: Not only is Edward (and Jacob too, for that matter) a purely mythical creature but, the love that is portrayed between him and Bella is a mythical creature as well. It’s every bit an illusion. I think anyone who reads it wishes and yearns for such a love to exist. That makes the whole idea of the books addictive. Plus, the fact that their love, throughout the saga, can’t be consummated builds the reader into a frenzy. Truly, Stephenie Meyer is a genius. This love is always patient. And unconditional. Edward is content to set in the rocking chair in Bella's bedroom for 8 or 9 hours while she sleeps (I passed a rocking chair outside a Cracker Barrel this morning and my heart ached; *psycho*), or to lay beside her and hold her. He never tires of this, never has anything that he thinks is better to do than be with her. I find it also very appealing that he can be that protector that every girl secretly yearns for. In Edward's case, his over protectiveness is sweet and endearing because it comes from a pure place. There is never any machismo attached, as there would be with a real human man. Never any boasting superiority complex about ownership of the girl or the need to be protective because the female is weaker and therefore inferior. No, in Edward's case he's bossy because he simply wants Bella to live to be with him. Who could fault that?

And one final reason I fell in love with Twilight and all the characters within, is because of rainy old Forks itself. I have always been drawn to the rainy, darker side of life. What can I say? I'm Irish. Stephenie so convincingly describes a place dreary with daily precipitation. That alone is a draw for me. The weather and woods and beaches of Forks, Washington are so well described, they are memorable and important Twilight characters in and of themselves.

Others must feel the same way to. It would explain the flood of fans to Forks and La Push Washington lately. I bet Forks, WA is loving Stephenie Meyer right about now.

Kristen Stewart as Bella

I liked the choice of Kristen Stewart as Bella right off the bat. Of course, there are a few minor things that don't sync up perfectly between actress and character but lets face it, you ain't gonna get exactly what you want. Not gonna happen. Everyone who read Twilight created a different mental image of all the characters, woods, beaches, stores, schools, houses, etc.

When I saw the movie set of Bella's bedroom, I thought 'Man, that sure is a LOT smaller than I imagined that room.." So you see, not every detail is going to match up to that wonderful, rainy place you've created in your head.

Here's what I like about Kristen Stewart as Bella:

1. She is plucky. She seems upbeat and approachable, just like she seems in the books.

2. She physically resembles my idea of Bella. Her face is at times strikingly beautiful, but in a 'real girl' kind of way. Like I could imagine passing someone who looks like her on the street. Also, at times, like in the Twilight teaser poster below, she looks so young and vulnerable. Here she has a very soft look about her, and if you remember, Bella was described that way. This is an important feature since Bella is basically a child in comparison to centuries old vampires. I think it adds to the hotness of their relationship that Edward is so very worldly next to Bella.

3. Kristen Stewart has a down to earth appeal. I can imagine her pulling off clumsy and being easily flustered by Edward's crazy-hot amber stare (who wouldn't be?).

All in all, I couldn't imagine a better fit for Bella than Kristen Stewart. I also like that I hadn't heard of her before this movie. I know she's been in some other movies but she's relatively unknown. I think it would've been distracting to have a big name person starring as Bella. It would've somehow pulled me out of the realism while watching the movie. Somewhere in my head I would always be conscious of the fact that I was watching *insert name of ridiculously popular starlet here*. With Kristen, I can totally believe it's Bella up there. Same goes for most of the rest of the cast as well.

The only thing about Kristen that didn't jive with my image of Bella was how she delivers her lines. I mention this because it's distracting. I watched the official trailer release and I noticed how very serious Bella is all the time. I gotta tell you, I know that Edward is a torn and tortured soul and that's all well and good because we love EVERYTHING about him, but I never got that feeling from Bella. I know she is very mature and responsible for her age (her Mom called her a middle aged teenager) BUT I still never got the impression that she was so grave when talking to anyone, especially Edward. I just thought she would sound more goofy and smart at the same time. Not like she's delivering a eulogy all the time. By the way, here's the trailer I was talking about.

TWILIGHT TRAILER:

Well, however Bella sounds or her bedroom looks in the trailer, I want you to know that I will fall madly in love with everything about this movie, even the stuff that seems a little off in comparison to the Forks in my mind.

Twilight Trailer Premiere

Just an FYI, the 1st televised Twilight Trailer will air this Thursday (10.09.08) evening on Entertainment Tonight. Or you can see it on this blog at 8 pm! Yay, can't wait!! It will only be available from the Twilight trailer widgit until 9 pm, so be sure to log on and watch.

Re-reading the Saga

WARNING: *Breaking Dawn Spoilers below*

OK, so as most of you Twilight addicts know, it is not acceptable (and dang near impossible) to read the Twilight saga just once. So, I'm 3/4 of the way through my second reading. And you know what? I'm starting to get depressed. Just knowing that I will eventually be done with the series... Again...

I think you'll agree with me when I say that I just want to go live in that Forks that exists in Stephenie Meyer's books. Not in the literal since, as in pack my bags and change my geographical location (though that would be ok too) but in the literary since, the Forks that exists in the minds of Stephenie and us readers. I want to be there; to wrap myself in a rainy Forks cocoon and forget my real-world problems. I wish there were some way that Stephenie would continue the story. Of course I realize that a lot of the very things I love about the series would be hard to continue now that Bella and Edward have married. The innocence of them both, the yearning to consummate their love. Ahhh... Although I wouldn't mind if Stephenie expounded on the marital bliss that Bella and Edward share, and I do mean that in the carnal sense.

One thing that was particularly interesting to me is the fact that (in Breaking Dawn) Bella can unveil her mind so that Edward can read it. I would love to read more on that and his feelings about being able to see into her mind when she lets him. It's another avenue that further books could explore.

As far as new story lines go, I'm not really interested in evolving the Jacob and Nessie story. I think I would have much rather preferred Jacob to imprint on someone unrelated to the story so far, or no one at all. I truly love the Jacob character. He's so earnest and sweet. How could you not love him? I would like to see him happy with a girl who's his age now. Or, forget the Nessie dynamic and continue the love triangle between him, Bella and Edward. I thought there for a minute in Breaking Dawn that Stephenie was considering a Jacob/Leah union. Glad it didn't go that way though. Maybe she could develop a story focused on Jacob becoming chief of the Quileute tribe and dealing with the pressures of that. He could imprint on a vampire girl and be bitten. Perhaps it would do something screwy like turn him into a super-creature. Scratch that, I think I was channeling 'Underworld' right there..

If we don't get anymore Twilight books, I wish Stephenie would at least finish (the infamous rough draft) Midnight Sun for us. And I would want it to be 1,000 pages long. Maybe it could be a Twilight/New Moon combo from Edward's point of view. His voice is so engrossing! I love reading all the thoughts that were behind Edward's solemn, tortured looks. So, like all of you, I really mourn the indefinite 'shelving' of Midnight Sun. I hope that the irresistible draw that the Twilight characters have for all us fans is felt by Stephenie and it will lure her back to finishing it. My hope is that she would write New Moon and Eclipse from his point of view as well. Anything to keep it going!

I would be interested in reading more about Emmett and Rosalie, Alice and Jasper; heck, I'd even read about Renee and her old man. Anything, gimme anything, I tell you!

Maybe Stephenie will never continue Midnight Sun, or the Twilight saga. But she should be aware that she could really go in any direction and expand on any of the characters and story lines, and we Twi-hards would eagerly eat it up.