Teen Angst...I Miss It. The Slow Progression Of A New Twilight Fan

Angst and anxiety come with growing up. It's a healthy part of our psyche i believe. Looking back at the teen angst years and remembering the innocence and the ignorance of that time, would you go back if you could? I finally watched the movie Twilight the other night. It wasn't what I was expecting, in that it was much tamer. I don't know why I thought it more of an adult vampire flick, i didn't have much reason to think that, or anything different for that matter. Nonetheless, it didn't peak my interest early on as it seemed to for so many others. I was so not on the Twilight band-wagon.

A few months ago I was at the mall doing some sister quality time and retail therapy. She's my best friend when it comes to fashion shopping. (We can really have some fun at a Dillard's 75% off sale.) She's always my partner in crime when it comes to explaining to my hubby why i need another pair of shoes or an oh-i-love-that pair of pants or pencil skirt. (Always after the purchase has been made of course.) I think I tried sneaking in a thing or two in the past, but he always notices. He's a pay attention kind of guy.

We were in the book store browsing between clothing department dressing room marathons. I always like to read what's on the Best Seller list. As in the titles, not the books themselves. And I always check out the clearance tables. They usually have the coolest reference books. I
most often cannot get out of a book store without buying a few books. I most enjoy the reference books of different topics, especially if they are easy reads. Most recently I bought this one and it's matching 50 Physics Ideas and 50 Philosophy Ideas.

So, once I've moved through the non-fiction selections, I saw a table with fiction sellers. A good long book to read when I'm relaxing on our upcoming cruise would be great. I see the Twilight table that has totally dedicated itself to the franchise. It peaked my interest.

I even asked the sales lady if it was really as good as all the hype. Her answer must have been a good one, since I ended up buying it to accompany me on the mornings during the cruise when I wake up early, as the sun is rising over the ocean horizon, and throw on a swimsuit from the day before (and a killer new cover up I just ordered from VS...or my jean cutoffs and a sweatshirt, or my pj's, i did that on more than one occasion during my 2:00am cravings for soft serve chocolate ice cream that's on a serve-yourself basis 24/7).... then head up the elevator to the Lido Deck and grab some coffee and a danish. If Brian gets up too, we usually do the whole eggs, bacon, and pancakes routine.

Elevators in the Main Atrium

Lido Deck

Carnival Destiny

Then I make my way to a lounge chair on the top deck of the massive ship, this literal playground on the sea, to get my fill of the perfectly balanced cool/warm breeze on my enjoyably sensitive sun baked skin. The ocean is such a wonderous mysterious living being with infinite options of personality. I'm most often taken away and humbled by it's depth, both physically and spiritually. I drink my coffee. I read a bit.

I bought the book. It's sitting in the small "cruise necessities" pile. (Let me digress and say how MUCH I'm looking forward to our upcoming vacation. It didn't seem like too long ago that we were on our last cruise. This time with a true pair of BFF's, Jeremy and Amy. What a great year 2008 was. Lot's of memories. But the Year In Review is another Dear Diary entry.)

....I was having trouble getting sleepy one night last week or so. While flipping through the channels I decided to watch Twilight on On Demand. I love movies. All kinds of movies. And I wish I had more time to watch movies. I love the entertainment value of a great movie and the escape into the emotions of others existence, the fictional and non fictional drama.

I struggled with whether I should read the Twilight book first, then watch the movie. Or vice versa. This time, I chose to see the movie first. Amazingly wonderful movie. Absolutely exceeded my expectations. And for a fictional movie of such youthful innocence, it had the ability to hit at those emotional inner strings that have permanent, albeit hidden at times, memories of our own teen angst years embedded in the fibers. Twilight strikes a chord. And it feels good.

I'm inclined to believe that I'll get more pages of the book read during my trip, now that i've been comfortably afflicted by the on-screen version of the story. I have become a Twilight fan.